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If you are unsure of Snapfish, let me tell you, I love them! They run promotions often and the quality is fantastic! Heck, at the price of one penny per photo, it's worth checking out for yourself.
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| From Frugality In the Making |
2 hours ago
Sunday, July 5, 2009
New Deal For New Snapfish Members
From now until July 10th, Snapfish is offerring all new members 50 prints for 50 cents! Just use the code PENNY at checkout.
If you are unsure of Snapfish, let me tell you, I love them! They run promotions often and the quality is fantastic! Heck, at the price of one penny per photo, it's worth checking out for yourself.
If you are unsure of Snapfish, let me tell you, I love them! They run promotions often and the quality is fantastic! Heck, at the price of one penny per photo, it's worth checking out for yourself.
Super Shaws Savings!
I just discovered that we hadn't done an actual grocery shop in over a month! Wow. We had pretty much been living off the stockpile without even realizing it. That's just one reason why a stockpile is so awesome to have!
I have been shopping, sure. But mostly just adding to our stockpile by cherry picking certain deals. Seasonal stuff like soda, condiments, and ice cream. I probably spent less than $75 on grocery shopping the entire month of June.
Shaw's, a New England area grocery chain, is having a great (and I mean wow) 4th of July sale this week and I just couldn't resist.
Here are the highlights of what I bought:
My total before Shaw's savings and coupons = $152.08
I actually paid $56.93
I have a mail in rebate for $6 on Produce and one for $10 on Steak, too!
That will bring my total down to $41.93 for all of this!
I broke down the meat, and it is enough for about 30 meals for us with leftovers for hubby to take to work.
I also broke up the cherries and froze about 3/4 of them and put them in 4 different freezer bags. I love cherries, but never buy them because I never catch them for less than $2.99 a pound around here. So, now I can enjoy them for a while to come.
The soda was a special promotion this weekend. For 2 days, if you bought 5 12 packs at 5/$10 (a steal these days as it is!) you got 2 free store brand hamburger or hot dog rolls! I also had one coupon on me for the 2 Coke 12 packs. So, for $9 I got all of the soda and a pack of hot dog rolls and a pack of hamburger rolls. Great deal!
I am so glad I caught this deal!
I have been shopping, sure. But mostly just adding to our stockpile by cherry picking certain deals. Seasonal stuff like soda, condiments, and ice cream. I probably spent less than $75 on grocery shopping the entire month of June.
Shaw's, a New England area grocery chain, is having a great (and I mean wow) 4th of July sale this week and I just couldn't resist.
Here are the highlights of what I bought:
- 5.33 lbs of Cherries at $1.49/lb
- 2.95 lb watermelon at .49/lb
- 1 bag of baby spinach at .99
- 1 pkg Chiquita Carrots on markdown for $1
- 10.66 lbs Ground Beef at $1.59/lb
- 2.75 lbs Boneless Spare Ribs at $1.49/lb
- 7.12 lbs Shoulder Steak (for crockpot roasts) at $1.59/lb
- 18 Smart Waters 10/$10 - free after coupons
- 2 12pks Dr Pepper
- 2 12 pks Coke
- 1 12 pk Fresca
- 1 pk hot dog rolls
- 1 pk hamburger rolls
- 1 pack of flag napkins 75% off at .50
- 1 thermal lunch cooler - clearanced to $3.00
My total before Shaw's savings and coupons = $152.08
I actually paid $56.93
I have a mail in rebate for $6 on Produce and one for $10 on Steak, too!
That will bring my total down to $41.93 for all of this!
I broke down the meat, and it is enough for about 30 meals for us with leftovers for hubby to take to work.
I also broke up the cherries and froze about 3/4 of them and put them in 4 different freezer bags. I love cherries, but never buy them because I never catch them for less than $2.99 a pound around here. So, now I can enjoy them for a while to come.
The soda was a special promotion this weekend. For 2 days, if you bought 5 12 packs at 5/$10 (a steal these days as it is!) you got 2 free store brand hamburger or hot dog rolls! I also had one coupon on me for the 2 Coke 12 packs. So, for $9 I got all of the soda and a pack of hot dog rolls and a pack of hamburger rolls. Great deal!
I am so glad I caught this deal!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Happy 4th Of July - Independence Day
Amidst all of the fireworks and BBQs, let's not forget what this day really stands for.
I am proud to have the freedoms that were brought forth by our forefathers. I am proud to be an American who stands by the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. Take a few minutes today to read this document, savor it and reflect.
"IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Without these men and these words, we would have no reason for the barbecues we are planning, the fireworks we enjoy.......
I am proud to have the freedoms that were brought forth by our forefathers. I am proud to be an American who stands by the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. Take a few minutes today to read this document, savor it and reflect.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Without these men and these words, we would have no reason for the barbecues we are planning, the fireworks we enjoy.......
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
My July Goals
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| From Frugality In the Making |
Just a short list of all I would like to accomplish this month:
* *Total and list earnings from surveys and rebates for first 6 months of the year
* *Paint dresser for Jaycen's room
* *Get gift for mom's birthday
* *Stock up on dog food (adopting another dog on 11th)
* *Reorganize pantry
* *Continue to work in vegetable garden
* *Donate clothes Jaycen & I will not wear anymore
* *Read at least 4 books (one for substance and 3 for pleasure)
*Have a "Date" day with Jaycen
*See new Harry Potter movie
*Line Dry clothes (if this rain ever stops)
* Rearrange living room to accommodate bench purchased at 70% off
* Have bulkhead door installed
* Trim front shrubs
* Try at least one new recipe for dinner (we are so in a rut!)
* Cancel Credit Report Memberships (free trial ends this month)
* Try to stay under $100 food/HBA for month (eat mostly from stockpile)
Do you make monthly, or even weekly lists? Are they more of a wish list, or an absolutely MUST do list? Mine are more wish lists when I do them on a monthly level. My daily lists are the MUST do lists for me.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Great Photo Gift Idea At A Fantastic Price
Right now, through July 31st, Arts Cow has a wonderful deal on printed canvas pictures! I have ordered from this company several times now and love them. Once you set up an account with them, you immediately start earning free stuff, too.
For a 16" x 20" printed canvas, originally priced at $45.98, we are promoting these for a slash-down price of $16.99, including shipment. Oh, did we forget to mention it is Buy One Get One Free? That's right, $16.99 for two A2-sized printed canvases with free shipping, which equates to a saving of $74.97.
Use the code below for this bargain. The item number is 348. Just follow this link
Coupon code: 1699CANVASB1F1
Expires on: 07/31/2009
Click Here to get in on this wonderful deal!
 |
| From Frugality In the Making |
For a 16" x 20" printed canvas, originally priced at $45.98, we are promoting these for a slash-down price of $16.99, including shipment. Oh, did we forget to mention it is Buy One Get One Free? That's right, $16.99 for two A2-sized printed canvases with free shipping, which equates to a saving of $74.97.
Use the code below for this bargain. The item number is 348. Just follow this link
Coupon code: 1699CANVASB1F1
Expires on: 07/31/2009
Click Here to get in on this wonderful deal!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Prepare For The Worst
I subscribe to Mary Hunt of Everyday Cheapskate's newsletter from Debt-Proof Living and this morning received this:
Work your network. Kristof's research finds that the people who best survive when the worst happens are those who are not too proud to seek help within their personal networks. Foster your relationships now.
Cover your assets. Stop thinking that bad things only happen to others. You are vulnerable, like everyone else. Your most important asset is your earning power. The only way to protect that is with insurance. Your chances of being disabled are greater than of dying, in most cases. Check with your employer to see if disability insurance is a benefit available to you. If not, shop for an individual policy.
Be an equal partner. Defending against divorce is a touchy subject, particularly if you are in a marriage with wealth to protect. For most, the safeguard against an ugly divorce is developing the good habits of budgeting and investing together, says Kristof. These activities teach couples not to fight over money. If divorce happens, the history of sharing money decisions will help.
Prepare to act. If you suffer the death of your spouse, you will be shell-shocked. Learn now how to run your spouse's business. Have a back up plan as part of your estate planning. Know the very first thing you should do in an emergency so you will be able to do it from rote. Having a checklist to guide you will be a great comfort. You need to have the ability to act, not freeze, when you face a crisis.
It's easy to take life for granted when everything is going well. The best thing you can do is to be grateful for this time in your life while also preparing for the worst. It may never happen, but if it does, you'll be especially grateful that you did.
I thought I would share this with my readers, as it has some excellent advice. So, how would you do? I think, if I lost my job, we would be ok. But if my husband lost his, well we have a long way to go to be prepared for that!
How to Prepare for the Worst
Suppose you lost your job, your health or your spouse. Could you cope? Would you end up broke? Los Angeles Times columnist Kathy Kristof recently posed these questions in AARP magazine, writing that with the economy on life support it's time to stress-test our finances.
Are you prepared for a life crisis? Statistically speaking, if you haven't already faced at least one life crisis, you will. Every year, millions of us face a fateful turn of events: an illness, divorce, disability, job loss or a death in the family. For many, the results are worsened by financial pressures.
A new survey sponsored by AARP Financial examined adults ages 40 through 79 and gave results that most of us are overconfident before trouble strikes and left shaken afterward.
Kristof has a plan of attack in the form of "must-dos" that each of us should consider before a life crisis comes our way:
Imagine the worst. What if a job loss wiped out half of your income? Could you make it? Start living right now as if that has already happened, in the same way you would practice a "fire drill."
Save already! Stop spending all you earn. If you're dipping into your retirement accounts to get by or eyeing your home's equity, stop! Instead, scale way back. Save as if your life depends on it. Job loss comes without warning. You need enough money in the bank to make it until you land your next job.
Are you prepared for a life crisis? Statistically speaking, if you haven't already faced at least one life crisis, you will. Every year, millions of us face a fateful turn of events: an illness, divorce, disability, job loss or a death in the family. For many, the results are worsened by financial pressures.
A new survey sponsored by AARP Financial examined adults ages 40 through 79 and gave results that most of us are overconfident before trouble strikes and left shaken afterward.
Kristof has a plan of attack in the form of "must-dos" that each of us should consider before a life crisis comes our way:
Imagine the worst. What if a job loss wiped out half of your income? Could you make it? Start living right now as if that has already happened, in the same way you would practice a "fire drill."
Save already! Stop spending all you earn. If you're dipping into your retirement accounts to get by or eyeing your home's equity, stop! Instead, scale way back. Save as if your life depends on it. Job loss comes without warning. You need enough money in the bank to make it until you land your next job.
Work your network. Kristof's research finds that the people who best survive when the worst happens are those who are not too proud to seek help within their personal networks. Foster your relationships now.
Cover your assets. Stop thinking that bad things only happen to others. You are vulnerable, like everyone else. Your most important asset is your earning power. The only way to protect that is with insurance. Your chances of being disabled are greater than of dying, in most cases. Check with your employer to see if disability insurance is a benefit available to you. If not, shop for an individual policy.
Be an equal partner. Defending against divorce is a touchy subject, particularly if you are in a marriage with wealth to protect. For most, the safeguard against an ugly divorce is developing the good habits of budgeting and investing together, says Kristof. These activities teach couples not to fight over money. If divorce happens, the history of sharing money decisions will help.
Prepare to act. If you suffer the death of your spouse, you will be shell-shocked. Learn now how to run your spouse's business. Have a back up plan as part of your estate planning. Know the very first thing you should do in an emergency so you will be able to do it from rote. Having a checklist to guide you will be a great comfort. You need to have the ability to act, not freeze, when you face a crisis.
It's easy to take life for granted when everything is going well. The best thing you can do is to be grateful for this time in your life while also preparing for the worst. It may never happen, but if it does, you'll be especially grateful that you did.
I thought I would share this with my readers, as it has some excellent advice. So, how would you do? I think, if I lost my job, we would be ok. But if my husband lost his, well we have a long way to go to be prepared for that!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
New Money Saving Website & A Review - Buxr.com
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| From blog1 |
Ann at Buxr.com e-mailed me this week to ask me to review their website. I took a few days to poke around and get the feel of it for you before I gave my opinions.
Buxr focuses on a great deal of the areas that I search the internet and fellow blogs for. That being online deals, freebies, and coupons. Not only is Buxr a website highlighting all of this and more, but they also have a nice forums section. It is not as active as some, but then it should only need the word spread before it becomes so.
SO, here are some of my observations about the site:
PROS:
* You can log in using your Google sign in (no long registration forms)
* Each entry is clearly marked as a Freebie, Coupon, etc right on the front page
* The site is extremely easy to navigate. This is such a bonus to a newbie. I know on some of the larger sites I needed about a week of lurking before I could wade into the waters.
* They have a rating system. This is a member rating system that helps you to pick out some of the best deals
* Members can be awarded cash prizes just for submitting deals to the board! (I love this one)
* Tons on online and Brick and Mortar stores are participants on the site.
CONS:
* Not enough interaction on the forums (of course that will probably change once word is spread)
* No discussion of coupon shopping, deals that are generally of interest to us coupon shoppers. You won't find what's on sale at Target, the local grocery stores, or CVS here.... Might be a nice future addition though.
* Honestly I couldn't come up with much more than this.
So, there you have it, a new resource for all of us! I know I am always searching for a new place to find, or even just to confirm, deals. This is a nice streamlined website that appears to be trying to get itself noticed. I think that with the right push, it has the bones to be a great daily resource for many of us.
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