Awesome, informational links …
I encourage all of you to get involved in a local co-op or CSA. The benefits are endless not only for your health and well being but also for the local farms and economy.
Community Supported Agriculture in Michigan
More with Less
Leaf and Bean, too, they opperate a local co-op.
Maple Creek Farm, they opperate a CSA on the SE side of the state - but they have a great paragraph/intro to what a CSA is and does.
Local Harvest
I’m just finding that the more I read about gardening, local co-ops and CSA’s I’m so passionate about helping the cause. I, like too many people today, suffer from the laziness of our current American Dream.
In my opinion we’ve lost our ability to have patience, not only have it, but teach it to our children and our childrens children. They cry so we have something for them NOW, they want something to eat so we pop open a can, pop it in the microwave to heat up the artificial meal.
Not only that, but we as adults no longer hold back on our wants. We take care of wants before our needs - cable TV, cell phones, expensive toys and electronics. Yeah, I get that some of this is needed and appriciated - some of it is earned, but most of it is put on store credit. Not only that but we don’t have to pay til May of 2007, with no money down AND THEY WILL PAY OUR TAXES.
Do you see how easy it is to be caught up in the fakeness of wanting and needing and having and momentary hoping.
Maybe it’s just where I am in my journey that I’m so bothered by most of this. But it really bothers me that I’m 22 (albeit young) and just beginning this struggle. Why aren’t we taught the true value of a dollar in school, why aren’t we taught how to buy a house, apply for a loan or obtain secure credit? Why don’t they warn us of the risks of financial ruin? Oh, right - because they’re preparing us for test taking skills at a college level, so we won’t feel so lost.
I might be crabby.
posted on February 27, 2006| 6:48 PM EST
I’ve been scouring our external hard drive for some photos that I was sure we had. Turns out - 3 hours of scouring and digging later - we didn’t store them on any type of machine nor did we keep a link to where we could find them. So I called my real estate office and asked them to email me the old listing from our current residence so I could keep the photos for a scrapbook.
They did just that - and here they are.
All of these photos were the originals that were taken with the house when it was put on the market - Therefore all of these photos are taken BEFORE we lived here. I’m working on uploading the AFTER photos, too.
Enjoy!
posted on | 2:23 PM EST
Lets just say I did quite well for us on ebay this month - selling household things we needed to get rid of. I’m thinking of buying wholesale to resell on ebay but I can’t decide what to buy to resell. In the kids/baby department Gymboree clothing is the hottest thing since disposable diapers I just don’t know that I want to be selling kids clothes because there’s alot of behind the scenes work for that.
I guess I’m wondering if you have any ideas? Electronics sell really well too but I don’t want to make my overhead more than a couple hundred or even less to start. Infant formula is also a huge seller - almost like a black market, but I wouldn’t know how to buy wholesale formula. Sams Club just doesn’t help a mother out in that area.
I know that there are ways to make some extra money on ebay reselling wholesale items, I guess I just don’t quite know how to go about it. I could subscribe to Andale or even Ebay’s research … but I don’t know whether or not it would be a waste of my time and or money. Should I just go for it?
Any of you have any ideas or tips/advice? I’d love to hear it.
posted on February 22, 2006| 1:54 PM EST
Here are a few fun links I’ve been enjoying:
ASL Browser
Home Depot pamphlet, how to save on energy.
Sprinkling made easy.
Shiitake Mushroom log.
Among others, which you can view in my del.icio.us feed.
Although the cost of heating our home hasn’t put us in the category of dire need - it has doubled. We’ve been on our energy companies “Budget plan” since we’ve been subscribers to their gold and it’s really helped keep things from getting out of hand on a month to month basis. I highly recommend being enrolled in one if your energy company offers a program. You don’t get slammed in the winter months with $300 bills because you’ve been paying a little extra throughout the summer to cover those costs.
Last year our budget plan was $53 a month - and we had to pay in $296 in Dec to cover the hike in costs, this year our budget plan is $97. Hopefully at the end of this year we’ll get a small refund check instead of having to pay in - but it beats coming up with an extra mortgage payment amount to cover heating our home.
Which is why I have a sudden interest in cutting energy costs - we bought a programmable thermostat, we’ll be putting some extra installation in the attic and possibly along the garage walls to keep the entry room, which has no heat whatsoever, from getting so cold that my pantry items are actually frozen.
Replacing the windows in the bedrooms would help tremendously as well - but by the time we pay for that we’re not saving money in the long run. Maybe next year or in the next 5 years.
I’ve also been reading a very good book - I picked it up for $2 at a store closing sale, it’s written alot like Freakonomics in that there’s alot of data that is over looked when a family decides to be a two earner home. Most families get stuck in a bidding war for housing in the right school district which causes the middle class home to put both parents in the work force which leaves a gaping hole in their security factor.
What happens when an elderly family member becomes sick - who takes care of them - or when a child becomes ill - or cancer is diagnosed in a family - with one parent tending to the needs of the family, whether or not a FML program is offered in the work place - the income is cut in half - the only thing the middle class family didn’t count on is that although the income is slashed, their monthly obligations are still in need of both incomes. (Mostly due to the high cost of owning a home)
Long summary made short - I was always an advocate of owning versus renting being that I have a small background in Real Estate - but after reading this book I’m more for renting when you’re waging the pros and cons of home ownership and what size of mortgage you’re actually going to be carrying. Not only are you responsible for the monthly mortgage, the tax the insurance and possible some private mortgage insurance - you also have to take care of anything that breaks or needs repair. You’re responsible for the up keep and the TLC a home requires.
Most banks, when qualifying you for a mortgage will say you can “afford” to pay up to 36% of your gross income in mortgage (taxes and insurance included) costs. Where as, realistically, those numbers should really reflect 12-15% gross income.
Anyway - that’s all I have to say. :)
posted on February 20, 2006| 12:42 PM EST