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I’m In The Wrong Business!!!

magazines

Vogue, April 2014

Last Saturday I went to get a haircut because I needed to look pretty for a wedding I’m attending.  Kate’s brother, Eugene, is getting married… Congratulations Eugene.  Since my guy doesn’t take appointments and it’s a first come, first serve agreement, I had to wait around a bit for my turn.

I like to call Alfonso my barber, but he doesn’t work in a Barber Shop.  He is the only male in a Hair Salon – does that make him my Stylist?  Anyways, after checking Facebook on my phone without finding anything amusing, I decided to see if the “Barber shop” had any magazines that might keep me busy for a while.  But the magazines that were available were not up my alley.

Since I already know there’s nothing useful in Cosmopolitan and Vanidades (Spanish magazine that is nothing but sex.  90% of the topics are “How to make your man scream your name in bed” or “How to make your man achieve the greatest orgasm he ever had.”  I honestly don’t know how come you don’t need to be 18 to buy this thing.  I digress again.) I decided to pick up Vogue instead.

Make A Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List

Enjoy your summer

That small bead of sweat rolling down my back indicates that it is indeed summer.  Coming from a tropical island where it’s always hot, I love summer. Maybe not those days where it goes above 100F (>38C for the rest of the world), but I like when you don’t need thirty seven layers of clothing just to go outside.

I like summer because everybody seems happier – when they’re not complaining about their shoes melting.  And the reason is because they get to come out of hibernation.

This might not be a problem for folks living South of D.C., but I live in New Jersey and it gets pretty cold in the winter.  And besides those days when we get to go skiing, ice skating, or break our backs shoveling snow, we really don’t get to hang out outside too often.

DIY Phone Screen Replacement

cracked phone screen

Yup, that’s a cracked screen.

I’ve had my cellphone for over two years now and in that time, I’ve dropped it dozens if not hundreds of times.  The phone has fallen on concrete, asphalt, tiles, gravel, hardwood floors, grass, beds, pillows, etc.  Other than in water, I’ve dropped this thing everywhere.

Each time I’ve dropped it I held my breath hoping the screen would survive the fall and time after time the screen had survived.  That was until the last time I dropped it.

I was just sitting watching TV with Luna – cat #1 – and had the phone on my knee.  Luna, being a cat, decided she didn’t want to be next to me anymore and used my knee to jump from the couch to the floor taking the phone down with her.

Spent: Looking For Change (Documentary)

spent looking for change graphic

Spent: Looking for Change is a documentary that follows four financially under-served families who have been booted out of the traditional banking system due to different circumstances. If you ever thought “they got themselves into that situation,” think again. This can happen to anyone.

Keep reading to learn about each family’s situation and to watch the Spent documentary about payday loans, debt, and how our financial system is failing people.

MDN Now A CommentLuv Enabled Blog

commentluv

Show some Luv

I have been blogging for a little over two months now and my only regret about blogging has been “Why didn’t I start doing it earlier?”

Blogging has been a lot of fun.  It has driven me to gain more knowledge and to improve in ways I didn’t know I could improve.  It has also given me the opportunity to meet different people that I otherwise would have never met.

I’m talking about other bloggers.

Okay, I have never physically met any other blogger, but by reading what they have to say I feel like I’m getting to know them – slowly.  I am the new kid on the block but I feel like I’m starting to become part of a community – a blogging community.

Cool Gifts For Dad

Father’s Day is fast approaching people.  And even though we’re all about saving money, if you don’t give your father a gift on Sunday, he’s going to cry… on the inside.

A lot of people wait until the last day to then rush to the store and buy dad a boring tie or a shirt that probably won’t fit him – oh wait, that’s me.  Don’t be me and try to surprise your dad this year with something nice.

Not all dads are created equal, so assess the situation and put some thought into your gift.  Pretend he’s your new boyfriend or new girlfriend and you want to impress him.  Make him saw “Aww, how thoughtful of you.”  Make him tear up a bit… who am I kidding?  Dads are made of stone.

There are a lot of cool gifts for dad out there.  Here are just some ideas for whatever type of Dad your old man – or husband – is.

Guest Post Today at CNA Finance – How Haggling Saved Me $1,200

Haggling

Head over and read my Guest Post.

I want to thank Joshua Rodriguez at CNA Finance for giving me the opportunity to guest post on his site.  Please head over to CNA Finance and read How Haggling Saved Me $1,200.

Here’s an excerpt of the post.

Some people don’t like haggling or negotiating because they don’t want to come off as rude or disrespectful, but that’s because they haven’t mastered the art of haggling.  Okay, haggling might not be an art, but there is a right way to haggle and a wrong way to haggle.

Before we get into the right way to haggle and why you should always do it, let me first tell you a little bit about myself.

I come from the Dominican Republic and like in any third world country, haggling is the norm.  Granted, there are places where you just don’t haggle – restaurants and supermarkets – but everything else is up for negotiation.

Read the whole post at CNA Finance.

My Friend, The Artist

I want to take this opportunity to help a family friend who is going through a life threatening event.  Victor Koryagin is an Ukrainian artist who has been very close friends with Kate’s mom since they were 19 years old.  Unfortunately he was diagnosed with Stage 3 sarcoma in his right knee. There is no medical insurance in Ukraine so he has to pay for the treatment himself.

Victor runs a small publishing business, which provides for his family, but it doesn’t make enough money to pay for the medical treatment that he needs.  This is where we come in.  Kate’s mom – Yelena – started a fundraiser at youcaring.com titled An artist in Ukraine fights cancer where she has been able to raise over $11,000 and she personally also gave thousands of dollars towards his treatment.  She’s doing all she can, but she can’t pay for all of it on her own.  Both Yelena and Victor are grateful for all the donations, but they’re still short of their goal.

Artist
Guitar Woman
Woman Vase

Where I am now – Part 2

In part one I mentioned the steps I took to get out of debt.  Part two concentrates in building an emergency fund and laying a foundation for a comfortable retirement.  I never really thought about retirement before because it is so far away.  Now I realize I was just wasting time and money.  You might not be thinking about retirement either but you’d be surprised how fast time flies.  I mean look at me, I know I look good and all but I AM 33 years old already!

Three to six months emergency fund

Paying off your debts might take time depending on how much you owe and how much you are able to pay each month.  It took me less than six months but I put every single extra penny that I had into my debt.  Hopefully you will too.  How ever long it takes doesn’t really matter, the point is that now you should have zero debt, except for the mortgage if you have a house.

Where I am now – Part 1

My post is a little long so I decided to break it into two parts so I don’t bore you to death.  This is Part 1.

If you haven’t, please read my story so you can see where I was financially only a year ago.

Things have changed a lot since then.  Ever since I started a budget and kept track of my spending I have been able to save way more money than I thought possible.  I paid off my car and all my credit card debts.  I only have my student loans left but I have paid half of what I owed and have under $10,000 left to pay.  I no longer live with my mother.  My girlfriend and I moved into an apartment together.  I have a three-month emergency fund, which I will continue to grow, I increased my 401(k) to get the full match from my employer, I started contributing to a Roth-IRA, which I maxed out for 2013, and I was able to save extra money to buy my girlfriend an engagement ring, I now get to call her fancy girl – I mean, Fiancée.  Did you know that a Fiancé is a male that is engaged to be married and a Fiancée is a female that is engaged to be married?  Well, I didn’t.  And if you didn’t either then you just learned something today…you’re welcome.