A Little About Me

As we begin this blog, it seems to make sense that I should tell you more about me.

I am 30 years-old, living just outside of downtown Los Angeles. I currently work as a manager at a specialty retail store at the local mall where I make $13 per hour, currently averaging about 35 hours per week.

I live alone in a one-bedroom apartment that costs me $920 per month. While this may seem outrageous to many of you (it is), this is actually a competitive rate for my area. Because of the cost of living, I do not own a car, have cable, a cellphone or high speed internet. My spending is fairly restrained, but I do have a penchant for DVDs.

As for alternate income streams, I've been playing quite a bit of online poker, mostly pot-limit Omaha hi/lo, for those who know poker. I was on a pretty good run, but recently hit a wall and have been running in place. I also have a small stock portfolio, containing shares of Pepsico, Johnson & Johnson and USBancorp. I did make a couple investments on the peer-to-peer lending site Prosper, but currently only have one active loan.

Most importantly, I am engaged to a wonderful woman who has two wonderful (mostly) children. We are in the midst of a long engagement and we are planning a move to Texas in the near future. To say that my life will change soon would be an understatement. Expect updates, as these changes will absolutely impact my finances.

That's it for now. Next post will include more information concerning my financial history.