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August 29, 2005Welcome to 2million!This is my 1st post. I am starting this blog to track my thoughts, musings, and progress as I focus on my primary goal: A net worth of 2 million dollars + my primary residence. What I mean is my... Just got back from 4wks on the road!Just got back from a nice little business trip that consisted of 1.5 wks in San Jose, a week in Tucson, and then a week in NY. This was my 1st and only trip of the year - in my... August 30, 2005My Frequent Flyer/Hotel Point StrategiesAs I mentioned earlier I just got back from a extended business trip in which I enjoyed some nice perks and earned frequent flyer miles and hotel points. I thought I would break down some of my strategies when it... August 31, 2005You too can enjoy Hilton HHonors Gold Perks!During my last business trip I was able to take advantage of all the Hilton HHonors Gold Status benefits. I think these perks are the best around and include free happy hour, free breakfast, extra bonus points, etc. at Hilton... My bad habitI love to wager on college football games. It is my "bad" habit. I am actually not a big gambler - I am a fairly risk adverse person. However my favorite sport is college football, I am a big VA... September 1, 2005College Football Opening Weekend - Wager for Week 1The season begins!I recently decided to keep track of my collge football wagering to see how it benefits or hinders my progress to reach my personal finance goals. On Monday I funded my Bodog sportsbook account with $100 of fun... September 2, 2005Frequent Flyer Miles/Hotel Points Results for August Business TripMy nearly 4 week trip resulted in a nice inflow of points and miles.ProgramAmount EarnedBonus EarnedTotalDescriptionSkymiles7142714214284all airline flights on delta for tripAAdvantage9000900reward for 2 budget car rentalsUnited1000010002 stays at Hilton hotels @ 500 per stayHHonors57645161109252 stays at Hilton hotelsPriority Club11180156172679712... September 3, 2005My Personal Finance GoalAs I mentioned earlier my primary goal is to reach a net worth of $2 million excluding my home. I have been steadily working towards this goal since I starting working in 8/2001.One of my goals for this blog is... Just sent a check in to my Merck DRIPAfter last week's news of the Vioxx award in Texas I decided it was a good opportunity to add to my Merck stock position. At roughly ~$28 a share, Merck is now sporting a dividend yield of ~5.4.%. Forget everything... September 4, 2005A Bit of My Personal Finance HistoryHere is a chart of my net worth reported via the Net Worth Over Time report in MS Money:The months of 7/02 , 7/03, 9/03 are inaccurate because I purchased a 3 bedroom home in 7/02, refinanced the 1st mortgage... September 6, 2005Results - Wager for Week 1Wow! What a game. It was closer than I hoped but it is a great start to the football season. With this 1st wager I have effectively made a 100% return and the season has just started. The smart thing... I am currently homeless....As I posted earlier I bought a 3 bedroom house in July 2002. I had been working for about 1 year and I realized that decided that the next big step in my strategy for reaching my goal of a... September 7, 2005Tracking My ProgressI am trying to determine the best/easiest way to report my monthly progress. I would like to report a easy to create net worth chart with assests & liabilities, etc. I would also like to have it similar to other... September 8, 2005Gas SpendingI was complaining the other day about the amount I was spending on gas to some co-workers so I thought I would pull out my gas spending from MS Money. I am not sure whether some of the avg increase... September 9, 2005Comparing Gas Spend to Gas PricesI found raleighgasprices.com which had the best information I could find on local gas prices (turns out lots of cities have these sites as well). It didn't have avg historical prices, but it did have a 3 yr chart with... September 10, 2005CF - Wagers for Week 2 Background on my bad habitOk I have 2 picks so far for week 2 - VA Tech (-20.5) and Michigan to win. You may notice I have been moving more and more money into my account. This allows me... Free Books!Just found this link on slickdeals.net this morning:Free Book ProjectI have not downloaded any books but I plan too - I have been looking for some audio books to listen to on the way to work and the local library... September 12, 2005The upside to high gas pricesI like most people get angry and fustrated everytime I have to put gas in my car. We are all at the mercy of oil prices and oil prices haven't been kind to us recently. Even Bill Gates and Warren... September 14, 2005Making Room, Making MoneySince I recently moved out of my house, I have come to realize I have a lot more stuff than I thought. I have been trying to get rid of it and generate some extra cash. I have a large... Inspiration for the dayI saw this quote on Motley Fool the other day and I love it - I need to tuck this one away for when I am thinking about a value investment decision."Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when... September 16, 2005CF - Results for Week 2, Picks for Week 3Background on my bad habit.Recap of Week 2:Account Balance: $255Deposited 9/8/05: $50 + $10 bonusTrans DateWagerTo WinResultDescription9/7/05$25$21.74WonVT(-20.5) over Duke (VT 45, Duke 0)9/9/05$10$3.57LostUM over ND(ND 17, UM 10)9/9/05$5$4.55WonLSU over ASU(LSU 35, ASU 31)Current Balance: $331.29Net Deposit: $200, Current Profit: $131.29Picks... September 17, 2005Hedging Against Energy Prices, Part 1:Exxon Stock Performance vs Gas PricesA review of my current hedging strategy on energy prices.When I started my job in 2001 one of the strategies I planned with my savings was a hedge on rising energy prices. I ended up investing a modest amount in... September 20, 2005Signed up for the HSBC Online Savings AccountI received a flyer in the mail yesterday from HSBC for an offer to sign up for their Online Savings Account currently yielding 3.75% APY that included a $25 bonus. Since it is .25% higher than Emigrant-Direct (my main savings... September 21, 2005Just Earned an Easy Amex $10 Gift CardFound this link on slickdeals.net this afternoon. Watch the 5 min tutorial, answer a few question in the Amex Open Network survey and they claim they will send you a $10 Amex gift card within 6-8 weeks. I love freebies... September 22, 2005Bought 2 small gas tanks last night at Walmart...Call me crazy but I was walking around the local Walmart last night after work and decided to purchase (2) gas tanks for $3.12 apiece + tax. The adjacent gas station still had gas posted at $2.59 a gallon which... September 23, 2005CF - Results for Week 3, Picks for Week 4Background on my bad habit.Recap of Week 3:Account Balance: $331.29Deposited 9/17/05: $50 + $10 bonusTrans DateWagerTo WinResultDescription9/16/05$10$9.10WonVT(-34) over Ohio (VT 45, Ohio 0)9/17/05$10$6.90WonPitt (+10) over Neb (Neb 7, Pitt 6)9/17/05$25$10.04WonUF over Tenn (UF 16, UT 7)Wow! 100% track record -... September 25, 2005Hedging Against Energy Prices, Part 2:Chevron Stock Performance vs Gas PricesEarlier I took a look at my Exxon investment as a hedge against the rise of energy prices. The result was a very compelling argument for an investment in Exxon (XOM) to hedge against energy prices.I have also made investments... Hedging Against Energy Prices, Part 3:An Improved Energy Hedging Strategy?The first and second posts in this series look at my Exxon and Chevron investments and how well they have hedged against my increased monthly gas spend as a result of higher gas prices.This post details my proposed idea to... September 26, 2005Never lose money - W Buffett"Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1." Warren BuffettThis quote is very powerful to me, here's why:Question:If you have $100000 and in successive years, you are +20% and -20%, your end result is:A. >$100KB. C. Even... September 27, 2005New Weekly Reading Material from Yahoo!FinanceYahoo!Finance launched a new section last week for various Yahoo!Finance columnists. This list of names is impressive: David Bach, author of the Automatic MillionaireKen Dychtwald, Ph.D., aging guruRobert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor DadSuze Orman, that loud annoying talk... September 29, 2005CF Results for Week 4, Picks for Week 5Background on my bad habit.Recap of Week 4:Current Balance: $417.33Trans DateWagerTo WinResultDescription9/22/05$10$7.69WonVT(-10) over GT9/24/05$5$4.35WonUT(+7) over LSU9/26/05$5$5.00LostToledo (+14) over FSUBlew the week with the Toledo pick - Monday evening I realized I was perfect the past 2 weekends and felt like... September 30, 2005My tank was on EmptyMy tank was on Empty last night coming home from work and I was shocked to see gas prices were headed up. The cheapest price I could find was $2.99/gallon so I opted to drive home and use the "reserve"... October 1, 2005Would a townhome make a good investment?I have been watching the real estate in the area that my house is located in. I am currently renting a room from a buddy of mine and I don't have any weekend home improvement projects to work on. I'm... October 2, 2005End of a belt-tightening month and I feel great!September is finally over - I can't wait to crunch the numbers and see how I made out. I made an effort to reduce dining out expenses this month since all summer there have been lots of things going on... October 3, 2005Picked up 3 new tires for my carI have always felt I get screwed when it comes to maintaining on my car. This is in large part to my own ignorance.So when I decided I couldn't put off getting new tires any longer I thought I was... October 6, 2005Finally finished paying off my car loan! Whats next?Well I have finally done it. After 4 years and $8250, I have finally finished paying back my parents for my car.Back in 1999, I came home from grad school for Memorial Day weekend to find my parents ready to... CF Results for Week 5, Picks for Week 6Background on my bad habit.Recap of Week 5Previous Balance $424.37Trans DateWagerTo WinResultDescription9/28/05$10$8.33WonVT(-10) over GT (VT 51, GT 7)9/29/05$20$19.76LostClemson(-7) over WFU (WFU 31, Clem 27)10/1/05$5$4.76WonNavy(-7) over Duke(Navy 28, Duke 21)10/1/05$10.05$8.38LostUM(-20.5) over SFCurrent Balance: $407.41Net Deposit: $250, Current Profit: $157.41 (ROI 62%)My... October 10, 2005Free I-Watch Investing ToolA co-worker of mine pointed me to this free I-Watch Investing Tool on the Lycos web site today. This tool provides insight into institutional buying and selling on individual stocks. Check out this chart of IBM from the last week... October 13, 2005Just Earned a $5 Amazon Gift Certificate for taking a 5 min Financial Quiz at CitiThis morning I found a link on slickdeals to Citi Cards which is currently offering a credit education module with a 5 minute quiz at the end to test your credit knowledge. Score a 70 or better and earn $5... October 15, 2005CF Results for Week 6, Picks for Week 7Background on my bad habit.Recap of Week 6Previous Balance $407.41Trans DateWagerTo WinResultDescription10/5/05$40$34.78LostOSU(-3) over PSUCurrent Balance: $367.41Net Deposit: $250, Current Profit: $117.41 (ROI 47%)My second losing week in a row. I almost didn't post because I was so pissed off at... October 17, 2005Dogs of the DowHave you heard of the Dogs of the Dow? I first heard of this investment strategy in the 1990s and it seemed to fall out of favor during the dot com bubble. However I think it is again gaining attention... October 18, 2005You'll need no more than 92.35% of your income when you are financially freeWell sort of. I am talking about the Social Security and Medicare taxes on your paycheck. If you can live off the same income (passive income) after quitting your job that you do before (as wages), you'll only need 92.35%... October 21, 2005Highlights of Benefits Enrollment Package from workWhat a wonderful time of the year; football, cool brisk mornings, state fair, and of course benefits enrollment.I actually don't think I am going to spend much time this year analyzing my choices. I spend a lot of time last... October 27, 2005My $2 Million Net Worth Goal Part 1: AssumptionsThe purpose of this web log is to document my journey to financial freedom. I have defined financial freedom as a net worth of at least $2 million. It may be a moving target, but I guess we will see... October 31, 2005My $2 Million Net Worth Goal Part 2: Forecasting My Net WorthIn Part 1 of this series I covered my starting points and assumptions in developing my net worth goal. In this post I am going to discuss how I used these to forecast what my net worth could reasonably be... I have recently realized thatI have recently realized that my credit score is lower than I anticipated as a result of taking advantage of the 0% balance transfer offers. I am under the impression that as long as I keep my score at or... November 7, 2005Itching to buy a homeAs I have posted before, I have rented my house out and as a result I am renting a room from a buddy of mine. This was done in anticipation that I would be going on a couple temporary assignments... November 16, 2005Keeping up with S&P changesHere is a great investing tool that I use all the time. It is a link to free daily listings of S&P rating changes on stocks.Several years ago one of the best things I loved about my Etrade brokerage account... November 17, 2005Should I Continue Participation in the IBM ESPP?Ever since I started working at IBM I have been contributing to the IBM ESPP plan. If your not familiar with ESPPs (Employee Stock Purchase Plan), it is a company plan to encourage stock ownership among employees. Many large publicly... November 28, 2005Worried About My Potential Tax LiabilityThis has been a big year for me. I started a new stage in my IBM career with a position that may force me to relocate a couple times in the near future. I took on an improvement project to... December 1, 2005Profiting from S&P 500 changesI remember reading about a stock trading strategy that involved changes in the S&P500. I can't remember the details, but the idea was one of simple supply and demand. Any stocks that were added to the S&P 500 stock index... December 7, 2005My $2 Million Net Worth Goal Part 3: Lessons LearnedPreviously I discussed the starting points and assumptions I used to develop a forecast of my annual net worth that I used as a basis for formulating my $2 million net worth goal. Since I have been chasing this goal... December 9, 2005Adjusting for my Potential Tax LiabilityAs you may have noticed from my net worth reporting, I don't really report liabilities that are accruing such as taxes on a monthly basis. I typically receive a small refund from my income taxes each year so it has... December 14, 2005What is your Savings Rate?A big part of reaching my goal is saving a high percentage of my earned income. While it sounds like it is an easy thing to calculate, up till now I haven't had any idea how much of net worth... December 27, 2005The Best Time of the Year to Buy!Being as frugal as I am, I typically don't buy things that are aren't an immediate necessity. Any purchase I can put off or convince myself I don't need right away (even when I think I find it at a... January 1, 2006Finalizing My 2006 Net Worth Goal - $265,000Earlier this month I tried to determine what a good net worth goal for 2006 would be, although at the time I didn't know exactly what my net worth would be at the end of the year.I am in the... January 5, 2006How Much Money Does a 29yr Old Man Drink Away?Well I don't exactly have the answer, but going through my 2005 receipts, I decided it would be interesting to try and total the amount I spent on beer. This turns out to be a nearly impossible task due to... January 12, 2006Gambler's Scorecard for the 2005 Football SeasonSome background on my bad habit.Another college football season has come to a close and I can revel in the spoils. I ended up netting $91 in profit from the entire season. I deposited a total of $250 into my... January 20, 2006Accounting Software for Self Employment IncomeThis year I expect to begin receiving an insignificant amount of self-employment income from this blog and other activities. I only expect it to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $100-$500 depending on how much time I put into everything.... January 23, 2006Tallying My 2005 Passive IncomeSo where am I at with my passive income? After all this is just as important as measuring my net worth, if I can't generate enough income to pay for my living expenses, that I won't be financially free no... January 24, 2006Starting off the Year on the Wrong FootAccording to a British psychologist, today (January 24th) is the most depressing day of the year. This is due to many factors converging this time of the year - among them is the realization of the debt accumulated from overspending... January 25, 2006A Starting Point for New VisitorsWith all the new visitors that have stopped by this blog recently I thought it would be a good idea to revisit some of the basics of this blog.1) Reads this blog's disclaimer.2) This blog is a record of my... February 8, 2006My Personal Finance HistoryBased on requests, I thought I would give you more information about my personal history. My life's choices has a lot to with my journey to financial freedom so I think its important to know more of my background to... February 22, 2006Taking Assessment of My Portfolio Returns, Part 1: The Bottom LineIt is finally time for me to sift through all the financial data I have for 2005 and begin to understand how my portfolio worked for me in 2005. My net worth went from $157,340 on 12/31/2004 to $206,990 on... February 27, 2006Taking Assessment of My Portfolio Returns, Part 2: Retirement AccountsIn the 1st part of this series I determined that the total return for my net worth was a measly $2,094. Its a painful pill to swallow and after crunching the numbers, my head immediately filled with logical explanations/excuses as... March 1, 2006Taking Assessment of My Portfolio Returns, Part 3: Cash AccountsIn the 1st part of this series I determined that the total return for my net worth was a measly $2,094. In the 2nd part, I found my retirement accounts had a respectable return of $8,331 for the year.Now I... March 7, 2006I Have Hit a Personal Finance Milestone!This month I have hit a personal finance blog milestone. As you know the focus of this blog is to track my journey to financial freedom. I have defined this goal as a net worth of $2 million plus the... March 8, 2006Taking Assessment of My Portfolio Returns, Part 4: Investment AccountsIn the 1st part of this series I determined that the total return for my net worth was a measly $2,094. In the 2nd and 3rd parts, I found my retirement and cash accounts had respectable returns of $8,331 and... March 10, 2006Taking Assessment of My Portfolio Returns, Part 5: Company OwnershipIn the 1st part of this series I determined that the total return for my net worth was a measly $2,094. In the 2nd and 3rd parts, I found my retirement and cash accounts had respectable returns of $8,331 and... |
