Great article, Nora. It seems to me that your friend needs to make a personal commitment to truly being financially responsible. Until that happens, she will never get off the debtor's merry-go-round.
You can also tear out pretty or arty ads from old magazines and use them as wrapping paper. Full-page photos from old National Geographics are especially colorful and make your wrapped gift look like a work of art.
I spent a dollar each to buy reusuable shopping bags for my family (the coolest thing is that they feature our favorite college football team) and piled the presents in. A little tissue paper and I was good to go. And the bags continue to have a life after Christmas.
The guidelines published above are cliches, but the advice was valid during the unprecended good times that the country, then the world, has enjoyed since the Second World War.
I fear we are in new conditions now, and the automatic returns of buy and hold are not going to be there anymore. One will have to pay more attention to the day to day running of an account, educate oneself to specific sectors, and, yes, time the market, at least to some extent.
This has worked well for me and others in the past decade: rotate into tech, then out to cash, then into energy, then out to cash. New conditions require new strategies, and also a very close attention to what the market, and the world, is demanding.
"The worst kind of gift guilt I get is when friends in debt give something to me. I do appreciate the gesture, but I feel bad about it..."
That paragraph is exactly how I feel everytime I receive gifts from them. Some people loves you so much and they're buying expansive gifts even though we don't even ask nothing! I feel really sad and I would get them all the money they paid for the gift so they can put that money back into their CC.
But that would be silly. So I can't.
They do give those gifts because they want to, even though they can't afford too.
Still, I feel bad.
I think this is a fascinating subject but I also think it is time to update this post.
In the time since it was originally written, the landscape has changed. MediaMax is gone (changed its name to TheLinkup, then went out of business completely) and Xdrive is set to shut down in just a few weeks.
Still no Gdrive and some services like elephantdrive and skydrive have just gotten better. Are you up to a new review?
I bought the green bags, that they can reuse for shopping, and put them in there. And when I saw someone else also got the idea, and did it too, that was great. There are the kinds that you can fold down, and that has a snap, like a little purse, that you can carry with you in anything.
Before I got fired they hired two new people and I personally trained each one of them. I remember when I was new there, I had to sort of follow others and learn on the job for the first few months. I felt bad for the new hires because I knew they'd have the same experience as I did, so I was nice and helped them... a LOT. Even covered for one of the girls a few times. Then a few months later I was fired... over the phone, on my day off. Man, what a way to spend a day off.
I am a teacher in low income school. Every year my school participates in the Josh Heupel #14 Foundation "angel tree" set up at the local Wal-Mart. Each teacher picks a boy and girl from the class that is in need. We help the children pick appropriate gift choices which consist of 2 clothing & 2 toy options. Most kids ask for pretty basic things as their peers do not have these expencive items either. I give to this foundation each year because I know that someone like me has recognized that there is a family need. This year the teachers had the pleasure of wrapping the gifts and I was amazed to see things like basketballs, warm coats, and shoes. In the end each child gets two clothing gifts and two toy gifts. The best part is that Wal-Mart actually donated any item that was not given by a donor (even those tags that are taken and not returned.). I do not consider my children spoiled - but four gifts, two of which are clothes, is not too much for Christmas. I do have to admit that my girls get three gifts from Santa since Jesus only received three at his birth. They do get more from mom and dad. Maybe the key is that low cost gifts are valued as much as more expensive ones at our home.
Thank you for listening and I encourage everyone to have that Christmas spirit all year long.
Those are some really solid fundamentals that even an experienced investor can benefit from by revisiting them on a regular basis. I have something very similar hanging in my home office that reminds me of what my discipline is and to ignore the sentiment of the market at times in favor of fundamentals.
I have a very old set that I have kept plugged in for emergencies when the cable is out but the power is on.
I bought a converter box, but cannot hook it up as the old TV doesn't have the coax plug in cable connections that seem to be required--- it has those really old connections that have those metal clips...
did I buy the wrong box or is it just the end of the road for the old TV? thanks in advance
Gold can't be used to even make tools. It's only real useful purpose is to be part of the machinery of a space shuttle since it's a reliable metal. But it's so damn expensive, the cost is prohibitive to be used en masse.
I'd bet more on iron ore than gold if you want to play the metals game. And apparently we're running out of that too.
1. Buy gold, hand tools, move back to a farming existence because we're screwed
2. Invest as much as you can if you're 'youngish' because the market will swing upwards again *crosses fingers*
Honestly, these are just opinions. No one knows what is actually going to happen. If they did, they'd be billionaires.
But I don't think becoming a farmer is the answer (why? not everyone can be a farmer, for one reason).
I'd say to investigate both arguments thoroughly and make a decision based on what you feel is most accurate.
Personally, I am leaning towards #2 because telling me that the stock market will disappear, currency will disappear, bartering will come back and everyone will be farmers is too off base for me. We're more of a tech-based society anyway. We're too reliant on technology and cars to go back to the 'old times'.
Even if it all becomes true, gold isn't necessarily going to be any better than iron ore for example. It's just a metal, it's just a material, and you can't even consume it (unlike oil or food), which means the value is something WE place on it as a society, not what value it actually has.
If everyone considered gold and diamonds to be worthless (unlikely), then they would be. They are, after all, just metals and stone. It's just that we put a heavy value on it, therefore it's valuable.
Water might actually become our most precious resource. So what should we do? Stock up on fresh water?
"Test patterns (rather than programming) after midnight and before dawn"
And for stations that went off the air overnight, don't forget the FCC-mandated (still in effect) playing of the national anthem! (Watch the movie Poltergeist and you'll see it)
The article definitely woke me up. But yeah, lets say I write down the most important things that I "should" have been involved with, what kind of situation does it leave me with right now? should I leave what I am doing right now and proceed in a totally different direction since what I always wanted to do is in total out of sync with my present job....What happens to the fear of failure? What if you dont succeed in your next journey and one, end up, repenting later that he/she should have stayed put to the earlier boring but steady career ? where does the failure of the pursuit fit in? This is clearly hypothetical but I am pretty confident..i am expressing my reservations in line with many of those who already have this view
I am currently a technician at a retail pharmacy in North Carolina. I always tried to treat people nicely before, but after being treated so poorly by grumpy customers, I will NEVER be rude to customer service again. It amazes me how many times I have been yelled at because someone's insurance refused to cover a medication or his/her doctor has refused to fax in a new prescription.
And what is up with people expecting a refill within 10 minutes when their bottle clearly says, (in highlighted text) NO REFILLS REMAINING? One customer hit the glass window where they can see my counting. I followed him to the register and he said, "What the **** is taking so long? Can I just come back there and count it for you, you dum*ass?"
Every now and then, a grateful customer bakes us cookies. So that calms me.
I rented a video at Hollywood Video today and paid cash for the rental fee. I got home and the DVD was all scratched. I took it back within just a few minutes. There weren't any others of that title on the shelf - and they refused to refund my money.
I'll be writing the BBB about their dishonest policy if I don't get a refund when I call corporate.
If I go back there, I'll be sure to use a credit card so I'll have a little more power over the situation if it occurs again.
The rate on t-bills is determined by auction, so one of the downsides is that you don't know what rate you're going to get until after you've already bought the t-bill. On the other hand, you're getting the rate determined at auction, so you're getting the same rate the big-time financial types are getting--it's genuinely a market rate.
You can see what the rate is on current t-bills various places. Here's one, at Bloomberg:
The three-month and six-month bills are shown in the first two lines of the first chart.
Currently, rates on short-term government paper are terrible. (Actually negative on 3-month bills as I type this.) You can almost certainly do better on bank CDs right now. That will change, as the government's borrow needs eventually push up short-term rates. (So, if you're reading this comment months from now, be sure to check and compare rates.)
I jazz up my brown-paper wrappings with weeds from the yard--ahem--freshly picked flowers and greenery. (Using this method, you HAVE to wait until the last minute.) I admit that I also use real ribbon from a fabric store (bought ahead of time), but you can use twine or string or even a rubber band to help hold the plants in place. I also admit that I profit greatly, especially at this time of year, from having planted a rosemary bush.
Under the china cabinet, no one would ever think to move it.
Great article, Nora. It seems to me that your friend needs to make a personal commitment to truly being financially responsible. Until that happens, she will never get off the debtor's merry-go-round.
One of the first steps in making that change is understanding a want from a need, which I discuss on my humble blog. Here is the link to that particular post: http://lenpenzo.com/blog/id213-the-dirty-lowdown-distinguishing-wants-fr...
Again, great post!
Len Penzo
You can also tear out pretty or arty ads from old magazines and use them as wrapping paper. Full-page photos from old National Geographics are especially colorful and make your wrapped gift look like a work of art.
I spent a dollar each to buy reusuable shopping bags for my family (the coolest thing is that they feature our favorite college football team) and piled the presents in. A little tissue paper and I was good to go. And the bags continue to have a life after Christmas.
The guidelines published above are cliches, but the advice was valid during the unprecended good times that the country, then the world, has enjoyed since the Second World War.
I fear we are in new conditions now, and the automatic returns of buy and hold are not going to be there anymore. One will have to pay more attention to the day to day running of an account, educate oneself to specific sectors, and, yes, time the market, at least to some extent.
This has worked well for me and others in the past decade: rotate into tech, then out to cash, then into energy, then out to cash. New conditions require new strategies, and also a very close attention to what the market, and the world, is demanding.
These principals are the basis of the Monetta Young Investor Fund (MYIFX). Great Fund for savings for college.
"The worst kind of gift guilt I get is when friends in debt give something to me. I do appreciate the gesture, but I feel bad about it..."
That paragraph is exactly how I feel everytime I receive gifts from them. Some people loves you so much and they're buying expansive gifts even though we don't even ask nothing! I feel really sad and I would get them all the money they paid for the gift so they can put that money back into their CC.
But that would be silly. So I can't.
They do give those gifts because they want to, even though they can't afford too.
Still, I feel bad.
I think this is a fascinating subject but I also think it is time to update this post.
In the time since it was originally written, the landscape has changed. MediaMax is gone (changed its name to TheLinkup, then went out of business completely) and Xdrive is set to shut down in just a few weeks.
Still no Gdrive and some services like elephantdrive and skydrive have just gotten better. Are you up to a new review?
I bought the green bags, that they can reuse for shopping, and put them in there. And when I saw someone else also got the idea, and did it too, that was great. There are the kinds that you can fold down, and that has a snap, like a little purse, that you can carry with you in anything.
water is FREE -
that means that reviving it doesn't cost a penny and only takes 2 seconds - still WAY cheaper than the real deal.
Before I got fired they hired two new people and I personally trained each one of them. I remember when I was new there, I had to sort of follow others and learn on the job for the first few months. I felt bad for the new hires because I knew they'd have the same experience as I did, so I was nice and helped them... a LOT. Even covered for one of the girls a few times. Then a few months later I was fired... over the phone, on my day off. Man, what a way to spend a day off.
I am a teacher in low income school. Every year my school participates in the Josh Heupel #14 Foundation "angel tree" set up at the local Wal-Mart. Each teacher picks a boy and girl from the class that is in need. We help the children pick appropriate gift choices which consist of 2 clothing & 2 toy options. Most kids ask for pretty basic things as their peers do not have these expencive items either. I give to this foundation each year because I know that someone like me has recognized that there is a family need. This year the teachers had the pleasure of wrapping the gifts and I was amazed to see things like basketballs, warm coats, and shoes. In the end each child gets two clothing gifts and two toy gifts. The best part is that Wal-Mart actually donated any item that was not given by a donor (even those tags that are taken and not returned.). I do not consider my children spoiled - but four gifts, two of which are clothes, is not too much for Christmas. I do have to admit that my girls get three gifts from Santa since Jesus only received three at his birth. They do get more from mom and dad. Maybe the key is that low cost gifts are valued as much as more expensive ones at our home.
Thank you for listening and I encourage everyone to have that Christmas spirit all year long.
Now is the time, if you have cash in a account earning you nothing, now is the time to get in. Invest in index-based funds and you should be fine.
Those are some really solid fundamentals that even an experienced investor can benefit from by revisiting them on a regular basis. I have something very similar hanging in my home office that reminds me of what my discipline is and to ignore the sentiment of the market at times in favor of fundamentals.
I have a very old set that I have kept plugged in for emergencies when the cable is out but the power is on.
I bought a converter box, but cannot hook it up as the old TV doesn't have the coax plug in cable connections that seem to be required--- it has those really old connections that have those metal clips...
did I buy the wrong box or is it just the end of the road for the old TV? thanks in advance
Gold can't be used to even make tools. It's only real useful purpose is to be part of the machinery of a space shuttle since it's a reliable metal. But it's so damn expensive, the cost is prohibitive to be used en masse.
I'd bet more on iron ore than gold if you want to play the metals game. And apparently we're running out of that too.
Fabulously Broke in the City
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver...
1. Buy gold, hand tools, move back to a farming existence because we're screwed
2. Invest as much as you can if you're 'youngish' because the market will swing upwards again *crosses fingers*
Honestly, these are just opinions. No one knows what is actually going to happen. If they did, they'd be billionaires.
But I don't think becoming a farmer is the answer (why? not everyone can be a farmer, for one reason).
I'd say to investigate both arguments thoroughly and make a decision based on what you feel is most accurate.
Personally, I am leaning towards #2 because telling me that the stock market will disappear, currency will disappear, bartering will come back and everyone will be farmers is too off base for me. We're more of a tech-based society anyway. We're too reliant on technology and cars to go back to the 'old times'.
Even if it all becomes true, gold isn't necessarily going to be any better than iron ore for example. It's just a metal, it's just a material, and you can't even consume it (unlike oil or food), which means the value is something WE place on it as a society, not what value it actually has.
If everyone considered gold and diamonds to be worthless (unlikely), then they would be. They are, after all, just metals and stone. It's just that we put a heavy value on it, therefore it's valuable.
Water might actually become our most precious resource. So what should we do? Stock up on fresh water?
Anyway.
Fabulously Broke in the City
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver...
Awesome post.
Its always best to filter your water first. Take out those nasty chemicals.
Then I love my lemon water - just a few squeezes. Yummy.
Then I also ad this european cherry syrup - mmmmmmm good.
But straight up water is always clear, cold and satisfying.
Love,
Leslie Gabriel, WaterMan
"Test patterns (rather than programming) after midnight and before dawn"
And for stations that went off the air overnight, don't forget the FCC-mandated (still in effect) playing of the national anthem! (Watch the movie Poltergeist and you'll see it)
The article definitely woke me up. But yeah, lets say I write down the most important things that I "should" have been involved with, what kind of situation does it leave me with right now? should I leave what I am doing right now and proceed in a totally different direction since what I always wanted to do is in total out of sync with my present job....What happens to the fear of failure? What if you dont succeed in your next journey and one, end up, repenting later that he/she should have stayed put to the earlier boring but steady career ? where does the failure of the pursuit fit in? This is clearly hypothetical but I am pretty confident..i am expressing my reservations in line with many of those who already have this view
I am currently a technician at a retail pharmacy in North Carolina. I always tried to treat people nicely before, but after being treated so poorly by grumpy customers, I will NEVER be rude to customer service again. It amazes me how many times I have been yelled at because someone's insurance refused to cover a medication or his/her doctor has refused to fax in a new prescription.
And what is up with people expecting a refill within 10 minutes when their bottle clearly says, (in highlighted text) NO REFILLS REMAINING? One customer hit the glass window where they can see my counting. I followed him to the register and he said, "What the **** is taking so long? Can I just come back there and count it for you, you dum*ass?"
Every now and then, a grateful customer bakes us cookies. So that calms me.
I rented a video at Hollywood Video today and paid cash for the rental fee. I got home and the DVD was all scratched. I took it back within just a few minutes. There weren't any others of that title on the shelf - and they refused to refund my money.
I'll be writing the BBB about their dishonest policy if I don't get a refund when I call corporate.
If I go back there, I'll be sure to use a credit card so I'll have a little more power over the situation if it occurs again.
behind/under the vacuum cleaner bag, unless it's a very expensive machine and may be slolen also.
The rate on t-bills is determined by auction, so one of the downsides is that you don't know what rate you're going to get until after you've already bought the t-bill. On the other hand, you're getting the rate determined at auction, so you're getting the same rate the big-time financial types are getting--it's genuinely a market rate.
You can see what the rate is on current t-bills various places. Here's one, at Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/rates/index.html
The three-month and six-month bills are shown in the first two lines of the first chart.
Currently, rates on short-term government paper are terrible. (Actually negative on 3-month bills as I type this.) You can almost certainly do better on bank CDs right now. That will change, as the government's borrow needs eventually push up short-term rates. (So, if you're reading this comment months from now, be sure to check and compare rates.)
I jazz up my brown-paper wrappings with weeds from the yard--ahem--freshly picked flowers and greenery. (Using this method, you HAVE to wait until the last minute.) I admit that I also use real ribbon from a fabric store (bought ahead of time), but you can use twine or string or even a rubber band to help hold the plants in place. I also admit that I profit greatly, especially at this time of year, from having planted a rosemary bush.