Savings Accounts

I’m in the process of managing my finances and I realized: a lot of people don’t earn money with their money. In other words, your Wells Fargo savings account is only earning you… what… 8/10ths of a percent? Your money is wasting time in there! If I’m not mistaken, you’re earning money slower than prices are inflating. Heck, you may be losing money.

Well then, what do you do? Simple: find a high interest savings account or put some money in a CD.

Personally, I do both. Since I only pay tuition two times a year I can lock my cash into a CD for a few months (6, 12, etc) and then use it once I actually need it. Money that would have just been sitting around waiting to pay for college has earned me over $400. It’s just that easy…

But, what about the short-term money? Well, I transfer all my cash into an ING Direct account. This savings account earns me 3.8% and through April, my new deposits are earnign 4.75%. I’ve already earned $30 in the first few months. Sometimes a number doesn’t say much so I need to look at it a different way. That $30 is the same as 6 free burritos. Can you imagine a mini pyramid of burritos every month? It’s a great thought…

I guess my point is this: put your money away and let it earn some interest. ING works in a funny way, though. What you do is ‘link’ an existing bank account to it. This serves as a direct connection between the two accounts and you easily (within 2 business days) transfer money in and out. To me, the money seems more difficult to get to. This acts as a barrier to spending and allows me to earn more burritos.

So, to everyone out there with their money sitting around, open an ING Direct account and get $25 for free. Thats right. If you leave a comment here with your email I will send you an invitation. Once you make an initial deposit of $250 you’ll automatically earn $25. Again, thats like 5 free burritos and, well, they taste even better when they’re free.

Plus, if you open an account I’ll earn $10 and that’s pretty awesome. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment.
[tags]personal, money, finances, saving[/tags]

Honesty Challenge

I’m required to write a paper this weekend. But first, I have to challenge myself to three days of nothing less than pure honesty. In other words, starting tomorrow morning everything I say and do will be 100% honest. There will be no lying, no exaggerating, no stealing, no cheating, no law breaking (speeding!), and so on. I can’t imagine this being even remotely easy. Sarcasm is my weapon of choice!

I can’t wait to share my experiences. Does anyone else out there think they could live up to this challenge?

…wait, why is being honest even considered a challenge?

[tags]personal, improvement, honest, college[/tags]

Studying for Tests

To answer the question: yes, I did drop off the planet these last few days. Actually I’ve just been running all over the place. My roommate’s family came into town which meant lots of time not spent studying for my accounting test. Shoot, very little time to study! What do you do typically in those situations?

Personally, instead of stressing out, I decided to do the last thing most people probably would: I took a nap. Sure, there may be a lot to do but I figured I’d want to take care of everything once I was well rested. In short, it worked out for the best… the test was Monday evening (7:00pm) and I napped until 1:45am that morning. I proceeded to study my notes, homework and practice problems. I took a nap between and then one more at 6:00am.

Sure, I could’ve stayed up all night and read everything I could possibly find… but that’s a waste of time. When it comes to studying, tests, and school in general I’m a big fan of benefit-cost analysis. In other words I asked myself: How often do I see these people (roommate’s family)? Would the few hours spent with them be worth more than the extra time spent on practice problems? The answer was yes. How? Put simply: the few hours spent re-reading all the material would only earn a few more percentage points. Points which can easily be made up later…

So how do I go about studying for tests? Well, the first test in a class is always the best. It sets the pace for the rest of the year. So, I essentially do the (I know this will sound bad) bare minimum required to understand all the material. For example, I had a Cost Management test last week which I studied a little bit for. Why didn’t I dedicate a lot of time to it? I did pretty well on all the previous homeworks (which were largely problem solving). All I had to do then is re-familiarize myself with them. From there all I needed to do was read the chapter notes and slides. The end result was nearly a perfect score on the math problems. I had already spent the time mastering the material once or twice a week (through homework). The multiple choice questions? Those are a different story. I did alright, but, as I mentioned, this is the first test and those points tell me where I need to focus more energy next time.

My point is, I studied until I felt comfortable enough to go into a test with a decent understanding of all the material on it. Did I know each chapter in-depth? No. Did I know any chapter in-depth? No. Did I need to? My grade (a B) suggests I didn’t. Having never actually read a chapter from the book I feel this is a great way to set the bar for the rest of the semester. It’s quite obvious where I need to go from here. I need to read a bit more and make sure I’m familiar with multiple-choice questions. Simple as that.

How do I know this works? Why is it I don’t just end up with the same score as the first test? Simple: I change my study behavior. The first accounting class I took in college was the hardest thing I had encountered. I got a 73 on the first test. I worked smarter (not harder) and started to realize what would work best; I got an 85. By the final I had perfected my study routine and scored 107%. There was no curve, he just added 10 questions (worth 1-point each). That means I either missed one question from the test or 3 of the extra questions.

In short, spend the time ‘studying’ as the semester progresses. Sure, I understand the need to study for hours and hours before a big test. But, if you prepare along the way, it makes the act of studying that much easier.

Yes, I’m on the Dean’s List. I know I’m in (at least) the top 7 percent of the school. But that doesn’t necessairly mean I’m “smart”. You don’t have to be “smart” to succeed… look at the Fortune 500 CEOs. No, all you have to be is clever.

[tags]college, study, test, midterm, homework, personal, success[/tags]

My Bookshelf

We know what John Moore is reading and what’s on Kathy Sierra’s (virtual) coffee table. I decided I’d take a look and see what I’ve been reading.

One of the best ways to get to know someone is to look at their bookshelf. Or at least their coffee table.

I couldn’t agree more. I remember someone walking into our house one day and the magazines on the coffee table gave an insightful look at who I was and what I was into. They mentioned how great the magazines were and he and I quickly found some common ground (The magazines were Fortune, Cargo, PC Magazine, and FastCompany). I no longer have magazines on my coffee table but I certainly have a growing pile of books lying around. These are the books I’m in the process of reading:

To Read

…and these are the books on my shelf. Most have been read while a few will sit there until I feel it’s appropriate to read them.

Bookshelf

I wish I had more time to read becuase I have a lot more books piling up in queue. My goal is to finish a book a month and so far im 0/2. I think it’s best I get back on track…

What’s on your bookshelf? Is it a pretty accurate portrayal of who you are and your interests? Mine certainly are. I love business, marketing, blogs, history, and technology. What about you?

[tags]books, reading, bookshelf, book[/tags]

Seeking Solitude

These days it’s hard to find time for ourselves. The Open Debate in the back in this month’s FastCompany struck a chord with me. Shannon, a high school senior, says the following:

Many teenagers instant-message instead of having actual relationships. Everyone rushes through the streets jabbering on their cell phones, iPods stuck in their ears. No one has time to be close to, well, anyone.

I, along with John Seely Brown (former Chief Scientist at Xerox Corp.) disagree to some extent. As he mentions, instant messaging and the internet allow us to establish extremely dense networks. To many, this brings us closer to more people with more ease. Take me for example: I work under two seperate individuals that I have never met in person, I communicate with friends studying in Spain, and I am in constant contact with my friends at school (despite living 20m away). I think Shannon is trying to date herself without having the required years to effectively do it…

But, what exactly is an “actual relationship?” Are we to suggest my relationships with Noah, Jeremy, and Jim are fake? Certainly not. A relationship doesn’t always require physical interaction. Sure, it’s become clear that there is an important difference between working with people in an office and working remotely from home. The point being, we’d all prefer Shannon’s “actual relationships”; but we can’t discount the value of any other relationship.

I agree though, people do run around with cell phones attached to their ears. As mentioned earlier, we rush from A to B to C back to A. Certainly it begins to wear on us. We’re constantly connected and constantly ‘doing’. Put simply, our hectic lifestyles require some sort of solitude.

I realized as I started my biphasic sleep cycle that I lost some important ‘down time’. Instead of lying in bed and thinking to myself for who-knows-how-long I had to start forcing myself to stop and fall asleep quickly. This way I woke up at the correct time and didn’t throw my schedule off. Frankly, that sucks. I need some of that time to reflect and escape the nonsense around me.

I can walk to class and turn on my iPod, I can sit at work and listen to it too. This doesn’t mean I’m trying to shut people out and dissolve my “actual relationships”, I’m just seeking solitude. Taking some time to stop and think (or stop thinking) seems necessary. I forgot where I read this but it’s recently been shown that after taking in a lot of information the brain tries to rewind and re-process it. If we never have that downtime our brains don’t seem to develop as well as they could. That thumb-twiddling time is important!

I don’t know what I’m going to do about getting to sleep, though. Perhaps I’ll set aside 20 or 30 minutes to just lie there before I expect to fall asleep. I’m not sure yet. I just know that I need some of that time back… I need solitude.

[tags]solitude, personal, schedule, relationships, sleep[/tags]

Stiff Magazine Ads

Dear Marketers,

Want to know the best way for me to hate you, your product, and anything remotely related to you? Put a stiff page in a magazine. If you’re really going for the gold, make sure I can’t remove it. I want to be reminded of you everytime I try to place my magazine on a surface. Any surface.

Seriously, that’s exactly why I bought the subscription.

It’s not like I ever try to have the magazine open very often. But when I do, make sure your ad is in there keeping the pages from easily turning. That shows class.

I don’t care how much exposure the publisher promised you. Send them a message: you don’t want your future clients to hate you. I think it’s a solid message to send.

Think about it: do you really want to be associated with tearing, ripping, anger, and my trash can? Sure, your ad was seen once…

…but we all know how quickly that ended.

Thanks for listening!

Working From Home

Heather mentioned working from home the other day and I, too have thought extensively about it. In fact, Seth made an awesome point:

“The reason you go to a building to go to work every day is that steam or water power used to turn a giant winch-like structure that went right through the factory building. Every workman used that power to do his work. As factories got more sophisticated, it remained efficient to move the workers, not the stuff.” Seth Godin

Nothing I do requires a factory. I’m a “knowledge worker”. I’d estimate that roughly 10% of my job actually requires human interaction; 5% of that can be eliminated with phone calls (there is only so much email can do). The point being: my desk is wasted overhead. In fact, I’m a sizeable cost. I eat the snacks, I use the electricity, I have a computer, chair, etc. Sure, some of these are sunk costs but there are plenty that aren’t.

I’m also less productive at work. As Heather mentions, the side conversations are amazing distractions. We’ll talk about the craziest stuff sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about socializing. But, for someone knee-deep in PHP while juggling support requests and e-mail… distractions are already plentiful.

Team meeting? Sure, I’ll drive in and take a seat at the table. Computer blew up? Of course I’ll be right there. Other than that, I’d rather sit at home with my slippers and put my two monitors to good use. I can eat from my fridge, take a break with my TV, and enjoy my house that I pay oh-so-much for to spend oh-so-little time in. Wow. Just writing this has improved my morale.

So, why don’t more employers let employees work from home? Can we not be trusted? Do we really need to sit near people to work? Don’t get me wrong, I’m well aware of the benefits of working around people. Many jobs requires. But, to some extent I feel we do this because it’s always been this way…

The communications barriers are nearly eliminated. Skype can put my phone number in any city. Planes can land me in any country. Video can place me in any room.

I haven’t worked at any other desk job so this is all I know. It just seems that we should all be moving back home now. Our lives lack solitude because we rush from A to B to C back to A. Am I wrong? Would anyone care to enlighten me?