Realty Seal

Why the Banks are Lingering in the Great Recession-The TARP Funds are not spent!

MichaelsMedia — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 03:44:05 +0000

Lending money is the business of the banks. However, they have all the TARP money to spend, so it is very beneficial to them to keep taking homes in order to gather the TARP money. Until Congress stops the great Taxation give away of our future taxes to the banks, we will continue in this recession. Here is why:

Your house is less than value of 2007. The bank has a loan on it in 2007 value. So, when you sell it, the bank takes the loss, but is compensated by the TARP money for the loss of the value. If the bank forecloses on you, it can take all the TARP loss and keep the house. It is a better deal for the bank, but not for us.

A friend is loan officer. He had a house that was going into forclosure because he was losing money as a loan officer and couldn’t keep up his payments. He was working with his loan company. Then, his loan company sold his loan to a loan company that didn’t take any TARP money, so my friend lost his home to the new lender. The bank bought it for less than market value, and the previous lender gets paid with TARP money. Both of them did very well. You see, it is the great home land grab by the banks.

My other friend bought a house from the Bank of America, who was representing Veterans Administration. She bought the house for $155,000 and it was worth $214,000 in 2007. So the bank was paid $59,000 in TARP money. The VA sold the house to my friend for $10. and was paid the rest in TARP money. She paid cash for her house.
So, they doubled their money and were paid twice for the same house.
Congress could reduce our countries’ debts by canceling the TARP money and let the banks go back to work making loans.

What’s Next In The Global Financial Downturn?

MichaelsMedia — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:28:21 +0000

The global economy has everyone in a spin. However, as we study history we see that a financial adjustment is made about every 50 years according to a book written about the federal notes in the United States. There were financial wizards in France who use governments to finance their conspicious lifestyles without earning the money, themselves. Selling bonds and government projects must be paid by someone. So, the regular thought of those in power is to break it up into the cost of the individual wage earner-the working man of the nation. This only works if they are working and can make a middle income or better salary. You cannot send all the jobs overseas and keep the public working in your own land. What you can do, is start more industry in your own land so there will be wealth for your overseas neighbors and yourself. Take care of your own family first, then help your neighbor.

Some truths cannot be broken. You cannot spend your way out of debt. You cannot continue to build up debt and bullly your way out of not paying it. However, I have seen the third world countries ignore debt and ask for more. You cannot use Kennizean financial philosophy and succeed at making the fiscal year stable.

There is an old proberb about voting in economic times: “The poor vote at the ballot box, and the rich vote with their feet.”
The poor cannot afford to move, so they attempt to change the government with votes and political sway. The rich(those who have more than their daily expenses per paycheck) move to another state, take their stocks and bonds and invest overseas, change thier finances to another bank or institution. The rich just move to a state that is kind to them business wise and financially by tax breaks.

The exception to this rule was The Great Depression. People poor and rich had to move to find work, and the biggest paycheck was building dams, roads, freeways and federal buildings. In other words, the goverment was spending just like they are doing today.

I’d like to recommend that the government workers, the Senators, the House of Representatives, and all the people who work for the goverments including school and teachers under the pension acts the of The NAACP unions take a cut like the rest of the public. It would do wonders for the national debt and current fiscal short falls.

The banks have been bailed out, but they are greedy. The banks forgot they serve the people, not only the investors in the banks who buy their loans. We could have pulled out of this recession a long time ago, if the investors who buy the loans would have let the banks bring in the borrowers of that financial institution, bring their loan, reduce the debt, change the interest rate and resign the papers and let the average working man keep his house. It is only a paper loss, it doesn’t have a real value, because the world economy is all down. So, adjust the debt and the loss and get on with living. People have negociated old bills in this manner since the beginning of bartering. It it so simple, it would work.

I would like the Federal government to stop paying ACLU, planned parenthood, and the National media money for subsidy. If they cannot make it financially on their own, let them fail. My tax dollars are for running the government only. The government is not to dictate to me my morals, and court fights paid by my taxes. It is like fighting myself so I cannot win. That makes the subsidy subserversive toward myself, a citizen and tax payer.

As Charles Dickens said, It is the best of times and the worst of times.” As the common man, I can:
start my own business, work with my neighbor, help my neighbor, work as a team with my neighbor, lift someone else up, and work every day at what I can do to better myself and care for my family and my neighbor. I can pray and ask God to help us out of this pit. I can learn to be grateful and thankful for what I have and share with those less fortunate than myself. I can find a way.

Remember, a man is never defeated until he decides to quit.
In closing, I would like share a poem with you that was written by Edgar A. Guest, an American Poet, around 100 years ago:
Courage by Edgar A. Guest
This is courage: to remain
Brave and patient under pain,
Cool and calm and firm to stay
In the presence of dismay;
Not to flinch when foes attack,
Even though you’re beaten back;
Still to cling to what is right,
When the wrong possesses might.

This is courage: to be true
To the best men see in you;
To remember, tempest-tossed,
Not to wimper, “All is lost.”
But to battle to the end
While you still have strength to spend:
Not to cry that hopes is gone
While you’ve life to carry on.

This is courage: to endure
Hurt and loss you cannot cure;
Patiently and undismayed,
Facing life still unafraid;
Glad to live and glad to take
Bravely for your children’s sake,
Burdens they would have to bear
If you fled and ceased to care.

Keep looking up, God is painting beauty in the clouds and the sun will surely rise and the moon will cast cool evening shadows on all your days. God bless you all.

Solar Power on your Home with Energy Trust Incentives April 17, 2010

MichaelsMedia — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 16:24:30 +0000

Portland, OR and Oregonians have come together to buy solar roof panels in bulk to reduce their energy costs. The Energy Trust of Oregon is working in conjunction with NW Natural (a gas company in Oregon) in Clark County of Washington State, which opened Oct 1, 2009 for gas customers. Vancouver & Clark County, WA Natural Gas customers are included in the trust program. Contact the Energy Trust of Oregon to find out the details.

NW Natural (Gas) Incentives

Solar Expo Portland April 2010

Vinyl PVC (emits VOC toxic chemicals) and Peva’s Shower Curtians

MichaelsMedia — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 00:37:31 +0000

Plastic is everywhere. We used vinyl in the 50′s, 60′s and until 2008, when we discovered that PVC 100% vinyl emits volatile vapors of chemicals when we shower or let babies put toys in their mouth, wrap a bib around them and carry it on our handbags and rain coats.

Black plumbing pipe is also called PVC pipe. We don’t handle it and we don’t have it in our bathrooms. It is the little yellow ducky of the 1950′s that were made of pure PVC. Older children’s toys, bicycle handle bars, rubber balls were made of 100% vinyl. We didn’t know it was toxic. What is a VOC?

Volatile Organic Chemicals(VOC’c) emit or give off toxic gases, a total of 108 toxic chemicals, when you shower or leave the shower curtain in the water when you bathe the toddlers.

Does the EPA need to tell us how to dispose of this toxic vinyl?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency describe VOC’s as:
“Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. VOCs are emitted by a wide array of products numbering in the thousands. Examples include: paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids and carbonless copy paper, graphics and craft materials including glues and adhesives, permanent markers, and photographic solutions.”

The EPA states the health effects: Health Effects of VOC’s
“Eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea; damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some organics can cause cancer in animals; some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans. Key signs or symptoms associated with exposure to VOCs include conjunctival irritation, nose and throat discomfort, headache, allergic skin reaction, dyspnea, declines in serum cholinesterase levels, nausea, emesis, epistaxis, fatigue, dizziness.

The ability of organic chemicals to cause health effects varies greatly from those that are highly toxic, to those with no known health effect. As with other pollutants, the extent and nature of the health effect will depend on many factors including level of exposure and length of time exposed. Eye and respiratory tract irritation, headaches, dizziness, visual disorders, and memory impairment are among the immediate symptoms that some people have experienced soon after exposure to some organics. At present, not much is known about what health effects occur from the levels of organics usually found in homes. Many organic compounds are known to cause cancer in animals; some are suspected of causing, or are known to cause, cancer in humans.”

Sears and Walmart have made a commitment to stock shower curtains without VOC’s. I bought mine from Sears for $15 dollars.
Peva shower curtains are the new material to buy.

Sorting out Vinyl’s in healthy Building

http://www.healthybuilding.net/pvc/SortingOutVinyls.html

“PVC: the Poison Plastic”
http://www.chej.org/BESAFE/pvc/about.htm

The Speech of Patrick Henry, An American Patroit, March, 1775 (Public domain) Nov 25, 2010 Repeated for Americans on Thanksgiving Day.

MichaelsMedia — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:58:14 +0000

Patrick Henry was speaking to the House before the Revolutionary War in the United States of America in March of 1775.
He was summoned to the Virginia Convention being held in Richmond, Virginia.
Patrick Henry addressed the leaders:
” No man, Mr. President, thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as the abilities, of the very honorable gentlemen who just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining, as I do, opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely, and without reserve.

This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason toward my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

Mr. President, it is natural to men to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against the painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatsoever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging the future but by the past. And, judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry, for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been received? Trust it not, sir, it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force may be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation,-the last arguments to which kings resort.

I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be n ot to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry has been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. shall we resort to entreaty, and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted?

Let us not , I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne.

In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer room for hope. If we wish to be free; if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending; if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest be obtained, we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms, and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us.

They tell us, sir, that we are weak, unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? will it be when we are totally disarmed,and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?

Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people,. armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can spend against us. Besides, sire, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If We were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable– and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry ‘peace, peace,’ but there is no peace. The war is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what court others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

American speech is in public domain.

Americans United Nov 25, 2010

MichaelsMedia — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:31:53 +0000

Since 1975, the forces of division have been at work in America slowly eroding our morals, faith in God, our educational choices of challenging to learn the truth, our courts, our living and growth finances and our future planning for retirement. We need to stand up, stick together and unite working as a united people, united communities, and work as a team.

I’ve lived long enough to know that the worst method is to be resentful, spiteful and separated. We will always have destruction.

”Enough!” I say.

Today, I choose the Constitution of the United States of America. Our nation has been one of no kings or potentates, because men are forever fallible. Men without laws is lawless. Men with too much power corrupt. Men with too little power are terrorists. We established America to be ruled of the people, by the people and for the people. Thomas Paine wrote much to many men in his time to influence the ideas written into our original Constitution.

Today, the courts rule the people. We have let one branch of the government gain a foothold on our freedom. Originally, we had a balance of power. The President, the Legislature and the Courts. We must stop letting the government fund groups like the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. Did you know the ACLU gets paid by the government when they win a case. No, this is wrong. Planned Parenthood is paid by the government. Agencies must live on their own incomes and not be paid out of the coffers of our taxes. The banking system can no longer be sued. There should be no one in America who is above the law. Every man is accountable to his neighbor. We have too many agencies who want the government to pay, instead of earning our way, win or lose, like every man, woman and family must do.
The government thinks they can manage our lives better than us. We have too many rules. The American system of free enterprise is being strangled by too much government and too many laws. We need less government and less laws so we are free to make a living and rebuild America.

What makes an American in my opinion?

We are the relatives of men and women who came to this country to have freedom, to have a chance at success on our own terms, to have safety and a choice where to work, to live and to have children of our own, whether it is one child or 25. My Aunt Alphonse and Uncle Herb had 18 children on their farm.

We want to keep what we earn. We don’t want it stolen by bankers, thieves, neighbors and Internet robbers. If you commit a crime, you should pay it back seven fold of the amount you took in US dollars. I think it is a shame that we have let identity theft go unpunished. Let’s post their faces on the Internet along with the car thieves and rapists. The public stocks in the town square were a shameful deterrent to crime years ago. It is not popular, but it is a good reason not to dabble in crime. Steal and you pay it back seven times.

I recommend the Ten Commandments that the raving of a few have removed from our schools and off our court houses. A man without morals is a wreck about to happen.
America was started by the few brave souls who came to this country and celebrated on this assigned day, Thanksgiving, to be able to worship G-D on their terms, not of that of the King of England. Every race and religion have come to this country to have freedom. Yet, we cannot and shall not exclude Christianity, for they have been the driving force that has let America throughout all the years of our freedom. A man must rule his emotions and actions, or others will rule him.

So, stand up all you Americans and tell the world that we are a free people who can worship God on our own soil. Be brave and use your voice! Stand and unite! We are Americans and we are free and will defend our citizens, our finances and our land.
God bless America on this Thanksgiving Day!

The 10 Commandments: (KJV)

Exodus 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying,
Exodus 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exodus 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exodus 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exodus 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.
Exodus 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Exodus 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
Exodus 20:18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
Exodus 20:19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
Exodus 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
Exodus 20:21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
Exodus 20:22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
Exodus 20:23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

How to Prepare my “Finance Snapshot,” Before I Apply for a Home Loan, Again

MichaelsMedia — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:28:50 +0000

How do we get ready to apply for a home loan? There is a myth: “No one can tell you how to handle your money.” I ask that someone would help guide me through the mine fields and financial pitfalls! My life would be easier. I’d rather my learning be taught and not caught. I have applied for home loans to learn some knowledge about getting a loan.

I have applied for three loans and learned:

1. How much we owe and earn is called the Loan to Debt Ratio, which is very important. Ideally, we would like to owe less than 25% of what you earn each month. You’re over the top, when we owe 43% of what we earn. Above 43% debt, we are a risky borrower and a red flag goes up, when we apply for a home loan.

2. Credit comes from several places. First, the credit bureaus are owned by the Retail Merchants of America. The worse your credit, the more money they make from your paycheck. Poor credit payments equals paying back more debt. So, we need to know that the credit bureaus want us to do worse than better, then they make more money by charging higher interest rates to you. If we don’t pay or negociate a debt, and it goes to collection, we will pay a seven year higher interest penalty. That is a long credit prison sentence. Make every effort to avoid collections. We can call the creditor and make arrangements to pay in smaller parts.

3. We need credit cards. Two cards is a maximum. I know, everyone is saying get rid of them. How we handle them is the important issue. A mortgage lender doesn’t want us to have more than 45% of the max on each credit card. To raise your credit scores, it should be between zero and 25% owing. Keeping payments there will raise credit scores. Pay your credit cards on time and if you can, pay them through an online account. This saves paper and your payment date is the day you pay them. Paper in the mail takes too long. I ‘ve had late charges, even though I mailed the payments on time.

4. Where do you live and work right now? The mortgage lenders like us to live in the same place for two years. This proves your rent and shows your payment history. Moving around shows instability. Pay your rent on time every time. Your payment is like a house payment, but for someone else. Job stability requires a minimum of two years on the same job. You are rated on your gross income. Bonuses count, but they are not part of income ratio. IRAs are important. If your company has one, use it! It is a valuable asset.

5. Start saving money, today. We could put 10% in a savings account every paycheck. If you have a 401K at work and they pay half, that is 50% interest on your money. Sign up, today. You can borrow against 401Ks for a downpayment for a home loan.

6. There is a gifting program, when we are buying a home. Ask your mortgage lender how to do it. We cannot ask the seller of a home to pay your downpayment. You cannot borrow the downpayment or use credit cards for it. The down payment can be gifted to us. We could ask your parents or family to gift you the downpayment. Let’s say we are getting married, instead of wedding gifts, we could ask for gifts for your future home you will buy. Set up a money tree or box that people can give at the wedding for your first home. Avoid spending it on the honeymoon, but add to the amount each month to make your downpayment grow. You could skip the honeymoon, $3,000+ and move into a home sooner. Interest rates are low right now.

7. You could ask the seller to pay the closing costs.

8. Paying your monthly bills on time is a reflection of your reliability. It counts for 35% of your credit score. So pay the lights, the garbage, phone, cell phone, cable on time. If you cannot and you are late, that is an indication you need to cut back on your spending and cut some services. I cut my cable, my home phone line, lowered my cell phone payment and car insurance. I even cut my elect bill by washing in cold water, having shorter showers, unplugging appliances that pull power all day long when not in use.

9. Look at your three credit reports. If the credit reported is older than 7 years, ask the reporting company to remove it from your report. Read the report carefully. Your current FICO score is going to be 25% less than it shows for a home loan. It is the way the mortgage companies rate it. It is lower than you see on your score. Your house payment and loan borrowing rate relies on your FICO score. The higher your credit score, the lower your interest on the loan, and the more money you save.

10. A home is your biggest purchase in your life, unless you have a major medical accident. Plan for both. With some care and planning, you’ll have a home of your own.

The loan companies want someone who gets a paycheck. You can get a loan if you are self employed. You must have 2 years Profit and Loss Statements. If you just started a business, you may have to wait to buy a house. However, Proverbs says, Plow your fields and plant your crops, then build your house (while your crops are growing). When harvest comes, your house will be built, you harvest your crops and are ready for the winter.

These habits can make you wealthy. You will pay less in interest, have more buying power, and have more to spend in your pocket, instead of the lenders. You deserve to have a better financial life. Money and Credit management are how much you make, pay out and how much more you can keep.

When I learn more, I’ll update this post.

Stealing Leads to Poverty in Heart, Soal and Pocketbook by Grandma Kris

Grandma Kris — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:49:00 +0000

I did not write the rules or create this world, but the The LORD God Almighty Creator did. There are rules and consequences that will follow, regardless of who you are, where you were born from the moment you break these written rules. Unseen consequences are like walking in the dark: you fall or skin your knees, fall off cliffs or down wells. The world has built-in consequences for us all.
I knew a girlfriend who used to steal a dollar or two from her Mother’s purse when she was a teenager. She lied about it and blamed her sister. She was known to take money from her sister’s piggy bank. Once it started, it didn’t stop. It was like an addiction. It caused people not to trust others in the house. It caused fights and lying. It caused strife and pain for the innocent ones. They were always in a turmoil and argument. The girlfriend began stealing from her friends and blaming her other friends. She was smooth with her words, but it destroyed those close to her. Sooner than you think, people figure out who is stealing and making excuses. Then, out the door, out of marriage, out of the house, out of friends, she was just out. She fell in with the drinking crowd and they were used to her-well- down, down she went. Stealing robbed years of good relationships, trust and connected friends from her. She could not understand that stealing was the cause of it. I have known her from afar all my life. In her 40′s, she decided to stop drinking and get her life straight. She went to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). She started looking pretty good.
I heard a middle aged man telling his story on television about his youth and being a professional thief. He said it started out profitable and seemed the way to get ahead, but the people who stole were dishonest, so he could not trust them. As much as he tried to get ahead, he always lost. He came to the end of stealing and being a thief when he bought groceries with some of his money. When he went to the cupboard, all that was left was a can of beans. He gave up that life and decided it was very unprofitable. Thieves have no honor among friends.
Have you heard of the “Flying Scroll?” The story can be found in the Bible(KJV) in Zechariah 5:1-4:
“1 Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. 2 And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. 3 Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. 4 I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.”

Could you live around liars, thieves, grocery takers, strife, anger, termoil, poverty, heart ache and a feeling of never getting ahead, because you’re always hiding and cannot be yourself? What a mean way of living!
Being honest and paying for what you use and eat and where you live, then you can be happy, work for dignity, be a good neighbor and have a place where you can connect, have friends and share from the abundance with others.
Poverty is caused by lying stealing murder, strife, being dishonorable, turmoil, lack of food, rent and household items. Poverty is a state of mind, not how much money you have in your pocketbook. Riches are not measured only by your bank account, but by the influence in your community, favor, friendships, a place in society, skills and abilities, a good education, and out of these abundances comes a good living. Give and it shall be given unto you pressed down and overflowing. I like walking in the abundance of life. You can too.
“Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way, which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which he have not known.” Deuteronomy 11:26-27
It is a simple decision: choose life or death. You can choose life!

If someone has not told you this recently or ever in your life, “I believe in you. I know you have good in you. I know you can do it. I give you permission to stretch yourself, pass your fears, and climb your visions and dreams, while having many friendships along the way. So, get busy living, choose life, instead of dying!”
Your:
Grandma Kris
May 25, 2010

Grandma Kris Stays here.

Grandma Kris — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:40:36 +0000

I will stay here.

I’m not Warren Buffet, David Bach or Phil Town, but I can Follow the Leaders! by Grandma Kris

Grandma Kris — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:08:22 +0000

I’ve made many mistakes when it comes to saving for my retirement, but I didn’t make all the mistakes! I learned some along the way. Even old dogs can learn new tricks if they want to; and I want to! I only look back to the past to find mistakes I don’t want to repeat. I can begin, again, with a new plan.
Number one. Change my mind. Number two- get a plan. Number 3 Go research the idea at the library. Number 4 Read about people who are successful in life. Number 5 Start putting them into action in your life.
I started reading the Biography of Warren Buffet. The habits of youth of successful people carry into their future. Warren liked to earn and save money when he was young. He saved his money.
A Proverb says, Plow and plant your fields, and then build your house. You go to work and earn, or plant your fields, then while the harvest grows you water and weed it. Then, build your shelter for the winter months, chop your wood, dig a root cellar and store food for the winter. You can and preserve your harvest and pay your tithes to God Almighty, and sell your abundance. Now, you are ready for the cold harsh, winter months of snow, winds and ice. You don’t spend it if you don’t have it. No credit- means no bills to pay. Cash. Pay yourself first and for every dollar you earn 10% goes to God, 10% goes to you and 10% pays your taxes, and the rest is for housing food, clothes and play. Back to Warren Buffet.
Warren took his youthful savings of $9,500 and grew it into millions and then billions. Warren looked for mentors and people who were where he wanted to be. Harvard wouldn’t admit him. So he want to Columbia and studied under Professor Graham, who wrote Analyzing Investments. He mentored with Graham and learned from him and then found his own voice and trusted his decisions. Buffett didn’t listen to the phobias and false promises of Wall Street. He researched the companies and looked for ones that were solid business with good balance sheets and were under priced on the Stock market.
I am not Warren Buffet, but I can learn from his life. People connect and work and learn from others through neighborhoods, lessons, school, libraries and working together.
Peter J. Daniels, the richest man in Australia, started out as an illiterate brick layer. He saw Billy Graham in his 20′s and accepted Christ. He knew a man who sold real estate. One day that Realtor asked Peter if he would like to learn to sell real estate. Peter left his brick laying job and mentored with the agent. It was risky and hard, but he learned to read with a dictionary, asking people to read the meaning to him. You have to connect with others to get ahead. If your family, like Peter’s, is illiterate find someone to teach you.

So, turn off your TV and get out there and get going! Put one foot in front of the other, soon you’ll be walking cross the floor. Put one foot in front of the other, then you’ll be walking out the door. Get a vision and put it to work. You must take action!

I bought an outdoor play coat this weekend. Found a hiking group and ascended Beacon Rock on the Columbia River in Washington, this weekend. I wasn’t sure I could do it, but I had to give it my best effort. I did it! I was the oldest person there. Yeah for me, I broke a belief boundary and made my world larger.

David Bach is an author and financial Planner who teaches people to learn to be wealthy. You can find his books on the Internet and in the library. I recommend his book The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach. It tells in the first chapter how a common husband and wife can amass a million dollars using the daily cup of coffee or a pack of cigarettes factor of your every day work and live way to deal with your money. You must read to get ideas. If you are not ready for retirement your actions haven’t been working, so you must follow those who are succeeding. You need ideas and then put them to work. Books are borrowed ideas.

Phil Town is an advocate of Warren Buffet’s ideas on Rule #One by Phil Town. Rule number one is: Don’t lose money! Rule number 2 is refer back to number one! His second books if Payback Time.

I know enough to learn from others. Connect and learn, grow and be part of your community.
Grandma Kris