Earn More Money or Save More Money?

If you had the choice of increasing your salary or being able to save a larger percentage of your salary; what would you choose. Which would you rather do? I bet most of you would chose to give yourself a big raise. Everyone wants to make more money, right?
I would choose the opposite. I would like to be able to save more to retire earlier and reach my goal of making one million dollars sooner. I would rather focus and concentrate on the important things in my life than be distracted and obsessed by the latest gadget on the market.
One of the biggest problems people confront is advertising that creates a perfect fictional reality. A reality that can not exist without Hollywood magic, one that causes us to constantly want more, bigger, better, newer things. We are always trying to out do the Joneses (our neighbors and friends) prove to them we are better off, more hip, trendier, whatever you want to call it. We end up buying things that we really don't need in the first place, but we are convinced by advertising that we do.
These things these prized possesions can take up space in our lives and hearts and may crowd out the people and relationships that really matter. Do you really need a cell phone that can - play music, give directions, surf the internet, check email, take pictures, text etc. How did junkies get their fix before the Crackberry? Do you even really need a cell phone (probably, your saying I just need it for emergencies right). How did we survive before the invention. Are the trivial 2 minute conversations even necessary? Are we dumbing down our speech to some sort of diluted short-hand, brb, lol. I digress. Sometimes I wonder if some of the things that we use everyday improve the quality of our lives? Or did we get duped into thinking this new technology improves our life, when it really isolates us or consumes us.

What do you think?

Is Facebook really worth $100 Billion dollars?

How much are you willing to pay for information? Advertisers are willing to pay for access to potential consumers. I don't think Facebook is worth more than Google or any other company that makes tangible products like Microsoft. I realize that internet applications and social networks are a big hit with younger kids and can be very addicting, but I think it is strange that people are investing so much time and energy into something that exists only on their computers and in their minds. I guess I'm a hypocrite because I invest my own time and energy into writing this blog how to make a million dollars, but that's alright. I can rationalize the time invested with the amount of knowledge attained and the actions I take to right my finances. Do you think web applications are more valuable than things you can touch and feel and work with?

How I make money with this blog

There are several ways that I make money from writing this blog. Originally, I did not start this blog for monetary gain, but as time went on, requests from advertisers started rolling in. I added Google Adsense to the site as well as Text - Link Ads. Once in a while I will write an entry for Blogvertise or PayPerPost. I also use Linkworth and have used Adbrite in the past. I am currently a three digit blogger and am proud of that considering the limited amount of time I spend writing on this site. In addition to money I receive requests to review different products and books. Most of the books are financial books and many times are interesting and helpful. Why am I telling you all of this? Why is this important? It is very easy to do and can be very profitable. I am telling you this because you can create your own blogger blog and make some extra cash if you chose. My goal is to become a four digital blogger, and eventually be able to pay for may mortgage just through blog income. Each month I'll post my earnings to keep track, and you can follow along if you like.

November 2008
Google Adsense = $22.58
TextLinked Ads =$47.21
Private Ads =$35
Blogvertise =$3
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Total =$107.79

Is your job recession proof?

Mine is. I work in the health care industry. If you work in finance, banking, in an auto factory, or at a major corporate that needs to cut costs, watch out.

Goal achieved! Term Life Insurance --- check

Last month I made a few simple goals and I completed one of them with the help of http://www.financialone.com/. I got term life insurance for myself and my wife. Originally I was speaking with an agent from ING, but he was very hard to get in touch with and really didn't seem interested in helping me set up life insurance. I talked to a few people about companies that provide good rates, and ING, and Prudential were recommended to me. Then I found http://www.financialone.com/ which compares different rates of multiple companies. Basically you enter your information and they match you up with the carrier that will give you the best rate. I was pleased with their service and found it much easier than researching every different insurance company on my own.
The reason I finally decided to get life insurance is because of my 5 month old son. I am trying to be responsible and make sure that my family is taken care of in case of an unfortunate event. I got enough insurance to prevent my survivors from going into debt (enough to pay off the remainder of the mortgage, a sum towards a college education, and three years of my salary) combined with the insurance that my work provides it should be enough to cover all expenses. Because we are in good health and do not smoke we receive excellence rates from http://www.financialone.com/.
What are your thoughts on life insurance? Do you believe in being covered or do you think it is a waste of money?

Getting killed in the stock market!

I picked a pretty bad time to invest in mutual funds in Asia and Latin America. I bought two emerging market funds at their all-time highs during the end of 2007. Now both of them are down over 50%. I'm not too worried about those since I'm looking for them to be profitability in 20 or more years.

I also recently sold my stake in XCR for a massive loss -80% of my investment. I am holding on to SDTH for the long term, even though I'm kicking myself for not selling at $10.50, I would have locked in a solid gain. Now the stock is in the dumpster after this whole economic crisis going on. I'm considering buying some more up because the company is buying back stock and has a numbers.

I recently purchased GNVC and it has tanked as well since I bought it. I really have to stop buying these long shot small companies and start building positions in some real companies with nice dividends.

For the year I'm officially down $62 which isn't that bad, but I am learning as I go. I am still buying monthly into the SPY and hopefully after the economy straightens itself out over the next 5 to 10 years I'll have a nice little nugget sitting in the stock market. Only time will tell.

Do you ever check your credit report?

It is a good idea to know what is on your credit report. You are entitled to one free credit check a year from many different companies. Other companies provide a free credit report with purchase of a security service which notifies you of suspicious activity. Having a idea of what your credit score is, can be very helpful when trying to get a mortgage, loan, or applying for a line of credit. To improve your credit score you can pay credit card bills on time (in full). Also cancel credit cards that you don't use. Many of us fall into the trap of getting a credit card for every store in the mall because they offer a 10% or 15% discount off your purchase when you sign up. I have done this in the past and I'm not proud of it. I got an Express credit card and I used it once (when I originally got it). What a waste. After seeing it on my credit report I decided to cancel it and get rid of it. Currently my wife and I use one credit card to maximize our point earning potential. Sometimes you may not even know that you have credit lines open or there may be other credit cards in your name that someone else is fraudlently using. I'm sure you've seen the commericals with identity theft victims with funny voice overs and upset expressions.

Remember to check credit report before the end of 2008.