@Miguel: What you're talking about is a limit order, and in that case you're right—you need to make sure you still have the money to buy that stock after making another purchase.
But the article is about how you can name your own price by using options, namely the cash-secured put. It's kind of like the limit order only that you collect a premium every month that you wait for the stock to come down to the price you want to pay.
excellent tip Carlos. I have thought about doing this several times with my online broker. You can set a price and how many shares you want at that price when it hits. I think investors should be careful as well when they do this because there is a possibility you can forget you even put a limit order on a stock and you end up buying another stock. So when that limit order is ready to go, there isn't enough funds to fulfill your order, thus missing out on your opportunity. I think discount brokers online have already found a way to avoid this for you though.
Thanks for the input! You're absolutely right -- wine won't work for everyone. I'm not a big wine fan myself, but I do appreciate a gifted bottle because that means I'll have something on hand for impromptu entertaining (or regifting).
Of course, not everything on a top-/best-list will work for everyone, but what I like about these lists is that you might find a suggestion that you hadn't thought of before. (For me, it was the Etsy card cases!)
I would also add chocolate to the list. My mom taught kindergarten and grade 1 for over thirty years, and by far the most appreciate gifts were gifts of chocolate. (She's also a huge chocoholic -- your child's teacher's mileage may vary.)
I mostly disagree with much of the "Top 10 Gifts for Coworkers" article. It seems overly specific to the work area of the author.
I'm not fond of the idea of giving wine to casual aquaintances. Maybe it's because I live in the south, but there seem to be many issues that go along with alcohol (religious views, history of alcoholism, individual taste) that are not always discussed openly. For closer friends and people who you know enjoy wine, it does make sense. But for the casual friend or coworker, it just seems a bit insensitive to make the blanket statement that "everyone likes wine".
Some of the other options seem like the would work for some groups of people but rarely for all
- An iPod dock assumes the recipient has an office with walls and doors. Working in cubeville, playing music without headphones is impractical.
- Travel maps or containers - Great for a new business traveler but mostly useless for the non-traveler, one who already has their set of plastic bottles or a SmartPhone or GPS.
- Cell Phone or iPod case - People don't automatically buy those when they buy a new device? Again, maybe it's the group that I work and hang out with, but it seems like cases are so device specific and everyone buys a case when they get a new device just as a matter of course that buying one for a gift would be mostly useless.
That said, the idea of homemade foodstuffs, especially brought in to work and shared with the group seem to be the best idea for my work area. As a baker, that's generally what I do for any special occasions that my group celebrates. It's a nice gesture that most everyone appreciates and can be done fairly inexpensively and easily. For those who don't bake, picking up foodstuffs (cookies and cakes go over especially well with my work group) at a good bakery is a great alternative.
Hi Mr. Brewer;
Meet your fellow Luddite. I go to the bank on a weekly basis and write a check for CASH and then have that money for the week. I write a check at the grocery store and pay most of my bills by check. I think that paying cash and to a lesser extent, writing out your checks, recording them, etc.. makes you more aware of the money passing through your hands. Like Duncan Steele, I will fight for my right to write a check! :)
NMT
Hi Mr. Brewer;
Meet your fellow Luddite. I go to the bank on a weekly basis and write a check for CASH and then have that money for the week. I write a check at the grocery store and pay most of my bills by check. I think that paying cash and to a lesser extent, writing out your checks, recording them, etc.. makes you more aware of the money passing through your hands. Like Duncan Steele, I will fight for my right to write a check! :)
NMT
Right on red only legal at certain times? I've never heard of that... Unless the intersection is specifically marked "no right turn on red" or has a right-turn light (yes, they do exist), then it should be legal.
It is important to note that right-on-red functions essentially like a stop sign. FULL STOP, then go as long as no one else is coming. Rolling right-on-red has historically been something cops will let slide, but it is technically illegal and they CAN ticket you for it.
Great idea. I think the act of turning off all media and going to a quiet place with the pen and paper is a brilliant way to have clear thoughts! I love the simplicity of it and am wondering what the value of doing this weekly would be.
During your appeal process which may take several weeks or a couple of months, you will need to keep filling out the claim forms each week. You will not be paid anything until you meet with an Administrative Law Judge...From the sound of your post, it doesn't sound like you know, or are explaining the whole story, there are a lot of facts missing from your situation.
I write paper checks for all bills. I use a credit card otherwise-it has more consumer protection than a debit card. Debit cars can be processed as credit, no ID check, and have access to all the funds you have in checking. The bank, unlike cc companies, do not have a limit on your liability.
EBT errors are a pain- it is a lot harder to get money back from a company that has taken it directly from your account with permission, than to write a check with the correct amount, and resolve it without being out the money for any period of time.
In the case of an EMP, or internet meltdown, (and the executive branch is trying to get the power to switch off the web in our country during crisis), those with electronic only transactions will have no access to their money, or way to make payments.
I will have a paper trail of paper statements, payment addresses, and paper checks, and be able to go to my brick and mortar bank, checks and statements in hand, and get a bit of money. I will be able to reconstruct all my accounts with much less effort than others.
I teach computers for a living, but a concrete object in hand is a better safeguard than bits of electronic data that are entirely out of your control to protect or retrieve.
And if you want to follow this train of thought further, I recommend reading Wired Magazine's article, by Bill Joy, the Chief Scientist of Sun Mircosystems, "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us." I carefully consider anything I agree to automate, or relinquish personal control over.
In my case, it is not inertia, but thoughtful resistance.
I am new to this site. Very interesting. I picked up after a bad relationship and relocated relatively easily to Tampa, FL and stayed for a year and a half. I ended up coming back home as I did not like that area of FL. I do not however regret my move at all. I learned a lot and there were many things I did learn and enjoy. I learned that no matter how much you read and even vacation in a place, you truly cannot get the true "feel" or sense of "place" as a resident until you have lived there for about six months. I made the mistake, like many do in relation to Florida, in believing that it would be all sunshine and trips to the beach, laid back, easy to find a job etc. What I discovered was actually quite amusing and also somewhat annoying. There was a complete lack of culture, low wages, bad public transportation, high crime, bizaare crime, transient types, terribly slow moving govt, high unemployment, on and on. I did enjoy living in a totally different area of the US as I had not done that. I did visit St. Petersburg, which was beautiful at the beaches, and I saw some amusing things to write about and the news down there was straight 24 hour Cops. Overall it was an adventure. I would definitely plan to move to another state again, but I think I would not do what I did in regards to renting the place I rented unseen from Craigslist. It was pretty bad and unclean etc when I arrived. Otherwise things went ok. The other things that were frustrating were the daily life things like getting used to how differently the South is compared to the North i.e. the slowness of the store clerks, the frustration getting things done such as phone connections, electricity etc.
That's a great suggestion. We've done a couple of open source articles in the past, but it has been a while and maybe we should do a new one focused on photo editing.
I've never tried GIMP personally, but I've heard good things about Picasa for making easy photo edits:
Anthony, MOST of the cost of hot water is from the energy it requires to heat the water. Depending on your electric or gas costs it can cost 1-2¢ per gallon to heat water. So while your water itself is not so expensive, heating it up is what is costing you.
I made the same reverse-engineering that you did and then i found the Hack a Day post linking to this one...
I'm developing my own version of it.
To start: i suggest to use this values of resistors:
220Ohm (standard value) and another 390Ohm (another standard value) in serial to do the 600Ohm (Not standard) (220+390=610Ohm real) Forward action.
Plus, i'm trying to incorporate a microphone to this adapter because when this thing is plugged in; the mic on the nexus one is disabled so you can't talk.
I've connected a mic in parallel to pin 4 (Function, Sleeve) and pin 3 (GND, Ring2) and it works but the mic i used is not providing enough signal and sounds low.
I think it's because of the mic's impedance. (i really don't know how to measure the impedance...) But, i measured the resistance of the pins 4 (Function, Sleeve) to pin 3 (GND, Ring2) on the original headphones; ~38KOhm. And the mic i'm using is ~1K28Ohm. I'm going to try more microphones to see how behaves...
I'm with you on most of that. In particular, I'll always pick simplicity over frugality if I can possible afford to. I wrote a post on exactly that topic:
I still pay some bills by check. The gas and electric company requires a check if
paying over the phone. I use a check every month to pay the HOA fee because
they actually charge extra to withdraw the funds from our account.
Then when my oldest son asks to borrow my debit card and 'forgets' to put it back
in my wallet, I usually carry a check just in case I'm checking out of a store and don't
have it.
Also, need to use checks for the kid's school activities. What makes me crazy is that
it always takes so long for them to put them through.
I like that I can give a check to a relative's children in a card too. I like checks!
You are correct, the costs we are talking about are pretty meaningless. I've been thinking a lot about that lately. The true costs of being frugal vs using that mental energy to have bigger impacts in other areas. Diminishing returns definitely starts to kick in when you try to pinch pennies in anything. Like clipping coupons....yes, if you are good at it then you might save $10 cash per half hour's worth of your time and attention (consider ALL the time and effort that goes into that process, not just the act of clipping and sorting). But could you produce more than $10 if you freed up your time and mind to focus on bigger things for a half hour? That's a balance we all have to meet.
For me, there is a very large energy drain associated with paperwork and little errands. I can understand that for others, logging into a computer represents friction in their life. Ideally, you can find a person to share things with that don't have the same hang-ups and then you can both play to your strengths. Until that time, I have decided to not worry about little costs if it eliminates clutter in my life and mind....If I step back and look at the big picture, I know I'll just end up compensating for those little savings by spending money on something foolish or miss a great opportunity simply because I'm running low on clarity and energy when that moment comes.
EVERYTHING has a cost. Whether its money, time, or mental energy is relative to the spender. If you have big goals in your life, they'll probably take less energy to achieve if you focus more on what value you can create, instead of just what you can save.
you know what? austria is one of the richest countries in europe and we are NOT used to credit cards. i don't own one. the only people i know who own credit cards, are those who travel - and they only use credit cards when not in austria.
by the way, travelling is a very good source of knowledge - when you come home you realise, how much you don't need.
i don't like the fact that the credit card is very popular in many european countries, as in the uk and in scandiavia.
I second your thoughts on eating out. Considering the circumstances, it should be reduced to once a week, at least.
Rest of the items in your list have their pros and cons. For example, while you pay for house-keeping (though the costs are comparatively nothing, in this part of the world), it may give you extra hours to concentrate on your business, and things that you enjoy more in life, than dusting and wiping around.
The credit cards are not evil, if you can keep a tab on your desires. Almost every card has some sort of reward/redemption associated which, if you pay your dues under the markup cycle and do not exceed the limits, can turn up as a bonus for you, something paper currency can not offer.
By the way, just came across your blog and browsing through it now.
If you DIY, a sample of your work can be economical and unique - knit or crocheted scarf or hat, etc.
@Miguel: What you're talking about is a limit order, and in that case you're right—you need to make sure you still have the money to buy that stock after making another purchase.
But the article is about how you can name your own price by using options, namely the cash-secured put. It's kind of like the limit order only that you collect a premium every month that you wait for the stock to come down to the price you want to pay.
Thanks for the tips! I'm going to check the website now.
excellent tip Carlos. I have thought about doing this several times with my online broker. You can set a price and how many shares you want at that price when it hits. I think investors should be careful as well when they do this because there is a possibility you can forget you even put a limit order on a stock and you end up buying another stock. So when that limit order is ready to go, there isn't enough funds to fulfill your order, thus missing out on your opportunity. I think discount brokers online have already found a way to avoid this for you though.
Thanks for the input! You're absolutely right -- wine won't work for everyone. I'm not a big wine fan myself, but I do appreciate a gifted bottle because that means I'll have something on hand for impromptu entertaining (or regifting).
Of course, not everything on a top-/best-list will work for everyone, but what I like about these lists is that you might find a suggestion that you hadn't thought of before. (For me, it was the Etsy card cases!)
I would also add chocolate to the list. My mom taught kindergarten and grade 1 for over thirty years, and by far the most appreciate gifts were gifts of chocolate. (She's also a huge chocoholic -- your child's teacher's mileage may vary.)
Good advice. But we already run a tight-ship, so actually I don't do any of these things anyway.
Oh. Except the mobile phone.
I'll still bookmark this though, as a reminder.
I mostly disagree with much of the "Top 10 Gifts for Coworkers" article. It seems overly specific to the work area of the author.
I'm not fond of the idea of giving wine to casual aquaintances. Maybe it's because I live in the south, but there seem to be many issues that go along with alcohol (religious views, history of alcoholism, individual taste) that are not always discussed openly. For closer friends and people who you know enjoy wine, it does make sense. But for the casual friend or coworker, it just seems a bit insensitive to make the blanket statement that "everyone likes wine".
Some of the other options seem like the would work for some groups of people but rarely for all
- An iPod dock assumes the recipient has an office with walls and doors. Working in cubeville, playing music without headphones is impractical.
- Travel maps or containers - Great for a new business traveler but mostly useless for the non-traveler, one who already has their set of plastic bottles or a SmartPhone or GPS.
- Cell Phone or iPod case - People don't automatically buy those when they buy a new device? Again, maybe it's the group that I work and hang out with, but it seems like cases are so device specific and everyone buys a case when they get a new device just as a matter of course that buying one for a gift would be mostly useless.
That said, the idea of homemade foodstuffs, especially brought in to work and shared with the group seem to be the best idea for my work area. As a baker, that's generally what I do for any special occasions that my group celebrates. It's a nice gesture that most everyone appreciates and can be done fairly inexpensively and easily. For those who don't bake, picking up foodstuffs (cookies and cakes go over especially well with my work group) at a good bakery is a great alternative.
Hi Mr. Brewer;
Meet your fellow Luddite. I go to the bank on a weekly basis and write a check for CASH and then have that money for the week. I write a check at the grocery store and pay most of my bills by check. I think that paying cash and to a lesser extent, writing out your checks, recording them, etc.. makes you more aware of the money passing through your hands. Like Duncan Steele, I will fight for my right to write a check! :)
NMT
Hi Mr. Brewer;
Meet your fellow Luddite. I go to the bank on a weekly basis and write a check for CASH and then have that money for the week. I write a check at the grocery store and pay most of my bills by check. I think that paying cash and to a lesser extent, writing out your checks, recording them, etc.. makes you more aware of the money passing through your hands. Like Duncan Steele, I will fight for my right to write a check! :)
NMT
Right on red only legal at certain times? I've never heard of that... Unless the intersection is specifically marked "no right turn on red" or has a right-turn light (yes, they do exist), then it should be legal.
It is important to note that right-on-red functions essentially like a stop sign. FULL STOP, then go as long as no one else is coming. Rolling right-on-red has historically been something cops will let slide, but it is technically illegal and they CAN ticket you for it.
Where are you located that this isn't the case?
Great idea. I think the act of turning off all media and going to a quiet place with the pen and paper is a brilliant way to have clear thoughts! I love the simplicity of it and am wondering what the value of doing this weekly would be.
Great post!
During your appeal process which may take several weeks or a couple of months, you will need to keep filling out the claim forms each week. You will not be paid anything until you meet with an Administrative Law Judge...From the sound of your post, it doesn't sound like you know, or are explaining the whole story, there are a lot of facts missing from your situation.
I write paper checks for all bills. I use a credit card otherwise-it has more consumer protection than a debit card. Debit cars can be processed as credit, no ID check, and have access to all the funds you have in checking. The bank, unlike cc companies, do not have a limit on your liability.
EBT errors are a pain- it is a lot harder to get money back from a company that has taken it directly from your account with permission, than to write a check with the correct amount, and resolve it without being out the money for any period of time.
In the case of an EMP, or internet meltdown, (and the executive branch is trying to get the power to switch off the web in our country during crisis), those with electronic only transactions will have no access to their money, or way to make payments.
I will have a paper trail of paper statements, payment addresses, and paper checks, and be able to go to my brick and mortar bank, checks and statements in hand, and get a bit of money. I will be able to reconstruct all my accounts with much less effort than others.
I teach computers for a living, but a concrete object in hand is a better safeguard than bits of electronic data that are entirely out of your control to protect or retrieve.
And if you want to follow this train of thought further, I recommend reading Wired Magazine's article, by Bill Joy, the Chief Scientist of Sun Mircosystems, "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us." I carefully consider anything I agree to automate, or relinquish personal control over.
In my case, it is not inertia, but thoughtful resistance.
I am new to this site. Very interesting. I picked up after a bad relationship and relocated relatively easily to Tampa, FL and stayed for a year and a half. I ended up coming back home as I did not like that area of FL. I do not however regret my move at all. I learned a lot and there were many things I did learn and enjoy. I learned that no matter how much you read and even vacation in a place, you truly cannot get the true "feel" or sense of "place" as a resident until you have lived there for about six months. I made the mistake, like many do in relation to Florida, in believing that it would be all sunshine and trips to the beach, laid back, easy to find a job etc. What I discovered was actually quite amusing and also somewhat annoying. There was a complete lack of culture, low wages, bad public transportation, high crime, bizaare crime, transient types, terribly slow moving govt, high unemployment, on and on. I did enjoy living in a totally different area of the US as I had not done that. I did visit St. Petersburg, which was beautiful at the beaches, and I saw some amusing things to write about and the news down there was straight 24 hour Cops. Overall it was an adventure. I would definitely plan to move to another state again, but I think I would not do what I did in regards to renting the place I rented unseen from Craigslist. It was pretty bad and unclean etc when I arrived. Otherwise things went ok. The other things that were frustrating were the daily life things like getting used to how differently the South is compared to the North i.e. the slowness of the store clerks, the frustration getting things done such as phone connections, electricity etc.
That's a great suggestion. We've done a couple of open source articles in the past, but it has been a while and maybe we should do a new one focused on photo editing.
I've never tried GIMP personally, but I've heard good things about Picasa for making easy photo edits:
http://www.wisebread.com/get-free-media-software-for-your-windows-pc
Anthony, MOST of the cost of hot water is from the energy it requires to heat the water. Depending on your electric or gas costs it can cost 1-2¢ per gallon to heat water. So while your water itself is not so expensive, heating it up is what is costing you.
I made the same reverse-engineering that you did and then i found the Hack a Day post linking to this one...
I'm developing my own version of it.
To start: i suggest to use this values of resistors:
220Ohm (standard value) and another 390Ohm (another standard value) in serial to do the 600Ohm (Not standard) (220+390=610Ohm real) Forward action.
Plus, i'm trying to incorporate a microphone to this adapter because when this thing is plugged in; the mic on the nexus one is disabled so you can't talk.
I've connected a mic in parallel to pin 4 (Function, Sleeve) and pin 3 (GND, Ring2) and it works but the mic i used is not providing enough signal and sounds low.
I think it's because of the mic's impedance. (i really don't know how to measure the impedance...) But, i measured the resistance of the pins 4 (Function, Sleeve) to pin 3 (GND, Ring2) on the original headphones; ~38KOhm. And the mic i'm using is ~1K28Ohm. I'm going to try more microphones to see how behaves...
So mis final schematic will be this:
# = button
Pin4-+--------[+ MIC -]---------+-Pin3(GND/Ring2)
+---------------#---------+ //Play >
+-[220ohm]-+------#------+ //Back <<
+-[390ohm]-#-+ //Forward >>
I'm with you on most of that. In particular, I'll always pick simplicity over frugality if I can possible afford to. I wrote a post on exactly that topic:
http://www.wisebread.com/simplicity-and-being-cheap
Misleading title to your post. "Save money by..." and the points are all "avoid..." or "Don't..." or "Be Careful..."
I was expecting ways to actually save money, not about how to reduce interest payments.
I still pay some bills by check. The gas and electric company requires a check if
paying over the phone. I use a check every month to pay the HOA fee because
they actually charge extra to withdraw the funds from our account.
Then when my oldest son asks to borrow my debit card and 'forgets' to put it back
in my wallet, I usually carry a check just in case I'm checking out of a store and don't
have it.
Also, need to use checks for the kid's school activities. What makes me crazy is that
it always takes so long for them to put them through.
I like that I can give a check to a relative's children in a card too. I like checks!
Thanks Xin! I was considering gift ideas, and Apples to Apples sounds fantastic.
You are correct, the costs we are talking about are pretty meaningless. I've been thinking a lot about that lately. The true costs of being frugal vs using that mental energy to have bigger impacts in other areas. Diminishing returns definitely starts to kick in when you try to pinch pennies in anything. Like clipping coupons....yes, if you are good at it then you might save $10 cash per half hour's worth of your time and attention (consider ALL the time and effort that goes into that process, not just the act of clipping and sorting). But could you produce more than $10 if you freed up your time and mind to focus on bigger things for a half hour? That's a balance we all have to meet.
For me, there is a very large energy drain associated with paperwork and little errands. I can understand that for others, logging into a computer represents friction in their life. Ideally, you can find a person to share things with that don't have the same hang-ups and then you can both play to your strengths. Until that time, I have decided to not worry about little costs if it eliminates clutter in my life and mind....If I step back and look at the big picture, I know I'll just end up compensating for those little savings by spending money on something foolish or miss a great opportunity simply because I'm running low on clarity and energy when that moment comes.
EVERYTHING has a cost. Whether its money, time, or mental energy is relative to the spender. If you have big goals in your life, they'll probably take less energy to achieve if you focus more on what value you can create, instead of just what you can save.
you know what? austria is one of the richest countries in europe and we are NOT used to credit cards. i don't own one. the only people i know who own credit cards, are those who travel - and they only use credit cards when not in austria.
by the way, travelling is a very good source of knowledge - when you come home you realise, how much you don't need.
i don't like the fact that the credit card is very popular in many european countries, as in the uk and in scandiavia.
I second your thoughts on eating out. Considering the circumstances, it should be reduced to once a week, at least.
Rest of the items in your list have their pros and cons. For example, while you pay for house-keeping (though the costs are comparatively nothing, in this part of the world), it may give you extra hours to concentrate on your business, and things that you enjoy more in life, than dusting and wiping around.
The credit cards are not evil, if you can keep a tab on your desires. Almost every card has some sort of reward/redemption associated which, if you pay your dues under the markup cycle and do not exceed the limits, can turn up as a bonus for you, something paper currency can not offer.
By the way, just came across your blog and browsing through it now.