There was a lot of positive response to my post two weeks ago about living carlessly for a year, so today we'll look at my financial situation and how I've been living with a very meager incoming cash-flow for the past year.

Though a little bit of money flowed in here and there via various freelance writing gigs and advertisements, it was by no means equivalent to a full-time salary. Over the past two months my incoming cash flow has increased more and more each day, but there's still a story to tell from the previous ten months.

Resigning in a Recession

One year ago I resigned from my full-time job as a Senior Tax Administrator at State Street Bank. While my time at State Street was beneficial and lucrative, it simply wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Armed with that knowledge and a hefty savings account I turned in my resignation letter and looked to the future.

A lot has already been written on why starting a company during a recession might be a wise choice, but let me go over a few points briefly [also check out Paul Graham's "Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy" post and this article from the UK Times Business section by Rachel Bridge).

Five reasons to start a business in a poor economy:

1. You might lose your job; a side business provides a safety net.
2. You likely won't earn a big raise, so you'll lose less by quitting in a recession.
3. Prices and thus costs will drop during a recession.
4. If you can succeed in a recession, you'll thrive when we recover.
5. Value will be a priority for everyone, new companies can gain business by pricing low.

Successful Savings

At the time, I had no real plan about how I'd make money but honestly, it did not concern me. Nearly all my friends and family members were shocked by my resignation. After all, every economic indicator was pointing to a long term recession in the United States and global economies. A lot of people thought it was foolish to leave a well paying job to pursue my passions, especially when I did not know exactly what those passions were!

Readers of My Last Name Means Money know my opinion that storing as much money as you can in online savings accounts is vitally important to your success and tolerance for risk. It's an obvious tip, but one I implemented very well. Once my savings account reached a level where it could fund my lifestyle for at least six months, the risk became bearable.

Wise Investments

A big reason my savings account is still supporting me is that I aimed to withdraw money only when necessary. There were many times I failed and made foolish expenditures, but for the most part I stuck with the plan and still have enough cash to ride me through the next six months. Overestimating how much money was needed to survive for six months also gave me plenty of leeway to afford those not so wise spending decisions.

A big use of my savings account went towards investments that led to a simpler lifestyle that was easier to afford. My used bicycle easily paid for itself countless times now through improved health, lowered transportation costs and free entertainment. It also gave me plenty of time to think while pedaling about the city of Boston. Time to think is a very valuable asset.

Another investment was continuing to be a Boston Celtics season ticket holder. Though it was a huge use of my money, most of the tickets ended up getting sold to friends at face value. Sure, that cash didn't earn any interest but I was able to hook up my friends with Celtics tickets and hold a great contest at The 42nd Estate to win a pair of Celtics playoff tickets. It's a product that has maintained it's value and allowed me to get back money throughout the year that otherwise might have been spent on a trip or other use that I could not re-sell.

I also continued to pay down my student loans and am now less than $3,000 away from being completely debt-free! The wisest investment I made by far, however, is the one I did not make. When I resigned from State Street I also elected to not re-invest my 401k into an IRA. Instead, the money has sat in a Citibank account as liquid cash. I would take a hit on cashing out my retirement account early so for now it sits there earning a little interest, which is immensely better than losing half its value in the stock market. Sometimes doing nothing is the best action.

Dow Jones Index for the past year, down 5,000+ points, -41%

A few not so wise expenditures:

• Xbox 360 Console - great release for frustration but no time to play with it.
• Second bike and bike frame - planned to fix up the first one and build a bike from scratch but again, no time.
• Countless domain variations of the42ndesate.com - a few were OK but I went way overboard with this one.

Pinpointing my Passions

Along the way many, many mistakes were made, but these mistakes enabled me to learn about myself and my true passions. Sometime in November/December I realized my passion was right in front of my face the entire time. I love blogging and social media and spent a lot of time learning and growing my knowledge in those fields. It was then that we began an overhaul of The 42nd Estate. We recently pushed out a new design and began publicizing our service offerings:

• Freelance writing
• Blog & social media consulting
• Web hosting

Over the past few years, I picked up a lot of knowledge about blogging, writing and maintaining Wordpress installations. I also spent a lot of time researching how to tweak our servers and picking the brains of my buddies who are experts in the field, which has enabled us to begin offering hosting to clients who need it. I am by no means the world's most authoritative source in any of these fields, but I also realized I don't need to be. My goal was never to strike it rich, but merely to afford a simple lifestyle while using my knowledge to help other people and organizations become successful.

Over the past few months The 42nd Estate has begun acquiring more and more clients each month and genuinely helping people become successful. It's a great feeling to finally discover your passion and realize it can be your job too. And that, my friends, is why the word "nearly" is in the title, cash-flow free for nearly a year!

Photo of all that cash is by Tracy O. Thanks Tracy!

In our world of growing economic uncertainty (thanks bailout!), let's take a look at some posts from my past that shed a little bit of light onto today's economic issues:

1. AIG and General Re Fraud

Right near the start of this blog, this post about AIG and General Re corporation points out that AIG simply put, is a corrupt corporation. The post is a revision of an essay I wrote (with a classmate--group project style) for an accounting course at the Northeastern University, in it we discussed how AIG essentially purposely accounted for insurance premiums as pure revenue in an attempt to inflate the value of AIG. The purpose of the essay was to examine if the Sarbanes-Oxley Act would prevent accounting fraud; we concluded that:

AIG intended to commit fraud, planned how to cover the fraud, committed the fraud, and then put into action their cover up plan. No act, no matter how strict, can force someone to tell the truth and to play the game fairly.

Hopefully now you understand why I was so furious at the federal government rewarding AIG with federal loans.

2. U.S. GAAP vs. I.F.R.S vs. Unified GAAP

In this essay I examine the differences between the US, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, accounting system and the more commonly used international system, International Financial Reporting Standards. The crux of the essay is that the US G.A.A.P. system relies on rules while the I.F.R.S. relies on principles. This seemingly small semantic detail actually creates a huge difference, as the US system is open to interpretation and loopholes while the I.F.R.S. provides guidance and covers more area and thus leaves less loopholes. An apt analogy is that the G.A.A.P. system promotes the letter of the law while the I.F.R.S system promotes the spirit of the law. In reality, we see many, many more instances of accounting fraud in the US and in my amateur opinion it is due to the loopholes in the US system. A telling sign is that the US is adopting more and more international standards as we move towards a global accounting system.

3. The Rise of Corporate Fascism in America

In this post I look at the rise of power by the corporations, from gaining person-hood to an ever increasing influence over government. The next two paragraphs are quoted directly from the posts and explain our current economic crisis damn well:

The State is not only implicit in the growth of power in corporate management, but also suffers a loss of power to promote that growth. By replacing charters with incorporation laws, the State gave up its power to supervise capital contributions to corporations. Thus corporations began accepting property in exchange for stock rather than being forced to accept cash for stock. As property must be appraised, mis-valuations were a natural aspect of this exchange and could be used fraudulently, as long as the corporate management appeared ignorant.

Thus, the corporation itself, and to a lesser extent it’s management, took power from the other two parties, making itself the most omnipotent force on our planet. Yet the State would not stand idly by while it’s power was used by the corporation. So the State separated itself from the public, from the people, as they were merely interested in living their lives, and did not care much for this whole power competition. As State and corporate battled, they eventually found out they had a lot in common and decided to unite, and conspire to obtain the last remaining morsel of power from the public, from the people.

We've seen direct evidence of this separation of the government from the people the last few days as the majority of Americans decried the bailout yet congress still jammed it down our throats.

4. Modern Globalization: The Perversion of the Word Free

Over the past few weeks, many people have screamed and yelled and shouted that the free market is to blame for every evil brought upon the world. Yet, we have not seen a free market here in the United States nor on the global scale in a very, very long time. The argument is simple, we are currently living in a free market system, why can I not buy a Cuban cigar?

Or put another way:

While, I wholeheartedly agree that free economic trade between nations will lead to benefits for all nations, the current globalization strategy does not promote free trade, but rather institutes pseudo-free economies with control shifting out of individual nation’s hands and towards global organizations with the interests of the most prosperous nations as a priority.

If we actually allowed free trade, our current economic crisis simply would not have occurred. I do not disagree that there ought to be regulations (based on principles, not rules) but we should not ban items from being traded and then call it a free market!

5. You Can Change the World, But Do You Know How to?

We'll end on a good, positive, optimistic note, and discuss how we can change the world for the better, with social entrepreneurship as a model. The grandfather of social entrepreneurship, Bill Drayton, is the focus of this post. We take a look at Bill's work at the EPA and his role in founding Ashoka, a non-profit group that provide social entrepreneurs with the capital they so desperately need to achieve their goals. It's amazing how little capital some of theses entrepreneurs need to create a huge positive impact on their communities and the story of Mr. Drayton and the social entrepreneurs he helps is an inspiring story for us all.

Though there are many reasons for the success of Ashoka and Bill Drayton, his belief in himself and his ideas allowed Bill to seize an opportunity and create an organization that empowers social entrepreneurs around the globe to improve their societies via business logic. Much like Bill's vision of emissions trading took hold twenty years after the original idea, Ashoka's vision of a world where individuals have the power and confidence to change their own communities and society at large is gaining ground quickly. Soon, hopefully, people will laugh at the thought of I'm just one person, I can't change the world.

6. Notes on the Bank Bailout Bill, Economy & Other News

OK, technically this post is not from the past (it's actually from the future!) and it's not even from this blog, but I'm adding it in (after the fact) in case any of you would like to see my take on the past week's worth of economic news head on over to My Last Name Means Money. There's quite a bit to digest, from CEO face punches to the next economic crisis down the road to discussions of how corporations would be better off without their CEOs! Check it out if you'd like to get caught up on the most important economic news of the week in one spot, and without (too much) fear mongering!

Hopefully you find at least one of these classic posts intriguing and thought provoking. If there's enough of a positive response I'll consider running another of these posts from the pasts down the road.

Have a great weekend everyone and I'll see ya on the other side!

Last Friday I promised everyone some big, big news involving The 42nd Estate and today it's delivered!

It's with great honor that we're introducing Justin Wright as the newest member of The 42nd Estate!

For those of you who don't know, Justin blogs over at Life of Justin about his trips, hiking expeditions, workplace shenanigans, skating and other interesting topics. Justin has proven himself quite adept at blogging and is going to be an extremely valuable addition to our team.

He's already helped us out a great deal by creating the great looking logo at We Demand Videos! as well as submitting a few high traffic videos. His experience in web design, graphics, and social marketing will complement the many talents of the existing members of The 42nd Estate quite nicely and really help move the company a few steps closer to our goals.

Pretty big news, eh?

It's time once again for the latest edition in the greatest (and really only) series on this site, that's right it's Web Quotes and Counterpoints IX - The 42nd Estate Edition!

As you've surely surmised from the tantalizing title, this time around the web we'll focus on The 42nd Estate and its vast repertoire of web-sites. The last time we spoke about my company we announced a few sites that we're working on, one of which is a reviews magazine. Well, over on The 42nd Estate's blog we're taking a sneak preview look at OTIBR.com, Only the Internet's Best Reviews. If you're curious how the site will look make sure to check out the latest post there for two screen captures of OTIBR. We've also chosen a launch date, September 29th 2008, so keep your calendars free that day!

In other news around The 42nd Estate network, yesterday was wicked productive as we took a site from idea to purchase to setup to launch over the course of one day! The site is called We Demand Videos!

As you might've guessed, it revolves around videos of all kinds, from comedy to action to politics and beyond. We do not focus on any one niche of videos, but rather comb through youtube for videos we enjoy and nearly guarantee you will too. For anyone wondering what the deal is with the #42 and The 42nd Estate's obsession with it, check out this video clip from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie, which should better explain it.

To anyone whose checked out my about page here and found it, ahem, lacking, well now is your chance to find out more about yours truly in a much more informative post where I introduced myself to The 42nd Estate's fans. Check out that super awesome t-shirt I'm sporting!

Oh, and speaking of those wonderful fans of The 42nd Estate, we've setup a facebook page so you can show your support, get updates and be our facebook fans. While you're there RSVP for the otibr.com launch too! Note the wall post announcing the DVD giveaway (more details to come).

Well, that's quite the whirlwind of activity for this edition. Let me wrap it up by letting everyone know that I'm truly excited for the OTIBR.com launch, the recent addition of We Demand Videos! to our network and the other exciting events on the horizon. Thanks to all the hard working members of The 42nd Estate and our great fans all across the world.

That does it for this edition of Web Quotes and Counterpoints.

We are you are us.

A few weeks ago I wrote about my company, The 42nd Estate LLC. Well, over this past Labor Day weekend the company's main site launched! You can check it out at the42ndestate.com. We're also planning on launching a few of the sites owned by The 42nd Estate this month. On the schedule we have:

• a general reviews site (send us an e-mail if you'd like your blog reviewed!)
• a money management blog (written by yours truly, Mr. Money!)
• an aspiring model's portfolio
• a science fiction story about our world (but not our world)
• a site for and by boston bicyclists

The reviews site should be live first, so send in those blogs or sites for review! Of course, if you subscribe to The 42nd Estate's blog [or via e-mail] you can stay up to date on each site's launch, though I'll also mention it here.

We are you are us!

A while back I started a huge digital cleaning session. My e-mail inbox was well into the thousands, so I started archiving older messages. It's unbelievable how many random web sites, mostly social network betas, I signed up for that I only used once or twice. The worst is ones where they constantly e-mail you asking you to log in since it's been a few months. It makes the site seem desperate and sad and bugs the heck out of the user. Anyway, now my inbox routinely stays under 100 messages.

My RSS feed reader was also well over a hundred feeds and quickly kept multiplying how many unread posts it contained (well into the thousands). RSS technology is great because it's so simple, easy, and quick to sign up for site updates but also dangerous because it's just as simple, easy, and quick to get overloaded with information! My feed reader now sits at 17 feeds (not counting a 404 report for this site and three delicious tag feeds) with only 51 unread posts (all of which are three delicious tag feeds).

Speaking of those tags, a while back I blogged about del.ico.us tags [yes, I know they dropped the dots but I haven't!] and how they're useful to setup a system of tasks, such as toread, toblog, tobuy etc.

Well, I realized I've rarely blogged about the items in my toblog tag so to solve this issue here's a nice quick list of six things I was gonna blog about but didn't for some lame reason(s) but now that I'm motivated we'll bounce through them quickly and painlessly. I have a total of 54 toblog stories saved, so watch out for a few more quick post n run style articles!

1. Ron Paul hoped to make an impact in New Hampshire primary

On the surface, New Hampshire seems like the ideal place for Ron Paul's libertarian platform, the state motto is, after all, "Live Free or Die". The results show Ron only scored 7.7 % of the state's votes, which makes me skeptical of something; either New Hampshire does not care about living free anymore or the vote was rigged or voters don't vote well (methinks it's a combination of all three).

2. Cream of Boston

Are you a young sexy Bostonian? If so, Cream of Boston wants you to sign up for their exclusive dating site for hot people only! I'm not sure quite how I feel about this site yet. Perhaps after I apply and get rejected I'll form a stronger opinion. As for now, it is what it is. Alternatively, if you're a smart and hot girl living in the Boston area you can join a much more exclusive club by simply dropping me an e-mail for more, ahem, details!



3. The Gentrification of my neighborhood continues?

When I was younger I really hated the influx of richer, more "sophisticated" people into my neighborhood. All of a sudden BMW's, cafes, and other signs of the yuppy started showing up in my beloved ghetto fabulous hood. Well, now that I'm older and umm, more "sophisticated", I welcome the newbies to my hood! Our neighborhood has changed a whole lot over the past ten years, and reflecting back it has certainly changed for the better. There's a bunch of awesome new restaurants and other businesses (The Avenue Grille, Real Tacos, Astra Salon, Sugar Bowl Cafe), a lot more students from UMASS Boston and a whole ton of renovated triple deckers acting as condominiums.

Well, the trend continues with a proposed new development at the Bayside Expo Center, with a bunch of new shops and office buildings, and I welcome the proposals and new developments. The Bayside Expo Center is quickly turning into an eyesore in an otherwise great area. If you haven't been to the Dorchester waterfront behind the Bayside Expo Center go soon! It's now a part of the Boston Harborwalk and is a very nice place to go for a stroll.

4. Dorchester, the most up and coming neighborhood!

As a Dot rat born and raised, at first I was skeptical of all the praise my grimey neighborhood was getting but now love it! In March of last year Business Week named Dorchester as Boston's most up and coming neighborhood. It's always been the biggest and most populated part of Boston but perhaps soon it'll also be one of the nicest places to live. Even now it's diversity and sheer size makes it a wicked exciting place to live. Rock on Dot!

5. Rock The Earth

Honestly not sure why I bookmarked this site but it's a non-profit that helps the music industry and its fans act more sustain-ably. I find this a bit ironic as the giant worldwide tours big musicians go on create such a large amount of pollution that it's a bit hypocritical to ask their fans to cut back. It's a bit like Al Gore preaching the green lifestyle while he jet-sets around the world. PUHLEEEZE!

6. Massachussets woman commits suicide because of home foreclosure.

So big bad corporations get bailed out when they frack up but honest working class people are criminals who don't pay their bills?!?!

Here's a plan, the U.S. government bails out the people with a mortgage instead of the rich corporation. Call it trickle up economics. The poor and middle class people get mortgage only money to pay for their homes, thus keeping their homes and keeping the mortgage companies afloat.

It's a win-win situation except for the smart and humble Americans who paid for their homes. People like my mom who slowly but surely paid for a house she could (barely) afford.

What a mess. People are dying and becoming homeless while corporations get bailed out by the taxpayers. It's not government, it's a racket!

Socialism for the rich, welfare for the poor and capitalism for the rest of us!

OK, now that I'm all outraged and angry let's end this edition of Webquotes and Counterpoints so I can cool off a bit!

That's six toblog stories down, 48 more to go.

Apple's great customer service comes through! A few days ago my iPhone stopped responding to any and all inputs. Even iTunes would not see the device. Well, Darrin, the Apple genius guy, was able to get my old iPhone working but still exchanged it for a brand new iPhone just because of all the issues I had with my old model.

Turns out my old iPhone was still under warranty so everything was covered under the original warranty. Still, it makes me wonder what will happen if I have issues with this phone, especially since Apple does not extend the warranty out when the phone is exchanged. Already, it seems that it's not super-responsive and isn't pulling my e-mails as seamlessly as before (I have to keep pressing refresh before any mail shows up). Still, I'll chalk it up to breaking this new iPhone in, but if it doesn't work perfectly in a week or two I might be taking another trip to the Apple store.

I just received an e-mail from the Executive Vice President of HSBC Direct informing me that HSBC is once again dropping the interest rate on my online savings account, this time from 3.55% to 3.05%! Aaargh! At least it's only dropped by .5% but it's still frustrating, especially considering the savings rate started at 5.05% and rose to 5.55% Of course, I knew this drop would happen sooner or later once the Federal Reserve dropped its interest rate from 3% to 2.25% but it's still frustrating.

I've got nothing substantive to add, just wanted to vent.

I just logged into Hulu today for the first time since the site went public and noticed they've add full-length movies to their video collection. This addition is great news, but from my very limited time checking out the movie section, it seems advertisements still pop up during the movie. I understand that advertisements fuel this site, but there must be a less intrusive way of advertising than to halt a movie and thus ruin the effect of being drawn into the story. For now, this new feature does not alter my original review score of Hulu but does make the site more attractive.