Our Nov. 15 mini-challenge will be a budget review. Financial preparedness is an important part of Provident Living, especially in these perilous financial times.
One essential step to being financially prepared is having a budget. It doesn't have to be complicated and involve the use of advanced mathematics, it just has to work for you. Budgets often start out simply, as you learn about your finances, and can evolve to be more complicated as life changes and you get a better hold on your financial health.
So the challenge this term is to review your budget. Make sure it is still working for you and your family. Are there new expense streams that you aren't including? Are there old expense streams that you can eliminate? Have you considered adding a "rainy day" fund to your budgetary expenses? Take time with your spouse to review your budget and make any changes that might be necessary.
If you don't have a budget yet, this is a good time to get an idea of what you might need. There are several great resources for starting a budget.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers a basic budget worksheet.
Brigham Young University also offers a series of on-line courses in personal financial management at their new personal finance website.
Other resources are available from MSN Money, ranging from topics such as budgeting to college expenses.
Even the government offers resources for personal financial management through the Federal Reserve.
Talk to your friends, your neighbors, your spouse. Use the resources above, share your ideas, your successes and your failures. Take this time to get a look at your financial health.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Taking a Moment to say THANK YOU!
I will apologize now, if this offends anyone, but I wanted to share.
I know this may seem to have little to do with Provident Living, after all it doesn't help one store food, prepare finances or battle emergencies. But, it only seems that way. While we prepare for the worst, there are many people out there doing everything that they can to make sure that worst doesn't happen. Men and women put their lives on the line everyday to ensure we have finances to prepare, stores to buy food at, people to train us for emergencies, and the freedom to make those preparations.
A friend forwarded me this address. The idea is to make an extra card or cards this holiday season, and send one on to the address below
A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington,D.C. 20307-5001
These cards will go to some very deserving service members who have been injured in the line of duty. They don't have to be extra fancy, in fact I imagine that many cards that will be sent will be store bought. But, I thought it might be mighty nice for these men and women to receive some cards.
Please don't feel as if I am demanding you participate, I am not. But, if you are going to be doing some holiday cards, please consider sending one. I have the opportunity to live in a military community, and I have the honour of seeing first hand the sacrifice that our military members and their families make on our behalf....this is just a little way to say thank you.
So I looked at the snopes website and it had a link to another snopes website that talked about the Walter Reed address and it actually said that is false. Walter Reed will not accept cards to "recovering soldiers." The website on that is:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/christmas/walterreed.asp
BUT, it is true that this year the Red Cross will be hosting an event like that where we can all send in cards and they will distribute them. The website about that is:
http://www.redcross.org/email/saf/
I know this may seem to have little to do with Provident Living, after all it doesn't help one store food, prepare finances or battle emergencies. But, it only seems that way. While we prepare for the worst, there are many people out there doing everything that they can to make sure that worst doesn't happen. Men and women put their lives on the line everyday to ensure we have finances to prepare, stores to buy food at, people to train us for emergencies, and the freedom to make those preparations.
A friend forwarded me this address. The idea is to make an extra card or cards this holiday season, and send one on to the address below
A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington,D.C. 20307-5001
These cards will go to some very deserving service members who have been injured in the line of duty. They don't have to be extra fancy, in fact I imagine that many cards that will be sent will be store bought. But, I thought it might be mighty nice for these men and women to receive some cards.
Please don't feel as if I am demanding you participate, I am not. But, if you are going to be doing some holiday cards, please consider sending one. I have the opportunity to live in a military community, and I have the honour of seeing first hand the sacrifice that our military members and their families make on our behalf....this is just a little way to say thank you.
So I looked at the snopes website and it had a link to another snopes website that talked about the Walter Reed address and it actually said that is false. Walter Reed will not accept cards to "recovering soldiers." The website on that is:
http://www.snopes.com/poli
BUT, it is true that this year the Red Cross will be hosting an event like that where we can all send in cards and they will distribute them. The website about that is:
http://www.redcross.org/em
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