Monday, February 27, 2017
FHE - Movie Night
Tonight it's a blast from the past in a 1980's video from Disney on the history of Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Ah, Harry Anderson. Our favorite comedian/magician.
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Monday, February 20, 2017
FHE - A Little Constitutional History
If you've never seen this before, you're in for a treat.
Please have a safe and happy President's Day.
Please have a safe and happy President's Day.
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Oprah's Debt Removal Steps
Click here for updates and revisions to the Debt Diet™️ steps on Oprah.com.
1. Calculate your debt - add up what you owe.
2. Track Your Spending
Cut the waste and find ways to increase income
3. Learn how to play the credit card game
A. Pay more than the minimum payment
B. Call to reduce the interest rates and fees
C. Get your credit score
4. Stop spending!
5. Create a monthly spending plan for your take home pay:
35% - Housing - domicile, insurance, repairs, maintenance, taxes, etc.
15% - Transportation - vehicle, fuel, insurance, registration fees, maintenance, repair, etc.
25% - Other - regular fees for cellphones, tv, Internet, meals outside of the house, travel, movies, books , etc. This is the "your life" part of the budget.
15% - Debt - credit cards, student loans.
10% - Savings - this is where you get rich.
6. Grow Your Income.
7. Prioritize Your Debt And Raise Your Credit Score
Home, vehicle, student loans take priority.
8. Understand Why You Spend And Start Saving - plan your spending.
I'm thinking there are a lot of people who followed this advice - which was brought out before the 2008 Stock Market Crash - and are grateful they did. I'm thankful she had the thoughtfulness towards her viewers to make this series a reality.
As stated before, there are some changes that have since been made to these steps, be sure to check out her Debt Diet Action Plan page for the details.
 |
| Source: http://www.oprah.com/money/Oprahs-Debt-Diet-Step-5 |
1. Calculate your debt - add up what you owe.
2. Track Your Spending
Cut the waste and find ways to increase income
3. Learn how to play the credit card game
A. Pay more than the minimum payment
B. Call to reduce the interest rates and fees
C. Get your credit score
4. Stop spending!
5. Create a monthly spending plan for your take home pay:
35% - Housing - domicile, insurance, repairs, maintenance, taxes, etc.
15% - Transportation - vehicle, fuel, insurance, registration fees, maintenance, repair, etc.
25% - Other - regular fees for cellphones, tv, Internet, meals outside of the house, travel, movies, books , etc. This is the "your life" part of the budget.
15% - Debt - credit cards, student loans.
10% - Savings - this is where you get rich.
6. Grow Your Income.
7. Prioritize Your Debt And Raise Your Credit Score
Home, vehicle, student loans take priority.
8. Understand Why You Spend And Start Saving - plan your spending.
I'm thinking there are a lot of people who followed this advice - which was brought out before the 2008 Stock Market Crash - and are grateful they did. I'm thankful she had the thoughtfulness towards her viewers to make this series a reality.
As stated before, there are some changes that have since been made to these steps, be sure to check out her Debt Diet Action Plan page for the details.
Monday, February 13, 2017
FHE - Learning About The World Around Us
For those who remember The Ascent of Money series I posted on here last year, Niall Ferguson has another series called Civilization which he chronicles world history based upon six factors that have been deciding factors for which civilizations flourish and which disappear. The documentary series is based upon his book of the same title.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
The Surprising Effect My Debt Free Goal Would Have
Today was a fantastic day for both myself and my Mother. She didn't have a mortgage on her home, but she did have a variable home improvement loan on it, which was due to expire next month.
She received a letter from the bank where this loan was through, telling her she would be owing an additional $3,000 in fees and interest at conversion time.
She was naturally alarmed and called me.
Without looking at the letter, I did explain to her they were most likely telling her how much she would expect to pay if all she paid was the minimum due.
I asked her how much she owed, she looked it up and realized she had the money saved up to pay it off. I took care of the transactions necessary to transfer what was necessary to accomplish this and drove her to the bank and watched over the process of her paying off the balance and closing the account.
This was the last account we had open at this bank, as we now use a credit union, so it was also a goodbye to this bank as well.
They can get their $3,000 from someone else.
Meanwhile, I told Mom that the next payment she makes should be to herself, not someone else. We also had a celebratory brunch at IHOP. She is definitely breathing a sigh of relief to have that over.
She received a letter from the bank where this loan was through, telling her she would be owing an additional $3,000 in fees and interest at conversion time.
She was naturally alarmed and called me.
Without looking at the letter, I did explain to her they were most likely telling her how much she would expect to pay if all she paid was the minimum due.
I asked her how much she owed, she looked it up and realized she had the money saved up to pay it off. I took care of the transactions necessary to transfer what was necessary to accomplish this and drove her to the bank and watched over the process of her paying off the balance and closing the account.
This was the last account we had open at this bank, as we now use a credit union, so it was also a goodbye to this bank as well.
They can get their $3,000 from someone else.
Meanwhile, I told Mom that the next payment she makes should be to herself, not someone else. We also had a celebratory brunch at IHOP. She is definitely breathing a sigh of relief to have that over.
Unboxing - The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i
This is something I've been wanting and saved up for last year, and it finally arrived on my doorstep on December 30, 2016.
I've done some basic scanning with it, such as my older tax documents to pdf before shredding them. It scans both sides of the page at the same time, and can scan multiple pages, up to about 5 pages at a time before you start to see document jams.
My employer uses a different version of ScanSnap, and since I was already familiar with how to troubleshoot those, I thought this might be a great way to start to digitize documents where a physical document isn't needed. I'll post some videos at the bottom of this post to help give you an idea of what I'm talking about.
On with the show!
I've done some basic scanning with it, such as my older tax documents to pdf before shredding them. It scans both sides of the page at the same time, and can scan multiple pages, up to about 5 pages at a time before you start to see document jams.
My employer uses a different version of ScanSnap, and since I was already familiar with how to troubleshoot those, I thought this might be a great way to start to digitize documents where a physical document isn't needed. I'll post some videos at the bottom of this post to help give you an idea of what I'm talking about.
On with the show!
Before you can plug in, the yellow tape stops and tells you to install the software first. Very nice!
The software works on either Windows or Mac, so you do have a choice!
Be sure to install everything. You also need to submit your information on their web site in order to get the download for the ABBY software that allows you to scan to Microsoft Office products.
We are ready to start scanning! The extra cable allows you to use your computer as a power source for mobile scanning.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Household Hazardous Waste Load
More progress in my home! I am not only getting rid of a few no longer working items, but I'm also getting rid of old halogen bulbs and getting some of the toxic chemicals out of my home, replacing them with natural ingredients to try to improve not only what gets cleaned but how it gets cleaned. It also reduces the dependency on man made chemicals to solve cleaning issues in my home.
Needless to say, I left with a deep sense of accomplishment!
Needless to say, I left with a deep sense of accomplishment!
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Scheduling
There are a lot of blogs and vlogs that go into schedules.
Some are monthly (which bills get paid which days of the month), some do weekly (it's Wednesday, what household blessings do I do today?) while others do daily schedules.
While I do some monthly scheduling for bill payment, my daily schedule is usually determined by meetings, deadlines and what emergency am I taking care of today. There are days when I'm balancing work with doctor appointments for Mom and myself.
The main schedule that I keep for myself is actually a weekly schedule and usually consists of one or two words. Which opportunity is scheduled for each day of the week?
Monday is fueling up the car and grocery shopping.
Tuesday is snail mail and finances.
Wednesday is recycling. Recycling can also mean donating.
Thursday is trash day.
Friday is dishes.
Saturday is laundry.
Sunday is rest and catch up on other stuff not done previously.
The reason I do this is to try to make it so I'm not running like a crazy person on Saturday and Sunday, as I've done some basic upkeep during the week. I do need to start on a routine in the evening, though, of spot cleaning I could do for 15 minutes per day. The big problem is ether remembering to do it, or just simply exhaustion and sleep deprivation. We'll see how things go in the coming months.
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