Day 5 & 6: Crap

Here's a list of my negative finances for the past couple days:
-$3.00 Sparkling Water
-$95.00 Gambling (Yes this a vice of mine, which I only indulge in once in a blue moon)
-$93.80 Groceries
-$20.00 Spaghetti Factory
-Heartache Jayhawks lose to the Bruins

=Not priceless...

At least I get paid next week.

Tip of the Day: Set gambling limits and only lose as much as you can afford to lose. Losing is not fun.

Day 4: Dentists, Subs, & Jayhawks

First I'd like to say Rock Chalk Jayhawk. My Jayhawks were able to beat SIU to advance to the Elite Eight! Yay!

My teeth feel very nice and clean tonight. I went to my dentist today and got my teeth cleaned. my insurance takes care of this, so I'm not going to count that as part of my financial experiment. I read today that keeping your teeth clean can help with keep you from getting heart disease and diabetes. So it feels extra good.

My two expenses involved a footlong sub from Subway, which turned into my lunch and dinner, for $8 and then parking downtown to watch my Hawkies, $4.

I think this weekend might be one for spending...we'll see.

Tip of the Day: Exercise and get your teeth clean! Keeping healthy is very important and exercising can help you work off that unwanted stress.

Day 3: Mexican Food and CDs

Mexican food has always been a love of mine. So tonight after looking through the kitchen for something to fix for dinner, we decided to go out for Mexican food. This ended up being my only purchase for today, but it was well worth it. Our bill was $30.00, so split in half it was $15.00.

For the rest of today, I was able to carpool and bring my lunch. PB & J is yummy, especially on Rye bread!

We also bought a couple CDs. Not compact discs, but certificates of deposit. 5.20% yield for 3 months. We are still learning CDs, Mutual Funds, Money Markets, and more, but I think it's better for us to jump on in, instead of watching idle.

Day 2: Library Fees and Renter's Insurance

Today, I did spend money $9.75 in late fees from the Library and Renter's Insurance.

Both of these give me peace of mind.

1) No more debt with the Library (not that scary, but good to have gone)

2) Renter's Insurance for my apartment

The Renter's Insurance is something I feel is worth the fee. For a little over $200 a year, I get protection over my things and apartment. It gives me piece of mind over various scenarios. I'm sure a lot of people do not have Renter's Insurance, but I would suggest it for the piece of mind and possible scenarios.

So today, minus $220.75, but a great peace of mind.

I was able to carpool again today and bring my lunch. Money saved :-)

Tip of the Day: I would also like to note how great it is to use the Library. At the Seattle Library, you are able to find the newest DVDs and Books, as well as all the classics. Plus, you are able to search and reserve items online. This is a great time and money saver! Use your library! http://www.spl.org

Clinical Research

I've been combing the internet for ideas on how to bring in extra income. What about Clinical Research? Such as http://www.crc.washington.edu/

I remember reading a book by Robert Rodriguez (the director of Desperado, Sin City, etc.) He did this to fund his movies and give him time to write & plan his films.

I'd be curious to hear other's stories about doing this. I'm sure there are both good and bad experiences.

Do you have an interesting clinical study stories?

My friends have always enjoyed plasma giving!

AdWords and AdSense

Question of the Day:

Is there a medium where you can make enough money from AdSense to finance AdWords?

I guess the minimum exposure rate for AdWords is $50.00/month. I will need to figure out how many AdSense clicks you need to pay this.

Has anyone else figured this out?

Is this possible?

--Update: I did find this site: http://www.marketingexperiments.com/ppc-seo-optimization/google-adsense.html

Check it out, quite interesting.

Day 1: No Money Spent (Except for Automatic Withdrawal)

Day 1: I think day one of my financial experiment was a good. I was able to not spend any money today. I rode the bus to work, brought my lunch, got a ride home with my girlfriend, and ate dinner at home.

We also went to an investment company and invested money into a money market account. As the end of the month comes around, I will add more money to this account.

I guess I can start by listing my costs for the month.

1) Rent- $600/month
2) Food- ?/month (This is part of the experiment)
3) Student Loans- a. $50.47, b.
4)Credit Card Debt- I'd like to pay this off as soon as possible!
5) Car Insurance- (need to calculate as I pay quarterly?)
6) Gas- (Part of experiment)
7) Internet/Cable- still getting worked out
8) Cell Phone Bill- $57.95 (variable)
9) Entertainment and other variable costs (Part of experiment)

Revenue:
Job (and maybe Adsense as my readership increases :-), and working towards Mutual Funds, CDs, Money Market, Stocks, etc.

It would be great if Day 2 could also be inline with my no spending of Day 1, but I think eventually I will spend something (or my checking account will be automatically deducted).

I am working towards finance intelligence and figure out a plan that works for me (and possibly give others a plan as well).

Tip for the Day- Erase your credit card debt by opening a new credit card with your bank that offers 0% interest for 6 months and then move your debt to this credit card. This gives you 6 months to pay off the debt without interest!