What inspired this post however is the miraculous restoration of all the data on my stolen laptop. What normally would have been a catastrophic loss turned into nothing major. Normally I would be dead if my computer was stolen and all my files were lost, but I was able to boot up my other computer and immediately download all my files from my stolen laptop. I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to open up the backup and see that everything I needed was still there.

For only $5 a month, it’s one of the most worthwhile expenses I have. Just think of all the times that you have lost a single document, whether it was a school paper or a business presentation that you accidentally deleted hours before you needed it. Now think about how much you would have paid to get that one single file back. Multiply that number times 100 or more and you’ll know how great it felt to get all my files back. I can’t recommend Carbonite enough.

(Disclaimer: I signed up as a Carbonite affiliate before posting this, but I was going to make this post anyway)

I found out this week after following up with our insurance brokers 3-4 times that theft apparently isn’t a part of our coverage. Supposedly we have a ‘all-inclusive’ policy, but they forgot to mention that everything of value is not covered due to exclusions buried in the 40 page document. I have a very bad taste in my mouth now towards our insurance broker and the underwriter. I feel like they are just taking our money and backing out of responsibility by hiding behind layers of paperwork and undecipherable legalese. I wish that insurance wasn’t such a necessary evil.

The bizarre thing about the whole situation was that they didn’t take any more of our computer equipment. They stole a lot of computers from our neighbors, and they actually unplugged one of our computers and put the monitor on the ground, but didn’t end up taking it. They just took my laptop, plus two cell phones without their chargers. All in all, we got very lucky, but it is still a bummer to have to deal with a stolen laptop. I’m not sure what our insurance policy is, and whether or not with the deductible it will be worth it to even try and deal with.

We got broken into last summer too, but that time they only got into our basement. Both times they threw a bunch of stuff around and made a general mess. The police think that it was the friends of the tattoo parlor next door. Hopefully they can track down the stuff.

I just wish that they’d tear down the building next door because it attracts the worst crowds. It’s been a drug house, and the police have thrown out miscreants multiple times over the past couple years. The owner won’t sell the building, but he won’t maintain it either. It’s frustrating that his lack of attention is costing so many thousands of dollars of damage to the surrounding tenants, yet he doesn’t have to pay for any of it. I just hope that his building is condemned by the city so we can be free.

I just read this article on BusinessWeek and it really sat well with me.  So many politicians have no idea what it means to run a business and keep it on budget.  They’re used to their fancy cars, bodyguards and high-minded ideas that they have lost touch with the lifeblood of America.  Why has the United States sat atop the world scene for so long?  Not because career politicians have dealt with global warming, but because US businesses have kept the economy vibrant and innovative.

We’re in enormous debt, Social Security that eats me and my business alive is going to be worthless to me in the future, and the government just seems to be wasting my money on frivolous earmarks, programs and worthless agencies.  A young business owner like myself should be very interested in how the leadership of our country plans out the rest of my life, but I cynically just can’t believe that any of the presidential candidates is going to make a difference.  The only way to make me believe in politics again would be for someone to actually cut the fat out of the huge bureaucracy and do things for the good of the country, not the good of panderers and lobbyists.

I had hoped that Mitt Romney might be that president, with his background in turning around businesses, the Olympics and Massachusetts.   Sadly, the race didn’t work out that way, but until someone can actually make real changes, I’ll continue to be a cynical political spectator.  Get rid of these career politicians who don’t have an idea what the real world is like, and replace them with people who have lived, fought and worked 100 hour weeks to make payroll and meet investor expectations.

Senate targets credit card practices – Jan. 26, 2007

Just to follow up briefly on yesterday’s rant on credit, I’ve always wondered how much these companies make from transaction fees, and how much comes from penalties and interest payments. Now I know…70% from penalties! They’ve got America by the balls.

CNN Money

I really enjoyed this article about managing your personal credit. I think it is incredible sad how ill prepared kids enter society in regards to managing their credit. Most people I know fall into one of three categories:

1. “What’s my credit? I could care less.”
2. “I have credit cards that let me spend as much as I want. Cool!”
3. “My mom said that credit cards were invented by Satan, so I should stay away.”

The number of people, especially young people just starting out, that actually actively work to manage their credit is very small. This is despite the fact that building your credit will probably save you more money in the long run than any 401K or savings account ever could. A good credit score can save tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a mortgage, and puts you in a position to leverage your credit when starting a business or even beginning a new job.

Very few people are aware that the government has mandated that each of the three big credit agencies, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax, give a free credit report annually since 2004. They don’t give you your actual score, but they let you see all the entries in your file, and correct any inaccuracies that have creeped in. This can be viewed at www.annualcreditreport.com, not to be confused with www.freecreditreport.com, which is a sneaky hook by Experian to get you signed up for their service.

As for those people that think credit cards are evil, they should all stop surfing the internet. Yes, a lot of good has happened as a direct result of the internet, but porn is also much more accessible. With any incredibly powerful and life-changing technology, the power is a double edged sword. Used correctly, credit can make your life 10x easier. I use credit cards for every expense in my life, from a $0.99 candy bar to a $2,500.00 computer. As long as you pay it off monthly, the benefits are 3-fold:

1. It’s like a 30 day zero interest loan. Your money can sit in the bank or in the stock market and be earning you interest, while the money you spent costs you nothing.
2. You have protection like cash or checks will never offer. If your wallet gets stolen, you just cancel your cards, and even if someone charges something on them, you are protected and usually don’t even have to pay a fee to have the charge reversed.
3. Points accrue and you can get some really cool stuff. I get 1-3% of my purchases awarded as Amazon.com gift certificates. Again, as long as you are paying off your cards, that’s like a 2% discount on every purchase you make!

That all being said, credit cards have doomed thousands of people to never ending debt, but that isn’t the fault of the credit cards, it’s because we Americans love accruing stuff. And we wonder why we have such a large trade deficit…but that’s a rant for another day.

In short, credit is your friend, and you should spend time improving it, much like you would woo a woman.