Andy Hough

Marathon Musings and Super Sales

by

Can a 50 pounds overweight, 43 year old guy run a marathon with just two months of  lackluster training? Yes.  Should he? No!!

I did manage to finish the Bass Pro Marathon last Sunday with a time of 6:06:41 which placed me at 155 of 158 men in the marathon.  Hey, I wasn’t last and anyway my main goal was to finish.  I’ve now completed 5 marathons in 5 different states.   This marathon was tough.  I spent most of the last 10 miles walking rather than running.  The temperature was in the 40s when the race started but it was near 70 and sunny for the last half of the race.  This made it uncomfortably hot for me and I became a little dehydrated.  I also got a little sunburn and chapped lips.  Of course there were sore muscles after the race but they recovered after a couple of days.  This was the first time the muscles in my arms became sore as well.  I guess it was just from holding them up in a running position for most of the race.  I won’t be doing any more marathons until I lose some significant weight and am in much better shape.

I’ll post some marathon photos later.  I’ve managed to jack up the SD card slot in my laptop by accidentally putting the little protector piece of plastic in there sideways.  As soon the USB card reader I ordered arrives I’ll upload some of the marathon photos.

If you are looking to do some early Christmas shopping here are some good deals.

The Mr. Rebates Christmas Promo offers increased cash back at over 300 stores with some offering up to 22% cash back.

Mr. Rebates also offers a $5 sign up bonus for new members.

It’s Just 35 Cents

by

I was reading the comments on another site recently and a commenter complained about a customer holding up a line for 10 minutes because he had been overcharged 35 cents.  The commenter felt it was ridiculous to cause such a fuss for just 35 cents.  As you might expect from a tight-fisted miser I have a different view. My feeling is that if it is just 35 cents then it should not have been a big deal for the store to give the customer his money. As a matter of principle I would get my 35 cents.  I suspect that whether “it’s just 35 cents” varies somewhat depending on whether it is your 35 cents or somebody else’s 35 cents.  Also a feeling of “it’s just 35 cents” might lead to it’s just a dollar or five dollars or one hundred dollars.  You need to respect your money if you want to keep it.

That  being said there are situations in which I would not worry about 35 cents.  What do you think?

Online Income Report – October 2010

by

Here is a breakdown of my online income for October 2010.

Google Adsense – $338.23

Affiliate Income – $750

Text Link Ads – $48.45

Direct Ads – $33.23

Ehow – $11.89

Total – $1181.80

My online income was over $1000 for the fourth month in a row.  This is great income, especially considering I haven’t done a lot of work on my sites the last couple of months.  My Adsense seems to have recovered from the summer doldrums.  It should remain strong through the winter.  The main source of my income in October was from affiliate income.  I prefer this to the direct ad sales since I think it is more sustainable.  However, the vast majority of this affiliate income was from one limited-time offer.  Whenever the affiliate ends the offer my income will likely nosedive.  This hasn’t happened yet so my November income should still be over $1000.   I’ve been turning down a lot of direct ad offers since I don’t think the money they are offering is worth the risk to my page rank.  My goal for the rest of the year is to diversify my affiliate income and develop my own product.

October Investment Income – $96.04

by

My October investment income rose to $96.04 from $93.78.  This was pretty nice since I didn’t add any money to my investment.  It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to add any money to my investments until at least next year so any increase will have to be from market gains.  I did take some of my accumulated dividends out and invest them in my Roth IRA.  I’m hoping I’ll be able to fully fund my Roth IRA by tax time next year.  Doing so should result in a nice tax credit.

This is not my actual investment income. To get this figure I first add up my retirement savings, emergency fund, and any other money I consider permanent savings. What the total of my savings would earn at 6% interest for a month is my monthly investment income. My goal is to get this amount to $1000 a month. If I have $1000 in monthly passive investment income I will be able to retire early. You can see what my actual investment income for the month was by looking at my monthly income report and adding the interest and dividend amounts.

October Income – $2135.84

by

Here is a breakdown of my income for October.

Online Income

$1158.98

Interest

$15.57

Stock Dividends

$22.81

Mystery Shops

$222.17

Bank Bonuses

$10

Survey/Cashback

$26.31

Medical Study

$680

Total

$2135.84

It was a good month for income. My online income not only totaled more than $1000 for the fourth month in a row.  It was down a little from the month before but since I didn’t have any new text link sales I was pleased with it. I should have a good shot at making over $1000 online this month as well. If I continue to make over $2000 a month without a job I won’t be in any rush to get one. My mix of passive and alternative income is working well for me.

If I don’t do a medical study this month my overall income will be down but I’m not worried about it.  My income should still be more than my expenses.

My reported mystery shopping income does not include reimbursements but expenses such as mileage and printing have not been deducted from the total.  With my allowed mileage expense the amount of mystery shopping income I have to pay tax on will be much smaller.  Mystery shopping is like a part time job for me now.  I just do a few shops that I like when I feel like it and try to pick up a few heavily bonused shops at the end of the month.  I like this better than trying to maximize my income by doing every shop available.  I make a little less money but I get a much better hourly rate for the shops I do and have a much lower stress level.

If I continue to make over $2000 a month without a job I won’t be in any rush to get one. My mix of passive and alternative income is working well for me.