It’s not often that positive things are said about Social Security.  Normally statements like, “There will be none left for Generation Y” and “You will need to work until you die” are heard.  Well, don’t let those comments phase you.  It doesn’t have to be that way.

Sure, it could be true that by the time Generation Y is old enough to collect Social Security, there won’t be any left.  That only means that Generation Y (and anyone else who is interested) needs to start taking matters into their own hands.  Don’t want to get duped in the long run?  Create your own Social Security.

The tax rate per pay check for Social Security is 6.2%.  So, that means that whatever you make in gross pay (before taxes) is subject to the 6.2% Social Security tax.  Let’s say that over a two week pay period you gross $800.  From that amount, $49.60 would be taken for Social Security.  The more you make, more is taken.

In order to avoid any financial folly in the future, I suggest making your own Social Security fund.  It’s better to be safe than sorry.  In order to do this, simply take the amount that is deducted each paycheck for Social Security (in our example it was $49.60) and place it in a high interest rate fund, such as an IRA.  Here is how our example would play out if we were to do this:

$49.60 every two weeks = $1,289.60/year
$1,289.60 each year for 15 years = $19,344

It’s tough to calculate the precise amount that would be in the IRA once retirement age came around but this Roth IRA calculator suggested that we would have $23, 153.62 after 15 years at a rate of 6.9%.

That amount may not seem like a lot but it is.  That amount could pay for some college for your children or it could be used to pay off some outstanding debt or other needed expenses, such as home repairs or assisted living bills for a parent.  Plus, this amount is the minimum that would be accumulated.  If the investment amount was changed when more salary was earned, a higher total would appear at the end.

It is important to note that this should not be the only way you are saving for retirement.  Put as much money as you can into your 401K, gather a few investments, and save money in a savings or money-market account.  Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket!  This is an excellent way to save money, especially since it is such a small amount at any given time but don’t make it your only way to save.

It is a common misconception that exercising is easy, especially when you do it on a regular basis.  Anyone who has attempted to begin exercising can tell you that it’s not all roses and rainbows.  Starting a workout plan is difficult, especially when the “challenge” looses it’s luster.  But, keeping goals and a “want” list can keep you motivated and successful.   I learned this the hard way.

A few months ago, I decided that I wanted to be a “more fit” person.  Not necessarily bulk up, but just stay healthy.  I would eat right, exercise at least 5 times a week, and get in better shape.  I’m not overweight or on the verge of any serious conditions, but it was something I had always wanted to try and had never done.  It seemed like the perfect time to test the fitness waters.

Wrong.  Not so much.

My working out lasted about two or three weeks and then I became tired and worn out.  My eating choices continued to be healthy but I wasn’t as tough on myself as I was when I was working out.  This rut lasted for a few months until I realized recently that I needed smaller, more visible goals to keep me going out of the gate.

These smaller goals needed to be the lifeblood of my fitness plan.

Sure, my goals to be a healthier person and to get in better shape were great, but they didn’t have any physical dimensions – I couldn’t rely on them to get me exercising on a morning that I didn’t feel like doing anything.

More tangible goals, like the ones listed below, are great for those tough days when you know you should be exercising but really don’t feel like it.

Here are some of the goals I’ve put into place for my workouts and exercise times.  Remember – these goals are always going to change as I accomplish them.  Keep giving yourself new goals.

• Biking/running/walking routes that I have never traveled.
• Daily changing the workout routine that I do.  I even make it to where I’m not doing the same workout routine in back to back weeks.
• Trying to exercise with other people at least once a week.
• Participating in at least three different exercise styles each week (i.e. running, biking, tennis, working out, etc.)

These are only a few of the small goals that I’ve come up for myself in relation to exercising and staying in shape.  These goals are tangible.  I can see the results from them each day.

Having smaller, more visible goals will help you get through those moments when you don’t want to exercise and they will prove to be a vital part of your routine.

I know that I’ve already posted my “Friday Finds,” but since I had a few minutes, I decided to blog about a Redbox code I just found.  Until July 7, enter 7HE79B at your local Redbox and you will receive one free night.  From what I have gathered, this code can be used multiple times with the same credit card.  Make sure to return the movie by 9:00PM the following night so you aren’t charged!

eBay has a great daily email with some hot deals on their site.  Each deal includes free shipping and is far below the regular retail price of the item.  If you’d like to subscribe, click here but if you’d rather not, check out the link below for today’s daily deal email.  Enjoy!

eBay Daily Deal Email – July 3, 2009

No, this is not one of those spam/infomercial blog posts.  The title did elude to that, but I’m sorry, that’s not what I’m aiming for.  Instead, I want to share a few things I picked up from an interesting article about exercise and keeping your body in one piece – literally.

When you exercise, your body uses two important things to keep you moving and healthy – carbs and proteins.  The carbs help you stay energized (consider it like the gas in your car) and the proteins allow for your muscles and tendons to repair themselves once you have strained and flexed them (like the oil in your car).  Without these two things, you aren’t going to have a great time exercising.  You’ll be tired, sore, and you might injury yourself.

How do you make the most out of your exercise time?  I’m glad you asked.

1.  Eat Before

You should never work out or exercise on a completely empty stomach.  A lot of people wake up in the morning and begin their workout right away but it really shouldn’t be done like that.  Take 5 minutes to eat a banana, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or maybe a half of a bagel.  Don’t pig out but just make sure you have something in your stomach.

2.  Eat After

According to the article I read, your body only has a small window of time when it rebuilds and restores all of your muscles once you put down the last barbell or put away the tennis balls.  Make sure that you eat a snack or meal that is abundant in carbs and proteins, such as pasta, peanut butter and jelly, turkey with cheese, any assortment of nuts/berries, or a protein bar.  This will help your body repair your muscles and will give your stomach the satisfaction it needs.

3.  Stretch

It’s crucial to stretch before AND after a workout or any form of exercising.  Stretching helps to ease your muscles in and out of your joints and will enhance your flexibility.  Stretching before a workout could be dangerous but only if you overstretch, causing muscle tears and other injuries.  Make sure you just do a light stretching routine before exercising.  Most people wonder why you should stretch after a work out.  Take this advice from wellnessletter.com:

“Stretching improves flexibility, which allows you to move your joints through their full range of motion. Flexibility is a key element of fitness; it can enhance physical performance and relieve muscle tension and stiffness. You should stretch after a warm-up and/or when cooling down after a workout, since it is easier and safer to stretch a warm muscle than a cold one. Warm-ups bring blood to the muscles and make injuries from stretching less likely.”

Well, that’s it – at least for now.  As I learn more and gain more experience working out and exercising, I’ll be sure to post about my tips and tricks.  For now, be sure to get enough proteins and carbs and don’t forget about stretching.  If you don’t remember anything else, remember this:  Don’t overdo it.  Don’t eat too many proteins or carbs or stretch too much.  You’ll be hurting your body more than you will be helping it.

I apologize for the recent lack of updates. When summer hit, a load of different responsibilities and priorities came my way so I wasn’t able to update the site as much as I would have liked to. I’m going to try and update quite often from this point on, with new recipes, top ten lists, and more tips on getting the most out of your money. If you have any article suggestions, please email me or post a comment to this entry. Thanks! Happy blogging!

I’ve recently discovered the snackibility (probably not a word…) of granola. It’s a great food to munch on instead of super sweet candies or chocolate. Experimenting, I came up with the following healthy, and easy, treat.

• 1/2 cup of granola
• 1/2 cup of Rice Krispie cereal
• cinnamon to taste

1. Combine all ingredients in a sandwich bag and shake.

As I said, it’s a pretty simple recipe.  This is a great mid-afternoon snack, especially for kids in school.  I often make 2-3 cups and use it over multiple days.  It is also good with milk.

Has anyone tried this or a similar recipe?  What other things can you add to this to make it healthier or more interesting?  Share it in the comments!

From WordCamp Mid-Atlantic 2009 #wordcampmidatl

(slides per @brandonsavage)

• What is caching?
• Why we need caching?
• Improving your code’s performance
• Improving the content’s performance
• Building your own caching plugin

Things that you cache…

• code (HTML, sidebar)
• login status (sessions, username)
• content (MySQL queries)

Things you don’t want to cache…

• dynamic content
• user permissions
• passwords
• security settings

Why is caching important?

• Caching improves the speed of the page load.
• Caching reduces server load.
• 9,829 function calls to load WordPress!

WordPress by itself is extremely inefficient!

WordPress Performance Benchmarks:

• WordPress by itself (with plugins):  almost 6 seconds
• APC enabled (without WP-Cache):  about 2 seconds

Caching the code

• Opcode cache

1. PHP is not a complied language; code is compiled and executed at run time.
2. Compiling code takes extra time, extra CPU, and extra resources.

• Benefits of Opcode Cache
• Drawback of Opcode Cache

1. Still must invoke PHP (which requires resources)
2. Executes “expensive” stat() calls.
3. Doesn’t play nice with some WordPress caching systems (e.g. WP-Cache)

Bottom Line:  You’re crazy if you don’t have an Opcode cache!

Caching the content

Why cache content?

• Most blogs don’t have content changes that often.
• Cached content reduces server load and increases delivery.
• When high traffic shows up, you’ll be ready.

Typical WordPress process

• WordPress loads the plugins, then the theme, then the content and returns the page to the user.

With WP-Cache

• Checks for a cached file.
• If found, it serves the cached file and terminates WordPress.
• If not, it continues on with typical process and caches.

WP-Cache is a file-based cache.

File based caches:

• Write directly to the disk, and read directly from the disk.
• This can be slow, as a disk read is required.
• This can be more reliable, as the files persist after Apache or MySQL start.

Drawbacks of WP-Cache

• File based cache (slower)
• Might have thousands of files
• WP-Cache still required the PHP parser
• WP-Cache evaluated the file before it serves it

Preparing for the Digg Effect

• WP-Super-Cache

1. Uses same code as WP-Cache
2. Replaces dynamic page hyperlinks with static HTML page hyperlinks
3. Removes the need for PHP parser

The rule of web servers: Static always beats dynamic.

Warning! If you used WP-Cache, it created a symlink for advanced-cache.php.

Words of caution…

• WordPress has not initialized a databse connection or the WordPress framework at the cache execution time.

I’m attnding WordCamp MidAtlantic this Saturday.  It should be a great experiance.  WordCamp is a blogging conference for individuals who have chosen to use WordPress as their blogging engine.  I hope to learn a lot, make some new connections, and prove you with plenty of information.  Also, after this Thursday, I am officially finished with school for the semester which means that I will have plenty of time to blog.  I’ll try to update at least once a day.  Let me know if you have any ideas for articles that you want to see.

Trying to find a new way to eat your chicken?  Try out this quick and easy marinade.  I put this together on a whim but it turned out pretty well.

• 1 lime juiced
• 2 teaspoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
• 1 tablespoon of Mrs. Dash or other sodium-free spice

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir thoroughly until all ingredients are equally blended.
2. If using with frozen chicken:  Apply marinade generously after turning chicken in the oven.
   If using with thawed chicken:  Put marinade in a Ziploc bag and let chicken soak for 6-8 hours.  Cook as desired.

Unlike most marinade, this recipe is low in sodium and is about as healthy as you’re going to get.  It adds a lot of great flavor, especially when the chicken has soaked for 8 hours.

Has anyone tried this marinade or a similar kind?  What are your thoughts?  Share with everyone via the comments.