What causes you the most stress?

[Bungleau]

I was... and in the last month, I got out of the habit. No more... back into it. 3-1/2 miles yesterday, 3-1/2 miles plus weights today. Day by day, step by step.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

..sounds stressful..

[Bungleau]

Less than the alternatives...

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

DMing can be pretty stressful

[VulcanRider]

Originally Posted by Bungleau Utter true wisdom from MagiK... too true! VR, I went through that a few years ago. It is possible to get through the mess... lemme know if you want thoughts on it. I found my own method for doing so which is very similar to Dave Ramsey's. I've decided that method #2 for dealing with stress is going to be working out, and I'm going to do that shortly. Method #1? Remembering MagiK's point... it's me and how much control I give *them* over my life.

Be glad to hear any advice/tips that you, or anyone else, might have.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

cont'd from Cloudy's..
I had stressful day yesterday,
I got a call from my department manager yesterday. She questioned some of the things I was doing in my work day. I don't really do anything different than my coworkers, but I feel I may be made an example of. I'm not the only one it's happening to.

I feel that if I do receive some sort of reprimand, I will get in touch with The Human Rights Commission and have them investigate.

Has anyone ever called them for any reason? Are they affective?

[ElfBane]

Originally Posted by Variol (Farseer) Elmwood ..What does everyone else stress about?

Stress polls.

[ElfBane]

Originally Posted by Felix The Assassin Too easy! Explaining to the spousal unit 'WHY' the basement has yet to be completed, and 'WHY' there is another $24.99 charge for "Travian Games Germany" on the cc. Speaking of which, I've got 15K Imperians on the march supported by 2K EI, and 1500 ECs.

The reason the basement isn't done is the Travian Games Germany charge. But she may have already suspected that.

[Bungleau]

Originally Posted by VulcanRider "What does everyone else stress about?" Right now money's the biggest issue. I dug myself in pretty deep with credit card debt a few years ago, and I'm trying to get that paid off. My work cut our hours in January and with the decreased income I'll need a 2nd job to make more than the minimum payments.

Since you asked...

Head over to your bookstore or local library and look for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace book. It covers a lot of things, but there are two main important ones: the baby steps and the debt snowball. Note that he comes from the perspective that debt is bad... evil, even.

The baby steps:

1. Get $1000 in the bank to start an emergency fund
2. Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball (except house)
3. 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
4. Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
5. College funding for children
6. Pay off home early
7. Build wealth and give!
8. Invest in mutual funds and real estate

The debt snowball: arrange all debts by increasing payment amount. Pay the minimums on each one. Then whatever else you can, pay on the one with the smallest balance. When you kill that one off, keep your total payments the same and apply the excess to the next smallest one. Repeat until they are all wiped out.

The links in there are to his own articles on both topics.

He is Christian, and a lot of his philosophy is based on that. However, it's also based on solid logic and practical experience - he was a millionaire by 26, and lost it all (and more!) by going bankrupt in a downturn before he was 30. Financial Peace grew out of him deciding how to get back on his feet after that. He's all for second (and even third!) jobs when you get angry and want to get out of debt fast.

I came up with something similar to the debt snowball on my own, except I ordered them by decreasing interest rate instead of by balance. I put more against the one that cost me the most. I occasionally broke the pattern, however; if one debt got within striking distance, I paid it off to get the psychological boost from killing it. His program goes for that boost every time.

I also didn't snowball it, at least not on purpose. I'd have been out of debt even faster had I done so. And I did get a second job, delivering pizzas. Programmer by day, pizza guy by night. In addition to having more money coming in, I had less time to spend it, meaning I kept more of it.

Whatever works for you...

[Bungleau]

I haven't had experience with the HRC, Variol. Checking the NS HRC's charter...

Nova Scotia's Human Rights Act affirms every person is free and equal in dignity and rights without regard to: * age * race/colour * religion/creed * ethnic or national origin * aboriginal origin * sex (including gender or pregnancy) * sexual orientation * physical or mental disability * family or marital status * source of income * irrational fear of contracting an illness or disease * association with groups or individuals * or political belief, affiliation or activity. The act also prohibits sexual harassment in all areas of public life. The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission is the independent government agency charged with administering that act and with educating Nova Scotians on race relations and other human rights-related issues.

Does it appear they're infringing on one or more of those "isms"? Do they seem to be acting based on one of those areas? If not, might be difficult to address. PM or email me if you want to discuss more or offline.