BA

This isn't your every day freebie, but the prospects are quite interesting.

Google is basically looking for test users of their upcoming Chrome OS. To that end, they're giving out as many as 60,000 laptops FREE! This is what they look like:



True, it doesn't look like much, but frankly, I like the clean, untainted look; free from all those annoying stickers and gaudy plastic logos.

The catch?

1. First, you have to sign up.

2. You are not guaranteed of one.

3. If you do get one, you have to be willing to help them test it and send feedback.

If you like technology, if you're online quite a bit, and you don't mind trying something that isn't fully polished and is still in Beta, feel free to sign up!

Not the usual, everyday freebies you hear, but evidently, there's free land out there!

The down side? Most are open land with little or no municipal services, and all of them are areas in need of "revitalization".

Still though, it's interesting to read about at the very least.

This morning, as I got into the car to leave for work, I noticed that my glasses was feeling particularly loose. I took it off to examine it, and realized that a screw was missing and one of the lenses was about to fall out.

I put it down on the passenger seat, grabbed my spare pair out of the glove compartment, put it on, and continued on to work.

Sounds rather uneventful, right? Right. And that was exactly the point. Years ago, I had foreseen how I could be screwed without a working pair of glasses. So, when I had an afternoon free, I got myself an eye exam and paid for an extra pair of glasses. And to make sure that I would always have access to it, I stored it the car, where it stayed for all these years... until today.

I like being prepared, and it's always nice when something you spent time and money on actually pays off.

Now to look for the missing screw when I get home.

Mighty slick addition on here!

Facebook is everywhere nowadays. I also heard a rumor that they're starting "Fmail" soon; something to compete with Google's Gmail. If free email and Facebook integration sounds interesting to you, get ready to click fast and snap up your own Fmail name!

I'm haven't blogged recently, but that's mostly because not much is going on to begin with. However, I'm still thinking hard about my personal finances. Everyday, in fact.

More and more, I think it's really sinking in how my biggest financial obstacle is simply a place to live. The rest, I can work out SOMETHING, but not housing.

For a single bachelor, it has dawned on me that, really, my best bet is probably just to rent an apartment somewhere. Yes, it's hardly the ideal solution, but in terms of total cost, it seems to come out cheaper than buying. Again, that's for a single bachelor who is not afraid to limit himself to just a bathroom and a bedroom somewhere.

Still, I can't help but wonder if there are not any other alternative options out there?

Oh, and for fun, here are some quirky, tall but thin buildings.

I'm not a part of this, but I do want to pass on this interesting and provocative idea.

Basically, people sign on this website and loan each other stuff for a price. In other words, if you have stuff but you don't use it all the time, you can loan it out and make a little bit of money. Conversely, if you need something only occasionally, and wish you could just rent it instead of paying full price to buy it, you can do so with a site like this.

Again though, I'm not a part of this, and haven't tried this out myself. So, I can't be sure how well this works, and how it compares with some retail shops that offer similar goods and services. Still, it's an interesting idea.

Not really financially-related, but very interesting just the same.

I stumbled across an interesting article showing Dave Ramsey's new house. It's quite palatial! According to the article, it appears that good ole Dave paid it in full with cash.

When asked what was the dumbest stock Warren Buffett ever bought, do you know what he said? Surprisingly, he said his own company, Berkshire Hathway!

Here's the whole article, by the way.

For those who want a quick synopsis, he was infuriated with the then-CEO, and bought a majority share of the company to get him fired. That's how he also became the head of Berkshire Hathway.

However, had he thought it through more clearly, and started out with the insurance company that he had wanted in the first place (Geico?), rather than a down-trodden textile company (just to get one man fired), then he say his financial empire would be worth $200 billion today!

In a nutshell, it's best to keep emotions out of investing and trading. Let the numbers do the talking. That being said though, I have to give old man Buffett respect for being able to point out his own mistakes. Even the best are only human.

On a separate but related note, here's a funny comic I came across. Buy! Buy! Sell! Sell!

This gave me a chuckle.

Do you wear glasses? Do you plan on buying sunglasses anytime soon? Ever heard of a company called Luxottica? If not, please read on.

Luxottica is an Italian company that makes glasses and sunglasses. What makes them a big deal? I've read unsubstantiated reports that the company may control as much as 80% of all brand-name glasses and sunglasses manufactured in the world. But with the companies they hold, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be true. Ever heard of these?

* OAKLEY
* RAYBAN
* COLE VISION
* PEARLE VISION
* LENSCRAFTERS
* EYEMED VISION CARE
* SUNGLASS HUT
* AVANT GARDE OPTICS

Now, why is this important to fruggies? Through all these companies, Luxottica effectively has a global monopoly on brand-name glasses and sunglasses. And because of this monopoly, we get the privilege to pay through the nose for all of these brand names. Up to $300 just for a wire frame? You've got to be kidding me!

So, if you care about your wallets, I would recommend avoiding any and all Luxottica companies. They don't compete with each other for price. They essentially ARE the same company.

Now, what alternatives do we have? I've gone to Walmart for a pair of glasses before, and they're OK. I've also been recommended Zenni Optical and I'll probably get my next pair there. I can't believe they have fancy memory frames for no more than $25! They can also craft you a sunglasses if you desire.

The following is an addendum for investors.

Obviously, with a company like this, I had to check out their stock. LUX is a solid blue chip with a 1.75% yield. However, it's an ADR for me, and has a pretty low trading volume. What's worse, the options market is next to non-existent. Even for dividend investors, it seems like you can do better with domestic blue chips. I would pass on this one, though interestingly enough, Georgio Armani seems to like it. He (or the company under his name) owns like 5%!

Wow, wasn't it just a day or two ago that the temperature was still in the 90s? Not that I'm complaining though. I MUCH prefer the cooler weather. I just didn't think it would drop so suddenly.

Last night, it was cool enough for me to break out my winter pajamas. And even then, it was still cold enough that I woke up again and had to get the winter blanket.

I had forgotten how much of a light sleeper I really am. I remember just how difficult it was for me to get it.

Anyways, I am already thinking about how to get through this winter. Something more effective than last winter. I am not sure what though, but I'm going to look into it.

Personal finance charts and graphs on a napkin.

interesting website on the Federal budget.

My net worth went up by about 2.8%. A third of it is from savings, and the rest are from trading.

Calculating my net worth has now gotten tricky, due to the options trading aspect of it. It's never going to be entirely accurate (since the contracts are in limbo), but there's no need to get too serious about net worth calculations anyway.

This is interesting. Someone turned their old swimming pool into a self-sustaining greenhouse. According to the website, they get unlimited tilipia fish, about 8 eggs, veggies, and herbs daily!



Check it out!

I blogged about switching to Clear wireless before, and I just found out that they have a 8gb limit. This may or may not be a problem, but for me, it definitely is. This is currently my only source of net access, and despite advertising that it's "unlimited", it turns out that it effectively is?

Suffice to say, I have to move fast and re-consider my options.

Once in a while, I will get questions like, "What do you like to do? What are your goals or ambitions? Do you even have hobbies?" When pressed, I often times tell them that my hobby is saving money. It's the truth, and yet, I will get quizzical looks in return.

I guess it's understandable in that the nature of frugality is paradoxical in many ways. It's not like chopping down a tree, where you would see a lot of physical effort being exerted with a concrete end-result. Rather, it's largely mental.

In short, I think frugality is meditative. Unlike many other activities, the goal is largely achieved through deliberate and decisive inaction. And it's not even self-deprivation really. It's also a way to search within yourself what is really important to you in this world, and focusing your money towards those things.

But I also want to stress that frugality isn't literally doing nothing either. Like many others, my money is limited too, and sometimes, I have to get very creative about making the budget stretch. Creativity, I think, is the hallmark of any true fruggie. It's not about blasting something with more money until it works. It's about being savvy, being determined, and minimizing frivolous waste.

Alas, for a man in a western society, this sort of quality is not often noticed. In many ways, my life would be simpler if I was a lumberjack, chopping trees. But... that would not be me.

And besides, I can't imagine why there would be anything more important than building actual financial safety. Do people really not know just how much of a financial danger they are in? Thin ice and egg shells does not a sound foundation make, and yet, many seems content building their house and future on it....

In the end, I will continue to do what I do because I know in my heart this is the right thing to do. When you know that, it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks.

Still though, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try out a hedge trimmer eh? It's not quite the same as a chainsaw, but at least it will get the HoA off my back.

According to this interesting but large chart, the average American household saves only $2400 a year, or $200 a month. Also, only 41% save regularly. Wow.

For some reason, I found this article interesting, not so much because they are women (though more power to you ladies), but because of the wide variety of pursuits that lead to their wealth. I mean, think about it:

One of them runs a day time talk show.
One of them opened a bunch of clothing stores.
One of them is a real estate developer in China.
One of them is in marketing for a hugely successful dot com.
One of them is an author of a highly popular book series.

So, let's deconstruct this down one more step and examine their activities. What do they actually DO to make their billions?

One of them hosts a television show.
One of them sell clothes.
One of them develop real estate.
One of them does marketing for a website.
One of them write.

Let's go down one more step to the quintessential activity:

Talk.
Sell.
Sell.
Market.
Write.

Broken down to this level, I think there's an emerging common theme. Basically, you want to connect and sell products and services to a large group of people. Connect and sell.

So, how does any of that translate to me? Sadly, I'm not a great communicator I don't think. And yet, I would like to think that this blog, for example, has a pretty decent reach as far as personal blogs go. So, some way, some how, even a guy like me can "connect" if I persist long enough....

But what about the sell part? I guess that's my biggest stumbling block. I have no idea what I could or would even want to offer to the general populace. The advice not to trade stocks? I have no idea.

Well, it's amusing to contemplate anyways. What do you think? Either way, hope you enjoyed the article.

I've been dragging my lazy feet canceling my home DSL, but partly because I wanted to make sure this 4G hot spot idea I've blogged about was going to work.

Good news! So far so good. Luckily, my coverage at home is OK, even if the speed is not as fast or reliable as DSL. And anyway, it's also $10 a month cheaper.

On the go, my coverage is, well, honestly it's spotty. However, the fact that I can even get 4G internet on the go is just gravy, and I am also doing it without having a cellphone bill.

And with that, I finally canceled my home DSL. I love lowering my monthly bills!

Today is the day my option contracts expire, and I can write more.

Again, my entire trading strategy right now is that I have no idea what the market is going to do for the next month, so I might as well be a vendor and just sell contracts instead of attempting to speculate in the market.

However, that is not to say that being a seller is dull, and I walked away with some interesting observations from the past 30 days.

First, there was a stock position that did very well, and that got Assigned at the last minute (that is, I had to sell my stocks to him at our agreed price). Congrats to whoever it is for your huge relative gains. In any case, now I know what it looks like when my stocks have been sold.

Second, there was another stock position that was essentially flat. In this case, the covered calls worked out perfectly, because I already made money on a flat-performing stock. Not surprisingly, it did not get Assigned so I get to sell some more contracts on it.

My third and final stock position was absolutely atrocious. Atrocious! Even so, I can still write contracts on them, albeit for a lower premium. Despite the paper drop, I am surprised that I can still squeeze out $200 this month on this position!

In all, I'm very pleased with this type of trading, even though, yes, it's still chock full of risks. Again though, I'm in no rush, so baby steps still.

I think I may have blogged about this in the past, but basically, there's this guy who has built himself a floating island out of discarded plastic bottles.

I've stumbled across a more recent video of him, this time in much more detail, and it appears that he's made some major additions since I last saw it!

Check it out!

Here's an interesting article on the origins of common financial sayings.

In a typical household, it's normal to have a landline phone, cellphones, cable, and internet.

For some time now, I've managed to consolidate all of my phone needs into one Tracfone, for an average of about $5 a month. I've been very happy with that, and for some time now, I've been looking for ways to do the same with my internet.

Unfortunately, while I rarely use a phone at all, I am a complete internet junkie. In my own defense however, I do not have cable or even Netflix. So, my only source of entertainment centers around being online somehow.

Recently, I've been experimenting with a mobile 4G hot spot device from clear.com. It is unlimited 4G data for $40 a month, my home and most areas near work have coverage, and the speeds can rival my DSL, which I am currently paying $50 a month. Best of all, because the device is portable, it means that my iPod Touch has data access similar to an iPhone, except with 4G speeds!

In other words, for the price of shaving $10 a month off my internet bill, I also gain mobility with it! A typical iPhone alone would cost a minimum of about $55 a month. Home broadband would be a separate bill. However, with this one device, I am able to do it all for just $40 a month! Combined with the Tracfone, all of my household bills are only $45 a month (not including gas, electric, and water bills).

There is one minor downside: I now carry three devices on my belt: The cellphone, iPod Touch, and now, the hot spot device. I feel like Batman.

Stumbled across a really cool website about Want versus Need.

So, a friend of mine is really itching to get into stock trading. Even though he's in a lot of debt and being garnished by the IRS, he wants to use like $2000 of his student loan money (at more than 6% interest) for it.

I told him about the risks, but he was like, "It's worth it. Gotta start somewhere." But I'm like, "Are you sure about this? Because the numbers don't make any sense." His response was, "Numbers never make any sense BA! They're subject to interpretation!"

Oh really? Playing with the stock market using borrowed money you need to live off of within 3 to 6 months, and at 6% interest is somehow subjective? And why so defensive? I'm just trying to be a friend and warn him of the dangers involved.

You guys know that for literally years, all I did was pay off my student loans. No stock trading here. And even now, I do not trade on margin (loans) whereas that's exactly what he plans to do. Also, he needs this money within 3 to 6 months, whereas I don't trade with any money that I need anytime soon.

I mean, it's just such a bad idea that even I would not have done it. I do wonder why he is so dead set on it? Is it ego? I know he's used me before as a source of information, and then passed it off as his own to try to impress beer buddies and women with it.

I do have to admit that I am partially to blame. He's a friend that I've been talking about all my stock and options trading to. So, clearly, I embedded the idea in him somehow. BUT, I had no idea he would decide to be so reckless about it. That's the last thing you want to do because the activity itself is dangerous enough as it is.

But I guess what really bugged me about all this is that he was being rude to me about it, even though I'm just trying to help as a friend. Whatever. I didn't tell him all this though. Instead, I just said that if he feels that strongly about it, then just open a Scottrade account, and buy his stocks there.

I don't think I want to hang out with him for a while though. That and a lot of other stuff makes him really stressful for me to be around him.

I just finished selling the last batch of call contracts available for me. After fees, it's another $280 I pocketed, pushing the income total up to above $1000. So, despite the fact that I'm a newbie in options trading, I think it's very realistic to generate $1000 a month in contract income this way.

Of course, risks and potential losses aside, most of this occur within my retirement accounts, so it's not like I can actually use it for anything.

I'm already fine-tuning the strategy as we speak, and I think I would like to get out of individual stocks completely. Maybe. The option is always there, of course, but I think I can use this strategy just fine with nothing but SPY (US stock market ETF). The volumes are gloriously high, and contract intervals are much shorter (which isn't necessary, but it does give me greater flexibility).

Yeah, in other words, I'm basically done trying to speculate on the market. I'll let others do that. I'm content with just being a "loan shark", and despite the name "options trading", holding SPY and selling contracts on them is actually very conservative and safe (as far as trading goes).

This month's stock market has been tough. My stocks have slipped rather substantially at this point, so I guess it's good timing to make some income off of them.

With the market slip, I bought some more stock and sold more covered calls, pocketing another $380. I think the total of contract premiums I've made is up to... almost $800? They're all set to expire on September 18th, so I can sell another round of contracts then.

I've also been fine-tuning the strategy, to focus more on earning the premiums over trying to win the market somehow. Less speculation and more guaranteed income.

While covered calls still have the same downside risk as regular stocks, at least you're also propped up a bit with the contract income. The real downside, I think, is giving up on the upside potential. However, I don't see how this is a problem because, again, I'm trying to reduce speculation, and exchanging it for guaranteed income. Despite that, even covered calls have the ability to return 10% to 30% in annual gains, depending on your trading abilities and market conditions. Good enough for me.

I'm also reading up on cash-covered shorted puts. It's the cousin of covered calls where you sell put contracts (to buy their stocks at a set price), again, for a fee premium. But in theory, I could do absolutely nothing more than covered calls, and still do just fine. But adding more and more of these strategies ultimately gives me more trading flexibility, regardless of the market direction.

This doesn't have anything to do with finance, but I thought some of you might get a kick out of this flower breeding game. There are no winning or losing with this game, just whatever you feel like doing. Enjoy.

It's that time of the month again! My net worth posted a very modest increase this month. Only 1.33%. For a while, it was actually behind too.

What happened? The stock market hasn't been all that kind this month, and you know, I'm kind of amazed at just how much influence the stock market has on my net worth these days.

It got me wondering what my basic asset allocation is, and... it's 65% stocks/options, 35% cash/bonds. Hmm. I thought my asset allocation might be off somehow, but it's actually fairly on target. That percentage is also when I am bought into stocks. Otherwise, my cash/bonds percentage would be much higher.

So, despite my relatively risky hobby of stock trading, I don't feel like I am taking too much risks. When I do trade stocks, I typically stick with quality company names, and on top of that, now I am adding covered calls to sort of buffer against market volatility, and at the same time, converting the stocks to be more of a passive income generator. As far as stock trading goes, I'm actually very conservative.

Still though, the month has essentially been a disappointment... as the blog subtitle says, it could be worse. A lot worse! Gotta celebrate the little things in life.