Neville's Financial Blog

I enjoyed doing my lottery experiment, now it's time to venture out and do something more practical. I took a look at some of my Make Money with No Money ideas, and I want to back my advice by actually doing them (I've done most, but not all).

The one I am leaning towards: Selling bottled water. I will NOT be obtaining a license for this, therefore I am limited to low-regulated areas. There happens to be an intersection right near my apartment which is relatively lowly-regulated (and in turn has lots of bums no matter what time of the day).

I will speak to some officers in the area, asking them about the legality of my experiment. I don't want to be fined or arrested (although that would provide for some interesting journalism!)

I will try to turn about $5 into $24 by selling individual bottles of water on the side of the road. Some call this being a bum, some call it desperate, I call it learning.

It would actually be easier to make more money by increasing the hours I work, but this experiment is to prove that you can make money without a job or much startup capital.

If anyone has ever done this, drop me some recommendations for effective selling!

**Update: I performed this bottled water experiment already.

Labels: Money Experiments

One thing important to me right now is mobility. I am graduating pretty soon, and if an opportunity arises in a different state, or even a different country, can I attend to it easily?

I recently moved to a larger apartment right across the hall from my old one, and the simple move took much longer than expected. Since then I have got rid of some "junk" and started to unload some more bulky items like my monitors (I'm selling them on Ebay). My plan is to fit all of my posessions in two suitcases.

A drawback to this is a rather boringly decorated room:

Not winning any "best-decorated" reviews eh? After I send my guitars and piano back home, the only bulky thing I will own are my speakers. I am a high-quality-sound-fanatic and can't yet part with my THX certified Klipsch speakers, no matter how many neighbors they annoy!

Other than that, I can pack up my clothes and Tablet PC and leave town whenever I want.

Labels: Housing, Productivity

Look to your right. See that goal for 3-31-200 that states I should "Have made $6,500 since January 1st 2005"? Well, it's far from complete.

According to this goal, I had 4 months to generate $6,500 and it doesn't look like it will be fully met. Let's predict I hit $3,000 by the 31st of this month. If I make only $3,000 every 4 months, I will be at an average of $12,000 per year. That's only $2,430 over the federal poverty level!!!

What the hell. Even though I'm still in college, I need to make more money on the side. This is ridiculous.

The 3-31-2005 goal is to keep me on track for my $11,000 by 4-30-2005 goal, which is FAR from complete. As for meeting that goal in two days, I have some income coming in soon:

• Approx. $250 check from work
• At least $400 from Ebay sales ending in a few days.
• Over $900 from my online business
• $300 from web design project

So I have a minimum $1,850 of income within the next week. I will still have only accumulated $4,454 since the beginning of the year. To meet that $11,000 goal I really need to kick my own ass and starting making more money, even if it resorts to using my crazy business ideas.

So to sum up:

Labels: Goals

I'm no "Taxamatician" (yes, that was a joke), but isn't a tax refund simply a REFUND of money you overpaid?

This CNN article entitled 5 Ways to Spend Your Refund shows the sentiment in America to blow your refund. According to my knowledge, this is equivelant to:

Buying $5 worth of candy with a $10 bill. When the cashier hands you back $5 in change, you think, "Hey! Free money!" and go spend it.

When you overpay for your taxes and then get some of it back, you aren't "getting" free money. If you are going to blow your tax refund, blow it on something CRAZY like paying off debt or starting a new savings account!

Labels: Financial

Identify the "next big stock" or "next iPod" and get rich! Well, even Ms. Cleo can't predict that, so an easier route is to spot upcoming trends such as the recent oil surge. Easier said than done.

I have been looking for a place to park some money for the long term, and I have come across a few trends which have the potential to explode in value:

1.) Water. Kirk absolutely loves water stocks, and for good reason. In scarce supply, drinking water is more valuable than gold, oil and money because it is vital to our existence yet taken for granted. With a rapidly increasing world population and a mass exodus of people moving towards large, condensed cities, Kirk's long term positions on water make tons of sense. I have a feeling that water companies in countries with current severe water problems would fair better than American companies.

2.) Batteries. Battery technology has always lagged behind the technology sector, and everyone is just about fed up. We need some fuel supply for our mega-capable portable devices of today that can last for weeks, months, years at a time without recharge. On some phones the largest component is the battery. On laptops the heaviest component is the battery. As a laptop user I abhor "plugging in". In a world which is getting increasingly portable, the market for long-lasting, reliable, relatively affordable power supplies is HUGE HUGE HUGE. Any advice on how to catch this wave? I am looking towards some fuel cell technologies and Energizer (ENR). Drop me some sector fund names if you know any that concentrate on portable energy.

3.) Nanotech. That term is so vague and can be applied in so many areas that it's basically a crap-shoot trying to pick the right stocks without vigorously keeping up with the sector. Since that is not my plan, I will soon invest in a nanotechnology fund. Holding this for a long period of time (10-15 years at least) could prove profitable as new breakthroughs occur and people start pouring more money into the sector. The key here is to get in at a time when nanotech is not in the news for a while. BUT....nanotech has been a buzzword for quite sometime, and lots of people have lost lots of money investing in it so far. Start looking for companies who are turning their research into actual products, because companies that do only research make no money. Look for nanotech to appear in places you would never expect. Here is a Forbes article on best nanotech products.
Right now it seems sports products have caught the nano bug already, I expect to see it in the luxury goods area in a few years. Being creative, I imagine new nanotech fabrics, creams, materials etc. will start to appear in these places:

• High end, ultra-warm yet THIN winter coats.
• New, ultra-luxurious interior fabrics for luxury cars
• All over the exterior of cars in the form of scratch resistant body panels, rain-resistant windsheilds, super-road-hugging tires
• Some sort of new material to use on paper currency making it much more difficult to counterfeit
• Ultra-thin yet ultra-effective insulations for pipes, cables etc.

These are the types of things I expect to see in the upcoming years. I can go on forever, but you get the point. Nanotech can be used in countless areas, some areas which most likely no one even knows about yet. Back in 1960, who would have thought silicon would become so widely used?

So a little while back I bought two flat-panel LCD monitors for my desktop computer. It was cool while it lasted running dual monitors, but since I am never at home I have started to use my Tablet PC almost 100% of the time. Hopefully someone else could put better use to these monitors than I can.

Therefore, on Ebay I am selling my:

• 18.1" Atec Neoview Flat Panel LCD w/ TV Tuner & Remote
• 17" Flat Panel Samsung SyncMaster 175v LCD Computer Monitor

These two monitors should generate a little income for me also.

Observation: Popularity of scratch-off lottery tickets remains high despite their low odds of winning. The attraction of exponentially increasing an "investment" of $1 with no skill involved draws people to these games.

Hypotheses: If a $1 scratch-off lottery game is played 100 times, the player is likely to lose money in the end. Most people playing the game will eventually lose money, only a few will gain.

Variations: A player can potentially win a large sum of money on the first play with some "luck" on their side.

Experiment: 100 Texas Lottery scratch-off "Amazing 8's" games costing $1 each will be purchased. 20 games will be purchased from 5 seperate establishments. Amazing 8's have odds of 1 in 4.65 games at least break even.
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Step 1
I withdrew $100 in cash from an ATM and bought 20 Amazing 8's from each of these five establishments: Albertson's, Chevron, Diamond Shamrock and Exxon. The whole process took me an hour as some places I visited did not have Amazing 8's.

Step 2
Counted and verified that I had exactly 100 Amazing 8's scratch-off lottery tickets.



Step 3
Got my trusty tools ready: Two quarters. One is an American quarter and the other is a Canadian Quarter. I've found that Canadian quarters are much better for scratching mass amounts of lotto tickets!

Step 4
Start scratching! I would scratch and scratch until I found a winner, which would then be placed inside the "Winner$" basket.

Scratching 100 lottery tickets is NOT as exciting as I thought. It felt more like a boring job. Next time I do gambling experiments, I'm goin' ta Vagas.

Winner$ basket starting to fill up with $1 and $2 wins.

The real gem of the lot was this ticket which won $60! The chances of getting this are 1 in 1,500.

Step 5
Tabulate each amount won.

Losers were placed on the table, and the proud winners were put higher up on the stool (Just for a more dramatic metaphorical effect)

Step 6
Report the totals. I came out ahead with $102! A 2% return.

The proud winners in all their glory, especially our champion: Mr. $60!

After the experiment was completed, I went to the grocery store to cash in my $102. I then proceeded to the Bank of America ATM and deposited the cash directly back into my investment account. So I performed this experiment and MADE $2 and learned a little too!

Step 7
Conclusion. This "investment" of $100 was more of an experiment and should not be used as investment advice. Anyone who invests their money in the lottery for purposes other than mild thrills and entertainment is (according to the odds) just dreaming. The odds prove that if you play long enough, you will lose 75% or more of your money. Of course you can also win a lot of money, but it's highly doubtful. I just happened to buy the right tickets at the right time for this particular experiment, but if I repeated the experiment again, I would most likely not make a profit or break even.

Hope you enjoyed the experiment, I sure did!

Labels: Money Experiments

I have another published article out in The Daily Texan today:

Interviewing 101: How to impress employers

Check it out!

Labels: Personal

So I am going ahead with my plan to buy $100 worth of $1 scratch-off lottery tickets to test the averages. I will take pictures and tabulate the results by the end of this week.

My total net worth has slipped a little as my Ameritrade portfolio has been under some stress lately. These are all longterm holdings, so no selling is in sight (except maybe Syntel). Check it out:

Dynegy (DYN) - Just a few weeks ago I went up to a nice profit from a 25% loss, but it's all slipping back now. This stock will be held onto for approx. 5 years.

Fortune Brands (FO) - Has steadily moved between a 6% and 11% gain since I bought it. I personally idolize this company for its diverse array of subsidiaries. Check out some of their well-known brands: Fortune Brands Website.

General Electric (GE) - A pretty stable stock that I plan to keep forever. I doubt this stock will go anywhere fast, up or down. It's meant to be the "rock" of my portfolio.

Syntel (SYNT) - They are issuing a $1.50 per share dividend on March 31st which will add up to a nice $270 infusion into my account. If the stock hits above $25 I will sell. I have made money on this stock in the past.


Over the years I have finally taught myself to remove all emotion from stocks. Whether they are up or down for the day, I don't even flinch. As I plan to hold these for many years, small changes no longer interest me. My heart used to speed up everytime I would log in to check my sotcks, I have finally developed a thick skin!

Labels: Financial

Well a lot of people are against the gambling idea! I will still give it a whirl to see what comes from it. If anything, it will be a nice $200 lesson for me.

I might also buy $100 worth of $1 scratch-off lottery tickets and display the averages of my winnings, this has been an experiment I've wanted to try for some time now. It would not only be educational as I would have to do a little research on statistics and averages, but it would also be kind of fun! Would anyone else like to see me do this?

I have another article in the Daily Texan tommorrow on qualities employers look for, I'll post it tommorrow!

To date, the primary source of investing I have done with my investment account money is stock. Once the account balance hits $1,000 I put $500 into my Ameritrade account.

Right now I have $1,217 to invest. $500 will most likely go to stock soon, but I have $217 to play around with. I've previously used extra money like this to buy business clothing, but I want to do something different this time.

Gambling to me is not only entertainment, it can be a form of investing. Some friends of mine constantly play online poker for entertainment (and of course to make money) and they make decent returns every once in a while, but online poker is extremely time consuming. Online sports betting was brought to my attention by The Alpha Guy.

I don't know much about sports, but after doing some research I found you can place relatively safe bets that turn small profits. If played out right with no emotion involved, this could possibly churn out some small profits here and there with very little time and research involved. The high stakes gambling can be left for trips to Vegas :)

Obviously there are risks, but what doesn't have risks? Even if I lose this $217, I will consider it a $217 class on statistics, odds and risk management. Hey, that's cheaper than taking a statistics course in college!

The following is a list of several small side incomes you can make without much startup capital (or none at all). High school students, broke college students or anyone looking to score a little extra cash can take this advice. This list goes contrary to the saying "It takes money to make money". I feel there are tons of ways to make money, but people never pursue them because they seem "menial" or "not worth their time". Well here are a few things you can do to make quick cash without a formal business plan, investors or anything of the sort.

1.) Sell Water. That's right. Buy a 24-pack of bottled water, ice it, then sell on a hot day. Your $3.00 investment has turned a $21 profit in a small amount of time. This may seem like something only a bum would do, but trust me, you will learn more from this experience than in any marketing class. Water can be substituted with soft drinks, hot coco etc.
Easy Factor Rating: *****
**Tried this experiment on 4-03-2005

2.) Mow Lawns. If you don't have a lawnmower, borrow one. Go around a neighborhood offering your service. This business works particularly well for younger kids. Live in a cold area? They substitute lawn mowing with snow shovelling. You can ALWAYS get people to pay for this by lowering your price. Surprise people by offering to shovel a driveway for $3 if you are having trouble finding business. Some money is better than none, and you get plenty of excersize!
Easy Factor Rating: *****

3.) Powerwashing. Rent, buy or borrow a simple power washer and clean driveways and houses. Driveways will take 30-40 minutes depending on size. The real goldmine here is cleaning houses. This job will fetch over $100 and requires only a telescoping ladder and a bit more risk. For younger kids, their 30-40 minutes spent power washing a driveway will fetch about $20-$30. The trick here is to start off one house at a low price, then pitch to the surrounding houses showing off how clean their neighbors driveway is. Getting a company to hire you is even better. Gas stations, property management companies all need power washing services, but this may require some heavier duty equipment. Power washing can be done on any lazy Saturday afternoon where you are doing nothing better. Take before/after pictures and show off your work during your door-to-door sales pitch.
Easy Factor Rating: ****

4.) Accounting. Know accounting? Then become a part-time book keeper for a small business. These part timers get anywhere from $14 to $22 an hour for their services. Accounting CAN be self-taught, but a class is recommended. I know two accountants who make very nice livings working out of their garage. I see ads in the paper looking for part time book keepers all the time. You can educate yourself or hone your knowledge for free with books from the library.
Easy Factor Rating: *

5.) Get a job. Duh. If you feel totally inadequate to take a little risk and make money for yourself, or you need a more steady income, just get a small job. Even though I make enough money on the side, I still hold a job for the added income. If you are not picky about your job and just need some quick income, work at a coffee house, or in fast food etc. Get a job as a janitor, helping hand etc. These areas are always looking for non full time employees. You can get hired very quickly if you apply to those types of positions. Jobs are great, but you must obey the orders of others, often perform duties you may dislike and revolve around someone else's schedule. The other ideas on the list give you more freedom to wheel and deal as you please.
Easy Factor Rating: *****

6.) Computer Cleanup. If you are decently computer savvy, charge a small fee for cleaning up slow running computers. My old 800Mhz Dell desktop can still outperform most personal computers that are four times as fast because I keep in squeaky clean of viruses, spyware, adware etc. Go door to door asking "Is your computer annoyingly slow? Got crap popping up on your screen all the time? Well I can help you solve that problem in 20 minutes." I figure you will get quite a few people who would pay $10 - $20 (Or way more!) for your few minutes of service. Simply install all Windows Updates on their computer, install Google Pop-Up Blocker, download and run the new Microsoft Anti-Spyware program and BAM....more efficient computer. I do this for friends all the time, and they can never thank me enough for saving them the frustration of a brand new computer that runs painfully slow because of spyware. I see a huge market for this service. This is a GREAT way for a computer savvy student to make some quick ca$h. Total costs for software = $0.00. Every program I mentioned was 100% free. Who says it takes money to make money??
East Factor Rating: ****

Of course these are only a select few ways to generate small amounts of cash. These ideas will most likely not get you rich, but making cash is better than sitting around and being idle! Also, the experience you gain from trying out these ideas is more valuable than anything learned sitting in a classroom.

Now go out there and make some !!!

Labels: business ideas, Money Experiments

Properly utilizing Google and other search engines is one of the keys to online business success. I don't spend a single cent advertising my online business that brings in between $500 and $1,000 per month. I have simply optimized the site for Google and the like.

Here is a quick guide on how to improve your PageRank.

What NOT to do:
DO NOT try to trick Google. I have done this before by creating a sleu of blogs that all linked to each other and my business. I was penalized for using "invisible" links that were the same color as the background and making a web of pointless links. Google recognized that I was "cheating" and dropped my PageRank to the point where I had the worst sales in years. It took me over 6 months to correct this mistake.

WHAT TO DO:
1.) Name all of your pages. Do not leave pages named www.whatever.com/Product123.html. Make sure you name your pages according to product names etc. such as www.Whatever.com/Cool_Flashing_Gizmo.html. This improves your chances of coming in a higher search result.

2.) Name your images. The images for your cool flashing gizmo should be named: "Cool_flashing_gizmo.jpg" etc.

3.) Update frequently. Leaving your site stale does nothing for you. Update something, ANYTHING, every two days. Search engines recognize your site is active, therefore boosting your credibility. Search engines will also crawl your site more often, allowing you to take advantage of recent updates.

4.) Create a blog for your business. Keep your customers updated with a nice business blog. Talk about your products and link to your business. A blog lets customers know that your business is active, and that there is a person on the other side of that website.

HOW DO I KNOW I'M RIGHT?
Try typing in "Miserable Failure" on Google. The first result is "The Biography of George W. Bush." This happened because a bunch of bloggers put links on their page like this: Miserable Failure. See what power we have!

EXPERIMENT
One of the top search keywords I get for my site is surprisingly "Starbucks Liquor" I did a post about it a while ago. I will make this link, Starbucks Liquor, and see how much it boosts my position when Googled. Right now I am the 8th result. If a couple other of you bloggers make the link Starbucks Liquor in your blog, with the link pointing to www.NevBlog.com, my position will move higher.

I had a goal of setting up a third, steady side income by 3.15.2005. Obviously that goal was due yesterday and I haven't set up anything new. My asnwer to that is to rejuvinate my efforts with Resumite.com. I see a lot of potential in this market towards the end of this school semester when people will be actively searching for jobs.

When I go back to Austin on Sunday, I will have a new 4-bedroom apartment waiting across the hall from my existing 2-bedroom thanks to the efforts of my roommate. He somehow managed to get our apartment upgraded without any moving fees!

On Thursday I will be attending a Zarthusti Chamber of Commerce meeting. Many memebers of the Zoroastrian community (I am Zoroastrian) are very well established in the business world, and it is nice to network and listen to what they have to say.

As I've mentioned before, I hate being idle. I am in Houston for Spring "Break" and like I planned it has been a great mixture of business and fun.

The business side is in the form of helping to market condos and several web designing projects on the side. I am also doing some accounting for my online business in the meantime.

I also finally got a chance to see the Lamborghini Gallardo of a family friend today.

I look a bit goofy in this picture, but I am revving up a brand new Lamborghini and I could care less!

I also took a visit to our local Honda dealship one beautiful day to check out the motorcycles:

Labels: Personal

As the school semester begins to wind down, student apartment complex's have kicked their marketing efforts into high gear.

I personally live in a student apartment, and it is nice to have only students living around me. The competition for tenents is fierce, so these complex's come up with all sorts of ways to market.

They give out all sorts of t-shirts, keychains, mugs, frisbee's etc on campus, but the most unique thing I saw was on Friday.

The UT Shuttle System has over 20,000 student riders per day. An SUV plastered with signs from a local apartment complex came to the bus stop with about 15 people waiting and handed out brown bag lunches which had a BBQ sandwich and soft drink inside each. They then gave T-shirt's to everyone, and said if they spot you wearing the shirt on Tuesday's they will give you $50 cash!

This random act of kindness very much impressed everyone, creating a good vibe for that certain apartment complex. As I attempt to market condos this weekend, I need to come up with a direct marketing method that's creative and cost efficient.

The Houston Rodeo is the largest rodeo anywhere in the world. It draws huge crowds who stick around for a livestock show, shopping, concerts, a carnival and lots of greasy foods.

One thing I noticed when I went today was the long lines at EVERY food concession stand, despite the prices:

• Pickle - $2.75
• Soft Drink - $3.00
• Funnel Cake - $5.00
• Chicken Leg - $7.00
• Regular Beer - $6.00

These prices may look familiar if you ever go to football games or amusement parks. The rodeo regulates the prices for these items, not allowing them to be sold for under a certain price. This price cooperation between vendors forces patrons to pay preposterous prices.

Thankfully free competition in the real world prevents prices from getting out of control! From the Rodeo's standpoint they had a good deal going. They had a complete monopoly on the food market, huge crowds, lots of hungry kids and parents with money to spend.

Lesson for Business Minded People: Fixed competition can be used to your advantage.

Res tantum valet quantum vendi potest

This is a Latin quotation which translates to: "A thing is worth only what someone else will pay for it"

I have this quote posted on my wall upon the advice of Burton Malkiel in A Random Walk Down Wall Street. I am attemting to sell condos this weekend, so I must keep this in mind.

I am in an Asian Studies class, and we have recently been discussing savings habits in Asia. I'm not sure about the recent facts, but many Chinese families save anywhere from 30% to 50% of their income!

This article shows that most Japanese households save roughly 29% of all disposable income.

Could you for one second imagine if EVERYONE in America saved 30% of disposable income? After the economic bubble burst a few years ago, layoffs would not have hurt as much. Most people would be able to stop working for several months while they find new income streams. Many people would be able to live 6-12 months soley off of "rainy day" accounts without having to touch their longterm savings or children's college funds.


Savings allows your money to pile up, and if you do not properly manage the urge to splurge, you will end up blowing it in all the wrong places.

I will only spend money on something if I can truly afford it. If something costs $1,000 I can obviously afford it (look to your right). BUT...Notice I do not have $1,000 in my designated spending account. Therefore, I will not buy the product even though I am capable of it.

Too many people THINK they can afford something just because they currently have the money to buy it. Wrong!

Labels: Financial

According to Yahoo Finance, these are the Top Ten Money Blogs Everyone Should Read.

1. MyMoneyBlog 2. PFblog 3. Neville's Financial Blog 4. Savvy Saver 5. The Budgeting Babe 6. FinanceProfessor.com 7. Consumerism Commentary 8. Maxed Out Generation 9. It's Your Money 10. Frugal For Life

Hmm..Yahoo Finance thinks everyone should read us. Looks like we've tipped an iceburg with the Personal Finance Blog!

Labels: Blogging

Well, judging from the comments, it seems people like Google Adsense slightly more than I do. Apparently I could make around $50 to $70 a month based on my site traffic (some sources I got elsewhere seemed conflicting), but I still will not partake in the program.

This blog was made in order for me to track my financial goals and track my progress, making money off the site would taint that. I know I would constantly check how much money I've made, and start making more posts that appeal to a broader audience if site traffic dictated how much money I make.

I generally wouldn't pass up an opportunity to make an easy $50 per month, but this time I'll let it slide! For all you bloggers who do use Adsense, I'll continue to give you a click on each visit :-)
Might as well help spread the wealth!

On another note, I go back to Houston on Friday where I will be selling some condos over Spring Break!

I'm a big fan of blogs which I can take some information away from, but one thing I've noticed is the very annoying presence of Google Adwords. They look disgusting, clutter the page and make it known the author wants some money for their blog.

That may be a harsh review, but I'd like to ask anyone who uses Adwords: How much money do you make off them per month? Also, how many clicks equate to what amount of money? Leave comments please, I am very curious.

Unless they generate hundreds of dollars per month, I refuse to put them on my site. I did a bit of research, and could find no reports of personal finance bloggers reporting their profits from Adwords.

I have a friend who runs a popular skiing website which makes a pretty comfortable living off Adwords, but his site gets a massive amount of traffic and draws people actively looking to make reservations, find new ski lodges etc.

Help me solve this question! Anyone with Adwords on their blog, let me know what you net!

Labels: Blogging

Since January 1st, 2005 I have made $2,213 out of my $11,000 goal for April 31st, 2005. Need to step this up! I've got less than 2 months and the goal is only 20% complete so far.

My investment account topped $1,000 after I distributed my work paycheck into different accounts. When it does this I usually put $500 into my stock portfolio, but I am holding off right now as other projects are in the works and may need some captial. The permanent savings account has reached the $6,000 mark and looks like it may need a new home. It is sitting there gaining some paultry interest rate.

I got my paycheck from work today, and I immediately stashed it away with the following percentages:

Investment Account - 35%
Permanent Savings - 35%
Spending Account - 20%
Bill Account - 10%
So out of a $271 paycheck I get to spend only 54 bucks on entertainment etc.

Current Financials:
General Account - $ 1,654
Spending Account - $ 85
Investment Account - $ 1,085
Bill Account - $ 327
Permanent Savings - $ 6,052
Stock Portfolio Value - $ 9,278
Total Liquid Assets - $ 18,481 (+240)

Labels: Financial

Syntel (SYNT), a stock of which I own 180 shares is giving out a $1.50 per share dividend at the end of March. This equates to a nice $270 "gift" for me :-)
The dividend announcement and declaration of a strong financial future has sent the Syntel stock upwards the last few days, putting me back in the black on this holding.

I've been focusing lately on stashing away some stocks for the long long long term, 30 or 40+ years. I have a few stocks in mind, but one area I want to further explore is batteries. Regardless of its function, pretty much every mobile device is getting more advanced, and using more energy.

I would like to invest in several firms or a fund specializing in long-lasting energy supplies for mobile devices. Battery technology has perpetually lagged behind the devices that they supply, and within my lifetime I expect that to change. I love my tablet PC and the portability it offers, but I hate having to plug in every 4 and a half hours. The convenience of a device which does not have to be charged every day would be worth paying for.

A company with a patented battery that could power different devices (phones, laptops, radios, golf carts etc.) for long periods would be a sure money maker, and a great stock to own!

I don't like the phrase "It takes money to make money"

If this were the case, no one would ever obtain wealth. Someone who cannot make money without money, probably can't make money with money either.

When you have money, you simply have a larger variety of money-making avenues to choose from. I'd like to revise the quote to say: "It's easier to make money with money"

When you are strapped for cash you simply have to be more creative to make your money!

Labels: Quotes

I'm sharing some more of the ideas I randomly write down in my tablet PC which could possibly be big money makers. Feel free to comment on these!

1.) Drycleaning ATM. Picking up dry cleaning during regular business hours is a pain, and very frustrating when you need certain clothes. Wouldn't it be nice to have a dry cleaning ATM? Drycleaners would LOVE this since it would eliminate the need for a person to attend the store for long hours. You could pick-up and drop off clothes at this ATM which would hold your account information on a current credit card or something of the sort. You could even type special cleaning instructions. The drawbacks to this system are: it would initially be expensive to install, the building where the dry cleaner is located would have to be specially outfitted with this system. If you could find a way to make an affordable and easy to use system like this, it would change the face of dry cleaning!

2.) Wind Energy. Wind farms are popping up everywhere. The only problem with wind farms are the price. Wind generated turbines are absolutely massive. The blades get larger than the span of a Boeing 747. Once set up in a good location these things generate killowatts of energy every year that you sell to the power company. Most power companies will give you a contract that buys 100% of the electricity you produce. These also qualify to get certain tax breaks, great for any large investment. An interesting note: In Austin they have a program where you can opt to buy only "green" electricity from the city. In just two years the demand for this clean energy has risen over 5-fold, meaning this type of clean energy is in high demand. Be warned, the small investor will have a hard time breaking into this market....BUT...an enterprising person with a small budget but lots of motivation can get funding from other investors easier than with other large products. This is because you can easily get a contract from an electric company to buy 100% of your product (electricity) for 10+ years.

3.) Tablet PC's. This is more of a trend than business idea. I have a Toshiba Portege Tablet PC, and I LOVE it. It is basically a regular laptop, but the mouse can be controlled with a pen. You can also flip the screen around and write directly on the screen, and it feels exactly like writing on paper. Have no doubt, the tablet trend will continue. I generally use it in regular laptop mode, but I use the pen instead of the mouse pad because the pen is FAR superior and faster. If you can identify a need for tablet PC's you can make a ton of money by getting in this budding market early. A family friend who sells wholesale computer equipment said, "I sell A LOT of tablet PC's, especially to large institutions and government agencies." The only idea I have to improve my tablet experience is the pen. You use it a lot, and it might be cool to have "customized tablet pens". These are more sophisticated than a regular stylus, as the screen is not touch sensitive (like a PDA), but the pen is what senses the touch. Most people don't realize this important difference. I'm sure if you play around with a Tablet enough you can find some other device that can make the experience more enjoyable. The most money in the tablet-improvement field will probably be in the software area, not hardware.

Labels: business ideas

I was interviewed by Wall Street Journal Online reporter Terri Cullen on Monday afternoon, and the article is out today:

Blogs Expose Personal Finance: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The article features other blogs such as:
PFBlog.com
Mymoneyblog.com
Iwillteachyoutoberich.com
The Budgeting Babe
Neville's Financial Blog
Savvy Saver blog
Insideblogging.com

Congrats to everyone who got a mention!

I really liked a particular quote Terri had:
"Another thing I liked about the blogs I visited was that most have yet to be consumed by the omnivorous beast that is GoogleAdSense."

Labels: Personal

Yesterday was an incredibly hectic day, but I just HAD to take time to see this guy speak. His name is Robert Sek. I first met him when he came to judge a Texas Entrepreneurs idea competition last year.

I think all the entrepreneurs out there would love to hear a condensed version of his story:

• His parents immigrated from Poland to the U.S. in hopes of making a better life for their children.
• He started his entrepreneurial career and the young age of 5 by selling bubblegum in kindergarten, mowing lawns in middle school and developing web sites in high school etc. to make a buck.
• At 15 he researched during one summer break for 3 months about the legality of f ake I D's vs. n.ove lty I D 's, finding that nov e1ty ID's were 100% legal to sell because of a loophole he had found in the federal laws pertaining to ID cards.
• With this information in hand, he knew there was a legal way to make the ID's. He then researched the in's and out's of starting a business.
• In his freshman year of college at the University of Texas in the Jester dorm (Same place where I lived!) he started his online n0v elty I D business.
• He went around the campus door-to-door trying to sell them with no success and a lot of discouraging words from friends.
• He then received his first order online. He charged $120 for an ID that cost him $.25 (yes, a quarter)
• Everytime he checked his mailbox he got more and more orders, sometimes 50+ at a time.
• In his freshman year he pulled in profits of $500,000! The next year he broke $1,000,000.
• The next year, the Senate held a sub-committee meeting on F a k e ID's and the internet to close the loophole Robert had discovered. As the current largest player in the online ID business, the government went after Sek's business just 20 days before he was about to shut it down himself. They went into his West Campus condo and confiscated everything they could find.
• No laws were broken and he decided to shut the business down.
• With his new found wealth he became an angel investor for several startup dot com's (This was during the internet boom in Austin).
• He started a number of companies, some of which were bought out, some of which failed.
• He lost a lot of money in the dot com bust, but then made it back through other ventures such as international trading, high-tech startups, online dating sites and much more.
• He is currently the founder of an upcoming company ThermaCode which has patented a barcode technology that reports when changes in temperature have occurred. With a great technology and Robert Sek at the helm, I don't think this company will have any trouble making untold fortunes!

The guy is a great speaker, extremely successful in his 20's and mentors many college students on starting their own companies. It's always great to hear him speak.

I had another article published today in the Daily Texan on savings for college students. You can check out the article online here.

The article has a few quotes from a fellow blogger at All Thing Financial. Thanks JLP!

Labels: Personal