The Rule of 72 and More Simple Financial Ideas
Today I finished a financial class called Surviving Financial Meltdown - Confident Decisions in an Uncertain World. The primary author of the class, Ron Blue, is a very good teacher. He's explanations are calm, thoughtful, funny and financially sound. Ron has a "keep it simple" approach, and supports his ideas with verses from the Bible and his personal experiences.
Here is Ron's basic approach to financial management:
1) Think long-term with goals and investing
2) Spend less than you earn
3) Maintain liquidity (or emergency savings)
4) Minimize the use of debt
Continue reading Comments (3) Feb.03.2010.
Solar Facts for When I’m Ready
Last year we bought our first single-family home. This purchase finally removes all of the excuses for not making my home more environmentally friendly. As a result, I did some research on adding a net-metered solar system on the house. The capital requirements are somewhat staggering which means no net-metered solar system for us soon.
Observations
- The Florida Solar Energy Center at the University of Central Florida estimates that a 1KW solar system will generate 1,350 kWh per year with 3.5 hours of sun per day. So, a 5 KW system will generate about 18.5 kWh per day (conservatively).
- For comparison, my 2,100 sq ft home averages about 37.2 kWh per day.
- Installing a solar hot water heater is equivalent to installing a 2 KW system. An 80 gallon ceramic solar powered hot water heater will only lose about 1 degree of temperature every 3 days.
- The term net-metered simply means the system is connected to the power grid. This results in credits to your power bill. However, the system does not include batteries and does not provide power during utility outages.
Continue reading Comments (0) Apr.09.2008.
This is a Blog Post
I'm an avid reader of Jason Broadwater's musings on web marketing. I don't think of myself as a marketer. I simply enjoy the fact that the Internet reduces barriers and allows ordinary people to sometimes do the extraordinary. I just did it! I described what the Internet is to me. I created this third thing.
Well I think this video post created by Jason is one of his most interesting yet, so I wanted to archive and promote this thought here on my web-site which is a blog. It's a third thingy.
Continue reading Comments (0) Mar.25.2008.
Follow Starbucks on this Approach of Socialized Ideation
Starbucks has created an on-line suggestion box for anyone that has a good idea for improving any aspect about the retailer. This is a great idea and a great use of technology. On the Starbucks Idea site, members of the community are allowed to post and vote on good ideas. Likewise, the social aspect of it allows valid ideas to organically bubble-up.
http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/home/home.jsp
This Starbucks Idea solution is powered and hosted by SalesForce.com according to the footer information on their site.
Continue reading Comments (0) Mar.20.2008.