Dave Ramsey Books, DVDs, CDs on sale!!!

As you might have noticed, I'm a big fan and here' a great sale....I highly recommend "The Total Money Makeover". It was $25 when I bought it and now you can get it (and other great titles for $10).

Jamie

https://www.daveramsey.com/store/c10.html?ictid=sml

For those with money to invest

Here is a great article by Dave Ramsey on how to avoid investment fraud. It was in a newsletter from him so I've cut and pasted the article in its entirety here. Enjoy....

Jamie



April 22, 2009

4 Steps To Avoid Investment Fraud

Investments are the lifeblood of your financial plan. Your investments secure your future, allowing you to retire with dignity and build wealth for your loved ones. So why would you ever place these vital funds in the hands of someone you can't trust? This is not a good plan. But, sadly, it's a reality for some people.
You need to take every precaution to avoid con men like Bernie Madoff, who recently made national news for skimming billions of dollars from his unsuspecting clients.
So how do you protect yourself from becoming a victim of investment fraud?

Ask questions. An honest financial advisor with the heart of a teacher will be upfront with you. A scammer will dodge your questions or offer vague and unsatisfactory answers. It's your money, so don't be afraid to be inquisitive.

Stay involved. Keep an eye on your investments. Now, this doesn't mean checking them every day. But open your mail and follow up with your investment professional. The more disengaged you are from your money, the more likely you are to fall victim to fraud.

Hire an advisor you can trust. You want an investment professional with the heart of a teacher. If he isn't willing to answer your questions—or explain things in simple terms—then fire him and move on to someone else. It's hard to trust someone who doesn't have time for you.

Make sure the money you invest is paid to the mutual fund company, not your advisor. There is never a reason you should make a check payable to your advisor. Bernie Madoff wore both hats in his clients' transactions, as advisor and owner of the mutual fund company. That is a big reason why he was able to get away with so much. You should be able to access your account and statements directly and not have to rely on your advisor to get them. Also, you should be able to withdraw any investment and receive it in a week's time.

If you'll take a few precautions before you invest, you can significantly reduce the likelihood of becoming a fraud victim. You work too hard for your money to allow some lazy and corrupt investment advisor to steal from your retirement.
Be diligent. Find someone you can trust. Then let your money work for you.

The Tip:
You should definitely use an investment advisor but don't blindly trust someone because he has a degree and drives a fancy car. Get to know your advisor. Ask questions, stay involved and hire a professional you trust and feel comfortable with.

An Advisor You Can Trust
If you're in need of an advisor, contact an investing endorsed local provider (ELP). ELPs are researched and hand-picked by Dave's team. Plus each ELP's performance is reviewed every month.

Relieve Some Stress!!

Everyone,
I received an email from Franklin Covey (the people that make the nice planners) with an article on how to relieve some stress. There's some really good information in here. Never hurts to step back and lower your stress level a bit.

Hope this helps!

Take care...
Jamie

Franklin Covey Seven Simple Survival Tips for Stressful Times

Great Money Savings Tips Article

Everyone,
Sorry it's been so long between posts. Crazy life with 2 kids in sports! Anyway, I came across a really good article with 100 money saving tips for people just getting started. There are LOTS of good ideas in this article. It's well worth the time to read it.

I'll work on putting stuff on here more often....my apologies again!

Jamie

100 Great Tips for Saving Money

Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe

Here's a possible big cost saver. Thanks to Pam, a co-worker friend, for this recipe. She said this is what she's currently using at home and it makes a 5 gallon bucket. The one thing you'll notice is that it doesn't suds up, but it works well. You'll still want to use Shout or Spray & Wash for stains.

Thanks Pam!
Jamie

1 5 gallon bucket or container

2 bars ivory soap grated (I've heard people use othe kinds but have never tried that.)

1 cup Borax (on the laundry soap shelves at wal-mart)

1 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (this is not washing soap). It will say detergent booster & household cleaner. I didn't find this at wal-mart it might be at Roziers. My daughter in Law found it in KC in a grocery store.

Melt the ivory soap in 12 cups of water over medium heat stirring frequently until all the ivory soap has dissolved. Remove from heat and add the Borax and Washing soda and stir until this is dissolved into the soap mixture completely. Pour 8 cups of Hot water in to the 5 gallon container, add soap mixture and stir. Add 2 gallons plus 12 cups of more water. Stir until all is blended. Let this mixture stand 24 hrs and it will gel. After 24 hrs stir again. Use ½ cup for each laundry load. It will be kind of solid on the top and more watery on the bottom so take something long to stir with. It will look globby not smooth but it works. It doesn't have suds but it gets the clothes clean for pennies.

Also I use white vinegar as a laundry softner instead of commercial ones, I also use it in my dishwasher instead of the very expensive rinse agents. I use 1 part water to 1 part vinegar for a cleaner, addind baking soda for an abrasive, also use bleach and water for a disinfected spray for my kitchen. I have also used 1 part Borax to 1 part washing soda for dishwasher detergent.

You can get there....follow the baby steps!

Everyone,
As you may have noticed, I'm a big fan of Dave Ramsey and his teachings on finances. He pushes what he called the 7 Baby Steps. These are not rocket science, they are common sense steps to getting out of debt and building wealth that should be taught to everyone while still in high school (in my opinion). A quick overview of each step follows. For more details, get his book "The Total Money Makeover" or check out his site at http://www.daveramsey.com .

Baby Steps:

#1: $1000 in a baby emergency fund. Put $1000 away for those emergencies that come up.
Things like the car breaking down or the furnace going out. Christmas gifts are not
emergencies. You know they're coming and can plan for those.

#2: Pay off all your debt starting with the smallest debt first. This is regardless of interest rate.
The idea is that you pay off the smallest one first while making minimums on all the rest,
once the smallest is paid off (using any/all extra money you have.....have a yard sale if you
need to) then you take the money you were putting toward the smallest and then all you can
toward the next smallest and so forth. This creates what Dave calls the "Debt Snowball". It
can be very powerful, however, you have to work hard to come up with extra money
however you can to get it going and get traction. Once it gets going, it really gets going
usually. You must stayed focused though.

#3: Now that you've paid off all your debt (except your house) you need to put away 3 to 6
months of expenses away into a fully funded emergency fund. This gives you a buffer
against bad things that can happen so that you don't have to stress out. Even if you lose your
job, imagine how much more "peace" you'll have if you know you have 3 to 6 months of
expenses in the bank. You've got time to look for a new job and not have to freak out!

#4: Steps #4 and #5 start at the same time if you have kids, otherwise you start #4 and #6 at
the same time. Step #4 is to start putting 15% of your PRE-TAX income into retirement.
The recommendation is put in as much as you need to in order to get company matching in
your 401(k). After that, put the max. you can into a Roth IRA. The remainder of your
15% needs to go into good growth mutual funds. Dave says if you look hard enough, you can
find plenty that are making 12%.....might be tough now, but you can always ask an
investment professional to help you find them.

#5: Put money away into a college fund for the kids. Take advantage of any 529 programs or
other state based plans to help put away money.

#6: Pay off your house early. Now that you have no debt and you're putting away for retirement
and the kids college, you now throw everything you can toward paying off the house early.
In most cases, this can be done within 10 years if you didn't take on more house than you
should.

#7: Build wealth and give!!! Imagine what it would be like to have no bills and no mortgage!!!
Imagine how much you could put back for retirement (can you say retire early!?) and how
much you'd have to just give?! Giving feels soooo good. My favorite story was about a guy
that had gotten to this level and gave his church $50,000 to give away to the community
at Christmas. His one request was that it be given away a $100 bill at a time. Imagine
walking up to someone right before Christmas and just giving them $100!! You can get
there.....

Here is a link to a downloadable version of the Baby Steps.

http://www.daveramsey.com/media/pdf/fpu_babysteps.pdf

Good luck!!!
Jamie

Make a Shopping List

One thing that we've done that's actually cut our grocery bill in half is to make a list and stick to it. Without a list, the tendency is to just walk up and down aisles and grab what you "think" you need. You feel stupid when you grab a jar of spaghetti sauce thinking you need it only to find that you already have 4 jars at home. If you take the time to make out a list of only those things you NEED before you go shopping and stick to that list when shopping, you'll generally spend less money and actually get done shopping much faster. It's actually quite amazing the difference in what you'll spend. This is especially important if you're working on a fixed budget. I am a little more techie than most and I put my shopping list into Microsoft Excel. Over time, I added prices for the common things that I bought and therefore when making my shopping list, I'd have an idea of how much I was going to spend prior to getting there. If you're interested in the spreadsheet I've started (prices are out of date a bit and are from Wal-Mart which is where I do most of our shopping), just email me and I'll be happy to send it to you. It is in Excel, so you'll need it to be able to use it. If not, I highly recommend the free office suite OpenOffice. You can download it from http://www.openoffice.org It has an Excel compatible spreadsheet, a Word compatible word processor and a PowerPoint compatible presentation program. There are some other extras, but those are the 3 most people use. You can open Excel, Word and PowerPoint files and save them in those formats and it's FREE!!!!! Check it out!

Jamie
jamierob_98@yahoo.com

Don't Underestimate the Power of Pocket Change

Up until last year, we had never taken our kids on a real vacation. Late in the summer of 2007, we decided that we were going to take one in 2008 no matter what. One thing we did that helped pay for the trip was to start a pocket change bottle at home. At the end of each day, whatever change any of us had in our pockets was thrown in that bottle. If we found any money laying around or in the dryer went in there also. Surprisingly enough, when it came time to cash it in last year before vacation we had almost $500 in there!!! There were a couple times throughout the year when we'd throw a some $1s in there, but the majority was pocket change.

Even if you don't want to take a 1 week vacation. It could help pay for a 3 day weekend somewhere or you could use it for Christmas presents late in the year. Either way, don't underestimate the power of pocket change!!!

Jamie

Story that Kinda Sums Up This Site

Cute story but very appropriate for this site in its message. Thanks Sue!

Jamie



A mouse looked through the crack
in the wall to see the farmer
and his wife open a package.
What food might this contain?'
the mouse wondered - - -he was devastated to discover
it was a mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard,
the mouse proclaimed the warning :
There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!'

The chicken clucked and scratched,
raised her head and said,
'Mr.Mouse, I can tell this is a grave
concern to you, but it is of no consequence
to me. I cannot be bothered by it.'
The mouse turned to the pig and told him,
'There is a mousetrap in the house!
There is a mousetrap in the house!'
The pig sympathized, but said,
'I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse,
but there is nothing I can do about it
but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.'
The mouse turned to the cow and said,
'There is a mousetrap in the house!
There is a mousetrap in the house!'
The cow said, 'Wow, Mr. Mouse.
I'm sorry for you,
but it's no skin off my nose.'
So, the mouse returned to the house,
head down and dejected,
to face the farmer's mousetrap . . . alone.
That very night a sound was heard
throughout the house -- like the sound
of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught.
In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous
snake whose tail the trap had caught.
The snake bit the farmer's wife.
The farmer rushed her to the hospital,
and she returned home with a fever.
Everyone knows you treat a fever
with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer
took his hatchet to the farmyard
for the soup's main ingredient.
But his wife's sickness continued,
so friends and neighbors came to sit
with her around the clock.
To feed them,
the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well;
she died.
So many people came for her funeral,
the farmer had the cow slaughtered to
provide enough meat for all of them.
The mouse looked upon it all from his
crack in the wall with great sadness.
So, the next time you hear someone is
facing a problem and think it doesn't
concern you, remember ----
when one of us is threatened,
we are all at risk.
We are all involved in this
journey called life.
We must keep an eye out for
one another and make an extra effort
to encourage one another.

Save $$$ on TV

A friend of mine at work (thanks Cindy!) forwarded this to me. It's from another blog but basically points you to watching TV shows online vs. paying for satellite or cable. Not a bad idea if you have unlimited data on your internet service. However, kind of a pain if you want to watch it on your big screen TV. Definitely a money saver, though!

http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/smartspending/archive/2009/02/23/how-i-cut-my-television-bill-in-half.aspx

Don't Be Afraid to Ask

For those facing a stack of bills and no income, there may be some relief out there. Don't be afraid to contact those that you owe money to and see if they offer any kind of special program or a reduction in the amount owed since you're currently not working.

An example, I contacted satellite provider Dish Network this evening and they offer a program called Dish Pause. It basically puts your service on hold for up to 6 months (you can do it once within a 12 month period) and you only pay a nominal charge to keep the account active. Of course, you don't get TV during this period, but you're also not paying any penalties for getting out of a contract early. The fee starts at $5/month but depends on whether you lease or own your equipment and whether you have any DVRs. Even so, it can provide a substantial monthly savings.

I'm quite sure that other companies offer similar programs. Just don't be afraid to ask.

Ebay for Extra Money

By now, I'm sure everyone has heard of ebay. It's the online auction site that lets people buy and sell things.

It's a great way to make some money by getting rid of all the stuff you've collected over the years as well. Think of it as an online garage sale. You'd be surprised what some of the "junk" laying around your house is worth to others. You've heard the old saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure". Well, ebay was built on that philosophy.

Anyway, I won't bore you with anymore about ebay. I do want to put a link here to ebay's info on how to get started selling. It's much easier than you might think and can be quite profitable. For those that get into it, good luck!

Jamie

http://pages.ebay.com/education/selling.html

Don't be afraid to sell your "toys"

We all work hard to be able to afford the things we want. For some, that's a big screen TV, for others it's a four wheeler and for still others, it might be a camper. It makes working hard everyday all worth it to see the stuff we have when we get home. However, these are the same things that we tend to hold on to the most when things start to go bad. Unfortunately, in most cases this is the wrong way of thinking. These are things that are, in most cases, quickly and easily sold to provide money quickly and are things that can be replaced once things get better. I know it's tought to part with these "things" but that's exactly what they are, things! Things can be replaced. Your home and the health of your family (food, utilities, etc...) are your first priority when things aren't going well.

So the next time you're looking for money, take a look around and decide what "toys" you can do without (at least for now).

Jamie

Not a Gripe Board!!!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that this will not be allowed to become a "gripe" board as others are out there that pertain to Perryville. The intent of this board is to help your fellow Perryvillian, not to tear anyone (or anything - businesses included) down. If any blatant posts/comments are found, they will be removed and your ability to post will be taken away.

Let's all concentrate on working together!

Jamie

For You Entrepreneurs Out There!

I came across an article about billionaire (yes, billionaire with a "B") Mark Cuban. He's the owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. You can find out more about this guy here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Cuban

Anyway, the article was talking about an idea he came up with that he calls the Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan - Open Source Funding. Essentially, he's looking to invest money in other businesses based on several rules that he has. Hey, it's his money, if he wants to implement some rules, you can't blame him!! Anyway, the big thing is that you have to present your idea/business plan to him via his blog or a couple other websites he refers you to. It's out in the open and others can benefit from it as well. He feels that it's small businesses and entrepreneurs that will bring us out of the crappy economy. It's very interesting. Definitely worth a read. Who knows, if you post your idea he might choose to invest in it. If so, I'll be happy to take a finder's fee!!!

Good luck to everyone out there!

Jamie

http://blogmaverick.com/2009/02/09/the-mark-cuban-stimulus-plan-open-source-funding/

Jobs Wanted

Add comments to this post if you are needing work and explain what qualifications/abilities you have. I'm not sure how many actual businesses will be monitoring this site so you should be looking for odd jobs (carpentry, wood cutting, housecleaning, etc...) that individuals might be looking for. If in the future we see that businesses are monitoring this site, we'll add an area for businesses with work available.

Jobs Available

Add comments to this post if you have any jobs available for others (part time jobs, odd jobs, babysitting, housecleaning, etc...). Be sure to post how to contact you and what basic requirements for the job you have.

Cost Savings Ideas

I've got a cost saving idea that helped me cut our Wal-Mart shopping bill in 1/2. I made a grocery list!! Each and every time I went to Wal-Mart, I had a list. I got only what was on that list. I made sure before I went that I wrote down what we HAD to have, no what I thought we needed. This way I didn't come home and have 5 jars of spaghetti sauce in the house!

I even went so far, for those geeks out there reading this, as to make an Excel spreadsheet that I updated each time I went with the items that we frequently bought and their price and how many I was getting. I could then go to Wal-Mart not only with a list of what to get, but I'd know ahead of time approx. how much I was spending!!! That was huge. I had already started a budget so I knew how much I had allowed for groceries and this helped keep me under that number. If all that I "needed" put me over the amount budgeted, I either didn't get certain things or I had to take money from another area (eating out, gas, etc...).

Trust me, it worked wonders!!

Jamie

How to Use This Blog

Only "Authors" can put in new sections/posts, however, everyone can add comments to previous posts. I will watch the comments added and for those that provide a lot of good feedback/suggestions, I'll invite them to become a co-author. This will allow them to start new topics themselves. I have a limited number of co-authors that I can have so please don't request to be added unless you've been a frequent contributor.

I'll setup some generic topics that everyone can get into and add comments. This will still allow a dialog to occur between many people. Keep in mind that I will monitor the comments and will remove those that use profanity or are hateful to anyone in any way. This blog is meant to help people, not to tear others (businesses included) down.

Thanks!
Jamie

Email me at: jamierob_98@yahoo.com if interested in becoming a co-author

Do More with Less at Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University Class

Everyone,
I just found out this past weekend that Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville will be offering Dave Ramsey's 13 week Financial Peace University class beginning this Thursday night (February 5th) at 6:30pm. It will run each Thursday night. The materials (lifetime membership) normally cost $200 (but allows you to go back to the classes wherever they're offered for free for life) are only $99 (and some change) when ordered through Immanuel. You can contact Jennifer at 768-1268 to signup and she'll help get the materials ordered. Here's a link to the Immanuel class info: http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/classfinder/index.cfm?fuseAction=dspSignup&intID=137957&selectedTab=2

There are hundreds of these classes across the country each year. Through them all, the average person attending pays off around $5300 in debt and saves an additional $2700 in the 13 weeks. It requires effort, but that's an $8000 improvement for the average person in 13 weeks. Well worth the $99 to go. It's a great way to learn how to do more with less!!

Hopefully everyone will get a chance to sign up and go. I spoke with Jennifer last night and if there are several people that miss the first class or two because they didn't hear about the classes until too late. She'll work with them to try to schedule makeup classes. You won't have to miss out on anything.

I highly recommend attending in order to learn more about getting things paid off, saving more money and moving on with a debt free life.

Save on your phone bill

In these days of the cellphone, it may be possible for you to get rid of your home phone altogether. Take a look at what you spend on your home phone service and how much you really use it vs. how much you use your cellphone. In many cases, the home phone is not a necessity. If you must keep it, look for other carriers that may not charge as much. You can save a lot of $$$ if you spend the time to see how much you actually use your home phone and then plan accordingly. I know that we saved $20 - $40/month by switching from AT&T with local and unlimited long distance to Big River Telephone's local service and a low per minute cost for when we do call long distance. This will not work for everyone, but may help several people out. If you periodically have kids that stay home alone, you could get a GoPhone or even add a line to your current cellular service for $10-$12/month and just leave that phone at home when they're there. This would still allow you to drop your home phone and save some $$$ each month.

Welcome!

I'm trying to put together a page that will act as a resource for the people of Perryville. We can all help each other through these tough economic times. I'm sure everyone has ideas for cheap meals, ways to save money on bills at home (electric, gas, water, satellite, phone, etc...). I'm sure there are also people out there looking for part time jobs to fill in the gaps. As well as people who need things done or have other part time jobs that could help others out.

You may have a favorite site for money saving tips or coupons. Post them here!

Between all of us, we'll get through this and will be better off in the long run since we'll all be better at pinching pennies!

If you have any suggestions/ideas on how to improve this blog, please feel free to email me at:

jamierob_98@yahoo.com

Thanks!
Jamie