Financial stuff

My Last Vice

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photo credit: muztiko

Gambling is the last costly vice I have left. This used to be a major money drain for me and is now one of the few areas where I feel I waste money but I certainly don’t spend money on it like I used to. I’ve lost about $100 in three gambling sessions this year. That isn’t too much but I don’t feel that I am receiving a good value for my money. I only play poker but I need to get a lot better or luckier before I can justify playing on a regular basis. I do feel that my gambling is completely under control but I am going to give it up for the rest of the year as a test of my self-control. Also it does seem kind of silly to do many little things to save a few bucks and then blow several times that during a couple hours gambling.

Mini-Retirements

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photo credit: Joe Lazala
The concept of mini-retirements was one of many ideas in The 4-Hour Workweek that I like. Before reading the book I’d already come up with my own similar concept of semi-retirement. The idea is that instead of waiting to have one retirement at the end of many years working you take occasional mini-retirements during your working years.

Now that I am out of school I am ready for my first real mini-retirement. My hike on the AT later this year is what I’m considering as my first real mini-retirement. I’ve taken similar trips and breaks in the past but this one is different. The main difference is that I won’t be spending all my money to take it and should actually have about as much money at the end of it as the beginning of it. The other difference is that I will have the ability to resume making money as soon as I return from my trip. In the past taking a trip of this sort usually meant quitting a job before the trip and then looking for another one after the trip was over. Now I’m not nearly as dependent on job income. I may look for a seasonal job when I return though to increase my income. This method of taking mini-retirements will likely delay my ultimate retirement but I consider the trade off worth it.

A Million Dollars is Too Much and Not Enough

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There is something about a million dollars that seems to evoke strong feelings in people. Compare the following two posts about a million dollars.

“84 Year Old Social Worker Saves 1.4 Million Dollars” at Get Rich Slowly. Most people found this to be an inspiring story but there were some who felt that she must have had a miserable life if she was able to save a million dollars. And there were others who said that what she did couldn’t be done now.

“What Would You Do With a Million Dollars” at Bargaineering. Most people here feel that a million dollars isn’t really that much money.

My thoughts are that a million dollars is still a lot of money and I could comfortably retire if I had that sum right now. Saving a million dollars is a reachable goal for most people with an average income. I believe I could save a million dollars if I made that a primary goal. I’d prefer to spend less time working though so I’ll attempt to live like a millionaire rather than be a millionaire.

My Online Empire

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When I post my monthly income usually about $300-$400 of it is online income.  This isn’t much but apparently many people see it as somewhat of an achievement because I get lots of questions asking how I do it. I usually reply I make money from Adsense, text links, direct ads, and affiliate sales.  I’m sure many people would like a more detailed answer so I am going to give details on all my online sites.

BankBonuses.info– This is my oldest site. I started it in December 2005 on Blogger.  I made my first Adsense payment in the summer of 2006 but it wasn’t until last year that it really started making money.  This site used to bring in the large majority of my earnings.  It still makes up the majority of my earnings but my other sites combined make almost as much money as this blog.

BankBonuses.com– This is a static site. It doesn’t make a lot of money but considering I only update it about once a month my return per hour is very high.

TightFistedMiser.com– This is my second highest earning site. I resisted putting ads on here for a long time. Unlike Bank Bonuses, my primary purpose here isn’t to make money. Since I’ve added them though my readership has gone way up so maybe I should have placed ads here earlier.

CreditCardBonuses.info- This site doesn’t make much money. It might break even. I started this as a blog but I think I’ll convert it to a static site. I haven’t updated it in a while and writing more than two blogs takes up more time than I want to spend. I had a couple more credit card sites planned but credit card sign-ups are way down this year so I’m putting those plans on hold.

FrugalBlogNetwork.com- This site doesn’t make any money but that is not its purpose.  It has made me money indirectly since it brings more readers here.  I haven’t done as much with it as I should.

Those are all the active sites I have right now.  I have some more planned but those will not debut until after I have finished my hike.  I also make a little money online from places other than my web sites such as eHow.  That isn’t a significant source of income now though.

Read Christian PF’s detailed post on how to make money with a blog for much more information.

Now vs. Future

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I have a constant struggle between now and the future. I tend to focus on whichever one is easiest to deal with at the moment and that is usually to my detriment.

For example right now I am constantly thinking about my hike that won’t start for two months. Instead of doing school work I am spending my time reading people’s trail journals and browsing trail forums. I still have a lot of work to do for school and I’m spending too much time thinking about my hike. In this case I’m living in the future and ignoring my now. Although I am ignoring the part of my future where I graduate.

Usually I think more about what is happening now and ignore my future. I know that eating fast food and drinking soda all the time is going to cause me health problems. I enjoy eating my fast food and drinking soda now though and any future health problems still seem remote. This is the same way I used to be about my savings. It was much easier to spend the money now than save it for some future time. Now that I do have some money saved though it is comforting to know it is there in case I need it.

I need to spend more time analyzing my motivations for my actions and come up with a better balance between what I do for now and what I do for the future.