These are not my original thoughts, but they are a great list of questions if you’re interested in providing a service (a blog, a business, consulting – basically any service you can think of): What needs do people have that I can fulfill? What trend or trends are present here? What opportunities do they present? [...] Read more »
6 Ways to Salvage your New Years Resolutions
We’re less than a full month into the new year. Did you make any resolutions? If so, how’re they doing? If you’ve already broken your New Year’s resolution, don’t be too hard on yourself. It turns out that the odds were stacked against you. A study in 2007 by Richard Wisemen from the University of [...] Read more »
the itch that never ends
Imagine your wrist is itching right now. It’s the kind of itch that just has to be scratched – it doesn’t matter what you are doing, because the urge to scratch rises up and blocks your ability to concentrate on almost anything else. I am sure you know this feeling – the sudden intensity of [...] Read more »
the movement of content
One of the problems I have with writing here at brip blap tends to be the question of “what to write?” I’ve never made this a blog that covers the subjects that many personal finance blogs cover: what credit card should I get? Should I invest in an IRA or a Roth IRA? I [...] Read more »
thoughts on early retirement
My family has been gone for a few days, visiting family in New York, while I stayed here to work. It’s been an interesting experience, being alone, because I haven’t had this much time to myself in quite a while. I’ve attempted to spend my time doing productive things, although today, many of the productive [...] Read more »
25 quotes on perseverance
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” -Winston Churchill “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.” – Walter Elliott “No man is ever whipped, until he quits — in his own mind.” – Napoleon Hill “I do not think [...] Read more »
How Much Does It Cost to Die?
When I first started looking at this, it cost anywhere from $6,000 to $10,000 to die in New Jersey (note that I said “to die”, not “to kill someone” – we weren’t all captains in crime families in the Garden State where I used to live, although we did have our fair share and even [...] Read more »
your stuff or your life
Years ago, on a weekend visit, I spoke to a friend of mine from a Middle Eastern country while our family was visiting with his family. We spoke over a huge pile of Legos and the Bert-n-Ernie Garage and a full set of Thomas the Tank Engine trains (although, in all fairness, most were gifts). [...] Read more »
the scrambled egg theory of productivity
Physics tell us that one of the laws of the universe is this: You can’t unscramble an egg. Think about it. It can’t be done. You can freeze liquid water, then heat it and turn it to gas and back to water, but you can’t unscramble an egg. It just won’t unscramble. Hit it with [...] Read more »
Friday quote: changing yourself
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. - Leo Tolstoy I’ve written before about why I don’t watch the news, political or otherwise. I do get some news – I check the local news to make sure there’s not a road closing near me or a new farmers’ market [...] Read more »
how I became Russian
Patrick, of Cash Money Life fame long ago tagged me to give my best financial move in college. I posted this long ago, but it’s worth reposting. How I came to become a Russophile is an interesting story – I think. (me, in St. Petersburg, circa 1997) Learning an “exotic” foreign language, and how it [...] Read more »
friday quotes: improving on others
Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for. Socrates I sometimes feel that I’m improving on the work of others without actually contributing anything new of my own, because I read a lot. It’s not true, of course – this blog [...] Read more »