My wife and I are reading The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey. I’ll write more about it when I have some time but I love this book. It is a breath of fresh air. He challenges “conventional” wisdom about finances and lays out a very clear step by step plan to getting out of debt and becoming financially free. Though the wisdom is uncoventional, it is pure common sense!

I’m sure the credit card companies hate Dave Ramsey. He advocates paying off all credit cards and closing all credit card accounts. He advocates a 100% cash existance (or debit card). You should not have a credit card for emergencies or “just in case”. He lays out a plan for having a $1,000 emergency fund for those emergencies and saving 3-6 months of expenses for a “rainy day”.

If you are in debt up to your eyeballs or even if you have no debt, Dave Ramsey’s book can help you on the path to financial freedom!

Again, I’ll write more about his book when I have some time but my wife and I are beginning the process. What fun knowing we are on the path to financial freedom!

I don’t encourage you to slack at work or to be a goof off. In fact, I encourage you to be the best employee possible. However, I was having coffee with a few friends a while back and we started to talk about how much time at work is actually spent working. Soon, the conversation became humorous and we were brainstorming ways to “fake work”. Simply stated, how can you look busy and fully productive while coasting in your job? I wrote down our ideas. Since then we’ve emailed ideas back and forth to one another.

Again, I don’t advocate doing ANY of these things. I just want to share these with you in an attempt to bring humor to your workday. Enjoy. If you have more ideas please email them to me at tcm at thecubemonkey dot com.

Browsong the Internet is the number one way to fake work. I often wonder what employees did at work before the Internet. Everyone reading this knows what a great time waster the Internet can be. Are you remodeling your kitchen? Reseach products. Are you buying a new computer? Find the perfect one online. Why spend precious time at home surfing the Inernet when you have eight hours at work?

Dangers
Many employers monitor not only where you go on the Internet but also how much time you spend surfing the web. Many employers also capture keystrokes. This means that they know where you go, when you go, how long you spend surfing and what you are typing.

Remediation Strategy
This may not be possible for everyone, but bring your own personal laptop to work. Unfortunately, you can’t hook your modem to the phone in your cube. Therefore, you need to buy a digital to analog converter. Use that converter to dial into the Internet. Your connection will be slow (dial-up) speed, but you’ll be able to surf the net without worries.

One final idea is to get a wireless network card. You may get lucky and pick up an Internet hot spot. It may be free or you may need to pay for the connection. In addition, most wireless phone companies (Verizon, Sprint Nextel, etc.) have high-speed wireless internet plans you can purchase for a monthly fee.

If you use this or any other faking work idea on this site, you assume all the risks. There is a chance you can get caught and get fired. I am not responsible if you get fired. These ideas are for entertainment purposes only.