Advanced investing

I know a lot about investing. For the most part, I manage my own portfolio. I say for the most part because my 401k is something I can't control too much. I'm at the mercy of the choices my employer makes as far as investment options.

But there are a lot of areas that I'm not comfortable with at all. I'm really not comfortable with covered calls at all. I just don't understand them enough to invest intelligently. With PowerOption I can find, compare, and analyze optionable stocks and options online to help meet my investment goals.

I believe a small portion of my investment portfolio should be extremely aggressive. But before I invest in anything remotely confusing, I will be doing the appropriate homework.

Site Stats

I've been talking about moving one of my blogs to it's own domain. It's a hard decision to make because you lose all of your page rank, alexa ratings, etc. I can redirect traffic so I won't lose that but everything else starts at zero. On a related note, one of my blogs just picked up an alexa ranking. Almost 8 million. I didn't expect a low number, but I sure didn't think it would be that high.

Getting rid of my post office box

I have a post office box that I've had for over 10 years. I have all sorts of mail go there but lately it's been nothing but junk mail with the occasional piece of good mail. I originally got the box because my mail wasn't being delivered to the apartment building where I lived. Other people where getting my mail so I got the box. I didn't want my financial statements going to other people.

Since I've changed most of my financial information to my new apartment there is no real reason to keep the po box. Within the next two months I will change the rest of my mail and close the box down. It's less than $100 per year, but I can spend that money on something else.

Tuition is due soon

I wish I could pay for my tuition with a credit card. Right now the school drafts the money out of my checking account every month for 4 months. Let me tell you, that's a long four months. I want to put the money on a credit card and stretch the payments out a couple of more months. So I've been doing research for a online credit card company. I've found several that are right up my alley. One has no fee and offers rewards. I like to get rewarded for my purchases. That's a definite bonus. Getting paid to shop and buy things you would have anyway.

Now why would I want to stretch the payments out longer? I can pay the payment within 30 days and not pay any interest at all. Add to that the fact that I get tuition reimbursement and that means that I'll take less money out of each paycheck to put towards school. More money in my pocket makes me a happy girl.

Blogging can getting tiring

Especially when you have multiple blogs. Which is one of the reasons I plan on condensing some of my blogs. It's beginning to be too much work. I can't keep track of which posts are going on which blog. I also have to try to remember which blog I've last updated and which one needs more attention. I seen some people that have 5 or more blogs. I can't see how they keep them all updated.

I need to get my budget under control

Most of my budgeted amounts are in line. But my biggest budget-buster is food. I think that holds true for a lot of people. I don't remotely cook so I eat most of my meals at work. At home I have easy things like pasta or rice and beans. I still spend about 10% too much each pay period. Paying for school leaves me no extra money so I need to get this under control sooner rather than later.

I need a new refrigerator

One of the perks of living in an apartment is that when something goes wrong, you just call maintenance and they come and fix it within 2 days. It usually gets fixed the same day if it's a normal problem. So it's time for me to schedule another appointment for a new refrigerator.

My fridge "knocks". Sounds weird doesn't it? Every 15 to 20 minutes it sort of hiccups. It's really hard to describe. I had the maintenance man over a few months ago and he told me that once it got too much for me to bear, to let him know and he will order me a new fridge. I even get to pick it out from a list. I'm looking at a Kenmore refrigerator. I used a search engine and typed in several makes and compared features. I can't wait. This noise is making me crazy.

I need to get up to speed with school

I know it's summer and I still have almost 7 weeks before classes start, but I need to get busy. I have to add a class at community college, drop one at Pitt and fill in my tuition reimbursement forms before July 15th. The rule at my job is that all classes must be approved 20 days before the start of the term. I don't want to wait until the last minute. I'm such a procrastinator that I know I will anyway.

Why leave anonymous comments?

On a non-money related topic, I like when people leave comments. I really do. But I don't understand why they leave them anonymously. Whenever someone leaves a comment I always try to respond to it. Unless it's obviously spam, then I ignore it and/or delete it. Then I go visit their site and try to see what they're writing about. Whenever you leave me an anonymous comment, you lose a potential visitor because I don't get to see your site.

I'm not discouraging comments, in fact I welcome them. Leave more, but leave a link to your site as well.

Should we get travel insurance?

I don't know if I've mentioned on this blog that my family is going on a cruise. It's me, my mom and my aunt. We're going to Mexico, Belize and the Bahamas on a 7 day trip. We leave in August.

The time of year that we're leaving is right in the middle of hurricane season. Cruise ships generally steer away from the hurricanes and onto a safe path. However travel insurance can be a good bet. I found one company called TravelSafe that offers trip cancellation or interruption insurance. They also offer a "Cancel for any reason" cash-back benefit. In the event that our trip gets cancelled or cut short we would get some, if not all, of our money back.

Now I just have to convince everyone else to spring for it. They want to take the cheap route. My motto is better safe than sorry.

Getting site sponsors

I might be getting a new site sponsor. Woohoo. More sponsors mean more money. I had someone email me asking if I was interested in putting up a link to their site. Ummm heck yeah dude! Now I'm waiting for him to get back to me with the details of the offer.

I'm still pretty new to the blog monetization game so I'm not even sure how much a link should go for. I'll be flying blind for a while until I get the hang of this. Hopefully this is the first of more sponsors to come.

I might not have to switch locations at work

I just found out today that one of the job paths that I'm interested in is offered at the building I work at. The only problem is that they don't hire a lot of people. Maybe 2 per year. So when I see the job I have to jump on it and apply right away. The good news is that the job is several grades higher than I am now, so I would see a nice raise.

There are 2 reasons why it's so hard to get higher jobs at my location. The first reason is because it's a small environment, there are only 700 or so employees. Most departments have less than 30 people total. Each department is broken into teams with about 10 people each. That's why it will be hard to get another job. There just aren't a lot of positions to go around.

The second reason is because there is free employee parking. When you first start you get put on a waiting list for a space. The list is about 18 months long. With the transit system cutting bus routes, people in the suburbs don't have as many choices. I have 2 or 3 coworkers who have already said they will never leave because of parking. I know a lot of other people feel the same way. I mean really, who wants to use public transportation if they don't have to?

Hopefully something will open up soon.

Exploring all of my investment options

There are a lot of options out there for investing money. I have cash, stocks and mutual funds already. I'm looking to add several more components though. I would like to add some bonds and some gold bullion. Why gold you ask? Well one reason is that it comes in many different forms. You can get gold in ingot or bullion form or as gold coins.

I love the look of gold ingots. However, these are investments not the kind that you wear. I'm leaning more towards gold coins though. Coins are available through companies like Monex. You can buy coins in a variety of sizes. Generally as an ounce, half-ounce, a quarter ounce, and a tenth of an ounce.

And if I don't want to take possession of the coins, I can have them stored at a bank or depository. But I like to be in total control of all of my investments. I'm sure I would have them in my storage box. I don't like other people holding onto my money or assets if I can help it.

I think young people should consider Job Corps

I just saw a commercial for Job Corps and I had to blog about it. I had a few friends go through the program and it's definitely worth it. They pay for a associates degree and they let you live on their campus. If you want to commute from home that's fine too. They give you a clothing and transportation allotment and pay for books to boot.

Your associates degree will be free and you won't have any debt when you're done. You can transfer all of the credits into a four year school towards your bachelors degree. If you're between 18-24 you should consider it.

My biggest relationship mistake

It was a biggie too. I loaned my boyfriend money. I know that was not the wisest thing to do. He needed the money to buy a car because he was in an accident and his car was totaled. His tires were bald and he skidded on an ice patch. Luckily no one was hurt in the accident and he hit a median in the road.

He works in the burbs and had no way to get to work. I work in the city and buses are abundant, but the burbs are a different story. They don’t have bus service within a mile and a half of where he works. We were dating and had been for over a year. I didn’t want him to lose his job, so I loaned him $2500.

The best thing I could have done was insist that he get a used car and put my name on the title. He did me one better and registered the car in my name. You know the break up story came next. And we broke up over…..you guessed it, money. At the time I made more money than he did and he couldn’t handle it. When I left I took the car with me. Since it was in my name, I sold it and was able to get all of my money back.

In hindsight, I should have seen the warning signs. He was jealous of the amount of money I earned. Believe me, I’m no Rockefeller and I’m not rolling in dough either. I just happened to make a few dollars more than he did. I wish a site that dealt with Relationship tips was around back then. I could have used some advice about how to understand men. They want a woman to be independent, but not too independent. Strange creatures that they are.

I need to balance my checkbook

So what else is new? I hardly ever balance my checkbook anymore. I'll go 2 or 3 weeks without any updates at all. I need to transfer some money into my savings account. I also need to sent some money to my stock fund. I'm supposed to send money every other month. I should have sent money 3 times already this year. This will only be the 2nd time. I'm a slacker.

How do you take too much student loan money?

I don't know, but believe me I did it. As a undergraduate student there is a certain amount of money that you are allowed to borrow. I went way over that amount by at least 15%. The student loans should have been denied but they weren't. I also had private loans through the school as well. Those are paid off. My regular Stafford loans are still being paid.

I will be glad when I'm done with school. The money that is now paying tuition will be put on my student loans to get those things paid off. Hopefully within the next 5-7 years I can be student loan free.

School is getting more expensive

I was supposed to take 2 classes in the fall. Now it looks like I might be taking 3. I've been paying myself but I think I might have to take out a student loan. I can't afford to pay for the classes. I do get reimbursement from my job, but I don't have the money to kick out first.

I have to apply for a private student loan. I don't qualify for regular student loans because I took too much money the first time I went to school. So instead of going the traditional student loan route, I have to go through a bank. I do still get the low interest rates and the interest rate deductions on my taxes. Those deductions are important. I made sure I got them when I applied for my student loan consolidation loan as well.

Man, I had to take a student loan consolidation because the payments were killing me. I was paying several hundred dollars per month. Now I still pay a couple hundred dollars but not as much as before. Not by a long shot. I was paying a car payment just for student loans. No wonder I couldn't afford anything else. But with student loan consolidation I have a little bit of extra money. Of course now that money is paying tuition and books.

That's why I'm trying to get a new job. I need to make more money. School is really breaking the bank.

Sports posts on the wrong blog

I've done it again. I put my sports post on this blog instead of the other one. At least I did make it applicable to this blog by talking about the money aspect. It still should have gone on the other blog anyway.

That's one of the problems with running multiple blogs. Sometimes you forget which blog you're on.

I'm looking for a new job

I like my job. I really do. But I don't get paid nearly enough. I know that most people don't feel that they get paid what they're worth. I get paid ok for the job that I do. I need to move up in my company. The problem is that I just got a promotion so I'm unable to post for another job for 15 months.

A promotion sounds good and I shouldn't complain right? Wrong, at least in my case. My job gave me a promotion but I got it at the same time that my annual raise was due. So I got the same amount of money for my promotion that I would have gotten as a raise. And I got locked in my job because it's considered a promotion.

My uncle has suggested that I look at a executive recruiting firm for help. Recruiters can really help you because they have contacts that you as a job seeker don't have. Since most recruiters focus on a certain job field, they know that field inside out. Part of that is also know what the employer is looking for and whether each applicant meets those qualifications.

It's something I really need to think about. What I get paid now is almost a joke.

Tickets to sporting events are expensive

I want to go to a baseball game and a football game this year. The tickets are so expensive. Steelers tickets start at $60 per ticket. That's not too bad, but when you consider parking, food, maybe a souvenir or two and it's well over $100 per person. I know I don't have to eat at the game, but it's a part of the whole game time experience for me.

Pirates tickets are cheap. I can get a ticket for less than $15 but the seats where I really want to sit are $27. I want to sit along the first or third baseline. For a baseball game if I can't sit exactly where I want, I probably won't go. Yes, I am a brat like that.

I'm so mad about school

I should have taken a summer class. I didn't know the class I wanted was being offered until the last minute. I thought the class started the day after Mother's Day but it started a week later. I was out of town for Mother's Day weekend and thought that I would miss the first class.

I hadn't actually missed the first class. By the time I found out the start date of the class, it was a week into the class. Summer classes are 6 weeks long. If you miss 2 classes, you can't catch up because of all of the work.

I just wish I had stayed up on the class schedule. Sigh...better luck next semester.

Sometimes it's all about the money

We are a very litigious society. So whenever someone hears that you are suing someone, the first thing they think is that you're trying to hit a lawsuit "jackpot". What most people don't realize is that they're not going to get the big payday they're dreaming of.

My moms best friend is involved in a lawsuit with her job. It's a unlawful termination. Because it's an active case, I can't say too much about specifics. She's not being sued, but she's named in the lawsuit as a defendant because of the company she works for. The company is represented by Simmons Jannace & Stagg. They specialize in corporate law among other things. They also handle real estate transactions, municipal law, and securities law. They're one of the most respected law groups in the tri-state area of NY, NJ and CT.

The person in question is in for a very rude awakening. When all is said and done, there will be no big windfall and they still won't have a job.

Slacking with my money

Yesterday I found 2 checks that I had never deposited. One was for my quarterly divident payment. The other was for a survey I had done. They survey money is not sent PayPal. I deposited the money today. Most of it will be used to purchase additional stock. I plan on sending the check on Wednesday or Thursday. This way it will count towards this quarters goals.

Summer vacation season is upon us

I am so jealous of my coworker. She goes on awesome vacations every year. This year is no different. This year her family is going to Hawaii. They've done their research into various Hawaii condos for their stay.

They've been to Hawaii before but they've never stayed in Hawaii condos before. They usually stay in a local hotel. But after her parents discussed it, they decided that Hawaii condos would be their best bet. When you stay in a more private setting, you can better control your surroundings.

They can cook their own food. Why they would want to cook on vacation is beyond me. I'm all about eating at local restaurants and having local food. However, the condo offers them more privacy as it is not in the direct path of tourists. It sits away from the hotels but is still near the beach.

I know that I'm going on my own awesome vacation this year. But come on, this is Hawaii. Who wouldn't be excited about that?

I've written a lot of posts

When you go into your dashboard to sign in, it tells you how many posts you have made. I'm up over 300. Closer to 305. That's a whole heck of a lot of posts. I didn't think I had written that many. I know my blog is over a year old, but still that's a lot. I guess I have a lot more to say than I thought I did.

Wrapped around my finger

That was the first song I heard this morning when I woke up. You know how you hear a song and it takes you back to a certain time or place? Every single time I hear that song I think of my ex-boyfriend Chris. He used to sing that song to me all the time. He would sing other songs off of the police cd to me too, but that is the main one he really liked. He could not sing to save his life so it was always funnny to hear.

That's one of the reasons why I love the Police so much. There are so many songs on the police cd that I love. I can't even name them all. I ordered their new 2 cd set and it's well worth the money. I don't think there is any other band out there like the Police.

When you consider their reunion tour, most people like me are ecstatic. I thought I would have to watch a tv special to see them perform together again. I actually get to go see them live. I'm really super excited about this. When you hear the glowing comments that other musicians have made about the band, you know they've made their mark. They have inspired many other bands. I think that's what it's all about. Not only perfecting your craft, but mentoring other bands.

There is also a contest where you can win a trip to New York to see the Police perform live. This is right up my alley. I love to travel, I haven't been to NY in forever and I'd get to see the Police free. You can bet the farm I'm entering this contest. Man would that be a sweet prize to win.

Would you rent out your house?

I don't think I could. I am way too neurotic for that. The U.S. Open golf tournament is coming to Pittsburgh starting on Monday. Local people are renting out their homes for a ton of money. I mean thousands of dollars for the week. While the money sounds nice, I don't know if I could do it.

I have to keep a tight rein on my money

I know I seem to obsess about my money not being in my accounts, but I like to keep a tight rein on my money. My budget is stretched to the max so I have to know where every dollar goes.

Two years ago, I was drowning in debt. So bad that I had to go out and get debt help. I was totally mis-managing my money. I had so many personal loans, I don't know how I made the payments. It eventually affected my credit rating, making me take out bad credit loans. Those were the worst because they had ridiculously high interest rates.

I ended up talking to my boyfriend and getting him to help me set up a spending plan that helped me to get out from under all of that debt. I am by no means debt-free, but I'm no longer robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I got my money

I logged onto my bank account this morning as soon as I got to work. My money was there. I only transferred slightly over $100 into my account but at least there's some money there now. I don't have any checks on my primary checking account so I always try to keep money in this account just in case.

I think I might transfer some more money, just in case. You just never know what's going to happen.

Where is my money?

I transferred some money from my PayPal account into my checking account the other day and it still hasn't shown up yet. I've had it show up the next day, so for it to be 3 days later is kind of weird to me.

I only balance my checkbook once every 2 weeks so I'm going crazy because I can't remembered how much I transferred. Especially since my work computer is so slow. I can't even log into PayPal from work.

Father's Day is coming up

I was talking to my workleader at work yesterday. She was wondering what to get her husband for Father's Day. She really has no clue what to get him. He doesn't really have any hobbies or interests where he needs special equipment or tools. That makes him extremely difficult to buy for.

Then she told me that they were going on a cruise later this summer. It's a 4 day, 3 night cruise to the Bahamas. I asked her if they were planning on doing the formal night on the cruise ship and she said yes. She already has a dress from a formal wedding that they went to 2 summers ago. I just need to say that I'm jealous that she can still fit into a dress from 2 years ago. There are clothes that I bought last year that I can't fit anymore. Anyway, her husband has a suit that he's had forever that he's planning on wearing.

I told her to buy him a combination of a necktie and Pocket Squares from Belisi.com. With the large selection that they have, I'm sure she should be able to find something that they'll both like. The ties are made of pure silk and make a wonderful gift. The best part is, she can coordinate his tie with a scarf, shawl or hair accessory that she is wearing.

I purchased 3 silk scarves from Belisi for a very low price. They're very pretty and I've gotten a ton of compliments on them. The best part is that they're unique and I haven't seen anyone else with them. I use one for a hair accessory. I tie it to my ponytail and let it hang down my back. I always get people asking me where I got it from. It always surprises people to hear how affordable they were.

I think her husband will love anything from Belisi that she buys him.

I won't be using GPT sites anymore

I won't name the sites that I use. I am a member of 3 sites, but only actively use 2. GPT means get paid to try. You know how you sign up for a website or newsletter or even sample a product? Well, there are sites out there that will match you up with sponsors that will pay you to try there sites or products.

So what's the problem? I've been a member for a while and now my offers aren't crediting. I feel like I'm wasting my time now just filling out surveys and getting tons of junk mail with no payoff.

Oh well, they were good while they lasted.

I might go to Cleveland for a game

Cleveland is not exactly a travel destination for most people. But for baseball fans it's a great place to visit. One of my coworkers wants to drive to Cleveland to catch a game. We're planning on making a day of it. We're trying to go to a day game. That way we can leave in the morning, catch the game and hang out for a while before we come back home.

I am definitely not a driver. I like to call myself the designated passenger. One of my responsibilities is to get the directions. I plan on using a site called publicroutes.com. It's a free site and they will direct us exactly where we need to go. I'll also keep the site handy in case we need a map of Boston MA. Hey, who knows, we might make it to a Red Sox game as well. Of course, we probably won't get tickets to the Yankees series in August, but maybe we'll see the White Sox or Tigers.

My computer at work is so slow

I've been trying to get into my PayPal account for several days. My computer at work won't even load the site. Then if you are patient enough to wait for the site to load, it still won't let you log in.

They are in the process of updating all of the computers. They lease them and most of the leases are up. Of course mine is not up for another few months.

I need to get into my PayPal account and transfer some money into my checking account. There's no money in there right now. I gotta change that and quick.

Working my money

I work my money to the max. Anyway I can find to make extra money, I do. I work at a bank and they have incentives for banking with them. I didn't get in on this because I already banked there before I started working there.

However, now that I'm a employee, I take full advantage of their programs. I plan on opening a certificate of deposit. They don't pay a high interest rate but my job perks will make it worth my while. I'll get an extra percent plus a gift card. That will make my rate of return over 5%.

I'm also going to get a debt consolidation loans I plan on using this to pay down some outstanding personal loans that I have. Again because I'm an employee, I'll get percentage points knocked off by using automatic debit. So, I'll still spend money for my payments, but the amount that I pay will be much lower. And the loan will get paid off quicker to boot.

I read all types of personal finance websites like creditloan.com. They give you great ideas about how to get out of debt. I plan on putting these ideas into action.

I thought I had problems

I emailed a friend today to whine and cry about my life. After she played Dr Phil, I asked about her weekend. Boy was it a doozy. Long story short, somebody threatened her with a gun. It was a case of road rage to the extreme. Luckily she had her cell phone and was able to call the police. It was still a scary situation.

Bloggers now get paid more with PPP Direct

This is good news for both bloggers and advertisers. It's especially good for bloggers though. PPP Direct is perfect.

Advertisers come to you. Yes, they search you and your blog out. They can be advertisers that you've blogged for that enjoyed your work. Or people that have seen your blog and have wanted you to write for them but didn't know how to set it up.

That's not even the best part. It is extremely flattering for people to search you out and want to work with you, that's true. The best part however is that you get paid more. More money makes me a happy girl!

See with sites like ReviewMe, there is a 50-100% markup. So if you are offered $20 for your post, you actually only get $10 or less. I know some people get much less than half. Only the really big bloggers get in the 50% range. But with PayPerPost Direct, if you get offered $20 for blogging, you get the whole $20. The advertiser pays PPP a 10% fee, half of which goes towards PayPal transaction costs and credit card processing.

If you're worried about security or even getting paid for your work. No worries mon. PayPerPost handles all of that. They are the ultimate middle man. All you have to do is worry about writing quality content and let PPP handle the rest.

So what are you waiting for? Get on board with PayPerPost Direct today!

Are you really sick?

At least 32% of people who call off work are not really sick. Especially since most companies are moving more towards the more flexible paid time off concept. At my job, you can schedule pto (just as you would a vacation day), or do the usual and call off sick.

Here are the top 15 excuses for calling off sick according to CareerBuilder.com:

1. Employee was poisoned by his mother-in-law.

2. A buffalo escaped from the game reserve and kept charging the employee every time she tried to go to her car from her house.

3. Employee was feeling all the symptoms of his expecting wife.

4. Employee called from his cell phone, saying that he was accidentally locked in a restroom stall and that no one was around to let him out.

5. Employee broke his leg snowboarding off his roof while drunk.

6. Employee's wife said he couldn't come into work because he had a lot of chores to do around the house.

7. One of the walls in the employee's home fell off the night before.

8. Employee's mother was in jail.

9. A skunk got into the employee's house and sprayed all of his uniforms.

10. Employee had a bad case of hiccups.

11. Employee blew his nose so hard, his back went out.

12. Employee's horses got loose and were running down the highway.

13. Employee was hit by a bus while walking.

14. Employee's dog swallowed her bus pass.

15. Employee was sad.

I am literally lol at some of these excuses. Especially #'s 1, 5, 9. Have you ever used any of these excuses?

Read Marketing Conversation and learn something new

I love when I read a new blog and learn something new at the same time. Most blogs aren't out to teach you anything. They're just online journals of the writers' life. Kind of like my blog.

As I was reading through Marketing Conversation, I noticed that it was different. It not only throws around a bunch of jargon, but Chris takes the time to explain what the terms mean. Do you know what a vertical blog is? I know I sure didn't. Well, a vertical blog is...hey wait a minute. Head on over to Marketing Conversation to find out.

What is wrong with people?

This past week we were short staffed at work. One of my coworkers had to be sent home. The reason.....she had ring worms. Ewww and yuck. She adopted 2 cats from the animal shelter. At first, she just knew they had patches. She took them to the vet and he told her they had ring worms. She kept rubbing up against the cats and she got it.

She was at work for almost 2 hours before she said anything. Meanwhile, she had been scratching and touching everything in the office. This is the same person who is always calling off or coming to work late. We think she did it so she could get the extra days off. She's out of sick days already so they made her use vacation days. She left on Tuesday and came back on Friday.

People please have some consideration for everyone else.

Convincing loved ones to get help

This is probably one of the hardest things in the world to do. Family always thinks you're coming down hard on them or passing judgement on them, even when you aren't. At the same time, it's hard to stand by and watch someone make mistake after mistake and not say anything.

My aunt passed away and left a large sum of money to her daughter. The daughter never wanted for anything in her life, but the temptation of the money was too much for her. She got hooked on drugs and squandered all of the money. Eventually we convinced her to go to drug rehab, but it was not easy. It took several years for her to see the light. She also had to hit rock-bottom before she realized that she indeed have a problem.

How do you know if someone needs help? I took this quote from the 1800nodrugs.com website: "If an addict cannot break free from the destructive and life threatening patterns of drug and alcohol addiction, they and/or others may suffer and die needlessly and harshly". If this sounds like someone you know, I urge you to get them help. It won't be easy, but you'll be glad you did it.