9/21/14
Working full time at a low stress job. I keep thinking about the fact that paying debts improves my "accounting score". Understanding this makes it so much less unpleasant to pay them. I noticed the banks and automobile companies paid back the bail out money very quickly.
Construction vocabulary - water test, hot mop, lath
8/29/14
Vocabulary from the construction trade: darby, slump test, lath, joist, rafter, water weenie, GFI (Ground fault Interruptor), cold chisel, greenboard, wallboard, drywall, ReBar (Reinforcing Bar), dowel, circular saw, jigsaw,
Vocabulary for the chemistry laboratory: Erlenmeyer flask, round bottom flask, centrifuge, fume hood, graduated cylinder, volumetric flask, Büchner flask, watch glass, stirring rod, burette, dessicator, evaporation dish
Vocabulary for massage therapy: petrissage, efflurage, friction, trigger point, deep tissue, acupressure, traction
8/6/14
Paying bills, paying debts. Decrease cash assets, decrease liability.
6/12/14
I seem to have finally gotten to the point where I make enough money and have a little bit of security for the future as well. I've been focused on attaining this for 20 years. Low stress, potential for advancement, lots of personal freedom. Enough cash to get by for now.
Some financial transactions - bought a handheld video game console. My logic was that such a device is an asset, not an expenditure, and can be resold. The alternative recreational spending options, like alcohol or a massage (consumables and services), would decrease my equity while decreasing my cash assets, while this expenditure transfers some of those cash assets into property with cash value, keeping the assets and equity values higher.
Crashed into someone, minor damage. Insurance had just been cancelled for nonpayment. Got a ticket. It was a calm, civilized business transaction. I lost a chunk of money, but can go on with my life. I took it in stride. I need to pay more attention when I drive and when I pay bills. That car represents a pile of money, and every bit of damage removes - destroys some of that money from my ownership. In fact the car is not money, but it is wealth, in the strict Adam Smith sense of the word - property with financial value.
3/23/14
I haven't had internet access so I haven't been writing here. I got a pretty decent job but it's only for a few months. Summer's coming. I have to make car payments and education jobs are based on the school year. And education doesn't have such obnoxious application requirements like grocery stores. Having a science degree helps.
11/21/13
I have a few dollars. Those dollars are points. They are not just for spending, but for having. Having the dollars gives power and prestige. Having dollars gives respect. Having dollars gets you laid.
Each one is an individual with it's own serial number but they are interchangeable. They're like Roman Legionaires. They can be sacrificed for benefit or for no benefit, but it's always best to keep them as resources.
Normally I think of money as something to spend. But lately I have been reluctant to spend it. When I do spend it I keep some in reserve. Instead of spending eleven dollars I spend eight. Instead of spending three, I spend two. And it makes life so much easier.
The professional mindset is complex. You don't want to be unpleasant, but you don't want to be intrusive or wasteful of time. You do the job effectively and efficiently and interactions with the client are for that purpose.
11/20/13
The grocery store wants a LOT of information. Drug testing. Medical marijuana is a no-no. Are you in default on student loans? If you haven't paid your bills in the past, you're not allowed to pay them in the future I guess. Where have you lived in the past four years? Etc etc etc.
I just want to do work for money. Minimum wage is fine. Just let me live in dignity. Let me earn the right to pay my bills.
Anger and depression are suppressed, but they are there. What to do?
Just keep applying for work I guess. Accept rejection. It's a numbers game. Low % of success means I need to apply to more places.
Flashes of anger. Humiliation. But at least it's for a SECOND job. My first job didn't do any of this crap. I guess working in a supermarket isn't for me. What else is there?
There is always work to do. Pick up the books and put them on the shelf. Hang up the coat. Exercise. Just because I'm not being paid doesn't mean I can't work. I can also make sure my other job's paperwork is done.
11/19/13
Struggling with depression and loneliness, but it's not too bad. I am acutely aware of the fact that I don't own my home and I don't fully own my car. This bothers me.
It crossed my mind that the car itself is a sort of savings account. If I pay more money for the car, that equity remains in it. It's not like a bank savings account where I can just spend it like it was in my checking account.
I need to get a document from my insurance company to the finance company. This will reduce the amount I owe. Paper shuffling. But that's how the money game works.
11/18/13
I started an online application for a supermarket chain. They want a list of previous addresses. Do I have that information? I should, but I'm not sure.
11/15/13
I need more hours. What kind of work is available during actual work hours? Getting a position in a school is difficult.
11/12/13
I just took a MASSIVE financial hit. It was predictable but I failed to prevent it. I did not collapse in an anxiety attack, which is good. I went to sleep and followed up at the first opportunity. It's just a penalty in the game, not something to take personally. Play the game more carefully and these things won't happen. It's like any number of video games where noobs die immediately and the skilled players are cautious and aware of the dangers. Hopefully I can find a way to pay this bill.
11/6/13
My manager is talking about having me manage a nearby tutor. She has been very respectful to me, helping me speed through paperwork and orientations. I will be able to pay my car payment as well as some of what I owe for the next few months and catch up on that.
I got my first small check for 80 dollars. I took forty for personal expenses and paid forty toward my car payment. I know how to start writing this stuff down now, but I haven't actually prepared a formal notebook to do it. But I know that I used forty dollars which came out of my equity - lowering my personal "score" by forty - in order to pay for those personal expenses. The other forty, with which I partially paid my car payment, did NOT lower my "score" - it just transferred from one form of equity to another - cash to car.
I don't feel like I'm "in trouble" with my job. It's good. That feeling that I'm behind on paperwork etc is nerve wracking. This job is low stress. This is very, very good.
10/29/13
My afternoon job is up and running. I'll start being able to make some payments. Not all of them, but some. Now I need to find morning work.
Google is far too intrusive. I don't like them.
10/1/13
So now the government has been shut down. Things better get better after Democrats take the House back and the government can get back to governing.
I paid a small debt. It is good to pay debts.
There is always work to be done. I cannot allow myself to forget that.
9/26/13
I sent in my documents. I still have no job. They'll get around to giving me some work if it becomes available I guess.
Some girl stopped me in the street and asked me if I wanted a morning job. It turns out she was trying to help a Mexican guy who was selling fixed up junk appliances establish a delivery service. I did hard labor for this dude and because the customer was dissatisfied with the ghetto appliances he was provided with I did not get paid. They even had the gall to call me back to deliver another one without offering me the money they owed me.
I sent in an application with an awkward cover letter for a job that actually provides enough hopurs and benefits to live on, though the hourly pay is no better than the lower paid afterschool programs. I probably should have sent my references with the application. I've been looking up old work associates and getting references together.
LinkedIn is apparently a widely used professional Facebook/online resume service. I started an account and will be putting in more information soon. All kinds of professional coworkers and friends from past and present are on there.
The Tea Party Republicans in Congress need to GO.
9/10/13
I was offered the low paying part time position and sent documents to get ready - fingerprints, TB test - total costs ~$60-$70 which I don't have. I need to wait to ask someone else, when they can afford it, in a few days. This is how lack of "liquidity" - cash ready to spend for stuff like this - makes it hard to make money. So frustrating!!! I'm worried about being able to come up with the money I need to be allowed to work for low pay, for maybe a dozen hours a week, during the hours where work is easiest to get. Arrgh.
9/1/13
I had an interview for a fairly low paying afterschool tutoring position. If they call me back next week for another interview I will know I did well the first time.
I saw the movie The Butler. It made me reflect on the culture of class and civilization. Being civilized pays better than being barbaric.
Here's to hoping the Republicans get voted out of Congress in this next election. Their disciplined defense of the upper class - no, I don't mean lawyers and doctors, I mean Old Money - is ruining this country.
8/21/13
I've been sending out resumes and not receiving responses. I haven't signed in to this blog because I didn't want to sign out of e-mail.
I do note that the jobs offered often demand a lot from applicants. Cover letters, references up front, multiple applications, "convince us you deserve an interview" by doing large amounts of work up front just so they'll consider considering the potential employee.
I haven't been cultivating references. The whole "professional employee" game bores me. But it's based on power, and unlike when this was the Spanish Empire, I am not of the privelaged class. We used to be, but not any more. Which is ok. Except that I shouldn't be the lower class either, and that's where the Anglo-Americans have put me.
It's natural that when jobs are scarce those who offer jobs can demand more. It's a sign of the political system which needs to be changed. The wealthy are overwhelmingly favored and treat the working class with contempt. Something needs to be done. But it must be done right. They've broken the code, and when you break the code, you got to go. Everyone knows that.
The "Liberty Amendments" being talked about are an excellent example of how the wealthy intercept money at the political level. They want private property (this means property rented out for profit, not your personal stuff) to get even more legal enforcement. They want the government to tax less. To spend less. To have less power to restrain the upper class. But they still want the government to make us pay rent.
You shouldn't have to be exceptional to be considered to have the opportunity to pay the rent. The whole damn system is broken and it pisses me off.
For as long as I live
I never will forgive
You stripped me of dignity and pride
Christy Moore, Ordinary Man
-----
The following taken from WikiHow:
Dear [insert name of hiring manager],
Body
First paragraph: Mention the job you’re applying for and where you found the job listing.
Middle paragraphs: Discuss your qualifications. These paragraphs should be specifically tailored to requirements posted in the job listing. You might also consider including why this specific company interested you in the first place. Limit this section to two to three paragraphs.
Final paragraph: Discuss the next steps. If you are going to follow up in one to two weeks, mention a specific date. If you would prefer to leave the ball in their court, say that you look forward to discussing your qualifications further. Also provide your email address and phone number. Don’t forget to thank them for their time.
Close
Best,
[insert your name]
-------
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/referencesrecommendations/a/referencetips.htm
Who to Ask for a Reference
Former bosses, co-workers, customers, vendors, and colleagues all make good professional references. So do college professors.
Make a Reference List
Create a document listing your references. The list of references should not be included in your resume. Rather, create a separate reference list on the same paper you used for your resume. Have it ready to give to employers when you interview. Include three or four references, along with their job title, employer, and contact information. If the employer asks you to email your references, paste the list into the body of any email letter, rather than sending an attachment.
Request a Reference LetterEvery time you change employment, make a point of asking for a reference from your supervisor or a co-worker. That way, you can create a file of recommendations from people you may not necessarily be able to track down years later.
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Some tips on professionalism I've learned:
Check e-mail morning and afternoon.
Respond promptly to e-mails and phone messages.
Don't interrupt face to face conversation by answering phone.
Be on time!
Pay attention to how you smell! Smokers this means you!
Use blue ink pens, not black. Blue and black are both considered professional but the blue one lets you tell if it's a photocopy or not.
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Cleaned the kitchen. They can't stop me from doing valuable work by refusing to pay me. It keeps my mind off of depression and self-loathing while I'm busy.
8/15/13
Sent out more resumes yesterday. There are jobs but too much competition for them. Don't these people realize we have to pay the rent? Not their problem, I know.
But whose problem is it? Because our homes belong to us by Natural Law. When Natural Law is violated very bad things happen.
8/9/13
The interview was a group interview. Four people and one very intelligent and charming young man interviewing us. I made a number of mistakes which can be improved on.
He asked us to tell something interesting and strange. He played competitive Scrabble. One person had one day dedicated to him with a plaque and the like by a town. I need to have a good response to that sort of question.
I was asked to fill out an application. I didn't have references ready. When a person applies for work he is supposed to have professional and personal references ready to provide the interviewer.
I was a few minutes late.
I didn't spend time preparing my mini-lesson. One person had a little hand made model of the lungs with a balloon in a bottle which had a flexible diaphragm which could be pulled to make the balloon expand.
Grooming is important. I needed a haircut.
But I went, and feel there's a fair chance they'll call me back.
I got a response to another afterschool program that I did not respond to because of this interview. It is important to spam interviews and not rely on one. I learned this lesson with respect to resumes but I'm still getting lazy as soon as I get a response to a resume...
8/6/13
I have an interview on the 8th to teach afterschool science/engineering classes to little kids. Only one hour a day, $30 an hour, five days a week. Thats my car payment plus a bit per month. I also got another response from another afterschool program but haven't scheduled an interview yet.
8/1/13
Sent out three resumes today.
7/30/13
Response from the people hiring math teacher:
"We would be happy to consider your application should you wish to submit a letter of interest including your background to and relationship with mathematics and your current research interests."
How do you respond to that? Current math research interests?
There's nothing new on Craig's List.
7/29/13
Sent out two resumes before I signed into the blog. One is for $30 an hour afterschool and the other is for a math teacher position.
7/25/13
There are jobs on Craig's List. I wish I could be signed in on my e-mail at the same time as this blog so I could go back and forth easily. Maybe I need to stop using G-mail.
......
OK I sent a resume out for a part time position during the day in a school. Pay is fairly low ($15 an hour) but it also seems like a low stress job that leads naturally into teaching a class eventually. It also does not compete with the afterschool programs which are from 3-6 usually. Yay me.
7/24/13
Did dishes and sprayed for roaches. They still are dying in large numbers. How much roach killing does there need to be before the infestation is gone?
7/23/13
Back online. Cleaned kitchen again today. Juno queen of money bless me soon...
While I had no internet access I superglued my car's broken right side mirror back on. It works again. This is maintainance which increases the value of my car (which I had decreased even more when I broke the mirror housing on a pole).
7/7/13
I was able to sign into both e-mail accounts today but I wasn't signed into this blog or youtube. Signing into one of the accounts - the one I use to look for work - signed me out of this blog. FUCKING ANNOYING
Got up, made the bed, got dressed, and there's still a couple hours in the business day. Let's see what I can get done.
Something that makes new teachers' lives MUCH easier is providing them with master copies of worksheets and assignments that they can photocopy and distribute to the students. These worksheets also give the teacher guidance on what he is expected to teach. Many teachers consider such resources an insult but those people don't know how to solve quadratic equations so...try helping out those of us that know the material as well as catering to those who know how to run a classroom.
There is still work available. The nice thing about being educated is that when you do get work you're paid well and treated with respect and there is always some demand for people who can help rich teenagers get through high school math and take placement exams and the like.
There is another test I am being asked to take so I can transition into another completely different career from those I have been trained for in the past. When can I stop taking tests and start earning the rent money?!
Sent a resume to teach martial arts classes in the evenings.
7/6/13
From It's Chicano Rap (Remix) by MrBlue and others:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFxadaVR-2M
"How the Hell you gonna stop me
My ambition is endless!
Went from hustling on the block
To riding in Benzes
With TVs up in the headrests
Cookin' up tracks in the lab
Like a motherfuckin' chemist"
---
I use my inability to access gmail without signing out of Y! e-mail (and this blog) as an excuse. It's not hard to sign in from the one to the other. I should make a physical password document so I can't blame not remembering the password on not sending out resumes. That is a stupid excuse.
7/5/13
Not terribly productive. It is a business day even though it's right after the 4th but I didn't do anything except cleaned the kitchen and sprayed for roaches again.
7/4/13
Fourth of July! Hooray for independence and all that stuff. But this is the money entry so what does this mean for me? Legal holiday. Not a business day. So does this mean relax and play computer games? Not if I want to win the money game.
I got up at about 9 am. Scraped up seventeen dollars going to pick up a pizza for a friend last night. The Cash account under Assets gets +17. Equity goes up +17 from whatever negative number it's at (I still can't get myself to go through my debts though I did keep records). If I spend this seventeen dollars as a partial payment toward my car, then the Cash account loses the 17 and the 9,300 Car Debt account under Liabilities goes down 17 as well. And Equity is higher than it used to be which means my score went up - not credit score like from the commercials - but Equity score which is the one that really matters. So I'm "winning" the money game when I receive money and then pay a debt even though I handed cash over to someone else. But that's only if I expect to be able to pay the rest of the debt off eventually.
My mentality has long been that of someone who considers himself a poor person. In such a state of mind, you're never going to be able to pay off your debt, so making payments is only useful to prevent harassing phone calls or getting your car towed.
We should not need to be punished to get us to pay our bills. We should have an income that allows us to pay our bills and expect that things will get better. A system that relies on adding stress to the lives of people who already cannot pay their bills is a bad system.
7/3/13
Non productive day. I prepared for bed at 9 and was asleep by 10...and slept until 11:30! I don't remember the alarm going off...I did set it. Sold recyclables which I had already bagged and took the money for personal expenses. No net change in the accouting equation unless having recyclables counts as an asset that I liquidated and expensed.
I have too many books. Most are left over from college.
I have several computers. How does one wipe them clean? I heard something about "factory reset" once. I'd love to be able to use my old computer again. Maybe sell the others.
7/2/13
Woke up at 9:45. Haven't gotten moving on the money game yet and it's 12:20.
Volunteering is a good way to get active. I've done it before. What to volunteer for?
Massage chair is worth $70-100. The massage table $100-300. The bicycle $300. Can old textbooks be sold? Will anyone buy them?
I think about trying to get a job or advertise and it gets hard to breathe. So I blaze, and I procrastinate. And the days go by.
...
Did the dishes, took out the trash, located and threw away rotten bananas with tiny maggots forming on them and sprayed for roaches. It took a few hours. This is valuable work but it doesn't improve my score in the money game. I have a little weed but I'm not smoking it. Self restraint. Kids who are given the choice between one treat now or two treats later tend to be more successful in life if they choose the two treats later. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush but it's not worth two birds in the hand a little bit later. And now it's 9pm and time to prepare for bed.
7/1/13
Took a shower and prepared for bed at 9 pm but my father wanted me to stay up so I could pick up some paperwork for his business. Went to bed at 11 pm. Woke at 6:40 am in time to check in with him to make sure he didn't need anything then went back to sleep. Woke at noon. Waking rituals extended over an hour. Now it's 1 pm.
It's frustrating how youtube has shared my yahoo! e-mail information with g-mail. Now I can't be on both accounts at once; it signs me off the one when I sign on to the other.
Just got a call from a creditor. "Hi you owe money. This call is going to be recorded". "I don't have it." "There is a savings account listed can we take the payment from that?" "What savings account?" "Please verify your mailing address." "Ok, (mailing address given)." "Now verify your e-mail." "What savings account?" "I need to verify your identity." "You told me I had a savings account and now you're asking me for more information? What do you need to know from me before you can answer my question?" "Can I put you on hold?" "OK, sir, please verify that you are driving the car." "Why do you keep asking me questions? What savings account?" "OK sir you want information. You have to go to the branch to get that information." "OK I will talk to the people at the branch then. Bye."
Whenever I'm nice and cooperative these financial institutions write down everything I say and use it to make my life hell. They have no interest in cooperating; they are set up in an adversarial way. Yes I know the agreement. I pay you or you tow the car. Enough with the bullshit already.
...
Drove down the the branch and was told that they couldn't tell me anything because the savings account in question is not in my name and it has been closed anyway. I know whose it is but I find it very annoying to be asked to access an account I cannot access. I gave them five bucks toward the missed payment. They gave me a little receipt which had a number a few bucks lower than the number I previously had. In accounting terms, the Cash account, a subdivision of Assets on the left, lost five dollars, and to balance this Liabilities went down five dollars. Equity is unchanged.
The car is worth about $15,000 in top condition, about $10,000 in "fair" condition. The right rear-view mirror is broken, hanging from the control wire. I have the glass mirror in the back seat unbroken. The body is scratched along the sides and the car needs some basic maintainance like oil change, air in the tires etc. I owe about $9,300 on it. Thus I have positive equity in the car. Whether or not one is behind on payments does not directly affect Liability but having the car towed means Assets takes a massive hit with no corresponding decrease in Liability. Thus it comes out of my already negative Equity in myself. So selling the car seems like a reasonable option. Legally if they tow it they should pay me for what it's worth minus what I owe, minus the tow truck service, but in reality they will take the car and leave me with the Liability AKA the money owed on the car loan. They do the same BS with houses and mortgages. This is a bad system that rewards dastardly capitalist plotting.
I owe money to the internet company. They'll eventually cancel my access if I don't pay up. They have a pretty good system where you can walk into the branch and pay a machine instead of waiting in line and they don't cut you off for missing one payment.
My cell phone is an Expense. None of this nonsense about missing payments and threatening phone calls. You miss a payment, you get cut off. Pay them and you get phone service back. That's a good system too.
The rent must be paid or the police will come get you. That's a bad system. Rent should go toward ownership. Being required to pay rent for housing is a rent-seeking and therefore economically nonproductive business model if ever there was one.
6/30/13
It's Sunday. Tomorrow's Monday. To bed early (9-10) pm and ideally rise with the Sun, or at least before the official business day begins (8-5 M-F). To do otherwise is irresponsible. Time is precious. I haven't been thinking of the money game the last few days but time waits for no man. The political game is tied up with the money game so I need to check that out too. This rigged money game needs to be patched.
6/24/13
Stuff gets in the way. Consolidate information, throw old papers away. Sell stuff. Spend time putting stuff into condition to be sold. Throw stuff away. Streamline, minimize, simplify.
Surfing the internet, smoking pot, smoking cigarettes, drinking beer, drinking soda, eating out, expensive waste of time that interferes with and competes with the money game.
6/23/13
The Game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement; several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired and strengthened by it, so as to become habits ready on all occasions; for life is a kind of Chess, in which we have often points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that are, in some degree, the effect of prudence, or the want of it. By playing at Chess then, we may learn: 1st, Foresight, which looks a little into futurity, and considers the consequences that may attend an action ... 2nd, Circumspection, which surveys the whole Chess-board, or scene of action: — the relation of the several Pieces, and their situations; ... 3rd, Caution, not to make our moves too hastily...
"The Morals of Chess" (article) (1750) by Benjamin Franklin
6/22/13
Video gamers have a slang term called "grinding". This means that while playing the game, you intentionally do repetitious, boring, seemingly pointless work (that mostly involves killing stuff and looting the corpses) in order to make an abstract number called "experience points" to go up higher. This process is rewarded by periodically a *ding* sound as well as a promotion that makes the character tougher and more powerful. This is basically addictive behavior and is very similar to the addictive behavior of a businessperson; however the latter gets paid for getting a high score instead of a *ding* sound.
Planning, preparation and maintainance are crucial. This is part of what makes the US military so incredible. They're always working, even when they're not fighting. They practice, they repair, they exercise, they study, they educate their people, they make contingency plans, etc.
Animals, including humans, are interesting, frustrating and powerful because they are not passive. They are constantly interacting with and modifying their environment for their own purposes. This makes jobs like being a teacher frustrating because the teacher is expected to control children who are often not properly acculturated to effectively learn in a classroom setting.
Mao Zedong was a sadistic sociopath Communist, so I don't recommend emulating him too much. However he had an amazing knack for manipulating groups of people. His methods are worth studying since he made them work even when people were unwilling to be manipulated. Teachers as well as businesspeople are in an environment where they need to manipulate groups of people who are often unwilling to be manipulated.
Rent-seeking is behavior that provides money to an individual at the expense of someone else. It is not economically productive and it is far too heavily encouraged by our legal system. Maoism is based on rent-seeking behavior where the higher status people take from lower status people who are then allowed to die without concern from the State. It's a Ponzi scheme. Ponzi schemes are rent-seeking business models and that's why they are illegal in the USA.
Free advertising can be done simply by hanging out at coffee shops talking to people (this is what business cards are for). Notices can be stapled or taped to wooden telephone posts and the like.
Food stamps are in effect pre-paid expenses so therefore are good from the perspective of the accounting equation that is receiving them. They count as an Asset.
Education is a very bad thing from the perspective of the accounting equation because it is an expense. It is not an investment in financial terms because it does not increase Assets or Equity/Capital. In theory it will eventually increase Income but the equation does not take that into account.
6/21/13
When do people spend money? When they have it, impulsively. This is not the only time but it is often true. Offer services regularly so as to catch people when they're spending impulsively.
Should someone want to hire you, or the services of your business, they need to know about you. Advertising. Having to pay to advertise is frustrating because if I'm trying to earn money it's usually because I don't have any.
Some hypothetical businesses -
Driver. Necessary asset - car. Cell phone.
Restaraunt owner. Necessary asset - ability to pay the bills until the customers provide income.
Massage Therapist. Necessary asset - massage table. Also need business license and training. Skilled work. Problems with prostitution in the massage field leads to unpleasant encounters with slimy men who want happy endings. Craig's List charges for advertising for Therapeutic Services (and nothing else from what I can tell) probably because of the influence of prostitutes.
General Contactor. Need tools, equipment, vehicle, a contractor's license.
Pirate. Necessary Asset - pirate ship, weaponry.
Gangster. No assets needed to start.
Getting a job is different than running a business. A job means you are working in someone else's business. "Job creators" are people who can figure out a way to establish and make thrive a business which hires workers, who are the people who "have a job". A contractor hires tradesmen. A pirate captain hires pirates. A McDonald's franchise manager hires cooks and cashiers.
A business owner or manager is like an economic catalyst which makes spontaneous financial reactions occur more readily by arranging a convenient mechanism which passes through his metaphorical hands.
6/13/13
Procrastination is a major problem in running a business, even if that business is simply your own financial situation. Missed deadlines, missed opportunities, very bad. This is a very common problem. "Fortunately" one can still balance the accounting equation by using a negative capital value even if debts outweigh assets and are not being paid. This allows an individual to work on the problem mathematically even if their financial situation is completely out of control. This is a good thing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debits_and_credits#The_five_accounting_elements
Assets + Expenses = Equity/Capital + Liabilities + Income
Expenses and Income are modifiers to Equity/Capital.
A = C + (I - E) + L
In plain English, the total financial resources available to a business are 1) what the owner invests in the business and 2) what the business borrowed. When money comes in or goes out, the owner takes the hit in Capital loss or gain. Liabilities (aka debts) are not directly effected by whether the business is making money.
Ideally, A is the variable to maximize on the left while C is the variable to maximize on the right. L should be minimized; however increase in L provides an increase in A, so is not necessarily a bad thing.
In the five element equation, E is to be minimized and I is to be maximized so as to maximize C - the owner's Capital invested in the business measured in dollar units.
These dollar units used in accounting are not actual dollars; some of them are pieces of equipment worth a certain amount of dollars etc.
http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/basicaccounting.html
There are advantages and disadvantages of using a single entry bookkeeping system. The main advantage is the simplicity. It involves the simplest form of keeping records of financial transactions. Essentially the organization makes two lists, one of income received and one of expenses incurred.
In other words, single entry bookkeeping leaves out the amount of money invested in the business, any debts, and any equipment the business owns. It just records daily changes in C.
Example:
Let's imagine a new person being born. We'll call him Marvin. Marvin is born with a balace equation that is very simple. 0 = 0
Marvin's expenses and income are provided for by his parents presumably so his equation does not change until he gets a job or borrows money to go to school.
Let's say he gets a job that pays a thousand dollars a month. The first month's balance equation would become
A = C + (I - E) + L
1000 = 0 + (1000 - 0) + 0
Next month,
2000 = 1000 + (1000 - 0) + 0
If he gets internet access and a subscription to WoW (let's say they cost a hundred bucks together per month),
2900 = 2000 + (1000 - 100) + 0
If he borrows 25,000 dollars for school the next month while keeping his job and living with his Mom,
3,800 = 2,900 + (1,000 - 25,100) + 25,000
This means that he as a financial entity is worth $3,900 because he had $2,900 at the beginning of the month, earned $1,000, payed tuition worth 25,000 as well as WoW for $100, and borrowed $25,000. Next month Marvin's balance equation looks like this:
4,700 = (-22,200) + (1,000 - 100) + 25,000
Marvin technically has Assets worth 4,700 at the end of this month but negative Capital. This means he has $4,700 in cash but is in debt $25,000. Therefore his net worth is negative although he still has an income, is paying his video game expenses and has cash on hand.
If he were to buy a used car for $2,000, nothing would change, because both $2,000 in cash and a car worth $2,000 are recorded as Assets on the balance sheet.
6/3/13
Procedures for gaining and spending money are important. This is not necessarily obvious to people who do not grow up being taught such things. Procedures allow people to work toward a goal without having to reinvent the wheel every time.
Some of my procedures when unemployed (a time when procedures are especially important because of emotional stresses) include:
*Check e-mail, all three accounts - login and password need to be readily available, don't rely on automatic sign-in on cell phone or home computer
*Check cell phone, make sure it's charged, check messages
*Check Craig's List for job opportunities
*Follow up on job opportunities by sending an e-mail with resume
One trick I've learned is to avoid focussing on jobs which make applying difficult. Spamming resumes out is more effective in my experience than manually filling out every company's elaborate online application form. It is far, far more time efficient and less of a drain on my energy. There's no guarantee those online applications will lead to anything. However they're worth filling out if there are no other leads.
Procedures for spending money are also critical, because without these, even if money is acquired, the money gets spent impulsively on luxuries while the bills get ignored. It happens to lots of people including me.
Understanding the bank's procedures is also critical because they use subtleties in their procedures to screw ignorant common folks. For instance, they make enormous amounts of money on overdrafts, and the rules used to calculate whether an account overdraws and how many times it does so (thirty five bucks each time) are elaborate and counterintuitive. For example, if a person had fifty dollars in his account, and bought candy for a dollar with the ATM card, and then a lighter for a dollar with the ATM card separately, and then sixty dollars of gasoline separately, they are likely to get hit with THREE overdraft payments when they are only expecting one. Why? Because the bank's procedures are such that the sixty dollars of gasoline is processed first, even if it was the last of the three purchases. Therefore the sixty dollars of gasoline costs ninety five dollars, the one dollar candy costs thirty six dollars, and the one dollar lighter also costs thirty six dollars - even though when the candy and the lighter were purchased the account had fifty dollars in it.
I've always been uncomfortable talking about money. I grew up with the sense that it is shameful to ask for money, it is shameful to talk about one's financial troubles, and it is shameful to brag about having money on those occasions I had a little bit because it would make poor people feel bad.
However, our society is based around the fact that money is our official scoring system, and it is backed by force. We are de facto legally obligated to house ourselves in the USA at our own expense, but nobody is de facto required to make sure we can afford the rent. This is why we have homeless and why most peoples' lives are so full of stress; you can't miss paying the rent or the mortgage payment. If you do, the police will come after you. Land ownership in the modern capitalistic world is not equivalent to the sort of land ownership John Locke wrote about, and institutional ignorance of this subtlety is one of the causes of the myriad problems we have in society today.
6/5/10
I think there is profit to be made in shipping between Liberia and the American South due to the extremely powerful cultural connection between Liberia and Afro-Americans. As time goes on more money will enter the Afro-American community and Western Africa will settle down once there's profit to be made in being peaceful.
5/18/10
Stocks slide after euro falls to new 4-year low
By TIM PARADIS, Ap Business Writer
NEW YORK – Investors uneasy about the news coming out of Europe Tuesday went back to selling stocks sharply lower. The falling euro and news that German regulators plan to limit some kinds of short selling fed the drop.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100518/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_wall_street;_ylt=Agzxdrt2ol3mwCGpuNTCY8JnhVID;_ylu=X3oDMTMzM29vaml2BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNTE4L3VzX3dhbGxfc3RyZWV0BGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDNwRwb3MDNwRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA3N0b2Nrc3NsaWRlYQ--
5/6/10
the jobs that many of these men, or those like them, once had in construction, factories and offices aren't coming back. "A good guess…is that when the economy recovers five years from now, one in six men who are 25 to 54 will not be working," Lawrence Summers, the president's economic adviser, said the other day.
This is not one of the many things that can be blamed on subprime lending, inept regulators or Goldman Sachs. "The Great Recession has reinforced prevailing labor market trends that were under way long before the recession," David Autor, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist, observed in a recent paper commissioned by two Democratic-leaning think tanks, the Center for American Progress and the Hamilton Project.
Demand for workers who haven't much education -- which includes many men, particularly minority-group men -- is waning. A shrinking fraction of them are working.
Meet the Unemployable Man
by David WesselSaturday, May 1, 2010
Provided by the Wall Street Journal
http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/109471/meet-the-unemployable-man?mod=career-work
EDIT 4/9/10
To paraphrase a few millionaires I met while they were trying to get me to buy water filters wholesale - the path to wealth involves selling products that require regular purchases from you to use; printers and ink; iPods which are designed to be hard to open so you have to hire their guys to open it and replace the expensive battery; and water filtration systems in which you have to replace the filter regularly.
See also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
A friend of a friend, who was a millionaire, supposedly said the path to wealth and leisure is owning housing and renting it out.
EDIT 3/27/10
Strong economy, work, make and save money. Weak economy or recession, spend money.
"I feel like a sex addict in a whorehouse!"
-Warren Buffet on the 2k recession.
He bought trains, because a recovering economy means movement of goods.
EDIT 3/28/10
Tech firms try to outperk one another
Silicon Valley companies hope to keep innovation flowing with freebies and fun, such as go-cart racing and cash prizes.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-fi-perks28-2010mar28,0,3505494.story?track=rss
EDIT 3/29/10
The Geography of Poverty and Wealth
http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidinthenews/articles/Sciam_0301_article.html
EDIT 3/30/10
Geography and Economic Development: Some Empirical Findings
http://www.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/about/director/pubs/EMPFIND.pdf
EDIT 4/1/10
"A profession is a vocation founded upon specialised educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profession
New Statesman, 21 April 1917, article by the Webbs quoted with approval at paragraph 123 of a report by the UK Competition Commission, dated 8 November 1977, entitled Architects Services(in Chapter 7).
EDIT 4/5/10
The Best Jobs Report In a Long Time
by Hale "Bonddad" Stewart @ 9:16 AM
Article posted 4/3/10
...it's pretty obvious the recession is over...
From the BLS:
"Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 162,000 in March, and the unemployment rate held at 9.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Temporary help services and health care continued to add jobs over the month.
Employment in federal government also rose, reflecting the hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010. Employment continued to decline in financial activities and in information."
...It appears the unemployment rate has topped out in the 9.5%-10% range. While we're not seeing any downward momentum, we aren't seeing anymore strong upside moves either.
Also note the unemployment rate continues to be high for those with low educational achievement and low for those with high educational achievement:
Bachelor's or higher: 4.9% (this is near full employment from an economic perspective).
...the number of people entering the ranks of the unemployed continues to drop.
...The number of people unemployed for less than 5 weeks continues to drop.
...The number of people unemployed for [5-26] weeks is also dropping. However this number is still very high and will require a fair amount of time to get back to a "normal" level.
...The number of people unemployed for longer than 27 weeks is still increasing. The primary reason for this is a large percentage of job losses during the recession (over 70%) occurred in construction and manufacturing. Construction will never return to the levels seen in the last expansion and manufacturing is undergoing a productivity revolution where employees are being replaced by automation. As such, former construction and manufacturing employees will face an incredibly difficult job environment going forward.
...Those working part time for economic reasons increased 263,000.
...October of 2008 to March 2009 the economy lost over 600,000/month. That means that over a 5 month period the economy lost over 3 million jobs. In addition, remember that during the recession the economy lost all the jobs created in the last expansion:
...An economy that lost all of the jobs created in the previous expansion will not turn around and start adding 300,000 jobs/month anytime soon.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/04/best-jobs-report-in-long-time.html
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