Posts Tagged ‘money’

In today’s brutal economy, people are searching for ways to hang on to the money that they do have. There aren’t any big secrets. You have to figure out what you have to spend, what you really want to spend, and what you need to not spend.
One effective way to not spend money is to stay out of situations that make you want to spend. I can’t remember where I first heard it, but I always remember the idea: “I can resist anything but temptation.” That’s certainly true of me. Go shopping only when you need to, not for entertainment.
And when you have to buy something, try to buy generic, buy used, and/or share the purchase with someone. For most things, generic is just as good as the name brand, and significantly cheaper. The same is true of many used goods compared to new. And many expensive items — lawn mowers, snow blowers, etc. — can be shared among neighbors with a little thought and creativity.

One of the most difficult, and necessary, things to figure out in life is how important money is. For many of us, it can take most of our lives to sort that out. There doesn’t seem to be a “correct” answer, though there are many incorrect ones. We do know that money is necessary. Since we are not a hunter-gatherer society, we need money to pay for food, shelter, clothing, etc. And it is understandable that a person would want more than just the basics and need some security. But how much is enough? Is accumulating money a proper goal in life? If so, what behavior is and isn’t appropriate in that accumulation? What should be sacrificed? Is money a way to measure a person’s value? The only way? These are questions which a person must answer for him/herself.

All those people thinking that money doesn’t bring happiness is because they possess money themselves. Like famous people you see on television living there glamorous lives leading as role models to others. For regular folks money isn’t an easy access to get to most people has to struggle to make ends meet. The market is bad right now it’s going to take number amount of time to get it back on track. People as whole should start saving their income in case of a crisis should god forbid happen. If you must want to spend your income at least spend it on useful items or if not spend little by little. Usually some people who live in poverty exercise in limiting their spending. I mean, their apartment needs to be paid not to mention food and clothes live off from. That type of lifestyle must be really hard to go through you got to have really strong mind and lots of support to go through something like that. As a kid my parents used to give me allowances but each time I would get money I just blow it away. I’d blow it away on arcade games, useless games, giving it away to pretty girls and not getting any play in return and when I needed to buy something my money ran out. I just want to be like everybody else I didn’t want to stand out I wanted to be cool but it wasn’t making me feel any better. So I learned my lesson now I’m starting to save my money.

The problem with the U.S is our politicians’ don’t worry about the people of the U.S. They would rather send money to others country’s than spend more on us. We need to need to get to the point where we can take care of our people. Then buying doing this we can make us grow more and spend less of our money overseas and buy all American products and put people back to work. The government needs to make the paper work for government grants a lot easier to do and cut out all the red tape that goes with it.
There are grants for just about everything you can think of to do but the paper work take’s you forever to get done then they send it back to and say you didn’t cross your t’s.
Our government could put people to work even if it’s picking up trash alongside the highways our around all the lakes and they could pay minimum wage for the work it would get people back to work instead of drawing unemployment our welfare. We spend too much money on welfare for people who could go out and get a job and save our money for people who do need it. I see this all the time just wish I could do that but I was raised well then that my family makes do with what we have and no more.

If you are like most moms around the world, there never seems to be enough time or energy at the end of most days to prepare the nice home cooked meal you would love to have ready made for your family. Unfortunately, cooking a good family meal requires both time and energy. A few wise moms have discovered a concept that has become known as once a month or freezer cooking to assist in those nights when time, energy, or both are in short supply.
The thought behind once a month cooking is that for one or two days (if you prefer to spread the process out over a couple of shorter days rather than one long day of cooking) of intense culinary effort your family can dine well for an entire month. Many women who have tried this have also discovered that not only does it help by always having something nice and home cooked for dinner, but also helps families stay within budget.
Far too many mother’s will guiltily raise their hands when asked whether or not they’ve ever resorted to fast food or junk food meals simply because they were too tired to cook or were missing one ingredient for a meal and did not feel up to running to the grocery store in order to pick up the missing ingredient. This practice can get expensive over time and rob your family of some well-earned fun money.
There are some important things you must keep in mind if you are considering once a month cooking as a way of life for your family. The first thing you need to keep in mind is that planning is the key. You will need to set aside a day (or two) for the cooking when nothing else is on the calendar. It is simply too difficult to see to all the details if you are planning your cooking event around car pools, soccer games, or dance practices. You need a full day that will be relatively uninterrupted. If you have a spouse, partner, or family member that can take the children for the day this will be the ideal situation. Otherwise be sure to have plenty of distractions on hand for the little ones or find a way to enlist their help with any cutting, chopping, slicing, dicing, or peeling that may need to be done.
You should also create a thorough menu followed by a list of each and every ingredient you will need. Shopping needs to be done on a day other than when you are planning to cook. This means that you aren’t likely to rush through the shopping trip and forget something as a result. Bring your menu and your list and get everything you need in one trip whenever possible. You can also save money by planning your meals for the month according to the sales circulars and coupons you have for the week in order to stretch your budget a little further.
Finally, you need to make sure that you have all the supplies, dishes, and containers you need in order to prepare and store the meals you’ve prepared properly. You should also make sure that the recipes you are using for your once a month cooking marathon are recipes that freeze well. It is even better if you have recipes that double well so that you can get twice the results from the same effort.

You should also make sure you are mentally prepared for your marathon cooking session. Beginning with a nice and tidy kitchen is a great start. Folding card tables make an excellent flat surface for storing things out of the way and freeing up valuable counter space for preparing and assembling the foods that will be prepared. You should also utilize as many appliances in your kitchen as possible for maximum efficiency. Don’t limit all cooking to the oven. Find dishes that freeze well and can be prepared in the crock pot or on the range top. Once a month cooking is a challenge but many women will agree it is well worth the effort on those nights when the thought of cooking seems unbearable and the wallet has been stretched to its limit.