Laws of Finance

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Paying for Trash Pickup?
2007-04-02 04:22:00
Perhaps I am a bit out of the loop on this one, but I didn't know that there were metropolitan areas where one had to pay to have his trash picked up? Well, I know that I pay for it in my taxes, but I have never had to pay separately.Someone was telling me the other day that, where he lives, you have to purchase "trash pickup stickers" and attach them to the trash you want picked up. The stickers cost $X dollars per pound of trash. So, not only do you have to pay for the stickers, but then you have to estimate the weight of your trash. I have never known any system like that.It seems like this system could cause lots of problems. For example, people could add their trash to another person's bag or even steal the stickers off someone else's trash. As if there aren't already enough problems between neighbors?Is this the norm nationwide, even in medium/large metropolitan areas? Am I just oblivious to something very common or is the person who told me about this just living i...
More About: Pick , Pickup , Trash

April Fool's Day Net Worth Update
2007-04-01 16:57:00
I updated my net worth just now and I have some good news! My net worth increased for the month. I think this is mainly due to a rebound in the markets, especially my international assets (and the small earnings from my part time job). My net worth currently stands at -$16,975. Not very good, but I don't think it is all that bad for having over $80,000 in student loans.A question that might arise is: why would someone keep over $60,000 in assets when he has student loans of more than $80,000? That is the topic for another post, but one I hope to write soon. Until then, you will just have to be satisfied with my most recent decision - to post quarterly asset breakdowns. At the end of each quarter, I will give a thorough breakdown of my assets, down to the individual stocks and ETF's I own. That is forthcoming for the first quarter of 2007 once I get it prepared.
More About: April , Update , Net worth , Worth , S Day

Link Love
2007-04-01 06:21:00
My list of blogs to the right could always use some new additions. As I write this, the list is about as short as it has ever been. Not to say that I don't enjoy reading those already listed there, but I could always use some more. Please let me know if you would like me to add your link to my blog list. All I ask is that you link to me in return. Let me know at lawsfinance (at} yahoo [dot) com. Happy blogging.
More About: Love , Link

What to do with Large Capital Gains
2007-03-31 22:14:00
People often struggle with decisions regarding their assets that have large capital gains built up in them. The driving factor here is the tax consequence of a sale, but that should not be the only consideration.First ask yourself, what are your long term expectations for the price of the asset in question? If you expect that asset to continue to grow (at least as much as the broad market does), then you should feel no immediate desire to sell. If, on the other hand, you expect the asset's price to fall, remain flat, or grow sluggishly, then you have a decision to make. My basic rule of thumb is that you should not own an asset if you expect it to perform badly in the future. Your money could be better invested in other areas. So, while there may be capital gain tax consequences, you should probably sell the asset if you do not expect it to perform well. That said, do try to hold out for the long term capital gain tax treatment (one year for stocks) if you can.There are othe...
More About: Capital , Capital Gains , To Do , Capital Gain , Large

This Blog is Now Firefox Compatible
2007-03-31 06:47:00
Until yesterday, I always had problems getting my blog to display properly in Firefox . After a little formatting work, though, I solved the problem. You see, using my limited HTML knowledge, I had tried to insert a third vertical column into one of Blog ger's standard templates. Sadly, I failed miserably. I got everything to look alright in Internet Explorer, which is what I use, but it never displayed properly in Firefox. I never used Firefox, so it took me quite a while to even realize there was a problem. In the end, I just went back to one of Blogger's original templates with only minor changes. So, now there are only two vertical columns. I guess I can live with that. At least it looks alright now. Well, at least it should. Let me know if there are any display abnormalities, especially if you use Firefox.
More About: Compa , Compatible

Payday Loans
2007-03-30 17:51:00
I ran across a website the other day called NationalPayday .com. It got me thinking about the entire short term loan industry. I have seen entire brick and mortar businesses dedicated to this sort of thing. Check cashing and short term loan businesses have been spreading like wildfire, it seems. Perhaps this is a testament to the problems Americans have with consumer debt.In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me explain. Short term loans or "payday" loans are relatively high interest rate loans for a short duration of time. The loans are in anticipation of your upcoming paycheck(s) and are based upon that income stream.Short term loans, while generally not a good idea if you have other options available, are a reasonable alternative for people in certain situations. For example, I saw an episode of CSI a couple weeks ago where a woman needed cash in a hurry in order to pay for her child’s medical procedure. That woman, unable to get the money any other way, despite...
More About: Loans

My Summer Firm Refers to Itself as "The Firm"
2007-03-30 04:39:00
As I have said a few times before, I was lucky enough to find a position with a law firm this upcoming summer (after my second year of law school). I have received several letters from The Firm (which I will call it from now on) and at least a couple of them have referred to The Firm explicitly as "The Firm" throughout the body of the text. Capitalization and all. Honestly, it gives me a creepy feeling. You know, kind of like a bunch of crooked lawyers are out to get me or something. I will just have to watch my back, I guess.
More About: Summer , Refer

How Much School is Left?
2007-03-29 22:08:00
Credit goes to my father for this one.I am going to analyze this from my personal perspective. Each person's individual situation will be different, but the math is generally the same. I count school as beginning in kindergarten. That means that I had 13 years of school before I graduated from high school, four more years as an undergraduate, and I will have three more as a law student before I am (finally) done. That makes a total of 20 years of education. And let me tell you, it has been a blast.In truth, my education will only be 19 years by the time I am done because I was able to skip a year somewhere in there. But, let's just forget that for now. So, I have almost completed 19 out of my 20 years of forced servitude. For the sake of the math, let's consider this year as 8/9 completed and let's ignore the fact that I skipped a year. So, I have completed 18.89 of my 20 years. Looking at it that way, it's really not so bad. I only have about 1.11 years left. Taken...
More About: School , Left , Much

A New Spin on the Old Golf Ball
2007-03-29 06:19:00
Saving money is about finding cheap ways to entertain yourself. Well, of course, after paying for life's necessities. I hold that golf can be one of those cheap forms of entertainment. And, what's more, the worse you are at golf, the greater its entertainment value. More on that in a minute.To begin with, if you go to a municipal course, golf is not tragically expensive. Near my home, 18 holes can be played for around $15-$20. Of course, golf also requires clubs. All you really need, though, is a starter set. Those come fairly cheap. Alternatively, you could probably pick up an old set VERY cheap at a garage sale. The problem for bad golfers comes in the form of golf balls. Even "experienced" golf balls can get expensive when a round might set you back eight balls or so. So, golf is not a "cheap" sport when all is said and done, but it is not too expensive if you play at the right places. Plus, golf is decent exercise - especially if you carry your clubs.Now to say a ...
More About: Golf , Spin , Ball , The O