working for money

Declutter continues......

2017-05-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

Typically my declutter sessions go in spurts. This month spring cleaning is in the air. I've slacked off on my 1000 things project. But my goal for the rest of May is to hit 200 items and be at 20% complete. An easy target if I put in a small amount of time. The focus of my declutter will be two areas: garage books These two areas provide no small abundance of items I never use. So, with

Financial To Do before end of year...

2016-11-17T12:53:00.000-08:00

As the weeks left in 2016 wind down there are a few things I'd like to do. Consolidate an old Scottrade account into main Schwab account. I already did this with old E-trade and Fidelity accounts and I appreciate having less account logins and tax statements to deal with. Makes the most sense to do this during 2016 tax year. And easy to do by faxing a few forms in to get the process rollings.

Moving away from Lending Club

2016-09-12T14:47:00.001-07:00

Just made the first withdrawal ($49.78) from our Lending Club account. Going forward we will be making monthly withdrawals instead of reinvesting our available funds. The past two cycles with >$25 available to reinvest, I noticed there weren't any A notes to choose from. Not one. Overall I've seen a decline in available notes and seemingly less activity with other borrowers. Of course

Churning Gas Gift Cards

2016-05-17T14:58:00.001-07:00

I like snagging discount gift card promos on eBay. A great way to earn some eBay bucks and CC points or miles. Today the perfect one showed up: Chevron/Texaco gift cards. We have summer road trips planned so I jumped at the chance to grab some discounted gas cards. Paid $184 for two $100 gas cards for Texaco/Chevron eBay Bucks = $3.68 refund Citi Double Cash = $3.68 refund Total rewards

The aim for churning: free travel for 2016

2016-02-23T15:49:00.003-08:00

At the end of 2015 we spent a few days in NYC for the holiday. We scored a great hotel in midtown Manhattan that would have cost $900 for 3 nights. (Remember the fantastic 100k bonus Brit Air Visa card deals from years ago.) Luckily we had enough British Air Avios to get the room. What a deal! With that stay we've essentially depleted the remaining Brit Ait Avios we had. And haven't had a travel

a few 2016 goals

2016-01-07T11:10:00.002-08:00

Hello 2016. New year, new list of goals. Keeping it simple, here are a few I'm aiming at this year. Money goals: consolidate investment accounts grow side-hustle money tweak monthly retirement savings some home improvements CC churning for free travel Personal goals: declutter possessions learn some spanish expand home veggie garden better weekly planning with Five to None blog more

Resurrecting a zombie PF blog….

2015-11-27T16:31:00.000-08:00

You ever create a blog? Watch it not grow? Watch it stagnate? Well, I have. And it's time to kick that corpse and raise the dead blog! Sure, zombies are a major interest in pop culture today. So how many zombie blogs are littered around the internet? You can either kill them …. or raise them up with a pulse. They can't do that shit on the Walking Dead. So stand back and watch this shit happen,

PF Blog posts are coming.

2015-11-05T06:51:00.002-08:00

.... soon.

Getting rid of excess clutter. Really going to do it this time.

2013-12-26T09:13:00.000-08:00

Like most Americans I'm awash in stuff. Lots and tons of stuff. It creeps into every corner of my life, my house. And it is no uncommon thing to do a stuff-cleanse. Sure, I've done a few of those. It doesn't work well, usually. Or at all. But here we go again. This time it will work. Just this past week I found 4 flashlights around the house that haven't ever been used. Or maybe used once. Crazy

Gingria - Cheap Cocktails to make with cheap port and gin

2013-08-02T11:23:00.002-07:00

One lazy summer evening years ago, I discovered cheap port over ice makes a fine sangria taste-alike. I like to believe my palette has moved beyond such simple pleasures and figured to resurrect this lazy summer evening cocktail with a little gin added to the mix. Aside from fancy pre-mix cocktails found in your grocer aisle, you won't find a simpler way to make a sangria-style drink. It won't

The missing Windows Start Button returns (sort of) in Windows 8.1

2013-06-28T14:26:00.003-07:00

I've been using Win 8 for a few months now. It's been mostly fine. Frustrated at times, yes. Missing things, yes! Craving the start button, Yes!! Well no more craving. I've loaded up the new Windows 8.1 Preview and like that the Start Button is now present. But I didn't like that it just goes to the Start Tile Screen instead of the traditional Windows 7 window. I suppose Microsoft will hear

Fixing missing Dell D620 wireless wifi drivers with Ubuntu

2013-06-12T06:00:00.002-07:00

I have an old Dell D620 that I use as a sofa surfing laptop. I've found Ubuntu works great for this purpose. I've freshly installed Ubuntu on it a few times and always have a problem with the wireless drivers not installing correctly. To fix this run these two commands from terminal: sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source broadcom-sta-common broadcom-sta-source (it may not see all of these)

Made in America Mac Pro by Apple

2013-06-11T13:25:00.001-07:00

I love that Apple is continuing to support US manufacturing, albeit very minimally but hey gotta start somewhere. Their new Mac Pro is quite a different take on a server. It is adding excitement by bucking two trends: manufactured offshore and tradition enclosure. Yes, in a very Apple-like way the new Mac Pro is moving rapidly away from the square corner box design. I love the look. I like the

A zin with punch - Sledgehammer Zinfandel 2009

2013-06-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

Lately I've had a few bottles of zin that seemed watery and underwhelming. Deserving better I grabbed a bottle of Sledgehammer in the wine aisle hoping to break the trend. Heavy fruit. Pepper. Deep color. Bold and lasting. Slight leather that can be easily forgotten in a zin, which I prefer. But I didn't mind it so much here -- the fruits overwhelm it. Overall this is a great glass of zin.

Defeating clutter through simple actions

2013-06-02T08:05:00.001-07:00

I started reducing kitchen clutter with one simple, effective step: jettisoning martini glasses. We had 3 sets ot 2 martini glasses. After a few years in our house we never had used them. Not even once. I thought about getting rid of one set. Then we would have reduced them by 30 percent but still be able to serve 4 martinis if occasion called. What? Who was I kidding. We never would be serving

Finding CHKDSK log in Windows 7

2013-05-23T08:34:00.001-07:00

Ever run CHKDSK and need to review the log? You'll find it in Event Viewer. -Open Computer Management -Expand System Tools > Event Viewer > Windows Logs -Look in the Application log for Wininit in the source column -Double click that entry and you'll see all the results of the CHKDSK Click photo to see larger version:

How to disable the password expiration on Windows Server 2008

2013-03-22T10:42:00.000-07:00

If your server is non-domain joined and you are not using Active Directory the Local Security Policy controls items like password complexity rules, account lockouts, and password expiration. To turn off password expiration you'll need admin rights and to simply edit the Local Security Policy: Launch “Local Security Policy”: Start > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy Expand “

The bullion luster of a Silver Eagle Coin

2013-03-21T08:02:00.002-07:00

There's something about the look of a mint silver coin that is very appealing. Not so much the shine, but the thick, creamy luster of the dull surfaces. Anytime I look at a Silver Eagle I think wow, too bad our real coins aren't made of this stuff anymore...

Microsoft Exchange Server - Using PowerShell to Share Outlook Calendar

2013-03-15T11:32:00.001-07:00