August 2010 - Financial Uproar

Opportunities, Part 2

Aug 202010

Holy crap, it’s been awhile. Sorry guys.

Why haven’t I been around much lately? If you all remember, I wrote about an opportunity I had to get a new job a few months ago. I’ve now been doing that job for almost two months, and while the money is pretty decent for the time worked, there’s just one slight little problem.

I hate it.

It requires me to wake up at 5 am, a sacrifice that I thought would be easy to adjust to. It isn’t.

It requires me to work weekends, a sacrifice that I thought would be easy to adjust to. It isn’t.

It requires me to work with someone who I don’t care for, for a number of reasons. I won’t spend any more time complaining about the guy, let’s just say it isn’t a pleasant experience.

Putting all this together, what does it mean? I want to quit. To quote myself in the earlier post:

And just one last thing to remember: if you try something and you don’t like it, just quit. We give quitting such a bad rap. I believe that more people should quit more often. Life is too short to spend the majority of your day doing something you don’t like.

To toot my own horn, I really like this quote. Too often people are scared to quit things they’ve invested time or money in. And yes, sometimes you should work through the adversity because the reward on the other side is worth it. Sometimes determining whether to work through The Dip is harder than you’d think. Yet everything tells me to quit this job.

I have very little fear in quitting a job. Life is too short to work somewhere and do you don’t like. I’m also a believer in the fact that opportunities exist in all sorts of places, just waiting for someone to seize. As for me, I’m officially looking.

I spent some time in a previous life as a mortgage broker. I’ve applied for a couple of jobs as a loans officer at various financial institutions. I’ve also signed up for the Mutual Funds course offered by CSI, simply because I’ve been told that it’s a good idea if you want to work at any of the more senior positions at a bank.

So that’s the plan at this point. I suspect sometime in the future, Mr. Financial Uproar will be working at a bank. Heck, I’d probably even start off as a teller if the branch was large and had plenty of chance for advancement.

Pretty much anything beats the situation that I’m in. Saying that, I’m not going to be impatient and just take the first thing that comes along. I have a feeling an opportunity will come along fairly soon.

Totally Unrealistic Monopoly Cards: Part 1 Community Chest

Other 2 Responses »

Aug 102010

While playing Monopoly the other day, I realized some of the cards in both Community Chest and Chance are incredibly unrealistic. Granted, the game was created in the 1930s, so obviously things were a little different back then. Let’s have a little fun and have a look at some of the most out there Community Chest cards. Tomorrow, we’ll have a look at Chance cards.

1. Bank error in your favor. Collect $200.

Let me give you guys a little tip. If the bank makes an error in your favor, don’t just take the money and run. I’ve done it before and believe me, it doesn’t work out for the best. Eventually the bank figures out they’ve screwed up and they come calling. They will end up getting their money back one way or the other. Just fess up and tell them they’ve screwed up. You’ll save a lot of headaches.

At the same time, why should it be your job to police the bank? It shouldn’t be. Don’t think about it, just do it. You’ll save yourself a lot of aggravation.

2. Receive for services $25

It’s not so much that receiving $25 for doing something is very unrealistic. In fact, give it a few more years and the amount may very well be funny because it’s too low. $25 isn’t an unreasonable amount of money to give someone for doing work.

No, the problem is what Uncle Pennybags is doing to get that cash. He’s acting as minister for that couple’s wedding! Look at the groom and how surprised he is to have to pay. I’m suspecting Uncle Pennybags isn’t a qualified and licensed minister.

In fact, I may even go out on a limb here and suggest he may have gotten his license off the internet. Let that be a lesson to you kids- don’t perform wedding ceremonies without the proper license. Uncle Pennybags may have made some money, but you won’t.

3. Life insurance matures. Collect $100

This isn’t typically good news because when your life insurance matures you’re, well, dead.

4. Second prize in a beauty contest. Collect $10

So, so many things wrong with this card.

First of all, I’m never going to win second prize in a beauty contest. Ever. Even if they give all sorts of points to the talent competition, I’m still screwed. I have no looks. I have no talent. I do have a special skill for getting pity dates, so that helps.

And then we have the prize. $10? That’s it? Beauty contests are big business these days. Winners are going home with cars, fancy things or large amounts of cash. Getting second place these days is worth way more than $10.

As an aside, I’m all for hot girls in bikinis and everything, but aren’t beauty pagents kind of stupid? I can’t even watch them.

5. Get out of jail free

I’ve never been to jail or anything, but isn’t getting out of jail free once you’ve served your time?

Maybe they mean that you don’t pay any bail, or that you get out of whatever fine you have.

I never tried to sell my get out of jail free card. I wonder how much money you could get for it?

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow on Chance cards.

Kids and Money

Big Picture Stuff 7 Responses »

Aug 042010

Tweet Anyone who has spent any amount of time following me knows that I’m no fan of The Simple Dollar. He gives easy advice on frugality, switches it up a bit, rehashes that advice, and repeats it forever. I have to give him credit for coming up with something extra ridiculous lately though. During his cheesiest post yet The Family Read More [...]

Money For Nothing

Extra Income No Responses »

Aug 022010

Tweet While on the Twitter the other day, I posted the following: My favorite moment of the whole month is when I get rent money. Money for nothing should be my theme song. (As an aside, if you’re not following me on Twitter, you should start. See what you’re missing out on?) Two of my followers called me out on Read More [...]