How folks, even though I don't post as "Prince of Thrift," as much as I used to, I still search for financial information everyday. Yesterday, I came across a Facebook page for someone named Grant Cardone, I never heard of him, but he had posted on this fan page that I had found, to ask him anything. So Iasked what should have been a simple question. Who are you? I was the first to ask anything. It should have been a simple question to answer, but he ignored it. He answered dozens of other questions, asked after, even had some mini conversations, but a simple question who is this so called, public figureis ignored. So I have to wonder, what is he hidding?
There are actually some in Congress that think the real danger out there is those of us who make (or have made homemade soap. That's right folks, the recipe I have posted over the years, now could get my wife and I locked up, or at least heavily fined.
Here's the skinny:
People who are trying to do good for their families and the planet by living a simple life based on traditional skills are facing yet another assault. Artisanal soap makers say new regulations, proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), will put them out of business.
The view of Sen. Feinstein and her corporate backers (listed below) is that the Personal Care Products Safety Act (Senate Bill S.1014) will make the world a safer place by scrutinizing “everything from shampoo and hair dye to deodorant and lotion.” She says the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act should be more progressive like laws in Europe rather than antiquated US regulations in effect since the 1930s.
If the industries that back this law are really so concerned about safety, why don’t they voluntarily make healthy products, like the small time producers already do?
- FDA to Crackdown on Homebased Soap Makers
According to the articles that I have been reading, and listed as my sources below, these companies that support this bill are as follows:
Estee Lauder
Johnson & Johnson
L'Oreeal
Procter & Gamble
Unilever
Revlon
So why are these companies so scared of homemade soaps? As the above quoted article stated above, why don't they make their own healthy products.
Federal regulations on cosmetics have not been updated in 75 years, the senators say.
Everything You Need To Know To Become A Self-Sufficient Homeowner
“From shampoo to lotion, the use of personal care products is widespread, however, there are very few protections in place to ensure their safety,” Feinstein said. “Europe has a robust system, which includes consumer protections like product registration and ingredient reviews.
- Before It's News
Yeah, Yeah Diane, you aren't happy unless you have your hooks into everyone and everything they do. What is so unsafe with honey as
sources:soap or lavender or any other of the natural items (ie: not man made)?
Pat
and I have been looking at various plans to build our own tiny house as
we talked about the other day on Facebook. We continue watching Tiny House Nation
and Tiny House Hunting. Most of the plans we have seen don’t exactly
fit what we are looking for so we will probably combine a couple plans
to come up with a interior plan that better fits us.
However, we are also looking at the possibility of buying a smaller existing home, However that won’t give us the experience to
learn from building up. Even if it is a fixer upper. Though a fixer
upper we could learn about building new cabinets to make it more
handicapped accessible, as we need. Making upper cabinets into display
cabinets.
Of course we are still looking for ways to raise the estimated
$30,000. Some could be raised through a yard sale, we after all do have
to downsize considerably. Another idea, is from our friend Christian, by
selling Kettle Corn. Another idea is using crowd funding. The
fundraising would probably include all these ideas.
We have already decided on the name for our new home “petite maison de cygne.”
Recently, my wife and I have been talking about a 500 square foot,
tiny house. There are many reasons why this is a great idea. Not only
is it a popular thing currently, as featured on Tiny House Nation™ and
Tiny House Hunting™. First, the cost of building smaller is less.
Second, utility expenses is less, which means less of a carbon foot
print on the environment. Third, and most importantly, is my wife’s
handicap. Because she is handicapped everything has to be lower. Which
makes it harder to use the vertical space which is so critical in any
tiny home. However, by putting display cases up above, I believe this
can be gotten around. This would allow the nick knacks to be displayed
in an area that would go unused. The nick knacks don’t need to be messed
with everyday (or even every month) any way, so this seems to be a
perfect solution. Thus, bringing dishes down to the lower cabinets where
they need to be for a handicapped individual.
Further, to help with utility costs even further, we want to have
solar panels so that the all electric house will cost us nothing each
month. In addition we would like to use a rainwater collection system
to flush the toilet and water the garden with?
The question now is, how to raise the estimated $30,000. A friend suggested having a fundraiser. So I posted for ideas on Facebook. One friend suggested to look at Pintrest. According, to one link which gave 100 fundraising ideas, some of the ideas included:
Bake sale
Battle of the Bands
Bazaar
Bingo night
Bowling tournament
Carnival
Casino night
Charity auction
Charity concert
Charity dinner / pot luck
Charity race
Christmas party
Coffee morning
Costume contest
Craft fair
Dance / ball
Easter egg hunt
Easter egg roll
Egg and spoon race
Fashion show
Fete
Golf tournament
Halloween party
Karaoke
Learn a New Skill day
Meet-a-Celeb night
Photography exhibition
Pub quiz
Quiz night
Santa’s grotto
Shopping fair
Singing contest
Skating party
Skills raffle
Sporting match
Street party
Talent show
Themed fundraising party
Treasure hunt
Variety show
Wheelbarrow race
Wine tasting
Another link suggested individuals could use crowd funding. However, I
am not sure that is the best idea to raise $30,000. So now I take the
question to rest of the world. What do you think?
– Prince of Thrift
January has been a very exciting month as we opened the girls home! Our first girls are two sisters named Estela and Celia. As I wrote about in last month's newsletter, we've gotten to know these girls and their family over the past years. We're so excited to now have them living with us! It's been a busy month getting them enrolled in school, buying school supplies and clothes, and adjusted to living here. School classes started on January 13th, and it's been a big adjustment for the girls. On a typical day they get home from school around 1:30 and then work on homework until 11 at night!
The rental house became available on January 15th, and they're now moved in. The house wasn't in very good shape, and so I've been very busy getting it fixed up for them. A friend of ours named Erika has volunteered to live with the girls. She also used to work at Casa Shalom with us, and she now works at the same school where the girls are attending. She is such a blessing to us and is doing a great job with the girls. Please pray for her and her ministry with the girls.
Celia, Estela & Erika in front of their new home
We've been reading the Bible together, and my hope right now as they get adjusted to this new life is that they learn to look to God for His will for their lives. It's so important at this stage of their lives that they begin to mature and actively pray and seek God. Please pray for the Celia and Estela during all of these changes that they would grow in the Lord. If through our ministry they only receive an education but don't grow in God's love, then it was kinda worthless! God must be the center of their lives, or we've basically just taught them materialism. Please pray for the girls.
Our First Group
We've very excited to host our very first team this week! Right now a group of 11 from Church at the Barn in Astatula, FL are flying down and will work with us this week. It's a very exciting step and also a little scary to house and feed that many. The group is led by a lady, Christina, who has worked at Casa Shalom in the past and became great friends with Yuliza.
We're very blessed to have them visit because they have a heart to help us with the different ministries that we're involved with. Tomorrow we'll be visiting Celia and Estela's village and joining with their pastor for an evangelism outreach. They'll also be working at the girls' school, visiting the kids at Casa Shalom, and having a Shalom alum cookout for all the kids who have left. Oh, and they're also going to paint our house! It's going to be a wonderfully busy week. Please pray for the group and for us in all these activities and travel.
Next Month
We're also planing on visiting Austin in March! I still need to confirm our plans, but we hope to go for about 10 days and catch up with all of our friends and with North Austin Christian Church. It will be great to see everyone again!
Thank you so much for your support and prayers for Yuli, myself and the ministry. Thank you for enabling us to serve in Guatemala!
