Category: Blog

With many people making resolutions now, it's a good time to discuss one popular system that people are using to achieve their financial goals for the year. Cash budgeting is not new, but it more and more people are using this system to save and get their debts in check. Using a cash budget or cash envelope system is cheap and easy to follow, All you have to do is put cash in envelopes or some sort of divider, label them with categories like gas, food, etc., and put cash in them. But there can be cons to a system like this, one of which is the constant bank runs you'll have to make! In this episode I do a brief review of cash budgeting and what I think. I…

 If there is one thing I try to avoid like the plague, it's going to the dentist. How many of you out there list the dentist as one of your phobias? Aside from having healthy, long lasting teeth, there really isn't much to like! Now, if you are a dentist, more power to you, but I hate having to go! Those abnormally large needles hurt! In this episode I get into why I hate going to the dentist. You'll probably be able to relate! I realize that the dentist is a necessary evil, lol! But I don't know why we don't have technology that makes procedures painless! And really, I am specifically talking about getting the Novocaine shots to numb the teeth. Why do those shots hurt so bad?!?! I…

This is Part II of my experiences in basic training. Last time I talked a little about arriving at reception battalion and the thirst moments of when training actually begins. Hopefully you found it interesting! This episode covers getting "smoked" by my drill sergeants, which was not fun at the time but I can certainly look back on it and laugh now! If you have been through basic training in any military service, then you will definitely be able to relate to all the things I share! There is more that I can talk about, like my time at the Pole Orchard in Advanced Individual Training (AIT). If you'd like to hear about it, or my time in Korea, let me know in the comments! You can listen to the…

In the mid 90's I decided it would be a great time to join the military! Well, actually it wasn't quite like that, but I did join the Army. I thought it would be interesting to share a bit of my experiences in basic training. Since there are several locations in the Army to go through basic training, it might be interesting to hear about what happened to me at Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri. I'm not really sure why I was sent there instead of Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, where most go through it. I think it was probably random, lol! But my experience was definitely different, because we didn't even call our Drill Sergeants by that title, we just called them Sergeant. It seems like a minor thing,…

Recently in Philadelphia, a pretty heinous crime was committed on a train. I am about to discuss serious and violent crimes, so if this is a trigger for you, please consider skipping this post. A woman was on a train in Philadelphia, around 9 or 10pm if I recall correctly. And a man was harrassing her. He wouldn't leave her alone. Apparently there were other passengers on the train witnessing this crime as it unfolded. The man began physically assaulting her and ripping her clothes off, and he ended up raping her. In front of other passengers who did nothing but watch. Now, let me say that I don't know every fact, I wasn't there. My information comes from news reports. But it is highly disturbing to me that the…

If you can't tell by now, I have a lot of pet peeves. And in this episode I'm going to talk about one more! Pocketless pants. And pants that have unusable pockets. More specifically, women's pants. Tell me why women have to suffer through this kind of nonsense! I am fed up with buying a pair of jeans or slacks that end up not having a functional pocket. I'm not asking for a lot here. I just want a place to store my ID or some money when carrying a purse would be inconvenient. Like a party, a club or a quick trip to the corner store. These days, most pants have the tiniest pocket that if you are lucky you can fit a few coins in. Why is it…

There is a big trend going on now for Tiny Homes. Many people have been buying really small houses, and renting tiny apartments as well. There are TV shows and youtubers that discuss them. Everyone seems to be in the market for a Tiny House. I had always thought that it didn't make sense to buy a Tiny House. Who wants to get rid of most of their belongings to squeeze into a space that is often just as small as a bedroom. 200 or 300 square feet is not much. I couldn't imagine living in one. Until I started imagining living in one! Now, I'm not saying I'm going to buy one, but I can see the appeal now. Many of these homes cost $20k, $30k, or around there.…

Lately, there has been a lot of news about Britney Spears. We have seen that she is fighting to remove her father from the conservatorship he was able to establish for her 13 years ago. But is it really necessary, and does he deserve to be there? In this episode I discuss whether or not a conservatorship is the right vehicle to solve Britney's problems. After all, many celebrities struggle with mental health and substance abuse issues, yet they have been left to their own devices. The real question for me is, does she need such a restrictive legal guardianship in place, or are there other ways to help her and allow her to keep her autonomy? I can't imagine having to ask permission to even have a child or…

There have been recent articles and news reports about the 996 work culture in China. Apparently, people are working from 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week. Without any overtime pay! In fact, they are often expected to be on 24 hour call! It's pretty bad. There is no way this type of schedule can be sustainable. I know there are a lot of people that work more than 40 jours a week, which is the standard in the U.S. There are jobs like healthcare, police, laywers, etc, where working longer hours may be required. But it seems that it is becoming more and more the norm, not the exception. But working yourself to death is no way to live. In Korea, delivery drivers are dying on the job because…