Lazy Man and Money

Net Worth Update – June 2008

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It’s the middle of the month, so it’s a time to take a look at my net worth. Due to the stock market slump it slumped a little bit. It’s specifically down about $3,000 from around $220,500 to $217,380. The first half this year has been disappointing to me, because I really thought I’d be making more money that I’m spending. That speaks a little to the splurges that I’ve made, like my Asus EEE, but it really is about my income. I expected my websites to make more money. Maybe it’s the economy, or maybe I’m not doing a few things right. Perhaps the best explanation is that I simply don’t have the writing skills as some personal, finance, writers. Either way, I’m not giving up.

In the last month, I’ve been focusing a bit on another business. I mentioned it in passing in this space before. I can’t go into too many details, but I will say this. It piggybacks on the blogging skills I’ve acquired over the last two years. I will also say it heavily relies on the principals of the four hour work week. It’s on the verge of being profitable already which is quite outstanding considering that California’s incorporation costs are quite high ($1200+).

Here’s looking forward to next month.

Aww Phuket, I’m Outta Here

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phuket-beach.jpgThere comes a time, where you’ve just had enough. I think my wife and I have reached that point. So we decided to take some time off and say Phuket… …… Phuket Beach in Thailand that is. We are going vacation this September. If you read my posts a few weeks ago about military travel and my lust for the Asus Eee as a travel computer, you may have already connected the dots.

We didn’t set out to go to Phuket. We actually were expecting to go to Australia for 2-3 weeks. When we looked at things a little more, we found a few ways to maximize our savings on what will be a three week-long trip, such as:

  • Hawaii – Using nearly free military vacations, we’ll fly there from Travis Air Force Base for free. They go almost everyday and very often multiple times per day, so this should be easy. From there we’ll stay at the Hale Koa for $100 a night or possibly stay on base, while we try to get to Australia for free via the military.
  • Australia – We have tickets from Hawaii to Australia that we paid for, but if we can fly via the military we’ll pay a small fee and use the tickets next year (perhaps to go to Tahiti). If we can’t fly via the military we’ll just fly to Australia as is.
  • Thailand – From Australia we’re paying out of pocket to get to Phuket beach. We’ll use our Marriott timeshare in Aruba and stay at a deluxe Marriott. We lucked out because we are able to trade a one bedroom for a two bedroom for the week. This means that we can bank our other bedroom in the timeshare or sell it off. (If anyone is ever interested in a deluxe place to stay in Aruba feel free contact me.)
  • Australia (part 2) – We’ll head back to Australia where we’ll spend a week in Sydney using Marriott points. We’d like to spend more time and see more of the country, but I don’t think we’ll have the time with my wife’s work
  • Back to the US – We’re paying again to fly from Australia to Hawaii. If the military is going back, we’ll try to hitch a free ride with them and execute the Tahati plan. Once in Hawaii, we’ll get on one of the many military flights and go back to California, where we drive home.

This vacation overall is going to cost us a pretty penny. Flying to Australia, even from Hawaii, is not cheap. Continuing to Thailand as well isn’t cheap. Still, we should be able to reduce the expenses of this trip in half thought the short-cuts outlined above. Well, that’s not really true since we had to buy the timeshare, but that’s paid off in full at this time.

Lastly, now you know why I was so gung-ho for the 2-pound Asus EEE laptop that I bought. I’m only a little sad that it’s already obsolete as Asus has put out about 3 or faster and better machines.

Photo Credit: pete4ducks

Amazon Kindle: Buy or Not?

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When I first started this blog, I announced that I’d write about technology 5% of the time. Since I have written more than 700 articles at this point, I’m allow some 35 articles on technology. I think I used up a few of them with articles on my Asus EEE. As usual, with any technology article, I’ll attempt to tie it back to personal finance.

amazon-kindle.jpgYou may have already read about the Amazon Kindle. It’s yet another attempt by the technology industry to replace books. Companies have been at it for a few years, but it’s hard to replace books. They are extremely portable, require no power, and very easy on the eyes.

Before I completely disregard the Kindle, it’s worth taking a deeper look. Here are some things about the Kindle that I love:

  • Easy on My Eyes – I’ve spent a lot of time looking at computer monitors. Human eyes weren’t meant to look to at poor resolution, backlighted screens. I hate to admit it, but Mom was right about sitting to close to the TV. My eyes simply can’t tolerate the computer screen like they should. This Friday, I’m seeing a doctor about what I can do aside from the normal advice. The Kindle uses electronic ink which is not backlit in the same way – and delivers a great reading experience from all reviews I’ve seen. The 250 blogs that it has available would save my eyes considerable wear and tear.
  • Light weight – At 10.3 ounces it doesn’t weigh too much more than my Palm Treo. On a vacation last year, my wife wanted to pack a pile of books. Unfortunately, we could only take a few of them due to space/weight limitations on the airplane. If we had a Kindle we wouldn’t have had this problem.
  • Google Maps – This is an undocumented, unofficial feature of the Kindle. However it seems you can get Google Maps anywhere where Sprint has EVDO service. That’s a huge amount of area. While it’s not as good as a GPS navigation system it might be one of the best “bonuses” a product has ever offered.
  • Constant Free Internet Connection – This is the only device I’ve heard of that has free unlimited ability to connect to the Internet. Amazon has negotiated with Sprint to use their network at no charge. This means free Wikipedia almost anywhere in the US.. wow.
  • Automatically Updating Blogs – The Kindle will allow you read more than 250 blogs. One of them is my favorite sports-writer Bill Simmons. If he wrote as much as he used to this would be a huge selling point.
  • Newspapers and Magazines – Some of the most popular includes: Forbes, Fortune, Time, Reader’s Digest, NY Times, Wall St. Journal, Washington Post, and Investor’s Business Daily. All are at an additional charge – not that you’d expect to get this content for free outside of a library.

Pro Summary

The Kindle might be more portable than traditional books and possibly easier on the eyes… while providing time-sensitive information.

Here are some things that I don’t like about the Kindle:

  • Existing and Future books – If you already own a book or bought it off of Amazon in the last two years, do you get a Kindle version? No. If something better comes along like an Apple iReader will your Kindle Books work on it? They may not.
  • Internet Connection limited to the US – Remember that vacation that I talked about above… it was to Aruba… The Internet connection wouldn’t work and I wouldn’t get updated blog information.
  • Blogs cost money… every month – Not only do they cost money, but there are no personal finance blogs available. I’m a content producer and I do like to get paid, so I shouldn’t be so upset by this. However, I do provide my content via an RSS feed with minimal advertising. I think Amazon should provide that option.
  • Limit Blogs Available – This is an extension of the above. There should be a simple RSS reader available – preferably something that connection to popular services like Bloglines and Google Reader.
  • Only One Person Can Read it at a Time – This seems obvious, but it is worth mentioning. To go back to the vacation example, the Kindle would have been a poor solution for us to reduce the number books we carry. We would have needed two of them so we can both read on the airplane or by the pool. That’s two Kindles, two sets of subscriptions, etc.
  • Potential Theft – I would be very nervous about leaving my Kindle in plain sight and going for a swim. Some people might quickly snap up an unprotected $350 gadget. On the other hand, people are less likely to steal a copy of Your Money or Your Life.
  • Newspapers and Magazines are also expensive – I’ve been offered a better deals than $2.99 a month for Forbes… usually about a $1 an issue.

Con Summary

Financially, there are some issues… You might end up buying the same books you already own. You might have to have a Kindle for each member for of the family. You might end up paying a lot for content that you can reader cheaper or even for free. It could get stolen where you have to buy the device again.

Buy or Don’t Buy – I’m going with don’t buy at this point… The price of $350+ and the lure of potential subscription add-ons just doesn’t seem the right value for me. If you’ve got a lot of disposable income, I can see some value in this, but I don’t think it’s really something that middle class will adopt until it hits $99 price point. The potential is definitely there for this to be big in the next five years, so keep it on the radar.

Live Blogging from Finovate Startup

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Today, I’m gong to attempt to live blog from Finovate Start-up. I’ve got my pink Asus Eee in tow.

Here are some things to expect:

  • Many Typos – I haven’t gotten used to this keyboard yet.
  • Short Notes – Each company has just five minutes to demo its product. Since I grew up on MTV this shouldn’t be a problem ““ as long as there are hair bands, pyrotechnics, and Tawny dancing on the hood of a car.
  • Me Fallen Asleep – I had to get up at 5:30 this morning for 7:00AM registration. It seems that they’ve stressed the “finance” part of this more than the “start-up” part.
  • Mini Blogger Meet-up – I have confirmation that the following blogs will be represented, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Wisebread, RateLadder.com.

I’d like to thank Netbanker for the free press pass ““ it seems there is such a thing as a free lunch.

Asus Eee Purchased – Only One Catch

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Yesterday, I wrote about my techno-lust with the Asus Eee. Not long after the post went live, the lowest possible version on Craigslist for $200. That’s $100 less than retail, and $40 less from any other price I’ve previous seen. I jumped at the opportunity to own it. I figured that in the worst case scenario, I could sell it for a very small profit on Ebay tomorrow. I love when I can try “new-to-me” technology with little or no financial downside.

So now I get to “the catch…” It is the pink version. My wife finds the whole thing rather comical. Not that there’s anything wrong with pink, it’s just not the color I would choose if given a choice. It should be an interesting conversation piece when I bring it to a conference next Tuesday (more on that later today). I think I will pay another $20 for a protective color that will make it look mostly black. If I can look for a silver lining, it will make a good hand-me-down for my wife. She could take it with her when she travels for work. I’ll be happy to upgrade to better versions when the prices get more reasonable.

If you are considering getting one, here are some quick thoughts on the Linux version:

  • Linux isn’t bad – There’s a reason that one of the “E”s stands for Easy. It really is easy. I would have no problem giving this to my mom to use. She could get on the Internet and do most anything that she would want to do.
  • Google Reader is bad on the 800×480 screen – I use Google Reader as my main way of reading blogs. Unfortunately the frames that Google chose to use do not allow you see your list of subscriptions by default. However, if you switch Firefox to full-screen mode (press F11), you get just enough real estate to cycle through your subscriptions in a very small window. For those with the newer Asus Eee 900 this shouldn’t be a problem.
  • It’s relatively snappy – Because it has a solid-state hard drive, it boots up in 20 seconds. From Standby, it comes back in about 7 seconds. Websites render quickly. The slowest part of the machine is me – the keyboard is small that I current make a lot of typing mistakes unless I resort to a mostly two fingered approach. I think I will get better with it over time.
  • Not sure if space is going to be an issue – With a 2GB hard drive there’s not a lot of room for extras. I have a 4GB SD card, but I’m not sure if I can run extra programs on that. My limited experience with Linux says this shouldn’t be a problem, but I haven’t tried it.

It doesn’t look like it’s going to replace my full computer any time soon, but it looks like it will do exactly what I expect it to do – get me online from the road with relative ease at a reasonable price.