A Boring Day Off(And I wouldn't have it any other way!)

It's Friday the sixth of February in the year Two Thousand and Nine.

It's my day off and I'm sitting around the house doing nothing really. My cat, Leroy Brown(better known as Kitty Cat,) is sitting near the glass balcony doors sleeping in the sun and enjoying herself immensely.

Today I've managed to do absolutely nothing productive. Well that's not all true. I did research some options on selling my car beyond what I currently am doing. I've had CSPAN on most of the day watching the Senate argue about how to best waste my money. And I made sure my finances are in order going into the next week before the next payday. I may make some macaroni and cheese later but for now I'm content doing nothing.

Now I will admit this is an incredibly boring way to spend a day off. But one thing I'm not doing today is driving around and spending money. So I am content to remain at home.

Some might suggest that I have been known to spend a lot of time playing video games and that might be a more entertaining way to waste my time. Well I would say you are correct. However, my XBox has succumbed to poor engineering related to it being a very new model a few years ago--which have since been fixed in current models--and my computer has recently started dying. I am unable to run any programs that put any sort of stress on my computer. Mainly any games besides minesweeper, freecell or solitaire.

Now this isn't all bad, honestly. But my time wasting activities are now pretty limited to browsing the internet(researching finance, news, monitor bills, email etc.) or watching TV.

What I need to be doing is organizing my room. But that would require far too much motivation. Maybe once I finish this and eat I may get to that.

So what have I been up to? Well, I work 40 hours a week and when I'm not doing that I'm trying to get my car sold. And that's honestly moving a lot slower than I'd hoped. I'm thinking about just holding off on any attempts to sell it until the Spring. I anticipate the market for that type of car would be much better then once the snow is gone and nice weather is here again. On the other hand, maybe I should start really pushing it on the markets since everyone is about to be getting their tax returns and may be more inclined to buy. Who knows. In any case, selling that car will be a huge load off and the sooner it happens the happier I'll be. I'm asking $9,000 but the secret is I'll sell it for $7,500. So if you know anyone interested point them my way.

So besides work and selling my car the only other thing I've been doing is getting a solid hold on my finances and researching the same. I have a plan in place and I fully expect to be entirely rid of all debt this year, possibly by May or June. This is a very exciting prospect for me. I don't care if I never borrow money again for as long as I live.

Beyond that, I spend a lot of time looking over my 401k, watching the stock market, watching CNBC(nearly all day long! a few years ago I would have laughed if someone told me I'd be watching CNBC all day,) and trying to acquire as much knowledge as I can about retirement investing and the stock market. It's kind of funny because even though I'll have absolutely NO business messing around in the stock market for a few years, it is actually interesting for me to research it. For instance last night I spent a few hours researching Exchange Traded Funds(ETF). Mainly SPY which is a fund that matches the S&P 500.

Anyways enough of this. I'm going to end this with a video of Jim Cramer offering some sage advice. Then a few lists.




And now a list of what I intend to read in the very near future.

Dave Ramsey - Financial Peace
Tony Dungy - Uncommon
Jim Cramer - Sane Investing in an Insane World
John Wiseman - SAS Survival Handbook

Items I intend to purchase in the near future.

XBox 360 Pro

Items I intend to purchase in the not so distant future.

Garmin Nüvi 260

Items I intend to purchase in the very distant future.

LG 60" Plasma Television