Inheritance | The Raging Tech

Paying off The Man for FREEDOM

August 21st, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in Daily Life, Entertainment, Frugal, Lifestyle, My Life, Technology, online shopping

My inheritance funds finally cleared, and my final decision was to pay off debt instead of getting fancy new tech gadgets. It seemed like the smarter thing to do. I dumped a load of money into my Money Market account because it has a 3.20% interest rate, and I paid off Bank of America FOREVER. It feels SO good to be out of their clutches finally. I closed the account today and as soon as my bill pay arrives in their hands they said they should be sending me a check (I over-payed a little just to be sure).

I went to Wal-mart last night and bought some things for the kitchen, the rest of the house, and for the cat. I think this weekend I’m going to buy a propane grill (a modest one, not a huge hulking expensive one) and a self-propelled lawn-mower, maybe a weed-whacker. My lawn looks kinda shaggy right now, and my black push mower I brought from home is missing a part to the handle (it pulled a Houdini, I have no idea where it went) that makes it really difficult to push.

The last things to buy will be my new living room furniture over Labor Day weekend. I’m thinking about just going to the Big Lots in the next town and getting a reclining sectional and a coffee table, and maybe a twin bed frame for the guest room. The other thing will be paint, so I can paint my living room. I’m re-thinking the dark navy blue color, and thinking more of a light brown or a khaki color with a dark brown trim.

Speaking of the cat, I got her a lot of neat stuff. I got a “pet taxi” cat carrier, so I can take her to the vet for shots and getting spayed. I got her a new litter box with a cover and a little cat door in it, that has a built-in air filter and the floor doubles as a sifter, with a pan below and another pan below that for switching out as you empty it. I got her a little “Cat Mat” floor mat that goes right outside the litter box, so that she has something to wipe her paws on as she gets out of the litter box. She actually uses it, it’s so cute.

I upgraded her to some larger food and water bowls since she’s getting bigger. I got her a little white stuffed bear that is barely smaller than she is, and she loves it. She spent most of last night wrestling it and gnawing on it. I got her a little plush cat bed that she slept in some yesterday. I also got her some of those little balls that have tiny bells inside them and she played with those for a while.

I’m not exactly financially free now, but paying off some bills and getting some things I need means not spending my paycheck on those things, and that means more money in my pocket each month with no new debt acquired since the house.

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Tags: Inheritance, Life, money, spending

Certifications can Boost Your Hireability

July 30th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in Business, Entrepreneurship, Income, Lifestyle, Tech Support, Technology, Tidbits, software

This is a no brainer, but if you’re struggling out there in the job market, try to get some certifications. You may find that your field experience or self-research and training qualify you for a certification already. Or, you may learn something new by studying a “For Dummies” or exam prep guide.

Currently, I hold two Microsoft certifications - Microsoft Certified Professional, and Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician. These are great, but hardly enough on their own to get an awesome job. That’s why one of the things I am for sure doing with some of my inheritance money is getting my Apple Desktop Support certification and a Vista upgrade to my Microsoft certifications. Then I’ll probably get my A+ and start looking into a Cisco cert of some sort.

Cisco certs are neat, because that’s where the REALLY big bucks are at. You can go almost anywhere you want with the right Cisco certification. Why? Because nearly every enterprise-class network has Cisco hardware somewhere - either in their network infrastructure, or their phone systems, or somewhere in their data centers.

Cisco has certifications that can lead into any of these career paths, and even if the company you go to work for doesn’t have Cisco-brand equipment, they look highly on the certification during the hiring process. These certs aren’t cheap, but they’re well worth the investment in your time and equipment.

Getting your Cisco certification is fairly straightforward though, you just start at their website and begin researching the first level, the associate certification (or CCNA).

By itself, the CCNA is plenty to get you a good job. Like you’d expect though, a higher level certification gives you better chances and better money. The next levels are going to be even harder though, and you’ll want to find yourself some access to Cisco equipment so you can practice and train for your exam. Usually if you have a job where you can use your CCNA, you’ll have higher-level staff who can help you with that, though.