Bowing to the Oil gods

As I become increasingly interested in the idea of self-sufficiency I am taking an ever closer look at where my money goes. I came to a startling realization today when I realized just how much of my money ends up in the hands of the oil companies.

Between what it costs me to heat my house and what I spend on gas throughout the year I am probably spending about 20% of my yearly income on oil! And that is just what I spend directly on it, that's not even beginning to scratch the surface of indirect costs from other goods and services.

Like millions of others I am definitely feeling the need to begin to look elsewhere for energy. Nevermind the fact that the US has more than enough of its own oil but we can't have it because the politicians are afraid of the environmentalists.

There are a few other options out there that I am researching. I'll let you know what I find out.

PRODUCTIVITY UPDATE: Well this week I ended with 19 points out of 33 on my Productivity Points System. That's not in the 20s like I had hoped but 19 is still my best score yet. Perhaps this week I will finally break that 20 mark?

Deflating Your Income

As inflation increases and the value of the dollar continues to tumble the amount of money that the company you are working for is paying you is worth less and less. This reality hit me for the first time last month when after recently starting a new job I realized that the money I agreed to get paid to work for them for was now worth less than when I had started only a month previous.

At times like these when inflation runs rampant, companies raise prices on goods and services to ensure that they aren't losing anything. What they do not do however is raise the wages of their employees accordingly. So these big corporations end up making even more profit than before while people like you and I only grow poorer and have less buying power.

Don't expect it to ever be a reality but a if any nation were ever to have a fair wage system it would include wages that fluctuate with the value of whatever the currency of that nation is.

PRODUCTIVITY UPDATE: Well last week I again ended with 18 points again out of 33 on my Productivity Points chart, with similar scores in the same categories. I'm really gonna shoot for at least the low 20's this week.

Productivity Update

Well last week was my most successful yet with the Productivity Points project. I had a total of 18 points out of 33 (I added two more possible points through the course of the week). It may not sound like a very good score but my previous high was only 13 so it was a vast improvement.

There are still areas though that I haven't been scoring any points in that need some more attention to try to change that but overall it was a very good week. I'm gonna shoot for 20 this week.

Where Productivity Begins

Well I managed to find my file that contained my Productivity Points spreadsheet. So this week I am planning on getting started with it again. I've found after not doing it for 2 months that it really does make a difference in what I get accomplished around the house.

Quick recap for those of you new to my blog: The idea of Productivity Points is that you make a list of everything you want/need to get done in the course of a week and then assign how many times during the week you think that thing should be done. Items on the list should ideally be done that many times (some tweaking may be necessary) and no more than the number you have assigned it, because then you are taking away time from something else on the list that might need done. I use this project for things outside of my normal real world job. For example I have a total of 31 available points on my list and 10 of those are taken up with Chores around the house. The other 21 things are split up between things that could potentially aid me in my pursuit of self-employment/self-sufficiency. Historically when I've been working on this Productivity project, the chores get done and just a few other things, which is what I was dealing with before even trying to do this. So the real challenge is finding a way to use my time at home for more than just doing chores.

Productivity Points

One thing that didn't survive the computer crash was my Excel file that contained my Productivity Points system. If you are unfamiliar with what I'm talking about read some of my previous entries. So I am remaking the file in a very similar way but I'm working on some improvements as well. Perhaps when it's done I will upload it so others can bask in my productive lifestyle.

So in light of that and being away for a month I obviously got away from tracking my productivity progress. But I will return to it soon because I do feel that it will be a helpful tool if I stick to it.

A New Job

Well it really doesn't have too much to do with my pursuit of self-employment but I got a new job. Finally after 5 and a half years at a soul-sucking job I have found a new better paying job. But along with better pay comes working more hours. Working more hours could definitely hinder my self-employed pursuits but making more money helps me take care of my family better which is what is important right now. And making more money can also aid in funding self-employed pursuits like my music. I start on Monday so it's gonna be a new adventure.

In other news my tracking of my Productivity Points kind of fell by the wayside during the past couple weeks because of a major computer failure and subsequent computer replacement. I still don't have my tracking file back but 2 weeks ago I think I scored around 13 and then last week I scored at least 16. So things were improving but this week doesn't appear to be going as well though I'm still guessing until I have my tracking file back. I'm still seeing a trend towards getting things done that are always easy for me to get done and continuing to not get to some of the things that have been typically hard for me to get to.