WiFi & coffee using loose change?

Of course, I had to make it a 9 (my favorite number) step process:

1. Label an old empty jar, "WiFi & coffee"
2. At the end of every day, dump all your loose change into the "WiFi & coffee" jar
3. After you have built up about an inch or two of loose change in jar, locate your nearest Coinstar that converts your loose change to a Starbucks card
4. Convert your loose change to a Starbucks card
5. Register for your Starbucks Rewards
6. Register for your 2 hours free WiFi per day
7. Keep Starbucks card in your wallet
8. Next time you need some free WiFi (up to 2 hours per day) just stop at the nearest Starbucks. You also get benefits such as free beverage customizations and free refills on brewed coffee when you make purchases using your card
9. Keep REFILLING your Starbucks card whenever you get an inch or two of loose change in jar at nearest Coinstar.

Too busy for a posting?

You know, sometimes it is what it looks like. My friends, I have been too busy watching my investments evaporate to post. I have been too busy making sure that I am well suited to weather this economic storm that we are in. But I figured I could at least take some time to pat myself on the back for equipping you to handle these uncertain times.

Here was my attempt at leading by example in 2008:

1. I am the guy who canceled his cable bill back in March saving himself about $100/month. Yeah, I miss HBO & ESPN. But every day when I see the market crash even further it feels good knowing that my canceled cable bill is building a nice cushion of cash in my ING account.

2. I cancelled Netflix too. Well, I put it on hold a little after my blog about Redbox saving myself roughly $10/month. However, I still get my 4 movies per month via Redbox's free Monday rentals.

3. I took my own advice shoring up my short term reserves, paying off all interest bearing debt, and continuing to max out funding for my retirement in both a Roth IRA & 401K account.

4. I am not mistaking the cost of high living with the high cost of living either. No more rich steakhouses for me. :(

5. I continue to invest in me. I am still in school which is one of the reasons why I haven't been blogging as frequently and remain very keenly clued in to the events taking place around me.

6. And last but not least, I am sticking with my stated goals. I refuse to let Mr. Market and all his thrashing about get me SCURRED into converting my investments to cash. I have a well balanced diversified portfolio that should rebound with the market long before I reach the legal age for retirement. But just to be on the safe side, I have been buying a $1 MegaMillion lotto ticket every time I get gas. :)

What, you don't agree with my lotto dreams? Hey, everyone needs a backup plan.

PS: My prediction about state bankruptcies has already started with both mASS and CA already requesting loans from the Federal Gov't. Also, props to both Patterson and Bloomberg of NY and NYC respectively for getting their red pens out and slashing their budgets. Even though the writing is clearly on the wall it is not often folks act on it.