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PallaDinero

Personal Finance, Budgeting, Retirement, Student Loan & Lifestyle Advice and Commentary

You are here: Home / 2016 / Archives for May 2016

Archives for May 2016

Workout at Home or Gym?

Workout at Home or Gym?

May 23, 2016 by palladinero 3 Comments

Do you really need a fancy place to do planks? Do you hate wearing earbuds and prefer to have Metallica playing in the background? Are you uncomfortable wearing gym attire?

Where is the best place to workout?

I belong to my company gym and I’m 99% sure that I would never go if it didn’t exist. I go to it 3 times a week because it’s convenient; it’s 1 floor below mine. I own a workout book but never read it when I’m home. But am I missing out by not going to Golds, NYSC or Blink?

At Home

When I get home around 7pm, I love to cook (Italian sauce & pasta, soul food and meatloaf are my main dishes) and veg out on the couch. I surf the Internet and catch up on my DVR. I’m not the most motivated person once I back in my place, I just want to eat and relax.

But then there are highly motivated people who can just go home and bang out 3 sets of pushups, jumprope, burpies, lift weights and do a workout video. I don’t know how they have the energy to do it, but kudos to them. If I did that I wouldn’t cook and order a pizza; nullifying the hard work I just put in.

The benefits are that you can take as long as possible, pace yourself, listen to whatever music and take a nice shower. Also you do not have to worry about getting creepy stares from fellow gym members.

Another thing is that you will also save money. I’m not sure why I didn’t write this first since this is a personal finance website. I only pay $30 a month, but one of my friends pays about $200 a month for Equinox. Although Equinox has great features that does sound a bit too pricey for most of us.

Jaymee on Twitter mentioned that her gym has a cafe and people drinking coffee on the cardio machines and at the bench press. Even though I do like certain amenities, that does sound to be a bit too much. I feel that is a distraction and a reason for the gym to charge a higher monthly fee. It’s also counter-productive. Eat donuts, have a coffee after a workout? No thanks…

At The Gym

I do not have a pool or a rock climbing wall at my apartment. I love playing volleyball, but I do not have a court in my backyard. I also do not have friends to talk to in-between sets. My personal trainer does not live near me. Sometimes I struggle with motivation, as I stated earlier. All of those issues are mostly resolved by going to a gym.

When I did go to Blink for a few months I loved the decor, equipment and the atmosphere. The staff was friendly and were willing to answer my questions. I think it also helped that it was a relatively new gym.

I don’t pay attention to all of the TV’s or music surrounding me. Every once in awhile I would notice a news story flashing on the screen, but I didn’t find them distracting. The only songs that would bother me would be if Yoko Ono would be screeching from the speakers.

Would you skip the gym if there was terrible weather? I shockingly didn’t when there were several downpours last summer. I walked the 3 Avenues (15 minutes) because I couldn’t stomach wasting money on a place I didn’t go to.

Both?

Another solution is use both. The gym for special equipment like swimming, volleyball, boxing, etc. At home then you do bicep curls, calisthenics and pushups. This solution allows you to have it all. 

This was not for me because I wound up not working out at home. Once I got home my motivation dissolved. I’m not going to be on American Ninja Warrior any time soon.

Tips

  • Find a gym that fits your needs
  • Be motivated when working out at home
  • Does your gym have unnecessary amenities that may inflate the cost?
  • Do what makes you happy

– Mike

Where do you workout? What are the benefits of your gym?

PS: I can be found on Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+ and Facebook

Personal Capital – Before Personal Capital, I had to log into 5 different financial institutions to track my account balances. My finances were scattered but that is no longer the case. Now I can just log into Personal Capital to see how everything is doing in one place. Some of you might need some organization and Personal Capital will help you with that.

MDD Hosting – I am big proponent of using MDD Hosting as my website server. Their tech support is helpful, especially if you are a newbie to website building. I could not be happier with their service and so will you.

StudioPress – I bought the Going Green theme from this site because I loved the layout and colorization. It is advertised for Environmentalist organizations but I loved it because it’s the color of money. There are many other Themes to choose from, so take a tour and see if any of them can help you with your site.

Health, Lifestyle Tagged: Fitness, Gym, Health, Lifestyle, Motivation, Personal Trainer

Preakness 2016 Bets!!!

Preakness 2016 Bets!!!

May 21, 2016 by palladinero Leave a Comment

Here are my 2016 Preakness Bets:

#1 Cherry Wine, $5 to Show

#4 Awesome Speed, $5 to Show

#6 Lani, $5 to Show

#8 Laoban, $5 to Show

$2 Exacta, #3 Nyquist – #1 Cherry Wine

$2 Exacta, #3 Nyquist – #4 Awesome Speed

$2 Exacta, #3 Nyquist – #6 Lani

$2 Exacta, #3 Nyquist – #8 Laoban

I only made $3 on my Kentucky Derby Bets. Hopefully I can do better today.

Did anyone else make Preakness bet?

– Mike

Would you ever move to NYC? Any thoughts on gentrification or affordable housing?

PS: I can be found on Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+ and Facebook

Gambling Tagged: Gambling, Horse Racing, Preakness Stakes, Wagering

Living in NYC

Living in NYC

May 20, 2016 by palladinero 4 Comments

As I mentioned before I grew up and still live in NYC (excluding 4 years in Westchester for college). It’s completely different from back in the 80’s. Crime was rampant and the quality of life was awful during that time. I’m surprised my parents didn’t move. NYC is now a very safe city with a higher quality of life. Here is a primer if you are thinking of moving here.

Housing

There are numerous neighborhoods to live in and raise a family that were not so great back in the day. Williamsburgh, Bushwick and Long Island City were not desirable areas back in the day. There have been major improvements to infrastructure, cleaning up abandoned lots and removing drug dens.

The problem is that gentrification has raised the rent in virtually every neighborhood. Gentrification is very controversial topic and understandably so. You take a “bad” neighborhood and improve it by cleaning it up, reducing crime, adding businesses and restaurants that normally wouldn’t be there and adding value to the real estate market. The problem then becomes that the people who already live there move out, and miss all the benefits of a “good” neighborhood, because they can no longer afford to live there.

I go back and forth on this issue because I see the benefits of fixing problem areas but the long-time residents, mostly minorities and the elderly, get priced-out and are replaced by higher income mostly white people. This arrangement is unfair because the city should have always made sure the ‘hood didn’t become “bad” in the first place. And another reason is that “affordable housing” has not been clearly defined.

An example of this is if you make $40,000 they city feels that a family of 4 can afford a 2 bedroom apartment for $1,025 a month. Your monthly Net Income on $40K in NYC is $2,806 according to ADP. That means you are paying over 36% of your Net Income towards housing. That is crazy because most experts say that you should pay at most 30% of your Gross Income on housing. And of course NYC has a higher cost of living than most of the US.

Sorry that I went on a mini rant on affordable housing but I felt that I had to write something about it. Anyways, if you are planning to move in NYC for I recommend looking at the outer boroughs to live. I think a lot of people think we all live in Manhattan; that is obviously not the case. You should know that about half of my co-workers live outside of NYC (Long Island, NJ and Westchester).

If you are a single person my choices for you to explore are Queens (Jamaica, Ozone Park & Queens Village) & Brooklyn (Bay Ridge, East New York or Brownsville). I’m sure there are good places to live in The Bronx and Staten Island but I’m unfamiliar with those boroughs. You can expect rents for a studio or 1 bedroom apartment to be from $1,000 to $2,000. That’s pretty good for a young up-and-comer. My first apartment was $750 for a studio back in 2000. The further you get from Manhattan the cheaper the rents become.

Crime

Lower than at any point since the 60’s. Murders were over 2,200 in 1990 and are now about 350 in 2015. That’s a significant drop. It’s a safe city if you ask me and the statistics back it up. I feel safe taking the subway to and from work. Of course, I would be a bit nervous at 2am, but that is expected. There is crime here, but it’s not as rampant as it once was. Go watch Taxi Driver or Mean Streets to see how NYC once looked. Now it looks like Disneyland.

Politics

Socially liberal but not too liberal. We have strict gun laws and are tough crime, look at Plaxico Burress. If you a Republican you will not feel that out of place considering the previous 2 mayors were the GOP. There is plenty of legislation that is pro-Wall Street. Just know that there is every language, food cuisine, nationality, religion, sexual identity, sexual orientation and race represented in this city and if you do not like to be associated with them, then do not live here. I have worked with all types of people and what I have concluded is this: people are people regardless of our differences.

Transportation

A great transit system which includes buses, subway, LIRR, Metro-North, PATH & NJ Transit. So you can basically live anywhere and still get to work without driving. Let me make one clarification: when I say “great” I mean all the possible connections that can get you from Point A to Point B. I am not talking about the quality because sometime it goes haywire. For some reason the LIRR has so many delays. It’s shocking to me because those commuters pay so much just to go to and from work.

In NYC, there are some dead areas that require 2 modes of public transit. The monthly, unlimited ride subway/bus pass is $125, which is an excellent deal.

Tips
Look to live outside of Manhattan to save money on rent
Safest Big City in US
Politically Democratic but Republicans would not feel that out place
Plenty of public transportation to get around

– Mike

Would you ever move to NYC? Any thoughts on gentrification or affordable housing?

PS: I can be found on Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+ and Facebook

Personal Capital – Before Personal Capital, I had to log into 5 different financial institutions to track my account balances. My finances were scattered but that is no longer the case. Now I can just log into Personal Capital to see how everything is doing in one place. Some of you might need some organization and Personal Capital will help you with that.

MDD Hosting – I am big proponent of using MDD Hosting as my website server. Their tech support is helpful, especially if you are a newbie to website building. I could not be happier with their service and so will you.

StudioPress – I bought the Going Green theme from this site because I loved the layout and colorization. It is advertised for Environmentalist organizations but I loved it because it’s the color of money. There are many other Themes to choose from, so take a tour and see if any of them can help you with your site.

Lifestyle Tagged: Affordable Housing, Crime, Gentrification, Housing, Living in NYC, MTA, NYC, Politics, Subway

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