Student loans: -$79,695.82 ($259.96)
Car loan: $0
Revolving Credit card debt: $0.
Mortgage: -$133,449.01 ($252.097)
Total Debt: -$213,144.83
Debt Jan 1, 2013: -$216,875.08 ($3,730.25)
This past month was my birthday, and as such, I didn't receive much, but the biggest and probably best gift was honestly a gift from my wife, $500 to knock down student loans. It's a little depressing to know that we applied so much to the student loans (over $600 monthly, and this past month over $1k) and still only made such a marginal difference, however, I suppose a chip at a time helps it go down.
So far of the 2 federal loans I have, one of them is down to the principle and the other is close. Hopefully, if they can adjust how I apply my payments, it'll be down to the principle as well within the next 3 or 4 months (making my goal of paying the actual principle down by 2014). However, my private loans, while we were hoping to have the interest all paid off before the year is over, currently it looks like it might go over by 3 months (Feb or March of 2014...Miscalculation? I honestly don't know) unless I can compensate for it somehow (maybe my end-of-year bonus will go towards it, who knows). I would really like for 2014 to be a year to knock down the principle payments, hopefully that dream of mine will still come true, but we've had and will continue to have some medical expenditures that we didn't quite anticipate.
Other than that, life is good here. We are doing some small upgrades to the house. We just ordered a new fan for the guest room which I'll install this month sometime. In August we have a big dental expense, and in September, we'll probably FINALLY buy that flooring and hopefully install it as well. Perhaps in October we'll finally get a new couch as well as the one we have currently is a bit small, but that's sort of in the air and not an absolute necessity.
Also, I'm being good to myself by biking about 5 miles a day on most days with my exercise bike. It helps that while I'm doing this, I'm also reading on my kindle. I don't know about you, but this is the best kind of relaxing for me! Relaxes the mind, burns off the stress of the day, and helps keep the tonnage off. I'm also feeling a little confident about my C++ programming, but I'm still in the beginning stages and learning a lot. Until next month!
Monday, July 8, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Garage Door Opener - Amazon Gold Box Deals
I consider myself a relatively handy guy, relatively confident of installing most things, be it woodworking, flooring, or technology based things. In mid October of 2012, I installed a garage door opener for our 2 car garage, the Chamberlain WD962KEV Whisper Drive with a battery backup; it was a relatively easy installation and only took a couple of hours by myself (although I did need someone for a couple of minutes while I was holding the opener and juggling a few things). Keep in mind, I had never used a garage door opener, nor installed one previously. I had to do a lot of research into garage door openers looking at what features were available like battery back-up, how noisy it is, what safety features and anti-theft features are available, the warranty (lifetime motor warranty), and the basic stuff like what's included like car remotes and outside remotes, the HP to lift the door.
There were a couple of models I was considering based on different price ranges, and while this model is more of on the top end, it had everything I wanted and I wasn't going to settle for something I didn't like, especially if I had to deal with it every day!
This model was absolutely great, it has a battery back up which you don't realize how nice it is, until you need it. --Recently a transformer blew in our neighborhood and left 300+ people without power, I left the house without a single trouble because it had a battery backup, and it was wonderful... and I felt like a million bucks because I didn't have to worry a single bit or lift a finger--
Our garage is also next to our spare bedroom and I would hate to have our guests wake up rudely because I'm leaving for work, and because this drive is so quiet, I'm not afraid one bit. With the garage door well lubricated, honestly, I hardly hear it, unlike ALL of my neighbors garage door openers.
My wife and I are also worried about someone "hacking" into our garage because the codes don't change on some of the cheaper models, but not the case here. With this opener you have "Security+ 2.0 anti-burglary technology, which assures that a new code is sent every time the remote control is used, and PosiLock theft protection, which keeps the door locked once it's closed. A manual release handle allows you to open the garage door in case of a battery failure" The manual release we also put a zip tie around so no one with a coat hanger can unlock it from the outside (a proven safety tip). Also, it auto-closes within a few minutes in case we forget to close it for some reason, but don't worry, it has sensors to make sure no one is directly underneath it. It also comes with an outside remote which is wireless and two car openers.
It was a wonderful purchase and currently, amazon is having a gold box deal so, you can snatch one up for only $190, here and with the money saved, you can go and buy their surge protector for $10 to protect it from everything up to a lighting bolt strike.
DISCLAIMER: I have not been paid to do the review of this product. It just kicks butt... which is why I love it.
There were a couple of models I was considering based on different price ranges, and while this model is more of on the top end, it had everything I wanted and I wasn't going to settle for something I didn't like, especially if I had to deal with it every day!
This model was absolutely great, it has a battery back up which you don't realize how nice it is, until you need it. --Recently a transformer blew in our neighborhood and left 300+ people without power, I left the house without a single trouble because it had a battery backup, and it was wonderful... and I felt like a million bucks because I didn't have to worry a single bit or lift a finger--
Our garage is also next to our spare bedroom and I would hate to have our guests wake up rudely because I'm leaving for work, and because this drive is so quiet, I'm not afraid one bit. With the garage door well lubricated, honestly, I hardly hear it, unlike ALL of my neighbors garage door openers.
My wife and I are also worried about someone "hacking" into our garage because the codes don't change on some of the cheaper models, but not the case here. With this opener you have "Security+ 2.0 anti-burglary technology, which assures that a new code is sent every time the remote control is used, and PosiLock theft protection, which keeps the door locked once it's closed. A manual release handle allows you to open the garage door in case of a battery failure" The manual release we also put a zip tie around so no one with a coat hanger can unlock it from the outside (a proven safety tip). Also, it auto-closes within a few minutes in case we forget to close it for some reason, but don't worry, it has sensors to make sure no one is directly underneath it. It also comes with an outside remote which is wireless and two car openers.
It was a wonderful purchase and currently, amazon is having a gold box deal so, you can snatch one up for only $190, here and with the money saved, you can go and buy their surge protector for $10 to protect it from everything up to a lighting bolt strike.
DISCLAIMER: I have not been paid to do the review of this product. It just kicks butt... which is why I love it.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Net Debt - May 2013
Student loans: -$79,955.78 ($1,281.69)
Car loan: $0
Revolving Credit card debt: $0.
Mortgage: -$133,701.10 ($201.25)
Total Debt: -$213,656.88
Debt Jan 1, 2013: -$216,875.08 ($3,218.20)
FINALLY! Mint has updated their tracking software for one of my federal student loans, KSA Servicing. So now, finally, it has correct values. This is the main reason why my debt went down significantly this month, all of those months finally got updated in one fell swoop. Glad to know that it is decreasing.
This past weekend, we were planning to go to Ikea (and we actually did), and although they said that they had flooring in stock and it was not, so we shall have to go again in probably 2+ weeks. Likewise, we were going to try to pick up the couch, and although while we knew they did not have that in stock, we checked out the floor model, and liked it so we will definitely go and purchase it later on.
Also, speaking of home improvements, I installed the Strike Master Pro II to my front door. I'll post a short write-up on that soon as well. But needless to say, it looks great, and I can sleep better knowing that no one can kick in my front door. (Don't worry about my back door, I installed that one a while ago!) Speaking of other home improvements, I also installed tire locks for my car since recently we had some tire theft in the neighborhood. Thieves are so odd, stealing tires or a couple of gallons of gas, just doesn't add up for me.
Car loan: $0
Revolving Credit card debt: $0.
Mortgage: -$133,701.10 ($201.25)
Total Debt: -$213,656.88
Debt Jan 1, 2013: -$216,875.08 ($3,218.20)
FINALLY! Mint has updated their tracking software for one of my federal student loans, KSA Servicing. So now, finally, it has correct values. This is the main reason why my debt went down significantly this month, all of those months finally got updated in one fell swoop. Glad to know that it is decreasing.
This past weekend, we were planning to go to Ikea (and we actually did), and although they said that they had flooring in stock and it was not, so we shall have to go again in probably 2+ weeks. Likewise, we were going to try to pick up the couch, and although while we knew they did not have that in stock, we checked out the floor model, and liked it so we will definitely go and purchase it later on.
Also, speaking of home improvements, I installed the Strike Master Pro II to my front door. I'll post a short write-up on that soon as well. But needless to say, it looks great, and I can sleep better knowing that no one can kick in my front door. (Don't worry about my back door, I installed that one a while ago!) Speaking of other home improvements, I also installed tire locks for my car since recently we had some tire theft in the neighborhood. Thieves are so odd, stealing tires or a couple of gallons of gas, just doesn't add up for me.
Cyber Monday: Wipe free space, a hidden function
Data security is becoming more and more important, may it be to prevent identity theft or other fraudulent activities. The first step in making you laptop or desk top more secure is to make sure that when you delete something, it actually stays deleted.
FACT: In windows when you delete a file, you only delete its header but all of the data remains intact until something else overwrites it. An analogy to this is having a cover of a book ripped off, but keeping the book on the shelf until you have a new book to replace it. You can still open it up and read inside if you want. It's the same with data, you can easily recover that file and so can thieves. Therefore, the first step is to erase (or wipe) any free space.
Recently, I needed to wipe a USB drive clean and in doing so I found that there is a built-in function in Windows 7. The great thing is that this tool is available all the way back to Windows XP Pro and it is also available in Windows 8!
So here is how it's done:
1. Open up a command prompt by typing: cmd.exe at the run menu
2. Then in the command prompt type in command as shown:
cipher /w:X where X is drive letter for wiping the free space of a whole drive (will take more time than below, but more secure)
cipher /w:X:\somefolder where X is the drive letter and somefolder is a folder. This will wipe a portion of the volume instead of the whole volume (not recommended, will take less time, but less secure)
This command with erase the free space 3 times. In the first round, it will overwrite the free space with all 0's, in the second round it will overwrite it with all 1's, and lastly with random numbers in the third round.
There are, of course, more vigorous ways of wiping data, but this does meet at least basic standards of unclassified data from the military. However, to be truly erased, one should look into what is actually approved by NIST (National Institute for Standards & Technology), Computer Security Center. They have a very small list of what is approved outside of physically destroying the hard drive and/or gaussing them. One such option is called Secure Erase which was made by U.C. San Diego, found here.
I hope this helps secure your data a little more.
You can find the source of the syntax's shown above here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490878.aspx
FACT: In windows when you delete a file, you only delete its header but all of the data remains intact until something else overwrites it. An analogy to this is having a cover of a book ripped off, but keeping the book on the shelf until you have a new book to replace it. You can still open it up and read inside if you want. It's the same with data, you can easily recover that file and so can thieves. Therefore, the first step is to erase (or wipe) any free space.
Recently, I needed to wipe a USB drive clean and in doing so I found that there is a built-in function in Windows 7. The great thing is that this tool is available all the way back to Windows XP Pro and it is also available in Windows 8!
So here is how it's done:
1. Open up a command prompt by typing: cmd.exe at the run menu
2. Then in the command prompt type in command as shown:
cipher /w:X where X is drive letter for wiping the free space of a whole drive (will take more time than below, but more secure)
cipher /w:X:\somefolder where X is the drive letter and somefolder is a folder. This will wipe a portion of the volume instead of the whole volume (not recommended, will take less time, but less secure)
This command with erase the free space 3 times. In the first round, it will overwrite the free space with all 0's, in the second round it will overwrite it with all 1's, and lastly with random numbers in the third round.
There are, of course, more vigorous ways of wiping data, but this does meet at least basic standards of unclassified data from the military. However, to be truly erased, one should look into what is actually approved by NIST (National Institute for Standards & Technology), Computer Security Center. They have a very small list of what is approved outside of physically destroying the hard drive and/or gaussing them. One such option is called Secure Erase which was made by U.C. San Diego, found here.
I hope this helps secure your data a little more.
You can find the source of the syntax's shown above here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490878.aspx
Monday, May 13, 2013
Cyber Monday - Tell windows to alway prefer wired over wireless.
Windows usually does an alright job about pushing things through the wired connection if you're connected. However, sometimes it mucks up and here's how to tell it to always prefer wired connections.
For windows 7 (possibly older/newer versions this works as well, I haven't tested.) Go to run and type in ncpa.cpl or in my case, I searched for it.
Once here, you'll want to navigate to the advanced tab on the top and go to Advanced Settings...
A new window will open and you'll want to be on "Adapters and Bindings" tab and move your "Local Area Connection" to the top of the list as shown here.
And that's it. Now you're computer will always prefer the wired connections of the wireless.
Any tips you're looking for specifically? Let us know!
Cheers!
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