NOFX

Rate shouldn't be locked at 100,000. This should be addressed.

Whenever I first got out of school everyone (except family) preached to me that I needed to own and not rent. This is solely my experience, but buying was the worst decision I ever made being 24 years old. Not only does it keep me trapped in one location in my early 20's, but it doesn't even work out mathematically or logically. The much smarter thing I could have done was just rent until I hit my early-mid 30's. Get cheap rent and put the difference between rent and mortgage in the bank for a huge down payment. Example. I bought a town house for $172,000. Mortgage alone was about $950, but with taxes, insurances my "rent" payment from the bank was about $1200. In 30 years I will have paid roughly $432,000 to own that place. Now If I can rent w/ a roomate for $500 a month. That means I can put the other $700 in the bank. In about 20 years I will have enough saved up to buy the place out right. ((700*12)*20.4)=172,000. So rent plus the $700 a month for 20 years only cost about $293,000. Now that $140,000 over the next ten years could be spent on beer and hookers instead of the bankers pocket. I know the housing market will go up and that it really isn't practical to do that for 20 years to save every penny. But just by looking at the numbers, the longer I could rent and save $700 a month, the cheaper it's going to be in the end. Plus, it gives a young person flexibility and when they are ready to stay in one spot and own, they will be in the perfect position to put down a huge down payment. Maybe even half... I really don't like the "your paying someone else's mortgage" trick. That was also what I was told by the salesman. Whether you are paying your mortgage or someone elses, it only makes a difference if Renting and the mortgage cost about the same. In the end you are still paying a mortgage either way. Currently, I'd rather be able to walk away from your mortgage than spend half a life time paying mine. If we want to get real clever, we need someone else to pay our mortgage then you can say "Why would you pay your own mortgage when you can get someone else to"

Well I do have a few investments.. www.lendingclub.com will earn you about 10% return a year. I've had about 2k in there for a couple of months and so far I'm earning about 11.5%. No defaults or anything, but the money is tied up. The majority of my savings are basically in a 2% savings account though, because currently I like it to be liquid. I have been contributing to a 401k for the past 5 years. Putting anywhere between 6%-10% of my paycheck, plus the 3% the company matches. I have fairly substantial amount sitting in there. but as the market drops, so does my money. I really can't see putting 20k into an account earning 6-7% a year as GREAT investment. I know it's better than nothing, but having that money locked up for a measly 6% doesn't seem worth it to me. I only earn $1200 after a year of just letting it sit. I'm more of a risk taker and I feel like you have a much better chance of earning GREAT returns on your money if you invest in something that you actually have to work at. Starting your own business? Finding good deals on property, fixing it up and reselling. Not only do you have the potential to get GREAT returns, you have the opportunity of working for yourself. Things along these lines seem like much better ways to get decent returns. Investing without really putting any work into it seems like it was designed to benefit the person holding your money more so than yourself. Sure you might end up with a lot of money when your 60, but the person/company taking 1-2% of the top of a couple hundred accounts probably earns as much a year as you will have when you are 60. Even self-taught investment in the stock market would seem like a better option, but some people don't really want to learn. Did Warren Buffet make his initial investment with Charles Swab or did he do his homework? Well the thing is that I have liquid assets. Although I didn't invest 2k a year starting at 22. I would be able to invest the same amount at 28 as what Daryl has at 28. So theoretically I could have 1.2 million if I can earn 12% a year on it. I'm not sure I like this, it sounds great, but realistically I'll earn 7% tops and who knows, the dollar could be worthless when I'm 60. I like having control of my funds and I'm sort of sitting back and waiting for the right opportunity. People say some people are lucky with investments/financial decisions. Luck is nothing more than being prepared for the opportunity. I do have conflicting ideas. On one hand, I'd like to figure out how to make money and not work for the man. I'd like to make smart financial decisions and stay ahead of the pack. I would like to just live life doing the things that make me happy and not have to worry about money. On the other hand, I really don't care about money that much. I don't care about owning a big house or a really nice car. The last thing I care about is impressing someone I don't know or don't even care about. I really have a nonchalant attitude toward most things in life. So I'm stuck somewhere between these view points. I'd rather live for today and do the things I want than spend 40 years investing working a job I hate just so that I can eventually be happy when I'm old. There is a happy medium somewhere in there and that is what I'm searching for.

Well, they are kind of old and didn't really think I could fix it. They were actually very surprised when it turned on and told me I could just keep it. I kept telling them to keep it, but they insisted. poor best buy salesman...

well, I didn't keep going since I posted last, but I'm kinda half assing it now. I don't care about strength training anymore. I'm just trying to get in good shape by doing stuff at home. Push-ups, sit-ups, curl-bar, running a couple miles a day. Just backpacked 15 miles carrying 35lbs on my back. I'm not all that bad, it's just that I need to work on my endurance.

Very true about the interest on your money, but in the grand scheme of things, unless you have a significant amount to begin with, it's really not going to make that much difference. I don't see how anyone could possibly get wealthy from working for another company/organization. Well, I take that back somewhat. If you work there 40+ years and get numerous promotions throughout, then you may end up on the very upper level of middle class. But then again, it all depends on the field of work your in also. It also comes down to how you live your life. As my father always told me, "the more you make, the more you spend" is pretty much true. Everyone does this. I saw I was doing it and I changed my ways a few years back and just pretended like I didn't make that much. So what if you are in your mid to late 20's and making 200k a year. You would have a huge house payment and amongst numerous other bills I'm sure. The way to make real money is to fall into it or get lucky with many of the decisions you make in life. We make thousands a day and just one of those could lead to wealth. The thing is, I'm not really concerned with making money and impressing others with it. We all need it to live, but I don't want to live my entire life revolving around it. There's much more out there than making money and buying crap with the money you make. A house payment is something I surely won't have when I'm older. If I do, I will sell my house and get a smaller one before I work as a greeter when I'm 80. If all I have is Social Security checks coming in. I guess thats the quality of life I'm stuck with until I get reincarnated. Yes, my plan is to go sabbatical... The attitude live for today and tomorrow is actually very easy to do once you get in the habit of it. I have been doing it for over 2 years. The longer I do it, the easier it gets. Once you are used to it, you will feel really guilty about buying something expensive. I just bought a roof rack for my car today. I ended up getting part of it used for a total of $300, it made me cringe to click the OK button. I'm just looking at it as something I need when I move this fall(also does good with snowboards and bikes) and is transferable to other vehicles so it will stay with me for a long time. The saying live for today and tomorrow also sits a little different for me. Am I really living for today if I'm just doing boring work that I don't enjoy, living in a city that I don't like? All I'm doing is living for tomorrow. /end rant

Haha nah.. I'm not dropping any money on SLR's... I have plugged some numbers in, but I don't really see the point. How much money does a person need to retire? What if I have $350,000 in 20 years. Is that enough to retire? I doubt it. If I made 50k a year, that's only 7 years of income. I don't think your ever going to retire early working for someone else. I don't want to spend my life working toward a goal of having money to support myself the last few years before I die. Might as well live while your young right? My work is alright. There are many things that I would rather not be doing, but do I enjoy it? Do I really look forward to waking up and sitting in front of a computer for the next 8 hours? No. I'm actually very tired of it and how boring it is. At the very least, I need a long break from this environment. We weren't made to sit in chairs and stare at screens all day. With all that said.. I saved up enough money so I could move and maybe do what I want for a while. I'm walking away from everything this fall and moving to most likely Blacksburg, Va. Probably go back to school at Tech and work on my Masters. I'm thinking maybe Industrial Design or something that could compliment my comp sci degree and experience. Maybe get a part time job outdoors at one of those backpacking, kayaking, mountain biking places... I really just want a long break for this mundane work. What better way than to take some time off and get my masters? So when I'm ready to enter the scene again, I'll have a masters and and 5+ years experience as a software engineer. Even if my plans don't pan out. I still have my current degree and experience, so if I decide that I really need money... I'm sure it wouldn't be much of a problem to get a job as a programmer again.

I don't think this word means what you seem to think it means... ROFL! I think he meant "splurged". Now that's a laugh for the day. LOL

NOFX is jealous of the NOFX show in 93 and drinking a beer with Fat Mike. I've been to quite a few shows, but my fav was seeing Strung Out a couple years back here in va Beach. It was a very small bar with about a 2 foot stage, felt like there were about 50 people or so there. I sort of found the room where they let the bands hang out after the show and chilled with Rob and Jason for about 15-20 minutes.

My cousin is in Columbus, Ohio. Apparently, he's pretty good at it LINK

I have absolutely no regrets about selling that townhouse. My monthly expenses when I posted this were about $1400 for house bills. The fact that if something happens and I'm in the position to pack my bags and leave and live comfortably for a while without a job far outweighs the benefits of owning a townhouse. I've gotten my monthly housing expenses down from $1400 when I originally posted this to about $600-$700 tops now. I moved in with an old buddy from college. I'm still dropping 33% of my paycheck into savings. I could easily do more, but I'm now treating myself to everything that I sacrificed myself from after years of getting straight.

Well.. I recently acquired a 46" Samsung. I talked to my grandparents and they said there TV quit powering on. They bought a new one and were about to toss their old one. I said "woah woah woah" stick it in the basement and I'll take a look when I stop by next. With some research I find out that Samsungs have a common problem with capacitors going bad in their power supply. A screw driver, solder gun, $3 worth of capacitors at Radio shack and 30 minutes later. I have myself a free 46" Samsung. It's only 720 though. I had my comp hooked up to it and didn't really like it, maybe if it were 1080, it would be a different story. It's also hard to get it in a good position. If your at a desk, you usually don't have enough room to move it back and if you leave it on the stand, your usually to far from it and not comfortable enough to game. If I could figure out an optimal setup for it, then a 46" would probably be best

yea, that screen is prob about 2 or 3 years old now. Probably the best investment I made. Not only does gaming rock, but I don't see how you could do digital photo processing on anything less.

bitvise ftw

Well, I got myself a desk today... She's pretty small, it's about as wide as my 28" screen. Oh well, at least I got my pc back. Installing steam as I type.

bah, I can't get on GC at work and I don't have a desk for my rig. Looks like it's time for me to go find a desk.

Just thought I'd stop by and say whats up. Work banned all gaming sites a while back, so I can't even post anymore. I also haven't had a computer desk for my PC in over three months, so I can't even fire up CS. But anyways, I'm still alive. Hope everyone is doing well.

Jake never gets on the bed. He's 85 lbs and likes to sleep in the middle. I will let him up there when I first go to sleep, but he always hops down about 10 minutes later and gets in his bed.

lol.. well I made a new one about 2 days ago. When they re-encoded all the youtube videos it really messed up my old one. Plus you can actually see him get it now.

My pup 3 years later [utube] [/utube]

Sorry to hear about the crappy situation. Although I didn't get as screwed as you, I can relate. Last month my girl left me for someone on a totally different level than myself.. I could compare all day, but it doesn't matter. Money, success, where you have been and what you've done doesn't matter. What you have done for that person doesn't matter either. All you can leave with is knowing that you gave it your all and it didn't work. In my opinion it was a major downgrade, but hey.. if thats what she wants, I can't get mad at her for being true to herself. Maybe they are both on the same level and are right for each other.. I can say that it does suck to see that someone after 3 years will immediately jump to someone else after leaving you. All that does is prove that she never cared anyway and the latter part of the relationship was just a lie... My only regret is that I hung up my BS detector and never thought she'd screw me over, but I'm chalking it up as a lesson learned. Hey man, just keep your head up and try to only think of the positive sides of the situation. A women who is hiding that she hasn't been paying the bills for a year isn't really a person I'd consider to a partner in crime.

I think the trick is.. you gotta start riding before you meet the fiancée.... Of all the bikes I've owned.. the KLR is the most fun to ride.. EDIT* had to fix my typo

I've somehow missed this also. I didn't know him personally, but I remember him from in-game. RIP Way.

I haven't taken the msf course. I asked my insurance company how much it would reduce my bill and I would save $7 a year if I took it. On another note.. I returned the shoei helmet today. It's nice, but I think Im going to pick up an oneil element with bluetooth.

I would choose verizon or a cdma phone over ATT/Tmobile(GSM). I have the mytouh, droid. I use the google voice app to get free outgoing calls and free text messaging. Just set your google voice to one of your my favs. I only have 300 minutes, but I never go over 100 because of free outgoing calls. I also get 20% of my bill because of where I work. $60 a month after its all said and done is worth it to me. If my bill was around $80 or higher, I certainly wouldn't have gotten it.