Packers Win Lottery

I have to take back what I said about Powerball. Sometimes the wealth does get distributed to those who deserve it. The eight workers who won the largest Powerball jackpot in history are those hard working kind of folks who usually never get a break in life. It made me feel a little better than if some jerk who already had a good life, came forward to claim the prize. So, they get their pictures in the paper and appear in the news for a few days, then the rest of us all move on with our basic lives. By the way, I updated my Budget Homepage with the new ad discount plan. It's a good deal for any small business owner who wants to get their information out on the web.

Powerball Fever

When the Powerball jackpot gets up around 365 million people who normally don't play the lottery will get in line for a ticket. I usually start playing when it goes over $100 million. But when the jackpot goes this high, everyone old enough to buy a ticket wants in on the action. Personally, I think that the odds are too outrageous and the jackpots should never be allowed to get this high. The money should be spread around to more people. But I suppose not as many people would want to play if the jackpot had a limit. It gives you a chance to dream about what it would be like to win it all. I would be the same penny pinching tight wad that I am now, but with two or three nice mansions, a garage full of nice cars, and a good lawyer and financial manager to keep me out of trouble. Good luck to all you dreamers!

Small business mistakes

At the library used book sale last week, I found a book titled "Mistakes I made my first five years in business". It was signed by the author, which was kind of neat. The book was short, only 88 pages, but it did have a few good nuggets of information. This book opened my eyes to a better pricing model for my web design business. I now realize that you can't place a standard price on a web site because the value that a business derives from a web site is not the same from business to business. And the use of my knowledge and experience will vary from project to project. So I will be removing prices from my web site and will be quoting each project based on its size and complexity. The text ad discount option will also change. Customers who allow text ads on their site will now see a discount on their annual renewal based on how well their text ads did during the past 12 months. This will hopefully generate some interest and prompt some quote activity.

Entertainment Budget

In the winter months I spend most of my free time either watching movies, reading books, or playing video games. My girlfriend and I have discovered a few ways to feed our need for movies, games, and books without spending a ton of money. We rent DVD's at a local grocery store on the day when they offer any title for 69 cents. Sometimes we go to Blockbuster for the one week rentals. But you pay for that privilege with high rental fees. You can find used video games at Blockbuster too. Some video game stores allow you to trade old games in on newer titles. Used books are also available if you know where to look. You can find good deals on books at some of the smaller book stores and thrift shops. The local library here has a used book sale every three months. We like to go on the day when it's 5 dollars for as many books as you can stuff into a grocery sack. That's where we are headed today. Using these tips can help keep your entertainment budget under control.