Debt Snowball Worksheet
Permalink | August 26, 2008 by John in Money
Free Debt Reduction Calculator for Excel
Download a free credit card Debt Reduction Calculator and Debt Snowball Payment Schedule worksheet for Microsoft® Excel®. This spreadsheet allows you to choose different debt reduction strategies, including the debt snowball effect (paying the lowest balance first) and highest interest first. Just choose the strategy from a dropdown box after you enter your creditor information into the worksheet.
Fire Sale Update
Permalink | August 2, 2008 by John in Auto, Money
Well, it’s been a slow Fire Sale, but I finally sold the Jeep. I sold the 327 about a month ago. I had a buyer on the elliptical trainer in Billings but the resistance ramp wouldn’t go up so he wouldn’t buy it. If I can fix it he’ll consider buying it, and Gene offered to haul it to Billings. I’ve had a TON of interest (well, okay, about a dozen inquiries, but still…) in the Porsches but no takers. I’m pretty much resigned to parting them out this fall. I’ve set a tentative (and somewhat arbitrary) deadline for selling them of Labor Day. The good news is I’ll make a lot more money on them, but the bad news is of course it will be a lot more work.
Screw the Joneses
Permalink | February 19, 2008 by John in Money, Video Games
You Are Not Your Stuff, Your Stuff Is Not You (via Get Rich Slowly):
You are not your stuff. You are not what you own, how much money you have, the size of your house, your flat screen TV or your new car. In the end, none of this matters at all. None of it. It’s nice stuff to have, don’t get me wrong, and if you can afford it and have room for it in your life, go for it. But keep in mind that your stuff does not make you who you are. You know that license plate you see sometimes that says “He who dies with the most toys wins“? Actually, he who dies is dead and doesn’t win anything, and you don’t even get to take any toys with you! The reality of it is that you are more than the sum of your stuff, and the key to happiness is to start thinking as such.
I get quizzical looks from people when I tell them I’m saving up for a new Xbox 360. Yes, I could just go charge it. But I don’t need it, I want it. And wanting is not a good enough reason to go into debt. Saving up for it over a few months breaks the gimme gimme gimme cycle. It gives me time to consider whether I really need to spend the money, rather than being an impulse buy with potential for buyer’s remorse. An Xbox360 is not going to make me happy (actually, nothing ever will except, perhaps, riding my motorcycle), it’s just going to give me something to do, something that’s fun, and frustrating, especially if I keep playing video games against teenagers.
2008 British Columbia Trip Getting More and More Expensive
Permalink | October 29, 2007 by John in Money, Motorcycle, Travel
Canadian dollar hits 47-year high
At 1500 GMT, the American dollar was worth only 95.47 Canadian dollars, while the loonie, a sobriquet given to the Canadian dollar, was being traded for 1.0474 US dollars.
And just four short years ago, $100CAN cost me $72US. No hooker for John during the Triumph Rally in Nelson, BC, next July…
::sigh::
How to Retire Early
Be more interested in your goal than what other people think. If you’re really serious about saving, then expect to sacrifice more luxuries than the next person. You might have to cut back on night-outs, expensive clothes and other luxuries. Whenever you find yourself thinking how you can never keep up with your cool colleague’s lifestyle, console yourself by thinking of the benefits that you will be reaping in the future.