September 27, 2010

A great read, then danielle starts to rant...

I was at the library on Saturday looking at books and came across the book, "Rich Dad, Poor dad" I have heard about this book but have never read about it. I truly believe that in life when we are ready for something, suddenly it becomes very convenient that we stumble upon it. I have not only been trying to learn about financial literacy for my own life but for work purposes as well. I am in the education field and as my job has evolved over the past couple of years so has the questions that I am asked when people call me. I am a one stop shop (so to speak) for people to call and get information about loan forgiveness. As the economy has plummeted the seriousness of the questions has evolved as well. Back in the spring these calls were becoming more and more common. I told my supervisor about these calls and then I went to a conference on Financial Aide and apparently it is across the board becoming a problem. More and more people are experiencing a financial hardship.

The problem is too many people have dug themselves a whole and instead of putting the shovel down, they keep using it to shovel deeper, thinking if I could just make more money my problems would go away. Then as society/government has taught us, the entitlement factor kicks in, Isn't there some sort of government program out there to help people like me?

Instead of sticking your hand out, why don't you try a different approach. I don't care if you use, Dave Ramsey's, Robert Kiyosaki's, or Suze Orman's. Bottom line is if your current way of thinking is what got you into this mess, you need to try a different approach.

If you are reading this thinking there is NO way to fix your debt issues unless you get a new job or a pay raise try doing this, stop using your credit cards and stop buying liabilities. Immediatly sit down and do a wallet detox. Remove ALL credit cards from your wallet, and if your debit card keeps getting you into trouble toss it as well! Next, set up a budget. I can not express how much I LOVE Dave Ramsey's software online for setting up a budget.

Next, when setting up your budget, stop paying more than the minimum due on your credit card and start putting every extra penny in the bank until you have $1,000 saved up for an EMERGENCY! A true emergency. No more going out to eat, no more "I wants". The only thing that is to be satisfied is basic needs.

Basic Needs are:

1. Food
2. Clothing
3. Shelter

If you are thinking YAY! Rule 2 says I get to go shopping - return to the top of this blog entry and start rereading - that is the thought process that got you into this mess in the first place!

If you are thinking WOW, this chick is a genious, nope, it is Dave's get out of debt process. Check out his website at www.daveramsey.com

You can also listen to him live everyday from 1pm-4pm on this website or on the radio.

September 10, 2010

Did you know that 40% of congress has been in office for longer than 20 years....

Of all things I was listening to the Dave Ramsey radio show today and I heard about this website; the reason why they were speaking with Dave Ramsey is they were discussing the national debt... oy, I don't even want to think about it; you know one of those times when you have gone on a spending spree and you don't want to balance your checkbook or open your credit card statement; I avoid the national debt in the same way. Sadly even though lots of our political leaders are aware of the money problems our country faces they are still pulling to get funding for their political agenda, um, duh. they have an agenda! I am not saying I know the best way to fix the problem, but I do know that pulling funding from certain programs will not hurt anything. I am trying not to be political but more educated about the state of what is going on around us.

I then decided to google National Debt by president: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms

Blowoutcongress.com

The Mission - Why is the replacement of Congressional members who have served more than 12 years in the House or Senate -- such a seemingly drastic step -- necessary in America today?

Sadly, the American Congress, in both the House and Senate, has taken extraordinary steps during our modern history to ensure that her members are virtually insulated as incumbents -- almost impossible to defeat once in office. Congress has also created a system of seniority, where members are awarded powerful committee leadership positions on the basis of longevity, rather than ability. The result of these actions is that America is wounded politically, morally, and in recent years, financially. By any credible measure, including independent polling, voting trends, and the dramatically increased involvement of American citizens in the political process, the United States Congress is consistently identified as an utter institutional failure by the American people. It is a rare day in America today when a new tale of corruption, greed, incompetence, moral failure or ethical breaches from Congress members does not splash across the news. The House and Senate, comprised of 535 members, rarely rise above a 25% approval rating, and drop to as low as a 15% approval rate consistently. The opinion of the American public regarding the performance of Congress is abysmal.

September 07, 2010

Baby Step 1, COMPLETE!

A few weeks ago I wrote about using the Dave Ramsey plan of attack on debt; I am excited as can be that we have completed baby step 1!!! Which may not seem like a whole lot, but we are excited to be here. So, now on to baby step 2, which is pay off all debt. OY! This baby step is going to take us some time... In the past month I have discovered the software on Dave's site, The Total Money Makeover, I am in LOVE with this software! I used this software to build a budget, it calculates my "snowball" time line, and tells me exactly how many months until I pay off a debt using the "snowball" affect, my emergency fund, saying this software is amazing is just truly not giving it enough justice. It is so intuitive. It is not free, which is the only downside, however, it is pretty inexpensive, there are a couple options to purchase the use of it, Monthly or annually.

I am continually impressed by the way Dave runs his business, his lifestyle and how giving he is to strangers.

September 02, 2010

that is right, I am a dog lover....

One of my coworkers had found this wonderful new restaurant that serves international street food. She sold us all on it at work, so Tuesday we decided to load up and head over there to check it out. The restaurant was truly amazing! Anything that you can buy from a street vendor around the world they serve in this restaurant, and it is truly and completely yummy!

As we were leaving the restaurant that is located in a strip center with no trees, I am backing up my car, and my coworker who is sitting in the passenger seat, yells DOG! I hit the break because I don't know where "DOG" is and await further instruction, followed by a, "what?" The then points to the car beside me and says; "dog!" She then picks up her phone and dials 311. The dog was in a car with the windows cracked the dog is panting like crazy, the windows are not tinted (in my mind this would help, at least a little bit, right)?, the driver of the car is no where to be found and it is 1pm in the afternoon and hot and humid at heck! So my co-worker is on the phone with 311 and she is routed to 911. The operator with 911 is asking all the questions about the car, after we finish giving all the car details this man emerges from somewhere out of the strip mall, walking very briskly over to me and yells "is there a problem?" I respond yes, your dog it is hot! Co-worker tells the operator the owner has arrived at the car. He proceeds to yell at me saying he loves his dog, and he hates people like me! People LIKE me! DUDE! We have been out here for five minutes in the heat and your dog has been out in this car for I don't know how long. I am stunned that the man is yelling at me so I get unusually quite, and just keep telling the man that his dog is hot... Why is he not listening to me, co-worker tells operator that it is escalating, operator shushes her, one of my coworkers removes herself from the backseat of my car and escapes to a Car to go... Yep, that is right, passing right past me and crazy man that is yelling at me; she was late for a meeting... OHHHH... ok, she is forgiven...

So, man is very unhappy that I have addresses his dog sitting in the heat in the car; I get it, he is a bit defensive, however, a couple of weeks ago, in the Fry's parking lot a dog died of heat stroke while the man ran in for a "quick" return.

Please under no circumstances leave a dog, or a child in a car, as the police say, "I don't care if it is five minutes for fifteen minutes, Do NOT do it!"

I would do the same again if I ever see it happen again, at least the man will think twice before leaving his poor poochie in the car.