Day 7 of Prauge (We're Leaving)

We're leaving Prague today. I'm looking forward to going home and am sad at the same time.

Today's Steps: 10,041.

Day 6 of Prague (Mala Strana)

Today we went to Hradcany and walked around Mala Strana. But first we had to stop by Venno's workplace and try out some Bobcat equipment.

Today's Steps: 25,114

Day 5 of Prague (Nove Mestro)

Today we walked around Prague in search for gifts! We woke up kind of late (Ashley's eye for some weird reason started to hurt) and started with lunch at the Havelska Koruna (Czech Kitchen) where we ate cafeteria style. The goulash and pork was outstanding! Next we walked around the open air market "Havelska Trziste" to pick up some trinkets for the folks back home. We finished the day with some pictures of the "Dancing Building" and a nice walk back to Andel along the west side of the river.

Today's Steps: 22,873

Day 4 of Prague (Plzen)

We went to the town of Plzen today to see the Pilsner Urquell brewery. This is where the original Pilsner was first created back in 1842. The brewery itself is still producing beer, both for production and for tasting by visitors. The beer they give out for tasting is brewed on the premises and uses the traditional wooden barrels during the fermentation process. The cellars are an amazing part of the brewery. Up until 1992, 150 workers were required to move the beer around the 5.6 miles of corridors in the 3 story cellar system.

Today's Steps: 22,646

Day 3 of Prague (Stare Mesto)

Today we visit Stare Mesto with its historical Jewish District, Astronomical Clock, and the neat stores that inhabit the narrow streets.

We walked to most we have ever today, Ashley had to replace her broken shoes, the straps were eaten by an escalator on Day 1.

There is so much to see and take in. We finished off the day with dinner (beef goulash) at U Pinkasu.

Today's Steps: 32,233

Day 2 of Prague (Hradcany)

Today we wander to the castle district of Prague. This is where the nobleman and clergy used to live. We're taking the recommended walk by Fodor's "See It Prague" today,

1. Strahovsky klaster (Monastery)
2. Cerninsky palac (Largest palace in Prague now the Foreign Ministry)
3. Loreta (Shrine)
4. Novy Svet (New World)
5. Hradcany Namesti (Square)
6. Prazky hrad (Prague Castle)

We finish off the night with some monk brewed beer, a trip to the abstinth bar, and the oldest bar in Prague (U Fleku)

Today's Steps: 20,377

Day 1 of Prague

We've arrived in Prague after a 7 hour flight from NYC.

The city is so beautiful. We walked around for quite a bit today.

Dinner at a restaurant up "Mala Strana" complete with gorgeous view of the city
Walked across Charles Bridge
Drank beer with a couple from France

Today's Steps: 27,486

Are you an ant or a grasshopper?

I read this article today on wise bread and it talked about the the moral of investing for the future as presented by the fable of the ant and the grasshopper.

For those that don't remember, the fable concerns a grasshopper who has spent the warm months singing away while the ant worked to store up food for winter. After the winter has come, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger, and upon asking the ant for food is only rebuked for its idleness. The story is used to teach the virtues of hard work and saving, and the perils of improvidence. (note: this was taken from wikipedia)

I remember this story well as a kid, this was one of my dad's favorite stories to tell/scare us. To this day, he still repeats this story no matter how much I compare him to a broken record. But in all honesty, I must say there is still lots to be learned from this old fable.

We immigrated to this country in 1988 when I was 5. I have many fond memories of my youth. I remember laughing with my sister when we found out the "ostrich egg" my dad bought was really a coconut (apparently he thought the fur on the "egg" was meant to keep it warm). I remember both of the cars my parents used to drive, my mom's geo prizm and my dad's hyundai elantra. We took a lot of vacations in those cars. My parents idea of a vacation was: 1. drive to another state, 2. look around, 3. sleep in the car on the way home.

It took a lot of effort and savings for my parents to get to where they are now. I'm a little embarrassed and proud to say that my current car was purchased for more than what my parents paid for both their vehicles.

My parents did their part playing the ant. Now I must take their lessons and apply it to my own life.

What my mom's Geo Prizm looked like except in blue.


Today's Steps: 7482

Saturday we leave for Prague

and I still need to figure out how much to budget for. It's too bad we're traveling at a time when the dollar is deteriorating.

1 U.S. dollar = 0.640697078 Euros

So I decided to come to an arbitrative number of $800 for both of us. That works out to $100 a day + $100 buffer. Since we'll be spending 7 nights there, I'm hoping this is enough to cover the following expenses per day:

$25 - Meals and Drinks
$35 - Tourist Stuff (Tickets, etc)
$40 - Transportation

These are rough numbers since I'm not sure what the prices of everything over there is. I'll have to adjust these numbers when we arrive. I figure we'll buy some groceries to start so we won't have to buy breakfast every day. I think if we try to stay within $100 a day, we should be good.

I've traveled a bit during my short life span on this earth and I've come to the conclusion that I have very poor judgment when I am hungry, thirsty, or tired. I'll have to remember to buy some water bottles along with some cheese and bread for snacking while walking around the streets of Prague.

Today's Steps: 10733

Asset Allocation and Location

As I learn more and more about asset allocation and money management, the more I am able to understand all the neat tools I have at my fingertips. My employer uses Fidelity to manage our 401k plan and I was able to quickly dissect some of my past returns.

Rate of Return for my 401k Only
2006: 14%
2007: 10.4%
2008: -.04%

My current allocation is an 99%/1% split between stocks and bonds. As I learn more about bonds, I will probably need to adjust this. Generally I've been told that a young investor like myself should invest aggressively by placing all my money in stocks, the riskier investment as compared to bonds. My stock holdings are further split 40%/60% domestic vs. international and here’s what it looks like in a bit more detail:

51.77% Total International (FDIVX)
25.64% Total Large Cap (FCNTX)
22.59% Total Small Cap (RSPFX)

(Note: The "cap" in large cap and small cap refers to a company's stock market capitalization, or the total number of shares multiplied by the stock's price. This is a gauge of what the market (or investors) believes the entire company to be worth. To put it simply, Large Cap are big companies like Microsoft and GE, Small Cap are small companies.)

This year has been an interesting year for me as I've noticed my rate of return year to date drop to the negative numbers and that in turn has forced me to try to understand what all this stock market is about.

Today's Steps: 7000

Spring means...

More work on the house.

While Ashley is gardening, I will be painting the front door dark blue.

Today's Steps: 2875

Payday

Today is payday. So in celebration, I decided to create a pie chart of my pay.

A few notes:
52% is my actual pay
22% goes to taxes (federal + state)
20% goes to 401k
2% goes to health, dental, life insurance

You'll notice that 2% of my gross pay is going for a 401k loan I took out a few years ago to help with the down payment on my house. I'm debating whether to pay this back or not but since I'm essentially paying myself interest, it's not hurting me either way.

A little less than 1% of my gross pay goes to charity. Which is 9% less than what I should be putting towards charity (tithe = 10%). I need to boost this up a lot more to meet my goal of 10%.




Today's Steps: 6422

My Cold.

Being sick sucks. It is definitely ruining my 10,000 steps daily goal.

On a positive note, I found another good blog to read for motivation.

http://moneygirl.quickanddirtytips.com/

And my annual raise is reflected in my paycheck tomorrow!

random thought: i feel that writing this diary has helped me formulate my thoughts better. i find that it's hard for me to put what i'm thinking into spoken words. it may be that my brain is closer to my hands than it is to my mouth.

current favorite song: Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" - I'm really digging the violins in the background.

I have a cold...

and I don't feel so good.

I finally sold my sailboat though. At a little bit of a loss. Oh well. Another lesson learned. No more boats for me. They are definitely a money pit.

Today's Steps: 5764

I went Bicycling today and I found

a Rock Quarry! Or at least I think it is. I'll take some pictures tommorrow and post it here.

What a find!

I was pleasantly surprised to find this rather long bicycle/atv/enduro trail about 4 blocks behind my house. I wonder who tends to the trail. It was rather well hidden from plain view. I ended up on the other side of Camillus today right behind Wal-Mart.

Today's Steps: 17,207

Impulse Buying ($100 a day)

I am an impulse buyer. I admit it. I see something, I want it, I buy it.

And while I am getting better at this as the years go on, I find that sometimes it's very hard for me to resist the urge. I seem to have an uncanny ability to justify any purchase. The only thing is, after the magic of initial gratification wears off, the guilt sets in. That's of course when Ashley (my fiance) dives in and adds in her own dose of carping (I mean this with all the love in the world).

I find that the arguments I use to convince myself are the same regardless of the purchase.
1. I deserve it.
2. I make enough money.
3. I really really want it.
4. I have so many ideas/uses for it.

So today, when I read about No Credit Needed’s idea of $100 a day rule to prevent impulse buying I was intrigued. For every $100 that he wants to spend on a new product, he forces himself to wait one day before making the purchase (http://www.ncnblog.com/)

Now this is definitely something I will have to try.

Today's Steps: 10,030

Financial Freedom (Independence)

It's funny how advice works.

Sometimes you want it (like when I was looking at mortgages) and sometimes you don't (like the time I bought a sailboat that was way too big for me to manage). And while there are a lot of advice out there that is free, it's hard to sort through it all.

This past week I've been mulling over one of the things my grandfather taught me. When I was growing up I always found it strange that my grandfather would re-calculate every receipt (regardless of the number of items) and write each item down in his journal. I would ask, "But, Grandpa, they already did the calculations for you", to which he'd just smile and continue his calculations. These days, I think I may understand his reasons for doing this.

It allows you to:
1. Look at each individual price again
2. Know what you spend
3. Keep track of your expenses by writing it down

My grandfather always kept excellent records. Combined with his frugal lifestyle, he was able to achieve financial independence early on in life. In contrast, my saving habits have been mostly from the front-end (automatic savings plan, contributions to 401k). I realize this is a two front battle. I need to save what I can and also pare down my expenses.

My grandfather taught me many things growing up. I guess grandparents are very good like that. Always giving you valuable advice that continues to make you think years later.

Today's Steps: 9185

Mowing the Lawn and Saving for a Motorcycle

While I was mowing my lawn today (btw, my weed whacker decided to crap out on me) I decided that I would open up an investment account (at http://www.zecco.com/) in order to save for a motorcycle. My opening balance starting next week will be a whopping $100.

This will solve a couple things for me:

1. Avoid the guilt I would feel taking money out of my savings account to purchase something I want (not need)

2. Save towards a target goal (approximately $3000)

3. Allow me time to consider what motorcycle I want and at the same time make progress towards purchasing one.

4. Try out some different stocks (potentially very risky)

Here's what I want now (am saving for) - 2003 Suzuki SV650:

Not the prettiest bike in the world, but I kinda like it. I'm noticing that they go for around $3000 (from my research on craigslist.org) depending on the condition and with the 2003, they added fuel injection so it should be more reliable than the older carburetor version.

Today's Steps: 6150

I got a raise today! Whoopee!

Hooray!

It's just in time to make up for the 10% health insurance increase we had at the beginning of the year.

Today's Steps: 12,707

What is Boom Boom Tex Mex?

The Best Mexican Food in Syracuse, NY that is.

Other runner-ups:
1. Alto-Cinco (near SU)
2. The Mission (not really mexican but it's close)
3. Jalopenos (is this really closed?)

We're having tacos with Xavier today.

I also got kind of lost bicycling in my own neighborhood.

Today's Steps: 10,791

Goals in Life

I have so many goals in life (things I want to do) that it seems very hard to keep track of all of them. Add in my habitual forgetfulness and you can see the result.

But here goes.

1. Save Money. Hopefully enough to retire on.
2. Write a business plan
3. Own commercial real estate
4. Learn how to play the guitar
5. Bungee-Jump
6. Skydive
7. Buy a Motorcycle.
8. Learn how to fix cars
9. Learn how to cook more
10....

Today's Steps: 9486 Steps

Toastmasters...

Today's Steps: 7276

Gave a speech yesterday at our Toastmasters meeting. (FYI: Toastmaster is a non-profit organization developing public speaking and leadership skills through practice and feedback in local clubs since 1924, see www.toastmasters.org)

Here is the speech I gave. "Financial Advice - Divulging Jon Clements Wisdom"

Recently, I’ve been forced to go cold turkey from my favorite Wall Street Journal columnist Jon Clements as he is leaving for a new job. I've always found his financial advice column “Getting Going” to be both instructive and amusing. I will miss his honest advice.

My favorite quote from his column is this one:

“You can't get rich by spending money. The folks with the big house, fancy cars and designer clothes are, no doubt, loaded. But they may be loaded with debt.”

Over the past few years, I’ve been able to put his advice to good use. As the treasurer of a non-profit organization I convinced the rest of the board to place $20,000 into a CD ladder. Although it may not beat the return of the stock market and at today’s rates it barely beats inflation, it is a better investment than the checking account it was previously in.

He’s also been responsible for motivating me into creating an automatic savings plan both for my retirement plan at work and for my personal checking account. It’s surprising how much money grows if you forget about it. This has enabled both Ashley (My fiancé) and I to save some money. Since we started working in 2004, we’ve saved:

Retirement Account: $X0,000

Savings: $X0,000

Home Equity: $X0,000

We’ve been fortunate not have any debt other than Ashley’s student loan of $X,000 and our mortgage of $XX,000. Both our parents gave us a good start in life by setting us up each with a car and a college education to which we are eternally grateful for.

But there are a few major items looming in the horizon. In the next few years, we will pay for a wedding, replace Ashley’s 1997 Toyota Camry, and pay for several home improvements (our downstairs bathroom needs to be done). Our budget now is to ensure there is enough money in the retirement and emergency savings account, and still some left over for these upcoming purchases.

Although Jon’s advice has been invaluable to me, I understand that financial advice is difficult to give. There is no one formula that will ensure everyone accumulates wealth. But if I’ve had to summarize 3 points that I’ve learned from Jon and a few other financial writers, they are:

1. Spend less than you earn.

And keep track of everything you spend. It’s surprising how much money I’ve spent on useless crap over the past couple years. This continues to be an ongoing battle. But understanding that I was spending $600 a year on cable was how I came to justify eliminating it 2 years ago. I’ve also cut down expenses by eliminating the Post Standard to Sundays only, saved $20 a month by combining both Ashley’s phone and I onto a Family Share plan, and keeping the furnace at 59 in the winter.

I still struggle with the self-discipline it takes to reduce my spending. The smartest thing I’ve done was to fool myself by enrolling in my company retirement plan (I just doubled it to 20% from 10% of my salary) when I started working in 2004.

There is still room for improvement. Food and Entertainment is still our biggest monthly expense. I have a hard time keeping track of money when we go out with friends. I’ve resolved to tabulate the costs of going out and taking the receipts to my wall.

2. Have a goal.

Jon Clements wrote that once your savings reach critical mass, the momentum of the interest takes over and does most of your work for you. My goal? Have a savings of $150,000 by the time I’m 30, not including home equity. This will give me a full 35 years for my money to grow. I may or may not be able to hit this number. Either way, it’s something to shoot for.

3. Find motivation.

With the loss on Jon Clements weekly prodding, I’ve had to resort to several financial blogs and books. It’s hard to stay motivated. I am my own worst enemy.

By reading someone else’s struggles and achievements, it gives me that extra boost I need. The library is a great source for this kind of information. I also have a few subscriptions. Both Kiplinger’s and WSJ disperse some excellent advice. They also keep you up to date on tax changes and introduce you to different options of investing.

I realize this will always be a learning process. I will make mistakes and I will learn from them. Hopefully. But I guess that’s what life is all about.

I once asked my grandfather what the secret to accumulating wealth was. His response? Stop spending money. It’s a lesson I’m still learning.

We're Feeding Jeff Tonight

I'm fitting in at least 15 minutes of biking daily. Hopefully I can increase this. It's definitely a lot of fun looking at the neighborhood.

Today's Steps: 8545

NYC with Keun-Rak

I spent the day with Keun-Rak today in NYC.

Korean Food at K-Town (32nd and Broadway), walking around Times Square (M&M Store, Footlocker, etc) and picking up some korean groceries at H-Mart.

Today's Steps: 6490

Me and My Gas Mileage

Car: 2003 BMW 325i

Mpg Summary
April 07 - July 07: 22.971
Aug 07 - Sept 07: 22.509
Oct 07 - Nov 07: 22.533
Jan 08: 23.749
Mar 08: 24.437
Apr 08: 24.550
Overall: 23.458

Today's Steps: 7500

It's Friday. Boo-Yah!

I've been forced to go cold turkey from my favorite wsj columnist - jon clements (he stopped writing for the wsj a couple weeks ago).

In the meantime I've had to fill with some rather good money blogs

http://www.getrichslowly.org/
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/

Good News: I'm putting some of the financial advice I've been reading to good use. I've cut out Netflix, got a new rewards credit card (Discover has a better rewards program than Citibank), and am currently in the process of setting up a CD ladder for a non-profit organization I am the treasurer of.

Bad News: I still don't know how much we spend on grocery. And our last water bill came in at a whopping $200 (for Jan, Feb, March). That's about $70 a month. I need to find out where all this water is going. We must have a leaky faucet somewhere. I also suspect the water department is wrong. Anyhoo, I've asked Ashley to refrain from showering until I find out what is up.

I also need to figure out how to cut down Ashley's student loans. She still has $9500 in student loans left. The interest rate isn't too bad. She consolidated a little over a year back. I need to create a budget that will pay this off in the next few years. We need to start doubling her payments.

Today's Steps: 5007

Thursday

Today's Steps: 6456