Debt Thoughts

I am well and truly sick of debt. Not sick of being in debt since I've been out from under it for a few years now. But talking about debt. Or more generally complaining about debt. From people who constantly sabotage themselves when it comes to debt. There was a time when I read every book on the shelf ( and some that weren't) to try and come up with a plan to get out from under the mountain of debt that we accumulated in our 20's mostly through lack of attention and carelessness. But really it was simple. Not easy. Simple. I read all the books, made a plan, decided as a family to implement it and that was it. I TWEAKED the plan as needed. I didn't reinvent it every two months as it became less exciting to do. Really just doing the plan was exciting to me. Every month my charts showed progress. I had a goal. What more do you need.

I guess more than being in debt is complaining about the cost of things like gas. If you

a. smoke
b. drink excessively
c. eat out many times a week
d. drive more than 30ish miles to work
e. have newer cars with payments
f. many many other frivolous things

then STFU about gas. Some people may disagree with d but come on. Unless like a coworker of mine you have an actual working farm sell that mf'er you are in and move closer to work or get a new job. I did both. Wow. Not hard.

Side note. I have alot of sympathy for those newly out of debt who find it a little less exciting than the journey there. I mean the goal is gone. It's one thing to get out of debt with a concrete goal. $0 debt. It's quite another to say I want to save $1M and retire. Or some other huge abstract goal. So keep at it for those who followed the light to the end of the tunnel and found.....another tunnel.

CCIE Pros #3 and #4

3. Never ever have to worry about unemployment again. As long as you keep it you are assured of well paying positions.

4. A plethora of interesting and challenging jobs. Related to #3

With the periodic cycle of panics that relates to keeping your job where I work it would be nice to have something (anything) that would guarantee you would keep it. Not only keep it but have employers practically beg you to come to them. Now, nothing will keep you in work if you are lazy or terrible at your job (for the long term) but I believe a CCIE is just about as close to a guarantee as you can get in the IT world. The great thing is it is a truly global certification. Want to move to Japan/China/Greece?? Throw that resume out with a CCIE on it. You'll be on a plane the next week. That is a huge draw for me. At least as much as the money.

CCIE Pros #1

Related to yesterdays post I'd like to think out loud about the first pro of getting a CCIE. Moolah, deniros, cash. In this area a fairly experienced lan admin/network engineer type will make $60-80k/year. However a lead engineer or project manager with a CCIE could easily hit 6 digits. This is a huge draw for me since one of my personal goals has always been to make $100k/year without being a "manager". I am pretty comfortable with my personality and I know a management type position is not for me. It's actually a pet peeve of mine when management types talk about changing personality. Anyway, I've got to work 40 hours a week making $40k or $100k. Why not get the latter. This would also help with my goal of cutting to part time when I am 45 for 2 reasons. One is that the last two jobs I've had have greatly increased my salary yet I haven't increased my spending at all. The extra went to my 401k which is now maxed out every year. Secondly, unlike run of the mill engineers a CCIE can easily work part time for the same hourly rates that a full time one can. So instead of 20 hours per week@ $10-20/hr I could do 20 hours per week @ $50/hr. Win/Win.

Four Hour Workweek?

Workout of the Day: upper body weights - 50 min.

I must get a copy of this book.