Glimmerick

Ok let’s face it. Some of us are terrible at remember dates and deadlines. I will be the first to readily  admit that. Test dates, essay due dates, work days, special events… it doesn’t matter! I forget them  all. I am really good at forgetting. Luckily, my love for electronics and my mental weakness meld together into an easily conquerable problem.  Remember The Milk is the coolest program I have come across in months! All you have to do is create tasks, and then it reminds you in various, useful mediums. Each of these mediums allows for short messages that reminded the user that a due date is coming up. I like Gmail the best. You can add maps to your tasks as well, so if you are going on a grocery run, you can see how close it is to your kids’ soccer game, and better gauge time. There are many useful elements to this program, but I simply use it as a “To-Do List.”

1. Access it through their website
2. Gmail add-on **My Favorite**
3. iGoogle
4. AIM, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Skype and Yahoo! are all supported

To the left if an example of what is on my “To Do List.” I have tests, errands, events, etc. They are nicely organized by dates, and can be “completed” fast, which is essentially crossing them off the list. Here you can see how it will look in your regular Gmail inbox. I find it very convenient to see my list next to my email, so I am frequently reminded.

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Last post, I wrote about how it wasn’t a good idea to trade in a car to buy a new Hybrid. In fact, if someone had a Toyota Tacoma, a truck, it still wouldn’t make sense economically. So today I want to illustrate another option, that can almost double your gas milage without having to purchase a new Hybrid. I have been a long time fan of Honda Civic’s especially the ones from the 90’s. My 1994 Honda Civic averaged 35-37 MPG, and and the freeway, it has gotten 42 MPG many times. While looking up trends in MPG, it seems that less and less cars are getting more fuel efficient. This surprised me a lot. According to Fueleconomy.gov, with the new specifications, only one car from 2008 averages over 35 mpg. That is ridiculous.

I know that most people wouldn’t be as excited as I would to get a 10-15 year old Civic, so I will spare you the lengthy comparisons. This is what I know about them: They have never given me any problems running, the ‘94 easily gets 35-37, the ‘00 easily gets 35-36 combined, and they are neat little cars.  For the rest of you who want a newer, more hip car, I have compared 3 decent looking cars with the Prius to show you that good mileage can be obtained without spending a bundle.

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That one reason? It simply is not worth it! Just because gas prices have gone up, people think that they will save a ton of money by simply buying a hybrid. “But this new car gets almost 50 MPG! I am going to save so much money in gas!”  Yes, you will save some in gas, but what about the higher insurance costs? Monthly payments? Financial Guru Dave Ramsey fully agrees as well.

Scenario 1

Here is my scenario. Driver Dan has a 2002 Toyota Tacoma, and he feels like someone has just poked him in the eye every time he fills up. He sees an ad on TV for a new Prius, and decides to go check it out. After all, that Prius will get almost 25 more miles to the gallon than his pickup.  When he is talking to the car salesmen, he finds out that he can trade in his pickup for almost $6,600 dollars! That means he can get his new Prius for around $17,000 with the trade in. Not too bad for a new “gas sipper” he thinks to himself…

According to this car loan calculator, the monthly payments would be around $330 a month. Right away, this “$17,000 car” is closer to $19,700 with all the interest included. How much would he save in gas? Considering  the average American drives 15,000 miles a year, his truck would consume $3,225 (gas at $4.30).  With the Prius, he only spends $1387 on gas. What a deal right? Wrong! Add in the $330 a month, and he spends $5437 during the course of the year, over $2,000 than he would have spent if he stuck with his truck, which only gets 21 MPG… Of course if you change your driving habits, it is possible to get 60 MPG with a Prius, look at this post from Guy’s Blog.

My next post will talk about alternatives to getting a Hybrid, escaping burdening car payments, all while getting simliar gas mileage.

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In various areas of my life, I feel pressured to please everyone. In my house, I often feel that I must act in a way as to not offend anyone. As you can imagine living with over 20 guys, this can pose a problem.  Or if you work somewhere where there are a large number of employees, it can become increasingly difficult to act in a way in which no one goes home pouting or plotting revenge. TIME talks about this and how it relates to our current president, George Bush.

The problem is this: Our society can wrongly pressure people into believing that gaining the approval everyone is more than desirable, but in fact is a necessity.

You may be under this “spell” if you frequently:

1. Feel uncomfortable because people that you don’t like, don’t like you
2. Act out of character to please people; saying/doing things you normally wouldn’t
3. Take the fall for someone even though it was their bad (Sometimes this can be very courageous, but when one does this too much, it sets that person up to be walked all over by others)
4. Change appearance or dress to please certain people

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80% of Starbucks’ revenues come from customers who visit their stores an average of 18 times a month. ~BusinessWeek

I’ve been looking around to see how much the average person visits Starbucks a month, and I’ve come up with anywhere from 6 to 18. Let’s just create an example, and figure out how much you could save by retirement. I like using this handy tool, Dave Ramsey’s Investment Calculator.

OK, Let’s say that Steven Investor visits Starbucks an average of 8 times a month, only a couple times a week. This is not unusual by any means. Let’s say that on average he spends a total of $5, which is also not unusual considering that a tall Mochal (tall is small) can cost as much as $3.40, and food is equally price gouging. All I did was take that $5 average ticket price, times 8 times a month to get $40 a month. Now some months he may buy more or less, but this is a completely reasonable scenario. He may buy pop everyday at work, or get a candy bar at the vending machine, either way, I’m sure many of us can find $40 a month we can easily cut back on or eliminate.

Here is where it gets interesting. Instead of spending that $40 a month, I put that into a mutual fund that averages 8% a year over the next 42 years. I am still young, and retiring at around 60 would be great considering trends now a days. 8% is a great number I like to use, as it is not overly optimistic, but not a pessimist’s ideal.  The stock market has averaged over 10%  a year since 1926. That would be great in today’s economy, yet less than ideal during the “dot com” years. Now $40 a month doesn’t seem like much, but with compounded interest taken into consideration, it can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars by retirement depending on age.

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Please check out my guest post over at OrganizeIT, entitled 9 Tips for Becoming a Better Listener.

“Organize IT aims to help everyone, whether they be stressed workers, executives or just the average person getting on with their lives. Organize IT covers productivity, personal development and more, helping you to work smarter, create extra time for yourself and feel more relaxed in both your home and work life.”

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A person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language. ~Dale Carnegie

When people remember my name, it makes me feel special. It should make most everyone feel special. This person has taken the time to remember my name.  Just recall a time where you have met a person maybe once or twice, you don’t remember their name, but they come right out and say, “Hey Tage, how are you doing?!” This one act is so very important and thoughtful, yet most people don’t think twice about it. “I’m bad with names,” is a common excuse, one that I am very fond of. Re-thinking that mindset, I have realized that it is just an excuse for me to be lazy. I decided to delve into the information super highway to uncover top tips to remember names. Here are a few of them that I found to be especially helpful:

1. Just Pay Attention!- What seems more important at the end of a conversation, the person you are addressing remembers your name or remembers every single detail of the conversation. Seems very logical to me– THE NAME!!!. Focus on their name and make it a priority over what they are talking about at first. They will be more forgiving if you have their name committed to memory. Sure it would be great to remember their name and catch every detail of the conversation, but let’s face it, a lot of us aren’t that good. Sure you may remember their name for those 45-60 seconds, but when you run into that person again in the workplace and are grasping at straws, you may have wanted to make a better effort. Those first moments when you meet someone are key! Focus, focus, focus.
2. Repeat 2-3 times- First say, “Hey nice to meet you Larry!” Then you might throw in a, “So where you work Larry?” This may seem a bit overkill, but many experts swear by it.  Then at the end of the conversation, of course part with their name, “Well it’s been nice talking to you Larry.”

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