Hitting the Lottery

Image by donowhit via FlickrI think just about everybody dreams of hitting it big in some way, shape, or form.  Most people work hard in their chosen field in the hope of earning enough money to live a comfortable life, acquire a few toys, and to eventually retire.  Obviously, some people are much more proficient at this than others.

Probably the easiest way to hit it big, and also the least likely, is to win the lottery.  I have to confess, that I do daydream about hitting a big lottery jackpot.  I do not buy lottery tickets very often, and when I do, it usually is only $5 at a time.  I would never bet more than I could afford to lose.  It always amazes me when I am waiting to get my ticket to see somebody spending several times more than the $5 I wager on the various lottery games available.

Whenever I buy that ticket, I think about what I could do with that money if I was fortunate enough to win.  I always dream about buying a nicer home for our family.  Our little two bedroom townhouse is OK, but we could use a little more room.  I would probably splurge a little on new cars and some new technology.  The other thing that I would want to do is to talk with a financial adviser to use that money to generate a stream of income to live on.  I would also want to do some charitable work, particularly in the field of autism.

Still, winning the lottery, no matter how large a jackpot is no guarantee of success or happiness.  You hear news stories of people who won the big jackpot and a few short years later they had frittered it all away and were on the verge of bankruptcy.  I honestly believe that if you aren't already happy with yourself or are well grounded, then winning the lottery isn't going to change any of that. 

There was a woman in my office several years ago who won the lottery.  I think it was probably around $1 million dollars spread over 20 years.  It wasn't enough for her to retire on, but she was close enough to retirement that it would help immensely, at least enough to retire comfortably. She had a rather sour disposition prior to winning the lottery, and it didn't change after she won.

Here in Maryland, we only had the Megamillions game for the longest time.  About a year or so ago, Maryland added the Powerball game as well giving us four days to try to strike it rich.  Every now and then, I will pick up a ticket for one of the games, like tonight's Powerball game which has an estimated jackpot of $173 million.  If I win something great, but I am not counting on it for my retirement plans.  If you play the lottery, please do so within your means.

Related articles

• How To Win The Lottery (bigsexymedia.com)
• State Lotteries Booming in Tough Times (abcnews.go.com)
• Powerball: Taking My Chances Elsewhere in 2012 (ittybittywitty.wordpress.com)

Tough Times

It is no surprise to anybody that things are pretty tough out there these days.  Unemployment is over 9% and has been for over two years.  There is talk that we are on the verge, if we aren't already, of a double dip recession.  Energy prices, while down in recent weeks, are still at pretty high levels.  In general, things don't look like they will be improving any time soon. Food prices are rising rapidly.  Just this week it was reported that the price of peanut butter was expected rise 30-40% in the coming weeks.

I count myself as fortunate that I have a pretty good job right now.  At one point, I had a job that I held for over 21 years when the company I worked for eliminated my position.  At that time, it took me nearly a year to find another full time job, and that was during better economic times.  In the years since then, I had three other full time jobs between that one and my current position.  I held each of those positions for about a year or less.  I have been in my current position now for a little more than three years.

These days, businesses are looking for just about any edge that they can come up with to give them a competitive advantage.  There are a lot of different strategies that a business can utilize to differentiate themselves from the competition.  Some differentiate themselves by emphasizing price, while others emphasize service.  Then there are businesses like Apple who make their product offerings the focus of the business.

Of course, that type of differentiation is fine for things like brick and mortar retail outlets or internet retailers, but what about other types of businesses?  What is it that can help to get you in the door?  To me, a lot of it has to do with their business signs.  Entering a business with a nice, custom made sign with brass letters gives you a positive feeling about the quality and stability of the business.  However you can make your business stand out during these tough economic times can mean the difference between success and failure.

A Night at the Pizza Palace

Image via Wikipedia

As I have mentioned here a few times, I have a part time job on Friday and Saturday nights delivering pizza.  I wish I didn't have to do it, but you do what you have to do.  I have to say though, that the last two months have been pretty bad as far as making much extra cash goes.  It makes me wonder where the economic recovery is that the President keeps talking about.

With my current full time job, I am only able to work two shifts at the Pizza Palace (not its real name); Friday 6pm-9pm and Saturday 5pm-midnight.  When I first started working the 5-midnight shift, I would average about $70-$80 per shift.  On a couple of occasions, I would walk out with nearly $100.  The last two months however, have seen the average for that shift drop to $40-$50 per shift.  I hope it is more a case of summer doldrums, but fear it is more the weak economy.

Let me just share a couple other thoughts about my night at the Palace this evening.  To the woman who came in for a carry out order shortly before 10pm tonight.  Your perfume should not put on so much perfume that the scent is so overpowering as to linger 5 minutes after you leave the room.  My eyes are still watering.  Seriously, do you stink so badly that you have to put that much on to cover the stench.  The old saying "less is more" definitely applies here.

Generally speaking, I tend to like kids.  However, I am not a big fan of when kids answer the door to pay for the pizza.  Why?  Because kids frequently end up not stiffing the delivery guy.  Sometimes, I think the parents do it on purpose so they don't look bad not giving a tip, but sometimes, I think the kids end up pocketing the money for themselves.  Case in point, I was making a delivery and the customer paid by credit card.  A kid answered the door, and I saw cash in the kids hand.  The kid ended up taking the money and keeping the cash.

Anyway, I hope this economic recovery that Obama and Biden have been touting starts to show up in some more pizza deliveries and better tips.  The last two months have been pretty rough with the decline in income.  If things don't pick up soon I may have to look for some more money making activities.  Unfortunately, I am a bit too old and a bit too fat to make any money hooking a webcam up to my laptop.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Part time job ideas? (mytotalmoneymakeover.com)
• Taking On A Second Job (forbes.com)
• Tips for Tipping in Every Food Scenario (dumblittleman.com)

Where to Put Obama's Picture

I received the following in an email this morning.  In light of the news that there are a record 40 million Americans now receiving Food Stamps, I felt it appropriate share this. Where to put Obama's picture   George Washington, our nation's first president and leader of the American Revolution!   Abe Lincoln, honorable leader pulled our nation through its darkest time!   Alexander Hamilton, founding father, first secretary of the treasure and leader of the constitutional convention!   Andrew Jackson, "Old   Hickory  " fought the British in   New Orleans  !     Ulysses Grant, Union army general, lead the North through the Civil War! Ben Franklin, Genius inventor, political theorist and leading author of the constitution.     Finally, we have someone to put on the food stamp!!!!!!!   Obama’s policies will put more people on welfare than any president before him so this placement is most appropriate. Unlike the Nobel Peace Prize, for which he did nothing, this is an “honor” he richly deserves.

Music Monday-Hank Williams Jr "Red, White, and Pink Slip Blues"

With unemployment over 10% and little to no relief in sight, I thought I would pick a song for Music Monday for those folks.  Let's hope we don't have too many more people who end up with the "Red, White, and Pink Slip Blues."  Besides, it was time to put a little Bocephus into the mix.

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.





PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

I Need a Good Laugh

I am in a not so happy place the last couple days.  If you are a regular reader, then you know that I work a part time job delivering pizzas.  Even with that extra money coming in, it seems like every time I get a little extra cash on hand, something comes up.  The latest things to come up for us is an unexpectedly high water bill.  On top of that, the electric company recently changed the meters in my neighborhood because there was a defect in the old meters causing them to register less electricity used.  Consequently, we are being billed about double for our electric bill.

On the part time job front, we had an incident last night that makes me wonder how long I can continue to deliver pizzas.  One of the other drivers was robbed when leaving a delivery.  Some guys came up to him and stuck a gun to his chest and demanded all his money.  Fortunately he was not harmed.  After an incident like that, one stops to consider if it is worth it to continue doing it for the extra few dollars it brings in each month.  I have never wanted to own a gun, but now I wonder.  I definitely need to find something to bring in more cash.

So, being in a not so happy place, I felt the need to add some funnies to today's post.  I thought this was kind of cute.

Next time you think you have had a bad day, think about this guy.


I saw this item in the international food section of the grocery store today.  Some things don't translate well into English.

I saw this one over on SpicyBugz World.  I need one for men.

Of course, I have to add this Nate Beeler cartoon from Friday to have something a little political.

Cash For Clunkers

Image by latemodelresto via Flickr

Earlier this year, the Obama administration made the US taxpayers the major shareholders of two of the three "Big Three" automakers by bailing out General Motors and Chrysler. Ford decided it did not want to subject itself to the government conditions and decided to go it alone. In an effort to stimulate the auto industry, the government then implemented the "Cash For Clunkers" program.

The government's "Cash For Clunkers" program ended a week ago to mixed reviews. The program was designed to provide funds to encourage consumers to trade in their gas guzzlers for more efficient automobiles. The initial allocation of $1 billion was gone the first week. After an additional $2 billion was infused into the program it lasted another couple weeks.

So for the goal of getting people into the auto show rooms and buying new cars, it had a level of success. Unfortunately, the government has been slow in reimbursing dealers for the deals that have been made. Some dealers actually stopped participating because of the slow response of the government.

Auto manufacturers have started releasing their sales figures for the month of August, and initial results of the success of the program are rolling in. Ironically, the two recipients of government bailouts continued to show sales declines over the prior year. Ford, Toyota, and Honda each showed increases over the prior year, with Ford leading the way with a 17% increase in sales.

So the big winners in the "Cash For Clunkers" program are the people who were able to take advantage of the program by having additional dollars towards a new car. In addition, Ford, Honda, and Toyota were the industry winners.

The losers are Chrysler, General Motors, the government, and the US taxpayers. The taxpayers are on the hook for bailing out GM and Chrysler and for funding a program that did nothing for the two companies that the taxpayers basically own. The other losers are those people who would have been willing to buy a used car but will see used car prices rising because of all the "clunkers" taken off the market reducing supply.

The cynic in me believes that it is no coincindence that the two auto manufacturers who received bailout money are the two biggest losers in the "Cash For Clunkers" program.

Related articles by Zemanta

• 'Cash for clunkers' impact uncertain (cnn.com)
• After Cash for Clunkers, higher prices (money.cnn.com)
• Brief Relief, but No Cure for Carmakers From Clunker Plan (nytimes.com)
• Clunkers: Good for Detroit, better for Japan (money.cnn.com)

It's The Economy, Stupid!

Unemployment officially dropped to 9.4% last month from 9.5% in June. On the surface that would be a good thing, but there were actually more people unemployed. Due to the fuzzy math used in calculating the unemployment rate (I would blame the current administration, but in reality they all use this math) the rate dropped. The official calculation only counts those that are currently looking for work and collecting unemployment. It does not include those who have reached the point where they are no longer looking for work or whose unemployment benefits have run out.

If you have read here before, you may already know that I am not a fan of the cap and trade bill that passed the House in June. I believe that the majority of CO2 and climate change is naturally occurring and any attempt to regulate man made CO2 emissions will have little if any effect on climate change. Even the EPA admits that without global commitment to reducing emissions, that the Waxman Markey bill will have little impact on CO2.

The Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) recently finished an analysis of the impact on jobs and the economy from the bill. It is not good news. According to the report, between 2012-2030, the bill reduce the national GDP by $2-3 trillion. Manufacturing output would be expected to decrease 5.3-6.5% resulting in additional job losses of 1.8-2.4 million jobs. The study takes into account the potential new jobs that so called green energy could create. Let's not forget the expected increases in energy costs, 50% for electricity, 26% for gasoline, and 20% for natural gas. Higher energy costs, fewer jobs, lower GDP; not a good recipe for success.

A recent Rassmussen poll showed that 42% of Americans believe cap and trade will hurt the economy and only 19% believe it will help. In that same poll, 41% of Americans were at least somewhat against the bill, and only 37% are at least somewhat for the bill. The strongest feelings were on the "no" side with 25% strongly opposed and only12% strongly for the bill. A recent Gallup poll showed that a majority of Americans favored economic expansion over environmental concerns.

At a time when unemployment is the highest it has been in years, the last thing we need is to pass legislation that will further slow the economy and cost jobs. When the Senate returns in September, the climate change bill will be on their agenda as well as health care. So while more Americans are against cap and trade then for it, why do the Democrats insist on passing a bill that will go against the priorities of the American people? I would say that as usual, the leftist elite believe they know what is better for us than we do. So while the debate on health care reform is vitally important, let's not forget the debate on cap and trade.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Government Study Shows Cap-and-Trade Will Raise Energy Prices (usnews.com)
• In Climate Change Debate, It's All About Jobs (usnews.com)
• NASA's chief climate scientist: Obama's climate bill "less than worthless" (health care reform is unraveling too) (americablog.com)

House Passes Climate Bill

Speaking of stupid people, a significant blow to liberty and the American standard of living was delivered yesterday with the House of Representatives passing the American Clean Air and Energy Act.

The United States is currently suffering through tough economic times. This bill will make it tougher, but the left wing ideologues only care about their agenda. Obama himself has said that a cap and trade system will "necessarily cause electricity prices to skyrocket."

In addition, we can also expect that gasoline prices will rise much more than it would have without this legislation. The costs of all goods and services, including necessities, will go up as companies will pass those costs on to consumers. With unemployment currently at 9.4% and expected to top 10%, this bill will add to unemployment as companies will ship jobs overseas to countries where they will not be subject to the same caps on emissions.

I also like how the mainstream media is portraying only the GOP as claiming that this is nothing more than a huge energy tax. To quote John Dingell (Dem-MI), "Nobody in this country realizes that cap and trade is a tax, and it's a great big one." So much for Obama's pledge to not raise taxes on 95% of working families. Sure he is not raising "income" taxes but a tax is a tax regardless of what the tax is on.

If alternative forms of energy were viable, that would be one thing. I am all for giving tax incentives for companies to explore and develop those alternatives. However, until those alternatives are viable, it makes no sense to destroy the existing forms of energy that have made this the country the greatest known to man.

To those 44 Democrats that chose common sense over party politics, I congratulate you on taking a stand. To the 8 so called Republicans who voted for this bill, and essentially led to it's passage, I say you might as well pull an Arlen Specter and switch your party affiliation over to the Democrats. There is no way that conservative or moderate could in good conscience vote for such a radical left wing piece (of shit) legislation. Mark Levin has posted the names and phone numbers of the RINO's that voted for the bill encouraging people to call and voice your displeasure with their actions.

Let's hope that common sense will reign in the Senate and that this garbage will not make it to the desk of President Obama. If not, it may be time to start looking for a country that values liberty because the USA as we know it will cease to exist.

I Hate Stupid People

As I have mentioned before, I have a part time job on the weekends delivering pizza. Most people who order for a delivery are pretty cool. They understand that we are using our own vehicles and that we are providing a convenience service for them. Those people usually give a reasonable tip, some give even more than I would normally expect. For instance last night, I gave one gentleman $15 change. All I had was one $5 bill and ten $1 bills. He did not want the $1's so he gave me all ten for a tip. Not bad for a $25 delivery.

The people who "get it" are usually expecting you to show up at their door. When you knock on the door, they answer quickly and come to the door with cash in hand. Occasionally you have to knock a couple of times. Then you get those people who don't seem to have a clue, like the family who ordered a delivery, sat in the basement where they could not hear the doorbell or knocking, and would not pick up the phone when you called to tell them you were at their front door. Idiots!

Last night, my final delivery was to one of those people. It was nearly 10pm and had a delivery to an apartment complex. I climbed the two flights of stairs to the top floor of the building. I knocked on the door and waited. I knocked a second time and waited. So I took out my cell phone, dialed the number on the delivery slip. I told the person who answered (you would be surprised how many people don't answer) who I was and I was at the front door of their apartment.

Their response? "Oh you are there? We aren't back yet." WTF?! If you are not home, why the hell would you call to have a pizza delivered to your house? If you are already out, why wouldn't you call and place a carry out order instead? God, I hate stupid people. My guess is these folks voted for Barack Obama.

Money Saving Tip of the Day

Funds are tight for most people I know. I am doing everything I can to cut back where possible. If I don't have the cash for something, I don't buy it. No more credit cards for me. I quit drinking Starbucks lattes a couple years ago, and brew my own coffee at home. Better to spend pennies for my caffeine fix than to shell out $4 or $5 per pop.

For most people, their biggest expenses outside of food and shelter is probably their automobiles. Like a lot of families, we have two vehicles. I have a Saturn sedan with over 120k miles on it that I drive to work and to deliver my pizzas. Mrs. Dickster drives a Saturn Vue. Fortunately, we do not have a car payment for either vehicle, but we still have maintenance expenses.

The Vue was badly in need of a couple of tires. It has over 50k miles on it and was still on the original tires. Since this is the vehicle the wife uses to take our son to school, it was time to replace the two front tires. I started shopping around on line for some new tires. The best price I found was at NTB for $94. Of course that was just the price for one tire, before all the extra fees that they add to the final price.

I had previously had a conversation with a financial advisor about budgeting and cutting expenses. One of the suggestions was to look into buying used tires instead of new tires. I had been searching the local listings of Craigslist for new tires, nobody had anything to fit our Vue. I finally found a place close by when I searched google for used tires in Maryland.

This morning, I went to the Tire Depot in Millersville, MD and purchased two tires with a good bit of tread on them. The total cost of two used tires, balanced and mounted, $80. Less than the price of one new tire, and a far cry from $200 for a pair of new tires. I should also mention that when I got there, they were working on one car, so I had a short wait. All told, I was in and out in about twenty minutes. Whenever I have gone to a chain like NTB, I have always had to wait at least an hour for the work to be done. So not only did I save money, I save a good bit of time.

The End of the Rainbow

I was driving home from work the other evening. It had been raining most of the afternoon and it was slowing down. The sun was trying to come out, so there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky.

As I was driving down the highway, the angle of the sun and the road mist gave me an interesting view. To my left, and slightly ahead of me, I could see a spot on the road where the rainbow touched the ground, not unlike the picture here. The legendary "End of the Rainbow."

Alas, there was no pot of gold, so I guess I will be making my usual commute to the office tomorrow morning.

Reynolds Handi-Vac

I have a lot of pet peaves. For instance, the grocery store is often a source of aggravation for me. Nothing major mind you, just a few petty annoyances. One of my aggravations is not having enough check stands open for checking out. I don't mind using the self checkout, after all I earned my college tuition working in grocery stores, but it annoys me when I go to the self checkout and can not complete my transaction because of some previously unknown store policy. Some examples of transactions I was unable to do at self checkout are; purchase a gift card, purchase cough medicine, and use an in-store instant coupon on a package of meat.

Another thing that bothers me is when the stores put only larger packages of product on sale. My son eats a separate diet from Mrs. Dickster and myself, so when I buy meat products I only buy for the two of us. I do not need a 4-pound package of 10 pork chops when a 1-pound package of 3 or 4 will do. I don't expect the smaller package to be promoted at the same price as the larger packages, but some reduction in price would be nice. I have a large freezer in the basement, and I could freeze the extra pieces. However, sometimes we forget what we have down there and with conventional freezer bags you can ruin a good piece of meat from freezer burn.

Lately though, I have been thinking more and more about saving cash whenever possible. Sometimes those large deals are too good to pass up. My father in law has one of those expensive vacuum sealers for when he goes fishing, but those are a bit too big and too expensive for my budget. Several months ago, I saw the Reynolds Handi-Vac vacuum sealer. Today, when doing my weekly grocery shopping, my local grocer had it on sale for nearly half off. Normally a $10 purchase but today it was only $6 so I took the plunge. The timing was perfect because they also had a few really good big buy meat deals.

When I got home, I decided to see how well the Handi-Vac worked. I probably should have bought some gallon sized bags in addition to the quart sized bags I bought, but I was able to separate the meat into separate bags to test the product. The Handi-Vac has a small suction tip that you place over an air valve in the bag. It takes a few seconds for you to notice the air leaving the bag, but after about 30 seconds I had a nice vacuum sealed package to put down in the freezer. The best part is, this device is small enough to fit in a kitchen drawer and not take up a lot of counter space.

When I go out to do my grocery shopping, I try to keep my center of the plate purchases at about $5 per meal or less. You won't normally see me buying NY Strip Steaks at $8 or $9 per pound. Usually it is more like top round steak. Today, I was fortunate enough to take advantage of a big buys on sirloin steak, center cut pork chops, and boneless chicken breasts. All told, I purchase enough meat for 8 meals for a total of $27, or $3.38 per meal. All in all, a successful trip. Thanks to the Handi-Vac, I hope to take advantage of these big deals more often. These days, you gotta save where you can.

Latest Sin Tax

Sin taxes are nothing new. There has been a tax on cigarettes for years, and is getting ready to go up again on April 1st (kind of an appropriate date.) Likewise there have been taxes on alcohol, which my state, Maryland, is considering increasing. My friend over at Intrepid Ideas posted about an attempt to put a sin tax on chocolate. Utah, home of the Mormon Church, is considering a sin tax on caffeinated beverages.

The latest proposal comes from the state of Nevada where Democrat Senator Bob Coffin has proposed a $5 tax on legal prostitution. Senator Coffin estimates that the tax would put $2 million into the state coffers. The measure also has the support of the legal prostitution industry.

Now normally, I am not a fan of increasing taxes on anybody (not even the evil rich) but this one got me thinking while I watch Barack Obama throwing us deeper in debt. As a Libertarian, as long as all parties are involved in the activity of their own will with no coercion, I tend to believe prostitution should be legal. At the very least, I believe there are more important things for the police to focus their resources on.

Anyway, back to prostitution and our ever increasing federal deficit. Nevada is the only state that has legalized prostitution in parts of the state. For the most part, in the rest of the country it is an underground operation. Being underground, there is a much higher element of risk for the entrepreneur and the consumer in these transactions. What does this have to do with the deficit? Well, the government could legalize the activity and regulate it. Require all providers to have a permit for a fee. Tax the activity as proposed in Nevada. Plus, previously unreported income from the underground economy will now be subject to income taxes. If such a tax could raise $2 million a year in Nevada, how much would it raise in places like New York or Los Angeles?

My First Ebay Venture

During the course of my life, I have had a number of hobbies.  One of my favorites over the years has been collecting sports memorabilia.  I have built up a fairly large collection of autographed photographs, balls, and other items.  All told, I probably have close to 100 pieces.

I had hoped that when I had a son that he would share my love of sports and of memorabilia.  He does love the sports, but the idea of collecting autographs is more or less lost on him.  Plus, with his autism, he has a difficult time with treating items with care.  I can't tell you how many times I have had to burn new copies of CDs for him because he has broken other copies.

I have reached a point in my life where "things" mean very little to me.  All I really want to do is read some books, listen to tunes, and provide for my family.  The last time that I had some spare cash that I could have splurged on something for myself, I ended up buying something for my son. 

So taking all of this into consideration, along with the fact that money is just plain tight, I have decided to jump into the wonderful world of ebay and part with my collection.  I am going to go at this slowly to see how things go.  Tonight I put my first item up for auction, a set of Country Time Lemonade autographed Brooks Robinson baseball cards.  If all goes well, I will add more items to the auction block.

Tip The Pizza Guy- Update

As I mentioned once before, I deliver pizzas as a part time job for one of the national pizza parlors (their name shall remain unmentioned to protect the guilty.)  For the most part, it has been a decent part time job.  However, I found out Friday night about another change to our compensation that has caused me to explore whether or not I can afford to quit.

When I first started delivering fresh, hot pizza from the Pizza Palace, I was paid minimum wage and received $1 per delivery (the company itself charged $1.50 per delivery.)  This was in November of 2007.  It was a pretty good gig at the time.  Well, that was then and this is now.  There have been a number of changes over the last 6-8 months that have taken away from the glamour of delivering fresh, hot pizza.

When minimum wage was increased, while the inside help all received their raises, the drivers were kept at the old rate, because we made "tips."  Also during this time, gasoline prices were soaring to over $4 per gallon, cutting deeply into the amount of money we actually make. (We use our own cars and pay for our own gasoline.)  They did throw us a bone and raised the delivery charge to $1.70 and raising our mileage reimbursement rate to $1.10 per delivery.

On Friday night, we found out that they changed the amount we receive per delivery.  Now that gasoline prices are back to where they were when I started, they quietly lowered our rate to $0.75 per delivery, while keeping the delivery charge at $1.70.  I guess some people assume that the driver gets the delivery charge, but that is not the case.

To sum up, no longer making the minimum wage, plus getting a 25% cut in our mileage reimbursement, combined with a lot of people not tipping as well as before (Two people totally stiffed me Friday night) makes for an unhappy delivery guy.  

   

FairTax-Part 1

Earlier this week, I finally received the last tax form I needed to complete my taxes.  Fortunately, I am getting both a state and federal tax refund.  

While it is nice to get a refund on my taxes, I would rather have all the money I earn in my pocket.  The FairTax accomplishes that.  I first heard about the FairTaxwhen I read Neal Boortz's book "Somebody's Gotta Say It."

I wanted to see if I would really benefit by the FairTax, so I used the FairTax Calculator.  According to the calculator, if the FairTax were implemented, I would have 4.34% more spendable income, $1763 more purchasing power, and $2198 less in Federal Taxes.  

I would encourage you to try out the FairTax Calculator.  If you find like I did that you would benefit from the FairTax, write your Congressman and ask them to support the FairTax.    

Tip the Pizza Guy

OK. Now that I have wished everyone a Happy New Year, it is time for a little rant.

I know times are tough and the economy is in a shambles. It is tough for me too. If it wasn't, I wouldn't be delivering pizzas on the weekends.  

I have only been delivering pizzas for about a year, but I have always gone by the guideline that you should tip the same for a pizza delivery as you would if you were eating at a restaurant, that would be 15-20%.  I also tend to tip a little more if the weather is bad. After all, the pizza delivery driver is performing the same function as a server in a restaurant, they are just bringing the food in their own car, using their own gas.

  

Having said that, there are a lot of people out there in serious need of learning some tipping ettiquette.  There is a great resource at Tip the Pizza Guy where you can learn what is considered appropriate.  They say the minimum tip for a delivery should be around $3.  They also go into some of the hazards and difficulties of getting your pizza to you.  

Last night was a particularly frustrating night for me in delivering pizza.  First it was a particularly cold and windy night last night with wind chills in the teens.  Second it was a holiday.  For some reason, there were an awful lot of cheap ass people last night, more so than usual.  I can't remember the last time I received so many $2 or less tips in an evening.  It is particularly frustrating to deliver $45 worth of pizzas, be complimented on how quick the service was, and then walk away with a $2 tip on the credit card slip.  (Don't think that we won't remember that the next time your address shows up for delivery.)

There are some people out there who still restore my faith in humanity when I am out delivering pizzas.   My last delivery of the night was a $50 delivery and the young lady gave me a generous $10 tip (thank you very much).  For the rest of you out there, if you are unwilling or unable to afford to pay for your pizza and give a proper tip, do yourself and the pizza guy a favor:  Get DiGiorno, not delivery.  

The Latest Government Bailout

Say it isn't so. Breaking news on the latest request for a government bailout.

A Sign of the Times

I like beer. Always have. Ever since my grandfather gave me a Rolling Rock pony (I was way under age, but it was only 7 ounces) I have enjoyed having a cold brew. So Saturday night after working my part time job, I stopped at my favorite liquor store to pick up some beer. I decided that I wanted to treat myself to something a little more special than usual. In the past, that would mean picking up some Molson Golden Ale or maybe some Samuel Adams. As I looked around at the wide variety of brews available in this particular store, I kept going to some of the variety packs of seasonal ales like Sam Adams winter collection. I guess it is a true indication of the times and how tight money is these days when I walk out with a 12-pack of Bud Light and consider that a splurge over the usual 12-pack of Busch Light that I usually purchase. As a tribute to my love of beer, here is Tom T. Hall with his song "I Like Beer."