In the wake of Valentine's Day a story recently came to my attention from Boing Boing that everyone might benefit from.

Marine Ty Ziegel was wounded in Iraq. The attack left him permanently disfigured and, though he can still walk, at least partially disabled physically. Ty and Renee Ziegel were recently married and you can read their story here (pdf after the jump).



The story made me reflect on my own marriage. Would I have been able to marry my wife if she had incurred such injuries? What does it say to my character if I'm unsure? I can easily say, "Of course I would marry her.", but it's easy to say such things when we are not the ones who have to make the decision.

I doubt anyone would be capable of answering that question to others or to themselves until they were placed in similar circumstances. As it is, we can only take inspiration from others and hope that we're as strong.

I wish Ty and Renee Ziegel the best.

There are a number of web sites that are designed to find deals. I hate popups and affiliate sites. These are the core sites that I use:

General

• Craig's List
• Slickdeals
• Woot (careful, the site's a gamble)
• Freeafterrebate
• What's Shakin' @ Buy.com
  

Electronics

• Techbargains
• Car Stereos
• Home Theater
• Philips Electronics
• Ben's Bargains

For anything else you need to hit local stores. Look at flyers. If you're in the Boston area, try Amesbury Chair for inexpensive wood furniture. For stuffed couches, if you want quality construction and a good value, I recommend King Hickory.

There is a story that I like to tell people that believe I am overly frugal (cheap even!). I tell them about Scrooge McDuck. If you remember Duck Tales, you'll remember that Scrooge McDuck is the richest duck in the world. He has so much money that he had to construct his own building in order to secure it all, the money bin. here's the quick story:

Scrooge McDuck is taking Huey, Duey, and Louis out for a soda. He buys one small soda and three straws for them all. One of them asks him,
"You're the richest duck in the world, why don't you buy us each a small soda?"
"Or at least a large soda to share?"
His reply? "How do you think I got that way?"

You don't become wealthy by spending your money.

You need to save. The national savings rate has been negative since 2005. Start saving. Pay off your debt. Put money into a CD or money market. You may need it for an emergency, or to start your own business, or to buy a big item instead of lots of small crap.

How to select investments in a 401(k)
If you have a 401(k), invest at least the minimum amount necessary to get the maximum matching contribution from you employer. After that, it's a matter of selecting you investment options within the program. Many have garbage investments from firms with poor performance track records and high expenses (the two typically go hand in hand). Here are some basics for a 401(k) neophyte:

1) Buy a target-date fund if you're not investment savvy: They reallocate assets to become more conservative as you approach retirement, decreasing volatility and preserving your assets while maximizing returns in the early years.
2) Buy a balanced fund if there's no target-date fund: Select your risk level based on your time to retirement, not they way you "feel". If you have 40 years until retirement, select the most aggressive option and don't switch even if it goes down. Investments go down from time to time, but will rise over time.
3) Buy cheap: Select a fund based on its expense ratio, not its historical performance. No fund will shoot the lights out every time, and it's typically after a strong period of returns that it bottoms out. Fund expenses are like taxes: it's easier to make money when you're in a lower bracket.
4) Buy an index: Too smart for an index fund? Build your portfolio out of index funds in the S&P 500 (large cap), Russell 2000 (small cap), and Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond Index. Small cap is aggressive, and should account for a smaller percentage of your allocation as you approach retirement. Indexes are cheap.
5) Don't neglect international funds: International funds are expensive, but you'll miss out on some solid returns if you don't put at least a percentage of your portfolio into them. Active managers will reallocate the portfolio to various countries depending on political and economic situations, as well as use currency hedging strategies to offset the effect of a volatile dollar. Actively managed is better in the international marketplace.
6) Seek help: Your employer will typically offer someone to help you select investments if you ask. You can also visit Morningstar - an independent resource on all things mutual fund related - for advice.

Next edition: What is a mutual fund, anyway?

Converting money to time to money
Time is something that you can never buy back, and you should consider its value in every decision you make. In the first edition of financial tips, I expounded on the value converting your money into the time it would take you to earn it prior to a purchase. However, there are times when it is more valuable to hire someone to perform a duty for you because it saves you time or allows you to work longer to earn additional income, offsetting the price.

Someone suggested to a friend that she hire a maid service for their house, the cost of which is around $60 per week in their area. If it takes 2 to 4 hours to clean, you're paying that service $15-$30 per hour. Unless you are making more than that on a net basis (e.g. after tax), you should do the work yourself. Further, you are incurring the risk of damage to property by inviting a service into your house. This is an additional expense, though you may never have to pay.

Similarly, how much does it cost to make lunch versus buying it? Estimated savings are typically in the $850 to $1,000 per year to pack a lunch. Now you can afford to heat your house an extra month!

Remember, you have a limited supply of time, so consider the cost of a home improvement project in terms of supplies, labor and time.

Just don't go nuts and outsource everything to buy yourself more time to slack off, you're supposed to be buying additional time to earn income.

Next edition: How to select investments in a 401(k)

Prioritizing spending seems easy at first, but it can be tough to give up on a desired purchase for something you need. Just follow the basics from elementary school to spending:

1) Food
2) Water
3) Shelter (includes utilities, doesn't include niceties like cable and a hot tub)
4) Clothing

Don't go nuts on 4, it's not a carte blanche to buy those Armani suits and Haute Couture items. Prioritize socks, underwear, thermal items in cold weather, etc. Make sure you own at least one suit for formal occassions or dress. When it goes out of st7le just call it retro.

5) Medical Insurance
6) Debt
a) Credit Card
b) Loans
c) Mortgage - this requires research
7) Retirement Savings
a) 401(k)
b) Roth IRA
8) Education Savings (College)
a) Coverdell (if you qualify)
b) 529 Savings Account
9) Taxable savings
a) Muni bonds (high tax bracket)
b) Stocks, High Yield securities (low tax bracket)
10) Liquid Assets - Bank Savings

Taxable savings are tricky, since they may mix with your liquid assets. Be cautious of transaction fees in brokerage accounts, and redemption fees at mutual funds. Avoid variable annuities entirely and fixed annuities if you are under 62 years of age. Discretionary income falls into the "taxable savings" category. Anything leftover from your needs, insurance, retirement, and edcuation savings is discretionary, meaning you do not need that money to pay for something in the future.

Do not use a CD or savings account. Place the money into a brokerage account. Brokerage accounts offer a higher yield than traditional bank accounts through either state-based municipal money market accounts or regular money markets. Either way a broker will likely have a higher yield option than a bank savings account.

Try Fidelity or ING for a checking account. They offer excellent options and competitive yields, and allow multiple online investment options as well as comprehensive phone support.

Discretionary money is what you spend on a car, a trip, or that new Nintendo Wii you've been wanting. Getting to 9 and 10 is the hard part.

Next Entry: Now that you've turned money into time, turn time into money!

Today's financial tip: Stop buying crap you don't need.

Why should I write a blog? What possible insight do I have? At 28 I have a half-million dollar home, successful career, beautiful wife, and money in the bank. Now that you hate me, let me add that there's no secret. I don't make a lot of money. With self-discipline anyone can be or can become secure financially.

The first obstacle is always your spending. People buy things they do not need. Do not buy those shoes, pack a lunch for work, and skip that chocolate bar in the checkout aisle. "It's only a dollar" is no longer in your vocabulary.

1. Buy only food that you need, and stop snacking. Pack your lunch. Go out to eat once a week at most. Select your restaurant carefully based on price/return. Is that burger giving you $8 or $1 of satisfaction?
   
2. Buy only the clothes that you need. That perfect pair of shoes that matches a dress you haven't been able to wear? You weren't wearing it anyway. Donate the dress and skip the shoes. Consider versatility in your clothing. Jeans and khakis go with everything. White collared shirts are more versatile than duct tape in the fashion world.
3. Buy a condo or house. Paying rent is effectively throwing your money away. Stop it. While more money out-of-pocket, a mortgage is has tax benefits that offset that cost. Stop renting.

The best advice I can ever give you is to convert all purchases into the time it would require you to work to pay for it. Are you willing to work that long right now in exchange for that item?

If you make $10 per hour, and want to take out your girlfriend, how many hours would you have to spend working to do it? Remember, it's after tax that we care about. An $80 meal will require you to work 8 hours at least, but probably 10 after tax. You also have to cover your fixed expenses, like you cell phone, land line, cable, etc. etc.

Having trouble with your fixed costs?

1. Ditch either the land line or cell phone. You don't need both. If you have DSL, consider going dry-loop. It's cheaper, don't let their package deals fool you.
2. Turn the heat down 2 degrees, then put on a sweater and turn it down another 2 degrees. Then plastic your windows. Buy insulation. These are short-term costs that pay for themselves. Insulate your water heater. Upgrade your furnace. Switch to natural-gas heating.
3. Dump cable and buy a digital receiver for over-the air reception. Unless you're a huge sports fan, TV is a huge cost in terms of time and money. Most of the programs we watch are on network TV. You'll still get Lost and American Idol. Cable is not a necessity, and will give you more time with your significant other, friends, and time to work on projects or read a book. Try solidsignal.com for equipment to receive HDTV over-the-air for free.
4. Call GEICO. Packaging your insurance lowers the costs. Proving you use public transportation lowers the costs (submitting bus passes or metro passes to your insurer may lower your rate). Buy a fire extinguisher. Install a fire suppression system. These things lower insurance costs and generally pay for themselves in a year or less.
5. Buy a tiny crappy car. Crappy cars are cheaper to maintain because they are easier to buy spare parts for, and are typically cheaper to insure. Further, the initial cost is lower. Gas is expensive, duh.
   
6. Buy energy-efficient light bulbs. Sounds like a no-brainer, but most people still use incandescent lighting. They're not too bright.
7. Get timers. Most electronic equipment does not need to be on 24/7. Better yet, throw the fuse, and cut power to everything non-essential (not the fridge!).
8. Get honeycomb blinds. They're more energy efficient.
9. Ask for generic versions of drugs. Doctors often recommend the name-brand of certain drugs because of their relationships with certain suppliers. Do some research and get the generic. You don't need Benadryl, just a Diphenhydramine tablet. Get the store brand. It doesn't taste much different, especially milk.
10. Walks the stairs, buy a jumprope and get used weights on Craig's List. You don't need a gym, just motivation.
    

Remember: Convert all transactions into time spent working. Attitude does more help than anything else.

Next time: Prioritizing finances.

Boston is filled with whiners, but I for one am proud of our emergency services personnel. The ridiculous concept of putting up battery-powered illuminated advertisements of a lewd mooninite when we are living in a time terrorist threats should be the target of complaints. But most bloggers are declaring that emergency workers should have realized that the devices were mundane. The mooninite himself mocks us (click for gallery of mocking). This isn't the 1980's anymore, and guerilla marketing of this type has real ramifications!

The current estimate is that the mooninites cost Boston between $800,000 and $1M in Police overtime and other costs. I don't even want to think about the cost to local businesses, travel time, fossil fuel expenditure (bus service, traffic, etc.).

I blame Turner. Adult Swim, I love Fullmetal Alchemist, but not the Mooninite advertising campaign.

In what has to be the dumbest marketing campaign ever conceived, Turner Broadcasting okayed the deployment of "suspicious packages" in a number of cities that would purportedly project images advertising Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The problem? They didn't tell anyone about it beforehand.

So my commute was over two hours this morning as they discovered the first package in Sullivan Square on the Orange Line. That station happens to be beneath a major interstate (I-93). Subsequently multiple packages were discovered near the New England Medical Center, the Longfellow Bridge that connects Boston with Cambridge, the Boston University Bridge and at the intersection of Stuart and Columbus streets in central Boston. Every emergency official trained for anything was out in full force.

Is everything okay because Turner Broadcasting apologized? No. I want my two hours of commuting time back and my frozen digits thawed. Better yet, they should pay for my bionic hands and feet so this can never happen again. Turner must be held accountable for the millions of dollars it cost the city to detonate the devices, dispatch emergency services, and the lost business it caused millions of city workers.

I just cannot imagine the board meeting that resulted in the statement, "Let's put packages wrapped in black duct tape in subway systems throughout America to advertise our show." Not only did some marketing team at Turner agree on this, the paid for and developed the devices. Someone then organized and approved their guerilla distribution. If a major corporation can implement something this intricate and get all of the devices in place, what does that say about our current level of security? And where was Jack Bauer when we needed him?

I, for one, fee less safe. You win, Aqua Teen Hunger Force. You win.

Hitting them gym after a hiatus is damn tough. Last night was the first night I have worked out since moving into my new house last year.

I refuse to pay pricy gym membership fees, so I put in flooring in my basement - this stuff called Dry Core - and some mats from Target. Suffice to say, with a sound system of PC speakers and an MP3 player, it's as good as any gym.

Too bad it 's been so long since I hit the weights. I felt pretty pathetic benching 60 pound dumbbells and having a tough time. Granted, I'm spindly and 126lbs, but having difficulty benching half my weight was embarrassing for myself.

However, now that I have a dance pad and Stepmania I can get a fun and sweaty cardio workout going before heading to the basement. I highly recommend it as a anti-procrastination tool.

The thing about working out is that you just have to start. Rewarding yourself with a game like DDR, which is actually the beginning of the workout, helps motivate you (or me, at least). The best part is that once you've started, it is easier to keep going. I am hoping that I will be able to keep the momentum up now that I've restarted, and double my bench-press back to my former "ginormous" weight of 120lbs.