What if You Could Buy Stock in Peoples Careers?
I was reading a recent Bill Simmons article where he said, “I wish I could buy Jay Pharaoh stock,” which is a reference to Bill thinking Jay’s career will skyrocket after joining Saturday Night Live. This got me thinking, what if you could actually buy stock in a person’s career. Why would anybody even let shareholders in on their earnings? Why am I even thinking about this?
It turns out, I kept thinking about it and it’s kind of an interesting idea. Why would somebody let shareholders in our their future earnings? For the same reasons companies go public, mainly to raise cash–I guess. Consider a young superstar athlete with no money to attend a school where he/she might get noticed by the pros. Or a wannabe actor that is so funny you think there is no way he won’t make it on the big screen, but yet he or she has no financial means to attend acting classes or even know how to start the process of getting noticed. What if it was possible to say ok, I want to do this, I’m going public, which would mean investors could buy stock in the person and receive a share of future profits, or possibly lose everything if their investment does a Lindsay Lohan.
I know this is crazy, but stay with me, it’s a conversation starter. Say you bought stock in an potential actor when he was young and the cost was next to nothing and he blew up, meaning your earnings blew up. You could then sell some of your shares, thinking he’s reached the ceiling of success. Or, you could buy more of his stock. The individual would still make money by being the biggest shareholder, just like a CEO. He would have the most to gain and most to lose, which I would hope would be a good thing for investors.
Thankfully, this doesn’t exist, because after this article, my stock would have taken a nosedive. And for the record, Jay Pharaoh does a good Will Smith.
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Garmin Offers Map Updates for Lifetime and Free One-Time Update
One of my biggest complaints with my Garmin device has always been the cost of updating the maps, well, that and it occasionally sucking. With the cost of updating maps nearly costing the price of the Garmin device itself, it hard to swallow the shelling out the money for the update (that’s not what she said, even if the Office did start up again).
Garmin now offers lifetime map updates on a unit for a decent price and lowered the cost of a onetime update. In addition, Garmin offers a one-time free update within 60 days of first acquiring satellites on your device, so don’t wait too long after purchasing to update. Without understanding the cost associated with building these maps, it seems realistic that Garmin customers should be receiving free updates with any device, but I guess that’s out of the question.
The new and improved map update prices are:
- 1 free map update (within 60 days of first acquiring satellites with your device)
- One time map update = $49.99
- Lifetime map updates = $89.99
- You will receive up to four (4) map data updates per year.
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How to Improve MLB.TV Video Quality
I realize it’s late in the season and most likely, by doing the math, your team is far out of the pennant race and so this post likely comes a little late. However, if you are one of the baseball fans that takes advantage of MLB.TV, and you’re still watching your team, then you should definitely try this tip to vastly improving your video quality (at least it worked great for me). If you don’t have MLB.TV, you should consider next season, I find it to be a great deal for budget mined baseball fans considering the quality of the stream and the number of games available, especially if you have some sort of media machine hooked up to your TV.
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Does Priceline Actually Work?
I think I may be a little late to tout the benefits of Priceline, but having recently used it for the first time a month ago and again last week, I am not sure if I will ever make another reservation the traditional way—it actually does work, I’m proof.
On a recent trip to New York City, my wife and I saved $50 on a room naming our price on Priceline and again saved another $60 on a recent hotel room for a wedding near Austin, TX just last week. When I say we saved money, I actually mean if we were to go to the hotel’s website and reserve the same room or even use another site like hotels.com to reserve the same room, we would not have gotten the rate we did.
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People are Likely to Waste Money on Money Saving Gadgets
It’s as if being frugal means its ok or even necessary to waste money on gimmick products that claim to save you money. Perhaps, people who are historically conservative with their money feel as it is their obligation to purchase products like a plastic cap that keep soda cans slightly fresher or a gadget to help you squeeze the last drop of toothpaste from an empty tube. After all, “frugalites” have a reputation to maintain. However, will these types of products produce long-term savings? Alternatively, will they simply be something we use a few times and eventually throw or give away?
In my opinion, such “cheapskate accessories” tend to conflict with the theory of cheapskates. A typical cheapskate would just use their fingers to get toothpaste out of a tube or would not open a can of pop if they knew they were not going to finish it. Generally, such products barely work as well as they are advertised and often are trying to fill a product gap that doesn’t even exist.
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Realtors Profit Even When Home Buyers do All the Work
Remember when investors almost completely relied on brokers? Remember when there were no mutual funds or low cost ETFs? Remember when employees relied on pension funds alone for retirement? Remember when a dealership was really the only place you would go to look for cars?
Thanks to the internet and innovative financial products, consumers no longer have to rely on advice and work of others when making big financial decisions. Somebody looking for a car might browse eBay or Craigslist and buy a vehicle without bloated prices. An investor may choose a low cost ETF fund that puts up competitive returns while avoiding expensive brokerage fees. I have to wonder, at what point will this logic ooze into house buying so we no longer use expensive realtors? At what point will we recognize that homebuyers are already doing most of the legwork?
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What is the Best Media Streamer for the Price?
Now that Apple has revealed its new Apple TV device (apparently
available sometime in October) many people are going to start to get
serious about purchasing a media streamer. While I still think there
is far more flexibility with purchasing a small computer tower or
laptop for your media, the media streamers hitting
the market now are so affordable they are getting tempting.
The main streamers on the market now (including Apples future machine)
is the Roku XR, Pop Box, LG BD550 and Apple TV. How do they stack up?
Well, as far as price goes, the cheapest options are the Apple TV and
Roku players at $99, but the others aren’t far behind at $130 (Pop
box) and $150 (LG BD550). As far as their capabilities, they vary
more than their price, mostly on what type of files/services they can
play. For example, some can play downloaded files, while others rely
on services like Netflix and YouTube.
So, which media streamer should you buy? It really depends on what
type of content you like to watch and where you get the content.
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Excel 2010 Ultimate Free Fantasy Football Cheatsheet Download
Ok, so maybe it’s not the ultimate cheatsheet, but it is free and probably will be helpful! I put this excel document together to get ready for my upcoming 2010 fantasy football draft and I thought I may as well share it with all the MYM readers!
Included in this document is one excel sheet with different pages for the top 200 picks, top QB’s, RB’s, WR’s, TE’s, and Defenses. Oh, wait, don’t forget about kickers…
The ratings are from the most recent fftoolbox.com lists.
Good luck..
2010 Excel Fantasy Football Cheatsheet Download
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Top Affordable Halloween Costumes for 2010
The following list completely ignores all of the typical Halloween costumes like vampires, those go without saying, rather, this list is aimed more at the trend of dressing up like somebody famous or recently made famous. Every year there seems to be a new batch of celebs thanks to politics, reality shows, and balloon boy stunts. Below is the MYM’s top 2010 list of affordable costumes for 2010.
[ UPDATE: 9/28/2010]
- Christine O’Donnell - Already somebody who wasn’t on the original list, but quickly deserves the top spot. Christine O’Donnell won a surprising Republican primary in Delaware and has been making the headlines since, with much thanks to Bill Maher. How do you dress like O’Donnell for Halloween? Well, you could go with a classic politician look with a twist–lets say a suit, Congressional looking pin, and a witch hat or broom (don’t you dabble in witchcraft?).
- Steven Slater – Made famous by freaking out on a passenger on a plane, while working as a flight attendant, Slater stole a beer and slid down the emergency exit on a JetBlue flight. Slater adds another reason to consider purchasing the all you can fly deal from JetBlue. A Slater costume can range from a flight attendant getup to well a flight attendant getup.
- Michaele Salahi – I guess you don’t have to be invited to the party if you show up dressed as Michaele Salahi. The famous White House party crasher and now apparently a DC Housewife, requires a blond wig and a dress, I guess.
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Should You Snake Your Clogged Drain or Use Drano Products?
While pouring a bottle of Drano down your drain is probably easier, it’s definitely more expensive and will likely have to be down again after a few months. Generally, most people experience problems in their shower with draining problems from hair and God know what else, and the some what lazy solution is to buy an expensive bottle of Drano and pour it down the drain, let it sit and rinse it down. This does work, but I would consider buying a snake and manually unclogging the drain.
I got a drain snake for about $4.00 at Harbor Freight Tools, which will last forever, compared to an $8 bottle of Drano that might be enough to clear two plugged drains. It is without a doubt cheaper in the long run to manually snake your clogged drain and I feel like it does a much better job as well because you are actually pulling all of the junk out of the drain rather than trying to force some of it down the drain.
So the next time you see a drain snake on sale, snatch it up and give it a try. Don’t worry, it doesn’t take a DIY’er to unclogged a drain, just a snake and few minutes.
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Use a Cheap Candle Warmer for a Coffee Mug Warmer
Awhile back, I looked everywhere for a coffee cup warmer because I cant stand when my coffee gets cold at work. I was tired of pouring cold coffee down the drain or getting a buzz by slamming the cup before it chilled. After looking everywhere for a coffee mug warmer, I finally just settled on a candle warmer from Bed Bath & Beyond for relatively cheap (don’t forget to use one of the 20% coupons that seem to always come in the mail).
I’m happy to report that it does actually keep the coffee warm, but not hot. Basically, for me it keeps the drink warm enough to drink, which is exactly the purpose in the first place. They do serve USB coffee cup warmers that plug into a USB port on your computer, but I have read that these don’t really produce a whole lot of heat. The candle warmer will heat up your mug to the point where the bottom will be pretty hot to the touch.
So if you are looking for a gift to give a coworker or you just hate cold coffee, then try buying a cheap candle warmer, just don’t forget to turn it off, burnt coffee smells…Choose from the most used tags in Post Tags
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Should You Switch Electricity Providers from BGE to Dominion?
If you live in Maryland, you likely received a promotional letter from Dominion Retail urging you to switch electricity providers from BGE to them. If your like me, the letter and whole setup is a little confusing. Apparently, if you switch to Dominion, all this really means is they will “arrange” the supply of electricity that BGE delivers to you. So your billing, services, and repairs will continue be through BGE, it’s really the back end work that would be changing.
Should we all be switching to Dominion is the question. Consider the following before making a decision:
- If you make the switch by September 17, 2010 and your one of the first 25,000 customers who enrolls, you are guaranteed a rate of 9.67 cents/kWh until May 2011. So essentially a year’s worth of cheaper electricity.
- Currently BGE’s rate is 11.901 cents/kWh, effective through September 30, 2010 and the rate will be reduced to 10.083 cents/kWh beginning on October 1, 2010 through May 31, 2011. Basically, because BGE is lowering their rate starting in October, the difference in rates for the year if you switch would be 0.413 cents/kWh—not a whole lot of difference really.
So, should you switch? I guess it doesn’t hurt because nothing really changes as far as your service, billing etc., just your rate, which will drop 0.413 cents/kWh. Also, after the promotional period, you have the option to continue with Dominion or you could switch back to BGE. At that point, you could just do another rate comparison and make a decision in 2011 based on which company will have the lowest rate (I was told that the average Dominion rate currently is 11.33 cents/kWh, higher than BGE’s “normal” rate for the year).
So for a guaranteed reduction in electricity with no real change in service and no fees to make the switch (I was also told on the phone that all of the fees associated with delivering the electricity that you see on your bill will remain the same), I don’t really see a reason not to switch to Dominion—at least during the promotional period.
[Update: 9/16/2010]
Upon receiving a letter from Constellation Electric offering a deal to compete with BGE and Dominion Retail, I thought it would be worth updating this post to compare all of the deals.
Here are the deals compared:
- Dominion
- 9.67 cents/kWh until May 2011
- BGE
- 10.083 cents/kWh beginning on October 1, 2010 through May 31, 2011
- Constellation Electric –
- 9.55 cents/kWh (If you sign on for 1 year)
- 9.45 cents/kWh (if you sign on for 2 years)
- In addition, if you are enticed by gimmicks, Constellation Electric will also offer you a $25 or $50 Target gift card for a 1 or 2-year commitment. (Maybe you should use the Target gift card for some weather stripping)
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Increase the Life Of Your Dress Shirts with Metal Collar Stays
For those of you that have to wear a button up shirt to work everyday, metal collar stays is must have item to expand the life of your shirts and keep you looking good. Generally, all button up shirts come with plastic collar stays, which mysteriously get eaten by the washing machine. When the shirt is relatively new, this can go unnoticed, but when a shirt starts ware, you will see the collars start to curl up around the edges. This is where replacement metal collar stays come into play.
For relatively cheap (usually around $15) you can get a set of metal collar stays of different sizes that will last you forever. The weight of the metal collar keeps the collar flat and crisp and unlike plastic ones, they will not bend and get disfigured over time. When your collar starts to the wrap around, it really ages the look of your shirt, so don’t toss it and buy another, straighten it up with a collar stay.
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DIY: How to Change the Oil in Your Car
I think there are a number of reasons why changing your oil yourself is worth the time and money. For one, the quality of oil and filter that you can buy when you change the oil yourself will be of higher quality than a place near your charging about $20 for an oil change. There’s also the confidence that when you do it yourself, it’s done right. Lastly, if you’re like me, you may just enjoy doing it.
Before I get into the details of how to change your car’s oil, here are a few answers to common questions of first time oil changers:
Where is the cheapest place to buy oil? Generally, Wal-Mart tends to have some of the best priced oil, however, many auto stores will run specials on 5 quarts of oil and a filter, so keep an eye out for those.
What type of oil should you buy? Your vehicles manual will tell you the recommended type of oil to use for your vehicle, there is a reason they choose a certain type so I suggest abiding. Generally, I use 10W30 or 5W30 and I do get the high mileage oil for my car that has over 75,000 miles.
Should I use synthetic oil in my vehicle? If you’re not currently using synthetic oil, you generally can switch to it. The advantage is it is better for the engine and can go longer in-between oil changes. However, I don’t recommend synthetic oil for older vehicles with a lot of miles because synthetic oil flows better, which may lead to leaks in an older vehicle (this is my experience anyways).
How often should you change your vehicles oil? If you are using good quality synthetic oil, it’s recommended you change your oil every 5-7k miles or six months (I usually change it around 5k). If you are using normal oil, it’s recommended you change it every 3-5k miles (on my older vehicle not using synthetic oil, I change it every 4k miles).
How to Change the Oil in Your Car
Step 1: Raise Your Vehicle
The first thing you want to do is jack your vehicle up and support it securely with jack stands. Or you can use ramps like I used in the picture. If you will be using jack stands, make sure you vehicle is in park and put wheel chocks behind the rear tires to make sure it won’t roll anywhere.
If you know you’ll be doing more than just one oil change, you might want to invest in ramps (usually around $40). I feel a lot safer under the vehicle compared to jack stands and it’s just a lot easier to pull up onto the ramps. [Tip: Have a helper guide you up onto the ramps so you don’t overshoot them.]
Raise your vehicle to access the oil tank.
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Its Fantasy Football Time, Is it Worth the Money?
As football preseason begins with much disgust to many wives out there, football fans around the country are now starting to strategize for their upcoming fantasy football draft. Most leagues, as everyone is well aware, usually require some sort of buy in, which usually goes to a fund for the winners and to pay for a website to tally your scores each week. Is this buy in worth it?
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