I have never been a good budgeter. While my income is staying (just barely) ahead of my spending, I’ve lately had a few suspicions about where that spending is actually going. To find out just how much, I dropped my bank statements from the last two months into a spreadsheet and crunched the numbers a bit. The results? Oh. Ah. Ooh. Uhg. Er…
First the good stuff: I’ve been strict with myself regarding “pocket money”; I try to make every purchase a deliberate action. As such, this (typically cash ATM withdrawals) only accounts for 2.3% of my spending during the last two months. A good thing, as I honestly have no idea what I spent that on…
Then there’s the usual crap of everyday living: books, movies, media, clothing, housewares, etc. total 11.9%, even with those silly unnecessarily-expensive kitchen knives I bought (5.4% right there). I can excuse myself an occasional excess like those knives when I see that my transportation expenses over the last two months only account for 2.7% of the total. That’s including bus and train tickets, gasoline, and even bicycle maintenance! My dreaded dental-work only ended up being 4.2%.
Now for the surprises: Rent seems reasonable (22.1%), as does my Grocery spending (11.7%), but WTF! “Dining Out” comes to 22.8% of all my spending! I was sure this one would be big, but holy crapping crap.
As it turns out, the category I was sure would be at the top (after rent) was “Tools”, which only comes out to 17%.
The tools have been paying for themselves, and will continue to do so. If anything, I now feel justified spending a little more there. But first, I have to stop with the dinners out, the fancy coffee, the cocktails at Castle Hill!
August 23, 2009
crunching the bank-statement
August 12, 2009
more ubuntu vs. windows
The new (crappy cheap) WiFi router in the building refuses to play nice with the TCP window scaling/Linux OS on my “real” laptop, so I’ve been forced this week to resurrect my Windows rig to get reliably online.
This has given me a chance to revisit the inevitable comparisons with the two computers side-by-side. First, a hardware disclosure: The Ubuntu rig is a vanilla 1.73Ghz Core Duo with 2Gb RAM, running Ubuntu 9.04. The Windows rig is a 2.4Ghz Celeron with 1Gb RAM, running Windows XP SP3. This is just what’s current; I’ve run the same version of both OS versions on both machines.
I run Ubuntu with basic Compiz settings enabled; I run Windows with absolutely everything stripped down (all desktop effects disabled, everything biased towards performance/away from appearance).
Some observations, in no particular order: Windows is obviously and eternally manhandling the machine. It updates in the background, hogging resources, requiring reboots, etc. Ubuntu only does this stuff when/where I request it, obviously, visibly, without seeming to slow things down much.
Adding software to Ubuntu is ridiculously straightforward. Windows… um… is annoying and expensive.
There is endless helpful advice/tutorials online for Linux (although granted, you often need it); Windows is Microsoft or Microsoft.
On the other hand: Ubuntu wireless still hiccups; not so much that Ubuntu doesn’t play nice, but more that hardware vendors make little/no effort to support consumer-grade Linux.
OpenOffice files require tweaking/conversion to work with Windows (a problem with sharing documents with my Windows-using friends).
It took some digging to get all the right codecs and packages set up in Mozilla to get a proper multimedia internet experience.
I’m obviously a raving Ubuntu convert. Before that, I was a merely tolerant Windows sufferer. Yes, Linux takes a little more effort to get running the way you need, but once you get there, it’s addictivly awesome. Unless you NEED some Windows-specific software, Ubuntu looks and feels every bit better.
August 1, 2009
$15.96 per mile
I’ve finally gotten around to doing as I’ve often threatened myself to do, and tallied up all my receipts from Centaurea. I always supposed it would be of some use or interest to anyone else considering a boat-rebuild, not the least of which, myself! The breakdown goes like this:
Powertrain (engine rebuild, transmission, shaft/log, prop, fuel system, engine electrical) – $2550.15
Fasteners – $762.78
Paint (incl. sundries, prep, primers, pots, brushes, etc.) – $1759.88
Sanding (sandpaper, discs, grinding wheels, etc.) – $219.56
Electrical (wiring, panels, batteries, windgen) – $803.35
Rigging (running and standing, blocks – $1327.27
Plumbing (Hose, fittings, through-hulls, valves, pumps, head rebuild) – $1461.30
Metalwork (materials and labour on tanks and bowsprit/boomkin) – $1336
Gloops (sealants, bedding) – $262.66
Hardware (hinges, deck fittings – $330.76
Epoxy (resin, fillers, hardeners) – $1006.70
Materials (hardwood, plywood, glass cloth, lexan sheet, etc.) – $242
Sails (incl. repairs and one new/used purchase) – $720
Boat (Raw, tore down, as-is-where-is) – $3500
Total – $16,282.40
The Surprises: Plumbing accounts for about 9% of the total; more than the rigging, the sub-contracted metalwork, the tankage… Twice as much on hose and fittings than on wiring the whole boat!
I have long stated that the cheapest a person could get a boat usefully rebuilt and afloat for is approx. $1000/foot. Here, I far exceeded my own expectations and got myself sailing for $508.23/foot.
I’m still crunching the metatdata and looking at what else can be learned… for the next boat!
May 17, 2009
good-bye Windows, hello Linux
After thinking/researching/toying with the idea for some time now, and a Live USB trial on my old laptop, I’ve finally taken the plunge with a full install of Ubuntu Linux 9.04.
The verdict? So far, so good. I wasn’t using many apps that absolutely required Windows, so the transition was painless in that regard.
Rhythmbox easily replaced iTunes; 9.04 has some little usb issues I needed to tweak to connect my mp3 player, but it’s all good now. Firefox works great, but some packages needed to be shifted around in Ubuntu to get Flash to perform properly. There are a couple Flash frames I encounter that stutter a wee bit, but not a deal-breaker.
Compiz does more than I’d expect on a shared-memory laptop. I have to have many (more than I actually prefer to look at) effects enabled before the display starts to act up. Desktop Cube feels as gimmicky as it is pretty; I’m happily using fairly basic Wall and Expo effects with my workspaces.
Wireless took a little patience to get running in a reliable, repeatable fashion. Ubuntu has obviously made great progress with straight-forward hardware detection/support since I last played with 8.x; what problems I had were easier to diagnose/fix than in previous attempts with previous versions.
Overall, Ubuntu 9.04 feels snappier than my XPsp3 install. The boot time is much faster, as is resume from suspend (hibernation is still clunky). I have yet to have a single freeze or crash, even with multiple apps running. Video playback has been superior in Ubuntu with both Movie Player and VLC. My only video problem so far has been fullscreen flash movie playback; the video plays, but the fullscreen reverts back to a smaller window.
Next, I’ll start toying with GIMP, Rosegarden (can anyone recommend a software synth?), and QCad… what are my chances of running AutoCAD 2k under WINE?
