Thursday, November 29, 2012

Beer Train

I fell off the weekday beer wagon yesterday.  My shoulders were sore from lifting (my excuse to not work out) so I had a little more time on my hands than a normal weekday.  So I made up my mind that I'd only drink from 6:00 to 8:00 to still be somewhat responsible.  Well, come 8:00 I had consumed twelve beers.  That's a beer every ten minutes.

Chugga chugga, chugga chugga, choo choo!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Jungle Gold

I watched four hours of Jungle Gold yesterday.  I can see how these guys are trying to provide for their families, but how the hell does a person get $500,000 in debt, to the point that you have to go to Africa to maybe (maybe) find gold?  My theory, life aspect if you will, is to always live wihin your means.  Worst case scenario, keep your expenses down to a point where if you're unemployed you can live off the government assistance.  Basically, if push comes to shove, you'll still have a roof over your head and Campbells soup in the pantry.

I love my Campbells soup.

And on the gold subject, I wouldn't give you $1 for a pound of gold.  Sure, there's a market for it, but it's useless to me.  If I could sell it for bookoo bucks cool, but it has no monetary value to me.  Useless.  I'd gladly give you $20 for a 30-pack, but gold?  Nope.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Time Away

The Roommate and I had a great time away for the Sun/Tues weekend, all you could eat, all you could drink (Chula Vista, Wis Dells, look it up), good time off from work for a couple days.  But then, coming back to real life, and the impending Thanksgiving weekend, uh, just a bit much for me.  With my sister coming into town, at 6:30, ah, I couldn't help but drink before then, and drink, of course.  So I put the reuion off to Friday, after they do all their Black Friday shopping.  I'm just hoping mom still has food left from Thursday.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Shower Curtain

We have a guest coming over this weekend so the Roommate thought it would be a good idea to wash the shower cutain - which dissintegrated in the washer.  Now I sit here while she's shopping for a new one, and there's nothing more that I could want than to take a shower.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

The Numbers Game

This is the shit that keeps me up at night:

I mail in my $5,000 Roth IRA check every year.  Will I live to age 59.5 to get the tax savings (or to even enjoy the money)?

Is it more beneficial to pay an extra $200/mo on the mortgage, thereby decreasing the tax benefit but also decreasing the life of the loan, or put that $200 in the pre-tax 403(b) plan which would decrease my tax obligation now but pay later, once again under that 59.5 age stipulation?

If I can afford $200, why not $300?

What is the correct ratio of cash earning .75% vs. funds invested in the market which can fluctuate rather wildly lately?

Would having $xx,xxx at .75% be foolish to be earning such a low rate?

What's the minimum amount to have saved for emegencies that's readily available?

How much cash is too much to carry on you at any time?

I have five $10 sequentially numbered bills that I've been holding on to because...?

I have calculated my next three years of mortgage payments with extra principal payments so each month the ending balance on my loan ends with 00.00.  Who does that?

Besides me, of course...

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Five Days Off...

After not drinking for five days, should I be happy for only falling down twice last night?  Granted both times were in front of my house while taking the Puppy out (she did give me the stink eye, can't imagine what the neighbors thought).

Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Week 4, Week Night Beverages

So this is my fourth week of not drinking during the week.  The first week I tried this I thought it would be pretty tough.  I was trying to go from 15-20 beers a night, every night, to just indulging on the weekends.  I made sure I didn't have any beer in my house that first week.

Here it is week #4 and I have a full 30-pack in the fridge.  I'm not even tempted to go grab one.  Granted, I might go through 60 plus beers on the weekend, but I think I've made a step in the right direction, moving forward if you will.

Paul Ryan 2016 baby.

Election/Tax Advice

Now that it looks like this "healthcare for all" thing is going to go through, does anyone know if I increase my 403(b) contributions if my tax exposure to this legislature would be decreased?  Most tax rates are based on your adjusted gross income, and 403(b) contributions lower your recognized income on your W-2.  In theory this should work out like my own personal tax shelter, except I'm not really hiding my money from the goverment, just deferring my taxes until either the legislature is fixed or I turn 59 1/2.

Another thing, barring mad inflation, at age 59 1/2, there's no reason I couldn't make taxable withdrawls from this account to the tune of $25,000 and live very comfortably.  Just something for me to think about "going forward."

Sunday, November 04, 2012

Selling on Ebay

I goated the Roommate to list my shoes on Ebay.  These went for $120 plus shipping.