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Archive for January, 2009

You may have seen this before, but I had not so I thought I would share

January 29th, 2009 at 01:50 pm

Slow Dance

This is a poem written by a teenager with cancer. She wants to see how many people get her poem. It is quite the poem. Please pass it on. This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a New York Hospital It was sent by a medical doctor - Make sure to read what is in the closing statement AFTER THE POEM.

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids

On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain

Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Do you run through each day

On the fly?

When you ask How are you?

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done

Do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores

Running through your head?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Ever told your child,

We'll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,

Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time

To call and say, 'Hi'

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift....

Thrown away.

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower

Hear the music

Before the song is over.
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FORWARDED E-MAILS ARE TRACKED TO OBTAIN THE TOTAL COUNT.

Dear All: PLEASE pass this mail on to everyone you know - even to those you don't know! It is the request of a special girl who will soon leave this world due to cancer.

This young girl has 6 months left to live, and as her dying wish, she wanted to send a letter telling everyone to
live their life to the fullest, since she never will.

She'll never make it to prom, graduate from high school, or get married and have a family of her own.

By you sending this to as many people as
possible, you can give her and her family a little hope, because with ever y name
that this is sent to, The American Cancer Society will donate 3 cents per name
to her treatment and recovery plan . One guy sent this to 500 people! So I know
that we can at least send it to 5 or 6. It's not even your money, just your time!

PLEASE PASS ON AS A LAST REQUEST.

Dr. Dennis Shields, Professor
Dept of Developmental/Molecular Biology
1300 Morris Park Avenue
Bronx, New York 10461

Mortgage Payoff Challenge

January 27th, 2009 at 09:42 pm

Let's try this. Every time any of you make a pre-payment against the princpal of your mortgage, drop a line. My personal goal is to pre-pay $6000.00 this year.

Now, some of you may find this a lofty goal. I do too. My wife really does. Especially since the money is to come from unconventional savings, sold items, extra work of any sort or even pop can returns.

I will keep you posted and welcome any well wishes, prayers and cheers.

Got my Juicer

January 27th, 2009 at 01:08 am

I finally did it! As I blogged a few weeks ago or so, I was in the market via Ebay, etc., for a juicer.

After much research, I decided on the Juiceman versus Jack Lalanes Juicer.

The Juiceman ran me $52.00 including tax, no shipping, right from Target.

The other juicer was $99.00 plus tax at Target.

I tried it out this evening (four apples and two carrots). WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to play with this "toy" some more.

If anyone has any juicing receipies, please share them. Thanks and God bless.

First Time for Everything

January 26th, 2009 at 01:50 am

So, I asked my wife if I could take over the shopping last week. She does so much and I, although am working with a start up company which keeps me pretty busy, I felt I was ready to take on a little more of the household responsibilities.

So two weeks ago I ordered the Couponizer. I also ordered our local paper for weekend deliveries only ($11/mo). I started clipping coupons, sorting them and preparing for my first shopping trip.

Well, I took our list, compared coupons and off I went.

I feel GREAT! I saved $56.00 between coupons and in-store sales with my bonus card. I am proud of how much I bought, including breakfast and snack items for the girls' lunches. So, I think I will be allowed to continue. Only a few things were questioned but overall, I faired pretty well. God bless.

Dropped 14k today!!!!!!!!!!

January 19th, 2009 at 12:51 am

Okay...it's not as bad as it sounds. First, out of my $32k in savings, I decided to fully fund my ROTH IRA for the sixth year in a row in the month of January. There goes 5k.

Then, I decided I was tired of writing checks every month for my truck payment so I dropped $9k and paid that baby off.

So my savings is about $18k but I expect a pretty good tax refund since I sold my company thus, I feel good about refunding my account by mid March.

Another thing I wanted to discuss tonight is how vital it is to splurge a little once in a while.

Now, I don't mean collecting doodads and silly things that we all can do without. What I am saying is we are all working hard to be respnosible with our money. To save for our future and the future of our family. To strive to be frugal for the sake of going green and 100 other reasons.

You MUST reap the fruits of your labor at times. After a long week of work and feeling a little run down and blah, I spoke with the family and decided to take everyone out for our favorite meal, sushi. My three girls love the habatchi grill and watching their food be prepared. They also enjoy sushi as do my wife and I. The cost, never less than $150.00. BIG TICKET ITEM!

But I and they are worth it. It is very thrilling and exciting to save. To take advantage of a good deal and continue to work toward retirement (fully). But what about today? What about enjoying the finer things in life sometimes.

So to all of you, get a new coat or hat. Play a little extra golf. Take your sweetie out to dinner and a movie (I have seen Doubt and The Wrestler and they both are pretty good). Buy a little thing here or there that you have always wanted. Grab a new book or CD. Reap the benefits of your hard work today. Remember, you will never get the chance again! God bless.

Forced Checkbook Savings

January 15th, 2009 at 12:43 am

I can't believe the blog replies and other emails I have received regarding my "round up/round down" method for my check register. I figured I would start a new blog based on one of my replies.

Your questions and comments have been great! I understand how tough it is to keep track in a second register and/or not balancing your account every day. That said, just write the actual amount in the check written/deposit box but round out the total. This way you can balance between the actual check written or deposit made directly with the statement instead of using your register total as part of the equation. Trust me, this truly works!

Get gutsy with it. Today for example, I wrote a check to the electric company for $103.22. Wrote that amount in the check written box but then subtracted $110.00 from the running balance. That was a $6.78 savings "deposit". Just that amount alone for one year is about $72.00 Get the picture?!

I also get a monthly deposit that is about $123.00. I show the $123.00 in the deposit box but only show a deposit made in the running total of $100.00. That is another $270.00 per year.

So taking two transactions into account, one deposit, one withdrawl, I have already saved about $342.00 per year off of small transactions within my account!

Make those debit/credit notes in the boxes, forget the running total when balancing and make little notes along the way so you can see very quickly how much you have saved. God bless and good luck.

Off Topic but Very Important

January 14th, 2009 at 05:11 pm

I am 37 years old. I am just over 5'10". That said, I feel I am about twenty pounds over weight. I would like to be at around 190 lbs but stand at 210.

I have been given a book on juicing. My thoughts are portion control, no sugars or processed flours, reduced carbs and not eating past 7:00 p.m.

I love ALL fruits and veggies. My question is, has anyone got substantial experience with juicing or other suggestions.

I am so jazzed about this "forced savings"

January 14th, 2009 at 02:41 am

Okay, so it's like beating a dead horse. However, I just want to stand on top of the roof and scream, TRY IT!

Round down your checking deposits and round up your checks written.

Keep a second register with true and accurate amounts that you only update when you balance each month.

The working register always gets rounded.

Try it. Put aside your need to know exactly what your balance is and prepare for a shock at the end of the year.

Call is an extra mortgage payment or christmas present fund. 2008 netted me over $2k with just a little rounding each time I opened the checkbook up.

Simple. Easy. Your really don't miss the money, you just force yourself to tighten the belt a little bit whenever necessary.

Out of sight, out of mind. Give it a shot.

NSD Tracking

January 12th, 2009 at 05:14 pm

Okay, I failed miserably keeping track of NSD. But this time, I am going to give it my best!

Starting yesterday, 1/11/09, I had a NSD. Let's see if I can keep track and report diligently.

Still Finding the "Rounding" of the Checkbook Astounding

January 12th, 2009 at 04:38 pm

Some time ago, I suggested rounding up check's written and rounding down your deposits in your check register.

I started this around April, 2008 and once I balanced my account in December, I was astounded to see that I had "saved" over $2,500.00. A few bucks here and there which was never missed added up like crazy.

This money, of course, goes right toward the principal of my mortgage.

Again, all I do is make a note in each line of the actual transaction, but leave the running total rounded. For example, today I paid my cable bill of $103.45. I paid the bill, noted the correct amount in a small area of the line and used $105.00 as my running calculation. Also, each week I get paid via direct deposit of $805.70, however, I only write in a deposit of $800.00. That alone is over $22.00 per month in savings.

As you can see, it really adds up and the reward at the end of the year is extremly uplifting.

Give it a shot. I am sure you can even fine tune the process to best meet your needs and record keeping.

PS - It's nice to be back.