Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Debt Defying

When last I was in debt. I cut off everything that wasn’t essential to life. All I needed was food, which I budgeted at $50 a week, didn’t eat much outside of work. Transportation to and from work. No shopping, no entertainment, no nothing, at least for a long time.

All of the above isn’t an option right now. I have been out of work for some time and aside from the debt, I still have my son, I am older now, so the need to save is increasingly important, etc. In addition to that, more superficial, every once in a while, I would like to live a little.

How do I do that at this point. I have posted a PayPal donate button in the sidebar of my blog. I mean every little bit helps, right?. Anyway, I thought I’d try it, especially since I will be posting my milestones and any techniques I may learn.

I got the idea from lpkitten and on her “Debt Defier” blog she also mentions the Citibank e-savings account.

Update: Wednesday, August 30, 2006, 9:47 AM

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Not Sleeping Too Good

Just when I thought I had it together and got a grasp on my new shift, something comes along and throws my sleeping habits off. This week, with the exception of one day, I have been getting 2.5 hours sleep per day. I am going to see if I can correct this within the week starting with this weekend. I do still need to find out what broke my routine up in the 1st place, so it doesn't happen again.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Karamel & I

Karamel & I, originally uploaded by Dramatic. We were chilling and talking in Brooklyn into the wee hours of the morning.

Dinner, she made the meal sensual. Movie, "Snakes on a Plane," not the greatest but she made it all the more interesting. Then we just chilled until 4 a.m.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

For The Love of Money!

For The Love of Money! on 43 Things:

I have lived. I have loved. I have lost. I am made stronger…

Writely Publish Test

Testing Writely so that I can blog from work.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Crushing Debt

Just over 2 years ago I was completely debt free. Now I find myself under the weight of an enormous debt. I know my debt is not as large as some peoples, in fact to some mine would seem very small.

Currently my debt is about $35G. What makes it so heavy is not the amount. What make it heavy for me is the urgency of the debt. Everything was due immediately. Fortunately I initiated contact with my creditors, so I had a little more room for negotiation. I had the option of filing bankruptcy, but opted to pay off the debt.

In 3 years or by December 31 of the third yearWithin 2 years, I should be completely debt free. Currently my monthly payout is about 3/4 my total income, by this time next year it should be 1/4.

Update: Wednesday, August 16, 2006, 5:27 PM

At the beginning of the summer I had 9 past due accounts now I have 7. One of the two have been completely paid off. I am going to do a spread sheet to track my payments month to month. I may post the results here.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Nickib's Blog - Black Women.. Wake Up

Not just because she is beautiful, intelligent and informed or because she loves her fat boys to death, but because her message is valid and relevant.

Black Women.. Wake Up:

Aids is affecting  " US" as a black community in large numbers. I say " US" because even though we are not individually effected, What effects our community effects us all. This topic is do dare to me , but if you can recall an old blog,  I get tested twice yearly And I have  even posted my results of my tests during a blog called, " SHOW ME THE PAPERS" , matter fact, I carry my results around in my wallet.

Her message isn't just for black women but for us a community. We, black men, need to wake up too.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

I like my women built...

Since I have been asked how I like my women built like 3 times this week... I think she is a pretty good representation, even better maybe. The eyes the smile, the dimples... the way she is built -- larger on the bottom...

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Fuck Dell

Sun launch a catty campaign, originally uploaded by Zach Inglis. Put your claws away (if your wondering about the Hell, thats steam coming from it)

After Googling it: The Inquirer says....

SUN HAS PUBLISHED a set of adverts which it claims were rejected by august publications including the Wall Street Journal.
The adverts claim that the servers are better than the X86 servers Dell sells, and include headlines such as "Rhymes with Hell", "100% more bitchin' than Dell" and "Benchmark studies prove that Dell sucks".

I can attest to the validity of at least two of the above statements.

Ok, here's the deal... I have been going through some shit with Dell. After being out of work for 2 years, I am sure you could imagine the debt I am in. So Dell, fucking idiots, give my account to two collection agencies, both of which took money in the amount of $600 each out of my account.

Fast forward... Calling, calling, calling... Calling back and forth between Dell and the two collection agencies. Dell doesn't know which one is rightfully holding the account. The only thing everyone agrees upon, accept Dell of course, is that it's Dell's fault. Calling... calling... calling...

Seems as though the situation is coming to a conclusion, need to call the second agency about my refund.

Seriously, Fuck Dell! They suffer Mac envy. Shameless plug, Macs are better, smarter, more stable, safer, prettier and recently cheaper for comparable hardware and now you can run the shit operating system WinXP on a Mac. What the fuck you need a Dell for? Ehem, Fuck Dell!

Leo Drinking Habits

This is so me...

LEO (Jul 23 – Aug 22) Drinking style: Leo likes to drink and dance — they're often fabulous dancers, and usually pretty good drinkers as well, losing their commanding dignity and turning kittenish. Of course, they're quite aware they're darling – Leos will be Leos, after all. They generally know their limit, probably because they loathe losing self–control. When they get over–refreshed, expect flirting to ensue — and perhaps not with the one who brought them. But Leo's not the type to break rules even when drunk, so just try to ignore it (try harder, Cancer) and expect a sheepish (and hung over) Lion to make it up to you the next day.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Design Evaluation Review

About 2 weeks ago I was given this screen show design evaluation. I did pretty good. I mean I am new to the whole financial/corporate presentations thing, but it seems my design sense and minimalist approach paid off. I fell short on stuff I wouldn't have know anyway, being that I have never done this stuff before.

I was told recently that I am lacking confidence now. Slowly that confidence is being restored.