Happy Holidays to you and yours! I'll be taking a short break this week and next as Christmas and New Year's roll around. Regularly scheduled posts will return on January 7th with a progress update for the month of Decembe...
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Multiple Streams Of Income
If you've been following my goal update posts, you'll notice that I have some sort of additional income just about every month. This usually comes from various side projects that I have going on. It doesn't amount to much - usually just a couple hundred of dollars - but it's extra* money that I can funnel directly to a particular goal, which in this case is buying a Tesla.
*By "extra," I mean it is money that is not regular income and is not included...
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Other Tesla Blogs I Read
While I don't yet actually own a Tesla, I do like reading the stories of people who do. From their experiences, I can get a better idea of what to expect when I do get mine. Here are some of the other blogs and forums I read:
Tesla Motors Club - Tons of good information here, although, like any large public forum, it can be hard to find the good bits of info scattered throughout all the posts. I tend to read mainly the threads about Tesla owners who live in Arizona.
Tesla Owner - Blog run by a person who started out with a Roadster, then sold...
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Goal Progress - End Of November 2014
At the end of each month, I post an update of my goals,
including a brief discussion of any notable events that might have
occurred during the month. The latest month's figures can
always be found under the Featured menu in the menu bar at the top of
the blog.
Last updated: End of November, 2014
Current value: $9,652
Change from last month: +464
Percent of Goal: 8.88%
Note that the funds in this account are invested in stock, so...
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Don't Leave Money On The Table: Dry Cleaning
This is one in a series of short articles about claiming all the benefits you are entitled to – be that discounts, freebies, or whatnot. I’m not going to go to the length of, say, extreme couponing, but I have found there are often discounts or bonuses you can easily take advantage of that can save you money without making major changes in your spending patterns or behaviors.
The following is a perfect example of what I mean by "don't leave...
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Are Home Energy Audits Worth The Cost?
I live in the Arizona desert and in the summer, temperatures regularly reach 110+ degrees. We run our home air conditioner a lot. Even though we keep it set at a relatively high 78-79 degrees, our electricity bill in the summer, particularly August, often nears or surpasses $400, compared to around $100 during the winter months. I'd love to do something to get that cost down.
A couple of years ago, I installed a small solar powered fan I bought...
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Want To Know Your Credit Score? Good Luck.
Several years ago, the passage of the Fair And Accurate Credit Transaction Act required credit bureaus to provide consumers with a free copy of their credit report once a year. This was a great boon to consumers. We no longer were kept in the dark about our credit history and the information credit agencies had in our file. The law also spelled out a clear process for consumers to dispute inaccurate information and set up rules on how and when the...
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Goal Progress - End Of October 2014
At the end of each month, I post an update of my goals,
including a brief discussion of any notable events that might have
occurred during the month. The latest month's figures can
always be found under the Featured menu in the menu bar at the top of
the blog.
Last updated: End of October, 2014
Current value: $9,188
Change from last month: +1,864
Percent of Goal: 8.45%
Note that the funds in this account are invested in stock, so...
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Don't Leave Money On The Table: Home Insurance
This is the first of what I hope will become a series of short articles about claiming all the benefits you are entitled to – be that discounts, freebies, or whatnot. I’m not going to go to the length of, say, extreme couponing, but I have found there are often discounts or bonuses you can easily take advantage of that can save you money without making major changes in your spending patterns or behaviors.
Since this is the first article in this...
Thursday, October 23, 2014
This Is The Stupiest Tesla Story Ever!
So there is apparently a company that does nothing but break apart products and see what they are made of. They must hire only stupid, easily impressed people, based on their comments about a Tesla they took apart.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102111095
"In breaking apart a Tesla, IHS found the head unit alone holds nearly
5,300 individual components, more than four times the number of parts in
an iPhone 5s."
Shocking! Just shocking!!! Who would...
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
How To Reduce 401(k) Fees (Part 2): An Example
Last week, I wrote about my work in restructuring the money in my 401(k) to move into funds that had a lower expense ratio. When I was done, the weighted average expense ratio, meaning, the amount I actually pay based on the amounts I have invested in each fund was 0.749%, down from the 1% range I had before. That's not too bad, but I wanted to see if I could do better.
So this week, I took a deeper look. For this analysis, I looked not only at...
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
How To Reduce 401(k) Fees (Part 1): An Example
I've written before about how mutual fund fees, in the form of expense ratios, can really cost you in your 401(k). While an expense ratio of 1% or so may not seem like much, over the course of 25 to 30 years, it can cost you tens of thousands of dollars in lost returns. Look at the below table. If you have a starting balance of $25,000, get an average 7% return, and pay 0.5% in fees, after 35 years, you'll have $227,000. But look at what happens...
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Tesla Owner Tracks Stolen Model S With Tesla Phone App
I came across this story and just love it! A woman's Model S was stolen. She called police and then
remembered that the Tesla phone app can track that car, providing it's location and speed. They scary thing is that, as the police chased the vehicle, she could see it reached speeds of 100 MPH. Yikes! I would be so nervous watching my $100,000 car being driven like that. The police eventually stopped the car by using spike strips.
What I didn't...
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Goal Progress - End of September 2014
At the end of each month, I post an update of my goals,
including a brief discussion of any notable events that might have
occurred during the month. The latest month's figures can
always be found under the Featured menu in the menu bar at the top of
the blog.
Last updated: End of September, 2014
Current value: $7,324
Change from last month: - $140
Percent of Goal: 6.74%
Note that the funds in this account are invested in stock, so...
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Tesla After Market Customizations
A couple of months ago, I mentioned that I really like the red brake calipers that are included with the Model S performance package. They are about the only thing that interests me from that package, so I don't think it's worth the extra $10,000 to get the package just to get the calipers.
I discovered today that a third party makes red brake caliper covers! And they're only a couple hundred dollars. Nice! I'm sure as time goes on, we'll start...
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Have American Companies Lost The Will To Innovate?
Fair warning: I'm going to rant.
Sometimes it's pretty depressing to see the current state of large American corporations. It's hard to find any evidence that they are trying to improve service, provide a better experience for consumers, or improve their products in a meaningful way. From my perspective, it seems companies are intensely focused on short term profits and have no appetite for long term projects to improve their wares.
Case in point:...
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Gigafactory #1 To Be In Nevada
Telsa announced on Thursday that the Gigafactory - their lithium battery production facility - will be located in Nevada. Here's what I find really interesting about this announcement:
The plant is expected to have a one hundred BILLION dollar impact on the economy over the next 20 years. That's five billion dollars ($5,000,000,000!) a year. I think there has to be some sort of financial slight of hand to come up with a number that big. I mean,...
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Goal Progress - End of August 2014
At the end of each month, I post an update of my goals,
including a brief discussion of any notable events that might have
occurred during the month. The latest month's figures can
always be found under the Featured menu in the menu bar at the top of
the blog.
Last updated: End of August, 2014
Current value: $7,464
Change from last month: + $774
Percent of Goal: 6.86%
Note that the funds in this account are invested in stock, so there...
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Tesla's Image Management
A
couple of weeks ago, Elon Musk announced that the Tesla’s drive unit warranty would be extended to 8 years and unlimited mileage. This was generally seen as a
reaction to Consumer Reports’ one year review of the Model S, in which it stated
the car had “more than its share of problems.” Tesla has been quick to respond
to anything that might damage its reputation as a high quality vehicle –
remember when it added the titanium underbody shield...
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Details Of My Refinance
The biggest monthly expense in most people's live is their housing payment, be it rent or a mortgage. So if you are trying to reduce your expenses, it makes sense to start by taking a look at your biggest payment and see if there is any way you can reduce it.
In my case, I knew I could. I bought my house 10 years ago using a 30 year fixed rate loan at 6.375% interest. Since that time, interest rates have dropped considerably. I probably should have...
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Are Car Payments Inevitable?
I'm probably in the minority when it comes to attitudes about car payments. I hate them. I try to get them
paid off as soon as possible. I'm not one of those persons that advocates paying cash for cars, but I also am not one of those that figures a car loan to be an expense that you pretty much always have, like a rent or mortgage payment.
My wife and I bought new cars at the same time back in 2010 - we each got a new Prius. (Aw, hubby and wife...
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