There is so much to say, but I have so little time to say it.  We have reached a time where we are living at our means.  The tire blew out on the car so we are walking.  The spare is crapped out so there are not many options, but not much mustard to spread around.  So I have to find two replacement tires one for the tire and one for the spare.  Well its almost three AM, so I am going to try to get to bed.

I can't believe what I did last night.  It was extraordinarily stupid on my part, but I thought it would bring relief to my pain.  I now know that nothing will relieve my pain, in fact it seems that there are new pains that may be permanent.  So we will see where it stands in the next couple of days.

There is so much I want to say, but as of yet I have not found the words for doing so.  So I won't barrage you with a lot of pretty words and pointless demeanors.  But, I was able to engineer time away from my time draining sims style gaming to just jot out a day or so of random thoughts.

I want to get back to writing fiction for publication...
maybe even go out on one of those writers retreats...
I also want to get writing for the pleasure of it (I have lost much of the pleasure of writing since my stroke about two years ago)...
I want to work on my keystroke speed (Hunt and peck will not get the next great American Novel written...
And, I wish my wife could tolerate me better...
Talking about wishes that will most likely not come true.

Well that is all I have to say for right now.
Blessings and Peace to all.

Life/Time Sucks

My family has lured me into a Timesuck of a game on facebook.  "CityVille" is a nice diversion if you like sims, which I happen to love despite their Life/Time draining capacity.  I have been known to spend all night playing Simcity 2000.  And "CityVille" has the same draining capacities.  But then it can be played on the cheap so it has its good qualities, though you can enhance your game with real cash, which you couldn't without using cheats on various sim type games (or buying expansion packs and then using expanded cheats on them).  I am currently listening to Journey on YouTube. If you like sims just friend me on facebook (wonderingwanderr) and become my neighbor in CityVille. 

Peace to you and yours in these troubled times,
Michael

There is so much I want to do with this blog site, but with life and children, and everything that has been going on at the house it has been a little difficult to keep this site properly updated.  I am going to try to be more vigilant in my writings all across my life.  It should boil over into my blog

Buying Newspapers

My wife buys at least one newspaper a week, two or three based on how many coupons there are in the paper that week.  She also buys a magazine called ALL YOU, which usually has between 30 and 50 dollars worth of useful coupons inside which well more than ofsets its cost (which is around 5 dollars).  It is just one of the ways we stretch our meager shopping dollars.

worried

Worried about the state of my family.  Despite my best efforts I have not been able to avoid pissing off my wife.  I am almost desparate.  I have been able to try to avoid pissing off my wife, but then I am without trying.  I am working hard to appease my wife, but in the end I am aggravating her.  We will see if things get any better in the coming weeks.

That is all for now....

Economic Sinkholes - Part 4

Another place where people tend to waste a great deal of money is in the area of Gourmet Coffee.  The average American spends between 8 and 9 dollars each time they go to the Coffee Shop.  With caffeine fiends filling up an average of 46 times a year, It adds up to over 300 dollars a year spent on coffee.  For daily drinkers the bill can add up to thousands.

This daily habit can be sated and a fraction of the cost by brewing coffee at home.  The average cup of coffee brewed at home costs pennies.

Not only are they bad for your health, but they are also a cancer on your pocketbook.

Americans spend approximately 80 billion on cigarettes each year according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some financial analysts say their average client spends 70 dollars a week or 280 dollars a month on cigarettes.  One client quit when an analyst told him he could save 320 a month (including savings on his health insurance).  He used the savings to buy a new car.

If you simply cannot ditch the habit, there are cheaper alternatives such as buying in bulk.

Well I just got home...

Well I just got home 10 days ago from a three week hospital stay, and EVERYTHING has been bonkers chaotic.  I just wish things would settle down. 

Economic Sinkholes - Part 3

In my previous two articles I spoke of common economic sandtraps, or sinkholes we all commonly find ourselves in wether it be the Scratch Off Lottery, or Infomercial Impulse Purchases, or buying Brand-Name Groceries, or Unused Gym Memberships.  We all at one time or another find ourselves involved in habits that are economically unhealthy.  Here are two more habits we may want to avoid.

 “Bundled” Services.  We are all often tempted by the “limited time” offers that come with Bundled Services.  Discounts if you buy the 500 channel package, or unlimited text messaging for just X more dollars.  But, is it really a value if you never watch those channels, or use those text messages.

People will most often just pick a package they think they can afford, and not go back and check that package against their usage.  It is often that people will pay 100 dollars for the silver or gold package when they are only using 50 dollars worth, and could do with a smaller package.

 Using the closest ATM instead of your banks ATM could cost you as much as 5 dollars in ATM fees on top of the fees your individual bank may charge for “out of network usage.”

Your banks ATM probably won’t cost you a cent.

You could possibly fill your gas tank with the savings.  It is said that the average consumer will make between 5 and ten unnecessary ATM transactions a month.  The fees  adding up to 40 or 50 dollars a month or almost 500 dollars a year.  50 dollars can fill your gas tank now a days.

And, to see my previous blogs you can follow this link.  http://michael-conway.blogspot.com/2011/06/economic-sinkholes-part-2.html

Recovering

I am sitting at home recovering from my recent dance with the Hospital.  I am pretty sure they wanted to keep me alive, but the food was not what was telling me that.  In fact the food made me wonder if they wanted me dead.  But, that aside I had a bout with heat stroke, and WAY too thin blood.  I am on blood thinners so I am not suprized that my blood was thin, but I was suprized by HOW thin my blood had gotten.  It took nearly two weeks to get it back to thereputic from just one small dose of vitamin K.  It was well over 5.5 which is way too thin, I could bleed out from a simple bruise.  The 105 degree heat when I tried to mow the lawn didn't help anything.  Both things together conspired to place me in the hospital.  I spent 2 1/2 days there.  I am mostly better now, but at least I'm home.

Economic Sinkholes - Part 2

Another trap that people fall into is when they but brand name groceries.  Brand name groceries can usually have the exact same ingredients as the off brand.  What few people know is that often the brand name and off brand come out of the same “factory.”  This is true of pet foods as well as food for human consumption.  But, the main point is that you will often spend double (or more) just to cover the advertising that makes a brand name a brand name.

i.e.: a nine ounce box of “Rice Krispies” brand cereal will set you back about $4.79 a box, while the comparable off brand will cost $1.99 for 12 ounces.  That is a $2.80 cent difference and a more dramatic difference when you look at the cost per ounce.

The price difference across all brands and their generic counterparts is most often between 10 and 50%.  But, if you still want to hold on to your name brands, then the key is to go to discounters such as Save-a-Lot; Big Lots; Aldi’s; or even Wal-Mart or shop in bulk at a Sam’s Club or similar “big box” store.

How about unused gym memberships.  This is another trap many people fall into.  Starting usually as a “new years resolution” to “finally” lose weight people buy a membership to a local gym then never “get around to” using it.  Those gym “no shows” are throwing away several hundred dollars a year and, at bigger gyms in some cities that maybe throwing away several hundred dollars a month.

We have to consider when we make these commitments are we going to be able to make the time commitment to justify the money we spend, or would we be just better off buying an exercise bike for our home.

And if you missed my previous blog on the matter of financial pitfalls to avoid you can find it at… http://michael-conway.blogspot.com/2011/05/two-economic-sinkholes.html

It's the last day of the month...

It's the last day of the month, and I have to do some tidying up so I can be ready for tomorrow.  A new month beckons, with all its usual challenges.  Getting the bills paid.  Moving the rest of our stuff to its final resting place or throwing it away.  Hanging pictures (which happens to be my LEAST favorite activity), their just never quite level with each other or themselves.  We moved in here last month after we noticed (with the return of my stepson) that we needed more space than our little two bedroom appartment could afford us. 

I have noticed one thing for me that is more tiresome than living homeless.  It is waking up to someone sleeping in the livingroom.  If it is only for a night or three I am cool with it.  That is the reason we have a hideabed couch.  But, if it is day after day for weeks on end I find it very tiresome, it just wears on me.  And, not in a good way.

I have found myself updating this blog more than I thought I would be able to which is a very good thing.  Now I just have to focus my thought process, which can be a very daunting task.

I will leave you for today with my thoughts on a Jamacan proverb:  "Peace be the journey" not the destination.

Advocacy for Homeless and Mentally Ill

It is always advisable regardless of your financial condition to have a project that will leave this world a better place for yourself and at least one other person.  My project is advocacy... giving a voice to the voiceless.  Standing up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.  Many of these people cannot pull themselves up by their bootstraps.  For one many don't have the skillset necessary, and if they do have the skills they have other "handicaps" that disallow functioning in the normal working world. 

Policies don't work because they are blanket solutions to individual case by case problems.  Many on the streets because of MH issues either cannot afford to go to the doctor, or cannot afford the Co-Pay on their meds.  Then if they can afford the previous two cases they have to deal with often distressing side effects.  If they can muscle their way past these three minefields, there is a problem with having proper clothes and a place to clean themselves up to be ready for work.  The problem that then arises is the McJob that they do have will not cover the basic needs and expenses of moving into a place of their own.

If they have tackled all these problems then they may be on the slow long climb to normalcy.  But, they are still one sick day from houselessness, and the slow decent that feels like freefall.  Well this is enough of this rant.

Remember peace is the journey, not the destination.

Two economic sinkholes...

One of the most invisible taxes on the poor is the Lottery.  One set of statistics on the State and Provincial lotteries of the over 70 billion dollars in lottery sales last year only 38 billion dollars were awarded in prizes.  I do admit when the lottery is doing the over 100 million dollar thing even I will invest a dollar or two but that is it.  Five, Ten or even more is a true waste.  That is not truly going to improve your chances of winning.  The lottery commission is counting on your investment. 

According to a credit counseling service most of their clients spend $10 to $20 dollars a week mostly in scratch off tickets.  That adds up to between $520.00 and $1040.00 a year.  And, when you are looking for “milk money” that is a good place to look.

Another place to look for lost money is…  it is only $19.95 and if you call in the next ten minutes we’ll double the offer… Television Infomercial impulse buys.  According to the Electronic Retailing Association the infomercial industry brings in in excess of 400 billion dollars a year with most of the gadgets and gizmos just taking up space in the cabinets and drawers.

Many people in dire economic straights will often spend over $200.00 per month just on Infomercial impulse buys. 

In our house we have learned to circumvent some of the infomercial effects by watching our TV on the internet.  You can get the same programs online without the infomercial crush.

This is my first attempt at composing a blog.  Living below the poverty line has afforded me so many lessons about life in general that I feel compelled to impart them to others.  So that is where I am standing.  I will take this time to say hello, and invite you to learn from my favorite Bible Scripture from 1st Timothy 6:8  So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things


I will update this blog as often as I can but it will be at least weekly.