My Mother!

Not too long ago I was debating on what do do with my economic stimulus check should I get one. Well, just in time, $600 showed up in my bank account on Friday.

When I gave a $600 check to my Mom on Sunday she said it was “the best mother’s day present I could have given her (besides spending time with her”.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for your input, but this was definitely the right thing to do with the extra $600. My mother plans on putting it in her savings account.

It was actually perfect timing because she’s been more stressed about money lately and whenever she is stressed, I get more stressed. Since It’s partially my fault she doesn’t have as much money as she needs (there are other factors as well), I feel terrible whenever it’s upsetting her. So giving her the extra $600 was the right move!

What has anyone else done with their stimulus rebate checks? (one interesting note: in my bank account the $600 shows up as a “TAX REFUND US TREASUR”. I thought it was a rebate)

I'm 300K in debt. Gulp. I'm 24 and day traded away a fortune. Now I'm trying to crawl back to zero. Why not subscribe to my RSS feed and join me on this journey. You can also subscribe via e-mail. I appreciate tips and feedback! ~ DebtKid

I’m all about technology that brings online connections into the real world. In fact, I think that is the best use of technology. Prime Time Money created a useful map of US personal finance bloggers. I love the personal finance community. I learn something new everyday from many of the bloggers listed on the map.

I was in the shower yesterday, I try to shower everyday. All my good ideas either come in the shower, or at like 2am at night while I’m laying in bed.

Maybe that’s the only time my brain slows down enough to really be creative…I don’t know. But all my businesses successes have come from either shower or 2am ideas…but I digress.

I was thinking, oh crap, I’m almost 25 now. I started making stupid financial moves at 18. What if I could go back and give my 18-year old self advice? What would I tell the 18-year old me?

Here’s what I’d tell the 18-year old me (circa 2001):

Don’t lose that ability to feel

You have an amazing capacity to feel emotion. Don’t lose it. Sometimes it will hurt you, but overall it’s one of your greatest strengths. Learn how to channel it into healthy relationships.

Get 1 credit card. Yep, just one

One credit card is all you need to start establishing a credit history. Heck, one credit card is all you’ll ever need. Get one from your bank, and commit to keeping the balance low. Oh, and don’t buy that fancy digital camera, you won’t use it much. Do buy that T68i cell phone, that thing kicks butt for years.

Talk to Mom and Dad

I know you love your parents, but have you told them that lately? Oh, and take some extra pictures this Christmas, it will be the last time before Mom and Dad split.

Don’t read that day trading online book

Yes you, don’t read that book about day trading online and how much fun it is to scalp stocks. Be content with your crappy job. You interact with fun people, it beats watching Level II quotes at 5:30 in the morning in the long run…trust me.

Enjoy the summer

Don’t work so much in the summer! Yes, I know you want to be self-sufficient and make money but holding down two jobs and 15 credits is a bit overkill. Go for more runs, quit the more stressful job and go golfing more with your brothers. You have the rest of your post-college life to have summers be just another season.

Ask that girl out

I know you’re still hurting from your last relationship, but it’s been awhile now and you shouldn’t keep holding on to something that isn’t there. You meet plenty of nice girls…see if they want to go sometime. Go for a ride in Dad’s convertible. He’ll let you take it out, but only if you’ve got a girl to go with you (trust me on this one).

Don’t join that MLM Scam

If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Run it by Dad first, he sold Amway back in the day, he’ll understand how you’re intrigued by this. You’ll learn some great copy writing skills, but you could do that for free.

Write down your thoughts

I know you keep a written journal now and again, but starting writing more just for fun. Keep your journal online somewhere (livejournal!), it will help you process what you’re dealing with right now.

Never give up

No matter how hard things get. And they will get hard, and even if you follow my advice to the letter, life finds a way (thanks Jurrassic Park). But never give up. When you feel like giving up, go talk to Dad.

After seeing Iron Man this weekend with my brother (It was great escapism entertainment) I came up with some simple steps to succeed like Tony Stark:

1. Get Super Educated

2. Inherit Billion Dollar Company

7. Get the right woman

Success! It’s so simple : )

Just a quick shout out to Lending Club! They won the Banking/Bill Paying Category of the Webby’s (which is like the Oscars for online companies)! I write about once a week for the Lending Club blog. It’s great to see them recognized, and hopefully they’ll be coming out of their quiet period soon! I have $50 invested in loans at Lending Club.

Anyway, congrats to LC!

Sleep.

It’s really important, right?

The last few nights I’ve finally gotten enough of it, and now I can’t seem to get my fill. I hadn’t had a good nights sleep in over a week, and I think it finally hit me this week. I’m absolutely exhausted, with no concrete reason I see yet. I don’t feel great, but I don’t have any specific sicky symptoms either. I’m hoping I’ll feel better tomorrow.

Cash Situation

My business’ cash situation is better than it’s been in a long time. I made some good decisions in April, and May is likely going to be the most profitable month ever. I’ll start payments with the IRS this month, so it’s just in time.

But it begs a new question, one that I’ll be thinking about the next few weeks for sure. What do I do with any extra business cash? In my view, it really comes down to either investing or debt repayment. Both have trade-offs. And when I say investing here, I’m talking about investing into my current business, not stock type investing.

I may be the world’s worst stock investor, but when it comes to business investment, I’ve done well the last year or so. Some of my ideas are starting to finally pay off, and should continue too into the future.

I know I’m going to get a zillion comments saying, “pay down the debt!!!”. And yes, I will continue to do that, but that’s a very short-sighted and knee jerk answer to this question. Sure, I could pay more to the IRS, but that could limit my ability to potentially pay off the IRS much, much quicker. Same thing with my other debts, I could pay small amounts off….for 20 years, or I can continue to re-invest in my business and maybe pay everything off much quicker.

As I write this, it’s becoming more clear to me what my thoughts on this are: I need to reinvest (wisely) into my business. While not doing so might be at the short term level less risky, over the long term I believe my only chance of paying this all down quickly is by making significantly more in my business.

I have lots of ideas that I write down all the time on business expansion, it will just be a matter of picking one and executing it well. Or, reinvesting into my current projects and trying to maximize their value. We’ll see.

Oh, if anyone’s interested in my mattress quest, here is my goal chart (getting close!):

I created a page to track my student loans. Now that my bankruptcy has been discharged, these are starting back on a regular payment schedule.

Even before my bankruptcy I had been deferring my student loans (hardship deferment) while I was trying to get back on my feet. I made over $600 in payments this week on them, and it felt really good!

Maybe it’s just me, but I really love paying bills. To me, it’s incredibly satisfying when I actually have the money to pay what I owe. I know that’s probably a normal thing for most people, but for the past year that hasn’t been the case for me. It feels really good.

Here’s my student loan charts (with a 0 balance being the eventual goal!)