Cub scout Den Leader - Really makes a difference cause I have a few boys whose dad isn't really around, and I get to be their male role model.
Numismatics - Expensive as hell, but can be done on a cheaper scale. I started out broad and have narrowed my focus to Mexican coinage of the first and second republic from a specific mint. The research into it may eventually lead to a book, as virtually no reference material exists at the moment. There is something pretty cool in holding a coin that is a few hundred years old and imagining who held it, the stories it could tell, and viewing the art associated with it.
Crossfit / Olympic Lifting. I started Crossfit, I found I enjoyed it but really sucked at the olympic lifting. Then my box started a class specific on the fundamentals of olympic lifting, now I'm hooked on both. It's good to get out from behind the desk, move and jump and lift. It can be bad though, I've seen bad boxes where one can hurt themselves easily. It really comes down to the coaches and you making smart decisions.
Finally Wood working - I love creating furniture most of all and am at the point where my extended family have started asking me to make furniture pieces for them. There is something about starting out with several pieces of wood and ending up with a finished product that you've made with your own hands... Although I can point out every flaw in every piece I've ever created!
Practice. Practice Practice. Also workshops, find a small wood shop in your area. We have woodcraft here, which offers various classes on the weekends. Most small colleges also still have some wood working courses.
I agree, Having a watch like that is not the good life, it's a fast track to being really broke and being deeply in debt. Granted, there are some people who can afford to buy a watch like this, Warren buffet being one... But he lives in an old modest home in the middle of no where, drives something like a 1994 Volkswagen and doesn't blow money on crap like this. Hell even the founder of Walmart drove a 1970 something pick up truck and rarely spent any of his money. I'm passing this article on to Dave Ramsey! He won't sugar coat his commentary like you did, He will probably just call this guy an idiot.
I find when I wake up at the same time each day I do a lot better. Weekends completely throw me off cause I can usually sleep in until 7, sometimes at the latest 8.
I have a few methods of waking up.
1. Cell phone alarm set to 5 a.m, this is hit or miss. Sometimes I actually wake up a minute before the alarm even goes off.
2. A 2.5 year old who wakes me up with a plastic golf club or other blunt instrument on the weekends (this is the whole sleeping in part)
3. Instances like this morning, where I was up at 3:15 because I stopped breathing...
The last one is not recommended but it always wakes me up. Thankfully it does not happen too often, just now and again.
Routine is get out of bed, roll the arms around to get the blood circulating, make a nice breakfast and prepare a lunch to take into the office. Drink a bottle of water, turn the coffee pot on, knock out a set of push ups, hit the shower, get dressed, get in car, get 2 blocks down the road and realize I forgot the lunch or my pants, turn around, get item, head to office.
Weekend is fairly void of a routine with the exception of my son waking me up, and taking him to Starbucks in the morning to flirt with chicks.
Ultimately, My routine during the week is the best one for me. It make's me pretty productive, and I really enjoy being the only one in the office for a few hours. It's amazing what you can get accomplished when no one is around to interrupt you.
I am 26, I now have 1 child and another on the way. If there was anything I wished I had done right after graduation it is travel around the world. Since you don't have an immediate need to jump straight into the work force that is my suggestion. You can utilize the time to figure out what you want to do, perhaps obtain a new idea for a start up.
Once you start popping out kids, get a mortgage and everything else creeps up on you it can be hard to find the time to just go on vacation for a week let alone a month or two.
I see a lot of people recommending virtual pc but does anyone have anything to say about vm fusion? A buddy of mine was going to hook me up with a copy. I've used virtual PC on linux quite a bit but I was always frustrated with the lack of ability to bridge the networking.
Practicing frugality and taking every last dollar would help the problem. He's got like 7k worth of credit card debt, which could be paid off in as little as 6 months if he really busted his ass delivering pizza at night. This is assuming he pulls in roughly 250 a week in tips and wages. and continues paying his 300 a month towards the credit card.
Continuing, once the CC is paid off he will take that pizza delivery money and the 300 he has been paying and "snowball" that into the pay off of student loans.
Listen to Dave ramsey's show and it's amazing some people pay upward to 45k in debt off in a matter of 18 months on a 24k salary. It's entirely possible if you have determination, but I don't think this guy does.
Numismatics - Expensive as hell, but can be done on a cheaper scale. I started out broad and have narrowed my focus to Mexican coinage of the first and second republic from a specific mint. The research into it may eventually lead to a book, as virtually no reference material exists at the moment. There is something pretty cool in holding a coin that is a few hundred years old and imagining who held it, the stories it could tell, and viewing the art associated with it.
Crossfit / Olympic Lifting. I started Crossfit, I found I enjoyed it but really sucked at the olympic lifting. Then my box started a class specific on the fundamentals of olympic lifting, now I'm hooked on both. It's good to get out from behind the desk, move and jump and lift. It can be bad though, I've seen bad boxes where one can hurt themselves easily. It really comes down to the coaches and you making smart decisions.
Finally Wood working - I love creating furniture most of all and am at the point where my extended family have started asking me to make furniture pieces for them. There is something about starting out with several pieces of wood and ending up with a finished product that you've made with your own hands... Although I can point out every flaw in every piece I've ever created!