Finding Freedom

Well, the move is just about over. Lord knows how I managed to keep so much stuff in the little space that I had in my former room. I have just a few items left at the old place that I still need to take, as well as a massive cleaning project that needs to get done before the end of the first.

My family came down to help me clean, and I am and will be forever grateful to them for that kindness. The hauling, lifting, and carrying would have been replaced by cursing, crying, and “suiciding” had I had to do it by myself. It was an exhausting task, and one that I wouldn’t wish on anybody.

Needless to say, I’ve been dragging all weekend, and even, or should I say, especially today as I have made it back to work. What can I say? The prospect of more working after a weekend spent working is not a particularly appealing concept.

But, as my mom used to tell me, somehow life goes on. And so I’m off to get all my end of the month stuff done here before having a rehearsal and then trying to clean up what I can at the old place to salvage some manner of a deposit.

Wish me luck.

Hi All,

To those who come here regularly, I just wanted to drop a note to say that I will be moving, with the help of my dad and brother, tomorrow for the majority of the day. Due to this, I will most likely be unable to post.

I hope that you all have terrific weekends!

In some ways, I wish that I could have stayed at my old apartment. Well, I wish that I could have continued to pay the same amount of rent that I am now. The apartment itself is nice enough, but I suspect that it is a mere five minute drive to the center of hell considering how hot is has been there lately.

The new location is much better in just about every standpoint, but it will also cost just about twice as much. I suspect that it will likely be worth it in that I will have a much shorter commute to work, although with the girlfriend now living further away, the carpooling may come with a greater cost of gas.

I wonder if I am just averse to change…

Ah well. Beautiful La Jolla, here I come!

My girlfriend and I met today with a financial planner that had been recommended to us. The financial planner had some good ideas about things that we needed to get started on.

One thing that she kept saying is that because we are so young, we have the option of waiting on some things, or, conversely, getting a head start on other things that will place us in a good place come the end of our lives.

It was a really informative time for me because she talked about some issues that I didn’t have very much information about, such as life insurance, how a Roth IRA functions versus a 401k, and how I should be allocating my money in the plan that the company chose for me when I got hired.

She does her work for us entirely free until we start making money off of things that she has chosen for us. I suspect that most financial planners would work this way as well, as there would be a huge eventual margin for getting paid off. So, for those of you just getting started off like I am, I would recommend trying to find someone like a financial planner to give you advice and to help you make the most money that you can with the money that you are making.

Due to their record profits from oil, the government of Kuwait has announced that they will give each citizen six hundred and ninety bucks a piece.

Wow. With our national debt being so huge, I can’t even imagine America being in a place that they would even consider such a thing. That’s amazing.

I received my first payment for acting the other day. One of the shows that I am in now pays their actors, and just recently received the check. I rushed and made a photocopy of it, and I intend to frame it.

While it barely covers gas costs (the theatre is on the other side of the metropolis that I live in), I am extremely glad to receive the couple hundred dollars they agreed to pay me. This money will be useful in paying my higher rent with the move.

But, with the pay being so low versus the amount of time expended, none of the actors are really doing it for the money. I know that for myself, even this token of payment makes me feel like I am taking a step in the right direction with my career, even if it is a baby one. This payment is symbolic for me as a step in the right direction, and it encourages to keep following my dreams.

I know that sounds cheesy, but, hey, we’ve all got to start somewhere, right?

I’m having a bit of trouble with my HSBC account due to the fact that I haven’t received my account number in the mail, and I don’t think that I was given one when I signed up under the auspices that I would be sent one in the mail.

This leaves me unable to access my account.

While I didn’t open my account with a whole lot of money, it’s a little disconcerting to be unable to get to it.

I’ll have to give them a call and see if we can’t figure something out.

I am unimpressed with their service as of yet, but perhaps their customer service will redeem them. I find this unlikely, however, as I have already sent them an email, and was told just to wait for the letter. I opened the account a month ago. You’d think that I’d have it by now.

So, my boss sends out an email to our department this morning stating that he has two tickets for today’s Padres’ game that are going to go unused unless somebody wants them. I, of course, would rather watch baseball than work, so I volunteer to take them off of his hands, to which he says okay.

I will be spending this afternoon downtown in the sun at beautiful Petco Park watching the Padres beat up on the Phillies.

Can life get better? I submit that it cannot.

And now, the haiku for this Wednesday.

So Ken Lay has died,
And his wife gets the money,
That he stole from us.

As a new tactic towards paying off my debt, I think that I will implement something that occurred from time to time in my gambling days.

When you are sitting at a blackjack table, the dealer will often times joke with you that you should just take all of the money in front of you, and bet it on one hand, or “one shot” it. If you win, you double up; if you lose, you just lose your money more quickly than you would have before.

I saw few people actually bet this way for the obvious reason that nobody really wants to risk all of their money at once. They would rather get their money nickel and dimed away in the name of “fun.”

Now, what does this have to do with paying off debt, you ask?

Well, I get paid, on average, twice a month with the occasional three times a month fluke. The first paycheck, especially now that I’m moving, will go towards rent and utilities and other necessities that ensure that I have somewhere to live. The second check, however, I think I am going to use to pay the minimum on most of my credit card payments, and then I’ll use the rest of the paycheck to make a large payment to one of the credit cards.

While there may be better methods towards paying off debt, I like to see results, and the capacity to see a card that has a balance of $900 go to $100 or less in the space of a couple days will be a wonderful method for me to feel like I’m getting somewhere.

Money is already tight this month, so I will be unable to implement this until August. I’ll let you all know how it works out.

As we all get older and older, a do-over is something that occurs less and less in our lives. As a child, if you serve poorly in four square for example, it is relatively easy to call “Do-Over!” and get another shot at it. As an adult, as much as I’d like to call Capital One and say claim the do-over principle, I think that it would not fall on very sympathetic ears.

This is why it is important to do the things that we have decided to do well.

Problogger is running a series of guest posts from fairly prolific bloggers that are all centered on the question, “What would you do differently if you were to start blogging all over again?”

I am finding this series very informative and educational, as I am very new to the blogging scene. Go give it a glance through; you never know what tips you might come away with.