As I mentioned a few posts ago, I have opened a trading account at TradeKing.Com.
My first trade went well (I made $2.04!) I rock.

Here’s the deal:

Bought 400 shares of RAD (Rite-Aid) @ 4.40 = 1760.00
Sold 400 shares of RAD (Rite-Aid) @ 4.43 = 1772.00
Paid Commissions of 4.95 X 2 = 9.90
SEC Fee of .06

1772.00 - .06 - 9.90 - 1760.00 = 2.04 PROFIT

I know, I know. $2.04. Big deal. But, to me it is. This was my first foray into the world of buying and selling stocks on my “own”. I enjoyed it and I made a bit of money. (Think of it this way… at 5 percent interest, it takes about 8 DAYS for 1800 dollars to make 2.00 in interest. I made 2.00 in less than 1 HOUR!) Pretty cool.

Xanax, I needs me some Xanax.

(I’ll post more later, if I decide to buy/sell some more today. This is fun.)

By the way: To all who feel the need to warn me about the dangers of day trading and buying and selling… Please just don’t bother. I am responsible with my money, and I am making a CHOICE to risk every dollar of my 1800. I am trying to learn something here. Hands on baby, hands on!

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The following is brought to you by my own personal outrage:

I like my car. I like the fact that it takes me from place a to place b. But, I refuse to me defined by the type of car I own. YOU are not YOUR CAR, idiot. No one (at least no one who should really matter to you) cares what type of car you own. Buying a new car does not make you “cool” or “hip”. Grow up! Please. Stop defining yourself by what you park in your garage. Seriously. If you find your “self-worth” in your “net-worth”, you need to get a life. Come on!!! Why in the name of all that is holy would ANYONE buy a 40 thousand dollar automobile. You are driving your retirement! Please, stop wasting your money on an item that simply moves you from one place to another. But a decent, used, well-maintained, clean, and comfortable car. You can get a decent auto for less than 5k and a really nice auto for less than 10K. 15K will buy you WAY more car than you will ever need. And, please, please, please, do NOT lease a car. You will get hit on the back-end with fees and penalties. Lease=Fleece!
What brought this rant on? I was watching the television show King Of Cars. Disgusting. People buying cars they don’t need, using money they don’t have, co-signing loans for people who can’t pay…ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! I was screaming at the tv.

Breathe, 2, 3, 4.

Stop wasting your money. Do not buy a new car. Pay cash. Take control. Find your self-worth.

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Have you ever felt overwhelmed by your responsibilities? Right now I am slammed with work to do, blog to update, podcast to record, network to administer, job to do, kids to take care of, friends to call, and, to top it off, my wife has strep-throat! Whew…

I have found that whenever I get “loaded down” with stuff to do, I tend to relax my attitude towards diet and budgeting. Why? Because, when stress hits, the easy thing to do is just to take the simple road. Fast food? Sure, it’s convenient. Swipe that credit card? Yep, simple dimple. Balance the checkbook? No Time! Go by the budget and use envelopes? Too complex, I’ll worry about it later.

STOP

Real victory comes when realize that sticking to a budget and staying on our diet actually ADDS to our peace-of-mind and helps us DEAL with the stresses of life. A little effort on the front side eases the struggles you face on the back side. You need a plan, and you need to stick to it. Do not make food and money decisions with your emotions. Use your plan, your brain, and your common sense.

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Step 4:

Continue to make your minimum payments for all of your accounts, adding extra principal towards your lowest balance. Pay down your lowest balance account AS FAST AS YOU CAN. Once you have paid off your lowest balance account, do not take your foot off of the peddle! Take the total amount that you were paying on your lowest balance account (minimum PLUS extra) and use that amount to pay down your next-lowest balance account. This creates the well-known snowball effect. If you had 5 initial balances and you pay-off 1 of those balances, you now have 4 balances. But, you will treat these balances as if they are 1 “big” balance. So, just because you have paid off an account, do not decrease the TOTAL amount of money you are using to pay-off debt per month. Take every dollar that you were putting towards balance 1 and put that money towards balance 2. This will rapidly accelerate your debt re-payment. Remember, you goal is total debt elimination!

Click here for: Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

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The latest episode of the No Credit Needed Podcast is FINALLY up over at NCNPodcast.Com.

I hope that you all enjoy the podcasts. I certainly enjoy making them. Today was a struggle. My regular host, ourmedia.com, has been acting up, so I had to find some more free hosting. After looking around for a while, I FINALLY found a site which offers free podcast hosting. This solution is temporary, but it’s FREE!

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