Pixel Posybytes of life

Some guys propose dripping with sweat while mowing the lawn… other guys create a blog???

http://proposalplan.blogspot.com/

Right out of school I was very careful to never put on a credit card what I couldn’t pay off in full before the due date. Then I met my husband, bought a car, bought a house and had a heck of a wedding and honeymoon; debt came along with all those joyous things. Now that life has started to settle into some everyday normalcy and in face of salary freezes, salary reductions and the unsettling feeling of not knowing if your number is up in the next round of layoffs, getting rid of debt has never been more important.

Similar to the 60% solution, a budget plan that helps you avoid getting yourself into debt in the first place, the snowball debt solution is just one of many ways to approach finances. The idea is pretty basic.

• Continue to make all minimum payments on time
• STOP using all credit cards and refrain from taking on new debt.
• Rank your current debts either in order of interest rate or balance (more on this later)
• Apply any spare cash to the first debt in your rank
• When that debt is paid off combine the minimum payment plus any spare cash and apply it to the second debt. Repeat this step combining each minimum payment and putting it towards the next debt until the last one is paid off. Your minimum payment grows bigger as each debt is eliminated, and combining funds in this way allows you to pay off all of the debts faster, hence the snowball effect.

There are two approaches to ranking your debt, neither is right or wrong, it’s more a matter of personal preference and what your goal is.

1. In Order of Balance, lowest to highest. This method pays off your lowest balances first giving you instant gratification and freeing up some minimum payment funds sooner. The downside is you’ll pay more in interest due to your higher interest debts paying off last and it may even take longer.
2. In Order of Interest Rate, highest to lowest. This method focuses on paying the least amount of interest possible, but it may be slow going at the start. The snowball effect will kick in faster once you get through the first couple debts.

The simplest way to compare these two methods is this handy cost calculator.

And if all else fails try Court’s tips from This is Dorm Life.

This artist uses time lapse, tilt-shift and some post editing trickery to make an amazing effect of a miniature world.

I was really nervous for the little man at first!

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Stumbled upon this lovely little youtube series featuring Jolene Sugarbaker. This episode shows you how to make your very own trailer air freshener with a baby food jar, plain gelatin and some dollar store scented oil.

User comment from Tamar1973:

2 ways to make this recipe more environmentally friendly:
1. make sure to use vegetarian gelatin
2. use therapeutic grade essential oils rather than scented oil from the dollar store.

This video is a clip from Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Comedian Louis C.K. brings up what an amazing time we live in for technology and how quickly we all grow accustomed to living with it. Something like smart phones that didn’t exist all that long ago, are met with complaints as soon as a new model comes out. It may seem ungrateful to complain about the latest hot thing instead of marveling in its wonder, but hopefully those gripes turn into further improvements and advances. If we were all satisfied with the rotary phone, would we ever have invented a cell phone?