I would also say to start small. If you haven't gardened or planted a vegetable garden, I wouldn't go all out the first year. It will be overwhelming with all the extra work that you might not be prepared for.
At least this is our plan once we eventually get into gardening!
We don't pay for cable TV. We watch streaming shows on Netflix and on Hulu Plus. If neither of these show something we want to see like HBO or AMC shows, we wait until the discs are available on Netflix.
This is very common amongst poker players - we use it for almost every game because we understand that each player has an equal chance of being picked, and therefore it is a fair way of distributing the bill.
Some additional advice:
1) Rather than let the waitress choose the card, do it randomly amongst yourselves. There can be various things (such as choosing different cards) that can cause the waitress to favour particular players which isn't fair.
2) To select the card to randomly pay, shuffle the cards, and eliminate (blindly) one card at a time. The last remaining card pays.
3) Since it is random, the equity of playing should be no more and no less than if you just split the bill equally.
We lived in the States, we only used Netflix for our entertainment. But we moved to a remote location in the Atlantic and the only way we can get local phone and high-speed Internet is to purchase the cable package. It's not terribly expensive, at least. Costs us about $80 per month. But we rarely watch cable at all and won't miss it when we return to the States.
I did the list and after doing it I read your final line: "Selling everything I own to to live out my dreams of travel and adventure now." that's just what I have been contemplating lately... It's hard though, to let go of my house, my career and my little Maltese island to travel to continents like Australia, South America etc. I want to experience the big world yet I need to let go of my small world to leap into the bigger one. This ordinary Maltese life is not enough.. Next thing I'll end up marrying and having kids to be like my friends, to fit in..... So your idea helped me delve into those dark corners of my mind and I hope I will get there someday.
Thanks
To be totally honest, I think the 401k v debt comparison is a poor choice: the debt wins hands-down because a decent business can always pay (deductible) debt off over time.
For an entrepreneur, the 401k is her insurance policy against lifetime financial failure ... you don't want to cash out your insurance policies, if you can at all avoid it!
However, I agree with your basic premise, Darwin, because for many people starting a business raising debt or equity capital simply isn't an option: it's just not available.
If you can't raise enough money via debt (your credit cards are maxed out, you're upside down on your home mortgage) or equity (the Four F's - Founders, Friends, Family, Fools - are all tapped out) then I say your 401k's fair game!
Nope, I don't pay for cable TV. When I moved into my apartment about a year ago I hooked up my telly and as luck would have it I got crystal clear reception of all local broadcast stations. It's only 15 channels but anything else I need to watch I catch online or when I visit my family.
That's true for people who are comfortable with the thought of declaring bankruptcy. Frankly, the notion of doing so is so foreign to me, I don't even contemplate that as a viable option. But granted, millions of Americans do. So, food for thought - if that's something you'd do, it beats losing all your retirement money.
None of the above. So I just started at this company...been there one month, picked up things fast, kicked butt and but rocked the boat a bit. My supervisor believes I just disobeyed one of her orders. She requested a "discussion" meeting with me with HR present. Several system passwords were just changed. Yeah, I think that's a sign.
Awesome article, Darwins. As it turns out, I'm doing this right now. I relocated from New York to North Carolina and decided to take this opportunity to jump from moonlighting to full-time freelance writing as part of the move. I took a disbursement from the 401k and we're using that and some savings to fund the start-up and cover living expenses for the months it takes for me to get self-sufficient. It's scary and exhilarating at the same time. Like you said, when opportunity knocks, Americans tend to answer. Here's hoping it was the right choice!
I do pay for cable TV although its through a satellite not a a cable. I have DirectTV and I am pleased with it as of now. The main issue is that my internet bill and cable bill are separate. Where as before I was getting both from Comcast. At the moment I have the Choice Ultimate plan which is running me about $75/month. When I was using Comcast for both cable and internet I was charged about $79/month. Supposedly it was a glitch on Comcast's side which ran for about 5 years, then one day or cable was gone. So we had to switch because they wanted $120/month for both cable and internet. These silly companies always trying to pull a quick one.
We don't pay for cable tv and haven't for about 3 yrs now. We are happy with that choice.
instead we stream our videos/tv/movies thru the Roku player from Netflix and also stream Hulu thru it as well.
As for "must watch" shows we really don't have any anymore because we don't know what is even out there! But if there is something we have to watch we'll try to watch it online or *GASP* wait for it to hit video. which surprisingly isn't very long anymore.
I am a recent college grad who has moved back home with my parents, and while my parents pay for their cable bill, when I move out, I fully intend to NOT subscribe to cable. If I need to watch TV that desperately, paying a minimal fee for a tv show from amazon or itunes is a huge savings compared to a monthly cable bill!
We got rid of cable last fall to make a change in our leisure time. We're using an antenna that gets the basic channels and a few others. Most of the time it's okay but when I am around cable tv I remember what I'm missing.
My husband and I have the basic cable with charter bundled with really fast internet. We pay $45 per month. We rarely catch anything live with our schedules so watching everything on the internet the next day is really convenient for us. We recently purchased an hdmi cable and we stream the internet on our flat screen tv! I am also a gamer and an avid couponer aspiring to be an extreme couponer. So I'm constantly on the internet.
We haven't had cable for years. Even though we no longer get any over the air channels (since the switch from analog and digital), Netflix and Hulu both stream through the PS3 onto our T.V. I definitely don't miss having cable. It means no more channel surfing. You just pick what you want to watch and then watch it.
No, although we do pay for our internet service through a cable provider. The actual televisions however are powered by HTPCs which get all the content off that internet connection or via a local file server.
I would also say to start small. If you haven't gardened or planted a vegetable garden, I wouldn't go all out the first year. It will be overwhelming with all the extra work that you might not be prepared for.
At least this is our plan once we eventually get into gardening!
You may want to look up incenerators. There are three in Texas, not to mention proximity to the mexican drug lords.
We don't pay for cable TV. We watch streaming shows on Netflix and on Hulu Plus. If neither of these show something we want to see like HBO or AMC shows, we wait until the discs are available on Netflix.
This is very common amongst poker players - we use it for almost every game because we understand that each player has an equal chance of being picked, and therefore it is a fair way of distributing the bill.
Some additional advice:
1) Rather than let the waitress choose the card, do it randomly amongst yourselves. There can be various things (such as choosing different cards) that can cause the waitress to favour particular players which isn't fair.
2) To select the card to randomly pay, shuffle the cards, and eliminate (blindly) one card at a time. The last remaining card pays.
3) Since it is random, the equity of playing should be no more and no less than if you just split the bill equally.
We lived in the States, we only used Netflix for our entertainment. But we moved to a remote location in the Atlantic and the only way we can get local phone and high-speed Internet is to purchase the cable package. It's not terribly expensive, at least. Costs us about $80 per month. But we rarely watch cable at all and won't miss it when we return to the States.
I did the list and after doing it I read your final line: "Selling everything I own to to live out my dreams of travel and adventure now." that's just what I have been contemplating lately... It's hard though, to let go of my house, my career and my little Maltese island to travel to continents like Australia, South America etc. I want to experience the big world yet I need to let go of my small world to leap into the bigger one. This ordinary Maltese life is not enough.. Next thing I'll end up marrying and having kids to be like my friends, to fit in..... So your idea helped me delve into those dark corners of my mind and I hope I will get there someday.
Thanks
28 yr old Maltese girl
To be totally honest, I think the 401k v debt comparison is a poor choice: the debt wins hands-down because a decent business can always pay (deductible) debt off over time.
For an entrepreneur, the 401k is her insurance policy against lifetime financial failure ... you don't want to cash out your insurance policies, if you can at all avoid it!
However, I agree with your basic premise, Darwin, because for many people starting a business raising debt or equity capital simply isn't an option: it's just not available.
If you can't raise enough money via debt (your credit cards are maxed out, you're upside down on your home mortgage) or equity (the Four F's - Founders, Friends, Family, Fools - are all tapped out) then I say your 401k's fair game!
Nope, I don't pay for cable TV. When I moved into my apartment about a year ago I hooked up my telly and as luck would have it I got crystal clear reception of all local broadcast stations. It's only 15 channels but anything else I need to watch I catch online or when I visit my family.
That's true for people who are comfortable with the thought of declaring bankruptcy. Frankly, the notion of doing so is so foreign to me, I don't even contemplate that as a viable option. But granted, millions of Americans do. So, food for thought - if that's something you'd do, it beats losing all your retirement money.
Hey, there's a go-getter! Come back and let us know how it's working out!
None of the above. So I just started at this company...been there one month, picked up things fast, kicked butt and but rocked the boat a bit. My supervisor believes I just disobeyed one of her orders. She requested a "discussion" meeting with me with HR present. Several system passwords were just changed. Yeah, I think that's a sign.
Awesome article, Darwins. As it turns out, I'm doing this right now. I relocated from New York to North Carolina and decided to take this opportunity to jump from moonlighting to full-time freelance writing as part of the move. I took a disbursement from the 401k and we're using that and some savings to fund the start-up and cover living expenses for the months it takes for me to get self-sufficient. It's scary and exhilarating at the same time. Like you said, when opportunity knocks, Americans tend to answer. Here's hoping it was the right choice!
I do pay for cable TV although its through a satellite not a a cable. I have DirectTV and I am pleased with it as of now. The main issue is that my internet bill and cable bill are separate. Where as before I was getting both from Comcast. At the moment I have the Choice Ultimate plan which is running me about $75/month. When I was using Comcast for both cable and internet I was charged about $79/month. Supposedly it was a glitch on Comcast's side which ran for about 5 years, then one day or cable was gone. So we had to switch because they wanted $120/month for both cable and internet. These silly companies always trying to pull a quick one.
We don't pay for cable tv and haven't for about 3 yrs now. We are happy with that choice.
instead we stream our videos/tv/movies thru the Roku player from Netflix and also stream Hulu thru it as well.
As for "must watch" shows we really don't have any anymore because we don't know what is even out there! But if there is something we have to watch we'll try to watch it online or *GASP* wait for it to hit video. which surprisingly isn't very long anymore.
I am a recent college grad who has moved back home with my parents, and while my parents pay for their cable bill, when I move out, I fully intend to NOT subscribe to cable. If I need to watch TV that desperately, paying a minimal fee for a tv show from amazon or itunes is a huge savings compared to a monthly cable bill!
We got rid of cable last fall to make a change in our leisure time. We're using an antenna that gets the basic channels and a few others. Most of the time it's okay but when I am around cable tv I remember what I'm missing.
It kills me each month to do so, but we pay for our cable
My husband and I have the basic cable with charter bundled with really fast internet. We pay $45 per month. We rarely catch anything live with our schedules so watching everything on the internet the next day is really convenient for us. We recently purchased an hdmi cable and we stream the internet on our flat screen tv! I am also a gamer and an avid couponer aspiring to be an extreme couponer. So I'm constantly on the internet.
I love Vermont, but I do miss Trader Joe's!
I love Vermont, but I do miss Trader Joe's!
Rieslings are amazing!
We haven't had cable for years. Even though we no longer get any over the air channels (since the switch from analog and digital), Netflix and Hulu both stream through the PS3 onto our T.V. I definitely don't miss having cable. It means no more channel surfing. You just pick what you want to watch and then watch it.
I pay a small fortune for 150 channels and I can hardly find anything decent to watch. My contract ends in September, then I will ditch directv.
No, although we do pay for our internet service through a cable provider. The actual televisions however are powered by HTPCs which get all the content off that internet connection or via a local file server.
I love Sauvignon Blanc! I'll definitely have to check that out.