BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

Money and Women

Let's see... Well.. In another step further on trying to streamline my finances and bill payments and what have you... I've established check writing on my one trading account.  It's a new feature they added, so instead of a checking account, you can just write checks straight from your trade profits.

So, now what happens is I have check writing and a debt card that can be used just like a checking account directly from the same account my dividends are coming into.  I can also grab ATM cash using the card and be reimbursed ATM fees, which is pretty swanky.

I'm basically trying to set things up so that I can use divided and investment income to pay for things.  Maybe a fun little travel get away.  Or a car repair bill.  Or a new item around the house, or a house repair bill... Etc. etc.  I can use my credit card for some things but there's other things that just need old fashioned checks, like paying property tax.  Or my gym membership doesn't allow credit cards for some odd reason.  But yoga does... Go figure.

SO now what happens is... 9 to 5 daily grind paychecks -> Bills/personal items/food/car/housing/free time stuff (Pay mostly on cash back credit card, pay rest by bill pay/checks/debit card) -> Free cashflow left after expenses along with credit card cash back goes... -> Into investments -> Investments produce dividends from passive holdings and capital gains from active trades (active trade capital gains goes back into building more dividend producing investments/holdings and also goes to build up investment losses, which I have none of this year so far!  Fingers crossed it stays that way, had a couple of losses last year but still made more money over the course of the year) -> Dividend income goes to supplement paycheck income... Which is back where I initially started with my paycheck.

It's effectively an income/wealth building feedback loop.  The idea is one day my passive dividend investment income will actually overtake my paycheck income...

And then?  Hello retirement!

That's a ways off though.  Well, I mean it's all up to how much well my investments perform I suppose.  A few of them have recently raised their dividend paychecks a good 10 percent year over year.  If that trend continues I'll basically get a 10 percent raise every year from my dividend holdings.

It's basically a race against the clock to see how long it takes my dividends to surpass my work salary.  Of course no matter what, once I hit the age of 50 my trust fund gets cashed out... SO it's kind of pointless for me to even do this whole investment  thing on my own, since once the trust is cashed out that will then just be converted into income generating investments and managed on my behalf and then I'll just get a monthly paycheck from that, but my own thing is something just for fun I guess mostly.  I'm just kind of geeking out over personal finances here really.

I think it's cool.

Anyways... So yeah.  Tweaking my personal finance flow/process.  Fun times!  Sorry, sometimes I geek out about stuff like that.

What else?  Oh, so speaking of work... My boss shows me this video the other day... It was one of those all over the news type stories about a guy that stole a container of gold from a bank truck in NYC.

Well anyways, in the video clip, we're sitting there watching... there's the name of someone specific.  Her last name.  As soon as I see it, my heart kind of skips a very small beat.  Okay to be fair she probably see's my last name every time she gets on the highway... Sometimes people just have last names that are also popular names of places or things or whatever...

Although when she see's my last name it's not the same as me seeing hers.  I mean, she broke it off with me... So, to her it's just more of "Oh, that guy".  Where as to me it's more of a "Sigh, oh well."

Not that I'm still holding on to the idea that I might have some kind of chance with her eventually one day... I guess that's all over...

I wanted her, she didn't want me... And that's fine, it happens.  Doesn't mean I'm still not reminded of her.

I just thought it was funny again just like this past weekend when I'm sitting there at Starbucks sitting next to these girls keep saying her first name over and over again as they are talking about their friend.

It's just... I don't know... it's hard not to be reminded of people you know?  I don't know.  It's hard not to think of people.

It just made me think about her more than usual.  Although, let's be honest, I think about her fairly regularly.  That's pretty much been how it has gone since day 1 when I first met her.  She just kind of... Latched on to my mind and she's been there every since.

Some people you are just really taken with, other's not so much.  We all start this journey of life and along the way we meet people... As we meet people you either like the person a lot, or you don't much care for them...

When two people meet one another that they both like a lot... that's when they end up together.  Sometimes it happens where one person likes the other but the other doesn't like the one person back... Happens ALL the time I'm sure.  So you just keep journeying along in life until eventually...

There's someone new and you both like one another and then things just click.

I mean just last night I was at work and trying to leave since my work day was over, but there was an event and they needed me to come last minute.  I was kind of grumbling about it and so I walk up to the room and building where the event is, and all my grumblyness just faded away because standing there was a very cute girl... And I couldn't help it!  I was just immediately like... Well, okay see, that's how it might happen!  I might be annoyed even that I have to go somewhere and I might walk into the room and then there's the girl that I might one day marry!

You know?  You never know!  So, anyways I helped her and she was happy and even though I left work a half hour later than I usually do, I was in a good mood because... It could be something like having to stay late for an event, or needing to go help someone that you don't want to go help...

And it could be that one person that you end up spending the rest of your life with!  You know?

I guess that's one of the things that's so cool about love and marriage and all that.  Is that you just never know where this person will enter your life, or when.

Yes, for a long time I wanted it to be that other girl... But I'm okay with it not being her... I was gaga about her for a LONG time... and so maybe part of my heart obviously still has space for her because it skipped when I saw her last name in the video that my boss showed me... but... then I come back to reality.

Life is interesting I guess.  There's at least that.  Life is... A lot of things I suppose... Two life things are definitely...

Money and women.

Isn't that kind of what most people chase in this world?  Chase higher incomes, and chase the one that makes your heart beat faster.  Both of them always seem, just out of reach though... Never able to be obtained.

Who knows?  I sure don't!  Wish I did though.

I know, I'm supposed to chase enlightenment and hard work, and relationship with a higher power and being for into community and that kind of stuff...

Well anyways... What I do know though is, now it's Friday night, and I actually have to work the Saturday shift tomorrow.  I'm feeling a little sick, a bit of a scratchy throat.  Blah.  I'll probably go to sleep early.  I'm just making some dinner at the moment.  Then I'll head to bed in a little while.