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...
Saturday, February 28, 2009
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!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
February 3, 2009
Right now I'm out in sunny California, trying to keep my projects going and get all of my stuff done! Traveling seems to suck up a lot of time because you just spend more time driving, getting ready, eating, etc.... So you lose a few hours of every day. The upside is that I'm not at my house to work on the things I need to do there, so it kind of evens out.
And last night I filed my taxes so now I'm done! I should be getting my refund in about 8 business days. My refund wasn't as big as I was thinking it was going to be, but I'll be able to pay off all my loans on time so I won't get hit with any big APR's. So that makes me feel better. Now I just need to catch up to my credit card payments!
So since I've been traveling, I've tried really hard to eat reasonably, but sometimes it's so hard! The food out here is amazing, and they give me too much. But I've done a pretty good job of ordering things that are pretty healthy and eating decent portions. Today we went to this salad bar place and it was amazing! They had all the toppings you'd ever want to put on a salad, and you just made your own. They also had about 10 different soups and pizza and stuff like that. I wish MN had a restaurant like this, it was great. But it was a buffet style restaurant, and as I looked around at the people that were there, many of them were very obese, so that helped me keep my portions small. At that moment I vowed to avoid buffets whenever possible. It just made me sick to watch what some people were eating and what their KIDS were eating. Some of those kids will start having health problems when they're 18, it's really sad....
Since I'm traveling, I really have no personal expenses. And I'll be traveling about half of this month. And when I'm not traveling I'll either be working on the duplex or working at my new part time job. So that should keep me out of spending trouble and I'll be able to catch up with my credit card balance!
My focus at work has been off but I think that's because I'm in CA. When I'm out here it's really hard for me to get in "the zone". It's just not my normal atmosphere so I'm kind of out of it. Whenever I come out here my goal is to just take care of the things that HAVE to get done, and I'll take care of everything else when I get back in the office. The other thing that is getting my off focus at work is my management company and some opportunities that have shown their faces! It has real potential to take off! Then by the time I'm 30 maybe I'll be financially free and not have to work if I don't want to.
Right now I'm reading The Starbucks Experience. It's a pretty decent book about how to go above and beyond in regards to customer service but I'm not sure how much more there is to the book. Especially now knowing that Starbucks has taken a dive and isn't the mecca that it used to be. But there are some valid points to learn from it. I'm hoping to finish it by the time I land back in MN.
As for the house, I'm not sure what kind of shape it's in, I'm not there to mess it up, so I'm sure it's alright!
Also, I'm going to start trying to make my blogs more interactive, I just now learned how to put links in!
And last night I filed my taxes so now I'm done! I should be getting my refund in about 8 business days. My refund wasn't as big as I was thinking it was going to be, but I'll be able to pay off all my loans on time so I won't get hit with any big APR's. So that makes me feel better. Now I just need to catch up to my credit card payments!
So since I've been traveling, I've tried really hard to eat reasonably, but sometimes it's so hard! The food out here is amazing, and they give me too much. But I've done a pretty good job of ordering things that are pretty healthy and eating decent portions. Today we went to this salad bar place and it was amazing! They had all the toppings you'd ever want to put on a salad, and you just made your own. They also had about 10 different soups and pizza and stuff like that. I wish MN had a restaurant like this, it was great. But it was a buffet style restaurant, and as I looked around at the people that were there, many of them were very obese, so that helped me keep my portions small. At that moment I vowed to avoid buffets whenever possible. It just made me sick to watch what some people were eating and what their KIDS were eating. Some of those kids will start having health problems when they're 18, it's really sad....
Since I'm traveling, I really have no personal expenses. And I'll be traveling about half of this month. And when I'm not traveling I'll either be working on the duplex or working at my new part time job. So that should keep me out of spending trouble and I'll be able to catch up with my credit card balance!
My focus at work has been off but I think that's because I'm in CA. When I'm out here it's really hard for me to get in "the zone". It's just not my normal atmosphere so I'm kind of out of it. Whenever I come out here my goal is to just take care of the things that HAVE to get done, and I'll take care of everything else when I get back in the office. The other thing that is getting my off focus at work is my management company and some opportunities that have shown their faces! It has real potential to take off! Then by the time I'm 30 maybe I'll be financially free and not have to work if I don't want to.
Right now I'm reading The Starbucks Experience. It's a pretty decent book about how to go above and beyond in regards to customer service but I'm not sure how much more there is to the book. Especially now knowing that Starbucks has taken a dive and isn't the mecca that it used to be. But there are some valid points to learn from it. I'm hoping to finish it by the time I land back in MN.
As for the house, I'm not sure what kind of shape it's in, I'm not there to mess it up, so I'm sure it's alright!
Also, I'm going to start trying to make my blogs more interactive, I just now learned how to put links in!
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