Archive for April, 2008
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
Riddle of the Sphinx and Personal Finance
Do you remember the Riddle of the Sphinx? “What journeys on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening?” Depending on the context, a person’s frame of reference and personal experiences the answer could become very elusive as I had difficulty answering the Sphinx when I first learned [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Misc by RichSlick
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
The Time Share Shuffle – A Story of Getting Started in Investing
Years ago, we took a trip to Mexico for a much needed two week long vacation. While we were there, we were constantly bombarded with offers to buy a time share. The come-ons are always the same, “we’ll give you $180 to sit for an hour presentation…” and when we took them up on the [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in MMO,Money Management by RichSlick
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
Bloody Hell – There Goes $9000 Into A Black Hole
I’ve sent off my check to the IRS for close to $9,000 for bloody taxes due. I’m still boiling over the fact that I’m not getting a tax refund and I’m still holding the economy hostage as I REFUSE to buy any consumer goods for the rest of the year: No iMac, no iPhone, no [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in Money Management,The Fed by RichSlick
Monday, April 14th, 2008
Inflation at ZERO Percent and I have Proof!
I went grocery shopping and bought my “basket of goods” to track inflation. I had intended to do this quarterly but I’ve been swamped with too many personal and business projects to keep up. In any event, here’s my basket of goods and the rate of inflation. April 2008 Item Unit Cost Total Cost 1 [...]
4 Comments » - Posted in Basket of Goods by RichSlick
Sunday, April 13th, 2008
Finally, Ayn Rand Required Reading At College
If I could change one thing in the high school educational system it would be to require Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged to be required reading for any graduating senior. Fortunately, at least one college is now going to make it required reading, April 11 (Bloomberg) — Ayn Rand’s novels of headstrong entrepreneurs’ battles against convention [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in John Galt by RichSlick
Saturday, April 12th, 2008
What The Hell Chase Bank?
I got an e-mail from Chase Bank regarding a change of terms and services and I simply couldn’t believe it. It reads (emphasis mine), Dear XXXXXXXX: As part of our continued effort to enhance online security, we’ve changed the way we process online payments or transfers, and have updated our online terms and conditions to [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Financial Safety,Watch Out by RichSlick
Friday, April 11th, 2008
Credit Card Arbitrage Is Addictive – A Fountain of Money
Pinyo over at Moolanomy asks the question whether credit card arbitrage is worth it and I can loudly proclaim, yes, it is! Not only is credit card arbitrage worth it but it can become a very addictive habit. I’ve been doing credit card arbitrage for years now. I started in the 90s on a smaller [...]
No Comments » - Posted in MMO,Money Management by RichSlick
Friday, April 11th, 2008
Raked in $500 – Slow Week
The week before options expiry usually yields lower returns but $500 is $500 right? This brings my return for April up to about $2000 for the month. Not too shabby for clicking a mouse but I’m still desperate for a phone that can handle true HTTPS/SSL requests so I can click my phone to make [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Easy money,Money Trades by RichSlick
Thursday, April 10th, 2008
Desperation: LinkedIn Requests Gone Crazy!
A few years ago, someone sent me a request to join LinkedIn which is essentially a business networking social site. I reluctantly joined and had about two “connections” with one from the person who sent me the link and one other friend that joined the network. I had pretty much forgotten about the site but [...]
No Comments » - Posted in LinkedInRatio by RichSlick
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
The Incredible Shrinking Portions
When I was in college, we’d order pizza fairly often and I recall that a large pizza was sized about 18″ in diameter and medium pizzas were 16″ in diameter. Over the years, a large pizza shrunk from 18″ to 16″ to 15″ today. I recently saw a commercial on TV for Domino’s new $4 [...]