Disqus - Latest Comments for the_david

Re: Jim Cramer’s Latest Feud

The David — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:51:32 -0000

It's funny that Stewart was more restrained and scholarly in his (first few) responses than a respect economist was.

I agree, Cramer benefits no matter what. Each feud helps him reach an additional audience and gets additional media attention.

And I think that there is room for entertainment within finance, but not for sensationalism like Cramer does.

The weird thing about this feud, is that Roubini was far off from the truth. From what I understand, all he said is that the market is likely to go back down for a while, and the government will have to let some banks fail or nationalize them.

It doesn't seem far fetched, and there was no personal attack on Cramer (unlike the Stewart feud), so I don't see why Cramer took such offense. It's like he's trying to paint himself as the underdog and victim to de-legitmize his attackers.

Re: Why Don’t Businesses Want My Money?

The David — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:58:40 -0000

I really don't mind people not calling me back, but the people that did can at least show basic courtesy.

It's like you said...sometimes even someone just smiling and asking how your day is going can make a big difference, especially when it's someone's first introduction to your business.

Re: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Billionaires

The David — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:48:38 -0000

I'm sure that it does lay more on the individual level. Correlation does not equal causality, right?

As an example, none of the commonalities have anything to do with drive or determination. Or how much time/effort they put into their jobs and businesses.

So I know it doesn't tell you how they did it, but I still find these type of studies interesting.

Re: Why Don’t Businesses Want My Money?

The David — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:44:42 -0000

I plan on asking for references after I get all the estimates back.

I've found out firsthand how much of a problem drainage can be, so that's why I'm not doing it myself. I want to make sure this gets fixed.

I've also seen the undercutters first hand. One contractor was someone not much older (or knowledgeable) than myself, and his bid was less than half of what the others have been. I won't even consider him.

That's interesting that the margin is so low on redisential work... I had no idea that it was so difficult.

Re: Why Don’t Businesses Want My Money?

The David — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:46:37 -0000

I know you were kidding, but I think a houseboat would be a blast. It's just not in the cards yet.

It does seem like common sense. The guy that showed up on time started out as an immediate favorite, especially after he suggested solutions that channeled water away from the house instead of trying to catch it.

If he does keep his word, and do what he says, I probably will use him again. We've got a laundry list of projects for the next 5 years. It would probably add up to a good chunk of cash.

Re: Are Savers Dooming the Economy? NO!!!

The David — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:09:59 -0000

I *think* I get what you're saying.

Some people want us to burn our own forrest to the ground so we're starting over, rather than working hard to clean it up and make it pretty again?

Re: Weekly Blog Roundup, April 5th

The David — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:07:24 -0000

Thanks!

It's fun for me. I like trying to point out articles that many people may have missed. Everyone sees the posts on Get Rich Slowly, but they probably missed articles on sites like mine.

Once you get the template going, it's really pretty easy (plus it's an easy way to put out a fresh article once a week). My advice - work on it throughout the week as you find good articles. I tend to put it off and do it on Saturdays, instead of throughout the week, which would make it easier and allow better links.

Re: Six lessons I learned from being broke

The David — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:04:01 -0000

Exactly! You have to know what you want to do when you get there. "The Number" by Lee Eisenberg is a great book because it focuses almost entirely on that concept.

Re: Why Don’t Businesses Want My Money?

The David — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:00:40 -0000

That makes sense that businesses will take care of their regular/larger clients first. It would be foolish not to.

However, if they were that busy, they should have just suggested a different time.

Re: Why Don’t Businesses Want My Money?

The David — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 04:58:52 -0000

I know that places could be swamped, so I don't really mind places not calling me back at all. Maybe they're busy, maybe they don't do drainage. That I don't have a problem with. Many of these places don't have a receptionist, so it's actually the owner spending his time calling back.

I was more surprised with how the places that did call me back acted. In my mind showing up on time is one of the biggest things you can do for a first impression.

Re: Weekly Blog Roundup, March 8th

The David — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 04:53:35 -0000

Thanks for the tips - I'll check out those tools!

Re: Carnival of Twenty Something Finances - Mustache Edition!

The David — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:05:54 -0000

My pleasure. Thanks for submitting an article!

Re: Special Treats - My First Interview, and a Guest Post

The David — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:00:01 -0000

Good idea on the charcoal. We don't want to use chemicals to flavor our food, right? I have a chimney, but haven't really used it as I didn't think it could get enough charcoal started. I should give it another shot though...I've been trying to use less charcoal (to cook more slowly), so it should be enough.

I really like the chicken brine tip. I'll have to try that out.

Re: Weekly Blog Roundup, April 5th

The David — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:55:08 -0000

My pleasure.

I'm starting to become more of a fan of Liz's too. It reminds me I should probably check my credit score too...I checked mine before I bought my house, but that was probably close to 2 years ago.

Re: Financial Spring Cleaning - What’s on Your List?

The David — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:13:11 -0000

I made the same mistake with my 401K. It took me about a year or two to realize I was only in cash. And when I switched it up, I think it was right around the peak of the market. Oh well. Lesson learned.

So what's your opinion on the best way to take advantage of autopilot?

Re: What Would Kitteh Do? 23 Money Lessons from LOL Cats

The David — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:10:34 -0000

Glad you like it! Maybe I can put together a dogs version, so everyone can appreciate it. Plus I don't want to appear like I'm playing favorites. I love both cats and dogs, even if I consider myself more of a cat person.

Re: Under 35? The Economy is an Opportunity!

The David — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:09:15 -0000

I need to be more aggressive in my investments. Not so much in what my investments are, but how much I am investing.

Your father is either a really smart or a really lucky man :) It sounds like the former.

Granted I'm not invisor in any way, shape, or form, but it seems like if your father has some money that he won't need for a long time, then it could be a good idea to put some of it back into stocks. Again, I'm no advisor.

Re: Under 35? The Economy is an Opportunity!

The David — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:05:49 -0000

The opportunities are definitely out there. You just have to have the cash, credit, and most of all - determination - to take advantage of it.

I'm hoping to take advantage of stocks. I bought my house right before the crash, so I wasn't able to take advantage of it, but I at least was smart in my buying, and don't regret my purchase at all. There's not a whole lot of people that can say.

Re: What Would Kitteh Do? 23 Money Lessons from LOL Cats

The David — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 23:19:21 -0000

I'm glad you like it! I'm a huge animal person - cats especially - so it was a blast to put together.

Re: Get Out of Debt! - March Update

The David — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:22:23 -0000

Thanks! Every dollar I pay takes me that much closer to financial independence and happiness.

Re: Mythbustin’ the Economy

The David — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:21:08 -0000

Nothing ever really changes. The trick is just to remember your mistakes from before so you don't make them again the next time everything "changes"

Re: Weekly Blog Roundup, March 29th

The David — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:17:12 -0000

My pleasure - I liked your article on gurus. As much as I hate to admit it, they're human too and it's not always fair to point out the things they get wrong.

Yeah, in addition to the regular Frugal Dad, there's a Divorced Dad Frugal Dad. He's had a few really good grilling articles recently. I'm a big fan of his.

Re: Get Out of Debt! - March Update

The David — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:03:43 -0000

Wow. Incredibly moving.

I started out typing the things that I thought were moving and powerful, but I couldn't keep up with it.

"Fight our way back into the light. Climb out of hell, one inch at a time...

When we add up all those inches, that's gonna make the f*cking diffence between winning and losing... between living and dying."

I do get it. Every inch I move forward is another inch towards living.

And by the way - I gotta thank you. You're the one who said that "Progress is better than perfection"

Re: Critical Questions for Twenty Somethings

The David — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:23:56 -0000

Ha ha. At least we already know the questions, so we can keep an eye out for the answers.

These are all things I wish I had on my mind when I was still in college.

Re: Get Out of Debt! - March Update

The David — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:18:13 -0000

Progress is progress...I'm not discouraged now. I was for a little bit when I wrote this, but I quickly got over it. After all, it's better to have progress than perfection, right?

I think that for me, tinkering with the budget is a better option. I never really planned out how much I needed to pay off each month to do it in a year. I just kind of assumed it would happen.

Aside from details, I think that I may be taking on too much. I'm also trying to build up a good size vacation fund while I pay down debt. Which seems kind of counter-intuitive, but like I said, I really love travelling.

So I'm thinking of two options...

1) Change my priorities, and stop saving as much for a vacation
2) Extend my timeline, and shoot to pay off my debt by next March. All my debt is on 0% cards, provided that I pay it off by next March.

As much as I hate to put off paying down my debt, I feel like that would be better, as there's no penalty for it, and it allows me to keep my other goals alive too.