Progress Report - for week ended 6/29/08

So, here on the last day of the month - are my goals for June 2008:

1. Publish Debt Freedom book (online or otherwise) - FAILURE - Got a little input from a family member that the book needs a lot of work. So it looks like publication won't be happening this month. I did send in my forms for the LLC but because a minor omission (forgot to add LLC at the end of the Co. name) the powers that be in the great state of Ohio sent the form back to me - along with my check. You'd think the fact that I was filling out an 'LLC application form' would make the LLC part inherent but, what do I know - especially about state bureaucracy.
   
2. Join (or start) an entrepreneur's group - SUCCESS - I just went to great group last week and I plan to check out another one this coming week and a 3rd at the beginning of next month. I'm pumped. Hopefully the next two are as great as the one I went to on Thursday!
   
3. Post at least 25 blogs this month - FAILURE - As I look at my blogs for June it looks like I've published 21 so far including this one. Close yet no cigar I guess. handling last minute wedding issues hasn't exactly helped the matter either.
   
4. **Subscribe to Inc Magazine - SUCCESS -Done - yup I finished this simple goal way early. Maybe as a confidence booster for my other goals.

Well it looks like I'm hitting .500 - which as far as my goals go is not exactly great. Haven't figured my goals out for the coming month yet but, I'll get to those as soon as I can - a lot of wedding planning is finally coming to a head.

Quote of the Week#42

“It is not rejection itself that people fear, it is the possible consequences of rejection. Preparing to accept those consequences and viewing rejection as a learning experience that will bring you closer to success, will not only help you to conquer the fear of rejection, but help you to appreciate rejection itself.”

-Bo Bennett

found on thinkexist.com

10 Million Millionaires

It appears that there are now 10 Million Millionaires in The World.

According to this article on CNNmoney.com there are now 10,000,000.00 Millionaires in the world.

None of which are me.

Getting rid of 'Net Worth'

As I'm trying to promote myself more by getting involved with entrepreneurial groups It seems more and more likely that my ability to remain anonymous is less and less of a likelihood. That being said I have decided to take down my Net worth widget so as not to expose myself completely. I do however, plan to continue to note by what percentage my Net Worth decreases or (more hopefully) increases.

Speaking of Net Worth, I just finished filling out the paperwork for an LLC and I think that was my main obstacle. Now if I can just remain focused long enough to put a stamp on it and send it in. I have this weird feeling of trepidation & excitement all mixed together - kind of like I felt when I was a little kid the night before I had a big game or track meet to compete in.

Wish me luck!

June Book of the Month: Whoever makes the most mistakes Wins

So I just finished reading this great book Whoever makes the Most Mistakes Wins By Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes and it goes into depth on why many great businesses successes in the U.S. would not be possible if they hadn't failed at least initially.

In the book they bring up the fact that things like post-it notes & Scotchgard were born out of failed attempts to create other products. They also present several case studies where big successful companies - like IBM - that did NOT accept failure in their corporate culture were unable to change when needed and thus began to fail anyway because they were so focused on maintaining their prior success - while competitors were looking for new more innovative areas to succeed in.

Towards the end of the book they begin to make some sports analogies. One in particular is a story about Michael Jordan and how he was cut from his varsity High school basketball team because his coach thought "he wasn't that good" - Jordan went home depressed yet determined to do better the next year, and I think we all know how that one turned out.

I have to say I really like this book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone considering whether or not to do something slightly risky - it may change your whole attitude.

Progress Report - for week ended 6/22/08

So, here a week before month end - are my goals for June 2008:

1. Publish Debt Freedom book (online or otherwise) - I'm done typing, I have some family members checking on legal and factual issues. This week I hope to get an LLC set up - which I think I'll need before I can publish the book without worrying too much about legal issues. I also might have some tweaking to do if I can fit it in. It's going to be close one for actually getting the book published by month end but, I think I'm definitely on the right path.
   
2. Join (or start) an entrepreneur's group - SUCCESS - I just went to great group last week and I plan to check out another one this coming week and a 3rd at the beginning of next month. I'm pumped. Hopefully the next two are as great as the one I went to on Thursday!
   
3. Post at least 25 blogs this month - As I look at my blogs for June it looks like I've published 15 so far and this will make for 'number sixteen' so obviously I need to 'kick it up a notch' for the final full week of June.
   
4. **Subscribe to Inc Magazine - SUCCESS -Done - yup I finished this simple goal way early. Maybe as a confidence booster for my other goals.

So this week I'll need to keep busy in order to accomplish goals #1 & #3. I think I'll make a list of the things I need to do this week here shortly just a double-check for myself.

So I went to a entrepreneur* meeting....

Man was it cool!

I have to admit, I felt nervous at first and almost got discouraged and turned around at first but, luckily somoene asked If I was there for the meeting, handed me a name badge and my fate was sealed from that point forward.

One thing I definitely should've brought were business cards but, I don't have any yet to promote my yet un-published book. I also didn't know what exactly to say when people asked 'what do you do' which was the first question out of everyone's mouth.

After the 'meet & greet' session, they did have a speaker who talked about the 'elevator speech' - which is basically what everyone else was announcing when I asked the question 'what do you do' back.

Basically an elevator speech is a quick, conversational pitch - these entrepreneurs give on a regular basis about their product or services. I even met a couple of contacts who may be able to help me get my book off the ground!

I'm very excited only regret is that I didn't just get out there and do something like his much earlier - even if it's in a part of town I don't usually hang out at.

*I previously tagged this as a 'network marketing meeting' and it was nothing of the sort. Just wanted to clarify that for myself. I will not be selling Avon - or trying to gain an 'up-line' anytime soon.

Quote of the Week #42

"The Gods have two ways of dealing harshly with us - the first is to deny us our dreams and the second is to grant them."

-Oscar Wilde

Article of the Week: 10 families no credit card debt

I found a very interesting photo gallery-article on CNNMoney.com today. It features 10 families without any debt.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/pf/0806/gallery.sans_plastic.moneymag/index.html

Most impressive to me was the last family:

"The Moment: Two years ago, the Lees were $270,000 in debt. Then one day at a flea market they saw a sign that read, "Live Simply." They bought it, hung it inside above the front door of their house and decided to drastically change their lives.

They sold just about everything they owned - including their house - paid off all their debt and now have a net worth over $100,000. "We look at [the sign] as a reminder every time we leave the house," says Chris. "

It was also very cool to see fellow blogger - Leo Babauta (the Author of Zen Habits ) - be featured as well.

If you need some inspiration on getting out of debt, definitely check out this article.

So I think I found some meetings.

As I've mentioned earlier one of my goals for this month is to either join or start an entrepreneurship group. It appears that there are already quite a few groups in my area and I sent a 'request to attend' more or less to at least 3 of them.

The only thing, I'm slightly nervous about is the 'open networking' time as I can either be extremely gregarious with people I've never met before or a complete and total Wallflower.

Two of the entrepreneurship groups had a 'screening process' where the group leader will contact me back in 'a couple days' with a 'yes, you can attend' or 'no, you cannot' . One of those groups meets this coming Thursday so I hope they get back to me soon.

In the meantime I'll keep my finger's crossed.

Progress Report - for week ended 6/15/08

So here are my goals for June 2008:

1. Publish Debt Freedom book (online or otherwise) - I'm completely done with the typing of the book. Now I just need to make some last minute adjustments before I let some friends & family take a first look at it and give me some pointers. I talked to two family members yesterday about that and they seem willing to review it so we shall see. I think this week will be about adding additional info and having people review it. Might also need to get an LLC started while I'm at it.
   
2. Join (or start) an entrepreneur's group - Still haven't seen a bunch of groups posted or anything, I might have to make my own. The one at the end of June may not coincide with my schedule.
   
3. post at least 25 blogs this month - As I look at my blogs for June it looks like I've published 10 so far and this will make for 'number twelve' so at this pace I still have a good chance of reaching the goal - I just slacked a little last week because I was trying to finish up the book.
   
4. **Subscribe to Inc Magazine - SUCCESS -Done - yup I finished this simple goal way early. Maybe as a confidence booster for my other goals.
   

As I mentioned in goal #1 I think something I need to do in the next couple of weeks is get an LLC or 'Limited Liability Corporation' started before I venture off and start making money. That along with looking for entrepreneurship groups will be my mini-focus for this week.

Quote of the Week #41

“It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done.”

Samuel Smiles
found on thinkexist.com

Video of the week: So much for that gas problem ...

So why hasn't the government told us about the affordable water-based engine yet? I guess a possible water shortage could be one reason but who knows. My paranoid guess is that the gas companies have had the technology for years and years they just would rather charge people money up the yin yang until they say enough then they'll introduce another technology - that they can overcharge us for.

The $1.4 billion crash - 'sorry about that'

So I hear that a $1.4 Billion (yes that's a 'B') dollar plane crashed off the coast of Hawaii a few months back.

It was a B-2 bomber that apparently had water that distorted sensor's - check out the video before the Airforce takes it down:

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/06/video-stealth-b.html

It's good to know my tax dollars are going to stuff like this rather than saving the economy.

Man I would feel pretty close to crap if I were one of the two pilots - especially if there is one who is more responsible:

Even if the pilots make a Million dollar's a year - it would take 140 years to (deduct that from their paycheck) . Glad I don't have anything worth nearly that much at work that I can possibly break.

Progress Report - For week ended 6/8/08

So here are my goals for June 2008:

1. Publish Debt Freedom book (online or otherwise) - I am doing the editing (Typing ) process right now. Just gone done with Chapter 3 and i plan to finish chapter 4 tonight as well - God willing. If I can get focused I can get all the typing done this week. Then I'd like to add a few extra sections and possibly some quotes but first I need to finish up typing - again hopefully by the end of next week.
   
2. Join (or start) an entrepreneur's group - I looked for one online last week but there first meeting isn't until the end of June - maybe if I look harder I'll find one for this week?
   
3. post at least 25 blogs this month - As I look at my blogs for June it looks like I've published 6 so far and this will make for 'number seven' so at this pace I will achieve this goal on time but, It wouldn't hurt to achieve it way early either.
   
4. **Subscribe to Inc Magazine - SUCCESS -Ha ha! I beat up the procrastinator-side-of-me and locked him in a closet shortly after writing this goal so I could send in a handy dandy check for Inc . & Fast Company for the super-low price of $15. Now If I can just find a way to get that procrastinator-side-of-me from the closet over to a walk in industrial freezer somewhere - I think I might have a very productive rest of the year.
   

So the first week is going pretty good. It doesn't hurt that the sun is out and I become more enthusiastic when it's sunny and warm outside. If i can keep hype the whole summer I might accomplish something great. Or at least meet my New year's resolution...

Is Oil going up - or are the speculators doing it?

In case you didn't hear about it, crude oil just went up to $10 a barrel on Friday.


I personally think that's kind of ridiculous and I'm seriously beginning to wonder where this comes from. Apparently the speculators can simply 'guess' or speculate on how much gas should be and shortly after that, we end up with higher gas prices.

The funny things is people are driving less so demand is down. The speculation puzzles me.

Happy Anniversary to me.

A funny thing happened a couple weeks back and I completely omitted mentioning it:

I've been writing this blog for just over a year now!

It's an interesting milestone for me - not because I've never blogged for a year straight before ( because I have). But this blog seems to have relevance in the world and by blogging about my finances not only have I learned a tremendous amount about personal finance, I'm also learning a bit about running a part-time business.

Not only that, I think I've met and at least become familiar with other bloggers who are also goal oriented and I think that's a positive influence on my life when every thing's said and done.

Unless, I get bored learning & talking more about finance - I will continue to do this blog for at least another year.

Thank you for reading!

Quote of the Week #40

“There's no way that I could do a 9 to 5 job. There's no way. I was not cut out for that. You come in and you work for three months on the one job. They say, 'Great,' you know, and you're on to the next one - and you never even got fired. It's wonderful.”

-Dennis Quaid quotes
found on thinkexist.com

I'd like my inexpensive electic car now please....

Unless you live in New York, Boston, my former home of Chicago or somewhere else where a large percentage of residents use mass transit - you may realize that gas is getting pretty darn expensive. Right now cheap (HA!) around where I live is at about $3.83 a gallon.

My gasoline bill has gone up from about $20 a week to about $40. I would really like to get a cool electric car like the Fisker Karma:











Or an even cooler electric car like the Tesla Roadster:















But, unfortunately the $80,000 & $95,000 respective price tags are a smidgen ( or maybe 10 smidgen's) out f my current price range. For now my high-MPG Honda will have to do. But once I have the money - Tesla Roadster - here I come!

May results/June Goals - 2008

My goals for May were as follows:

1. Write a book about Debt - SUCCESS - I finished all 10 chapters on Thursday, a day early.
   
2. Increase budget on Wedding account to $7500 - FAILURE * - * I've kind of backed off of contributing to the wedding account for some reasons of my own. There is also the fact that our budget will most likely be a little (or a lot) less than originally thought.
   
3. Put at least 3 items on E-bay to sell - FAILURE - nope didn't really even try. I was mostly focused with writing the book.
   

Even though I only accomplished one goal, I think I will stick with the 3-goal approach. Although this spreads out my energy a little if I accomplish all three then I feel pretty darn accomplished. If I accomplish one I've got that one.

1. Publish Debt Freedom book (online or otherwise)
   
2. Join (or start) an entrepreneur's group
   
3. post at least 25 blogs this month
   
4. **Subscribe to Inc Magazine
   

So there you have it. I am optimistic that all the above goals are highly attainable. Just need to focus and forget about watching the Simpson's.

**By the way, the last goal is so easy, in theory I should owe someone money if I DON'T do it. ..and I hate owing anybody money.

May 2008 Net Worth

So here is my Net Worth as of May 2008:




Obviously, that stimulus/rebate/IOU check from Uncy' Sam worked a little bit to help me increase the Net Worth again. It would be even nicer if I didn't have to worry about paying it back next year at Tax time but, I'll try and keep my mouth shut and be grateful.

Wedding planning is chugging right along. I think we may have enough to handle everything right now, BUT I have this funny feeling there are a lot of 'little things' that will take little bites out of the budget until it is no more. So we shall see.

In other news - Got My Internet back! I've felt slightly disabled these past couple weeks without it. If anyone lives in Ohio & has some computer issues let me know - I found a great guy on Craig's list who fixed my computer for a really decent price.