Finance 101

Rule #1: Spend less than you make.

Wow really? What you mean if I don't have money, then don't buy shit?

Yeah its that simple man. But a soul in the USA can't figure it out as we have the worst avg debt on the planet, horrible for a country with as much opportunity as the US.

Its interesting because in Japan you can't get around w/o a lot of cash. Come to Tokyo if you want to be a mugger than clears $20k in a day. I'm not kidding, on any given day I'm gonna have $500-$1000 on me. When I get down to $200 cash I get nervous and get another $500 or so. Its kind of insane.. but alas its a cash based economy. I haven't used a CC in a month. In lieu of CC points, every god damn store has its own POINT CARDS which I detest due to wallet expansion fears.

Anyways this cash based thing works. If you don't got cash you just can't go out. Even in this day and age, alot of places don't take CCs. When I bought my WD, TV, etc I paid cash! They give you a discount or more POINTS with cash, thus its an all cash incentive town.

My paycheck was really odd. I don't get it, the #'s don't look how they should. With the weird games they play with pre-taxed housing expense maybe its normal.. or I will have to wait a month to see what it looks like next time. In the end I think financially I'll be OK. However I should start up MSMoney and measure how much money I am spending on the train, food, and beer. Probably something insane. What is good news financially is that after pre-tax rent, my net take home is about what my net was in SF. Kind of surprised, but thats good news.


Rule #2: Its not how much you make, its how much you spend.

Well... you gotta live life but refer to rule #1, and #3 below. Balance in all aspects of life is key.


Rule #3: Don't live poor, don't die rich.

Saving is great, but if you die a rich man then what. I've said to many a friend before that I think I will die young. I estimate mid-50's as a good life for myself. I can't remember at times if I've blogged this before.. if only I had a search tool like smoogle.