I just checked my credit score, and I'm just barely in that "excellent" range. But I've found some things that are pretty interesting online about how to improve your score.
I think the easiest way for me to improve my score is to decrease my debt to credit ratio. Right now I'm at 73%. I'd like to get that to 50% over the next year or so. There is two ways to do this. The easiest way is to increase the amount of credit that is available to me. The other day I actually closed the account for Meg's ring that I had paid off, now that I know more about this ratio, I probably should not have closed that account.
The more difficult, but better in the long run, is to actually pay down the debts that you owe. But for me to hit my 50% ratio, I'd have to decrease my debts by about $60,000. This probably isn't reasonable to expect to happen over the next year. So ultimately it'll probably need to be a combination of paying down debt and increasing the credit available to me.
I took one step towards this a week ago when I called my credit card company and asked to have my credit limit raised. They raised it by about $2,000. So it wasn't much, but it helped! And to me, it doesn't really matter because I pay off the balance every month.
But there is a risk of your debt to credit ratio being too low! They say a good range to stay within is 40%-60%. If your ratio is too low, then you have too much credit available to you.
If you have any questions let me know and I'll see what I can dig up.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
March 10, 2009
So I finally hopped on the Twitter bandwagon and started my own feed. It's really interesting, you can even text in your updates. It's a way to put yourself out there again. And I've really begun to realize that blogging, twittering, and facebooking are the ways that people network these days. No longer do you have to go hang out at the local bars and wait to see what business people might show up. Now you go home and let the world know what you're doing and how good you are at it!
Now to my goals:
The other day Megan and I were at a decorating store that was going out of business, and we made an impulse buy on a bed frame. But we got it for 60% off and it was on our list of things we wanted to get this year. So I think it was a good buy. I won't be able to pay off my car this month, but that's fine. As long as I can pay my bills and I don't carry a credit card debt, I'm good to go! But we need to set a budget and try to stick to it. But thanks to my company sending me different places to work we can decrease our costs!
My working out hasn't been the best, but I've tried to cut back on my eating, so it's balanced out. I've also tried to get more sleep, so that helps me feel better too.
My focus has been decent, but I need to get back in the office so I can get back in the zone.
I'm going to try to get through a couple of magazines tonight and maybe get a start on the book that I brought, but we'll see.
I'm hoping to get the ceiling fan that we bought put up this weekend, but we'll see, there's a lot going on.
Now to my goals:
The other day Megan and I were at a decorating store that was going out of business, and we made an impulse buy on a bed frame. But we got it for 60% off and it was on our list of things we wanted to get this year. So I think it was a good buy. I won't be able to pay off my car this month, but that's fine. As long as I can pay my bills and I don't carry a credit card debt, I'm good to go! But we need to set a budget and try to stick to it. But thanks to my company sending me different places to work we can decrease our costs!
My working out hasn't been the best, but I've tried to cut back on my eating, so it's balanced out. I've also tried to get more sleep, so that helps me feel better too.
My focus has been decent, but I need to get back in the office so I can get back in the zone.
I'm going to try to get through a couple of magazines tonight and maybe get a start on the book that I brought, but we'll see.
I'm hoping to get the ceiling fan that we bought put up this weekend, but we'll see, there's a lot going on.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
March 4
So much to do with no time! With all the layoffs and everything going on, how are people supposed to get their stuff done in the same amount of time? There's only one way to do it, and that's to sacrifice quality. To me, that's not a very good trade off. And like so many people have mentioned before, with all of the technology we have now, we should be able to get a lot more done in less time. But that's not how it works...
The ring is paid off! FINALLY! Next is the car!
My working out has sucked, I feel like crap, and I'm flabby! I need to get back into it. The good thing is that it's getting warmer out, so I'm ready to run outside instead of on the thumping treadmill.
My focus has been off because there's so much to do. I need to focus on certain tasks at certain times of the day instead of trying to do everything at once and getting distracted by people. Tomorrow there's some big actions that need to get done that I'm going to try to focus on.
Lately I've been reading lot of blogs and my magazines. I've fallen pretty far behind on those. I'm going to start reading through the books that are in my bookcase. I'm not sure what's up first.....
The house is great, Megan does an amazing job when I'm gone traveling!
The ring is paid off! FINALLY! Next is the car!
My working out has sucked, I feel like crap, and I'm flabby! I need to get back into it. The good thing is that it's getting warmer out, so I'm ready to run outside instead of on the thumping treadmill.
My focus has been off because there's so much to do. I need to focus on certain tasks at certain times of the day instead of trying to do everything at once and getting distracted by people. Tomorrow there's some big actions that need to get done that I'm going to try to focus on.
Lately I've been reading lot of blogs and my magazines. I've fallen pretty far behind on those. I'm going to start reading through the books that are in my bookcase. I'm not sure what's up first.....
The house is great, Megan does an amazing job when I'm gone traveling!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
February 28, 2009
It was a good week, I got a lot done, we found a good renter for our duplex, and we'll be officially signing a lease for our current renters! So things are getting a bit more organized.
Over the next few days, as soon as my payment goes through, the ring will be officially paid off! And hopefully after I get my profit sharing check on the 15th, I'll be able to pay off the car! I won't exactly get all that money to play with because I changed the allowances on my W-4 so I basically decreased my paycheck, but I increased the lump sum I'll get back next February when I do my taxes. I'm thinking a lot of that will go towards the wedding. Megan and I talked about going to a Hilton in the Caribbean instead of an all-inclusive so that I can use my points, and our honeymoon would be relatively cheap. But we don't need to make that decision until this September. So on the financial side of life, I'm living pretty easy right now. I'm also going to be participating in Ramit Sethi's Challenge, so it'll be interesting to see how much money he can help me save this month!
I've changed up my working out routine. Now I work out about every other day, but incorporate more physical exercise in all of my days. I've started taking the stairs and walking more. I've also started drinking a lot more water and eating less. And on the days that I don't work out I eat a lot less than the days that I do. So we'll see how that turns out. I can tell already that I'm feeling a little bit better though.
My focus has been pretty good. I've realized that I need to organize my things and spend more time on things I like and less on things that I don't really care about. Like this morning, I went through all the blogs that I have in my "Favorites" tab, and narrowed it down to the ones that I actually like to read. So instead of 15 blogs, I only have 10 that I'm following now. My next project is to go through all the articles I've ripped out of my magazines and see which ones I'll ever use. But doing these things helps me to focus my time and energy on things that I actually like, instead of trying to learn everything that's out there.
I finished reading a book called The 11th Element, but Robert Scheinfeld. It was an alright book. It talked about how you have this inner network who helps you accomplish your life goals, and you need to ask that network to find things for you and to make things happen. I can partially see this as not being complete bull because in my life, I've been able to acheive things that I really want to, and things have just happened. But on the other hand, making requests to some inner network that works for you is a bit out there... But it was a somewhat interesting read. The other day I realized that I had so many books on my bookshelf that I had never read. So I plan on reading some of those over the next few months.
I did a good cleaning of the house today. And either today or tomorrow Megan and I are going to go through the spare bedroom and see what's going to be given to Goodwill! We have so much junk in there and I have no idea what it all is...
Over the next few days, as soon as my payment goes through, the ring will be officially paid off! And hopefully after I get my profit sharing check on the 15th, I'll be able to pay off the car! I won't exactly get all that money to play with because I changed the allowances on my W-4 so I basically decreased my paycheck, but I increased the lump sum I'll get back next February when I do my taxes. I'm thinking a lot of that will go towards the wedding. Megan and I talked about going to a Hilton in the Caribbean instead of an all-inclusive so that I can use my points, and our honeymoon would be relatively cheap. But we don't need to make that decision until this September. So on the financial side of life, I'm living pretty easy right now. I'm also going to be participating in Ramit Sethi's Challenge, so it'll be interesting to see how much money he can help me save this month!
I've changed up my working out routine. Now I work out about every other day, but incorporate more physical exercise in all of my days. I've started taking the stairs and walking more. I've also started drinking a lot more water and eating less. And on the days that I don't work out I eat a lot less than the days that I do. So we'll see how that turns out. I can tell already that I'm feeling a little bit better though.
My focus has been pretty good. I've realized that I need to organize my things and spend more time on things I like and less on things that I don't really care about. Like this morning, I went through all the blogs that I have in my "Favorites" tab, and narrowed it down to the ones that I actually like to read. So instead of 15 blogs, I only have 10 that I'm following now. My next project is to go through all the articles I've ripped out of my magazines and see which ones I'll ever use. But doing these things helps me to focus my time and energy on things that I actually like, instead of trying to learn everything that's out there.
I finished reading a book called The 11th Element, but Robert Scheinfeld. It was an alright book. It talked about how you have this inner network who helps you accomplish your life goals, and you need to ask that network to find things for you and to make things happen. I can partially see this as not being complete bull because in my life, I've been able to acheive things that I really want to, and things have just happened. But on the other hand, making requests to some inner network that works for you is a bit out there... But it was a somewhat interesting read. The other day I realized that I had so many books on my bookshelf that I had never read. So I plan on reading some of those over the next few months.
I did a good cleaning of the house today. And either today or tomorrow Megan and I are going to go through the spare bedroom and see what's going to be given to Goodwill! We have so much junk in there and I have no idea what it all is...
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
February 18, 2009
It's been so long since I've posted! Not good.... I need to work on that. I've been so ridiculously busy lately, with things really ramping up at work, and trying to rent out our duplex, and work on buying more property, and start my other part time job. I think something will need to go, and the first thing to go will be the part time job.
I've been putting all of my tax return toward the ring and I'm really close to paying that off! And next month is looking good to pay off the car. I also adjusted my tax deductions back to 1, instead of 8. Initially I did this so that I could stop giving the government an interest free loan. But now I see that it's kind of a hassel, and I'm really not losing much in interest. And it'll be nice to get a big refund check next February.
My working out has been pretty crappy. I've been eating pretty bad, and not working out enough.
My focus at work has been pretty good, but I think it's because I have so much to do, that I don't have any choice but to really focus on what's right in front of me. But I have gotten much better at delagating and deciding which projects are most important and which ones can be pushed off a little bit. But it makes sense because the projects that aren't that important won't get funded anyway. EVERYTHING is getting scrutenized harder than ever. But for me, that's nice because I have a good reason to push off some of these projects that won't have much effect on the overall company's well-being.
I finished reading a book about how to make you an employee that companies want to keep. It didn't bring up really anything new to me, but it reiterated a few good points. Basically, work hard, talk to the right people, make sure the right people know what you're doing, and don't waste your time with people who will hold you back. I'm not sure what my next book will be.... I need to find more time to read!
The house is in pretty good shape, I cleaned off the table tonight so we're doing alright. I think we need to do a deep clean soon!
I've been putting all of my tax return toward the ring and I'm really close to paying that off! And next month is looking good to pay off the car. I also adjusted my tax deductions back to 1, instead of 8. Initially I did this so that I could stop giving the government an interest free loan. But now I see that it's kind of a hassel, and I'm really not losing much in interest. And it'll be nice to get a big refund check next February.
My working out has been pretty crappy. I've been eating pretty bad, and not working out enough.
My focus at work has been pretty good, but I think it's because I have so much to do, that I don't have any choice but to really focus on what's right in front of me. But I have gotten much better at delagating and deciding which projects are most important and which ones can be pushed off a little bit. But it makes sense because the projects that aren't that important won't get funded anyway. EVERYTHING is getting scrutenized harder than ever. But for me, that's nice because I have a good reason to push off some of these projects that won't have much effect on the overall company's well-being.
I finished reading a book about how to make you an employee that companies want to keep. It didn't bring up really anything new to me, but it reiterated a few good points. Basically, work hard, talk to the right people, make sure the right people know what you're doing, and don't waste your time with people who will hold you back. I'm not sure what my next book will be.... I need to find more time to read!
The house is in pretty good shape, I cleaned off the table tonight so we're doing alright. I think we need to do a deep clean soon!
Monday, February 9, 2009
February 9, 2009
Alright, I'll touch on my New Year's resolutions again.
I've figured out my plan to pay off the ring and my car early! After I get my federal tax return this Friday I'll put that, and my state refund towards the ring. That should take care of that loan! That's a big one, because if I don't pay that off by July the interest rate goes WAY up, so really, it can be considered an investment! Then in March when I get my profit sharing (which will probably suck) then I'm hoping I'll be able to pay off my car a couple of months early. Paying off those two loans will give me an extra $500 per month! With a combination of that extra money per month and my new second job, we should be sitting pretty good, and we should be able to enjoy the Twin cities more.
I haven't been working out as much as I'd like to. But the other day I ran for 30 minutes and didn't die! So that was a good sign! Then for the next few days I'll be back out in LA, so we'll see what I can get accomplished out there. I know my eating is going to be terrible out there...but I'll try to keep it reasonable!
My focus at work has been alright, I've been able to prioritize and try to get some things checked off my enormous list. This has allowed me to focus more on the 80% of my projects that are actually going somewhere and put off the 20% that are pretty much meaningless. And some of those projects will never get spending approved anyway, so I choose to ignore them. It's the classic 80/20 rule!
I haven't started a new book yet, but I've been getting through my magazines and blogs pretty well. I have a few blogs that I really love reading. Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist Blog is excellent! Ramit Sethi has a lot of good points in his I Will Teach You to be a Millionaire blog. I've also subscribed to his Scrooge Strategy, which, so far, hasn't really been worth my $8 investment. Tim Ferriss has an interesting blog, he's the author of The Four Hour Workweek. Evidently he made too much money on his book deal and now just spends all his time traveling around and doing some really cool stuff! I also have a couple of guys that I knew in college that are doing some amazing things and blog about them. One of them is Chris Deal, who is a great guy and a very accomplished leader, he's been blogging about traveling in Africa. Another guy is Wes Meier who is traveling around Nicaragua and blogging about it. Both of these guys, along with Greg McGrath have started an organization called Emerging Opportunities for Sustainability, and they're doing some incredible things in third world countries.
We cleaned all the carpets in the house the other day, and it looks so much better! It really brought the carpet back to life and probably extended it's life by a couple of years! Other than that, we reorganized the furniture a little bit and I really like it.
I learned a lesson today. I was talking to one of my friends at work who is constantly bitching about her job and the people that she works with. She feels like everything gets dumped on her, and the people that she manages, basically can't/won't help her out. I've tried to give her some tips, but she's not receptive to them at all. So I learned that some people are perfectly content staying in a crappy job, and just complaining about it, you just can't help them. So I'm going to choose to just leave these people alone, their lives will play out just the way they think it will.
I've figured out my plan to pay off the ring and my car early! After I get my federal tax return this Friday I'll put that, and my state refund towards the ring. That should take care of that loan! That's a big one, because if I don't pay that off by July the interest rate goes WAY up, so really, it can be considered an investment! Then in March when I get my profit sharing (which will probably suck) then I'm hoping I'll be able to pay off my car a couple of months early. Paying off those two loans will give me an extra $500 per month! With a combination of that extra money per month and my new second job, we should be sitting pretty good, and we should be able to enjoy the Twin cities more.
I haven't been working out as much as I'd like to. But the other day I ran for 30 minutes and didn't die! So that was a good sign! Then for the next few days I'll be back out in LA, so we'll see what I can get accomplished out there. I know my eating is going to be terrible out there...but I'll try to keep it reasonable!
My focus at work has been alright, I've been able to prioritize and try to get some things checked off my enormous list. This has allowed me to focus more on the 80% of my projects that are actually going somewhere and put off the 20% that are pretty much meaningless. And some of those projects will never get spending approved anyway, so I choose to ignore them. It's the classic 80/20 rule!
I haven't started a new book yet, but I've been getting through my magazines and blogs pretty well. I have a few blogs that I really love reading. Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist Blog is excellent! Ramit Sethi has a lot of good points in his I Will Teach You to be a Millionaire blog. I've also subscribed to his Scrooge Strategy, which, so far, hasn't really been worth my $8 investment. Tim Ferriss has an interesting blog, he's the author of The Four Hour Workweek. Evidently he made too much money on his book deal and now just spends all his time traveling around and doing some really cool stuff! I also have a couple of guys that I knew in college that are doing some amazing things and blog about them. One of them is Chris Deal, who is a great guy and a very accomplished leader, he's been blogging about traveling in Africa. Another guy is Wes Meier who is traveling around Nicaragua and blogging about it. Both of these guys, along with Greg McGrath have started an organization called Emerging Opportunities for Sustainability, and they're doing some incredible things in third world countries.
We cleaned all the carpets in the house the other day, and it looks so much better! It really brought the carpet back to life and probably extended it's life by a couple of years! Other than that, we reorganized the furniture a little bit and I really like it.
I learned a lesson today. I was talking to one of my friends at work who is constantly bitching about her job and the people that she works with. She feels like everything gets dumped on her, and the people that she manages, basically can't/won't help her out. I've tried to give her some tips, but she's not receptive to them at all. So I learned that some people are perfectly content staying in a crappy job, and just complaining about it, you just can't help them. So I'm going to choose to just leave these people alone, their lives will play out just the way they think it will.
Friday, February 6, 2009
February 5, 2009
Today I’m going to skip talking about my resolutions. I’ll get back to those in a couple days.
I want to talk about what is going on in the world and how it’s affecting “regular” people. The first issue that has made the news is that Obama is limiting the salary of CEO’s of companies that are getting government help to $500K. I do see this as a good and bad thing. The good side is that some of these CEO’s are making ridiculous sums of money, and they’re screwing over the American people. And since we’re basically paying their salaries now, I think they should be limited. The downside is that I’m sure some of these CEO’s will leave their companies, and go to other companies where they can get paid what they’re worth. Granted, some of these CEO’s aren’t worth a dollar, but some of them are.
The other trend that I see in the business world is the balance between price and customer service. Many companies now are being MUCH more price sensitive and not looking as much into customer service. They’ll go out and get competitive bids, and the winner is the one with the lowest price. BUT this is a HUGE mistake! From my work as a project manager, even if a company has a low price, in the end they’ll cost you more. If they have terrible customer service you’ll end up having a lot of change orders, problems with delivery, timelines delayed, and in the end you’ll have to pay a lot to get the equipment up and running the way it should be. So it just kills me when I work on high visibility projects and all management cares about is the price. When they turn to this strategy I just add in more contingency because I know I’ll need it because of the reasons listed above.
As I was driving in my rental car to the airport tonight I heard a country song that said something along the lines of “momma asked if he was dipped in blood or water, and daddy asked if he made enough money to take care of her”. This made me think about Megan, our relationship, and our financial position. My ultimate dream is to become financially free and be able to travel and do whatever we want to do in life. Financially free to me, means making more in passive income than what you spend. To accomplish this we either need to build up a huge portfolio of stock investments, or build up a business that runs itself and pays us every month. To me, the route I’d like to take is to build up a business that has great profit margins. Right now my management company will make about $1,000 per month after we pay off some of our short term debts. Now, if we buy 9 more properties like this, then the 3 owners could quit our day jobs and just run the management company. This wouldn’t make me financially free, but it would give me the time to really focus on building up that company even more, and get to that financial freedom much quicker than if I work for a Fortune 500 company for the rest of my life.
But in the mean time, before Megan and I get to our financial freedom, I’d like to make enough to where my salary can pay for all of my, and Megan’s bills, and she can really do whatever she enjoys doing. I don’t know if she knows what that is yet, but I’m hoping she discovers it someday! I love working and doing what I’m doing. But eventually, I’d like the freedom to quit my day job and get into real estate full time without worrying how I’m going to pay the bills! Real estate is fascinating to me, and I think it’s something that I’ll enjoy for the rest of my life. It does come with it’s challenges, but if it’s not a challenge, it’s not any fun!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
