From the Curious Capitalist blog at Time Magazine.
"I didn't learn anything new about monetary economics or the Federal Reserve, but I did learn a lot about the thinking of Ron Paul. It turns out to be a curious mix of the sensible and the delusional. To put it differently, Paul has wrapped a mostly cogent critique of central banking in general and the Fed in particular inside a decidedly Utopian view of what a world without central banks would look like. At one point in the first chapter he warns that "ending the Fed is not a magic pill to usher in Utopia." Then, throughout the rest of that chapter and the rest of the book he describes how ending the Fed would usher in a state of affairs that sounds an awful lot like, well, Utopia."
...
"There's lots of wisdom in Paul's Fed critique, and his espousal of the virtues of prudence and saving and hard work. But in this book, at least, he succumbs to the temptation of promising an easy way out. Guess he's more of a typical politician than I'd been led to think."
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Congress Lets 50 Tax Breaks Expire
From MSN Money.
"Most of the fading-out 50 can, and probably will, be reauthorized retroactively, creating an inconvenience for some taxpayers but not the same sort of mess as Congress' failure to resolve the future of the estate tax. The estate tax will expire Dec. 31, and Democrats are pledging to resurrect it retroactively, leading to all sorts of potential legal problems, as well as some planning opportunities, for wealthy families.
Among the expiring individual tax breaks:
* The deduction for state and local sales taxes for itemizers (which benefits mainly residents of states that don't impose an income tax).
* The additional $1,000 deduction for real-estate taxes for people who claim the standard deduction.
* The $4,000 deduction for college tuition.
* A $250 deduction for teachers who spend their own money on classroom supplies."
Let's not forget the hastily-drawn AMT patch! Then, there's the business stuff...
"Most of the fading-out 50 can, and probably will, be reauthorized retroactively, creating an inconvenience for some taxpayers but not the same sort of mess as Congress' failure to resolve the future of the estate tax. The estate tax will expire Dec. 31, and Democrats are pledging to resurrect it retroactively, leading to all sorts of potential legal problems, as well as some planning opportunities, for wealthy families.
Among the expiring individual tax breaks:
* The deduction for state and local sales taxes for itemizers (which benefits mainly residents of states that don't impose an income tax).
* The additional $1,000 deduction for real-estate taxes for people who claim the standard deduction.
* The $4,000 deduction for college tuition.
* A $250 deduction for teachers who spend their own money on classroom supplies."
Let's not forget the hastily-drawn AMT patch! Then, there's the business stuff...
The Latest "Green" Gimmick: Fight Global Warming, Get Paid $1100/Year
From CNN Money. They call it "cap-and-dividend", and I call it cap-and-trade light.
"Known as cap-and-dividend, the recently introduced bill would require oil, coal, and natural gas companies to buy permits each month to sell their fuel. Three quarters of the proceeds would be returned to the public each month in the form of a dividend check, with the remaining money going towards renewable energy, conservation or assistance programs.
By driving up the cost of fossil fuel and making renewables more competitive, supporters say the plan will result in the same emission reductions as the current cap-and-trade bills before Congress. But they say it will be much more simple to operate."
Those of us who already invest in energy companies make dividends--what will this proposed scheme do to the existing shareholders of those companies?
It's bad enough that someone high up thinks they can bribe us to go along with the greatest global swindle of them all--the monthly bribe would come out to $91.67/month.
Imagine if mall retailers had to buy permits to sell their goods, or plastics merchants--you know, the people who induce China to crank out megatons of pollution to satisfy demand. THEY should be the ones required to get permits to sell!
You can run a sewing machine off a solar panel, but you can't run a smelter, a plastics plant, or a tire plant off one (or even several). I say take the heavy manufacturing to the power source: let the oil countries have it (and it just might help end jihad by giving them jobs and hope). The jihadis will be too busy working to go around blowing things up!
If you want to do something about global warming, or just want to side-step the coming tide of cap-and-something insanity, Obama gave you a way out: use the tax credits (whichever incarnation) to buy a house that uses natural gas, because gas is slated to go up the least in this undoubted energy price rise. For existing homes, check with your state to see if any tax credits exist for whole-house utility conversion, or credits for buying gas appliances and/or converting from electric appliances to gas ones.
Come spring, I'm slated to convert to a gas hot water heater, and get a gas dryer to have hooked up. I'm currently paying about $25/month to heat and cook (gas stove, no microwave use), and adding these other appliances to the load will at least double that--I'm aiming to get my electric bills to resemble my current gas bills, and this should happen when the final installations/conversions happen.
Speaking of microwave, the house came with one mounted above the stove, but it's just a bulky and expensive clock to me--I'm thinking of removing it. When we go to sell, people's electricity bills will probably have reached the "intolerable" level, and microwaves will (hopefully) go out of fashion. Maybe this new-found frugality will teach people that they can live within one income, and somebody (man or woman) will return to the kitchen and scratch cooking to continue saving money, and microwaves will become useless reminder of our instant gratification.
"Known as cap-and-dividend, the recently introduced bill would require oil, coal, and natural gas companies to buy permits each month to sell their fuel. Three quarters of the proceeds would be returned to the public each month in the form of a dividend check, with the remaining money going towards renewable energy, conservation or assistance programs.
By driving up the cost of fossil fuel and making renewables more competitive, supporters say the plan will result in the same emission reductions as the current cap-and-trade bills before Congress. But they say it will be much more simple to operate."
Those of us who already invest in energy companies make dividends--what will this proposed scheme do to the existing shareholders of those companies?
It's bad enough that someone high up thinks they can bribe us to go along with the greatest global swindle of them all--the monthly bribe would come out to $91.67/month.
Imagine if mall retailers had to buy permits to sell their goods, or plastics merchants--you know, the people who induce China to crank out megatons of pollution to satisfy demand. THEY should be the ones required to get permits to sell!
You can run a sewing machine off a solar panel, but you can't run a smelter, a plastics plant, or a tire plant off one (or even several). I say take the heavy manufacturing to the power source: let the oil countries have it (and it just might help end jihad by giving them jobs and hope). The jihadis will be too busy working to go around blowing things up!
If you want to do something about global warming, or just want to side-step the coming tide of cap-and-something insanity, Obama gave you a way out: use the tax credits (whichever incarnation) to buy a house that uses natural gas, because gas is slated to go up the least in this undoubted energy price rise. For existing homes, check with your state to see if any tax credits exist for whole-house utility conversion, or credits for buying gas appliances and/or converting from electric appliances to gas ones.
Come spring, I'm slated to convert to a gas hot water heater, and get a gas dryer to have hooked up. I'm currently paying about $25/month to heat and cook (gas stove, no microwave use), and adding these other appliances to the load will at least double that--I'm aiming to get my electric bills to resemble my current gas bills, and this should happen when the final installations/conversions happen.
Speaking of microwave, the house came with one mounted above the stove, but it's just a bulky and expensive clock to me--I'm thinking of removing it. When we go to sell, people's electricity bills will probably have reached the "intolerable" level, and microwaves will (hopefully) go out of fashion. Maybe this new-found frugality will teach people that they can live within one income, and somebody (man or woman) will return to the kitchen and scratch cooking to continue saving money, and microwaves will become useless reminder of our instant gratification.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Have More Money Without Working Harder
From the Dollar Stretcher. Some easy places and simple things you can do to free up more money--I'm surprised she left out the W-4 thing.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Ever Hear of "The Universal Destination of Goods?"
Earlier this week, a priest actually defended holiday-time shoplifting, saying that he believed in "the universal destination of goods."
I thought this sounded distinctly socialist, so I looked it up.
According to the Journal of Markets & Morality, it has to do with two pillars of property ethics in Christian society.
"The first statement of the property ethics of Christian social theory, the emphasis on the right to personal property, held up by LeoXIII in the 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum (RN4)2 against socialism, which, along with Karl Marx, saw in private property the source of all human alienation and all social misery and hoped that least until 1989—for a paradise on earth by its elimination, can, if taken in isolation, lead to the misunderstanding that Christian social theory wants to legitimize the existing property system in the industrialized Western nations. The second statement, also developed by LeoXIII in Rerum Novarum (RN 7) and then in greater detail by PiusXI in 1931 in Quadragesimo Anno (QA45ff.), can lead to the opposite error, that Christian social theory weakens the importance of private property and holds alternative forms of property, even public property, as no less legitimate. PiusXI warned as early as Quadragesimo Anno against the “two dangerous unilateral positions, resulting from the denial or weakening of the social function of property, on the one hand, and the function of the individual, on the other, and leading either to individualism or collectivism (QA46). However, even when these unilateral views are avoided and both statements are given consideration, it is not easy to determine their proper relationship. This is already reflected in the history of Christianity."
Now, as this Atheist understand it, according to God's law, we should have the freedom to possess property, but only in moderation. As fast and easy as we can possess things, we should be equally ready to divest ourselves of it.
Isn't this called charity? So why is a priest advocating shoplifting? Shoplifting is stealing from someone whose livelihood depends on the SALE of those goods to make a living, so he/she can DONATE to charity!
Am I wrong, or is he? Am I just now discovering the roots of Socialism? If I'm right, Glenn Beck's gonna flip out!
I thought this sounded distinctly socialist, so I looked it up.
According to the Journal of Markets & Morality, it has to do with two pillars of property ethics in Christian society.
"The first statement of the property ethics of Christian social theory, the emphasis on the right to personal property, held up by LeoXIII in the 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum (RN4)2 against socialism, which, along with Karl Marx, saw in private property the source of all human alienation and all social misery and hoped that least until 1989—for a paradise on earth by its elimination, can, if taken in isolation, lead to the misunderstanding that Christian social theory wants to legitimize the existing property system in the industrialized Western nations. The second statement, also developed by LeoXIII in Rerum Novarum (RN 7) and then in greater detail by PiusXI in 1931 in Quadragesimo Anno (QA45ff.), can lead to the opposite error, that Christian social theory weakens the importance of private property and holds alternative forms of property, even public property, as no less legitimate. PiusXI warned as early as Quadragesimo Anno against the “two dangerous unilateral positions, resulting from the denial or weakening of the social function of property, on the one hand, and the function of the individual, on the other, and leading either to individualism or collectivism (QA46). However, even when these unilateral views are avoided and both statements are given consideration, it is not easy to determine their proper relationship. This is already reflected in the history of Christianity."
Now, as this Atheist understand it, according to God's law, we should have the freedom to possess property, but only in moderation. As fast and easy as we can possess things, we should be equally ready to divest ourselves of it.
Isn't this called charity? So why is a priest advocating shoplifting? Shoplifting is stealing from someone whose livelihood depends on the SALE of those goods to make a living, so he/she can DONATE to charity!
Am I wrong, or is he? Am I just now discovering the roots of Socialism? If I'm right, Glenn Beck's gonna flip out!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Something NOT to Do: Turn Your Tax Refund into a Savings Bond
From MSN Money.
Why, you ask? I covered this before in this article. The government has already had your money interest-free for a year, and now they want to tie it up for another 17 years with a mere pittance of interest? Please! Now is precisely NOT the time to be buying bonds...but that's the point: nobody else is buying our bonds (especially foreign governments), so Obama is using his salesman's charm to sell some to unsuspecting people.
This is government fund raising in action. You can invest YOUR OWN money and make way more in returns--right now, TIPS are paying out 12%, and all the major indexes are paying returns in the mid-to-high 20's. You can sell and take your profit ANY TIME as well, or if you choose, plow it all into your retirement account and let YOURSELF prosper from the future higher returns and tax deferral.
Even if it IS for the kids, you can get an auto-deduct program directly from the Treasury and buy a bond a month for them (if that's your preference), or here's a more effective way of saving for kids: open up a 529 plan and have it invest in the Dow or S&P indexes--$100/month, rain or shine, and your eventually college-bound kid will be a millionaire (or well on his/her way) if you do this soon after birth.
UPDATE: If you have credit card, loan, or mortgage debt, paying that off with your tax return would yield you more for your money than the measly 3% or so offered at the end of 17 years (plus 1 that they've already used). If you have no debt, then use it to stock your pantry/larder/cupboards with food and supplies for at least a year--Glenn Beck has even gone so far as to add clothing, car parts/maintenance items, tools, and hardware supplies you might need for the next few years. I say don't bother to stock up on items you can readily get at a yard sale or thrift store.
Why, you ask? I covered this before in this article. The government has already had your money interest-free for a year, and now they want to tie it up for another 17 years with a mere pittance of interest? Please! Now is precisely NOT the time to be buying bonds...but that's the point: nobody else is buying our bonds (especially foreign governments), so Obama is using his salesman's charm to sell some to unsuspecting people.
This is government fund raising in action. You can invest YOUR OWN money and make way more in returns--right now, TIPS are paying out 12%, and all the major indexes are paying returns in the mid-to-high 20's. You can sell and take your profit ANY TIME as well, or if you choose, plow it all into your retirement account and let YOURSELF prosper from the future higher returns and tax deferral.
Even if it IS for the kids, you can get an auto-deduct program directly from the Treasury and buy a bond a month for them (if that's your preference), or here's a more effective way of saving for kids: open up a 529 plan and have it invest in the Dow or S&P indexes--$100/month, rain or shine, and your eventually college-bound kid will be a millionaire (or well on his/her way) if you do this soon after birth.
UPDATE: If you have credit card, loan, or mortgage debt, paying that off with your tax return would yield you more for your money than the measly 3% or so offered at the end of 17 years (plus 1 that they've already used). If you have no debt, then use it to stock your pantry/larder/cupboards with food and supplies for at least a year--Glenn Beck has even gone so far as to add clothing, car parts/maintenance items, tools, and hardware supplies you might need for the next few years. I say don't bother to stock up on items you can readily get at a yard sale or thrift store.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Even MORE Parental Abdication in Action: Church Day Care Drugging Children
It seems you can't even trust the Lord with your kids these days.
The Covenant Church in Ohio has day care workers drugging the kids with melatonin on a regular basis, without regard to age and weight for dosage. The workers in question were merely injecting liquid into pieces of candy, then giving it to kids as young as two months old.
This is what can happen, as attested by countless nanny-cams and eyewitness accounts (as this one was), as well as numerous doctor visits where child abuse is often detected with a thorough exam and x-rays.
If you or your spouse can't stay home to RAISE the little buggers you brought into the world, THEN DON'T MAKE THEM! Nobody else will instill your values and have your complete trust, and pretending they will doesn't make it happen. Who suffers in the end? The kid, of course, and maybe society later on if another Columbine breaks out.
The Covenant Church in Ohio has day care workers drugging the kids with melatonin on a regular basis, without regard to age and weight for dosage. The workers in question were merely injecting liquid into pieces of candy, then giving it to kids as young as two months old.
This is what can happen, as attested by countless nanny-cams and eyewitness accounts (as this one was), as well as numerous doctor visits where child abuse is often detected with a thorough exam and x-rays.
If you or your spouse can't stay home to RAISE the little buggers you brought into the world, THEN DON'T MAKE THEM! Nobody else will instill your values and have your complete trust, and pretending they will doesn't make it happen. Who suffers in the end? The kid, of course, and maybe society later on if another Columbine breaks out.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Remodeling Doesn't Pay Off Like It Used To
From CNN Money. Article includes chart.
"Home remodelers are getting less bang for their bucks. For the fourth straight year, renovation jobs have added less to resale values relative to their costs, according to an annual Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report released this week by the National Association of Realtors."
...
"The most financially successful jobs are smaller-scale, lower-cost renovations that improve the exterior appearance of homes. In this down real estate market, curb appeal is king."
See this article as a follow-up (or actually, a precursor).
"Home remodelers are getting less bang for their bucks. For the fourth straight year, renovation jobs have added less to resale values relative to their costs, according to an annual Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report released this week by the National Association of Realtors."
...
"The most financially successful jobs are smaller-scale, lower-cost renovations that improve the exterior appearance of homes. In this down real estate market, curb appeal is king."
See this article as a follow-up (or actually, a precursor).
Free Heat on the Street Part IV: Occupied Homes and Next Year's Heat
...and the saga continues.
Just up the street from me is a small house with, well, it used to have 5 tall skinny pine trees in front and back of the house. The house is a rental, and is occupied, and the landlord decided to fell all 5 trees for a variety of reasons.
The trees were healthy, and not in a threatening position to the house or power lines.
Nevertheless, a crew was over there doing the Paul Bunyan thing with chainsaws, a stump grinder, and a chipper/shredder setup. I happened to be driving that way, and pulled over and asked if the wood rounds in the back of their truck had a specific destination, and one guy said, "Yeah--the dump." I asked if I could get them delivered to my house and dumped in the carport.
After felling 2 of the 5 trees, I got a carport full of large, heavy wood rounds too green to use for this year. For their efforts (they also helped us stack them to make room for the car), I bought them a 12-pack of Heineken--it came to just over $1.00/bottle with tax for the 6-man crew.
In return, they asked for my name and number for future tree fellings, because I not only rewarded them well, but I saved them a long and lonely drive to the dump (not to mention costly).
The beer would've cost less if it weren't cold, but I believe in immediate reward for tradesmen--something my dad taught me. He said beer always makes a man work best when he knows he's getting it in the end.
Okay, the wood wasn't free after all--it only cost me $13.29 though, and I'd gladly pay another $13.29 for another delivery once we get this one cut and stacked to make room in the carport.
So far, one simple question has yielded me rewards beyond my wildest dreams. I still have to work on that truck and chainsaw, though.
Just up the street from me is a small house with, well, it used to have 5 tall skinny pine trees in front and back of the house. The house is a rental, and is occupied, and the landlord decided to fell all 5 trees for a variety of reasons.
The trees were healthy, and not in a threatening position to the house or power lines.
Nevertheless, a crew was over there doing the Paul Bunyan thing with chainsaws, a stump grinder, and a chipper/shredder setup. I happened to be driving that way, and pulled over and asked if the wood rounds in the back of their truck had a specific destination, and one guy said, "Yeah--the dump." I asked if I could get them delivered to my house and dumped in the carport.
After felling 2 of the 5 trees, I got a carport full of large, heavy wood rounds too green to use for this year. For their efforts (they also helped us stack them to make room for the car), I bought them a 12-pack of Heineken--it came to just over $1.00/bottle with tax for the 6-man crew.
In return, they asked for my name and number for future tree fellings, because I not only rewarded them well, but I saved them a long and lonely drive to the dump (not to mention costly).
The beer would've cost less if it weren't cold, but I believe in immediate reward for tradesmen--something my dad taught me. He said beer always makes a man work best when he knows he's getting it in the end.
Okay, the wood wasn't free after all--it only cost me $13.29 though, and I'd gladly pay another $13.29 for another delivery once we get this one cut and stacked to make room in the carport.
So far, one simple question has yielded me rewards beyond my wildest dreams. I still have to work on that truck and chainsaw, though.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Free Heat on the Street Part III--Abandoned Homes and Businesses
Parts I and II of the saga.
While driving down a major thoroughfare, I noticed an older building, which used to house a tax service, now had a "For Rent" sign on it, and a bunch of tree limbs were piled up in the front of the parking lot. I pulled in, picked out the thickest of the lot, and piled them in my trunk. Among them were trunks of narrow trees, and I took them home for further cutting.
As I was filling my trunk, someone else pulled in with a minivan--I assumed they were there to share in the wood bounty. The side door opened, and out popped a gentleman with groceries destined for the apartments next door (which had no driveway, since the building was directly on the major thoroughfare--this building was O-L-D).
An older gentleman got out of the driver's side, walked over to me, and proceeded to tell me of a downed tree already cut up and sitting in the front yard of an abandoned house not far from my home.
I drove over there when I was done loading. I couldn't find a real estate company sign or anything, but there WAS a large and splendid pine that had fallen over during the last good storm we had, and evidently had blocked the road. Someone crudely cut it up and tossed the sections back into the yard.
Down the road from that was ANOTHER house clearly signed "For Rent" with another downed and crudely cut-up tree in the front yard. Once I make contact with the owner, I plan to get permission to go firewood gathering over there.
Although not abandoned, I did find another place with free heat--a neighborhood church had some sizable limbs come off their old pine. They either don't care about them, or can't afford to have them hauled off. THIS is an instance where a pickup and chainsaw would come in handy. C'mon, Santa!
My husband says I have firewood on the brain. No, I have FREE on the brain, and wish more people would too. Maybe then the electric and gas companies would quit begging for extra money for low-income people's heat bills, and maybe the low-income people could heat their homes for free like I do. Maybe then we'd have no more rug-wrapped senior-cicles.
Ever been to Virginia Beach? You won't find a single piece of driftwood, because even the rich gather it to burn.
While driving down a major thoroughfare, I noticed an older building, which used to house a tax service, now had a "For Rent" sign on it, and a bunch of tree limbs were piled up in the front of the parking lot. I pulled in, picked out the thickest of the lot, and piled them in my trunk. Among them were trunks of narrow trees, and I took them home for further cutting.
As I was filling my trunk, someone else pulled in with a minivan--I assumed they were there to share in the wood bounty. The side door opened, and out popped a gentleman with groceries destined for the apartments next door (which had no driveway, since the building was directly on the major thoroughfare--this building was O-L-D).
An older gentleman got out of the driver's side, walked over to me, and proceeded to tell me of a downed tree already cut up and sitting in the front yard of an abandoned house not far from my home.
I drove over there when I was done loading. I couldn't find a real estate company sign or anything, but there WAS a large and splendid pine that had fallen over during the last good storm we had, and evidently had blocked the road. Someone crudely cut it up and tossed the sections back into the yard.
Down the road from that was ANOTHER house clearly signed "For Rent" with another downed and crudely cut-up tree in the front yard. Once I make contact with the owner, I plan to get permission to go firewood gathering over there.
Although not abandoned, I did find another place with free heat--a neighborhood church had some sizable limbs come off their old pine. They either don't care about them, or can't afford to have them hauled off. THIS is an instance where a pickup and chainsaw would come in handy. C'mon, Santa!
My husband says I have firewood on the brain. No, I have FREE on the brain, and wish more people would too. Maybe then the electric and gas companies would quit begging for extra money for low-income people's heat bills, and maybe the low-income people could heat their homes for free like I do. Maybe then we'd have no more rug-wrapped senior-cicles.
Ever been to Virginia Beach? You won't find a single piece of driftwood, because even the rich gather it to burn.
Friday, December 11, 2009
From My Health Insurer's Newsletter: Coupons--Helping or Hurting Healthy Eating Goals?
According to those employed in the business of coupons, spending 10 minutes a week clipping and organizing coupons can save people an average of $7 per week; spending 20 minutes can save us up to $19 per week. Some surveys, however, suggest that coupon clippers don't necessarily save money compared to the time they put in or to those who shop without coupons. If you buy more highly processed, less nutritious foods because you have coupons for them, are the coupons helping you or hurting you? Take a few minutes to review whether you are using coupons to your best overall advantage.
Would I buy it anyway?
A common way of calculating money saved by using coupons is to compare the full-price total of items in a grocery cart to what you spent after using coupons. However, if you chose a higher-priced brand than you normally buy just because you had the coupon, or even bought a snack food that you wouldn't ordinarily buy at all, you haven't really saved money.
Do I want two?
Many coupons now offer savings only when you buy two of a particular item. For foods like spaghetti or canned tuna that you can store for extended periods, these coupons make sense. However, studies show that the more we stock up on some snack foods, the more we eat them. So even though buying two containers of ice cream, cookies or chips should last you twice as long as one package, two may go as fast as one, and that may be the opposite of your healthy eating resolutions. If having two of something in your cupboards is not best for you, forgo the coupon and just purchase one.
Cheaper than generic?
Sometimes the brand name grocery item brings something special not found in generic versions, but in many cases, generic foods are the same. Check the price of the brand name product after deducting the coupon value and compare it to the generic and store-brand versions. Often the coupon doesn't bring costs down to the latter level.
Cheaper than homemade?
Many coupons apply to convenience mixes and foods that cost considerably more than the simple raw materials you need to make the rice, potato or casserole dish yourself even though doing it takes no more than five or ten extra minutes. A box of plain rice or pasta plus a jar of herbs may cost more than the mix. But the herbs will last a long time, and overall it's far less expensive to season your own foods than pay for a mix. If your homemade version also allows you to use a whole grain, less sodium or a healthier kind of fat, it's hard to consider the processed mix with a coupon a better buy.
Is it the right time and place?
To maximize the money you save using coupons, use them when the products are on sale or a featured savings item with your shopper's card and in a store that doubles coupon values. In order to take advantage of this, you need an organizational system to file a stash of coupons for foods you use frequently in a way that you can pull out the one you want quickly when you see that the product is on sale.
Is it helping me eat healthier?
Check the websites of companies that produce the nutritious foods you use most often. You may find coupons there or have the chance to sign up for newsletters with coupons you would not otherwise receive. Use money saved with coupons to buy the foods that generally don't have coupons and that are lacking in most of our diets--more vegetables and fruits.
Reprinted on November 30, 2009, courtesy of the American Institute for Cancer Research. For more information, please visit www.aicr.org.
Here's my two cents on coupons:
Dollar Stretcher TNG--The Next Generation
Skipping Nickles and Dimes for Bigger Savings (scroll down to the "Grocery Shopping Simplified" section)
The Beginning Frugalite's Coupon Primer
From the Mailbag: Incensed at Cents-Off Coupons (back when people actually wrote me)
Here's why I don't need coupons:
A Blast from the Past: Portion Control and Cost Per Unit
Would I buy it anyway?
A common way of calculating money saved by using coupons is to compare the full-price total of items in a grocery cart to what you spent after using coupons. However, if you chose a higher-priced brand than you normally buy just because you had the coupon, or even bought a snack food that you wouldn't ordinarily buy at all, you haven't really saved money.
Do I want two?
Many coupons now offer savings only when you buy two of a particular item. For foods like spaghetti or canned tuna that you can store for extended periods, these coupons make sense. However, studies show that the more we stock up on some snack foods, the more we eat them. So even though buying two containers of ice cream, cookies or chips should last you twice as long as one package, two may go as fast as one, and that may be the opposite of your healthy eating resolutions. If having two of something in your cupboards is not best for you, forgo the coupon and just purchase one.
Cheaper than generic?
Sometimes the brand name grocery item brings something special not found in generic versions, but in many cases, generic foods are the same. Check the price of the brand name product after deducting the coupon value and compare it to the generic and store-brand versions. Often the coupon doesn't bring costs down to the latter level.
Cheaper than homemade?
Many coupons apply to convenience mixes and foods that cost considerably more than the simple raw materials you need to make the rice, potato or casserole dish yourself even though doing it takes no more than five or ten extra minutes. A box of plain rice or pasta plus a jar of herbs may cost more than the mix. But the herbs will last a long time, and overall it's far less expensive to season your own foods than pay for a mix. If your homemade version also allows you to use a whole grain, less sodium or a healthier kind of fat, it's hard to consider the processed mix with a coupon a better buy.
Is it the right time and place?
To maximize the money you save using coupons, use them when the products are on sale or a featured savings item with your shopper's card and in a store that doubles coupon values. In order to take advantage of this, you need an organizational system to file a stash of coupons for foods you use frequently in a way that you can pull out the one you want quickly when you see that the product is on sale.
Is it helping me eat healthier?
Check the websites of companies that produce the nutritious foods you use most often. You may find coupons there or have the chance to sign up for newsletters with coupons you would not otherwise receive. Use money saved with coupons to buy the foods that generally don't have coupons and that are lacking in most of our diets--more vegetables and fruits.
Reprinted on November 30, 2009, courtesy of the American Institute for Cancer Research. For more information, please visit www.aicr.org.
Here's my two cents on coupons:
Dollar Stretcher TNG--The Next Generation
Skipping Nickles and Dimes for Bigger Savings (scroll down to the "Grocery Shopping Simplified" section)
The Beginning Frugalite's Coupon Primer
From the Mailbag: Incensed at Cents-Off Coupons (back when people actually wrote me)
Here's why I don't need coupons:
A Blast from the Past: Portion Control and Cost Per Unit
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Fiction of Climate Science
From Forbes Magazine.
"You can't blame these scientists for sucking up to the fed's mantra du jour. Scientists live off grants. Remember how Galileo recanted his preaching about the earth revolving around the sun? He, of course, was about to be barbecued by his leaders. Today's scientists merely lose their cash flow. Threats work."
I'm wondering WHAT ELSE we're blindly following that was spewed out by grant-hungry research groups, like medical researchers, legal researchers, industrial researchers, and worse--NASA. Is ALL the wool over our eyes, and are we REALLY living in a matrix fueled by colored pills?
How much else of our world is fiction?
Isn't it interesting how sufficient sums of money, and the potential to make huge amounts of MORE money, are enough to smooth things over and make the real (unsavory) world go away.
"Sadly, the public just learned that our scientific community hid data and censored critics. Maybe the feds should drop this crusade and focus on our health care crisis. They should, of course, ignore the life insurance statistics that show every class of American and both genders are living longer than ever. That's another inconvenient fact."
"You can't blame these scientists for sucking up to the fed's mantra du jour. Scientists live off grants. Remember how Galileo recanted his preaching about the earth revolving around the sun? He, of course, was about to be barbecued by his leaders. Today's scientists merely lose their cash flow. Threats work."
I'm wondering WHAT ELSE we're blindly following that was spewed out by grant-hungry research groups, like medical researchers, legal researchers, industrial researchers, and worse--NASA. Is ALL the wool over our eyes, and are we REALLY living in a matrix fueled by colored pills?
How much else of our world is fiction?
Isn't it interesting how sufficient sums of money, and the potential to make huge amounts of MORE money, are enough to smooth things over and make the real (unsavory) world go away.
"Sadly, the public just learned that our scientific community hid data and censored critics. Maybe the feds should drop this crusade and focus on our health care crisis. They should, of course, ignore the life insurance statistics that show every class of American and both genders are living longer than ever. That's another inconvenient fact."
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
College Degrees More Expensive, Worth Less in Job Market
From CNN/Time. The latest wrench to be thrown into the college costs/worth argument.
"The problem isn't just a soft job market — it's an oversupply of graduates. In 1973, a bachelor's degree was more of a rarity, since just 47% of high school graduates went on to college. By October 2008, that number had risen to nearly 70%. For many Americans today, a trip through college is considered as much of a birthright as a driver's license."
Here's my two cents on the whole college thing:
Rethink the Value of College (includes links to other college-related articles)
Even Donald Trump's now-defunct "You're Fired!" business TV show taught us that street smarts are more successful than book smarts.
Here's my two cents on education for stability rather than the quick buck: The NEW Lessons in Higher Education.
One last bit: the scrap metal man who picked up my old refrigerator and stove has two kids in college--he collects metal and turns it into tuition money, just like the city picks up your recycling and turns it into general revenue money. Collecting valuable items, no matter how lowly, pays handsomely over time, requires no education at all, and it doesn't matter what the economy's doing--people are always going to get rid of stuff, and have no means to cash it in themselves, so they're always going to call or leave stuff out on the curb.
When I lived in Texas, I made a good bit of money with yard sales--people would leave perfectly good furniture out to the curb, and I would beat the trash man to it, take it home, refurbish it with new paint and/or hardware, and sell it the following weekend for near-retail prices. Often, the people who put stuff out to the curb would end up buying it back after I got through sprucing it up. All I needed was a truck, a few supplies, and a vivid imagination.
"The problem isn't just a soft job market — it's an oversupply of graduates. In 1973, a bachelor's degree was more of a rarity, since just 47% of high school graduates went on to college. By October 2008, that number had risen to nearly 70%. For many Americans today, a trip through college is considered as much of a birthright as a driver's license."
Here's my two cents on the whole college thing:
Rethink the Value of College (includes links to other college-related articles)
Even Donald Trump's now-defunct "You're Fired!" business TV show taught us that street smarts are more successful than book smarts.
Here's my two cents on education for stability rather than the quick buck: The NEW Lessons in Higher Education.
One last bit: the scrap metal man who picked up my old refrigerator and stove has two kids in college--he collects metal and turns it into tuition money, just like the city picks up your recycling and turns it into general revenue money. Collecting valuable items, no matter how lowly, pays handsomely over time, requires no education at all, and it doesn't matter what the economy's doing--people are always going to get rid of stuff, and have no means to cash it in themselves, so they're always going to call or leave stuff out on the curb.
When I lived in Texas, I made a good bit of money with yard sales--people would leave perfectly good furniture out to the curb, and I would beat the trash man to it, take it home, refurbish it with new paint and/or hardware, and sell it the following weekend for near-retail prices. Often, the people who put stuff out to the curb would end up buying it back after I got through sprucing it up. All I needed was a truck, a few supplies, and a vivid imagination.
Monday, December 07, 2009
More Parental Abdication in Action: Study--Parents' Sex Talk With Kids Too Late
From Yahoo News. This is one more thing the parents expect the schools to do for them, besides feed them and babysit during the day.
"In the latest study on parent-child talks about sex and sexuality, researchers found that more than 40% of adolescents had had intercourse before talking to their parents about safe sex, birth control or sexually transmitted diseases."
The apple never falls far from the tree, and the chickens will always come home to roost--complete with unwanted kids.
"In the latest study on parent-child talks about sex and sexuality, researchers found that more than 40% of adolescents had had intercourse before talking to their parents about safe sex, birth control or sexually transmitted diseases."
The apple never falls far from the tree, and the chickens will always come home to roost--complete with unwanted kids.
11 Startling Predictions for 2010
From Martin Weiss Research.
1. The Federal Reserve will not relent in its money printing madness until it’s absolutely forced to do so.
2. A continuing, virtually unstoppable long-term decline in the dollar.
3. The entire concept of “RISK” will be REDEFINED by global investors. The new definition will be: HOLDING U.S. dollars and dollar-denominated assets. (oil counts here)
4. Gold will reach $1,500 if not higher as central banks help drive up its price with massive new buying of their own.
5. The overwhelming majority of oil producing nations will demand that the U.S. dollar be replaced as the pricing standard for crude oil.
6. The U.S. economic recovery of 2010 will go down in history as one of the
weakest and shortest in 100 years.
7. The economies of Brazil, China and India will grow up to four times faster than the U.S.
8. Stocks in countries like China, India and Brazil will rise up to three, four,
even FIVE times faster than the S&P 500.
9. The best performing stock markets in 2010 will include Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
10. Sovereign wealth funds of Asia will become far more aggressive buyers of contra-dollar assets in 2010, helping to drive up their values at a much faster clip than generally expected, especially in Asia.
11. Expect a MASSIVE new global boom in mergers and acquisitions, focusing on small- and mid-cap natural resource stocks. (this is what Al Gore and his climateers were laying the groundwork for and expecting to rake in big bucks from)
The article is is transcript format, and is a discussion among Weiss Research's leaders--I just listed the 11 predictions here. The transcript goes into detail on each one.
1. The Federal Reserve will not relent in its money printing madness until it’s absolutely forced to do so.
2. A continuing, virtually unstoppable long-term decline in the dollar.
3. The entire concept of “RISK” will be REDEFINED by global investors. The new definition will be: HOLDING U.S. dollars and dollar-denominated assets. (oil counts here)
4. Gold will reach $1,500 if not higher as central banks help drive up its price with massive new buying of their own.
5. The overwhelming majority of oil producing nations will demand that the U.S. dollar be replaced as the pricing standard for crude oil.
6. The U.S. economic recovery of 2010 will go down in history as one of the
weakest and shortest in 100 years.
7. The economies of Brazil, China and India will grow up to four times faster than the U.S.
8. Stocks in countries like China, India and Brazil will rise up to three, four,
even FIVE times faster than the S&P 500.
9. The best performing stock markets in 2010 will include Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
10. Sovereign wealth funds of Asia will become far more aggressive buyers of contra-dollar assets in 2010, helping to drive up their values at a much faster clip than generally expected, especially in Asia.
11. Expect a MASSIVE new global boom in mergers and acquisitions, focusing on small- and mid-cap natural resource stocks. (this is what Al Gore and his climateers were laying the groundwork for and expecting to rake in big bucks from)
The article is is transcript format, and is a discussion among Weiss Research's leaders--I just listed the 11 predictions here. The transcript goes into detail on each one.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Free Heat on the Street Part II
Not only did my neighbors bear nicely-bundled regulation "fruit" piles yesterday for garbage pickup (which they gladly let me take), my other neighbor was chainsawing all the scrub and ornamental trees out of his yard, as they had overgrown badly, and he was trying to clear his yard to sell his house. I told him (between rounds of chainsawing) to just huck the branches and limbs over the fence into my backyard.
My neighbor behind me also let me know that he had piles of wood (real firewood, pre-cut) ans well as tree limbs and other "burnable" debris in his yard. I also told him to huck it all over the fence, and I'd get it. Instead, he's going to load it up in his garden wheelbarrow and bring it to my carport (via another neighbor's back yard cut-through).
I've got more free heat than I could ever dream of! Santa, we already have an axe, but a chain saw and a pickup truck would be nice.
My neighbor behind me also let me know that he had piles of wood (real firewood, pre-cut) ans well as tree limbs and other "burnable" debris in his yard. I also told him to huck it all over the fence, and I'd get it. Instead, he's going to load it up in his garden wheelbarrow and bring it to my carport (via another neighbor's back yard cut-through).
I've got more free heat than I could ever dream of! Santa, we already have an axe, but a chain saw and a pickup truck would be nice.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Free Heat on the Street
Every time a good wind storm blows through here, limbs fall off people's trees, and they dutifully pick them up and set them to the curb. Eventually, the garbage man will get around to collecting them...as long as they meet the specific pick-up guidelines (no more than 3' long, and the pile is no more than 3' high, and there are no more than 3 piles).
There are still piles left on the side of the roads here from when Hurricane Ida blew through in early November. You'd think the homeowners would chop their wood to conform to garbage pick-up standards just to get it taken away, but no. The yard waste in large plastic see-through bags, yes, but not the limbs.
After getting permission from the homeowner(s) to go through their limb pile(s), we've managed to fill our carport about halfway with limbs to be chopped, limbs broken down into kindling, and limbs ready to burn.
What kills me is these homes had CHIMNEYS! The families inside are throwing heat away. They're also throwing away potential compost.
Along we come, like beggars for scraps--"Sir, may I have wood?" Even though I have a super-efficient HVAC system that works like a charm, there's something cozy and homey about a fire that brings the charm to winter's coming. The fire going cheers me up more than the ticky-tacky Christmas decorations people insist on nailing to their houses--from the stereotypical lights and trees, to the simple holiday-motif banners (no inflatables on my street yet). A couple of house still have pumpkins out from Halloween, and they're right under the wreaths or banners or whatever chosen Christmas stuff displayed.
How many of us are seeing/hearing ads about helping low-income people and seniors with their heating bills? Is anyone out collecting this wood for them, or are they going through their neighborhoods in search of the free heat source?
Am I the only one cleaning our neighborhood by collecting this wood and the fallen pine cones I find at my old apartment complex? Am I the only one who sees wood for what it is--HEAT--and not just tree junk, and am not afraid to go after it?
Not only did I clean out the neighborhood, but I also went to the nearby elementary school and community center parking lot, where I found a car trunk full of thick limbs and many more pine cones.
After the garbage man has collected the "regulation" limbs, and hauled them away to be chipped, does anyone think about calling the city to have a load of those chips delivered to their house for compost or mulch? I did this in Texas, and it made a lovely pine-smelling coating for my gravel-mud driveway. It would compost down into dirt every year, so I'd call and have another load delivered. Three years and three loads later, I had a driveway that was no longer mud, and trees that were much appreciative for the drought protection--free from the city.
Winter hasn't even arrived yet, but if it shapes up to be as bountiful as this fall has, I'm asking Santa for a pickup truck and chainsaw for the trees that will inevitably come down across roads somewhere nearby.
There are still piles left on the side of the roads here from when Hurricane Ida blew through in early November. You'd think the homeowners would chop their wood to conform to garbage pick-up standards just to get it taken away, but no. The yard waste in large plastic see-through bags, yes, but not the limbs.
After getting permission from the homeowner(s) to go through their limb pile(s), we've managed to fill our carport about halfway with limbs to be chopped, limbs broken down into kindling, and limbs ready to burn.
What kills me is these homes had CHIMNEYS! The families inside are throwing heat away. They're also throwing away potential compost.
Along we come, like beggars for scraps--"Sir, may I have wood?" Even though I have a super-efficient HVAC system that works like a charm, there's something cozy and homey about a fire that brings the charm to winter's coming. The fire going cheers me up more than the ticky-tacky Christmas decorations people insist on nailing to their houses--from the stereotypical lights and trees, to the simple holiday-motif banners (no inflatables on my street yet). A couple of house still have pumpkins out from Halloween, and they're right under the wreaths or banners or whatever chosen Christmas stuff displayed.
How many of us are seeing/hearing ads about helping low-income people and seniors with their heating bills? Is anyone out collecting this wood for them, or are they going through their neighborhoods in search of the free heat source?
Am I the only one cleaning our neighborhood by collecting this wood and the fallen pine cones I find at my old apartment complex? Am I the only one who sees wood for what it is--HEAT--and not just tree junk, and am not afraid to go after it?
Not only did I clean out the neighborhood, but I also went to the nearby elementary school and community center parking lot, where I found a car trunk full of thick limbs and many more pine cones.
After the garbage man has collected the "regulation" limbs, and hauled them away to be chipped, does anyone think about calling the city to have a load of those chips delivered to their house for compost or mulch? I did this in Texas, and it made a lovely pine-smelling coating for my gravel-mud driveway. It would compost down into dirt every year, so I'd call and have another load delivered. Three years and three loads later, I had a driveway that was no longer mud, and trees that were much appreciative for the drought protection--free from the city.
Winter hasn't even arrived yet, but if it shapes up to be as bountiful as this fall has, I'm asking Santa for a pickup truck and chainsaw for the trees that will inevitably come down across roads somewhere nearby.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
ClimateGate--Follow the Money
From the Wall St. Journal.
"Supply, as we know, creates its own demand. So for every additional billion in government-funded grants (or the tens of millions supplied by foundations like the Pew Charitable Trusts), universities, research institutes, advocacy groups and their various spin-offs and dependents have emerged from the woodwork to receive them.
Today these groups form a kind of ecosystem of their own. They include not just old standbys like the Sierra Club or Greenpeace, but also Ozone Action, Clean Air Cool Planet, Americans for Equitable Climate Change Solutions, the Alternative Energy Resources Association, the California Climate Action Registry and so on and on. All of them have been on the receiving end of climate change-related funding, so all of them must believe in the reality (and catastrophic imminence) of global warming just as a priest must believe in the existence of God."
They were the politicians of our atmosphere.
"Supply, as we know, creates its own demand. So for every additional billion in government-funded grants (or the tens of millions supplied by foundations like the Pew Charitable Trusts), universities, research institutes, advocacy groups and their various spin-offs and dependents have emerged from the woodwork to receive them.
Today these groups form a kind of ecosystem of their own. They include not just old standbys like the Sierra Club or Greenpeace, but also Ozone Action, Clean Air Cool Planet, Americans for Equitable Climate Change Solutions, the Alternative Energy Resources Association, the California Climate Action Registry and so on and on. All of them have been on the receiving end of climate change-related funding, so all of them must believe in the reality (and catastrophic imminence) of global warming just as a priest must believe in the existence of God."
They were the politicians of our atmosphere.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
