TapStrike Today

One thing none of us want to think about is our own deaths. Beyond the fact that we’d no longer be able to experience life, we can also leave our families with huge obligations. From loans, mortgages to more complex expenses that our passing would force our families and loved ones to cope with;…



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Finally, it’s time to implement what I have been talking about on my blog over the last year or so - it’s time to address lifestyle inflation!

The first salary after getting a job is always a tempting excuse to indulge in a shopping spree. Plus, a new unfurnished apartment cries desperately for a several-hundred-dollars expenditure on furniture/bed/accessories.

However, with great restraint, I have finally managed to convince myself back into a sleeping bag. I have had some good (and prolonged) experience with sleeping bags, so I don’t mind it.

Also, most other things were acquired at much lower costs than what I had imagined earlier (new leather shoes - $50, trousers - about $25 each , shirts - about $20 each, etc.) - so most of the inflationary items have been under control. Plus, I threw away an incredible number of clothes/accessories during my moving/clean-up spree - so I ended up with a lot less “stuff” in the new apartment.

May be it’s lifestyle deflation or whatever… but it certainly feels good to carry less baggage and live light.

odds and ends, personal

I don’t know what to call this passport photo business, so I am just going to stick with “stupid ripoff” for now.

During the weekend, we went into a CVS Pharmacy Photo Center to get some passport/ID photos. We wanted a specific size (as they say “from chin to crown”), so we asked the dude who was attending the photo center whether he can adjust the size. Pat came his reply “No, we just print the standard 2″ by 2″ photo and we can’t adjust any proportions“.

I asked him “But, don’t you have a software where you center the face in the photograph and mark the upper and lower boundaries for the face? All we have to do is to adjust those boundaries and then we can cut the photographs to the size we want - and approximately in the proportion we want“. He didn’t seem too impressed with the knowledge and insisted that he won’t do anything other than the standard 2″ by 2″ without any editing.

So we left the shop, and wondered why the heck they charge $7.99 if they wouldn’t do anything other than click the photograph and print it. Camera rental charges or something? - perhaps they use expensive digital SLRs to get good pictures (wishful thoughts).

Anyways, we then visited a Walgreen’s Photo Center and again got the same story. Next, we again tried a CVS - a different one this time - just to see if one of these “Kodak Certified” dudes could get our photographs the way we wanted. But we met with the same disappointment at this location too.

Finally, we surrendered and asked the CVS guy to click passport sized photos for one of us. We confirmed the price and he said $7.99 for two copies - additional copies will cost extra.

We decided to try it out with two copies to start with.

While we waited for the photos to print out, I saw (with my own eyes) that the photographs were printed on a 4″ x 6″ photo paper - and there were 6 copies on it. Then the dude coolly cut away 4 copies, disposed them, and handed us the remaining two copies.

WTF!?

Man, does CVS implement this type of idiotic business at all it’s photo centers?

Plus, the photos he printed didn’t look sharp at all - pretty sure it was some crappy point-and-shoot camera that didn’t do a very good job of focusing. When we pointed that out, he was like “Oh really? don’t worry all photos printed here look like that and no one ever came back because a photo was not accepted“. Wow! that’s an awesome argument to complement a crappy service.

What’s wrong with these photo centers. Why should a passport photo - clicked by a mediocre digital camera - without any studio-type lighting arrangements - without any professional photographers, cost $7.99?

Just to be sure that I am on the right side of statistics, we checked out another CVS Photo Center and two Walgreens Photo Centers - and got similar less-than-average-quality pictures, overpriced at $7.99 for two copies - topped with a totally unprofessional approach towards clicking good photographs.

Eventually, we gave up on these photo centers and decided to make our own pictures. Bought a 2 yard long white cloth (for background) from Walmart for $2, used our digital camera, adjusted the brightness and contrast in Photoshop, used this free service that lets you size your photos according to your requirements, and printed them again at Walmart (through their online photo service).

Total cost for 32 excellent passport/ID photographs: $2 for the white cloth and about $1 for photo printing = $3 (took a little bit of time with the Photoshop editing, but we were absolutely happy with the end result).

Down with $7.99 for two crappy photos!

consumerism, musings

I thought this was pretty interesting.

Tata Motors, India’s largest automobile company, unveiled the world’s cheapest car today - according to a press release on the company’s website. This brand new two-cylinder vehicle is priced at INR (Indian Rupee) 100,000 equivalent to $2549 US dollars.

Image source: www.tatapeoplescar.com

Honestly, when I heard about this concept more than an year ago, I thought the project will sort of fizzle out eventually because of cost inflation and gross underestimation of technological challenges. Now, I stand corrected.

By the way, on a side note, Tata Motors is also in talks with Ford to buy Jaguar and Land Rover businesses.

If you think oil prices are high now, wait till this $2549 car becomes popular. It should be noted that “popular” has a totally different meaning when we are talking about a country with 1 billion people. But it could have been worse …. we are fortunate that China isn’t making any $1000 cars …. yet.

news, odds and ends

Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life

I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the waiting had begun
And headed straight..into the shining sun

- Coming Back to Life - Pink Floyd (The Division Bell) (video)

I don’t know why, but I feel sort of connected with that song about now.

After 6.5 years of considerable efforts (not always successful) and some really bold and unconventional steps (and super-anxious waits) in the last few months, I finally have a job/career I have been dreaming about for a long time. I feel rejuvenated. Alive. Back to life.

However, this dream comes at the cost of another dream: my PhD degree. It was extremely painful to let go of several hundred hours of research and painstaking work, but ultimately, I had to be more practical than theoretical.

I don’t know how long this goodness is going to last, but I am going to enjoy it as long as it does.

With major distractions out of the way now, the inspiration to blog is slowly coming back to life too.

personal

There are so many things happening in our lives right now that I don’t really have the time (or the patience) to elaborate on all of them. However, I just wanted to post a few words to say that I am still alive!

Here is the latest development. After a few days of research into various compact cars, we finally went ahead and bought a 2008 Honda Civic for ourselves.

Long-time readers of this blog will remember that we purchased a 2005 Toyota Corolla less than 6 months ago.

Obviously, a lot has happened since then to warrant the purchase of the new Honda.

Astute readers will quickly draw conclusions based on this, this, and this.

personal

This is rather obvious, but not much appreciated in day-to-day life, so I thought of giving it a shout-out.

Over the last couple of months, I have been in the process of eagerly seeking a change in my current graduate student lifestyle. A part of this change, would come in the form of a real-life job in an industry. Those who have been following this blog since the beginning are probably aware of the fact that I have been studying towards my PhD - and wasn’t all too happy about the way things have been going for a long time. Finally, sometime in the last couple of months, I bought an artificial backbone from Dogbert at an enormous price ( ) and that has given me the necessary courage to create my own destiny instead of relying on some general-purpose ignorant idiots. Looking for a job at this juncture is probably going to cost me my PhD degree, but I think I can live in peace even without those three alphabets.

Anyways, after I conveyed my thoughts to my superiors, it has been really interesting to observe a change in their attitude towards me. My time and knowledge of certain things (which were utterly disregarded till this point) have now suddenly become top priorities for some folks. People are now really listening to what I want to say and I am hearing a few good words about the work that I have done so far. [Either that, or it’s just like people are obligated to say good things about you when you are gone (cough*eulogy*cough). :)]. All in all, it’s almost exactly opposite of what has been going on so far and it sure feels good - although it’s too late for any amends at this point.

It’s probably human nature to take certain things for granted - till those certain things become hard to come by. This happens to the best of us when it comes to money, character, relationships, and other important assets. Unfortunately, the value of such assets is almost always appreciated only near the breaking point - when you are about to lose an asset, or have just lost it and when it’s too late to regret.

In this spirit, let’s take a moment to recognize and appreciate our hidden assets (whatever they may be) - let’s do it right now … before it’s too late.

musings, personal finance

• Ten Things I Hate About Monster.com’s Job Search by Lazy @ Lazy Man and Money.
• “So When You’re Rich, You Won’t Have To Be Frugal,” He Told Me by Sharon @ The Frugal Duchess.
• Thoughts on the Subprime Mortgage Bailout by Nickel @ Five Cent Nickel.
• Dealing With Setbacks, My Two Cents Worth by Rob In Madrid (guest author) at Blogging Away Debt.
• Worried About Paying For College? Then Don’t! by MBH @ Mighty Bargain Hunter.
• Finding the Funds That Beat the S&P 500 by Sun @ The Sun’s Financial Diary.
• The Straw That Broke My Camel’s Back: Rate Locks For Stupid Mortgage Borrowers by Nick @ Punny Money.
• The Mortgage Mess - A Few ‘No Credit Needed’ Thoughts by NCN @ No Credit Needed.
• Where Should You Put Your Cash? 5 Steps To Safety by SVB @ The Digerati Life.
• Dealing With the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) by Jeremy @ Generation X Finance.
• 7 Responsible Ways To Spend Your Holiday Bonus by Jim @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
• Money Resolutions for a Financially Secure New Year by Ben @ Money Smart Life.
• More Reasons to Turn Down a Job Offer by FMF @ Free Money Finance.
• How To Avoid Counterfeit Goods This Christmas by Patrick @ Cash Money Life.
• Investing: How Following Top Performing Stocks Can Guarantee You a Loss @ Mrs. Micah.

blogs roundup

Let’s sing a slightly different tune with this post - instead of the usual debt bashing. When I say “bad” debt, I am referring to the “good debt, bad debt” terminology that’s gathering some attention in financial circles - I am not referring to it in a classic technical definition point of view as “the portion of receivables that can no longer be collected“.

To understand the significance of debt in general, it’s instructive to imagine a society in which the facility to borrow money does not exist at all. Think in terms of education, industrial development, housing “requirements”, entrepreneurial endeavors, emergencies, and other aspects of our life that involve borrowing (and lending) money in some form or other.

While you are at it, try answering these questions: Would you be willing to wait till you are 35 years of age for higher education (think in terms of advanced graduate, law, medical degrees, etc.) - at which time you could probably pay for your entire education with cash in hand? Would you be willing to wait till you are 60 before you buy a home with your savings? How would you even start setting up a promising company/small business unit (say for example, a manufacturing unit) that would probably require a couple of million dollars of initial funding?

The common crucial denominator in the above issues is time - with respect to the psychological and physical (monetary) value associated with it. There are certain things in life that need to happen at the right time - whether you have the financial resources available at that time or not. In light of this, debt should be viewed not just as financial leverage - but also as leverage against time and as such, it has an enormous value when applied correctly.

In layman terms, the correct application of debt requires understanding the concept as timely financial help borrowed in the anticipation of future earnings. Most of the times, the part that says “anticipation of future earnings” is ignored or undermined or totally miscalculated and that’s where problems start appearing. Some people probably tend forget that any borrowed stuff needs to be returned in a timely manner and then, all of a sudden, money borrowed for good purposes becomes “bad debt”.

I think it’s naive to only bring up negative connotations associated with credit card business, payday loans, and subprime mortgages when talking about debt and painting the whole concept of borrowing money with a broad “debt is slavery” brush. Debt is slavery only when we use it mindlessly.

In summary, there is no such thing as “bad” debt - there is just bad implementation, unreasonable temptation, and occasional miscalculation. Like most financial issues, debt is simply a question of affordability and feasibility - there is absolutely nothing profoundly bad about it. Just my two cents.

debt, personal finance

• What Should Individual Investors Do With All the Fear in the Stock Market Right Now by David @ Money Ning.
• Invest in Yourself by Learning Things of Value by MBH @ Mighty Bargain Hunter.
• Idiots Who Cause Car Accidents and Block Traffic Cost You $18 Million A Year by Nick @ Punny Money.
• A Visual History of the Stock Market From 1996 - 2007 by Jeremy @ Generation X Finance.
• Making A Break With The Past - Changing Habits And Thinking Long Term About Personal Finances by NCN @ No Credit Needed.
• Eight Quick Takes on an Icy December Day by Trent @ The Simple Dollar.
• How Much Are You Really Saving With Holiday Deals? by Ben @ Money Smart Life.
• Performance of My Defensive Stocks by Sun @ The Sun’s Financial Diary.
• The Lies That (Some) Financial Advisers Tell by Nickel @ Five Cent Nickel.
• Is Software Development Slowly Killing Me? by Lazy @ Lazy Man and Money.
• How To Find The Perfect Gift For The Lady In Your Life by SVB @ The Digerati Life.
• 7 Irresponsible & Fun Ways To Spend Your Holiday Bonus by Jim @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
• How to Buy a Car for Cash by FMF @ Free Money Finance.

blogs roundup