Week 6 Reading Response

Peeblogs:

This week's Peeblogs will be heavily dominated by several words of financial advice, but first, a quote from The Man himself,

"Don't focus on why you can't do something. Focus on what needs to be done, and find a way to do it."

Financial Principles:

-- Live 2-3 pay-cuts lower than what you make.

-- First priority after graduating college is to construct an emergency fund equivalent to 6 months of your salary.

-- The two most important financial decisions you can make are marrying a frugal woman, and never getting a divorce. (addendum from Troy, "Don't get married.")

-- Bonuses should NEVER be counted on when budgeting.

-- Setup student loans to be paid automatically, as missing a payment kills your credit score.

-- Pay debts in order of descending interest rates.

-- Pay the minimum on loans that have a lower interest rate than the rate of inflation.

-- Sign up for zero tax exemptions. This guarantees a large tax return check and assures that you will not have to pay any money back to the government.

-- When debating between using money to pay off a loan or using it to invest, the following formula applies:

LoanInterestRate - RateOfInflation = WorthwhileMinimumInvestmentReturnRate

"Code Complete"

I began reading "Code Complete," by Steve McConnell. This week I read the preface, chapter one, and most of chapter two. Yeah, pretty lame...I will try to do better this week. The following quote explains why Code Complete is applicable to me, "The recent graduate is often rich in theoretical knowledge but poor in the practical know-how that goes into building production programs. The practical lore of good coding is often passed down slowly in the ritualistic tribal dances of software architects, project leads, analysts, and more-experienced programmers. Even more often, it's the product of the individual programmer's trials and errors. This book is an alternative to the slow workings of the traditional intellectual potlatch....It's a hand up for the student making the transition from an academic environment to a professional one."