Waste Not, Want Not

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”— Author unknown Wealth can only be accumulated by the earnings of industry and the savings of frugality. -John Tyler I hold it the duty of the executive to insist upon frugality in the expenditure, and a sparing economy is itself a great national source. -Andrew Johnson It is no longer news that the U S economy is terrible right now, it is history. I think (along with many others) that it is going to get worse before it gets better. ... Read Full Story

"In all labor there is profit. But idle chatter leads only to poverty" -Proverbs 14:23 “Industry pays debts, while despair increaseth them” -Benjamin Franklin http://www.freeimages.co.uk/ No man has the right to expect a good fortune, unless he go to work and deserve it. "Luck!" cried a self-made man, "I never had any luck, but by getting up at five every morning and working as hard as I could." - From The Royal Path of Life by T. L. Haines and L. W. Yaggy Industry coupled with frugality is the traditionally accepted way to a comfortable lifestyle, and financial success. This way was championed by ... Read Full Story

Two of the very best ways to be frugal are to buy items that have a multitude of uses, and produce everything you can at home. Vinegar has an endless list of uses in the kitchen, as a cleaner, and even in the home and garden, all at a price that is very easy on the budget. Here I will give a few ways that I use vinegar to clean. First is a citrus cleaner, and the second is a general purpose cleaner that was made famous in the old home economics classes, and third is a window cleaner. All formulas use plain white ... Read Full Story

The ideas for this blog seem to evolve as I go. I promise, if anyone is reading that I will get to the greatest americans post. Yet again, I am changing directions here for a bit. In light of the current government bailouts in the financial sector, I would like to talk about personal responsibility and the economy. First of all, what is a citizens personal responsibility to as a part of society? Is it just to work and make as much money as one can and pay taxes? I think not. Each and every person has an obligation to do the very best ... Read Full Story

In my last post (part 1), I put 3 suggestions of how to change your lifestyle in order to meet the challenges of the economic downturn. I have some more that will make up this current post. I will probably even have more in future posts, so stay tuned. So lets get started.... Suggestion #4 Save Energy, Gas, and Water Besides your food budget, your utility budget is probably the most adjustable area you have in your overall financial picture. Like your food budget, this is based solely on your behavior. Ways to do this are: drive slower, make sure your tires are properly ... Read Full Story