The Journey to Wealth: The true cost of borrowed money.

The Journey to Wealth: The true cost of borrowed money.:   Debt is debt- we can all learn together. Great information from the UK. I received an email today that I would like to share. ...

The true cost of borrowed money.

 

Debt is debt- we can all learn together.

Great information from the UK.

I received an email today that I would like to share. 

 Financial information is the building blocks to a stronger foundation.  The use of knowledge is powerful, but information without action is just words. 

Hi there,

 

My name is Melissa and I'm a freelance writer. I was recently involved with researching a number of guides on behalf of one of the biggest consumer advice sites in the UK and I thought this one would be of interest http://www.money.co.uk/article/1001859-the-real-cost-of-cash-on-credit.htm covering some really useful tips and information about finance that a lot of people misunderstand and some solid advice that applies no matter what country they happen to live in.

I noticed that you have a great set of resources on your site on a similar theme:

 

Given the experience my cousin had where she borrowed far too much without realising the true cost, I think the credit card report contains a lot of useful information and more than warrants inclusion as a resource on your site and as one of the team I would love to see it get a mention.

 

Best,
Missi

 

Thanks for the information Melissa.

Lucy's Kids and Money

 

I have been away from my blog for awhile working on my next project.  A series of six books for children and young adults introducing them to basic financial information.

 

 With 95% of Americans in debt or struggling financially, bankruptcies at an all time high, and student loan debt nearing a trillion dollars, the need to introduce children to basic financial information is crucial.  Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  In today's economy, continuing to withhold financial information from our children is insanity.  Numerous titles have tackled the issue of introducing children to the world of finance.  What makes my book(s) different from other finance books for children?  Lucy’s Kids and Finance is a series of six books that will introduce children to basic financial information as it relates to everyday life.

The books will give adults the opportunity to empower the children in their lives with the information they need to begin building a healthy financial foundation.  Some of our best and brightest students are graduating from high school and even college never learning how to balance a checkbook or the importance of having good credit.  Before a child learns to read they learn the alphabet.  Lucy’s Kids and Finance books are the ABC’s of financial information for today’s children. 

I am now seeking an agent that understands the need to empower our children with basic financial information.  I am seeking an agent that believes as I believe - that learning basic financial information can give us the power to make better financial choices.  If you are that person than please contact me at www.lucybaldwin27@yahoo.com

 

Unplug and Save!

I have heard/read for years that if you unplug electrical appliances that you are not using you can save money.  I am here to tell you that I started unplugging about three months ago and it really does work.  I unplugged items such as: printers, toasters, televisions, chargers, lamps, etc., and reduced my electric bill the first month to $46.47!  I must admit this was the period when I no longer needed to use my heater and did not need to turn on my air conditioner. 

The second month my bill was about $75.00 and this does reflect the use of my air conditioner which I turn off when I plan to be away from home all day.  My savings per month is about $90.00.  Let me know if anyone else is unplugging and saving money.

Remember to get a copy of "Sick and Tired of Being Broke" The First Steps on the Road to Financial Independence available at www.buybooksontheweb.com

The Hand that Rocks the Cradle...

 

William Ross Wallace wrote: “the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world….” This is a powerful statement and a very powerful position to hold.  This statement is much deeper and more important than the poem that Mr. Wallace wrote.  Imagine for a moment that we take this statement to heart just when it comes to the financial education of our children: the children that we rock, guide, and watch over!

 These 13 words should be read slowly and allowed to be absorbed into our souls and minds.   Take a moment and close your eyes -- and realize that you have the power not only to create financially smart children, but future generations by empowering your children to pass down better habits and financial information.  “The Hand that rocks the cradle – is the hand that rules the world…”  Do you want to raise children that will spend a life time living with debt or children who understand the power of their financial choices?  Children who are raised with the understanding that their income level is not as important as the financial choices that they make - will make wiser choices. 

Most women are raised to view money as a way to create a better lifestyle for themselves and their family.  We tend to spend money on items that will enhance our day-to-day living with little thought for the future.  I spent a few weeks recently hanging out at different stores watching the spending habits of men and women.  What I witnessed was that women spent hundreds of dollars on items that will have little or no value in the future.  Women were buying items such as: designer/non-designer clothes, knick- knacks, toys, shoes, pictures, items to decorate the home, comforters, pillows, cute mugs, pretty drinking glasses, candles, perfumed soaps, gifts for baby showers, gifts for birthdays, gifts for teachers, wrapping paper, gift bags, or just shopping therapy!

     It is time for us to take our roles seriously and break the paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle and consumerism mentality.  To break the cycle someone must be willingly to do the work, are you?

The Power of Strong Families

"Working families provide serious love.  Members learn self-love and self-worth in functional families.  Most importantly, a persons self-esteem is heightened in a family that is goal-oriented with members who are about the business of making life better.  Families do fruitful things together, thereby giving their members a sense of oneness and collective doing.  Families represent a lifeline among skyscrapers, clear water in sewage.

Families live in houses or apartments that they make into homes.  A family's home is a refuge from a hostile world.  When a person returns home, it is expected that he or she will find peace, welcome, warmth, food for body and mind, protection, love, support and rejuvenation.  It is said in Afrika that living is worthless for one without a home."

Children learn values and morals first in a family context.  Integrity, truthfulness, responsibility, honor and shame should be taught first in a family situation.  Therefore, ones philosophy of life is taught first at the family level.  Non functioning families will produce non-functioning people."

Haki Madhibute, poet

Young Artist

Painted by Victoria, age 2

Water or Coke?

 Information: The power to make better choices.

We can save money by making healthy choices

Forwarded email from a friend.
I thought this information was worth sharing.

WATER

#1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.

#2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.

#3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism by 3%.

#4. One glass of water shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

#5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

#6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

#7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

#8.. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?

COKE

#1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

#2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.

#3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the 'real thing' sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.

#4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

#5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

#6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

#7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.

#8... To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains.

#9... It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

#1 the active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.

#2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup! (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.

#3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years!

                        Now the question is, would you like a glass of water or Coke?



Invest in Information

"The Poor and the Middle Class Work for Money." 

 "The Rich have Money work for them."

Robert Kiyosaki

 Continue living paycheck to paycheck

or

 take the necessary steps to make your money work for you!

Why do I keep writing about getting out of debt?

Because I understand the wealth that average people can create, by paying themselves every month -

 instead of making monthly payments to other people.

GUEST POST- Life Happens: Prepare for a Storm When the Sun is Out

Children depend on our choices

This was written by a Metro Denver Hospice Physician:

"I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter and die - I barely managed to coast into a gas station, glad only that I would not be blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck. The engine wouldn't even turn over. Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the quickie mart building, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump, so I got out to see if she was okay

When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel.

At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95..

I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying 'I don't want my kids to see me crying,' so we stood on the other side of the pump from her car. She said she was driving to California and that things were very hard for her right now. So I asked, 'And you were praying?' That made her back away from me a little, but I assured her I was not a crazy person and said, "He heard you, and He sent me."

I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she could fill up her car completely, and while it was fueling, walked to the next door McDonald's and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the car, who attacked it like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little.

She told me her name, and that she lived in Kansas City. Her boyfriend left 2 months ago and she had not been able to make ends meet.. She knew she wouldn't have money to pay rent Jan. 1, and finally, in desperation, had called her parents, with whom she had not spoken in about 5 years. They lived in California and they said that she could come to live with them and try to get on her feet out there.

So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they were going to California for Christmas, but not that they were going to live there.
I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road.. As I was walking over to my car, she said, "So, are you like an angel or something?"

This definitely made me cry. I said, "Sweetie, at this time of year angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people."

It was so incredible to be a part of someone else's miracle. And of course, you guessed it, when I got in my car, it started right away and got me home with no problem. I'll put it in the shop tomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanic won't find anything wrong.
Sometimes the angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter of their wings....

Psalms 55:22 'Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.'

I posted this story not because it was a beautiful story of kindness, but because we often create our own problems when we depend on other people or a job for our security.  It is important to have a back up plan in the event your life takes an unexpected detour.  Do not become a victim, take charge of your finances.  It is even more important when there are children in the picture.  There is so much information missing from the story - how do you think it began?...  

Get your copy of "Sick and Tired of Being Broke" and start taking charge of your money.  Live Debt-Free!
http://www.thejourneytowealthblogspot.com/