Archive for Money, Money, Money!

Economic Viscious Cycle

{ February 23, 2009 @ 7:38 PM } · { Money, Money, Money! }
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Thing is we have ourselves a domino effect going on and if you “fix” one thing, something else is going to go. I mean so far we have what…people losing jobs and their homes. Losing a home is ruining credit. If they get a job they still are going to have a foreclosure on the books for ten or more years making it so they cannot get credit to get a new home and in some cases they won’t be able to rent either.

And in even more cases, have a mark on your credit and you can’t get a job at certain places. This is a nasty effect. For example let’s say we have two college educated career people in a home, they are a bit overextended on credit (because this is apparently the American dream…to have everything on a payment plan). Then one loses their job. No problem, they can make it on one job in the family for a while…until that 26 weeks of unemployment runs out then the other one also gets downsized. Eventually because of the market neither have a job and they cannot make their payments. Soon everything is gone, credit ruined and they are living in a cheap apartment off of their savings wondering wtf they are going to do. Imagine then…they go to get a job and their disqualifying factor is that they have a foreclosure on their credit. Huh. Now they are highly unemployable. And this is happening by the hundreds if not thousands. So even if someone creates more jobs who is to say people are going to “qualify”.

Meanwhile you have other situations like happened to a family I have known for years. This couple has two children. They aren’t the brightest crayons in the box, but they are very honest very hard working people. He got laid off last year and has not been able to find another job in the area since.

They just got foreclosed on by Citibank, whom they have been trying to contact and work with for six months because they knew that soon they wouldn’t be able to make their mortgage payment which carried a huge 11% interest rate because they were high risk. One of their jobs for the entire month…an entire month’s salary went to make the mortgage payment.

Here’s the one thing that really bothers me. His wife works for McDonald’s. She used to work 36 hours per week, she has worked there for 6 years. McDonald’s started this “wonderful” campaign to teach teens the value of money and a career so they hired about 15 high school students and cut her hours down to 10 per week.

This woman has two children, her husband got downsized and she gets to watch 16 year olds take her job because McDonald’s gets tax breaks and accolades for having some sort of junior mentor program. What is wrong with this picture?

So yay… yay to mcdonalds in creating “new jobs” so their loyal employees get reduced hours and get the chance to lose their home! Did I mention that the county these people live in has absolutely no program or help for the homeless? Do you want to know what the county social services told them when they went to file for benefits and let them know they were homeless? “You should move to X county, they help the homeless there.” Fantastic, isn’t it?

Walmart Throws Out Man Spreading Cheer

{ December 26, 2008 @ 9:33 PM } · { Money, Money, Money! }
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So, you know, I was appalled.  Here we have a financial situation and this year, more than ever, retailers are feeling the crunch with no one able to shop like usual.

One man, who lost his job, decides to spread a little holiay cheer and “pay it forward” and gets accused of soliciting and thrown out of Walmart.  You can read the whole story here.  In summary, this man purchased $1300.00 worth of Walmart gift cards, dressed as Santa and started handing them out to people as they went into Walmart.  Walmart employees accused him of soliciting and threw him out.  The best part is that it was reported that Target contacted him and said they would exchange the Walmart cards for Target cards and he was welcome to hand out the Target cards in front of their store.

What I now want to know is if I get any Walmart gift cards for Christmas, if I can take them to Target and exchange them.  Because if I can, I would without batting an eye.  I’ve had a long time to get upset at Walmart I guess,  mostly I just don’t agree with a lot of their business decisions but the thing that really irks me is the quality of their products.  Especially clothing.  The clothing section simply ticks me off any time I have gone in there.

The largest gripe I have, as a woman, is their selection of bra sizes.  When I was a DDD cup, there is absolutely nothing.  Yet they will sell clothing that is large enough for a DDD sized woman…you just can’t buy anything to hold your tits up.  Then, when I lost weight and went to a DD, they had those but I was a 38DD at the time…smallest I could find ever was a 44DD…wtf.   This is not just looking at one Walmart though, it’s looking at three of them.  I did manage to find a 38DD once at a Walmart….it was basically hidden.  I had gotten the idea they probably order like three of them each month and I just kept getting there at the wrong time or something.  Now that I am down to a 36D, they’ve lost my bra business.  I buy mine at Shopko now, 36 miles away.

Another problem  have with Walmart is their shoes and the quality of those.  Some of the dress shoes look nice…but I don’t know a human that has feet shaped that way, not to mention that they have absolutely no support or cushioning.   The one that really got to me are the Dr. Scholl’s…I used to wear them all the time, swore by them.  Then I found out Walmart had them.  They must make them differently for Walmart….they make them cheaper.  They have to because normally a pair of those would last me 6 months.  Walmart made shoes last about a month and they wear out weird.  It’s like they get bigger.  Then they just start falling apart.  But yet, if I go to a regular shoe store and pay more for the Dr. Scholl’s…I’m back to the quality and longevity that I remember.  So…no one can tell me that Walmart does not force manufacturer’s to make an inferior product.  I buy my shoes 36 miles away as well.

That is why I stopped buying dog food at Walmart.  Usually I buy IAMS or Beneful.  Both what I consider good and healthy brands.  In fact, when searching for dog foods those were the two that seemed to satisfy them the most and most of the food was not left on the lawn in the form of poo piles and the brands that didn’t cause their hair to fall out.  Which are all signs of foods not having enough nutrition.  But when I found that the dang shoes are made different, how can I trust that the dog food isn’t a more inferior product as well?   I found out that I really can’t trust it.  My big dog consumes about 50lbs. of dog food every two weeks.  I purchased a 40lb bag of Beneful over at Walmart and gave him the same amount of food…but yet after each feeding he seemed hungry. So I started giving him more at each feeding.  That 40lb bag was gone in a week.  This isn’t right.

So I continue to buy dog food from 36 miles away as opposed to going to Walmart that is 8 miles away.  This just means that I go shopping every two weeks and get everything I need over there in that town because I don’t trust Walmart.

I think shopping at Walmart is a waste of money.  And don’t even get me started on their food.  I’m afraid of their raw meats they sell.  They don’t even have a butcher shop in Walmart….I have to wonder how long that “fresh” beef has been trucking around the United States..or if it even is from the United States.  My father was a butcher and for a while owned his own butcher shop.  I know for certain that there are ways to preserve raw meat and other little tricks to making it look fresher than it is.  Which is one of the reasons my father started his own shop…because of what he had to do in the large grocery chain where he managed the meat section.  Some of it is not as fresh as you would hope.

Anyway…I’ll stop complaining about Walmart.  But if you decide to shop there…start paying attention to the quality.  Not everything at walmart is a bad deal, just a lot of things.

SAVE THE BAG!

{ December 24, 2008 @ 9:57 AM } · { Money, Money, Money! }
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Right. You have heard the phrase spend a dollar to save a nickel right?  If not, it goes on the premise of people actually spending more to save something that is technically worth less than what they are spending to save it.

My favorite example….washing out ziploc bags.  Now…I’m a bit of a “greenie” and like to save money and I do reuse ziploc bags…but I have my limits.  For instance, if I have a baggie that had crackers in it. I probably will use it the next day to put crackers in for my lunch.  If I put left over bacon in it…I’m NOT using potable water and dishsoap to clean it and reuse it.  I mean…come on. (but I know people who do this)

I hear a lot of things, you know, and most of the time I am not surprised at the nutty things people do.  But one I heard tonight had me simply cracking up. 

Imagine this.  We have a n owner of a tavern.  She has no driver’s license (I did not ask why she didn’t have one…I am just assuming…you know what I mean).  Alright.  So…she had the bar open on Sundays for football games but it was getting slow…so, she decided to close on Sundays.  For several months she has been closed on Sundays.

Now…she has decided to open again on Sunday.  No advertisements about it anywhere. Wants the bartender to open at 1pm.  The game starts at Noon.

This is the same woman who wants employees to dump the garbage into the dumpster and then SAVE THE BAG.

Has it hit you yet?  She is going to pay someone $7.00 per hour for 8 hours to sit in a bar on a Sunday when she has been closed on Sundays for over a month.  She is not advertising a reopening on Sunday.  This means she is going to shell out $56.00 (before taxes), plus lights & heating and whatever else her running expenses are.  And she’s worried about saving a trash bag?

Is it only hilarious to me?

This reminds me of something I heard on National Public Radio this morning.  At least I think it was this morning…it was around 5am and coffee wasn’t done yet.  It could have been yesterday.

I don’t remember the whole story but there was a woman they were interviewing in California.  She was distressed and teary while talking.  She said her bank would not work with her to lower her mortgage payment.  Her mortgage payment was $4500.00.  She said that if they could lower it to $3000.00 for a while, they could make it.  But as it was, she was losing her home.

I understand what it is to lose a home.  I understand what it is to be so close to making ends meet but no one willing to give a little and help you out.  But…it really seems to me, if you could not arrange or see it coming (that you would not make your bills) to do something about it before it got bad.

I arranged a smaller interest rate with my bank this past May.  By September they were refusing to lower anyone else’s.  Good thing I thought ahead I guess.  When you have lost one home that you worked hard to provide for you and your daughter, you just aren’t going to let it happen again.  Not going to happen again.  Course my second house is not nearly as nice as the first…but the payment was lower than most people’s rent…and now it’s really low.

What is it Worth?

{ December 23, 2008 @ 8:01 PM } · { Money, Money, Money! }
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Unfortunately I spend a lot of time thinking about money.  Mostly about how I can live without much of it due to many reasons.  I think of self sufficiency as a personal challenge…not so much to “beat the system” or to do a responsible thing by the planet.  But if you think of it…if you figure out a way to live on less money then the demand that you have it is not so great and you can get down to the business of enjoying life….instead of working working working to build money up to HOPEFULLY enjoy later.

A friend of the family worked for Merrill Lynch.  She made sure just out of college that she secured a position in a large company and intended to stay there until she retired.  This is what she was taught was the prudent and responsible thing to do.  So she did what she was told was what she should do, secured the job, made sacrifices to keep that job, worked hard, put money into her 401k.

Now… it’s all gone.  All the money she worked so hard for, so she could enjoy her life later…..gone.  Twenty five years of saving…..gone, in one fell swoop.  Of course…this has happened to thousands of people over the years and thousands of people in the last few years.

And now…her situation is like anyone else who has worked all their life but didn’t put into a retirement plan.  She was told she must make a retirement plan because so many people don’t or can’t and that it is the responsible thing to do…and now gone. 

There are many things my father told me.  He told me that the easiest thing to do in America is make money.  Right after that he told me the hardest thing to do in America is keep the money you make.  Some more words of wisdom from my father, “The value of what you have is only worth how much someone else values it.”

This became a stark reality when my mother, many years ago went to a bank to ask for a small home equity loan.  They had purchased a home and had two vehicles.  They put approximately 15000.00 into the home in rennovations.  One vehicle had died…she needed a few thousand dollars to get a used vehicle.  The banker in town said, “You don’t have anything worth anything.”  Personally I think he was just being an asshole.

These types of things still go on today, even before the economic crisis.  When you are told what you have worked so hard for has no value, it demeans you as a person.  You have thoughts like…then why am I working so had if there is no credit for it in the future.  Just like the gal at Merrill Lynch…why work so hard if it’s all just going to be taken away.

And I think the most regretable thing about all this with her losing the 401k…..is that we have a whole bunch of people working damned hard, most of the time at the expense of their family…to not enjoy life NOW…but to do it “ONE DAY”. 

One day I will get to take that vacation.
One day I will retire and be stress free.
One day we will travel the world.
Sometimes that one day does not come….or if it does come…have you worked so hard your body is wrecked and you cannot enjoy it?

Face it… you don’t know what is going to happen.  You could have a car accident tomorrow. You could have oodles of retirement money saved and when you retire find you have medical issues and now you cannot do all these things you have waited 40 years to do.

I live in an extremely small community.  If I happened to tell people all the things that I have done, places I have went and experiences I have had, they would not believe me.  Why?  Because I am too young to have done all of it and, by their assumption, I would not have had enough  money to do all of it.  Small minds.  Plus there are so many people around that want everyone to think they are important so they claim to have done things they have not done.  I’m not a bragger…I feel fortunate to have had the experiences I have had so far, I am lucky to have been in some of the situations that I have been it that afforded me to do many of the things I have.

It’s all where you put yourself.  If you put yourself in a place that is going no where, that is exactly where you will go.  As I see it…no matter where you are, you can go anywhere from there.  People here in this small community say that if you are here you are trapped here.  I don’t see things that way…there are highways here that lead to other places….just like everyplace else.  If I drive far enough I can get on an airplane just as I could get on an airplane if I lived in a city of 3 million.

I am not sure how it is that people think this way.  You are only stuck if you let yourself be stuck.  Yes, there are things out of your control but you are in control ultimately in what decisions you make…and if you have made wrong decisions…make a new one and hopefully that one works out.

Winston Churchhill once said,”True success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”

I’m not saying I do not have my moments, but I try to live up to that quote in my life.  To the best of my ability no matter what is happening I try to keep up entusiasm, things can turn around at any moment…and most often they do.

To me…even though your property and possessions may only be worth what someone else is willing to pay for them…and today it’s not much considering the economy.  I guess you just have to decide how much it is worth to YOU and only you and consider that each time you make a decision.

Sometimes People Disgust Me

{ December 23, 2008 @ 7:16 PM } · { Lifestyle, Money, Money, Money! }
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It is not often that I watch television.   My daughter and I haven’t had television service for many years now and even though she is on the cusp of turning 17 there are no complaints from her.  We never really watched it much anyway.  But yesterday I was in a situation where there was a television available and not much else to do so I thought I would see if an episode of SVU or Law and Order was on.  There wasn’t, however I locked onto some show that was currently showing a small group of Kenyan tribespeople and figured it was a documentary.

Always wanting to learn more about other people and cultures, I stuck with it through the commercials to see what it was about.  I noticed the logo on the screen was for MTV.  I thought wow, MTV shows cultural documentaries now?  What a change from the first time I watched MTV when I was in 2nd grade.  First thing I ever saw on the channel was a video from Twisted Sister.

Anyway it was a show called Exiled.  I’m sure most people have seen this show but it was my first time and I think the episode was a rerun.  In any case it was about this highly spoiled brat-bitch of a teenager who was being sent to a remote area in Kenya to live with the African natives for a week to hopefully teach her just how good she has it where she is.  Her father hoped she would learn some respect and learn about working.

Now, I am upset and when I am in this state I can get off point trying to make a point, so I hope I don’t meander too far off course.  I was not completely disgusted with this spoiled girl, it happens and her father admitted he had a huge hand in making her the way she was but this was his attempt to fix it, to wake her up.  So there is some respect I have for that.  I was not disgusted by her whiny and complaining behavior when in Kenya, sleeping in a cow dung hut on a cow skin with no pillow, 20km from water.  I understand that…she’s spoiled so the behavior on her part was expected.

It is not new for any of us in America to watch these types of shows or National Geographic documentaries and see how other cultures live…what they have what they don’t have, etc.  None of this was a shock to me…and while what I am about to say is not a shock to me either, I have reached a new level of disgust with Americans and people in general.

I personally have no problem with work.  My family taught me that hard work is a part of life, including manual labor.  Any time I ever complained about hauling in wood all day for winter was soon quashed when I realized if it doesn’t get done, my ass is going to be mighty cold in January.  I have worked all my life whether at home or out of the home.  My first job out of the home was when I was ten years old, washing dishes three hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. 

Anyway…you see how I get off point.  Here is what moved me to a new level of disgust.

I am sitting there watching these beautiful African people share their culture with this girl and seeing all the hard work they must do to survive because there is no other alternative, seeing how their family ties are more deep and loving than many American families….and on comes an advertisement for ring tones.

That is what set me off in my head.  A simple ad for ring tones.  Then an ad for a Visa card that is a prepay debit card…for the people that have had their credit ruined for whatever reason…then an ad for sending in your old gold jewelry for cash…..then an advertisement for the new Blackberry.

This stark contrast hit me in a much newer way.  Possibly because I have finally been to Europe…gotten completely out of North America and have met more people in different parts of the world.  Maybe I’m just getting older…read: more mature. lol

Rich people, for the most part, have disgusted me in the past.  Not the fact that they are rich, but that they waste their money.  Does life really insist you have a $5000.00 handbag??  I mean…is THAT what life is about?  But I realized yesterday that so many people in America complain about the rich….but they do the same thing themselves.  People with hardly any money still make stupid decisions with their money and then complain about not having money and come up with excuses as to why how their life is is not their fault.  Most of these people are angry and unhappy people.

Money ruins people.  It ruins relationships between people and not just because one owes the other or one scams the other.  But how many times have you seen or heard of rich people with drug problems….same with people with less income.  We have created a society of escapists and I think a lot of it has to do with money, either the hoarding of it, the getting of it or the lack of it.

Our entire country is spoiled like that California rich girl.  We have turned into the world’s brats.  Though at least some people are trying to change that.  I am not saying there isn’t anyone in America that doesn’t appreciate what they have and I am not saying that there aren’t any people that don’t work hard for what they have…hell…I’m one of them.

So the next time you are sitting at your television consider the advertisements….for this is what people are buying or there would be no ads for the products…this is what we are…what America is….cell phones, ring tones, how to get money fast, how to lose weight fast.  Botox and Fake Breast Nation.

Some people’s biggest decision of the day is whether to take the Gucci or Prada handbag to brunch where they will purchase a $15.00 latte and not eat because they may actually consume a calorie or two.

It’s all fake.  Our society is fake.  Maybe that is why I don’t quite fit in most days.  I picked Information Technology as my field because I understand the software and the hardware. I choose to operate in a services to clients capacity because I can explain technical things easily to people. 

But I am finding I am too much of a real person to actually be employed by a larger company.  I don’t fit in with the culture of most companies because I relate more to the customer than to the fake pretentions of coworkers.  I don’t schmooze, I don’t kiss ass, I don’t gossip.  I have more respect for myself and my life and what I leave behind than to be this way.

I am probably one of very few people in the technology field that doesn’t have some sort of orgasm when a new gadget is released…or a new video card comes out.  I have very few “must have’s” where technology is concerned.  Sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t even be in America, somehow I don’t fit in to what ya’ll got going on.

While watching that show I actually thought….wouldn’t it be nice to live there with those people.  Yes you have to walk a bit over ten miles for water, yes you have to butcher your own meat (something I’m not foreign to), yes it’s flippin hot and you make your shelter from mud,water and cow shit.  But everyone cares so deeply for each other…and there really is no stress.  Not stress like our society creates.  Sure it would be stressful to get some sort of infection and not be able to walk to water to wash and etc….but to be able to be in a place where deadlines are seasonal….no matter how rough life is compared to how it is in America….to me…it would be a blessing.

I think I just made up my mind to go to Africa within the next few years, I think it would be prudent for me to go to.  Since spending a month in Sweden this past fall I had thought my next trip would be to Italy or Ireland…but now, I am thinking I should go to Africa.  And who knows….I just might stay.

Abandoned Pets – Foreclosure & Redundancy

{ December 22, 2008 @ 7:50 PM } · { Money, Money, Money! }
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This is not something that people readily think about when they consider the housing and employment crisis that is hitting America.  Things such as an entire country’s economy going in the toilet, especially America’s, affect not just things we immediately think about and not just humans either.

When most people think about America’s financial crisis they consider what they hear and think about what has happened to them or what could happen to them.  People are concentrating on keeping their job or keeping their home, some don’t consider their pets when they are just trying to stay above water and not lose their house.

Because so many people are losing their homes they are either going to places they can afford or moving in with relatives or going to homeless shelters.  It is not always possible to take all pets with.  Some people are simply giving up all their pets to be able to make their payments or because they otherwise cannot afford it.  And some must downsize their condos and apartments that allow pets and move into cheaper living situations that do not allow them.

So where does this leave the pets?  If they are lucky they are being dropped off with people they know can afford and keep the pets or they are being given to shelters.

If the pet is not so lucky, they are finding themselves on the sides of highways or abandoned in the homes their owners had repossessed.

Animal shelters are literally overflowing with all types of pets due to this….and this is the major reason right now that I am making a plea to everyone….please DO NOT give someone the gift of a pet for the holidays unless YOU KNOW FOR SURE that the family can afford the pet on an ongoing basis until the end of that pet’s natural life. 

If you do give a pet that will be able to be taken care of…. please, please, please,please get it from a shelter to make room for another that needs a home.

Cruises, The New Nursing Home???

{ December 22, 2008 @ 7:25 PM } · { Lifestyle, Money, Money, Money! }
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Wow. What a weekend, a lot of things came to my attention this weekend.  While they are not at all unexpected, some have been extremely interesting to say the least.

One item of interest to me is the fact that many American senior citizens are choosing to live on cruises rather than retire in a traditional home or are using them as an alternative to nursing homes.

Now, I’m not going to touch on the ones that opt to simply retire and spend more of the year on cruise ships.  What I find far more interesting are the ones that live on cruise ships rather than nursing homes.

Assuming the senior does not need all care possible.  Meaning they can generally get around on their own although they may be slow, I think this is  novel idea.  Since the nursing home industry truly needs reform (in my opinion) and the costs associated with staying in one is extremely high, I think it’s great that people are finding alternative lifestyles a benefit to what we may consider traditional.

Fistly, I did a little checking and it seems that most nursing home standard care charges are around $5000.00 – $8000.00 per month.  You can go on a 16 day cruise on a special for around $900.00.  Take two cruises of this type and that is 32 days for around $1800.00.

Think about it.  You get lodging, food, entertainment and emergency care for $1800.00 per month.  That is less than a lot of people pay for rent…and they still have to pay utilities and groceries and etc.

I think it’s awesome. No property taxes to worry about, food is prepared for you, maid service so your room is always clean, at least nurses on board in case there is a issue…better than a nursing home in my estimation.  Even social events to meet new people…don’t have to go out into the weather.  It’s a beautiful concept.

Although it would not work out for everyone and there are people that have insurances for nursin homes, but some don’t and some seniors don’t really need a lot of help with things, they just shouldn’t be left without someone close by.

Eighteen hundred per month is also cheaper than having part time help.  Let’s say a senior needs about 6 hours of help per day, a bit of assisted living.  Two hours of care three times per day for meals and light cleaning.  Not unreasonable.  However, if they have no insurance for this type of care and they have an agency that supplies home care workers come in to do this, they would approximately pay upwards of $2800.00 based on a 31 day month.  And the senior STILL of course has to pay for rent or mortgage, food, utilities, and whatever else.  They could take these cruises and have the same, if not better circumstances, for around $1000.00 less per month and not have any other bills besides items they want and medical items.  That is…if they sold their home.

Even if they didn’t sell their home, but disconnected unnecessary utilities while they were absent…they could still cruise the world and spend less than if they had a 6 hour home care worker daily that just made meals and did light cleaning.

Amazing to me anyway.  I think if you are a senior and can manage pretty well on your own but are paying high costs in having a homecare worker to do these things, living on cruises is an option not just to save money but have some fun and travel as well.

Going Green I (Dollar light bulbs)

{ December 18, 2008 @ 9:30 PM } · { Lifestyle, Money, Money, Money! }
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Most of these are going to be rather short, just relating my experiences as they happen. When the energy efficient light bulbs really started to be pushed years ago, they advertised that they would last 3-10 years depending on the brand and etc. that you purchased. That is you could buy a bulb that claimed it would last 3 yrs. before it would have to be changed, and I am sure you all noticed they weren’t exactly cheap but the 3 yr. bulbs were less than the 10 year bulb. Some brands of the 10 yr. bulbs were actually upwards of $10 just a few years back.

I am here to report my success with $1.00 energy efficient light bulbs. I, too, was skeptical when standing at the check out of the dollar store back in 2004. On the counter was a display for energy efficient bulbs that were to last 7 yrs. for $1.00 each. UH HUH. Well, I bought one and installed it in 2004.

The sucker is still beaming brightly. So, of course, over the years I have changed as many bulbs as possible with these $1.00 light bulbs. Even the light on the hood above my range.

I haven’t purchased a light bulb in years, except for the really tiny ones and the flourescent tube lights I have…and those last a long time as well.

As I was changing over I first assessed where the lights were on a lot or where they were forgotten on a lot. So those were replaced first and yes, I actually did notice a change in the light bill because I changed the ones that used the most electricity first.

I have these ceiling fans, each having 4 bulbs. The light bulbs that were recommended for them used more electricity than a regular bulb. Changed those out…now I get as much light from 2 $1.00 energy efficient bulbs that I got from all four and I really noticed a change in the bill..that was probably the biggest part of the change in the bill…other than I have a teenager who is constantly “forgetting” certain lights on. Viola!

Not only do I save on the electric bill (the energy company increased their rates by 30% THREE times in 2008!!), but like I said…havent’ purchased a bulb in years.

See… I really hate shopping so any way I can get out of having to go, I am all for. This is why I “binge shop”…more on that in another post.

Where Has This Economic Crisis Left You?

{ December 17, 2008 @ 8:17 PM } · { Money, Money, Money! }
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So, going on some more (like everyone else) about the economic crisis, it seemed the trend of job loss, layoff and downsizing started in or around 2005-2006. At least in the technical industry that is what it looks like. Even though (according to eWeek.com), in 2006 there were 232,000 less tech. layoffs than in 2005. I think I really noticed it when Dell started wacking away at their expenses (read:American workers) in 2006-07. I mean, that is when you heard of people getting the surprise of coming to work and not having a job…in the thousands. THOUSANDS.

And THEN we have the crisis and even more in the industry, across all industries are done. Kaput. Laid off, places closing or simply not having any money for paychecks. It sucked then, it sucks now.

I have talked to many an I.T professional over the last few months and many of them are actually thinking about going back to school to start a new career since they cannot find jobs. Many are actually going into sciences or engineering. For instance, one gentleman I spoke with has a B.S in Information Technology and he’s going back to school to be a civil engineer. ? It doesn’t mean I understand it…but people are doing this all over. Going back to school because…well, it’s like they don’t know what to do.

They are faced now like I was when I first closed my brick and mortar. Over qualified. Executives and assistants to executives are applying for jobs side by side to work at places like the GAP or Kohl’s…or some other such.

So anyway, I am always looking for new information and was made aware of a site I have not come across before. It’s called My Pursuit. It’s a college and career site aimed at people wanting to learn about and plan a career. Since so many people are considering career changes…since they can’t get hired and have not much else to do, I thought it would be good to pass on the info.

My Pursuit has a section to research career paths and also a section on the top colleges and even has a scholarship section.

It’s a Money World

{ December 16, 2008 @ 11:12 PM } · { Money, Money, Money! }
{ Tags: , , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

Someone said to me today, “We live in a money world.”
Certainly yes, in America it sure is.

Magic practice is such a personal journey. On this journey you find out
what is really important and it certainly is not money.

Magic is something that helps you see how things really are…what
really matters. It is very similar if not exactly like what some people
get out of religion. There are always fanatics in any belief system,
religion or philosophy but there are always those that “get it”.

In my work I know a man who makes almost a million dollars a year at
his job. He works about 90 hours a week and sees his wife and children
MAYBE a complete 5 hours per week.

I asked him recently how much his kids were worth. Of course he didn’t
understand. I said well… if we figure out what you are making per
hour and then add up all the time you could be spending with your
children if you only put in an 8 hour day, five days a week… are they
worth that? Is missing their life worth that money… because that is
what you are doing…. You are trading your children for money. You
pay nannies, you buy them everything they want, but you don’t know who
they are…they don’t know who you are.

How much money does it take to replace a father?
Kids don’t care about money unless adults and society make them
care…they would rather have a father.

SO what are YOU doing? Are you in the money world with your eyes wide
shut?

This also applies to people who don’t have money. Because I am one of
those people. I had spent a lot of energy worrying about money,
worrying about well… everything. When it comes down to what you NEED
and what you WANT these are some serious considerations…a soul mirror
exercise with some changes can become a life mirror and it can be used
to make significant changes to not only your financial situation but
also your happiness. And I don’t mean that it’s going to make you
rich…is that all there is in life? Money…status?

In my estimation…when I finally had money I had more stress which
affected my body in many ways including weight gain…it affected my
moods…I drank more…I smoked more… I spent more….it was insane.

Health and sanity is not worth it. When it comes down to how much you
need to live and you see where you can cut expenses and you do so…no
one in this world needs a lot of money to live.

It’s not like you can take it with you…and it’s not the money that
truly makes you happy.

The client that I told you about… he has a lot of things…but
sadly…true happiness is not one of them…and it’s sad…but I think
it is possible that he may be changing that soon.

Does magic make you happy? No. You make you happy…some people just
haven’t figured it out yet.

Find that happiness and use that to drive you…not how much is in your
wallet… you will most likely go farther and have A LOT more fun doing
so.

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