thailand Archives - Lazy Man and Money

Alternative Income Streams – October 2008

October 3, 2008 by Lazy Man 8 Comments

Another month is done and it’s time to take a look at my alternative income for the previous month. In past months, I’ve given a number that was very specific, down to the cents. This month, I can’t be as specific – the power cord on my laptop is broken, so I have to make a battery last a week, until the person from Ebay ships my replacement. (While I am happy to have saved around $40, I would have paid full price to get it faster – it simply wasn’t an option that I could see.)

So this past month, my websites and other dividend income (which is minor) netted me around $2100 in profits. I’m sure some will come and say that I should be quite happy with that number, but it hasn’t gone up in some time. Then again, I spent much of last month in Australia and Thailand, so I can hardly complain. The dollar per hour worked was actually quite high. Most months that would be the biggest piece of news…

This month, my business partner, had been selling the poo out the start-up business. Though I had the contact for the biggest client, the rest were all him and his contacts. I came back and found that he set our company up with a competitive recurring profit to my websites and dividends. I’m not quite sure how to classify the income though. It’s a little like a manager’s job, where you have to be around to make sure the excrement isn’t hitting the fan. However on most days, I’m just making sure that everything else is running smoothly, which is fairly passive. I suppose there’s the making of new sales as well.

I don’t know whether to consider to consider it alternative income based on the definition at that link or not. I’m pretty tempted to say that it is, because the amount I’m paid is not tied to how many hours I work. Let me know your thoughts (even if they are that I need to come up with new words for doody) in the comments.

Weekend Links – Preparing for Australia/Thailand Edition

August 10, 2008 by Lazy Man 8 Comments

My wife and I will be heading to Australia and Thailand in less than a month. Instead of looking forward to the vacation is excitement, I’ve found myself looking forward with worry. A flight across the United States is almost more than I can stand. I’m not sure how I’ll do on several hours of flights. I’m starting to think that if I had an Amazon Kindle, I could catch up on a lot of eBooks I have waiting for me. Unfortunately a real computer will probably run out of battery quickly. I would even be tempted to pick up a Kindle if I found a cheap one on Craigslist. No luck on the Sony eReader either.

The other thing that worries me is keeping up with Lazy Man and Money. I know that when you are on vacation, you should be on vacation. Still I would like to make sure that spammy comments are kept out, read the good comments that people are leaving behind, catch up with advertising, etc. I worry that there will be no Internet connection or that it will be an outrageous amount to use per minute. On top of that, I need to have a month’s worth of content ready for you guys to read. I’ve never had more than a week before. I have outlines on 10-15 stories – even a couple of sentences for each – but I may have to use those in the short term as well. Do I have the creative juice to do it all in advance? Do I risk not having it all ready and hope to fill in with some articles “on the road”?

While I’m checking my spam filter for cheap places to order Xanax online, enjoy these links.

Articles from The Money Writers that I liked this week:

Looking for an unconventional Roth IRA strategy to lower tax bill? My Dollar Plan presents hers.
Write it down is Million Dollar Journey’s tip of the week.
Money Smart Life says make more money & be happy in your job using a work portfolio.
What are the 5 signs that say your job sucks? Brip Blap knows and if they apply to your job then it’s pretty clear that you are in need of change.
Do you know what the 10 hottest mutual funds in 2008 are? Not sure? Read the Sun’s Financial Times to find out.
Ouch! Hackers steal 40 million credit and debit card numbers – has your number been stolen? Store List provided at Generation X Finance.
Digerati Life asks, how would you grade your money management skills? What’s your answer?

From outside The Money Writers:

Ten things teens should know about money over at 5 Cent Nickel followed by the state of financial education in the U.S. looks at financial education pretty critically. What aren’t your teens learning?
Consumer Commentary says bottled water? What was I thinking? Read more for a look at how gas prices and food prices connect. Save on tap!
Mighty Bargain Hunter writes there is NOTHING unpatriotic about retiring early. What do you think?

Best Credit Card for Foreign Travel? (Ask the Readers)

October 27, 2008 by Lazy Man 4 Comments

Last week, I mentioned how my wife and I are going on ambitious trip to Phuket (and Australia). It’s been a little while since I went outside the US. Last year, we went to Aruba, but I’m so familiar with saving money in Aruba, that I didn’t feel the need to conserve every last cent. More importantly, they accept US Dollars so there’s no conversion.

Australia and Thailand are two different monsters entirely. I have no clue what to expect for prices. I’ve heard that credit card companies can play some tricks with conversion rates and fees. For example this article from Bankrate says that there are a couple of fees, one from Mastercard and Visa and another from the issuing bank. I’d like to be able to use my credit as a savings tool like I do in the US earning cash back when possible.

It looks like Capital One may have one of the lowest fees, but I don’t feel comfortable with them since they hate the environment.

In the end, we’ll probably take advantage of the USAA and their debit card. They promise no fees even abroad. Seeing how they are affiliated with the military, I think I trust them to get me a good exchange rate since they aren’t for big profits like other banks… Or else I’ll just check out some of these credit card reviews.