MOney Do Talk!

Save Until You Have a Surplus?

2009-04-28T23:22:00.000-07:00

Just so you understand my way of thinking I have to take a step back to when I was still a child. I spent a lot of time at my grandmother's house as a child. She grew up during the depression and she saved everything and when I say everything, I am being literal. After supper if there were a spoonful of peas left, you saved it. I remember summers of having to eat mint jelly with my peanut butter sandwiches. No one liked mint jelly especially with peanut butter and wonder bread. But she wasn't going to let that mint go to waste; it grew in abundance and no sense mowing it down. If she bought something like cottage cheese it had to sit in her refrigerator until it was close to the spoil date, then you had to eat it until it is gone. Why couldn't we eat a little bit until it's gone, Noooo.... That way you would appreciate it more.

But she was like that with old clothes, you used them as rags. Your thinking, hey that makes sense, what's wrong with that. Well I will tell you what's wrong with that; I wasn't all that comfortable dusting with my grandparent's underwear. Her attic was stuffed with all sorts of things and every nook and cranny throughout the house. So I am a pack rat not to the extreme that my grandmother is but I hold on to things a little too long.

My grandfather on the other hand had a completely different outlook on saving and surplus. Since he had polio and a phobia about leaving the house; it was his job to make supper every night. My grandmother had a job at the local shoe shop plus taught ceramics at night at the house. My grandfather made the ceramic molds and cooked the family meal. Between the two of them neither was a very good cook. My grandmother could burn the cake black on the top but not the bottom. My grandfather was just confused how to cook. So his first attempt was spaghetti. Back then there used to be a nifty chart on the back to measure by how many people to how much pasta you needed. Seems simple since it was the two of them but his downfall was it didn't look like enough. In goes the entire box of noodles. The sauce was tricky since he knew it had to be a tomato sauce with meat. So he fried a pound of hamburger and he doesn't drain the fat because that is wasting and then one can of Campbell's tomato soup and mix that in with the cooked noodles. Oh how dry and tasteless that was. But since he had plenty of leftovers, we would have to eat that for lunch. There weren't microwaves then and you learned to either eat leftovers cold or figure out some way to heat it back up. Gramps way was frying it in a lot of butter and serving this whole mess with bread and butter pickles. I'm not sure if that or peanut butter with mint jelly or fried bologna sandwiches with ketchup was worse. You learned to eat very little and search for berries in the woods after lunch.

My mother on the other hand had her own version of saving, not as much as her parents but strange just the same. She was obsessed with elastics; we never had enough in the junk drawer. She started saving the elastics on the vegetables; we had broccoli, asparagus, and other such elastics in the drawer which had the name of the vegetable on each one. When we ran out of elastics we were either forced to skip putting your hair in a pony tail or suffer the embarrassment of wearing "broccoli" elastic to which you are unmercifully teased at school. Her other obsessions in saving was electricity, garden produce, and heat. My mother in the dead of winter would wade through three feet of snow to hang out laundry. We had a dryer but that costs money to run. Why we had one I will never know. Summer I think was worse because we would get weeks of rain and there is all your clothes hanging on the line soaking wet. My sister and I started working in the summer and we were allotted 2 uniforms each. We literally had to beg our mother to let us use the dryer because we had no clothes to go to work.

Her other obsession was heating the house. The thermostat was always on 55 degrees and you were not allowed to turn it up past that number. Oil costs money. We had a woodstove but it really had to be going good in order to heat the house. So you learned to put on a lot of layers of clothing in order to stay warm. We did try to turn the heat up to 68 degrees once and turned it back down before she got home from work. She said she knew we used the furnace. And followed with the tirade about how much oil costs and we should have thrown on a sweater. Pretty bad when you have a turtleneck, t shirt, sweater, and a sweatshirt on and you're still cold.

Garden produce was another touchy area. My mother before leaving for work would leave my sister & me a long list of things to do during the day while she was at work. Some days we just couldn't get through the list for various reasons. My mother would stress that you had to pick all the peas. Some naturally just weren't ready for picking and when she checked the vines when she got home she would be so mad and whatever your excuse was she wasn't going to listen. The next morning we got up to another list and it was time to pick the green beans. The list said to pick all the beans and she counted them all before she went to work and would know if we picked them all. Our thinking was if she was out there at 5am counting how many string beans on the vines, why didn't she pick them? We had to cut them up for canning, how would she know if we picked them all? It would really boggle the mind if you thought about it and her way of thinking.

Well there are certain things I like to save like the smallest sized jeans I could fit into 20 years ago, shoes I no longer can fit but were really nice and special outfits I bought for the kids. I am a bit stingy with the heat but not to the extreme my mother was, the woodstove heats the house and yes oil is expensive but I do use it on an occasion. Running the farm I started to notice I had the opposite problem, instead of not enough I had a surplus of everything. It was once to the point I had over 50 dozen eggs in the fridge along with 8 gallons of milk. What was I going to do? I couldn't let this go to waste because that went against everything I was taught.

A surplus of items that I couldn't save forever. I was taught not to waste a thing unless it couldn't be fixed again, period.

But what to do with 40 dozen eggs, 16 gallons of milk, or your herd of 8 sheep turned to 17 after lambing? Well I will tell you, you have to be creative. That doesn't cost anything. I remembered back as a child we had pickled eggs a lot especially during the summer. While making pickles during the summer I noticed I would have surplus brining solutions, so I made different flavors of pickled eggs. Fine that takes care of the egg overflow but what about the milk? Well that was a little tricky, I have made goat milk soap before, well that could use up a bit but still I was getting two gallons a day, what then? I did use some of the milk to wean a calf and bottle baby lambs but I still had a lot left. Thinking about my options, there were few besides making puddings and anything else that I could use milk with but what would use a lot of milk... cheese. I bought a few books and learned to make cheese. What a scary thought that was, cheese seemed like a delicate process and a lot of things could go wrong. So I started with the basics of cottage cheese, ricotta, feta and mozzarella. I even made buttermilk. Well that didn't seem so bad and in my second year I tried blue cheese and yogurt as well. So now I sell homemade cheese.

Do you see how I made that problem disappear? At first I was really worried of wasting a surplus of items, I wasn't raised to waste. Most of the things I do here on my farm I really think about what else I could use something for. Well meaning people drop things off that they don't use any more and I either could take it to the dump or reuse it. Baling string can be used for many things like in the garden supporting plants, as a quick collar for a loose animal, or as the friendly dog catcher uses them as a belt. I think it is how we look at an item; I reuse milk jugs and egg cartons. It makes sense since I need them for my production and if I don't have to buy them then good for me.

So I guess I learned something from my grandparents from over 30 years ago, don't waste, use everything until it is gone and appreciate the things you have even mint jelly. Cher King.

7 Easy Steps to Financial Recovery

2009-04-25T23:19:00.000-07:00

Everyone is taking a look at how they can get their money back on track to financial recovery. A new study says U.S. households' net worth dropped by $11 trillion, a decline of nearly 18% during 2008. You can increase your net worth even in this economy by following these 7 easy steps:

1. Be a long term investor. Investors tend to extrapolate recent trends. If investments are going down, they think stocks will continue to go down and they stop buying. That's usually a wrong strategy because you will consistently buy at the top instead of buying low.

2. Don't be a market timer. Studies have shown that market timing which is the practice of buying and selling securities over a period of hours or days or weeks is useless. Rebalance your portfolio once a year. By rebalancing I mean if you target 50% growth for your goal, then once a year sell off the amount that represents over 50% of your growth position. If it has gone below 50%, then leave it alone.

3. Don't over spend. In times like this, you don't want to make frivolous purchases. Although there are bargains to be had, concentrate on making your money work for you. Buying boats, cars, televisions, etc. doesn't grow your money. Putting your money into IRAs, RothIRAs, SEPS, 401Ks, 403bs, can grow your money over time.

4. Maintain Diversification. Don't chase after the hot asset class of the week like foreign or tech. Spread your money over various asset classes (large cap, small cap , short term bonds, international, etc.) and over various asset styles (growth, income, balanced, etc).

5. Take advantage of tax-free and tax-deferred savings opportunities. Even if your employer doesn't offer a matching 401K, it is still in your best interest to maximize your contributions to your own 401K. You get double benefit- growth in a personal retirement plan and a tax savings which puts more cash in your pocket now.

6. Keep a stash of cash handy for emergencies- like the roof leaks, the car needs repair, or you may need money to support you while you look for another job. Emergency cash should be easily accessible without penalties for withdrawal.

7. Work with a trusted fiduciary advisor, coach, or mentor. By a fiduciary, I mean someone who is committed to putting your interests first. Look and ask for the ADV Part II form from a financial advisor to see conflicts of interests and how they are paid. For a coach, ask to see a contract or agreement that outlines how they are paid and any referral fees they may get.

By following these easy 7 steps to financial recovery you can get back on track with your personal finances, increase your net worth and feel better about your financial future.(Frean Alix LaRocca)

Don't Have Enough Money?

2009-04-22T23:17:00.000-07:00

Do you often feel like you don't have enough money? Do you avoid paying for your own self-care and personal growth because you don't want to spend money on yourself? If you answer positively, you may be stuck in "scarcity thinking" which likely impedes your happiness and stagnates your growth.

People in "scarcity mode" focus on what they don't have rather than their many blessings. This anxiety may come from truly not having enough, but more often, it is a symptom of flawed thinking. Follow these steps to shift towards peace and prosperity.

The first step is to know where your money goes. Track your expenditures for one month and create an annual itemized list. Make sure you add in realistic estimates for gifts, vacations, children's activities and other items that aren't regular monthly expenses.

How do you spend your money? Are your expenditures concentrated on your children's activities and luxury items? Are they spent on expensive cars, high mortgages, material possessions? Most importantly, do your expenses reflect your values?

If your expenses aren't highly correlated with your values, you need to change how you spend your money. Take some time to clarify your priorities and goals for the next year. Make sure part of your expenditures is spent on your own growth and well- being, which will contribute greatly to your happiness and demonstrate self-respect to your children. Recognize that sometimes we have to make financial sacrifices in some areas in order to live fully.

If you have taken these steps and still can't comfortably pay your bills, consider going back to work or switching to a higher paying job. Sometimes scarcity is present in our lives to motivate us to make a change. You need a concrete plan to ensure your family income outweighs your expenses and your spending reflects your values. it is in this place that you are able to ditch scarcity thinking and focus instead on your abundance and many blessings.

When you spend money in alignment with your highest priorities (which must include your self-care and personal growth), control your expenses, take responsibility for earning money when it is needed, and shift your thoughts from "scarcity mode" to "abundance", you live with peace and prosperity. Make the changes you need to in order to get there. You will be glad you did! (Bria)

Saving Tips in Hard Times

2009-04-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

For so many of us it is time to tighten our belts and find ways to save money in these economic hard times. More and more families have to cut back as either jobs have been lost, wages cut back and mortgage payments and other debts are just too much to handle. Getting your debt paid off is crucial to getting yourself out of debt. Start finding ways to save during these hard times from various different sources.

Take this opportunity to turn your money issues into positive things like having family at home entertainment rather than an evening out at the movies which for a family of four can run into a lot of money. Movie tickets run at least eight dollars, add some popcorn and soda to that and the next thing you know you have spent fifty five to sixty dollars. So going to the movies once a week adds up to over three thousand dollars a year. That could pay off a sizeable credit card. What can you do on movie night instead of spending sixty dollars? As a family you can rent a movie, pop some popcorn at home and enjoy a night in at the movies saving yourself probably forty to forty five dollars a week.

You can make a family night at home with board games or good old fashioned cards. There are tons of games the whole family can play. I would also bet you have a cabinet full of board games that have not been played in a while. These are great opportunities to unite the family and have a few laughs while saving money. Too many families do not spend good quality time together and taking this opportunity to get closer to the kids and teach them good values and money saving tips is a smart idea. They will grow up learning that sometimes as an adult you just have to cut back and save money for crucial items like food and utilities. Kids are going to grow up and have to face the harsh reality that this country is going to have to pay back all the money we are spending to stimulate the economy. It is going to come from their hard work and tax money.

Unplug small appliances, television and computers when they are not in use and shutting off the lights when not in use to cut back on the utility bills is an amazing money saving idea. You may not think that your toaster that is not being used bit still plugged in is costing you money but simply being plugged in takes some current and you are paying for it.

Creating meals around items that are on sale or using coupons for food and ad matching is crucial to bring down your grocery bill. Little things like making sure you eat all the leftover food for a second meal another day rather than throwing the leftovers away saves tons of money. You can mix up things a little by adding a different vegetable the second time or a fresh loaf of bread to it makes it not feel like you are eating the same thing again. Teach the children how important it is not to waste food and how much money it saves when you can duplicate a meal simply with leftovers.

Get the kids out on a nice day to wash the car rather than paying for it to be washed. That is great family time. Sure, the kids will initially complain but I would bet that they end up laughing a bit and spraying water on each other. Have them help with yard work; get rid of the weekly landscaper. Give each child a daily and weekly job that helps cut back on paying someone else to do it.

Believe it or not some families are going back to making some of their clothes or at least mending them and handing them down to the younger ones. Maybe trade with a family or friend to mix up the clothes so it feels like they get something new. Have a garage sale and earn a few hundred dollars selling unwanted items. Go to a garage sale and pick up things you would normally buy at the store and pay a lot more for.

These family involved ideas not only help save money in these hard times but they teach great values to our children so when they grow up they can hand these same values to their children and hopefully know how to handle their money better than so many people in our country as we have all recently realized. Credit is not free money, let us start teaching our kids now.

Nancy Niblett is a highly successful Real Estate Agent specializing in the Chandler area. She credits her success to hard work, integrity and honesty. Clients continue to refer her over and over again. Nancy is one of the most successful award-winning agents and currently with West USA Revelation. She was awarded the Silver Top Producing individual agent in 2004, Double Gold individual in 2005 and the annual Spirit and Integrity award in 2005 and 2006. Her most cherished moment was bestowed on her in 2006, the Regional "Culture" award, which is the highest attainable honor given. (source: nancy niblett)

Easy Money

2009-04-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

Almost everyone today is looking for a way to save money, earn extra cash in their free time or just maintain during an economic recession. There are some things that consumers can do in order to save money and make cash in ways they may have never imagined. We live in an age where there are a lot of new opportunities that not everyone is familiar with. Also, there are some secrets that can help you save the money that you already have.

1. Smart Shopping
What grocery store do you go to? Have you compared prices with other places locally? Chances are, there is a cheaper place for you to get your shopping done. Some popular stores that are especially cheap to shop at are: Aldi, Food Lion, Price Chopper and many many others.

2. Buy in Bulk
Everything from beer to doughnuts, you simply save money if you buy in bulk. No matter what you are buying, if it is something that is consumable and you go through more than one if it in the course of two weeks, consider buying more of them at a time. In the world today, people make tons of money by selling individually packaged items, and a lot of your money is going to pay for such packaging! Save by purchasing the largest amount that you can, in whatever you buy!

3. Earn Money Online in your Free Time
This one is a no-brainer. Ever find yourself bored at home, flipping through channels on the TV with nothing to do? Turn this extra time into money, easily! There is a huge industry on the internet with opportunities for people just like you to earn a lot from. It takes no experience, and I have been doing it for over 6 months now!

How to Manage Your Money

2009-04-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

In a recent column entitled "The 3 Ms of Money," we discussed the principles of financial achievement - managing, multiplying and maintaining your money. Over the coming weeks, we will examine these three pathways to money success in greater detail.

The key to managing your money is knowing what to do with the money that you are already earning, so that you can comfortably pay your bills and work towards attaining your goals. There are four components to successful money management, which, like the ingredients in a recipe, are all essential to producing the perfect end result.

Budget properly

The first step in your journey to financial independence is to learn how to budget properly. A budget is a document that allows you to capture all the things you spend money on, along with your sources of income. The budget must be used as the basis for making all financial decisions.

In 2004 I discovered a book, The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom by money guru, Suze Orman. In it, she explained that in order to change our finances, we needed to be honest with ourselves about how we spent money. Orman helped me to design a simple spreadsheet that would capture every dollar that I had spent over the past year.

I searched for all my bills and receipts and placed them into different categories such as house, car and personal expenses, and debt payments. Then I recorded my actual earnings for the period. To my shock, I discovered that my monthly income had not been enough to meet all my expenses.

I realised that I had used loans and credit cards to finance my lifestyle, instead of living on what I had earned. The budget tool helped me to stop spending frivolously and to put aside my salary bonuses to pay for luxury items. For the first time, I felt that I knew where my money was going, and that I finally had control over my finances.

That initial budget form has been improved over the years and is now available on the Internet. This document is vital as it will help you to effectively carry out the other three money management steps.

Save consistently

You might think that saving money would be a normal process for most people. Not so, as I had never really saved anything prior to 2002. For many people who are young and carefree, money earned is money spent. I used to think, 'Why deprive myself by putting money in the bank?'

After reading The Richest Man in Babylon by George S Clason, I learnt some important savings principles. This helped me to adjust my attitude, as I realised that when you spend all you earn, you are only making others rich and impoverishing yourself.

Clason's masterpiece taught me that:

. putting aside ten per cent of every dollar I earned was the key to building wealth;

. the earlier I started to save, the more time would work in my favour;

. compound interest would make even a little amount of money grow exponentially;

. I had to be disciplined by making the savings process automatic.

Use your budget to record your savings as one of your first expense items.

Borrow wisely

After realising that I had been sabotaging myself by borrowing to finance my lifestyle, I searched for principles that could guide me on debt management. I learned that there was a difference between 'good' debt, where money was borrowed for productive purposes such as buying a house or starting a business; and 'bad' debt that was used for consumer spending.

The key is to use your budget to work out how much you can spend on non-essentials. If you want to buy more things, the financially smart way is to increase your income to pay for them, or cut back on other spending.

Plan for the future

It is very easy to squander money when you haven't set financial goals. You must create a dream for yourself, whether it is to buy a house, send your children to college, have a comfortable retirement, or just to achieve a savings target.

Although this principle can help you to make wise decisions with money, I realised that there was a vast difference between dreaming about your goals and attaining them. Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich was very instrumental in teaching me how to actualise my dreams.

The four-step goal attainment process is: visualise and focus on what you want, express your dream as a specific and measurable goal, get expert help to create an action plan, and carry out the plan with enthusiasm and determination until you are successful.

The budget will help you to put aside extra funds to achieve your goals.

Next week we will look at ways of increasing your income to make ends meet, attain your goals and create wealth.(By Cherryl Hanson-Simpson)

Free Financial

2009-04-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

With each passing day, families across America and indeed most of the world are watching their bills pile up and their savings and investments disappear. The 'funny' thing is the rich are still getting richer, while the rest of us struggle just to survive.

There is one major difference between the rich and everyone else - The way they manage their money.

Henry D Mason write, What you do with your money is far, far more important than how much of it you have. You need to develop a rich mentally and money management method if you want to whether the current storm and come out the other side in better shape than you went in. A few years ago it may have been enough just to drift through life working and spending, but times have changed. If the current state of the economy has show us anything it is that nothing lasts forever. Time to get serious about you financial situation and make sure you never have to struggle again.

If you have been procrastinating or neglecting money management you need to stand up and take action. Don't delay any longer, start your journey towards you Financial Destiny Today! I want to show you how to effectively put your money to work for you. I have developed a simple, easy to follow method that will allow anyone to take control of their money and finally start to see the financial results they deserve.

Budgeting and saving is one thing, but you need more. You need a fool proof, can't fail, easy to follow methods. In the current economic climate you need a winning edge. Let me help you get that edge.

Public Ads

2009-04-03T00:39:00.000-07:00

Earlier morning I saw an ad from the Departement of information and communication (Depkominfo), the ad uses hat animation like students hat, farmers hat and other. Animation was told that progress has been achieved during the last five years.

Which the question is the word "Lanjutkan!!" which is the motto of one political party the election. What Depkominfo do this intentionally or not? I don’t know, is clear this will be a problem for political parties who consider the ad as the campaign asked. Society is expected to be the things like this, not to the party people's democracy has become the party executive and legislative branches.

Do not you want to vote with the amount of money. Specify the fate of the nation by the people themselves.

Money Saving Tips From Giftlab

2009-04-02T19:59:00.000-07:00

By Tessa Bickers

You're not the only one getting more and more worried about the credit crunch. With businesses closing, houses selling for half their original value and lots of people out of work you'd be crazy not to be a little concerned. It isn't all doom and gloom though! Here at giftlab we've compiled a list of money saving tips to help you through this difficult time.

* Switch bank account - Have a look online at moneysupermarket for the best bank account for you, depending on whether you're in credit or overdrawn. Switching bank account can add hundreds of pounds a year to your pocket; especially now because banks are fighting for current account business.

* Sell your old mobile phone - Sounds silly but you can make up to £150 and you're being eco-friendly too! Check bananagreen if it's a working phone or mazumamobile if it's broken.

* Reclaim any bank charges - Bank charges reclaiming is currently on hold awaiting court decisions, however, you should still send in claim letters now, as there are 100,000s people in the queue, so the earlier you do it, the sooner you'd get your money back.

* Check if you're eligible for a grant - There's quite a lot of free money out there so long as you know where to look. You could be eligible for any of the following reasons:

1. Local council grants - councils can offer different funding, search for details on its website or contact them to ask for more information. To find your local council's details enter your postcode in the DirectGov website
2. Help with utility arrears
3. If you're disabled
4. Improve your home
5. Get environmental: You could be offered an Energy Saving Trust grant

* Check your council tax bill in case you're paying too much - Many homes are in the wrong council tax band, and have been since 1991.

* Switch your Energy provider - All of them have now cut their prices and some are offering £30 or a crate of wine if you sign up to them. Find out who's offering the best rates at energy helpline

* Put a little money aside each month. Obviously we recommend using our CapitaLIST Pig for this but if you want to make interest then have a look here for the best savings account you can get.

Why Most Family Budgets Will Never Work

2009-04-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

By Jim DeSantis

There is no question that family budgeting should be taken seriously by every family. A healthy cash flow is the only tool in your control to secure your future and the future of your family and to live a good life right now. Unless you get your spending under control and start treating your household like a business,

There are three blocks you must demolish.

Family Budget Blocker #1 - A Fearful or Negative Attitude

You must learn that --a positive attitude about family budgeting is vital to your success. If you think of budgeting as a major chore (such as a lifestyle diet, lifestyle handcuffs, deprivation, penny-pinching, a major sacrifice), you are sure to fail. Of course you may have a martyr or a masochist complex and are addicted to a punishing and stressful experience. However, let's think positive and assume that you are really desperate to get a handle on your finances.

A positive attitude about your financial situation will help you think of your family budget as a positive means to a positive end. You will learn that it is a way to achieve your personal dreams and financial goals. You will see that resisting the instant gratification of debt induced lifestyle is worth the rewards you will earn in the end.

Family Budget Blocker #2 - Poor or Weak Motivation

What is behind your desire to create a family budget? Are you trying to calm a stressed out spouse? Are you being forced to live up to the terms of a debt consolidation plan with a finance company? Complying with judge's order made in bankruptcy court?

These are not the best motivators because they are outsidepressures and will probably not be easy to maintain under constant stress. The best motivators are internally generated. You must be motivated by the idea that family budgeting will really help you meet your goals and give you a better life.

Family Budget Blocker # 3 - Magical Thinking

What do you expect to gain from instituting and following a family budget? Do you think that setting up a family budget will somehow magically make tons of extra cash available quickly? Perhaps you think that the family budget will somehow magically transform your spending habits next week and make you a financially responsible person who has all their bills paid and money left over for luxuries?

Sorry, but, family budgeting is just as serious as any business. Only those who with with it personal finances, through every setback, will reap rewards financially. Do not expect miracles. What you will get, if you work your family finances, is steady and measurable progress towards the goals that really matter to you and your family.

Creating a family budget without a positive attitude about your abilities to handle it; internal motivation to overcome all obstacles, and realistic expectations, will likely set you up for failure before you even get started. You can greatly increase your chances of success by overcoming the three Family Budget Blockers before you even begin.

Family financial crises make most people want to shut off the telephone, stop answering the door, and crawl into bed but the solutions are really simple.

One of the easiest steps for any debt or credit repair strategy, is to take a in depth look at the spending habits and financial patterns within the household especially if you have a family! It is almost like running a diagnostic on your vehicle.

You need to get family members together and put your family budget under critical examination. This can prove both challenging and painful because some family members will be asked to change their spending habits. This is the first step.

A close second, and sometimes overlooked, is using a reward system for those family members who get with the new budgeting strategy. Rewards will keep the motivation going! In other words, as you achieve budget goals give yourself or your family members a treat as a reward for a job well done.

As you begin your family budget plan it may seem to be an uphill battle at first but, if you stick with it, you will begin to experience the benefits of family budgeting. Before you know it, you will see big financial benefits on many fronts.

Active and hands-on cash management, including savings, planning for retirement, and setting financial goals are becoming increasingly important for the survival and well-being of our families. The marketplace has become extremely competitive for jobs, prices fluctuate wildly for basic commodities such as food and energy. More than ever we need to be prepared by getting our family budgets under control.

It will take a leader in the family to make this work. You can be the one who motivates others to come up with new ideas on how to save money, budget better and spend less! Together you can create unique strategies from a deep understanding of your own situation, demands, and needs.

Discover which tips and ideas work best for everyone because money management and financial strategies are definitely not one-size-fits-all. Your lifestyle, needs, and wants are personal and unique to your situation and so are the solutions you need to find. Find them and apply them to your family budget plan as soon as possible.

Free Money or Not?

2009-03-28T23:29:00.000-07:00

Is the money in the internet absolutely without investment?

So many people offer a business opportunity or internet business in the formula so that people become rich quickly. But why still many people who are not rich? They offer programs to increase their finances. Whether it is fraud or not? You think about your own answers. Quite a lot of the marketers who has been successful in make money from the internet, they are successful because they make the investment in terms of time, thought, and may also be money.

But also many people who try to take advantage of this event as a fraud. I also still very common with business on the internet, but I will also try to be successful as they get money from the internet. Maybe I started too late but this is better late than not try at all. At least I know to be, add insight and experience.

Earn Money From Internet

2009-03-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

I'm still wondering how can people get earning money from Internet? well not all people just some of them. Now I try to make a blog and use AdSense to earn some money from google. First step I surf the web to find articles about it, but not all of them helping me. Well, may be some of them don't want to share their recipes. Next step I try to understand how my blog could be use as tools to get money.

It's very difficult for a newbie like me, even I read so many article but just several I understand, hehe... because I' so stupid my be or I'm to old for this. Congratulation for you guys who succeed earn money from AdSense, affiliate, AdWords or any program in Internet, you guys rocks!!!! I wanna be like you guys but the question is how?? I'm to stupid....:))

Money Politics

2009-03-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

What is Money Politics??? whether because the politics need money or money is basic need of politics??? I don't know, I'm just ordinary people... But in my perspective every legislative candidate need money for their campaign.

There is 34 Party in 2009 election in Indonesia. The scale to do some black campaign is very wide open. Election watch from some county in Indonesia find insincerity by several party. They use money to persuade the constituent to vote for them. Well, Money Do Talk in Politics, every candidate use every available resources so they could be elected. Some of them use their resources in positive campaign and some of them not.

How can Indonesia merge as democratic country if the parliament sited by unqualified representative who take advantage from theirs position??????????????

Obama raised Blackberry selling?

2009-03-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

Its no secret that President Barrack Obama has lived in Indonesia for several years in his young age. After few decades the boy became the President of United States. All people give their full attention to this new president policy, not only his politics but all his life style.

Every one knows about his Blackberry issues, and that issue also heard here in Indonesia, indirectly Obama become Blackberry marketer because of his issue the image of this gadget in Indonesia raise instantly, so many people turn their head for the new Blackberry.

Blackberry Fever

2009-03-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

Blackberry Fever strikes Indonesia, many of people now using this gadget, even the Vice President of Indonesia start using this gadget. Many blog now updated trough this device or spreading PIN for messenger. How much the price for 1 set of Blackberry?? is it so cheap? because so many people use it. I check to the phone store and I found that this Blackberry quiet expensive. People says this gadget very helpful with their activity, they can instantly check their business email, or live chat with relation.

This Blackberry is become lifestyle to most of people now in Indonesia, however for some people changing their cell phone to this gadget is not to important, its just an euphoria may be.

Blackberry 9500 Storm

2009-03-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

This proud addition to the impressive Blackberry family will impress you with its features. It is not lightweight as what you've come to expect because of its many hardware applications. But you will be satisfied once you get used to it because you will find the business-oriented features indispensable.It is still compact to carry at 155-g (5.47 oz) but this handset has an added unique feature not found in other handsets. This is the "clickability" feature to its unusual fluid capacitive touch screen technology. This new touch screen experience is due to its patented award-winning SurePress screen. This new handset bears testing out at your nearest electronics store on your next visit.

Handset to compete with other similar brands. This is the first Blackberry handset that attempts to go beyond the core Blackberry users. In other words, it has high ambitions and hopes to draw in die-hard cell phone users of iPhone, Apple, Omnia and Diamond. It will not disappoint the switchers who find it very user-friendly compared to the above brands.

Bluetooth and USB features. These two technologies make file sharing easy to do especially with your office colleagues. Important business documents can be opened and edited with this handset that includes word text files, spreadsheets, PDF and PowerPoint. That makes all those biz-related presentations all the more fun. However, this handset does not come with a Wi-Fi.
Excellent audio quality. This handset is great for holding conversations even in noisy areas. It comes with the 3.5mm standard audio jack. That also makes listening to music a real pleasure.

Great display screen with landscape virtual QWERTY keyboard. A high resolution at 360 x 480 pixels (65,536 colours) allows easy and comfortable reading of messages even in broad daylight.
High speed memory capacity. The Blackberry 9500 Storm handset comes with a 624MHz CPU with 128 MB RAM. Its 1GB internal storage is hot-swappable and expandable up to 8GB. This handset also comes preloaded with Blackberry maps and has a GPS built into it. In short, all the basic things you will need come with the box already.Solid looks and great build quality. Everything you need is packed into its 4.43 x 2.45 x 0.54 inch frame. That is incredible engineering in maximizing valuable handset real estate.(Faith Hill)

How to Speed Up Laptop Easily

2009-03-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

After using your laptop for a few months you will notice that your laptop slows down. Many people will then think to spend money to upgrade it or to reinstall their operating system. I was in this situation too before and I searched for a better way to fix it. After researching and gathering information, I found three steps that really work to prevent slowdown and even speed up laptop. These three steps are so easy that everyone could actually do it if they knew them. You will know exactly how to speed up your laptop after reading this article.

First Step to Speed up Laptop - Defrag Your System
Imagine your hard drive as a folder with many papers inside with different colors. Each type of color represents one program. When you try to read about one program you will look for one color only. Imagine how hard it is to read about one program when the papers are randomly spread and how much of your precious time u will waste. When you defrag your computer will rearrange the papers and put each color together. Defragmenting your hard drive can speed up your laptop significantly. Do it and see the difference yourself. Then do number two.

Second Step to Speed up Laptop - Eliminate Unnecessary Startup Programs
Some programs will start automatically when you start up your laptop. It means you will receive delay when you turn on your laptop for each program that starts automatically. Even after they finish starting up these programs will run in background, consuming your laptop memory. This is why your laptop runs sluggishly. Eliminate all except for necessary programs on start up and feel the difference.

Third Step to Speed up Laptop - Fix Your Registry Errors
The third and the most important stop to speed up laptop is to clean your registry from errors. When you download any file or remove them, when you install or remove program, and when you install your hardware or remove them. Your registry keeps a record and it becomes redundant. It may also become broken. This is why your computer is becoming slower and slower. You might also get some error reports on your laptop. All of this slows down your laptop significantly and it will get worse.

After doing these three steps to speed up laptop your laptop will be much faster. It is like buying a new laptop. You also do not need to reinstall your windows or anything and registry cleaner will perform the clean up regularly for you. You have a fantastic laptop without any hard work. (Johny Foster)

5 Tips For Choosing a Laptop Computer

2009-03-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

I have 5 tips from Terry J Mills to use if we want to search suitable for us. Laptop computers are becoming popular for everything from checking your emails and reading your favorite feeds to replacing desktop computers around the home and office. They are more powerful than ever and are capable of almost anything a high end desktop computer can do.

#1 - Before you purchase a laptop consider generally what your need from your laptop and what you will use it for. For example, a lightweight business laptop for checking emails and contacting clients. If you only need a computer for a few simple tasks don't forget to check out the latest netbooks (small laptops)

#2 - Once you have considered what you will generally need you can start to consider specifics such as CPU, memory (RAM), hard disk size, wireless connection, optical drive (DVD, blu ray), screen size, weight etc.

#3 - Once you have decided these things you can choose a couple of brands and models to research further. Popular brands include; Toshiba, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer and Asus. Use the Internet to research models that will suit your needs and create a short list of notebook computers.

#4 - Use online price comparison sites and visit local stores to compare prices an find the best deal. When you visit the local store try to have a test run of a few different models on your list. Most quality stores will allow you to try their laptops. Once you have decided try to ask the salesperson for their very best deal to knock the price down.

#5 - You can save extra money by purchasing floor stock or out of date model laptops. There are also savings to be had by purchasing second hand notebooks.
Buying a laptop doesn't have to be scary. Following these simple tips will help you choose your new laptop computer that will suit your needs and perform all the tasks you need it to.

Blackberry 8900 Curve

2009-03-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

Newly released only late last year, the sleek and sexy Blackberry 8900 Curve handset is the latest addition to the Blackberry Curve family series. Are you looking for a phone that can multi-task a variety of business and personal functions? I believe this is the answer.

Wireless e-mail support through "push e-mail" technology. High resolution 2.4-inch screen, A large 65K TFT LCD screen (480 x 360 pixels) makes reading your messages a real pleasure which can be adjusted for font size This sleek handset comes with a big 256MB built-in card slot but is expandable up to an incredible 16GB external memory to suit various storage needs.
This type comes with a host of connectivity links like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, GPRS and EDGE technology.

The Blackberry Curve 8900 handset has plenty of audio capabilities designed to please the most discriminating user. It has MP3 and polyphonic ring tones as well, a microphone and a multi-media player built in supported by Java technology. High-resolution 3.15 mega-pixel camera for those memorable still pictures and a high-quality video capability of 240 x 180 pixels for preserving all the wonderful moments in your life. Many user friendly features include a large screen viewfinder, auto-focus and LED flash. Stored video files can be played back in a variety of formats. This new handset from Blackberry features Web surfing capabilities like no other Smartphone. Simply a great handset for business people on the go who can reach anyone with an e-mail address.

Indonesia Survey, Facebook or Friendster?

2009-03-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Jakarta - If during the time a lot buzz if popular social Network in world is Facebook. Then how is his domination in Indonesia? Actually from the survey result done by company marketing research, TNS Indonesia lay open, if Facebook still fail in competition with kompetitornya, Friendster. Site which base on in California, United States, fixed stick his hegemony in Indonesia.

" From the survey result we do, Friendster still occupy the position to the with 92%. Is while Facebook only occupying the third position, with raihan 27%,"Suresh Subramanian, Deputy Managing Director, TNS Indonesia, after presentation along with Yahoo concerning consumer study internet in metropolis in Indonesia, in Hotel Le Meredien, Jakarta, Friday ( 20/3/2009).

Furthermore Suresh tell, if not yet been shifted by theX it Friendster from position situs jejaring popular in Fatherland, more caused by Friendster in advance attend in illusory domain of Indonesia. More than anything else, most of consumers situs jejaring this social balmy ofdifferent group.

" Facebook that for middle circle, is while Friendster weared really by youngsters," explicitly him.

This survey is done in some metropolises be like, Jakarta, Botabek, Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, Semarang, Palembang, and Makasar, by using direct method door-to-door, in the form of the question terstuktur.

Unhappily, TNS not yet can explain in detail, regarding presentase consumer distribution site this friendship in each;every his area. (http://techno.okezone.com/)

Simple Ways to Keep More of Your Money (by Acey Gaspard).

2009-03-18T01:41:00.000-07:00

Here is a powerful yet simple technique that allows you to have more money for your business starting today!

There was a time in my life when I went from a tiny income to a six-figure income in a short period of time. From my experience, I found that if you don't control your spending, you don't see a huge difference in your financial stability even if there's a huge increase in your income.

Obviously, with a larger income you have more opportunities. You can buy more and do more as well as live a better lifestyle. You may feel financially stable, but if you don't control your spending, then your financial stability does not really improve. It's not how much you make, it's how you control your spending that makes a real difference in your financial stability. If you make $10,000 every month and you spend $12,000 monthly, at the end of the year you'll be $24,000 in debt even though you earned over $120,000!

Tom had a goal. Within two years he wanted a monthly income of over $4,000. He accomplished his goal within that timeframe. The only thing missing was financial stability. Even though Tom increased his income, he also increased his spending by almost the same amount. He reached his income goal, but the real goal was not $4,000 a month, it was financial stability, and he didn't accomplish that because as his income grew, so did his spending.

I'm sure you've heard stories from Hollywood in which famous people with enormous incomes have gone bankrupt. Most of the time, the problem is excessive spending. Celebrities usually make and spend enormous amounts of money.

You don't need to change your business drastically to become financially stable. You don't need to become cheap, you don't need to suffer, and you don't need to change your lifestyle drastically. You DO need to become aware of your spending habits and control your spending carefully.

I know what you're thinking. "How can I save when there's nothing left? All my income is accounted for."

You're right. All of your income is accounted for, but you have spending habits you're not aware of. The only way to become aware of them is to get clear about the way you spend money. To keep more of your money, simply spend less of your money!

Here's an example. On your way into the office, you stop by and grab a coffee and bagel and the morning paper. It's no big deal, right? Lunch comes around and you're out another $5. On the way home you have a soft drink for another $1. It's only a few bucks right? Well let's take the total, $8, and multiply that by 240 working days. That's $1,920 a year.

It's not my intent to tell you how to spend your money; my point is that you must be aware of how you spend it. In the above example, put away $1920 a year in a good retirement plan and with enough years you'll end up with a worthy retirement fund.

The only way to understand your spending habits and see patterns emerge is to record your purchases. Every single one. If you don't, you won't be able to see the areas that will allow you to cut out excessive or unnecessary spending. You don't have to do this forever, but do it for at least one month. To benefit from this article and have more money without increasing your income or profits, you must record your daily spending.

Once you identify the areas where you're spending too much money, you'll be able to cut down in those areas. Controlling your spending starts with your thoughts. If you can control your thoughts, you can easily control your spending.

Here are a few tips for controlled spending

* Avoid window-shopping, browsing the web, or anything that gives you opportunities to make purchases that you don't need. My friend Bruce once told me, "Stay out of the stores!" He said, "Here's what I do if I need something. I go into the store, grab it, and get out!" Every time I'm in a store, his voice echoes through my head: "Get out of the store!"

* There's a difference between a want and need. You require needs, but you can live without a want. Get your needs, and control your wants.

* To control your spending, simply ask yourself a few simple questions like: Do I really need this? Can my business survive without this? What am I giving up if I buy this? Where can I put this money to better use?

* If you're working long hours, and your sales and profits are just enough to make ends meet, then you're spending too much money.

* If you re just making payroll, and if you have bills that are piling up, then you're spending too much money.

If you don't have any money saved and you have a lot of debt, then you're spending too much money. So basically, you're in a prison controlled by your finances. Every time you make a purchase, you're trading some freedom for the purchase. Become aware of this fact. Invest in your freedom, not in items you buy.

Action Steps To Help You Increase Your Income

1. Identify your spending habits. For at least one month, list each purchase you make every day.

2. Reduce or cut out those areas where you have excessive or unnecessary spending.

3. Use questions when you make purchases, such as: Do I really need this? Can my business survive without this?

Important Points to Keep In Mind When Increasing Your Income

* If you don't control your spending, you don't see a huge difference in your financial stability---even if there's a huge increase in income.

* You may feel financially stable, but if you don't control your spending, then the financial stability does not really improve.

* It's not how much you make, it's how you control your spending that makes a real difference in your financial stability.

* You do need to become aware of your spending habits and control your spending carefully.

* If you don't have any money saved and you have a lot of debt, then you're spending too much money.

* Every time you make a purchase, you're trading some freedom for that purchase.

Article Source:
http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com
http://money-management.bestmanagementarticles.com

My Baby...

2009-03-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

This is my baby, actually his the first baby in our Family, born on 31st August 2008, his name M. Fadhil Akhtar Ghaisan, we usually called him Atar. What a greatest gift from Allah SWT. He has a beautiful smile ever...

The funny thing is that everybody says the baby face unlike his Mom and Dad… (wh** t** ****) haha... but I guarantee 1000% that handsome baby is our son. His age now more than six months and in every single month He show new capability that make me and my wife =(I love U honey)= amazing.

Every single day we have new story and laugh as well as our baby has new move or new language. Hhhhuuhhh…. What a life to live with, I most lucky guy on the planet…

Once - Pearljam

2009-03-15T00:17:00.000-07:00

I like this song!!!

Once by Pearljam

I admit it...what's to say...yeah...
I'll relive it...without pain...mmm...
Backstreet lover on the side of the road
I got a bomb in my temple that is gonna explode
I got a sixteen gauge buried under my clothes, I play...
Once upon a time I could control myself
Ooh, once upon a time I could lose myself, yeah...

Oh, try and mimic what's insane...ooh, yeah...
I am in it...where do I stand?
Oh, Indian summer and I hate the heat
I got a backstreet lover on the passenger seat
I got my hand in my pocket, so determined, discreet...I pray...
Once upon a time I could control myself
Ooh, once upon a time I could lose myself, yeah, yeah...

You think I got my eyes closed
But I'm lookin' at you the whole fuckin' time...
Ooh, once upon a time I could control myself, yeah...
Once upon a time I could lose myself, yeah, yeah, yeah...
Once, upon a time I could love myself, yeah...
Once upon a time I could love you, yeah, yeah, yeah...

Once (4x)
Yeah...once, once...yeah, yeah...
Yeah...yeah, yeah...yeah, yeah...oww...

Do you like it??

Toys for Children

2009-03-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

By: Marina Neiman

Fond memories of childhood usually bring to mind a favorite toy. A cuddly doll, colorful crayons, or a special wagon are all childhood favorites. Toys bring a great deal of joy to children, but they also can be valuable learning tools. Exploring, pretending, and sharing are just a few of the important skills children develop while they play. Toys don't have to be expensive. Cardboard boxes in the backyard and measuring cups in the bathtub are favorite standards. But parents who do wish to purchase toys may find it helpful to know what toys to choose and which to avoid for children of different ages.

Every child is unique, has its specific pattern of development and has different ways of cruising through the milestones of physical, mental and social development. Infants and toddlers learn about the world through their senses. They are interested in the sight, sound, smell, texture, and taste of things. Objects or toys that can be squeezed, dropped, poked, twisted, or thrown are sure to cause delight. Toddlers also enjoy any item that can be stacked, poured, opened, closed, pushed, or pulled. Toys are vital for the physical and mental development of your infant baby. The toys have a significant bearing on your infants personality, therefore must be carefully selected.

During these years, children use their imagination to imitate adult activity and participate actively in physical games. Their physical coordination develops, and the foundation of printing and writing is also laid at this time. Preschool children learn by doing. They are busy developing new skills. They like drawing, painting, and building. They also spend a great deal of time pretending. Dress-up clothes, pretend play and puppets are big favorites. Preschoolers are energetic and active. They need large balls to roll and throw, wagons to pull, and tricycles to ride.

At this stage children learn about getting along with others, and about the adult world of sports, games and careers. They develop intellectual and social interests and make strong friendships, likes and dislikes. School-age children feel more grown-up and love activities that lead to (real products¦ such as jewelry, (designer¦ T-shirts, or stamp collections. They also develop a keen interest in sports and enjoy having adult-like physical equipment such as softball gloves, tennis rackets, or skates. They have a better understanding of rules and enjoy playing with others. Board games, cards, or dominoes teach math concepts and problem-solving skills.

The age of your child and not the activity level, is a primary factor in selecting an appropriate toy. Toys should not promote a single thought or concept; instead, they should enhance creativity and thinking skills. Toys and games are also important for the child to learn and practice logical and problem-solving. Toys that can be played in a number of ways serve as great educational tools and endorse comprehensive development of your child.

Broken DVD... Repair or Buy a new one?

2009-03-13T23:12:00.000-07:00

If you guys have DVD Writer and the drive sticks when playing audio CDs and DVDs and seems to struggle whenever do some copies. Burning also became usual problematic. My suggestion: BUY A BRAND NEW ONE....!!! Problem Solved.