consumerism

The Art of Focus

July 26, 2010

The average American is exposed to 3000 advertising messages in a single day. These blasts are designed to be very passive and create a sort of subconscious awareness in a consumerist ecosystem. I recently watched a very unfortunate movie called, “The Book of Eli” starring Denzel Washington in a post-apocalyptic tale of religious justice and [...]

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Jose, Jose, & Frank

June 2, 2010

I just moved from one of the most recognizable neighborhoods in the world to the edge of the ghetto (I can see it from my window). In my old neighborhood, Jerry Seinfeld lived around the corner. Keanu Reeves lived across the street, and tourist buses road by with visitors snapping pictures of my front porch. [...]

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My Villains, My Heroes

May 27, 2010

I’m moving to my 27th lifetime residence this weekend. I know so much about moving that I started a part-time moving company a few years ago that was thriving until my truck got stolen recently. There is no shortage of restless people, and I am one of them. I made a terrible error in renting [...]

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Another Common Mistake

May 19, 2010

I’ll stop preaching soon, but this one drives me insane. If you overdraw your account you are essentially taking a short-term, high interest loan (depending on the amount of shortage, but typically ranges from 16%-1700%). Overdraft fees are a generous source of revenue for big banks (classified as >$1billion) to the tune of about $35 [...]

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A Common Mistake

May 18, 2010

I keep running across a common mistake in paying down debt, so want to make something clear. It does not make sense to pay over the minimum to multiple creditors if your goal is to accelerate debt repayment. In other words if you have $100 to invest in your debt and three creditors with minimums [...]