Old School Coinage

What is up OSC readers???  This post was originally titled "In between generations."  I identify with the genX childhood experiences, but I can also relate to the buying habits of millennials.  As a result I often feel stuck in between the two generations and wanted to write about my angst. Then someone beat me to it. In fact a bunch of people beat me to it...but I digress. I do feel as if I grew up as an analog kid but became a digital adult.  I was around when dial up happened and then gave way to dsl.  I remember brick phones, flip phones, sliders, qwerties, blackberries, flip touch, and then the almighty... The point is that I've been around the consumeristic block a bit.  My in-laws and I have a great relationship as well and we love trading stories of the here & now v.s. the old day.  I also enjoy talking to my grandparents about consumerism (although my grandparents certainly aren't consumers!) I know that a bunch of other people hav

DISCLAIMER:  Hello.  This is a monthly net worth report.  I am currently using my banks website to track my net worth, along with personal capital.  I do not include the value of my house but do include the mortgage as a debt.  I do this because it is unlikely we will sell and I prefer liquidity to perceived value.  Sit back, grab a beverage and enjoy comparing yourself to my numbers.  You'll feel better about yourself, I promise:) Hello again faithful readers.  Fall is in the air....at least for the moment.  Round' here the weather changes faster than a kid can barf up his (excessively eaten) candy corn at a football game <---- Yes I did do that once. If that thought doesn't excite you, maybe my numbers will! Net Worth:  - $75,354 Difference from September 2017:  + $7,197 Total Cash Available:  $13,459 Total Investments:  $54,429 Total Debts:  $143,242 Side Note:  I started using round numbers for the main section of this report...looks a bit cleaner

Everywhere I look these days someone is discussing the "downfall" of the middle class in America. This of course spirals into talk of how the economy will fail because we NEED the middle class. News anchors and bloggers are quick to blame the oppressive CEO's and the growing income inequality...but what is really going on and can it be fixed? First lets define middle class.  Middle class is often defined in terms of income.  The stats below are often what you will see if you flip on a T.V. Income stats from www.cnbc.com - Household of one: $24,042 to $72,126 - Household of  two : $34,000 to $102,001 - Household of  three : $41,641 to $124,925 - Household of  four : $48,083 to $144,251 - Household of  five : $53,759 to $161,277 Other studies indicate that middle class is measured by wealth.  If you have around $400,000 in assets then you may be considered middle class. Do you spend 38,000 - 50,000 annually?  Then you may be middle class. I've always

I've been looking back on my old Net Worth Posts and I've noticed something...why the heck didn't I label them in the title by year??? Oh well.  Mistakes will happen. You should read the following disclaimer so as not be confused by how the numbers have changed dramatically over the past year.  Fear not my anxious number peepers, it's all still there and accounted for. DISCLAIMER:  Hello.  This is a monthly net worth report.  I am currently using my banks website to track my net worth, along with personal capital.  I do not include the value of my house but do include the mortgage as a debt.  I do this because it is unlikely we will sell and I prefer liquidity to perceived value.  Sit back, grab a beverage and enjoy comparing yourself to my numbers.  You'll feel better about yourself, I promise:) Net Worth: - $82,551.83 Difference from December 2015:  + $24,098.21 Total Cash Available: $10,415.37 Total Investments: $50,614.74 Total Debts: $143,581.

In-practical Wishes Lately I've been all wrapped up in fancy cars.  Blame it on youtube channels and Mr. 1500 talking about his awesome NSX! The problem with me dwelling on my dream car... The Lamborghini Countach  is that I never will be able to freaking afford one (unless its the hot wheels version).  Even if I could afford to fork over hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase this beauty I could never keep up with the maintenance.  My current income level would never support it. Lets say that one day I become a millionaire and this car ends up being a small percentage of my wealth.   Would I still want to own it? Probably not.  The car doesn't jive with my value system.   Do I love beautiful sports cars?  Yes. Do I love going fast?  Yes. Ok.  So what's the problem? Do I love showing off?  Not really. Do I want people to assume I have a lot of $?  No. Hmmmm.... Do I like driving just to drive aka "cruisin"?  

Confession time...  I ripped this idea straight from the much bigger, (and better), blog Financial Samurai. If you haven't read any of Sam's articles go ahead and head on over to his website now... Now that I've lost all of my readers to Sam's site lets continue.  In the latest article, Financial Samurai writes about three times he was lucky. 1. The first time Sam believes he was lucky is when he met his wife.  I think that many of us with wonderful spouses can relate, where would we be without a chance encounter?  Do I believe that "luck" has kept our marriage together and thriving for the past (5,6, or 7) years? NO!  Part of it is my wife's extremely forgiving nature...I mean I can't even remember our exact wedding date without looking.  Hard work, tears, fights, and unselfish behavior make our marriage unique and strong. So maybe luck brought us together but it sure didn't keep us there.  We did that with hard work and sacrifice. #2. Th

Today I'm going to bring you another fine lil ditty from my draft folder circa 2015.  I wrote this after running one chilly fall morning. Brrrr. It's cold outside.  Think 40-50ish degrees fairenhieght with a brisk breeze.  As I stepped into the solace of the school building all I could think about was the warm shower that awaited me.  Nothing is better than a piping hot shower after a long cold run. I quickly hopped into the shower and was rewarded with a blast of cold water.  Yikes I shouted with gusto.  I quickly retreated and let the shower continue to run while I began brushing my teeth.  After a solid 5 minutes the reality set in....this was going to be one cold morning shower. Now, I could go into detail about cold shower taking methods here, but I'll spare you the bore.  Let's just say it involves a lot of jumping and screaming. While gulping down my hot coffee I had time to reflect on that mornings unfortunate events.  I realized that even thoug

Most people have already made and given up their New Years resolutions by this point...whereas I'm just starting.  Procrastination for the win I suppose. Financial 1. Make an additional 10k of unplanned income:  This goal is pretty lofty for our family but with my wife's bonus and my random side hustles I'm aiming to make an extra 10k this year. 2.  Pay our mortgage down below $100,000:   This goal is incredibly unlikely to happen as we sit currently at $148k, but that's no reason we shouldn't try extremely hard to eliminate our arch nemesis! 3.  End the year with 15k in the bank:   Lately we've been waffling between 5 and 15k for our emergency fund.  This is mostly due to us cash flowing my schooling.  Although I won't be done I'm hoping we can find the discipline this year to build up extra cash reserves and keep them:) 4.  Shore up my retirement/estate planning:   This probably means I need to get a will set up and more life insurance...oh a

10/2/15.  That is how long ago I began this post.  Admittedly I only got as far as the title.  BUT that is how long I have been thinking about the issue of whining in America. *And no this post isn't whining about whining, so shove it haters.  It's a rant, and if you think its whining you are probably someone who needs to read and take heart of what I am about to say... Today more than ever we have an epidemic in America.  The whiner.  The whiner has infected our schools and brought about the downfall of public education. How? Well let me tell you. The whiner is an expert at getting something that he/she does not deserve.  Here is a typical day in the life of a whiny butt student, Winnie. Winnie the whiner wakes up when he/she feels like.  Winnie slowly drags him/herself to school and enters 1/2 hour late.  Not a problem, Winnie thinks, I'll just go grab my free breakfast and then head to class.  Winnie enters the lunch room and finds it half full because all

That's right long time loyal readers who have been holding out hope that I did not die...it is I!  Old School.  I would apologize for leaving in such a haste with nary a goodbye but that isn't like me at all. No.  Old School does not apologize, but he will explain (am I typing in the third person?)   I've really got to stop doing that. What I went away to do... Start another money blog Start a fitness blog Start a reselling blog Stop blogging Started reselling So, yeah.  You could say I have varied interests. The point is that even with all those other started (and failed) ventures, I still longed for this blog.  A blog where I could let down my hair and tell the world how it really is.  A place where face punching (MMM) is acceptable.  A place where I don't have to be my buttoned up professional self, if such a person even exists. It's been a over a year since I've written but here I am, back at the keyboard, crackin some knuckles an