Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Cutting the Waste
Here is a link to an interesting way to identify ways we waste money. In identifying those ways, we can hopefully, curb the waste.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
DBA
DBA is the acronym for "doing business as." Here in America, the independent business person is getting a lot of pressure to give up their personal convictions to maintain their business. I've watched the situation with Chick-Fil-A and of course a number of Christian owned bakeries being attacked by the Gay Agenda. I know in my own business, my politics and personal spiritual beliefs make and break several business deals. I meet folks through fellowship and common interests, who become customers. Patrons and friends have been gained when I've reach out to help with an alternative or natural product or suggestion. By that same token, a clash of political or spiritual beliefs have resulted in loss of business as well.
Other than thinking both parties are just two heads of the same serpent, I don't have a lot of political clashes, as I am bipartisanly annoying. There are those who believe I'm shirking my patriotic duty by not participating in elections, but I believe I have a stronger voice through media than by way of ballot . . . and that voice still isn't much. Political leanings don't seem to have the influence on customers of the Big Corporations, like those of the independent businesses. For instance, those who boycott family owned businesses over the gay agenda, aren't too upset to buy gasoline provided by the OPEC nations, which for the most part rule homosexuality to be punishable by death . . . By the same token, those who are adamantly against abortion, are many times still purchasing pharmaceuticals from the same companies that manufacture abortifacient drugs or patronize pharmacies that carry and sell abortifacient drugs.
Independent business folk can lose customers over religious differences of the same G-d, yet products from China continue to be purchased. China is a Communist country. The Communist Party claims to be atheistic. China is markedly pro-abortion. Many products come from India, a predominantly Hindu nation, and Pakistan is predominantly Islam, but we buy items from those nations without a second thought of the religious views of the factory worker or owner.
Why do Americans monetize our differences, personally, yet are willing to finance many things we don't agree with, when the offending entity is faceless?
Other than thinking both parties are just two heads of the same serpent, I don't have a lot of political clashes, as I am bipartisanly annoying. There are those who believe I'm shirking my patriotic duty by not participating in elections, but I believe I have a stronger voice through media than by way of ballot . . . and that voice still isn't much. Political leanings don't seem to have the influence on customers of the Big Corporations, like those of the independent businesses. For instance, those who boycott family owned businesses over the gay agenda, aren't too upset to buy gasoline provided by the OPEC nations, which for the most part rule homosexuality to be punishable by death . . . By the same token, those who are adamantly against abortion, are many times still purchasing pharmaceuticals from the same companies that manufacture abortifacient drugs or patronize pharmacies that carry and sell abortifacient drugs.
Independent business folk can lose customers over religious differences of the same G-d, yet products from China continue to be purchased. China is a Communist country. The Communist Party claims to be atheistic. China is markedly pro-abortion. Many products come from India, a predominantly Hindu nation, and Pakistan is predominantly Islam, but we buy items from those nations without a second thought of the religious views of the factory worker or owner.
Why do Americans monetize our differences, personally, yet are willing to finance many things we don't agree with, when the offending entity is faceless?
Monday, October 20, 2014
Wealth
Just what it is to be wealthy? What is the definition, these days, of weath? Are Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and Warren Buffet an example of what it is to be wealthy or do they just have a lot of money? By worldly standards, money and wealth seem to be interchangeable terms. How many of us are discounting our "net worth" because we aren't millionaires? I could launch into all the other things in life that are of value, like relationships and health, and those are clearly important; but I'm going to keep it practical and tangible.
My children think I live like a squirrel in winter and I suppose a number of people think living off the land is a sign of poverty, but the truth is, I like the way I live. My total monthly bills are less than the average car payment. That's not to say, expenses don't come up, because they do. Things break and they wear out, but those are incidents rather than regular expenses. By maintaining a low monthly budget, financial stress is minimal. Also by maintaining a low monthly budget, when expenses do arise, they are simply met and life moves on.
As a society we tend to measure wealth by accumulation of money and status, but I have a different perspective. A friend and I were talking the other day and I don't think I gave indication of my shock, but she mentioned expenses and what it would take to live "comfortably." To be honest, I don't think I'd be comfortable having to deal with that much money. I'd be trying to figure out what I was supposed to actually do with that much money. I'd feel obligated to start some sort of philanthropic organization or something. That would be a huge responsibility for me, a burden actually.
My definition of wealth affords freedom from financial stress. One of my true marks of freedom is the way I handle my bills. On a monthly basis, I have two personal bills and usually one business expense. Those three bills go over the visor in the buggy, until my semi-monthly trip to town. In less than five minutes, those checks are made out and in the mail. All other expenses are handled in cash.
Living debt free, and stress free is wealth. Less junk to dust would be even better. More importantly, though; when it comes to true wealth . . . Having enough to share, at a moment's notice, is wealth.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
The Love of Money
I find myself sitting in a very strange situation in which I have a view from what seems like both ends of the continuum in regard to "the love of money," here in America. I'm not really trying to tell all the family business, but in the past week, I've gotten to hear about it from both extremes, and both extremes can agree on one thing. I'm doing it wrong! I'm really not speaking out of turn, as they both speak quite openly about their perspective when it comes to money. Another point to make, is both extreme perspectives were given by the ones who have married good providers. Both of these women have explained to me about money, while neither have ever had to support themselves for any length of time . . . Actually, my mother has never had to support herself and my daughter, only briefly.
I have no idea how much money my parents have, but they do own a significant amount of land and their home has been paid for for over a quarter of a century. Daddy has been pretty much able to name his own price, professionally, since he retired. He is skilled in an area that simply requires years of cumulative knowledge with experience and great leadership qualities, so even at 75 years old, he gets calls. As they used to say in the 50s and 60s, my parents are "comfortable." In the past year they announced they are getting their affairs in order and it seemed to take months and professionals, so I'm thinking they should be set to live out their golden years with as much security as is possible in these times.
On the other end of that spectrum is my daughter and her husband. He also makes fantastic money, but he and my daughter lavish themselves in "living for the moment." They don't own their own home, still making a car payment and last I heard both still have outstanding debt on student loans for degrees neither of them use. My daughter refers to it as a "rockstar lifestyle." She's voiced more than once, she's expecting an economic collapse and they'll simply take on a nomadic lifestyle. She's pushing 40 and he's just a few years younger than I am. So there are the two extremes and I'm somewhere not even in the middle.
In the event of collapse, I plan to be a place of refuge, but not for those who expect the collapse and refused to prepare. So this will not be a refuge for broke, unprepared, aged rockstar wanna-bees. Also, off this continuum, unlike my parents; I don't plan to retire. Unlike many boomers, I didn't invest in big retirement stock plans, but as it turns out, I'm not any worse off for that decision. I did invest, but not in Wall Street. I plan to be working, until the day I die. Some say I'm ridiculous and that's okay. Now, the point of this article goes beyond anyone's income or lifestyle, but rather, I get to hear the judgment and the justification of both extremes.
My mother, of course, views her materialism as "blessing." She listens to the religious prosperity guys and the conservative talk show hosts. She doesn't see it as the "love of money," it's American Christian Capitalism! She is quite vocal in her admonishment of the way my daughter handles money. In her estimation I did not give my daughter a proper value of money. "I know, right!" Once I voice my disdain for my daughter's values, she lightens up and then defends her. Since my goal is to drop the subject, that works! My mother's big concern is outliving their money. She told me she'd spend every dime if my dad's health needed. And well she should, he's the one that earned it!
On to my daughter's amazing observation. She refers to her grandparents' money management has hoarding. But then, she also refers to my business inventory as hoarding. She has a wonderful vocabulary but frequently misuses terms, for exaggerated effect. She believes in spending everything her husband earns, on themselves and immediately. I got to view their family vacation to Vegas this year, and watched a granddaughter skyjump off the stratosphere. My grandson said he had the choice of doing that or two rides because the jump cost over $100.00 My daughter calls her grandparents, greedy hoarders, while her lifestyle is superficial opulence and waste.
In this country we've gone completely extreme and both ends are "the love of money." When money is more important than people and fear overrides faith, it's a problem. I think in the case of Daddy, their net worth reflects the result of his hard work and good management. On the other hand saving in fear, amassing off of the hard work of others, or spending in frivolous waste, is all very self-focused and just different forms of greed. I don't share my parents view of the importance of money, but they are always generous with gifts for family, especially grandchildren. I have come to see, while the wealthy are blamed in this country and often falsely accused, "the love of money" is not always reflected in a big bank account. Sometimes small bank accounts reflect greed of instant gratification and self-indulgent pleasure.
I have no idea how much money my parents have, but they do own a significant amount of land and their home has been paid for for over a quarter of a century. Daddy has been pretty much able to name his own price, professionally, since he retired. He is skilled in an area that simply requires years of cumulative knowledge with experience and great leadership qualities, so even at 75 years old, he gets calls. As they used to say in the 50s and 60s, my parents are "comfortable." In the past year they announced they are getting their affairs in order and it seemed to take months and professionals, so I'm thinking they should be set to live out their golden years with as much security as is possible in these times.
On the other end of that spectrum is my daughter and her husband. He also makes fantastic money, but he and my daughter lavish themselves in "living for the moment." They don't own their own home, still making a car payment and last I heard both still have outstanding debt on student loans for degrees neither of them use. My daughter refers to it as a "rockstar lifestyle." She's voiced more than once, she's expecting an economic collapse and they'll simply take on a nomadic lifestyle. She's pushing 40 and he's just a few years younger than I am. So there are the two extremes and I'm somewhere not even in the middle.
In the event of collapse, I plan to be a place of refuge, but not for those who expect the collapse and refused to prepare. So this will not be a refuge for broke, unprepared, aged rockstar wanna-bees. Also, off this continuum, unlike my parents; I don't plan to retire. Unlike many boomers, I didn't invest in big retirement stock plans, but as it turns out, I'm not any worse off for that decision. I did invest, but not in Wall Street. I plan to be working, until the day I die. Some say I'm ridiculous and that's okay. Now, the point of this article goes beyond anyone's income or lifestyle, but rather, I get to hear the judgment and the justification of both extremes.
My mother, of course, views her materialism as "blessing." She listens to the religious prosperity guys and the conservative talk show hosts. She doesn't see it as the "love of money," it's American Christian Capitalism! She is quite vocal in her admonishment of the way my daughter handles money. In her estimation I did not give my daughter a proper value of money. "I know, right!" Once I voice my disdain for my daughter's values, she lightens up and then defends her. Since my goal is to drop the subject, that works! My mother's big concern is outliving their money. She told me she'd spend every dime if my dad's health needed. And well she should, he's the one that earned it!
On to my daughter's amazing observation. She refers to her grandparents' money management has hoarding. But then, she also refers to my business inventory as hoarding. She has a wonderful vocabulary but frequently misuses terms, for exaggerated effect. She believes in spending everything her husband earns, on themselves and immediately. I got to view their family vacation to Vegas this year, and watched a granddaughter skyjump off the stratosphere. My grandson said he had the choice of doing that or two rides because the jump cost over $100.00 My daughter calls her grandparents, greedy hoarders, while her lifestyle is superficial opulence and waste.
In this country we've gone completely extreme and both ends are "the love of money." When money is more important than people and fear overrides faith, it's a problem. I think in the case of Daddy, their net worth reflects the result of his hard work and good management. On the other hand saving in fear, amassing off of the hard work of others, or spending in frivolous waste, is all very self-focused and just different forms of greed. I don't share my parents view of the importance of money, but they are always generous with gifts for family, especially grandchildren. I have come to see, while the wealthy are blamed in this country and often falsely accused, "the love of money" is not always reflected in a big bank account. Sometimes small bank accounts reflect greed of instant gratification and self-indulgent pleasure.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
A Very Odd Feeling
In fifty-six years on the planet, I've never experienced the feeling I got a few days ago and continue to have. Let me give a little background of my view regarding money.
In my childhood, I handled money by permission, permission, only. The allowance I earned came with a number of designated destinations, per parental mandate. They didn't make me pay for food or pitch in on gas money, but about a third was designated for Sunday School and that much also went to my savings account, so that left me saving for the high end dime store desires. As I got older, there were more complex arrangements made, but to be honest, in the back of my mind, I had no intention of handling money the way my parents did . . . and once I was an adult, I haven't.
I trusted the wrong person, once to make a deposit, and after that fiasco, I never repeated that mistake. I had a husband with an addiction problem, and I learned to navigate that financial dilemma. By the age of 25, I planned to be debt free by 40, so I developed some pretty good spending and savings habits, even a few investment plans. From 25 on, my husband made decent money and took care of responsibility, but we didn't share the same goal. By the time I met Messiah at 36, my attitude about money changed again. Savings wasn't really my focus. I simply did not spend money on something I didn't need, and my needs were diminishing rapidly. By 40, I was debt free, and when that happens, life can become really inexpensive. Of course, before 41, I had a high maintenance kid come home . . . so having tasted how inexpensive life could be, I had enough savings to cover that.
Since that time, I've remained debt free and maintained my attitude of saving what I don't spend, and that's what changed this week. It began last week, but became almost urgent this week. I felt a real constraint to see what needed to be purchased to bring everything up to non-dependent status on the system, and divest of paper money. I knew this day was coming, when money in the bank would not be security for hard times. I started counting my pennies and checking into nonperishable business supplies, as well as perusing Craig's list for everything from goats to tiny houses to other sites for good batteries and wind and solar items.
I've had this feeling twice before. The first time was back in 2006 when I felt the need to divest of my stock holdings, and I did, thankfully before the crash. The next time was when when gold was skyrocketing. I told this individual that the gold market was being driven by fear in buyers and it was not a sustainable market. I recommended that they divest of gold, stop buying and divest of what they had bought through the recent surge. I stated clearly the beginning of August 2011, "The relative price of gold between silver and platinum should be around $1300.00, and the current value was being inflated. Sell while you can get over $1800.00 an ounce because it's going to start dropping." Gold began to drop later that same month. It spiked once in early September, then dropped fairly steadily to where it sits today, just over $1300.00 and ounce. This is not to take us on a tangent of precious metals, but the same feeling I had about gold in 2011 is what I have about federal reserve notes, now.
Many with pension plans and 401Ks were affected by the stock market and bank fiasco. Not all of us were personally affected by the inflated value and decline of gold, but the loss of the value of the dollar will affect us all. I'm going to conclude this article to order reusable canning lids before Shabbat.
In my childhood, I handled money by permission, permission, only. The allowance I earned came with a number of designated destinations, per parental mandate. They didn't make me pay for food or pitch in on gas money, but about a third was designated for Sunday School and that much also went to my savings account, so that left me saving for the high end dime store desires. As I got older, there were more complex arrangements made, but to be honest, in the back of my mind, I had no intention of handling money the way my parents did . . . and once I was an adult, I haven't.
I trusted the wrong person, once to make a deposit, and after that fiasco, I never repeated that mistake. I had a husband with an addiction problem, and I learned to navigate that financial dilemma. By the age of 25, I planned to be debt free by 40, so I developed some pretty good spending and savings habits, even a few investment plans. From 25 on, my husband made decent money and took care of responsibility, but we didn't share the same goal. By the time I met Messiah at 36, my attitude about money changed again. Savings wasn't really my focus. I simply did not spend money on something I didn't need, and my needs were diminishing rapidly. By 40, I was debt free, and when that happens, life can become really inexpensive. Of course, before 41, I had a high maintenance kid come home . . . so having tasted how inexpensive life could be, I had enough savings to cover that.
Since that time, I've remained debt free and maintained my attitude of saving what I don't spend, and that's what changed this week. It began last week, but became almost urgent this week. I felt a real constraint to see what needed to be purchased to bring everything up to non-dependent status on the system, and divest of paper money. I knew this day was coming, when money in the bank would not be security for hard times. I started counting my pennies and checking into nonperishable business supplies, as well as perusing Craig's list for everything from goats to tiny houses to other sites for good batteries and wind and solar items.
I've had this feeling twice before. The first time was back in 2006 when I felt the need to divest of my stock holdings, and I did, thankfully before the crash. The next time was when when gold was skyrocketing. I told this individual that the gold market was being driven by fear in buyers and it was not a sustainable market. I recommended that they divest of gold, stop buying and divest of what they had bought through the recent surge. I stated clearly the beginning of August 2011, "The relative price of gold between silver and platinum should be around $1300.00, and the current value was being inflated. Sell while you can get over $1800.00 an ounce because it's going to start dropping." Gold began to drop later that same month. It spiked once in early September, then dropped fairly steadily to where it sits today, just over $1300.00 and ounce. This is not to take us on a tangent of precious metals, but the same feeling I had about gold in 2011 is what I have about federal reserve notes, now.
Many with pension plans and 401Ks were affected by the stock market and bank fiasco. Not all of us were personally affected by the inflated value and decline of gold, but the loss of the value of the dollar will affect us all. I'm going to conclude this article to order reusable canning lids before Shabbat.
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