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.