Ok, now that I am unemployed, to help me focus here are the money-related things I want to do this week, with due dates.

Tomorrow – Post Monthly Financial Status
Monday – List everything I need to put on eBay to sell
Tuesday – Post my eBay tips, do eBay research
Wednesday – Do a quick rent vs. buy home analysis for market area
Thursday – Collect spending data from last 3 months in MS Money
Friday – Analyze data to help refine monthly budget
Saturday – Take pictures of items, make descriptions, list items

Sorry…didn’t mean to be so melodramatic. =) I just wanted to note it on the right date for posterity.

Yeah, I’ve somewhat unhappy with my job for a while, although I didn’t want to bring it to this blog. In the end, I couldn’t handle the monotony, the lack of upward mobility, and lack of challenges anymore. The company was great; I would actually use their product if I was their target market. But it just wasn’t for me. Some of you large corporate “consultants” out there might know what I mean. Of course, there are also some consulting positions that are great.
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my job. today.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Jim over at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity wrote a great entry on the first episode of Morgan Spurlock’s (the Super Size Me guy) new show on FX, 30 Days. It focused on him and his fiancee living on minimum wage for 30 days and trying to get by. Very powerful, and reminiscent of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich, which I own and read a while back. If you get FX, I highly recommend it. It’s on tonight at 11 Pacific (schedule). If you like it, I recommend the book even more.
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Some relatives were visiting us for the weekend, which was nice. Of course, this inevitably led to fighting over who would pay for the check when we dined out. Over the years, I have observed this mostly from the kid’s point of view, but now as a full wage-earner I must also assume the duties of this time-honored tradtion. Foremost rule: always grab the check first. This may require a keen eye and a swift hand.

If you don’t grab the check first, here are the various levels of fighting, from easy-going to serious, that I’ve discerned so far:

1. Nice/Half-hearted – this method rarely works.

You: I’ve got it.
Friend/Relative: No, I’ve got it.
You: No, really, it’s ok.
Friend/Relative: I insist!
You: Ok, but I get to pay next time/tomorrow/later today.
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It’s my wife and I’s 1st wedding anniversary. Since she reads this blog sporadically (mainly to catch any mention of her), I wanted to thank her for putting up with me as a husband for 365 days in a row. Thankfully, we haven’t had any real arguments about money. I think our main area of conflict is that I’m a messy slob. I thought she knew that going in ;P

My gift to her – James, an 8 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel:

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I hope everyone is enjoying remembering those who have died in our nation’s service along with the eating of charred meat, potato salad, and beans from a can. Oh, and don’t forget to try “white trash champagne” – beer + lemon-lime soda.

On a more serious note, according to USMemorialDay.org:

“To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps’.”

Apparently someone I know knows someone who knows somebody to who knows this woman selling ad space on her body. (Got that?) $11,300!!! Talk about an easy summer college “job”! I’ve worked full-time entire summers for a lot less.

Have a great weekend everyone!

I have been chosen as a juror for an estimated 3-4 week trial. Balancing this and work is gonna s-u-c-k. I’m intrigued by the whole process though, and I’m not unhappy I suppose. I’m going to bring my laptop and see if I can get some work in during the (many) breaks. Maybe some blogging too. The case? Can’t tell ya, but let’s just say I know why certain Google Adsense keywords are so lucrative…

So I’m now finished with Day 2 of jury duty and still going, and as of right now I have a 40% chance of getting picked on a jury for a four week trial! My company does pay me while serving on jury duty, which makes me happy after hearing all the people talk about the lost wages they’ll suffer from if they get picked. I totally feel for the hourly workers… Jury duty pay in my area is like $25 a day. Of course, the courthouse is located right smack in downtown – that’s how much parking + a cheap lunch costs per day!
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Ok, so my project this Saturday morning was supposed to go through my mmb e-mails (I have been have problems with my spam filter), and also to update my links list. I totally get that everyone wants others to link to their site (I do too), because, I mean, as fun as typing for nobody to see is, it’s much more fun with readers! My policy is to link everyone who’s site I read at least once in a while, and has had a bit of a track record of posting finance-related stuff regularly. But it just gets so tedious typing html…

Then I ran across BlogRolling.com. I love it when I find the exact thing that I want at the exact time when I want it! (I know, this has probably been around for years, eh?)
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The good news is that everyone got their 1st choice! Here are the psychicly-enhanced winners of the MyMoneyBlog Giveaway and their prizes:

1. Joshua K – Featured Link: check out his new site, Wealth Today – “Financial Advice On How To Be Rich and Invest Wisely”
2. Lori – Starbucks Gift Card
3. Ev – CD: “Pink Panther’s Penthouse Party” by Various Artists
4. Fox – CD: “Here’s Your Sign: Reloaded” by Bill Engvall
5. Beezer – CD: “Thankful” by Kelly Clarkson

All prizes are either up, shipped, or ordered as applicable. Thanks for the fun, and hopefully we can do it again, with more prizes and more participants!