Discussing faith, business, personal finance, news (business and financial related), politics, and pretty much everything else.
In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we've discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We've learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose.
- Jimmy Carter, 7/15/1979
The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us. For the first time in the history of our country a majority of our people believe that the next 5 years will be worse than the past 5 years. Two-thirds of our people do not even vote. The productivity of American workers is actually dropping, and the willingness of Americans to save for the future has fallen below that of all other people in the Western world.
As you know, there is a growing disrespect for government and for churches and for schools, the news media, and other institutions. This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning.
These changes did not happen overnight. They've come upon us gradually over the last generation, years that were filled with shocks and tragedy.
We were sure that ours was a nation of the ballot, not the bullet, until the murders of John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. We were taught that our armies were always invincible and our causes were always just, only to suffer the agony of Vietnam. We respected the Presidency as a place of honor until the shock of Water gate.
We remember when the phrase "sound as a dollar" was an expression of absolute dependability, until 10 years of inflation began to shrink our dollar and our savings. We believed that our Nation's resources were limitless until 1973, when we had to face a growing dependence on foreign oil.
| Amerifirst Home Improvement Fina | $10.00 | Success | 2/5/2008 | ||||
| Amerifirst Home Improvement Fina | $30.00 | Success | 2/12/2008 | ||||
| Amerifirst Home Improvement Fina | $20.00 | Success | 2/19/2008 | ||||
| Amerifirst Home Improvement Fina | $20.00 | Success | 2/26/2008 | ||||
| Amerifirst Home Improvement Fina | $20.00 | Success | 3/4/2008 | ||||
| Amerifirst Home Improvement Fina | $20.00 | Success | 3/11/2008 | ||||
| Amerifirst Home Improvement Fina | $20.00 | Success | 3/18/2008 | ||||
| Amerifirst Home Improvement Fina | $20.00 | Success | 3/25/2008 | ||||
| Amerifirst Home Improvement Fina | $20.00 | Success | 4/1/2008 |
On this day 2-years ago, I set down for the first time to write about personal finances. The idea was simple enough, John Cummuta's CD's suggested signing up for affiliate programs and create a website to place those links. However, in order to make affiliate programs work, I had to create a reason for people to actually visit and then return to the page. My idea, was that I would be the first to write about personal finance. Well guess what, I wasn't the first. However, I quickly joined a rank of 800+ other personal finance blogs, and to my surprise I quickly joined the top 100. A position I still hold, although my rank has slipped as the number of personal finance bloggers swelled to over 1000. 
The world financial markets was working in overdrive through the weekend, till the amazing $2 a share deal of Bear Sterns from JP Morgan. You have many factors and loses are play here. First, is the 14,000 employees of Bear Sterns. I know first hand that many of the employees are beyond fearful. Bear Stearns is (WAS) a culture of very cocky and brash individuals. After losing their big stick swagger, looks like the job boards will be flooded with candidates.
- Hate.info
The current financial crisis in the US is likely to be judged in retrospect as the most wrenching since the end of the second world war. It will end eventually when home prices stabilise and with them the value of equity in homes supporting troubled mortgage securities.
Home price stabilisation will restore much-needed clarity to the marketplace because losses will be realised rather than prospective. The major source of contagion will be removed. Financial institutions will then recapitalise or go out of business. Trust in the solvency of remaining counterparties will be gradually restored and issuance of loans and securities will slowly return to normal. Although inventories of vacant single-family homes – those belonging to builders and investors – have recently peaked, until liquidation of these inventories proceeds in earnest, the level at which home prices will stabilise remains problematic.
The American housing bubble peaked in early 2006, followed by an abrupt and rapid retreat over the past two years. Since summer 2006, hundreds of thousands of homeowners, many forced by foreclosure, have moved out of single-family homes into rental housing, creating an excess of approximately 600,000 vacant, largely investor-owned single-family units for sale. Homebuilders caught by the market’s rapid contraction have involuntarily added an additional 200,000 newly built homes to the “empty-house-for-sale” market.
In the current crisis, as in past crises, we can learn much, and policy in the future will be informed by these lessons. But we cannot hope to anticipate the specifics of future crises with any degree of confidence. Thus it is important, indeed crucial, that any reforms in, and adjustments to, the structure of markets and regulation not inhibit our most reliable and effective safeguards against cumulative economic failure: market flexibility and open competition.
Take a small (pint size is good) jar with you when you the next time you pump gas. Put a bit of gas into that jar.
Now you need to turn your attention to the citrus oil. Put the rinds of three large oranges into a closed gallon of water (i.e., a gallon milk jug full of water) for ten (10) days. After which time, you need to strain out the rinds. The water left will be nice and oily, full of citrus oil.
To get the homemade Goo Gone mix one part gasoline to four parts of the citrus oil / water mixture. Put it in a spray bottle. That's it, homemade Goo Gone.
These are the easiest ways to become a multimillionaire! There is power when money makes money! Compounding is earning interest on the principal and the accumulating interest.
cleaners and personal care items?
Drain Cleaner
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup white vinegar
Boiling water
Pour baking soda down the drain. Add white vinegar and cover the drain, if possible. Let set for 5 minutes. Then pour a kettle of boiling water down the drain. (The vinegar and baking soda break down fatty acids into soap and glycerin, allowing the clog to wash down the drain.) Do not use this method if you have used a commercial drain opener and it may still be present in the drain.
Your Own Laundry Detergent
* 1 bar of soap (whatever kind you like.)
* 1 cup of washing soda (look for it in the laundry detergent aisle at your local department store - it comes in an Arm & Hammer box and will contain enough for six batches of this stuff)
* 1/2 cup of borax (this is not necessary, but I’ve found it really kicks the cleaning up a notch - one box of borax will contain more than enough for tons of batches of this homemade detergent - if you decide to use this, be careful)
* A five gallon bucket with a lid (or a bucket that will hold more than 15 liters - ask around - these aren’t too tough to acquire)
* Three gallons of tap water
* A big spoon to stir the mixture with
* A measuring cup
* A knife
1. Put about four cups of water into a pan on your stove and turn the heat up on high until it’s almost boiling. While you’re waiting, whip out a knife and start shaving strips off of the bar of soap into the water, whittling it down. Keep the heat below a boil and keep shaving the soap. Eventually, you’ll shave up the whole bar, then stir the hot water until the soap is dissolved and you have some highly soapy water.
2. Put three gallons of hot water (11 liters or so) into the five gallon bucket - the easiest way is to fill up three gallon milk jugs worth of it. Then mix in the hot soapy water from step one, stir it for a while, then add a cup of the washing soda. Keep stirring it for another minute or two, then add a half cup of borax if you are using borax. Stir for another couple of minutes, then let the stuff sit overnight to cool. And you’re done. When you wake up in the morning, you’ll have a bucket of gelatinous slime that’s a paler shade of the soap that you used (in our case, it’s a very pale greenish blue). One measuring cup full of this slime will be roughly what you need to do a load of laundry - and the ingredients are basically the same as laundry detergent. Thus, out of three gallons, you’ll get about 48 loads of laundry.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee abandoned his U.S. presidential bid on Tuesday after voting in four more state contests made it clear his rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, would be the Republican candidate in the November election.
- Reuters
Speaking to supporters in Dallas, Texas, he said the most important part of the campaign now lay ahead, in which he must "make a respectful, determined and convincing case to the American people" to pick him over the Democratic candidate in November.
Mr McCain went on to outline the challenges facing the nation, including the war in Iraq and the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taleban.
He also pledged a campaign that avoided "false promises", and appealed for voters to "stand up and fight for America, for her strength, her ideals and her future".
- BBC
Does your credit card debt haunt you at night? Matthew Lesko has spent 25 years helping people like you get FREE MONEY from the government, and now he can help people like you REDUCE OR ELIMINATE YOUR CREDIT CARD DEBT.
Fill out the form to receive a free eBook containing information from Matthew
on reducing or eliminating credit card debt, as well as getting help, or even money from the GOVERNMENT for FREE.
Other sites my say they are, or they represent Matthew Lesko, but none can provide the answers that only the REAL Matthew Lesko can provide!
Get Free Info From Mr. Answers himself!
- Lesko Debt Secrets
| Item | Budgeted | Actual | Owed | |
| GIVING | ||||
| Tithe/Charity | $?? | $??? | ||
| subtotal | $?? | |||
| HOUSING | ||||
| Mortgage | $80 | $891.88 | ||
| Insurance | $0 | |||
| Maintenance | $0 | |||
| Taxes | $0 | |||
| subtotal | $80 | $891.88 | ||
| UTILITIES | ||||
| Electric | $80 | |||
| Gas | $80 | |||
| Water | $30 | |||
| Internet | $35 | |||
| Phone | $0 | |||
| Cell phone | $50 | |||
| Trash | $15.50 | |||
| subtotal | $290.50 | |||
| FOOD | ||||
| Grocery | $50 | |||
| subtotal | $50 | |||
| Transportation | ||||
| Auto Gas | $70 | |||
| Insurance | $0 | |||
| Maintenance | $0 | |||
| Tags & Taxes | $0 | |||
| Car Payment | $400 | $9,861.05 | ||
| subtotal | $470 | $9,861.05 | ||
| CLOTHING | ||||
| Sunday Best | $0 | |||
| Work | $0 | |||
| Everyday | $0 | |||
| subtotal | $0 | |||
MEDICAL/HEALTH | ||||
| Prescriptions | $0 | |||
| Deductibles | $0 | |||
| Eye Doctor | $0 | |||
| Insurance | $0 | |||
| subtotal | $0 | |||
| RECREATION/Memberships | ||||
| Entertainment | $0 | |||
| Dating | $0 | |||
| Optimist Membership | $40 | |||
| Farm Bureau Membership | $0 | |||
| Subtotal | $40 | |||
| DEBTS | ||||
| Providian Credit Card | $0 | $0 | ||
| Fingerhut | $10 | $1,000 | ||
| Black Gold Insulation | $0 | $0 | ||
| IRS | $0 | $3,795.52 | ||
| Subtotal | $10 | $4,795.52 | ||
| TOTAL | $940 | $15,548.45 |
