| It all started one summer, passing through New Mexico while driving from Colorado back to Texas. This whacked out but curiously logical guy was on the radio telling listeners how to get out of debt. I made a mental note that I'd like to be debt free, and intended to find him again. He was crazy, a crazy I liked, and besides - who doesn't want to be debt free?
A year and a half later (October, 2006) a friend of mine asked if I'd heard of a guy named Dave Ramsey. My "debt free" mental note was nowhere in the archives, so of course I said "No." He suggested that I download the Dave Ramsey podcast and give him a listen. That I did, then it hit me like a ton of bricks, "This is *that* guy!" We bought his book The Total Money Makeover along the way - the advice was simple and worked well in our minds.
Here are the numbers we were dealing with: a $23k personal loan, $24k in two cars, and a few thousand on credit cards ($50k for for the math deficient). We hated opening Quicken to see the red "net worth" number, but at least we knew where we were - good or bad.
Before I get too far in to this, I want to just stop for a second and get something off of my chest. There will be a number people that think that budgeting is something poor people do to squeeze every penny out of the bank account. That if you budget, you must not make enough money to survive, or that if you budget you're somehow telling "the universe" that you're poor. That is a load of crap. You budget so that you know exactly where your money is going, no matter how much money you have. If you don't know where every penny is going, you don't know how much you have to invest. Or how much to use to pay off debt. There, I said it, budgets rock!
The plan? Live on less than you make (a lot less if you can), and use the rest to pay off debt. Once you're out of debt, build wealth. Duh. Living on less than you make is pretty easy if you make a budget every pay period. Not every month, because there is no magical month that a budget will always apply to. Expenses change, and your budget needs to reflect that.
Make a written budget every pay period. Make sure you know where every single penny goes from that check, so you don't wonder where all of those pennies went. It may take a couple of months to get this right.
We weren't exactly living paycheck to paycheck back then, but at the end of the month we had practically nothing left. We had no real savings, and no backup plan other than credit cards in case something big happened.
I made a vow to myself to eat lunch on $10 or less every day, eating decent food too, not just fast food crap. Surprisingly this is a really easy thing to do. I have friends that try to eat lunch on $5 per day now. I dropped my coffee expenditures to around $100/mo too. I work in coffee shops every day, not for the coffee shops, but because I'm a cafe warrior. I run a small software company and use coffee shops as my office (that is another story all together).
Those two things alone reduced the budget by couple of hundred dollars. Eat at home for breakfast and dinner. Buying groceries is alway cheaper than eating out, and you can actually eat better. If you're in a relationship, cooking for your partner is always a grand slam. Make an event out of it and use it to expand your palette.
So we formulated a plan based on Dave Ramsey's "Baby Steps."
1. The $1,000 Emergency Fund - we put ours in a savings account that was tied to the checking account as overdraft protection. That helped us get over using the credit cards as a buffer. We found that we never had an expense so large that we needed more than $1,000.
2. Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball - pay off the debts, smallest to largest, using the payment from the last one on the next. Eventually, everything is paid off and the fun starts. Interest isn't relevant in the conversation because the excitement and the feeling of progress by paying off debts is extremely valuable. Don't get out the calculator, it doesn't matter. Pay them off, smallest to largest, and you'll see how fun getting out of debt can be.
We started with the smallest card, then the other. Closing credit cards is fun. In the meantime I made the incredibly difficult decision to rid myself of my car and the $800/mo it was costing us. Man I loved that car, but $580 for the payment, another $100 for insurance, and $120 or so in gas per month? Didn't love that. My car took two months to sell, but once it did we were able to apply that money to the other car (it was next in line).
With the second car paid off ($300/mo), my car sold ($800/mo), and the credit cards gone ($180/mo), the personal loan was up next. The friend that loaned us the money was getting a little impatient with us given how much debt we were paying off, but he was pretty excited to see the progress come so quickly when it was his turn. We were paying that debt off quickly. Very quickly.
It is said that once you start doing smart things with money, money finds you. Whether or not I believe that in a metaphysical sense is a matter of debate, we did see a nice tax return (the largest in years) and had an investment pay decently that spring. We didn't get raises during that period, and still haven't, but the investment keeps making returns and by getting out of debt, we've found a lot more money in our salaries.
We wrote the last check on September 18, 2007 - we were debt free in less than a year.
3. 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings - we chose a high interest savings account... and decided on 3 months of expenses because two of us were working. By extension, that means 6 months as long as we don't both lose our jobs. We've completed this step. Reaching this goal while debt free was relatively painless - we were already trained by the budget.
4. Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement. In 2007 - for the first time ever - we fully funded our IRAs. We snuck it in just under the wire, but we did it.
So now we're working on 5 through 7:
5. College funding for children - We plan on having Z go to a state university and will have set the ball in motion closer to that time. He already understands the concept of being paid (we give him a quarter to clean up before bed) and will understand how to manage money from a very, very early age.
6. Pay off your house early - we don't own yet, but we're saving for it. Every now and then we wonder if buying is even for us given that we've moved ever few years since we've been together. We'll see how this goes. If nothing else, we can always do the 100% down thing later if we wait long enough.
7. Build wealth and GIVE! - This excites me the most. I already have a desire to give back to the world, but I think that is more about maturity and growth. Once I have the funds to help with it, all will be well.
The advice is very simple if you follow it and I hope you've had enough of debt to make it so. Imagine waking up one day to find that interest is paying you instead because you have no debt.
One last thing. Get rid of the expensive car debt and buy a beater. I bought a 1989 Montero for $1,700 cash. If you can let go of what people think of you, getting out of debt will be easy. | | Posted by Michael on 08/17/08. | |
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| | | After our successful modding of the Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset for use with the iPhone, I realized that there may be others interested in the pinouts for the iPhone headphone plug. I've seen other places that mention the external iPhone plug functions, but to do anything productive you need to know which colors go to the plug itself.
What are the iPhone headphone plug pinouts?
Green is 1st contact/left headphone
Red is 2nd contact/right headphone
Red/Green Combo and both coppers are 3rd contact/ground
White is 4th contact/microphone - the white wire is inside the red/green combo wire
If you would like for us to mod a headset for you, leave a note in the comments and I'll get back to you. The process should work with any headset that uses the 3.5mm plugs for input and output. It is just a matter of determining what the wires do in the headset itself.
I also found that the Verizon stores carry a 3.5mm to 2.5mm adaptor for US $3.99 - it has the same pins in the same positions, though I haven't tested it. The Verizon adaptor option is way cheaper than destroying a US $29.99 pair of Apple iPhone buds. If you try it and it works let me know and I'll update this post. | | Posted by Michael on 08/17/08. | |
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| | | I came across something that is apparently being overlooked by the Windows based Thunderbird community. If you don't know, Thunderbird is a cross-platform, open source, feature rich email client.
Windows isn't quite a first class citizen with Apple's MobileMe (yet), but it is a lot closer than it was when the service was known as .Mac. With MobileMe on Windows you can sync your MobileMe Address book with the Windows Address Book, which is used by Outlook Express. If you tell Thunderbird to use Outlook Express' Address Book as a source for contacts (LDAP), any changes you make to those contacts get pushed back to MobileMe and subsequently to your iPhone and other devices (including your Macs. ;-)
There you have it. Sneaky, but it works. MobileMe meet Thunderbird. | | Posted by Michael on 08/05/08. | |
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| | | The short answer? Yes. The iPhone will tether, and not just the 3G iPhone, the 1st gen iPhone will tether too.
Setting up tethering with the iPhone is a bit technical, but I think you can handle it. The instructions below don't mention creating a new location in the network settings for this purpose, but I highly recommend it. I have several locations, each with a specific use. For example, I have a home location that uses a static IP to get around the Leopard DNS issues (pokey lookups). I have several locations with static IPs for the same reason, actually. Anyway, I recommend that you set up a new location with just the AirPort interface in it, named something creative like "Tether." When you want to tether, switch to that location, and if you have problems you'll be assured that other interface settings aren't interfering.
The application is $9.99 and can be found here: NetShare. Appropriately, some of the commenters in the App store suggest that you keep an eye on your usage as AT&T has a ceiling on the "unlimited" bandwidth plan.
The simple instructions for Mac users on Leopard are here: Macrumors.
Let me know if you need help. I'll do what I can. | | Posted by Michael on 08/01/08. | |
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| | | I've been looking for a decent pair of over the ear headphones - with a mic - for my iPhone. The closest I'd come is the Bose® Mobile On-Ear Headset - but they aren't over the ear - and they're a bit pricey compared to desktop headsets at $200.
When the iPhone 3G was released, I grew even more impatient and decided to try and make my own. I'm an old school tinkerer, so the thought of ripping apart an old pair of iPhone headphones for the plug didn't bother me in the slightest. I found the Creative Fatal1ty Professional Series Gaming Headset at Circuity City for $50 - a reasonable price for a test. A free plug and $50 is a lot better than $200.
So I ripped the plug off of the iPhone headset, and cut the plugs (2 3.5mm jacks, one stereo, one mic) off of the Fatal1ty headset. The wires looked like they mapped perfectly, so I twisted the wires together and plugged it in. Guess what I heard? Nothing. It turns out tech has advanced a bit since the last time I played with headphone wires. That was game over for me, and so began the search for someone that knows what they're doing.
I sent an email to a group of people I trust and received 13 referrals, and 3 volunteers. One of the guys that wanted to give it a shot was Ben Brightwell from SocialThing. It turns out he had all of the tools (minus the shrink wrap) handy. My wife is crafty and had a heat gun for the shrink wrap.
After figuring out the proper solder to use and which wires went to what, we were ready to test. I plugged the modified headset into my iPhone, found a good track to test with (Nine Inch Nails of course) and guess what I heard? Nine Inch Nails!
We tested the inline volume control and it worked. I gave Ben's phone a call to test the mic, and on the second try it worked! The first time failed because I hadn't plugged the mic into the headset properly.
Long story short, I'm listening to Security Now through a Creative Fatal1ty Professional Series Gaming Headset, adapted for an iPhone. Life is good.
Here are a couple of pictures from the project:
| | Posted by Michael on 08/01/08. | |
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| | | On Thursday July 31, 2008 Apple released iTunes 7.7.1 - which fixes bugs and improves performance. But wait, there's more.
Upon further inspection of the strings in iTunes, I noticed a cool new setting available in the hidden preferences. If you had used my instructions for setting DeviceBackupsDisabled, the option to back your iPhone up at all was gone. Even from the contextual menu on the device itself in iTunes.
It looks like some iTunes engineers agree that the iTunes iPhone backup process still takes to long, but they want to be sure that you can still backup your devices if you use these hidden preferences. Enter: AutomaticDeviceBackupsDisabled. This too is a boolean value, but leaves the option to manually backup your device in the contextual menu. Excellent.
Here are the new instructions for disabling automatic device backups in iTunes 7.7.1. I wasn't able to locate a way to set this with the iTunes GUI, so I'm providing instructions for the command line again.
This command will change a hidden setting in the iTunes preferences that will force it to skip the automatic backup process, leaving the option for manual backups.
1. - Quit iTunes.
2. - Open Terminal.app
3. - Copy and paste this in, then hit return: defaults write com.apple.iTunes AutomaticDeviceBackupsDisabled -bool true
4. - Copy and paste this in, then hit return: defaults write com.apple.iTunes DeviceBackupsDisabled -bool false
5. - Open iTunes
6. - Plug in your iPhone (2.0 or 3G) and sync.
The iPhone sync will take a few seconds, assuming you don't have a ton of music or podcasts. Changing the 'true' in step 3 to 'false' will re-enable the automatic backup feature.
Let me know if you have any problems with this. Please Digg this if it works for you. Everyone needs to know about this new feature. | | Posted by Michael on 07/31/08. | |
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| | | With the release of iTunes 7.7.1, Apple has acknowledged that the backup process takes too long. See my new/updated post for iTunes 7.7.1 users.
While I understand that some people like the idea of having a backup of everything on their phone, I'm comfortable knowing that I have backups of all of my important data elsewhere. I use MobileMe for OTA (over the air) syncing, and I have Time Machine running whenever I connect to my wireless network. Text messages, and other stuff on the iPhone just aren't all that important to me.
With the introduction of the iPhone 2.0 software and the 3G iPhone, the backup process can take a long time. People have suggested that the time it takes is dependent on the number of applications you've installed from the App Store. I have 30, and it takes forever. My friend Bracken has 4 and it took seconds.
I found a way (using the strings command in the terminal) to disable the backup function. This means that YOUR PHONE IS NOT GOING TO GET BACKED UP. Let me repeat that. If you do what I list below, YOUR PHONE WILL NOT GET BACKED UP.
This command will change a hidden setting in the iTunes preferences that will force it to skip the backup process.
1. - Quit iTunes.
2. - Open Terminal.app
3. - Copy and paste this in, then hit return:
defaults write com.apple.iTunes DeviceBackupsDisabled -bool true
4. - Open iTunes
5. - Plug in your iPhone (2.0 or 3G) and sync.
It will take a few seconds, assuming you don't have a ton of music or podcasts.
Changing the 'true' in step 3 to 'false' will re-enable the backup feature.
Let me know how it goes by leaving a comment here. I will not be held responsible if your phone takes a crap and you have no backup. :)
Enjoy! | | Posted by Michael on 07/24/08. | |
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| | | I've been asked a number of times what my favorite iPhone apps are, and rather than telling everyone over and over, I thought I'd just share them here.
1 - Google Reader - Web App
This is the only item in the list that isn't actually an application. I'm aware of exactly one RSS reader that will use Google Reader as a source on the iPhone. While I'd love to list it as a favorite, it is really short on features. The author has promised a far better release at the end of the month. Until then my favorite RSS reader (made for iPhone) is still Google Reader. It stays perfectly in sync on my phone and desktops (platform independent) and ties to my Friendfeed as I share items.
2 - Twitteriffic
I may have 15 applications open on my computer at any given time, and one that is consistently open is Thwirl. What that means more than anything is that Twitter has become a very important part of my communications world. Since there is no Twhirl for iPhone (yet), I've had to try other things. Twinkle is fine, and was the best on a jailbroken phone, but things have changed. I'm not at all a fan of the colors, or the foul sounds in Twinkle. Neither of them can claim stability, but I pick Twitteriffic FTW! For those that care, I bought it for $9.99.
3 - Loopt
Location based services are a huge business. In Boulder we have Brightkite, but they have yet to release an iPhone version. If they had, there are enough users in the area to make it quite useful. As it is, many of my friends are now on Loopt making it my winner. I use it a bit differently than most in that I leave the update text to "Loopt update" then just have it update my location when I open the app. I'll leave Twitter to do what Twitter does best. On a side note, I've heard that Facebook and MySpace are integrating location based services soon. When that happens, it is likely that all of the players around now will quickly disappear. Everyone I care about is on Facebook, so I'll have no reason to use anything else. Get on it Facebook!
4 - Evernote
Until the iPhone 2.0 software was released, I had been using Google Docs for all of my "cloud" word processing. Now I have Evernote which has the advantage of having stand alone applications for Mac and Windows, as well as the web interface for portability. The iPhone app isn't simple read access - but provides full on editing too! The best thing of all, is that they all stay perfectly in sync from environment to environment. This entry was written using Evernote on my laptop.
5 - AOL Radio
Many of you love Pandora, but I' have yet to create an account (no name calling please). While this app isn't something I use a lot, I listed it here because it really is a game changer. This, combined with apps like Pandora and Last.fm are changing what "radio" means. Having these things in your car in a useful way was unheard of two weeks ago. Today, all of my friends are tweeting about it. Watch out old media. Oh, I almost forgot, AOL Radio uses Location Services to find streaming terrestrial radio around you. It works on EDGE, 3G, and of course WIFI.
Here are other cool iPhone apps that I didn't list: Facebook (super interface to Facebook), Remote (a great replacement remote for the AppleTV that give you a "real" keyboard or interacting with the AppleTV), Mocha VNC Lite (for controlling other computers remotely), Movies.app (for finding movies and details near you), Trism (an interesting accelerometer aware chicklet game), and Restaurant Nutrition (nutrition information on several of the more popular restaurants.
In addition, here are a few great iPhone/mobile formatted web apps that I use all the time: Calorie King/The Daily Plate (for finding nutrition information on just about anything. I use these *in line* while ordering), Amazon (duh), Powerset (searches Wikipedia and formats the results perfectly), and Seeqpod (for finding and listening to music on the fly. It isn't peer to peer, or made for pirating music). | | Posted by Michael on 07/19/08. | |
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| | | On Thursday, July 10th, like many other enthusiastic iPhone owners, I upgraded my 1st generation iPhone to the "leaked" 2.0 software. It was a blast, and I spent the entire day playing with the new features and the amazing apps that I suddenly had access to without jailbreaking.
Now I'm the proud owner of a 16GB white 3G iPhone, and I love it. I'd always planned on giving my first generation phone to my wife for use on T-Mobile, then we'd hand hers down to our son for games (he's 4, and doesn't need an active phone line!). Her iPhone has been on T-Mobile for quite a while thanks to ZiPhone (it took about 45 seconds).
Since the jailbreak and unlock for the 2.0 software hasn't been published yet, I decided to downgrade the iPhone back to 1.1.4, then run ZiPhone on it again and be done with it. As simple as it sounds, it certainly wasn't simple in execution. It would jailbreak, but would never actually unlock! There were lists and lists of instructions for this all over the net for downgrading. I spent hours (from 9:30PM to 2:45AM) trying everything. I even spent a few hours the next morning on it... until I found the answer. Hopefully this insight will prove useful to you.
The software you'll need: I used iTunes 7.7 -others may work, ZiPhone, KiPhone: Mac|Windows, and iPhone 1.1.4 software.
How to downgrade from 2.0 to 1.1.4 AND downgrade the baseband to a version that can be unlocked:
Step 1 Open iTunes, and connect your iPhone
Step 2 Hold the (on Mac, use Option, Windows, use Shift) key and click "Restore"
Step 3 Find the firmware you downloaded, click "Open"
Step 4 After that process finishes, open ZiPhone
Step 5 Click the "Unlock, Jailbreak, and Activate" button
Step 6 Follow these instructions for KiPhone but come right back, ignore the other content :)
Step 7 Repeat Step 2 through 5.
Step 8 Enjoy 1.1.4 | | Posted by Michael on 07/17/08. | |
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| | | I've been working from coffee shops and cafes for more than 15 years and I'd like to share some tips that may make your experience much better. If you have other tips or suggestions, add a comment, and I'll post a follow up entry soon.
Bring the power - I carry two very useful power options. First is the three outlet surge protected expander. It turns one plug into three, and provides a little protection as a side benefit. Is the power outlet you're closest to full? No problem: "Excuse me, do you mind if I plug this in so we can both have power? Thanks!"
Another indispensable tool is the grounded three plug extension cord. It sounds like a bit much, but I can't tell you how valuable it has become. Want to sit outside, but the power outlet isn't in a convenient place? No problem. Want to sit inside, but the only power outlet is right next to the bathroom? No problem.
Hovering - As you become familiar with your cafes, you'll undoubtedly find that some tables are better than others. I use a technique called hovering. Hovering is when you move tables strategically to get a better table. The target may have power, or may be in an advantageous location, who knows, but you need to be there. The tactic is simple: as tables become available closer to the target table, move to them. Then, as soon as the current occupant starts packing up, don't hesitate to ask if you can move in. This strategy is particularly useful in busy work spots where availability is tight.
The "locals" - If you're like me, you go to a coffee shop to avoid interruptions. Sure the place may be noisy but you can ignore all of that and focus like nowhere else. The bottom line is that interruptions (for me) void the whole point of remote working. Try to avoid meeting the other regulars at your favorite shops. That may sound like an introvert's practice, but in this case it is very useful. Imagine what would happen if you met just 5 of the other regulars in the place... you'd spend the first hour catching up on their son's soccer stats. Avoid the locals like the plague.
The staff - You'll want to take the opposite approach to the staff. Pick a couple of favorites, then get to know them well. I try to leave those relationships in the store however, as mixing them with your life outside could lead to interruptions on their breaks. Establishing a good relationship with the staff ensures free refills, extra shots, inside news, and all sorts of other cool stuff.
Buy the internet - If your goal is to have lots of potential - and reliable - locations, make an investment in a paid WIFI option. Sure free WIFI works but in my many years of experience it just isn't as reliable. Pay the $19.95 to AT&T and gain access to 71,000 options. As a bonus, if you have DSL with AT&T, it is only $9.95, and FREE under certain conditions.
Walk away - I've found that I have a tendency to sit in one place for hours at a time. That can't be good for you, so I recommend getting up every two hours or so and taking a break. While this isn't cafe warrior specific, it is more important for us. The chairs aren't built for marathon sitting sessions, and moving around keeps the blood flowing and the thought process sharp. | | Posted by Michael on 07/16/08. | |
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