Personal Finances – July, 2010
This was a decent month for me financially. It wasn’t great, but it was better than others. We took a couple of trips as the summer is starting to wind down and it will be back to school for my girlfriend in a few weeks. Our first trip was to the Renaissance Faire just over the Wisconsin border. That wasn’t too pricey of a trip. Maybe $30 for each of us with admission and food included. We then took a trip to Wisconsin Dells which wasn’t too expensive (around $140) since we stayed at a friend’s house for the night. Good fun that theoretically was paid for by my moves in the stock market!
One of my stock positions was up 25%, so I sold all but that gain and have my initial investment back. The extra 25% is still paying me dividends and is continuing to grow in value. It was only a $100 gain in the stock, but it’s now money that I didn’t have originally that is continuously making me money now. It would have taken me over two years to make that gain if the stock went nowhere and I was collecting the dividends. I won’t be collecting as much now, but it was a trade that was well worth it! I am also up in one of my positions in another stock after I bought it again on the way down. That’s going to be another win!
I also received $50 in cashback rewards from my credit card, which I could have used to get rewarded even further with gift cards where I would get an extra $5 or so, but I decided to pad my checking account instead. The Best Buy Reward Zone was even kind to me as I received $20 in rewards that are going to be applied to Halo Reach when it comes out in September.
Overall, my cash position is down a little after I added money to my Scottrade account, but my investments are up, which I am all about, and my liabilities are down! I also realized that I could pay off my car right now if I wanted to sell all of my stocks. It is something I have been thinking about, but I am going to wait to see how my job goes with the winter coming up.
$1,716.83 Total Income
$1,600.00 Monthly Pay Checks
$1.41 Checking Account Interest
$0.31 Savings Account Interest
$25.87 Dividends ($86.01 / qtr.)
$89.24 Prosper Loans
$1,223.86 Total Expenses
$200.00 School Loans
$192.00 Car Payment
$450.00 Food & Utilities
$130.00 Gas
$72.00 Cell Phone
$50.00 Entertainment
$129.86 Insurance
$492.97 Net Monthly Cash Flow
$116.83 Passive Income
9.55% Passive Income % of Expenses
$8,886.77 Total Assets
$562.83 Checking Account
$311.10 Savings
$54.24 Scottrade Account
$46.73 Prosper Account
$24.23 ChaCha Account
$0.00 Paypal Account
$1,759.93 IRA
$84.45 401k Vested
$6,043.26 in Stock
$1,133.91 Loans on Prosper
$18,211.84 Total Liabilities
$11,374.16 School Loans
$6,139.90 Car Loan
$697.78 Credit Card
-$9,325.07 Net Worth
$4.91 from Magpie Advertisements
$3.75 from Sponsored Tweets (Great if you use Twitter!)
New DVD Releases – August 3, 2010
| “How come nobody’s ever tried to be a superhero?” When Dave Lizewski – ordinary New York teenager and rabid comic-book geek – dons a green-and-yellow Internet-bought wetsuit to become the no-nonsense vigilante Kick-Ass, he soon finds an answer to his own question: because it hurts. But, over coming all the odds, the eager yet inexperienced Dave quickly becomes a phenomenon, capturing the imagination of the public. However, he’s not the only superhero out there – the fearless and highly trained father-daughter crime-fighting duo, Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, have been slowly but surely taking down the criminal empire of local mafioso Frank D’Amico. And, as Kick-Ass gets drawn into their no-holds-barred world of bullets and bloodletting with Frank’s son Chris, now reborn as Kick-Ass’s arch-nemesis Red Mist, the stage is set for a final showdown between the forces of good and evil, in which the DIY hero will have to live up to his name. Or die trying… | |
| When a gifted ghostwriter (Ewan McGregor) is hired to write the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), he quickly finds himself trapped in a web of political and sexual intrigue. Lang is implicated in a scandal over his administration’s harsh tactics, and as the ghostwriter digs into the politician’s past, he discovers secrets that threaten to jeopardize international relations forever. Co-starring Olivia Williams and Kim Cattrall, it is a taut and shocking thriller from acclaimed director Roman Polanski (The Pianist). | |
| To Greg Heffley, middle school is the dumbest idea ever invented. It’s a place rigged with hundreds of social landmines, not the least of which are morons, wedgies, swirlies, bullies, lunchtime banishment to the cafeteria floor – and a festering piece of cheese with nuclear cooties. To survive the never-ending ordeal and attain the recognition and status he feels he so richly deserves, Greg devises an endless series of can’t-miss schemes, all of which, of course, go awry. And he’s getting it all down on paper, via a diary – “it’s NOT a diary, it’s a journal!” Greg insists, preferring the less-sissyfied designation – filled with his opinions, thoughts, tales of family trials and tribulations, and (would-be) schoolyard triumphs. “One day when I’m famous,” writes Greg, “I’ll have better things to do than answer peoples’ stupid questions all day.” So was born the Wimpy Kid’s diary. |
Clash of the Titans DVD Winner
The winner of the Clash of the Titans DVD is Ronald Oliver! I will contact you on Facebook and I will need your mailing address to send it to you. Thank you for entering, and look for my giveaway for next month!
New DVD Releases – July 27, 2010
| In Clash of the Titans, the ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods. But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world. Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, Perseus and his warriors will only survive if Perseus accepts his power as a god, defies fate and creates his own destiny. | |
| Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker) are best friends and The Union’s most dangerous repossession men, reclaiming top-dollar organs when recipients fall behind on their payments. But after an on-the-job accident forces Remy to be outfitted with a top-of-the-line heart replacement, he finds himself in debt and on the run. Now, the hunter becomes the hunted as Jake will stop at nothing to track him down to finish the job. | |
| In Thailand, John Rambo joins a group of mercenaries to venture into war-torn Burma, and rescue a group of Christian aid workers who were kidnapped by the ruthless local infantry unit. |
Heading South of the Border
I thought the beginning of South of the Border was a little bumpy, incorporating some unpleasant clips from Fox News. However, overall, I got exactly what I hoped to see.
This built off of “The End of Poverty” for me. Somewhere in “The End of Poverty”, the movie mentioned the rebellion in Bolivia over the privatization of water. The citizens were successful! They got back their own water, and they got back their chance of survival. I felt like here was a real life example of the little guy (poor people) pushing back against the big guy (capitalistic foreign corporations). I was intrigued and inspired.
In “South of the Border” I saw more of South America. I got a glimpse into various South American countries, especially Venezuela. My friend and I fell in love with Hugo Chavez and his incredible charisma. Hugo took us around his country, driving himself and the camera crew around in his own car, demonstrating developments in the country, jovially greeting all he passed, and receiving equally warm welcome in return. (“I am with you, Chavez!”)
Instead of the “terrorist” our media portrays him to be, we saw Chavez as a great big teddy bear, adored by the people and also one of the people. He took us to the rooftops of the capital city, and he shared with us his extreme determination and belief in his cause. As a soldier once himself, he will never forget his fallen comrades who went before him and what they fought for. We also met Hugo as the late night scholar, with various texts strewn across his desk into the wee hours of the morning. “Do you read for pleasure?” He responds that his research is fun for him!
Hugo almost didn’t make it. And he knows why. “Petroleo.” (Oil.) Venezuela has an incredible amount of oil. When Chavez stopped exporting oil and began to use the resource to improve the life of his own people, the price of oil abroad went up, and the United States squawked and made plans to get rid of him. Chavez was ousted for a time, but the people brought him back from prison and continue to elect him democratically, election-after-election (13 times).
His success in bring his country back from oppression and poverty has inspired other South American countries to do the same. Presidents Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), and Rafael Correa (Ecuador) have joined in the movement toward a stronger South America, to the South America that existed before colonization.
Does this movie show the whole picture? Of course not. Just as the movie reveals how slanted the media is in the United States and Venezuela, the movie might be slanted in the opposite direction.
However, This movie is a great reminder that each of us needs to undertake our own research and remember to carefully evaluate what information we receive with an open eye.