If ye are prepared ye shall not fear...

Using inappropriate language or slang

2012-01-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

One of the most common indicators of the lack of refinement, good manners, and education in our society is the tendency to use vulgar or inappropriate language even in a very public context. The movies are full of crude and inappropriate language. The use of bad or inappropriate language content is nothing new. I suffered through the barrage of filthy language while I was in the Army. It seems like people have to use the language to demonstrate that they some how "fit in."

I would quote from an old English book, TALMAGE, Thomas de Witt, and John MATTHIAS. The Talmage Series of Sunday School Dialogues ... Edited by J. Matthias. 1880. Wherein Thomas Talmage has written a discussion between two boys. It is worth quoting some of the statements made:

In my opinion there is not anything so degrading, so vile and meaningless as the detstable habit of profane swearing... No good can possibly be arrived at through it... Stay now, my friend, do not look so angry at my outspoken words, as your friend, I wish you to consider your speech, think twice before you speak once, and leave off such an evil, which has become with you an inveterate habit.

I sincerely agree with Talmage's sentiments. The use of vulgar language shows a lack of education and refinement. It is objectionable per se and there is no logical excuse for the waves of vulgar language I am subjected to on a regular basis. Quoting from Spencer W. Kimball, "Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly.”

One place profanity and swearing appear frequently is in comments written on the Internet. This is a despicable habit and very objectionable. Here is a further quote from Spencer W. Kimball,

We wonder why those of coarse and profane conversation, even if they refuse obedience to God’s will, are so stunted mentally that they let their capacity to communicate grow more and more narrow. Language is like music; we rejoice in beauty, range, and quality in both, and we are demeaned by the repetition of a few sour notes.

And yet another quote,

Some time ago I saw a drama enacted on the stage of a San Francisco theater. The play had enjoyed a long, continuous run in New York. It was widely heralded. But the actors, unworthy to unloose the latchets of the Lord’s sandals, were blaspheming his sacred name in their common, vulgar talk. They repeated words of a playwright, words profaning the holy name of their Creator. The people laughed and applauded, and as I thought of the writer, the players, and the audience, the feeling came to me that all were party to the crime, and I remembered the castigation in the book of Proverbs to those who condone evil:
“Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not” (Prov. 29:24).

I automatically discount the statements anyone makes when they resort to foul, vile, crude, or profane language. I am not impressed with either the thought process or the education of those whose vocabulary is so limited that they cannot use civil and reasoned language.

Unemployed or unemployable

2012-01-03T21:40:00.002-07:00

It is apparent that I have failed to fully explain my last few posts. The question I raise is whether or not the current long term unemployed are in effect unemployable. The jobs that they lost may not be necessarily being replaced with the same or even equivalent jobs due to permanent changes in the companies or due to technological, sociological or other types of fundamental changes. If those who are losing their jobs now do not have employable skills and the job they were previously doing is no longer viable, no upswing in the economy will bring them back into full employment. They will inevitably have to retrain in areas where skills are in demand or they will remain unemployed or only employed in lower or minimum wage level jobs. No matter what their past experience, if that experience does not prepare the unemployed for a needed job skill, they will not be able to find work.

The government's welfare support of the unemployed, without a commitment to retrain them with new employable skills only prolongs the inevitable. Part of the problem is caused by a school system that in many cases does not produce graduates with employable skills. But the problem is primarily personal. You either learn and grow into marketable work skills or you begin to move backwards and work for a reduced income. Despite your perception, your high paying middle management job may no no longer exist and the skill set you developed is no longer in demand.

Those who are "retired" from the work force have the same problems. If they have no marketable skills, if their retirement income shrinks either through inflationary pressure or cyclical downturns in the economy the retired may find themselves in a downward spiral with no marketable skills that will overcome the age prejudice built into our employment system. Long term retirement planning should include planning to obtain skills that will allow you to continue to be employed as long as you are physically able to work, not stopping work at some arbitrary age.

Work is work. If you or anyone views a job as undesirable merely because it is "boring" then you or they have bought into the entitlement generation full time. The day you stop learning is the day you start dying. I have personally seen people walk away from good, remunerative work because it was not what they wanted and they believed they were entitled to higher pay and better working conditions without any replace job or income. You need to make a realistic inventory of your job skills and work on those areas that will qualify you for replacement employment in an area where your job skills are needed.

For example, if you have been a carpenter in the construction industry, you may have believed that there would never come a time when you could not get a job. Maybe while you still had a job, you should have studied or taken classes to obtain some other types of skills that could be used to find employment in the event of a downturn in construction such as one during the past few years.

Out of work or unemployable?

2012-01-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

I heard a short interview on the radio while driving that got my attention. It was a news commentary on the increase in the minimum wage in various states. In this case the interview was of a slightly older woman who had been out of work for a relatively long time and who blamed her inability to get a job on her age. She claimed to have been working at a position paying over $67,000 a year and had been unable to find work "in her field" and had finally found a job as a clerk in a convenience market for minimum wage. She topped off the interview by noting that she found it necessary to give up toothpaste and deodorant so she could feed her dog.

OK, this scenario opens up a plethora of issues. Age is genuinely a factor. But job qualifications are more important than age or experience. Because I have no idea where this woman worked or what she did before she lost her job, I am forced to look at the overall picture for reasons why this can happen. First, if you hadn't noticed, we are in the middle of a post-industrial revolution. I have a friend who lost her job and she is training to do online support for a major company. This particular company found that customer satisfaction was so poor with their "overseas" support that they are moving all of their support jobs back to the U.S. with trained people. She will be working from home on her computer and providing telephone and online support. The job pays much better than minimum wage.

Perhaps this lady on the radio was employed in a job that no longer exists or maybe her whole type of work is no longer part of our economy? My guess is that the so-called high unemployment rate is more a reflection of the way the overall employment environment in the world is changing than it is a reflection of the economy. There are skill sets for jobs where the jobs going begging for qualified people. For example, during most of the past two years, our office has advertised consistently for qualified paralegal assistants and has gone months without finding a qualified prospect no matter how old or how long they had been out of work. I have been told repeatedly that there simply are no qualified paralegal assistants available. I personally added to the unemployment by retiring.

If there are jobs openings that go begging, why are there long term unemployed? It is a situation where the job skills need to match the job openings. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix. But if you are presently in a good paying job, you should count on the fact that the job may end. So what are you going to do about it now? I suggest looking at the present jobs shortages and begin to cross-train. Think of other things you can do and begin now to prepare for the downsizing and job losses of the future. Take a lesson from the insurance industry, quoting from the Insurance Networking News, "Despite high levels of unemployment, U.S. business leaders say one of the biggest risks they’re facing is a talent and skills shortage, according to the 2011 Lloyd’s Risk Index." In another article in the Huff Post Business the claim was "The mining and software industries have at least one thing in common. A labor scarcity, or a shortage of skilled workers, could affect the profit margins for both of them, according to a report issued by Fitch Ratings Tuesday afternoon."

It would be interesting to know what skills the radio lady had and what she had done to improve her skills while she was gainfully employed.

Technology is more than social networking

2012-01-01T20:03:00.002-07:00

Less technologically adept individuals tend to equate an ability to use social networking as sign of computer prowess. Howerver, texting and Facebook skills do not equate to an ability to reason and use a computer productively. Computer use has two major components, the motor skills necessary to use a keyboard, a mouse or a trackpad and the cognitive skills necessary to use the software programs. Using a computer instinctively, requires a monumental amount of practice with a fairly high degree of hand/eye coordination. But simply because you have the motor skills does not mean you can automatically run a computer.

My personal experience with younger computer users is that many of them have acquired the motor skills to operated the computer. They can use the mouse to open, close and move files, but have no idea about software. Learning to use moderately to extremely complicated computer programs requires the skills behind the program. For example, someone may be able to play computer games all day, but that does nothing to qualify him to use a computer based accounting system, or do online legal research or build a spreadsheet. A computer is a tool. If you give a hammer to a two year old he or she can do quite a bit of damage but are unlikely to build anything. I have used computers in my work since the 1970s and I view them as a tool to an end.

When was the last time you saw a young person use a computer for something other than entertainment or as a text entry device? To effectively use a computer, you need to have a concept of work. Unfortunately, this concept is sadly lacking in American society, especially by the youth. The first level of computer usage is keyboarding. A Nielsen Study found 13 to 17 years olds averaged 3,417 text messages a month. Typically 86% of those who own mobile devices use them while watching TV! See ReadWriteWeb. Looking at the U.S. Census Bureau's 2012 Statistical Abstract, almost half of the high school students in the U.S. or 45.16 percent still have no Internet use at all. Whereas only 6.17% of those people with a bachelor's degree do not have Internet access.

Interestingly the 2012 Statistical Abstract shows, 29.13% of the population of the state of Arkansas have no Internet use at all. The state with the most computer use is Utah with only 9.9% of the population with no Internet use. Total computer use in all the states combined is fairly evenly divided between those 18 to 34 or 30.48%, 35 to 54 37.77% and 55 and older 31.75%.

Other than using social networking, playing games, or email, when was the last time you actually did some elective work on a computer? When was the last time anyone you know under the age of 18 did some work other than that required by a school class? How many different programs do you use regularly? How many do your below 18 year olds use?

Entitlement and the Victimization Syndrome

2011-12-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

Two of the most common problems facing our society in the United States, are the twin concepts of entitlement and the victimization syndrome. Overwhelmingly people believe that they are "entitled." Whatever it is they want, they are entitled to it. For example, this year one of the big issues with the U.S. Congress was the extension of unemployment benefits payments. With over 5 million workers unemployed for over a year or more, the length of time that unemployment benefits payments were to continue became a political football. Unemployment insurance is a federal-state program jointly financed through federal and state employer payroll taxes. This type of payment originated in 1932 in Wisconsin. See Wikipedia:Unemployment benefits. The maximum period for most states is 26 weeks. But lately, this time period has been extended throught Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) program which provides extra weeks of federally-funded unemployment benefits to unemployed workers throughout the country who have received all regular unemployment benefits available to them. See United States Department of Labor. This is essentially a social welfare program. Because of the last minute dealing in Congress, the benefits now extend from 34 to 53 weeks. See Unemployment Extension in About.com.

Through the concept of entitlement, a program that was supposed to be temporary assistance to the unemployed has now become a long-term social welfare program to which a segment of the population has become entitled. The program does provide welfare relieve in the nature of a dole, but does nothing to improve skills, provide jobs or re-train the unemployed for the jobs that are available.

We have people who are really suffering from a lack to work opportunities. But at the same time, our country and the world at large is in the midst of a dramatic revolution in the way people work. We are quickly becoming a technology based society.

Even though I have a job, I am technically self-employed. The minute I stop working, I stop making money. There is no one paying me to look for work because technically I cannot lose my job since I work for myself. It would not matter how desperate my plight, I would not qualify for unemployment. But if I fire one of my employees, they are likely eligible for unemployment insurance payments. In addition, the unemployed are treated as victims. It is not their "fault" that they cannot find work. It is the fault of our economy or society or whatever. Because they are unemployed, they are entitled to a job and therefore as victims they must be compensated even if they do no work. Anyone who opposed the extension of benefits was heartless and blind to the suffering of the unemployed.

It is interesting that one of the areas of unemployment that continues to trend down is state and local governments. See Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, News Release December 2, 2011. In other words, the government is taking money out one pocket and putting it in another. The loss of Federal jobs was lead by the U.S. Postal Service, which is not surprising given the competition. If you read the statistics and the explanation carefully, you will see that if I am self-employed and have no work, I am counted as part of the unemployed but I cannot get unemployment benefits. But because of the idea of entitlement, of course there are other government programs that I can use to get the welfare I am entitled to.

What ever happened to self-reliance and personal responsibility?

Knowing how the world works

2011-12-27T12:44:00.001-07:00

As an attorney with now 37 years of court trial experience, one of the most remarkable things I have observed over the years is how few people know how the world works. Especially when confronted with overwhelming problems, commonly people react in totally inappropriate ways. Their reaction is based on a lack of awareness of how to deal with threatening situations. But, you might say, that is the reason we have attorneys and such. Did I say my observation was limited to non-attorneys? Many attorneys have no more of a clue how the world works than any average non-lawyer.

I fully realize that three years in law school and years of experience working in the court system may help, but I have come to the conclusion that it is more of an attitude than simply a matter of experience or education. I have identified that the root of the problem is, what I call, the victim syndrome. In almost every threatening situation, from divorce to bankruptcy, the individual caught up with the problem views himself or herself as a victim. The victim is always put upon and the results, win or lose, are always unsatisfactory.

One good example of the victim syndrome, recently we had an acquaintance who had a number of problems. I will not mention any names and the problems have been changed so that the person cannot be identified. This person was otherwise a capable professional with years of work experience and in relatively good health. This person's spouse had severe problems and had left the home. As a result, the person was unable to pay the mortgage and the house went into foreclosure. Although the person had a great deal of experience in real estate transactions, the person did nothing about the foreclosure and when the sale went through had done nothing to obtain an alternate place to live and had made no effort to move any of the house's contents. Rather than take charge of the circumstances and make arrangements to move, the person was found sitting and staring at the wall on the day possession of the house was supposed to change. This person had become (or may have been for some time) a victim.

In another similar situation, another person I knew, had the same problem with a mortgage payment. The couple had struggled for years to keep the house, but finally the person's spouse became seriously ill. As a result, the house payments got behind and the house went into foreclosure. While the house was in foreclosure, the spouse died. The person calmly faced the situation, found a place to live the person could afford by making a sharing arrangement with a friend, carefully reviewed the financial situation and moved to the new home before the foreclosure and was well situated when the bank took possession of the property. This person was not a victim even though the two situations were strikingly similar. In fact, this second person did have work experience but not in real estate.

The main difference between these two scenarios was the attitude of the person. The challenges and circumstances were similar but the reaction of the person to those circumstances was extremely different. One problem faced both people, they had lived in the homes for many, many years and had not taken control of their lives and paid off the mortgages. But the reaction to the lack of ability to pay the mortgage was entirely different.

Stay tuned for more about how the world works.

Is there a difference between education and learning?

2011-12-25T19:49:00.001-07:00

What if every student in the entire United States ended up in a college or university? I was reading an article recently that repeated the commonly held belief that "every high school student should be prepared to go on to college." The article went on to claim that the failure of our school system to pass all of the high school students on to our college and university system was an indication of the failure of education. Even if that goal were achievable, would it be desirable? About the same time I was reading the article about sending the entire student population of the U.S. to college, there was another article about nurses in the California Penal system making over $200,000 a year. Is there a difference between education and training? Is there a difference between education and learning?

In support of the stated goal to have every student go to a college or a university, was the statement that if you wanted a high paying job, a "high school" education was worthless. I guess all the financially successful friends I have who have no college training didn't know that when they went to work.

So you get a college degree in say humanities or English, why are you then more qualified for a job than a high school graduate? Maybe we should start thinking in terms of jobs and training rather than "education." Maybe we need to improve the quality of our school system so that a high school diploma means something.

It is extremely difficult in today's politicized world to talk about the need for "education" when it is a given, that "no child be left behind." What that translates to in reality is that a certain percentage of students will be able to pass a test. It does not mean that the students will learn anything, especially that they will have the skills necessary to compete in a college or university environment. Even of those students graduating from high school with a high standardized test score, how many of them are poorly prepared for the academic rigor necessary to succeed in a four-year university? Some of the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that in 2010 only 68.1 percent of high school graduates were enrolled in colleges or universities.

Why do we have a goal to prepare all students for a college education when such a high percentage do not go on to higher education? How many high school students graduate with an employable skill? Bear in mind that overall in the U.S. only about half of the students graduate from high school. So of 100 students who start school, only about 50 graduate from high school. Then of those who graduate, only about 34 go on to college and then only 55% go on to graduate or about or 18 or 19 students out of 100!

Why do we gear our entire school system to less than 20% of the students? Shouldn't the school systems be concentrating on teaching working skills rather than standardized tests that do not prepare students for anything in particular? If the goal of our educational system is to prepare all of the students for a college or university experience then we are failing about 80% of the students. Aren't we also short changing the vast majority of workers in the United States who do very well at jobs that don't require a college or university degree? What about all the college graduates who cannot find work? Isn't it about time our students learn some basic skills to compete in a global market, rather than emphasizing a uniform testing system that neither prepares them for higher education nor gives them a marketable skill when they finish high school?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2011-12-24T06:45:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Two Days Until Christmas -- The rest of my gift

2011-12-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the rest of the story about my Great-great-great Grandfather, John Tanner. Merry Christmas.

Three Days Until Christmas -- What can I give?

2011-12-22T08:05:00.001-07:00

This is the story of my Great-great-great Grandfather. This is part of my gift to you this Christmas

Part 2 tomorrow.

Four Days until Christmas -- What are you going to give?

2011-12-21T12:00:00.001-07:00

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Five Days until Christmas -- What will you give?

2011-12-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Matthew 2:1-12
1 Now when Jesus was aborn in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, aWhere is he that is born bKing of the Jews? for we have seen his cstar in the east, and are come to dworship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he ademanded of them bwhere Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou aBethlehem, in the land of bJuda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a cGovernor, that shall drule my people Israel. 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 ¶And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and afrankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being warned of God in a adream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Six Day until Christmas -- What are you going to give?

2011-12-18T21:24:00.001-07:00

Luke 1:26 - 3526 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Seven Days until Christmas -- What are you going to give?

2011-12-18T06:34:00.001-07:00

Luke 2:1-51 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

Nine Days Until Christmas -- What are you going to give?

2011-12-17T06:57:00.000-07:00

“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matt. 25:37–40.)

Ten Days Until Christmas -- What are you going to give?

2011-12-15T04:00:00.000-07:00

If thou wilt do good, yea, and hold out faithful to the end, thou shalt be saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation. Doctrine and Covenants 6:13

Eleven Days until Christmas -- What are you going to give?

2011-12-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Twelve Days Until Christmas -- What are you going to give?

2011-12-13T04:00:00.000-07:00

It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35)

The Collapse of Civilization

2011-12-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

Quoting Ezra Taft Benson,

At least twenty great civilizations have disappeared. The pattern is shockingly similar. All, before their collapse, showed a decline in spiritual values, in moral stamina, and in the freedom and responsibility of their citizens. They showed such symptoms as excessive taxation, bloated bureaucracy, government paternalism, and generally a rather elaborate set of supports, controls, and regulations, affecting prices, wages, production, and consumption.

No where in our society is the paternalism and bloated bureaucracy more evident than in our school systems. In our local schools, strapped for cash with a declining enrollment, rather than cut administrative functions, the school board is trying to close two schools. Instead of congratulating the school board on their attempts to balance the budget and the attendance, the protests from the parents and students verge on violence. I can sum up the situation with one work, entitlement. We live in an entitlement society.

Almost everyone from children through to their parents and their parents in turn have an over-riding sense that the government owes them everything and that they own nothing. When faced with foreclosure the entitlement generation look to the government for a bailout. This works all the way up the line, instead of failing because of an inability to compete big businesses continue to pay their officers huge salaries and then look to the government for a bailout.

Even on a personal level, instead of paying off debt, families buy yet another large screen TV and a home theater system and then feel misused when they lose their home to foreclosure. In one recent news article, it was claimed that young smartphone users would rather give up their sense of smell rather than give up texting.

So what is the solution? Look into your own heart and mind. Do you feel that the world owes you a living or anything else? Let me put it short and sweet, the world owes you nothing. As it says in Genesis 3:19, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." That doesn't sound like entitlement to me. Looking back at Ezra Taft Benson's quote, it is partially the decline in the responsibility of the citizens that contributed to the collapse of their civilizations and it is entitlement, or lack of personal responsibility that will contribute to our downfall also.

When you go to school do you get an education?

2011-12-11T11:19:00.001-07:00

People used to say that they were "going to school to get an education." I fear that what you get today when you go through elementary and high school is the ability to take a multiple choice test but somewhere the education part of the process got lost. I can't claim to have made a formal study of the subject, but it seems to me that more and more young people have lost some of the basics of education. They know how to read, but can't think. They can type on a computer and play games, but they cannot write. Their knowledge of history is abysmal. They learn all about being a conservationist and not polluting but can't explain even the simplest geographical principles.

According to the National Assessment Governing Board, 12th grade student performance declined from 1994 to 2010. Only about 1/3 of the 8th grade students could answer the following question correctly:

Do you know eighth-grade geography?

Which of the following is an accurate statementabout the American Southwest?

Alternating areas of dense shrubbery and sand dunes often make travel difficult.
Arid conditions make access to water an important public issue.
Generally fair weather means that most people rely on solar energy in their homes and businesses.
Easy access to Mexico has led to a strong manufacturing sector.

Interestingly, apparently even those students living in the Southwest did no better than the national average.

So what does it mean to be educated? The ideal of uniform testing has spread to an unusually high degree across our land, but as the report in the National Report Card from the National Assessment Governing Board shows, the implementation of uniform or standardized testing has had little or no effect in the overall learning of our high school graduates. Does it mean you are "educated" if you can pass the Ames test? Doesn't standardized testing just test standardized information? Didn't the whole school system just get dumbed down because teachers have no time left to teach?

As I said, my observations are just that, observations, but I haven't met too many teenagers who could carry on a coherent conversation about any subject other than TV or computer games and in some cases sporting events. It amazes me also, that their parents, who are losing their jobs have still not gotten the message that education is the key. Very, very few of the people I know who are struggling economically see a connection between their lack of education and their ability to get work in an ever increasingly technical world. It is generally a given today that a student graduating with an average high school education is unemployable except in the most basic of minimum wage jobs.

I have to be careful not to base my opinions on those few students I know who are way above average. But after teaching college for five years, I hadn't seen more than a small handful of such students.

But do you have to rely on the schools to get an education? Fortunately no. One of the advantages of the technological age is the availability of education to anyone willing to spend the time to learn. Two of the most successful computer professionals I know personally, never got degrees in computer science. It is true that a school experience, a highly focused and technical school, rather than a public high school, is still necessary. It is still necessary to go to medical school to become a doctor, but many employment opportunities rely more on what you know rather than where you learned it.

Access to the Internet and other Electronics as a Social Force

2011-12-10T05:46:00.001-07:00

A true classless society has likely never existed. However, historically, social divisions have been based on external accumulations of wealth. In the past there has been another division, often overlooked or linked with wealth, that is the availability of education as a social divider. I believe that the social divisions of the near term will still be based, superficially, on wealth but that the real social divisions will start to evolve along the lines of electronic usage.

When people lived in small socially closed groups, isolated by the time it took to travel to the next town, almost all social contacts were obviously concentrated in the immediate family and neighbors. There has been a lot of analysis of the impact transportation had and continues to have on the nuclear family, but now the Internet has become a predominate force in establishing societal relationships.

This is a recognizable trend going back to before the Internet became as prevalent as it is today. Here are some of the books and articles about the subject.

Loader, Brian. Cyberspace Divide Equality, Agency, and Policy in the Information Society. London: Routledge, 1998.
Wyatt, Sally. Technology and in/Equality Questioning the Information Society. New York: Routledge, 2000.
Wresch, William. Disconnected: Haves and Have-Nots in the Information Age. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1996.
Bargh, John A. and Katelyn Y. A. McKenna, The Internet and Social Life, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 55: 573-590 (Volume publication date February 2004)

You might notice that most of these articles are now outdated. The issue of the impact of technology in the form of electronic communication has become so complicated that there are not so many universal assessments.

Many people either ignore the Internet or use it only for very limited purposes. But the real use of the Internet is to acquire and use information. In a social context, the Internet (and by extension, all use of electronic communications) has become the dominant force in creating social division. Associations are no longer limited either by physical distance or even time.

A significant segment of our society has become addicted to online activities such as real-time online gaming, gambling, pornography, and alter-egos such as Second Life. Any one of these has ability to create a dysfunctional or marginalized member of our society as completely as drugs or alcohol did in the past. They also have the potential of creating a subgroups of violent secret societies that are undermining the fabric of our entire society.

What is apparent is that society in general will no longer be structured along any kind of traditional lines but along lines described in hyperspace, a true network society. The real losers in the future will not be those who do not have access to technology but those who don't choose to participate. Skills such as keyboarding will be come more and more important. Even a professional who lacks adequate computer skills will eventually lose all ability to function.

Education, in the traditional sense, is losing out to online activities. I can learn more about any subject online than I would ever have the time or resources to acquire through traditional, attend the classroom, education.

Current economic losses have been concentrated in the non-information areas of our society. For example, during the present economic downturn real estate values have collapsed while at the same time technology has continued to evolve at an every increasing rate. New types of electronic devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have sold millions upon millions of units while the rest of the economies have languished.

I will continue to explore the impact technology has on individuals and families in the near future.

Should you pay your debt or invest for retirement?

2011-12-08T04:00:00.000-07:00

The answer to this question in today's market is extremely simple, pay your debt. No matter what the current rate of interest you are paying on your debt, it would be extraordinary if you were getting even a small percentage of that rate on any of your investments. There are always those who will try to lure you into further debt by promising high rates of return in a market where banks are paying, at most, 1% or so in interest, if that. Here is a quote from the BYU's Human Resource Services that is very sound advice:

People often ask the question, "Should I pay off all of my debt before I start saving for retirement?" At first glance, this may seem like a very difficult question. However, by considering a few simple concepts, you can make the right decision for your situation.
As a general rule, whether debt is a mortgage, car loan, student loan, credit card or medical bills, all debt should be retired as soon as possible! The feeling of living debt free for life is certainly worth the sacrifice required to reach that goal. Everyone should be debt free before retirement. However, the question remains, should a person commit all available funds towards paying off debt at the expense of saving for retirement? Understanding the two types of debt will make your decision easier.

On one end of the debt spectrum is high-interest, nonproductive debt such as credit card debt that originates from credit cards and department store charge accounts.

Nonproductive debt is financially destructive and should be avoided. If this type of debt is necessary for short periods of time, the debt should be paid off as quickly as possible. The other type of debt is productive debt such as a mortgage and reasonable debt for education, transportation or the cost of doing business. Productive debt is an investment and the interest paid is often tax-deductible. Productive debt can be paid off over time as long as the interest rate is reasonable and the debt is paid off before retirement. (emphasis in the original)

The only thing I would change in the above is that paying of your mortgage should be a priority from the day you purchase a house. In today's falling real estate market, moving is not usually a good option, whether you have a mortgage or not. In an unstable economy, if you own your home without a mortgage you will at least have a place to live.

As Brigham Young said, “Pay your debts, … do not run into debt any more. … Be prompt in everything, and especially to pay your debts.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, comp. John A. Widtsoe, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1954, p. 303.)

Is Bankruptcy Immoral?

2011-12-07T05:57:00.001-07:00

In our legal system in the U.S. we have provided for way for debtors who cannot pay their debts to go to court and obtain a discharge from certain types of debts. That means essentially that the bankrupt person does not ever have to pay those debts and the creditors can do nothing to collect the discharged debts. Historically, people who could not pay their debts were sent to prison. Our system is somewhat more humane but is it moral?

I am using the term moral to refer to decisions made by people that are counter to the teachings of the Bible and are concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. Ben Franklin, wrote: Think what you do when you run into debt; you give to another power over your liberty.

In more recent times, bankruptcy was considered both a financial and moral failure whatever the cause of the bankruptcy. In a talk given in 1957, Ezra Taft Benson, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, outlined the dramatic increase in the influence of the U.S. Federal Government. More than fifty years later his words appear even more prophetic than they did at the time especially in light of the huge federal deficit (debt). At the time the debt owed by the government was a mere $277 billion.

About the increased influence of the Federal Government, he said, "Many forces work together toward the concentration of power at the federal level. Our people have come to look to the federal government as the provider, at no cost to them, of whatever is needful. If this trend continues, the states may be left hollow shells, operating primarily as the field districts of federal departments and depending upon the federal treasury for their support."

Ezra Taft Benson went on to say, "History teaches that when individuals have given up looking after their own economic needs and transferred a large share of that responsibility to the government, both they and the government have failed."

Here in this talk by Ezra Taft Benson is the key to understanding the morality of bankruptcy, "Another reason for the increase in debt, I believe, is deeper-and causes greater concern. This is the rise of materialism as contrasted with spiritual values. Many a family, in order to make a “proper showing,” will commit itself for a larger and more expensive house than is needed, in an expensive neighborhood. Again almost everyone would, it seems, like to keep up with the Joneses. With the increasing standard of living, that temptation increases with each new gadget that comes on the market. The subtle and carefully planned techniques of modern advertising are aimed at the weakest points of consumer resistance. And there is a growing feeling, unfortunately, that material things should be had now, without waiting, without saving, without self-denial."

It is not that bankruptcy itself, necessary in some situations, is immoral, it is the behavior of those who use bankruptcy to excuse their immoral behavior. Continuing on with quotes from Ezra Taft Benson, "All of us as individuals-and above all, as members of families-have an obligation in conscience not to mismanage our resources...Truly, man does not live by bread alone. A good name is still to be preferred to great riches. Especially is it to be preferred to the appearance of riches, acquired with nothing down and nothing to pay for two months... Stewardship, not conspicuous consumption, is the proper relationship of man to material wealth."

The morality of losing your home

2011-12-06T16:42:00.001-07:00

A very high percentage of all homeowners owe more to the finance company than their homes are worth on the market and have what are called upside down mortgages. Homes in my own neighborhood have lost over half their value recorded at the height of the housing bubble. Let me give you several different scenarios concerning the situation facing homeowners. Unfortunately, very little of the news coverage of this situation talks about the moral issues involved.

Scenario #1: Home purchased 10 or more years ago for $250,000. As the value of the home increased, on paper, the homeowners borrowed more against the "equity" of their home until they had borrowed over $300,000 dollars. They used the money for living expenses and to take several vacation trips. They were going to sell the home, but before they realized what was happening the market dropped. Their home is now likely worth less than $250,000. Are they now justified in taking a strategic foreclosure?

Analysis: Who took the risk that the market would fall? When the homeowners purchased the home did they expect home prices to fall? Was that a realistic assessment? If I buy a new car and finance the entire purchase price can I realistically expect to sell the car for what I paid? But you say, real estate is not like a car. Wrong. Real estate is exactly like a car. For too many years real estate agents have been saying the same inaccurate statement, "They aren't making any more real estate, values can only go up." The answer is they may not be making more real estate but they are making more houses. The housing market is just like any other market, it can get over built and over sold. But didn't the finance company take the risk that the value of the house might fall? Yes, but if you borrow money are you saying you have no moral obligation to repay the loan? Isn't that the moral equivalent of stealing? Couldn't both the homeowner and the finance company come to an agreement? Is the motive for moving a consideration of the morality of walking away from the obligation? Is there a moral obligation to repay a loan? Do I have to ask that question?

Scenario #2: Homeowners were living in a home that escalated in price during the boom. They sold their existing home at a considerable profit and used the money to make a down payment on a much more expensive home. Their mortgage was much higher than they could afford but they counted on the market to continue to rise and were expecting to flip the new home at a profit. Now, they have a home worth much less than the high equity to value mortgage they obtained. Are they now justified in dumping the home?

Analysis: How is this example different than the first one? Does the morality of allowing the home to be foreclosed change because these homeowners "can't afford" the encumbrance? Does the morality of the situation change because the homeowners were involved in speculation? Who took the risk that the home would go down in value? Is the financing company morally wrong for loaning so much money against the property?

Scenario #3: Homeowner has lived in the home for several years and was employed at a well-paying job. The home was subject to an 80% mortgage and the homeowner had never missed a payment. Homeowner lost his job and is now finds it difficult to make a mortgage payment. The house has dipped in value and is likely worth somewhat less than the mortgage. He has had the home on the market for over a year. Is he now justified in walking away from the home?

Analysis: There is no moral issue with losing your property due to sickness, loss of work or other external cause. If you made payments on the home in good faith, both you and the finance company took the risk that the mortgage might not get paid. The finance company extended the loan based on its perceived value of the home. Should the homeowner continue to pay on the mortgage if he is able to do so when he could buy the same house for less money? Is he justified in allowing the finance company to take the home?

All of these examples point out the moral dilemma of the housing downturn. At what point is a homeowner morally justified in walking away from an obligation to purchase a home? Is there a moral obligation to pay one's debts even if the original purpose for the debt no longer applies? Is this an issue that even raises to the level of morality? Is it immoral to steal? Is it immoral to cheat your neighbor? What about "Thou shalt not steal?" Exodus 20:15.

In a Church News Editorial dated September 20, 2003, the commentator said, "When a widow lamented that a creditor would take her sons as bondsmenbecause she could not pay a debt, Elisha asked what she had in her house.The inquiry, it appears, was to determine what resources she had at hand topay the debt. When she replied that she had nothing but a pot of oil,Elisha gave specific instructions; as she followed them, the oil wasmultiplied. Elisha then told her, "Go, sell the oil and pay thy debt, andlive thou and thy children of the rest." (See 2 Kings 4:1-7.)

The Editorial goes on to say, "Elisha gave simple, practical counsel to the widow. There is noall-encompassing answer to the question regarding what people might do topay off their debts today since circumstances vary. The moral of thebiblical account, however, is universal: individuals are responsible forand should pay their debts. Elisha did not take upon himself the widow'sdebt, nor did he transfer to another the obligation to pay it. The debt washers to pay."

Doesn't Elisha's council apply today to the homeowner?

Is poverty a lack of income?

2011-12-06T06:05:00.001-07:00

I was on a major university campus recently and saw an "occupy" site with hand lettered sign proclaim a protest against the inequality of the economic system in the U.S. I thought, Hmmm too bad we didn't think of this back in the 60s. Protesting the economic system is very convenient, you can choose the time and place you want to protest with no fear that your cause will evaporate like protesting a war. What do you do when the war is over? Move on to the economic system and then you can have a readily available protest any time.

This got me thinking about poverty again. When I lived in Panama City, Panama, there was a section of the city called the Marañón. The average occupancy of the dwellings averaged 50 people per room. Yes, you read that right, per room. People would take turns sleeping and using the other facilities. One of my friends lived with his family in a small two room apartment with the parents, one grandparent, seven children and a few cousins. Even a small increase in income by any member of the family immediately became an advantage to the entire family. There wasn't an expectation that the family members would contribute to the welfare of the entire family, there was a social, cultural and strongly emotional reason why every member of the family contributed to the overall economic well being of the family.

Ok, now let's contrast this with a recent report I read of a family. The husband was a professional. The wife was an accountant. They had two children. They lived in suburban house with the usual accouterments. The husband lost his job and then the wife lost her job. Voila. Instant poverty. They were immediately looking to the soup kitchens and food banks for support. They became a statistic in the U.S. Department of Health and Welfare's definition of poverty. Yes, they were poor. Very poor. In fact, they were poorer than my friend in Panama. Why? Because they lacked the support of a loving, extended family. Poverty is not where or how you live, it is the inability to maintain your family connections to the point that you can rely on your family in the case of a family crisis. Maybe the professionals had no family? What is more likely, they had a family but by cultural, social or other circumstances had let their family relationships lapse to the point where they did not have the support of an extended family.

Poverty is not so much a matter of income. It is a matter of family. One of the largest parts of the national income in some developing nations is the money sent to family members from those working abroad. The crisis in welfare in the U.S. is not so much a crisis in income as it is a crisis in families. Attacks against the family in our society are destructive of the social fabric as well as the economic well being of the nation.

Learning to discern between needs and wants

2011-11-27T16:37:00.001-07:00

The news reports of the past few days have been filled with incidents connected with the so-called Black Friday 2011. One interesting observation, I heard on the radio, said that spending was up but savings were down. In other words, people were taking money out of savings to spend on "deals." So what were the mobs of people out buying? TVs, cameras, tablet computers, laptops, games and toys just the things needed for people who are living on savings and out of work. One of the best selling items, that people waited in long lines to buy were different models of the Amazon Kindle. Guess what? They weren't on sale. All of the models sold at the regular price. I could order one today at exactly the same price they sold for on Friday.

It makes me sad to see this, especially when all of the comments are about how good the sales are for our economy! Here is a quote from the website, Provident Living:

We must learn to distinguish between wants and needs. We should be modest in our wants. It takes self-discipline to avoid the “buy now, pay later” philosophy and to adopt the “save now and buy later” practice.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (1917–2008) taught: “All too often a family's spending is governed more by their yearning than by their earning. They somehow believe that their life will be better if they surround themselves with an abundance of things. All too often all they are left with is avoidable anxiety and distress” (“Earthly Debts, Heavenly Debts,” Liahona, May 2004, 42).

How many people's lives will be better because of what they bought on Black Friday? Can there be unlimited increases in the amount of consumer credit? The Federal Reserve Statistical Release states that overall consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 1 and 1/2 percent in the third quarter of 2011. Revolving credit has gone down slightly while non-revolving credit has risen.

Who are the poor?

2011-11-25T20:15:00.001-07:00

In the U.S., the so-called poverty level is as follows:

The 2011 Poverty Guidelines for the48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia Persons in family Poverty guideline

1 person $10,890
2 people 14,710
3 people 18,530
4 people 22,350
5 people 26,170
6 people 29,990
7 people 33,810
8 people 37,630

For families with more than 8 persons, add $3,820 for each additional person. If you have a family, like ours, with seven children, you would have to make over $40,000 a year to be above the poverty level. Under these guidelines, I never knew I was poor for many of my working years. I am not making this up. From the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in the U.S. in 2009 was $50,221.00, meaning half of the U.S. population was below that figure. The figures for 2009 show 14.3 % of the population below the poverty level.

Let me contrast this with the average annual income of Mozambique, for example, which is estimated to be $900 per year. Their 9 person family would make about $8100 year, less than the poverty level for one person in the U.S. But more than likely, that 9 person family would only have one or perhaps two working people and the real income would be much lower.

Who are the poor? In the U.S. you can get food stamps if your household has less than $2000 in "resources." But not all things you own count, your home does not, your car or truck may not. The requirements generally follow the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) guidelines. If you want to know how many different programs you could qualify for if you were defined as poor, look at the HHS.gov/Recovery.

I ask again, who are the poor? Think about this. If I made $10,000 a year as a single adult and managed to live and save $500 a year, I would soon fail to qualify for most federal programs. In other words, if I try to save myself out of poverty, I am penalized by the U.S. Government.

I will come back to this issue again.

Debt -- the real challenge to freedom

2011-11-24T13:03:00.001-07:00

As I watch country after country succumb to overwhelming debt, I am often reminded of the old adage, waste not, want not. Our own country has a crushing level of debt but collectively, we cannot find the moral courage to live within ours means. The way to financial security is simple, spend less than you make. I am always impressed with some trivial, but significant examples of waste and improvident living. Almost every day, I drive by several "convenience" markets. I see cars lined up to purchase huge sugar water drinks and other even more harmful substances. A local thirst buster is about 80 cents. Many people drink two or more a day. Let's say conservatively, they spend $1.60 a day, five days a week. That is $8.00 a week, or $416 a year, almost one full month's payment on a car or house.

I am certain that that is not all they spend in convenience markets. If you tracked every penny that you spent for a whole month, you would probably find similar expenditures. But the interest on debt is even more insidious than purchasing junk food at a convenience market. You have nothing at all, not even sugar water, to show for your payment. We hear a lot about a housing crisis, there is no housing crisis, houses are fairly reasonably priced right now. What we have is a debt crisis. People who purchased a home and then dutifully paid the interest year after year without thinking twice about losing all that money to interest, now find themselves unwilling or unable to pay for a house that is worth less than they originally paid, and usually less than the balance due on the their long term mortgage.

Clear back in 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley, a prophet of God, said, “We are beguiled by seductive advertising. Television carries the enticing invitation to borrow up to 125 percent of the value of one’s home. But no mention is made of interest.” He went on to say, So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are living on borrowings. … I am troubled by the huge consumer debt which hangs over the people.”

President Hinckley quoted President J. Reuben Clark Jr., in the April 1938 general conference, said from this pulpit: “Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1938, 103).

The first step in provident living is to live within your means.

Self Reliance does not mean a handout

2011-11-23T12:39:00.001-07:00

Maybe only those who have faced serious hard times during their lives and had to "go it alone" can really understand the principle of self reliance. Many of our country's older people understand this principle, but in the face of the "me" generation, it is doubtful that younger people have even a passing understanding of the concept. Listening to the requests from charity food banks on the radio reminds me of how many people feel that they are entitled to support from the community or the government.

Bishop Keith McMullin, of Presiding Bishopric of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said it well,

Many members live in cultures where it can be said that they live in a consumer age. When something wears out or breaks, many of us tend to throw the item away. When we want something we cannot afford, many of us tend to buy it on credit. A surprising number of young homemakers are not adequately skilled at cooking, sewing, gardening, and processing and storing food at home. Also, a surprising number of young breadwinners are not learning to save for the future and are allowing their family units to take on excessive debt. In a time of plenty, when one should consider laying up in store for potentially hard times, many of us consume everything we have—and more!

I heard an interview on the radio of a lady who had lived in her home for over 30 years and was now losing it to a mortgage foreclosure. How sad that she did not know or have the experience necessary to make decisions during those 30 years of home ownership to pay off her mortgage.

Quoting further from Bishop McMullin,

Modern-day leaders have given specific, inspired guidance for our day about subjects ranging from home storage to debt. President Spencer W. Kimball was very clear about our duty to be self-reliant: “The responsibility for each person’s social, emotional, spiritual, physical, or economic well-being rests first upon himself, second upon his family, and third upon the Church if he is a faithful member thereof.

“No true Latter-day Saint, while physically or emotionally able, will voluntarily shift the burden of his own or his family’s well-being to someone else. So long as he can, under the inspiration of the Lord and with his own labors, he will supply himself and his family with the spiritual and temporal necessities of life” (Ensign, Nov. 1977, pp. 77–78).

Although these comments were directed at members of the Church, there is no reason that this principles cannot apply to everyone, no matter what their church affiliation.

Here is another quote, this one from President Marion G. Romney, of the First Presidency back in 1982,

Since the beginning of time man has been counseled to earn his own way, thereby becoming self-reliant. It is easy to understand the reason why the Lord places so much emphasis on this principle when we come to understand that it is tied very closely to freedom itself.

On this subject, Elder Albert E. Bowen said, “The Lord must want and intend that His people shall be free of constraint whether enforceable or only arising out of the bindings of conscience. … That is why the Church is not satisfied with any system which leaves able people permanently dependent, and insists, on the contrary, that the true function and office of giving, is to help people [get] into a position where they can help themselves and thus be free.” (The Church Welfare Plan, Gospel Doctrine manual, 1946, p. 77.)

Many programs have been set up by well-meaning individuals to aid those who are in need. However, many of these programs are designed with the shortsighted objective of “helping people,” as opposed to “helping people help themselves.” Our efforts must always be directed toward making able-bodied people self-reliant.

If you need a helping hand, look at the end of your arm.

Flu vaccine locations on Google Maps

2009-11-10T19:17:00.002-07:00

Google has created a flu shot finder at www.google.com/flushot. To quote their Website,

The same tool will also be available shortly on www.flu.gov and the American Lung Association websites. It's important to note that this project is just beginning and we have not yet received information about flu shot clinics for many locations. In addition, many locations that are shown are currently out of stock. We launched this service now in order to help disseminate information about locations where vaccines are available, and also to make more vaccine providers aware of the project so that they can contribute.

Presently, they have about 20 states mapped, but the number will increase rapidly to cover the entire U.S. Today, you'll find results from chains such as Walgreens, CVS and PDX participants, such as Kmart, Duane Reade, WinnDixie and Giant Eagle.

Are you ready for the Flu? Its everywhere

2009-11-01T21:14:00.004-07:00

Look at the graph above from FluView, a weekly influenza surveillance report prepared by the Influenza Division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All but two of the states are now reporting widespread influenza activity. Almost all of the influenza viruses identified so far are 2009 H1N1 influenza A viruses. These viruses remain similar to the virus chosen for the 2009 H1N1 vaccine, and remain susceptible to the antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir with rare exception.

As you can see from the next graph, the tests for H1N1 Flu is rising extremely rapidly. Here is a summary of those most susceptible to the disease:

Early empiric treatment should be considered for persons with suspected or confirmed influenza who are at higher risk for complications, even if not hospitalized, including:

Children younger than 2 years old

Adults 65 years and older

Pregnant women

Persons with the following conditions:

Chronic pulmonary (including asthma), cardiovascular (except hypertension), renal, hepatic, hematological (including sickle cell disease), or metabolic disorders (including diabetes mellitus);

Disorders that that can compromise respiratory function or the handling of respiratory secretions or that can increase the risk for aspiration (e.g., cognitive dysfunction, spinal cord injuries, seizure disorders, or other neuromuscular disorders)

Immunosuppression, including that caused by medications or by HIV;

Persons younger than 19 years of age who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy, because of an increased risk for Reye syndrome.

Stay tuned for more information on this serious health threat.

Update on tracking the H1N1 swine flu

2009-10-25T16:10:00.003-07:00

The amount of mis-information on the H1N1 Swine Flu is monumental. It is extremely important to find accurate and up-to-date information free of political and governmental bias. In that regard, there are sources online that graphically provide that kind of information.

The most impressive and current Website is FluTracker. This map and the data behind it were compiled by Dr. Henry Niman, a biomedical researcher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, using technology provided by Rhiza Labs and Google. The map is compiled using data from official sources, news reports and user-contributions and updated multiple times per day.

One thing you can see immediately is that the flu is a serious concern. As of October 25, 2009, my own state, Arizona had 2736 confirmed or probable cases of the flu with 21 deaths, so far. However, in Pennsylvania there have been 22,503 cases with 12 deaths and only 1 negative.

Now what can you do about it? Wash your hand frequently. Avoid crowds (yeah). It might be helpful to know the percentage of hospitalizations for the flu. Here is a recent assessment from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

The percentage of hospitalizations for 2009 H1N1 flu in the United States varies by age group. From August 30, 2009 through October 10, 2009, states reported 4,958 laboratory-confirmed 2009 H1N1 hospitalizations to CDC. The percentage of 2009 H1N1 related hospitalizations that occurred among those 0 to 4 years old was 19%; among those 5 years to 18 years was 25%; among people 19 years to 24 years was 9%; among those 25 years to 49 years was 24%; among people 50 to 64 years was 15%; and among people 65 years and older was 7%.

You can see that there is a distinct advantage to being old.

Accurate information on the spread of Inluenza

2009-10-08T03:45:00.002-07:00

One of the hardest things to judge from the news is the actual threat of the H1N1 Flu virus, also known as Swine Flu. What is apparent is that the Swine Flu is no more virulent or fatal than many other flu strains. Nevertheless, inflammatory news articles sell so they are starting to appear more and more regularly. Google has announced the expansion of Google Flu Trends. To quote their recent blog post,

Last November, we launched Google Flu Trends in the United States after finding a close relationship between how many people search for flu-related topics and how many people actually have flu symptoms. By tracking the popularity of certain Google search queries, we are able to estimate the level of flu, in near real-time. While some traditional flu surveillance systems may take days or weeks to collect and release data, Google search queries can be counted immediately. Google Flu Trends provides an additional surveillance tool that may help public health officials and the public make more informed decisions about preparing for the flu season.

Here is the Google video on the subject.

How well does this work? They claim that their analysis of the data has a .92 correlation with official U.S. flu data. OK so where do you go to get official data? Check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a weekly update.

Don't panic, get accurate information. You may wish to pass this post along to friends and family to help stop the flood of misinformation that will undoubtedly start coming in the media.

How do you spend your day? Compared to everyone

2009-08-15T17:11:00.002-07:00

Sleeping, eating, working and watching television take up about two-thirds of the average day according to an interesting interactive graph from the New York Times. Quoting from the article, "The American Time Use Survey asks thousands of American residents to recall every minute of a day." I found the graph interesting because of the huge amount of time the average American spends watching TV and movies. For those over 65, the TV and movies segment of their daily lives, almost becomes the most dominant activity. The TV and movies sector seems to be consistent over all of the population categories. The only groups that seem to be somewhat resistant to the lure of the TV are those with advanced degrees and/or with larger families.

It is also interesting to note the difference in the activities of the unemployed vs. the employed. Again to quote, "On an average weekday, the unemployed sleep an hour more than their employed peers. They tidy the house, do laundry and yard work for more than two hours, twice as much as the employed. The unemployed also spend an extra hour in the classroom and an additional 70 minutes in front of the television." So much for the theory that they might spend some time looking for work.

How do you stack up?

Reacting vs. Acting

2009-08-09T21:14:00.002-07:00

Do you react to crisis or do you act in advance of crisis? The current classic example is the so-called 72 hour kit. This is a box, pack or duffel bag of necessities that can be quickly used in case of evacuation from your home. There are hundreds of Websites with suggested contents for these emergency supplies and some that sell the entire bag complete.

But reacting vs. acting go much deeper than just being ready to leave your home on a minute's notice. Some of the categories of areas that require proactive response are:

Employment
Investing
Planning for retirement
Medical challenges

Not to mention the usual natural disasters such as floods, storms and earthquakes or any other circumstance that might force you out of your home.

In today's precarious economic conditions, far more people are likely to suffer from challenges in finances from employment issues than will be affected by natural disasters. Acting in the area of employment includes continuing education and contingency planning, always thinking about what would happen if you were to lose your job and then thinking of the possible causes, i.e. illness, plant shut downs, etc.

It is now time to take control of you life and begin to act rather than react.

Living within your means

2009-07-21T11:54:00.002-07:00

There is a lot of buzz today about global warming, sustainable agriculture, the green revolution and other world issues. When it comes right down to it, living within your means includes all of these issues and a lot more. Unfortunately, living within your means has gained an association with poverty. But you do not have to be poor to live within your means. Simply put, living within your means involves spending less than you make. It does not mean that you have to live on a farm or grow your own food, it just means having a budget and having some control over your spending habits.

Most of the ways I read about to save money are really marginal. If you really want to save money, you need to know how much you are presently spending. That means you track every penny of your expenditures. You need to know exactly, not approximately, and not a ball park figure. Once you know your present rate of spending and obligations, you have to continue to track spending for many months and years. There are some expenses that are annual, like real estate taxes, and others that may only come up after years, like the cost of replacing the roof on your house. But all of these costs need to be considered.

Once you know what it costs to live, you can start making adjustments to your spending based on realistic evaluations of your actual needs. Do you really need the air conditioning set to 72 degrees in the summer? Do you really need to buy a case of water every week? Could you save money by buying a different car? Do you really need to eat out two or three times a week? Once you answer these questions you are ready to live within your means.

Let's get some definitions down, if you owe debts and are paying interest, by definition you are not living within your means. If you were living within your means you would have no interest payments. There is an argument that if you have a piece of property that generates income, you can carry the interest as a cost of doing business, but most consumer debt is not offset by specific income.

Living within your means is not an issue as to how you spend your money. It is an issue about whether or not to spend money at all. Fundamentally, it addresses the problem of owning things or being owned by them. Let me give an example. One of the most common big ticket item purchases in Arizona is some kind of outdoor motor vehicle; a boat, an ATV, a jet ski, a motor home or something similar. I have no problem with spending money on any of these items. What I think is the problem, is purchasing a _________ [fill in the blank] when you have a burden of consumer debt. How many of the people in my neighborhood who have lost their homes to foreclosure have one or more of these outdoor vehicles? By observation, I would say quite a few.

I have no argument with someone who chooses to purchase any one or more of the items listed above, what I do have an argument with is purchasing a consumer toy at the expense of borrowing money to purchase a house or to pay for necessities. This example applies at all income levels. It is just as difficult for a person making a lot of money to live within their means as it is for a person living below the poverty level.

Unless and until we achieve a balance between what we need and can afford and what we purchase, we will never live within our means.

National news coverage of food storage

2009-07-12T11:46:00.003-07:00

It is apparent that the national economic difficulties have finally resulted in some national news coverage of the welfare system of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In a major article dated July 8, 2009, The Washington Post ran a story entitled "The Mission: Put Up in Bulk." As the author of the article notes, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints runs 101 dry-pack canneries, which are housed in multi-function home storage centers (see sidebar). The church doesn't intend the facilities to be public but won't turn away nonmembers. It wants everyone to have a three-month supply and be working toward a year's stockpile."

I suggest you read the entire article. Link. As the author notes the Church canning facilities "people are allowed to package only dry food stocked by the center. (It's possible to buy in bulk from the center as well without processing the food at the cannery. And food can be packed in pouches as well as cans.)"

The author also found out that dry-pack canning is not free. She says, "And then, slight sticker shock hit me: I had canned $217 worth of dried goods. In choosing foods my family uses frequently, I hadn't kept track of how many cans there were. Each of the six 4.3-pound cans of spaghetti cost me $4.05. My 15 cans of apple slices came to $73.50."

Despite the price paid by the author, dry-pack canning is highly economical and a good way to increase your food storage.

High tech cheating in children

2009-07-01T06:54:00.002-07:00

More than 1/3 of teens with cell phones admit to cheating in school at least once. This is one of the conclusions of a newer study of the interaction of teenagers with cell phones, iPods and PDAs. The study from Common Sense Media and the Benenson Strategy Group conducted a poll of teenagers and parents on the use of digital media for cheating in school. Two-thirds of teenagers today own cell phones*, and most 8- to 12-year-olds will own a cell phone in the next three years**. And those numbers are only a small representation of our kids’ 24/7 media world. The study is called "Hi-Tech Cheating: Cell Phones and Cheating in Schools."

In looking at the Common Sense Media Website, may have a laudable goal, but their level of acceptance of modern media surely exceeds mine or my childrens' level of acceptance. The Benenson Strategy Group appears to be a strategic research and consulting firm.

The study also found that half (52%) of teens admitted to using some form of cheating involving the Internet. In fact, two-thirds of all teens say others in their school cheat with cell phones. Nearly 1 in 4 students think that acts like accessing notes on their cell phone during a test, texting friends with answers during a test and using their cell to search the internet for answers during a test aren't cheating at all! To quote the survey:

For example, only 41% say that storing notes on a cell phone to access during a test is cheating and a “serious offense.” And almost 1 in 4 (23%) don’t think it’s cheating at all. Similarly, only 45% say texting friends about answers during tests is cheating and a serious offense, while 20% say it’s not cheating at all. More than a third (36%) say that downloading a paper from the Internet to turn in isn’t a serious cheating offense, and almost 1 in 5 (19%) say it isn’t cheating at all.

On the other hand their parents are in total denial: The study shows, again quoting:

Parents are quite realistic when it comes to the frequency of cheating in schools – they just don’t believe it happens in their own backyard. 76% say cell phone cheating happens at their child’s school. But perhaps not surprisingly, just 3% of parents say their child has ever cheated with cell phones. Similarly, 79% say teens at their child’s school download papers from the Internet to turn in as their own work, but only 7% say their child has done this.

Here are some quotes from students in the study:

[I don’t cheat] that often, just
when I think the test is unfair…
the teacher gives questions
that are too hard or they did not
prepare us for… I guess it’s
cheating… using work that isn’t
your own is cheating, but I don’t
really think about it.” – student

I only [downloaded a paper or
report from the Internet] once
when I was in 6th grade because
my teacher had us do a project
that I knew nothing about…
I tried to find information, but it
was taking too long as it had to
be five pages and I started the
night before. So I decided I
should turn that in instead of
nothing.” – student

If someone is texting during
a test and looks suspicious, it’s
obvious they are cheating…
the teachers don’t really see
because the person texting
looks for them and hides their
phone when the teacher comes
by.” – student.

Cheating harms both society and the cheater. Is it any wonder that students fail to learn?

Where are we in 2009?

2009-06-28T07:50:00.004-07:00

Each of us might ask where we are, financially speaking, in 2009? Here are a few observations primarily from the Statistical Abstract of the United States, unless otherwise noted:

It is estimated that in 2009 there may be as many as 1.4 million personal bankruptcies filed. However, in 2003 there were 1,650,279 personal bankruptcies filed.

Back in 1953, 31.1 percent of the U.S. population lived at or below 125% of the poverty level. By 2006 that number had dropped to 16.8 percent.

In constant 2006 U.S. dollars, the median income for all families in 1949 was $39,303. By 2006 the median income for all families had grown to $78,454.

Based on the value of the 1982 dollar, the value of that dollar had fallen by more than half by 2007.

Abortion is one of the most common medical procedures undergone by women aged 15–44 in the United States and in 2005 there were an estimated 1.2 million abortions performed in the United States. This number exceeds, by a large margin, the death rate from any other cause in the U.S.

From these, and many other statistics, we may better ask, where are morally in 2009?

My conclusion is that we are consistently better off today economically than ever before. Despite the hand wringing going on about our economy, however, there should be hand wringing going on about the morality of the country. We are in a terrible state morally and should we continue in our decline, we will ultimately lose our way financially also.

Remember the words of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon: " And now, my sons, I would that ye should remember to search them diligently, that ye may profit thereby; and I would that ye should keep the commandments of God, that ye may prosper in the land according to the promises which the Lord made unto our fathers. Mosiah 1:7

A decline in literacy?

2009-06-22T16:49:00.002-07:00

Historically, learning to read and write were considered the mark of education. How well are we doing in teaching our students to read? According to the U.S. Department of Education, literacy is defined "as the knowledge and skills needed by adults, in life and at work, to use information from various texts (e.g., news stories, editorials, manuals, brochures) in various formats (e.g., texts, maps, tables, charts, forms, time tables)" Unfortunately, there has been almost uniform steady decline in literacy rates for those 24 years of age and younger from 1992 to the most recent studies in 2003. Even among college students there has been a decline and there is even a decline among graduate students.

By definition in our modern society, we cannot be prepared if we do not know how to read.

Some of the results of the survey in 2003 are in the category of things I wish some one would pay me to find out. Like, "In 2003, adults with higher literacy levels were more likely to be employed full-time and less likely to be out of the labor force than adults with lower literacy levels. Adults with lower literacy levels also generally earned lower incomes."

Even if the differences in literacy levels are considered to be statistically insignificant, it is significant the we have made no progress in increasing literacy for many years. Additionally, adults in the U.S. were outperformed by adults in Norway, Bermuda, Canada, and Switzerland. Adults in Bermuda, Norway, and Canada had higher literacy scores than U.S. adults at both the high and low ends of the score distribution. The highest performers (the top 10 percent of adults) had literacy scores of 353 or higher in Bermuda, 348 or higher in Norway, and 344 or higher in Canada, compared with 333 or higher in the United States. The lowest performers (those in the bottom 10 percent) in Bermuda had literacy scores of 213 or lower, 233 or lower in Norway, and 209 or lower in Canada, compared with 201 or lower in the United States. The lowest performers in Switzerland also outperformed their U.S. counterparts in literacy, scoring 216 or lower.

One thing this study does show is that literacy is directly correlated to income levels.

Over the years I have encountered a significant number of adults that did not know how to read or whose reading skills were so low as to be embarrassing to the individual. Obviously, if you were illiterate you would not be reading this blog post, but if you know someone who is illiterate, the time to take action is now. There are many national, state and local organizations dedicated to helping adults learn to read. You might want to start with the Department of Labor, Adult Literacy and Education Initiative.

Where are we going with unemployment?

2009-06-20T08:13:00.003-07:00

Wikipedia

Many people identify so completely with their work, losing a job is more than a disaster, it is a loss of identity. Statistics can identify that we have a problem with unemployment, but unless you are personally involved. Nationally, we see that in May, employment only increased in one state and decreased in 48 states and the District of Columbia. There was one state that had no change in the rate of unemployment. Michigan had the highest unemployment rate, 14.1 percent, while Nebraska and North Dakota had the lowest rates at 4.4 percent.

If you are unemployed, you are 100% unemployed, so the national and state percentages have little meaning to the individual.

It is unrealistic to compare jobless rates too far into the past, since many of the jobs measured today, did not even exist a few years ago. But even in recent years, the unemployment rate has been higher, for example, in December, 1982 it reached a high of 10.8 percent. There has also been a continued shift from farming and ranching to an almost entirely urban population trend. As with all statistics, if you look at a different source the numbers seem to change.

Again, viewing a related issue on a national level, I find it interesting that the last Federal Government budget surplus was during the Johnson presidency in 1969.

Although there seems to be a present consensus that the rising unemployment rate can be attributed to the economy, there are a lot of other factors, including the flight of jobs overseas, immigrant labor and the fact that many U.S. industries have not kept up with technological changes. However, it is important to remember Okun's Law which predicts a natural rate of unemployment.

Whatever the causes and whatever the national effects, the unemployed will continue to struggle with loss of income, loss of personal esteem and possible depression.

Next-- Where do we go for help to find a job?

Hospital Compare -- It makes a difference

2009-06-17T19:36:00.002-07:00

Would you like to know if your hospital will give you the recommended treatment? Do you think your life might depend on it? Would you like to know about the performance of hospitals in your area? The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has on online service called Hospital Compare. On the home page it states:

In this tool you will find information on how well hospitals care for patients with certain medical conditions or surgical procedures, and results from a survey of patients about the quality of care they received during a recent hospital stay. This information will help you compare the quality of care hospitals provide. Talk to your doctor about this information to help you, your family and your friends make your best hospital care decisions.

So, to get started, I clicked on search and compare. I put in my zip code and began to look a the ratings of nearby hospitals. I was asked to chose up to three hospitals to compare. I chose the three I had been to most frequently for friends and family members. Very interesting.

For example, here was one category: Percent of patients who got treatment at the right time (within 24 hours before or after their surgery) to help prevent blood clots after certain types of surgery. What do you think the percentages were? As a matter of fact the percentages went from a low of 69% to a high of only 81%. That means that almost twenty to thirty percent of all patients at those hospitals did not get the right treatment at the right time!!! Now you know, you might be in that thirty percent.

Here is another example: the Percent of Heart Failure Patients Given Discharge Instructions. In one hospital this figure was only 61%. Do I really want to go there if I have a heart attack?

Here's another good one, Percent of patients who reported that their room and bathroom were "Always" clean. What do you think this come out? a low of 60%. Yuck.

After looking at this Website, you just might decide to change hospitals.

Where you can save money

2009-06-13T19:45:00.002-07:00

Most recommendations I have read about spending seem to vastly over estimate the percentage of income that should be spent on entertainment and hobbies. A recent study of the percentage of income spent by Americans on various categories does show some interesting facts:

The amount of money spent on housing, food and transportation rise dramatically with increased income. Obviously, taxes rise but the greatest increase is in financial payments such as private pension contributions and mortgage principal. People across the board purchase a large number of consumer items, such as microwaves, VCRs, cellphones, computers, color TVs, and air conditioning. Virtually everyone in America now has a telephone, a car, a radio (or six or seven), a refrigerator, a clothes washer and a dryer.

So, looking at these spending habits, how can someone best save money? Unless you fall in the lowest income level, it appears that there is a lot of money needlessly spent on food. Housing is one of the biggest expenses and is likely an area where some could save a lot of money, if they are willing to downsize. Transportation is also an area where significant cuts can be made. It is likely that as income rises people buy more expensive automobiles and spend more money on traveling. Both of these are areas that can be cut without a major adjustment in life style. None of the other areas of consumption including things like entertainment, health care, charitable contributions, education or apparel and services, seem to be areas where increases in income result in extraordinary increases in spending.

It is a fact of life that those who make more money spend more money. To increase savings and to cut expenditures, it is absolutely necessary to know how much is being spent and where. None of the decisions concerning decreased spending can be made without information on which to base decisions.

Is there a grain shortage?

2009-06-07T19:59:00.002-07:00

Doing a Google search on "wheat shortage" will give you something to think about. But what do you need think? Is there a growing wheat shortage? What about the other grain products? In my last post I discussed the general market forces that influence commodity pricing. As an illustration, here is a quote from a commodities blogger back in June of 2008:

We mentioned in the spring that after the historic rise in wheat [Feb 8: Wheat is the new Corn], farmers would be planting a ton of this product in 2008 to take advantage of those prices, and moving away from corn. [Mar 31: USDA Crop Report] That's exactly how things played out [Apr 3: Corn Jumps to $6 - Start Stocking up on Soda Pop]... and wheat prices dipped (dipped is being kind, it's more like shellacked) on expectations of a huge crop later this year. Since both ETFs/ETNs above have wheat and soybeans in their holdings they have returned only 7-8% in the trailing 6 month period (mostly due to the pain from wheat since its spike). So 43%.... vs 7-8%. That makes a huge difference.With that said, wheat has been cut nearly in half from its "bubble" highs and really is it that hard to guess whats going to happen next spring?

So if you look closely at the results of your Google search, you will see that the myriad of articles on wheat shortages date from 2008 or before. If you keep looking you will not find anything on a current, that is, 2009 shortage. Why? Because as the trader pointed out, farmers reacted to the increased prices and planted more wheat. You can see another updated chart at the beginning of this post. The contract size for wheat is 5,000 bushels which is appx. 136 metric tons. The pricing unit is cents per bushel. The settlement procedure is physical delivery, (so unless you really want tons of wheat delivered to your door, you had better know what you are doing).

So, is there a current wheat shortage? The answer is a simple one -- No. Is wheat more expensive than it has been in the past? Probably yes depending on the time frame. Online sources for wheat are running about $40 to $50 a bucket. For us locally, Costco had wheat in 40 lb. buckets for $30.

It is easy to get caught up in reacting to problems that don't really exist. Take your time and search out the facts.

Where are the food shortages?

2009-06-05T18:47:00.004-07:00

Where are the food shortages? How will shortages affect us in the near future? Is there a shortage of corn? wheat? any other food crops?

Most basic food items, such as corn, wheat, and soybeans are bought and sold as "commodities" on international commodity exchanges. The price paid on these commodity markets is subject to the same market forces that drive the other commodity markets, such as oil, cotton, gold and silver. Speculation in any one of these markets can drive prices up, over supply can drive prices down and a shortage of any of the commodities generally means the price will go up. Not only do the commodity exchanges (where commodities are bought and sold in very large amounts) sell actual products for delivery, they also sell contracts for delivery at various dates in the future. So, the price of future contracts gives an idea of where all of the buyers on the world markets think the price (supply, speculation, or shortages) will go.

That said, if you want to know if any product's price will either go up or down in the future, one major indication of the price can come from the commodities markets. The futures' price will also give you an idea of the trend of the prices into the future. However, just like any market, the price of the commodity might be going up at the same time the supply is increasing and also the opposite might be true. You can only get an accurate idea of the supply of any given commodity by studying the market over a long period of time.

Spot shortages, that is, shortages in any given locality, like India or Africa or China, do not indicate the overall supply of the specific commodity since spot shortages may be caused by very local conditions or even the lack of adequate transportation. Also, any time there is a shortage of a given commodity and a resultant price rise, there is a greater incentive for the producers to plant, harvest, pump or dig for the commodity and therefore the price will eventually go back to whatever level the market can support.

Just a note about items outside the commodities markets altogether. Although I mentioned oil as a commodity, it is actually not subject to the same market forces as other commodities since the producers can get together and agree to manipulate the price. Another example of a controlled commodity is diamonds, the supply is closely controlled by the biggest producers so that their are very few market swings.

OK, now we can look at the current market conditions for various commodities and see if there are any shortages or future shortages. Where are these markets? Everything is on the Internet.
For example, today gold is at $954.6 and ounce and is down $25.80 cents. The price is close to a ten year high. Crude oil was at $68.44 a barrel down $.37. Over the past five years, oil is at or below its average.

You can do the same thing for almost all food items. Here is one site, Agriculture Online. Let's look at wheat. At the beginning of this post there is the current chart for wheat. One thing you can see immediately is seasonal fluctuations. If you look at other futures prices, like for 2011 delivery, you will see a correlation with the prices of the most current chart. It appears that the price of wheat is rising, which could come from an increase in the price of oil or from any of a huge number of other possible reasons, none of which have anything to do with supply.

I will continue this discussion in a subsequent post.

A Meltdown or a slow decline?

2009-06-02T08:44:00.003-07:00

There is always a background issue in all preparedness discussions; what happens if the whole society falls apart and we are left without water, electricity, and even toilet paper? This apocalyptic view of preparedness is a good bogey man, but almost entirely unproductive in facing the actual likely challenges of our modern society. What is entirely more likely to happen, is that very local circumstances will put you or your family under extreme stress. Although I do not discount the fact that the world will end some day, the end will not likely save us from having to survive in the short term.

What are the real circumstances that could put your family in extreme stress or danger? You may wish to analyze the possibilities. Is it weather related? Hurricanes? Tornadoes? Floods? Is the threat from economic issues? Layoff? Down turns in the economy? What about health issues? Heart attacks? Cancer? These types of threats to our family's survival are much more likely than a collapse of the entire society.

But because these real possibilities are less dramatic, they also are less persuasive in convincing us to be prepared. It is too easy to put off preparation when the threat is a layoff that may never come or a heart attack that can't happen to me.

Even though our neighborhood has not suffered a catastrophe from weather, civil unrest or war, we have had many lose their houses due to the economy. Which is worse, losing your home through foreclosure or having it blown away in a tornado? Think about it.

Now, what are you going to do about it?

Self-reliance can help survive tough times

2009-06-02T07:04:00.002-07:00

A recent article in the Kansas City Star points out the fundamentals of surviving in hard times:

Plant a vegetable garden.

Store food and water.

Avoid debt.

Build up savings.

Does this sound familiar? It should. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been encouraging everyone to take these steps to self-reliance for years and years.

Quoting from the article;

“This lifestyle brings peace of mind.”

The Mormon church traces its principle of provident living to Jesus’ teachings on helping others and serving the poor.

“The idea is trying to live selflessly and think about other’s needs and being self-reliant and taking care of oneself, family and neighbors,”

I would ask a question to those who persecute religion and decry religion's involvement in the community and in the world; what are you doing to live selflessly and think about other’s needs and to be self-reliant?

Self-reliance is a principle of service

2009-05-27T14:40:00.002-07:00

My grandmother used to say that charity begins at home. I would also add that so does self-reliance. In a recent news article in the Mormon Times, writer Michael De Groote said it well, when he said, "Being self-reliant means that people set their own course and solve their own problems. Once they do this, they can help others get on their feet."

Quoting Dennis R. Lifferth, managing director of welfare services for the LDS Church, the article goes on to state, "To truly be a servant to others, ... we must have some discretionary time and the ability to serve others. This means we have a responsibility to be educated, have our own food storage, put our financial affairs in order and be employed. "

With unemployment nearing doubly digits in most of the United States, it is likely that all of us will be affected, either directly by losing our own job or indirectly through a member of our family or a friend losing their job. I am reminded of a story told to me recently of a family faced with the unemployment of both the parents. They got together and went out into the fields surrounding their community and picked corn on the cob, bringing it back into town to sell. By the time the father was able to find work, the family actually had more money in the bank than they had before the job loss. All because of their hard work at selling corn.

Some people find it too easy to coast when faced with adversity. True self-reliance means using whatever resources we have to keep going. About the time I heard the story about the family surviving on the sale of corn, I listened to a news account about a Marine facing the end of his enlistment. He wanted to go to school and realized that he had saved no money during his enlistment. He tried a job delivering pizzas. However, he couldn't face the prospect of the image of a Marine delivering pizzas and quit his job after one day. He basically decided that he would rather spend his money on drinking with his buddies than preparing to go to school.

How many of us make the same decision, we would rather keep up appearances that work at a job we believe to be beneath us. Work is work and all work is valuable. If I think I am worth $100 an hour and therefore cannot work for $10 an hour, I must remember that I am only worth what someone will pay me today.

Being self-reliant means, in part, developing a positive attitude towards work and then serving others as our time and resources allow.

Do the job with the right tools

2009-05-23T19:33:00.003-07:00

It is difficult, but not impossible, to pound a nail with a screwdriver. I speak from experience. Unfortunately, many of today's products, including many items found around the average home or apartment, can only be fixed with very specialized tools. Making a part or product dependent on specialized tools accomplishes a number of things for the manufacturer. It provides motivation to have the product repaired only at authorized repair facilities and a makes it possible to charge a much higher price for the repairs made.

Having a special tool for a repair, is not the same as manufacturers tying in their consumables to the original manufacturer. For example, if you buy a new car, the manufacturer will specify that a certain brand of oil filter, air filter or other consumable be used exclusively. Not that the manufacturer's brand is superior to third party products (they usually are rather average) but that the manufacturer can get a higher margin of profit off of each item or vehicle.

The number of specialized tools is endless, all you have to do is watch the New Yankee Workshop and count the number of tools used by Norm Abram. But are all of those tools really necessary? Some yes, some no. If you are producing a TV show to sell tools they are, if you are actually trying to build something, you can do without most of them.

In trying to fix a faucet a while ago, my son-in-law decided to help me. Thankfully. He immediately got in his car and drove to Home Depot and purchased the replacement cartridge and the special tool to replace the cartridge. With the special tool, the job took five minutes. Without the tool, it would have never happened. Now what do I do with the tool? Guess what? I have another faucet to repair and now all I have to do is buy a new faucet. I already have the tool.

Eventually, or maybe even at the beginning of life, you end up prizing room more that having the right tool. Unfortunately, at those times of life, is when you most need to save money and when having the tools would be the most useful. When you have enough money to pay for someone else to do the repairs, you have too much money.

A fundamental need for tools

2009-05-20T18:26:00.002-07:00

One night I was called by a friend for an emergency. A leak had developed in a bathroom faucet and the leak was so great that the water was literally running into the sink. When I arrived, I found that the family did not own so much as a wrench or pair of pliers, not even a screw driver. One of the ingredients in gaining control of your life and your finances is to acquire basic home and car repair skills and a simple set of tools to do the jobs. However, the tools must be cared for, clean, and accessible. Likewise, the tools must be of high enough quality to be useful. Many of the so-called discount tools are not strong enough for even simple household or car repair jobs.

Whenever I have a repair job I first calculate the cost of hiring a repair person to do the job. Then I find out what the tools would cost. Inevitably, it is far cheaper to purchase the tools and do the job myself than to hire it done. There are a few qualifications however. First is whether or not the job can be done at all without the special experience necessary. For this reason, I seldom do plumbing jobs. But if I can see it done once, I can usually do the job myself the second time the repair comes up.

Second there is the consideration of time. I could do almost any job given enough time. But time is money and unless you are retired or out of work, some jobs just take too long to justify doing the work yourself. Like painting your house. One summer we hired one of our daughters to paint the outside of our house. She did the job in stages and took a few weeks to finish. When we hired the job out to a painter, we paid about the same, but had the job done in two or three days. (Note: our daughter did a better job than the painters).

A rusty or broken tool is no tool at all. It breaks my heart to see good quality tools rusting in the grass or lying broken on the garage floor. The job the tool can do is only as good as the condition and quality of the tool. Cheap screw drivers are just that; cheap. I usually end up using them as pry bars or to open cans.

There is a huge "do it yourself" trend in the U.S. but many young people have had no exposure at all to simple home or car repairs. Schools used to teach "shop" and "home economics" but neither of these subjects are taught in today's modern school system. If the students are allowed to take a "shop" class they seldom make anything more complicated than a napkin holder.

Fortunately, many of the larger chains of home repair sales, like Home Depot or Loew's have classes on how to do things, with hands on help. It is sometimes amazing was a few tools and a good attitude will do to save money.

Mormon Times begins four part series on church welfare

2009-05-18T16:16:00.003-07:00

Mormon Times is a supplement of the Deseret News, a local Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper. Published weekly the supplement brings news and commentary relevant to the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon). The LDS Church has just recently published a new guide for leaders in the Church. The most recent article quotes Dennis R. Lifferth, managing director of Welfare Services for the church:

The welfare department began working on "Providing in the Lord’s Way: A Leader's Guide to Welfare." According to Lifferth, the guide and its summary booklet were meant to summarize the basic principles of welfare in such a clear, straightforward way that there would be no misunderstanding. The hope was that the guide’s principles would be "a real blessing for these bishops as they face the increasing problems that we are facing in the world."

According to Mormon Times, the English versions of the "Leader’s Guide" and the "Basic Principles" presentation were sent out worldwide on Feb. 22. "Basic Principles" was translated into 16 languages, while the "Leader’s Guide" was translated into 28 languages. More translations are planned.

The "Leader’s Guide" summary booklet is available online.

The Mormon Times will have three more articles on this important development in the Church's Welfare system. Next week's article will be "Self-reliance isn't selfish."

Most useful and needed self-reliance skills

2009-05-13T17:24:00.002-07:00

In a recently released Church DVD "Basic Principles of Welfare and Self-Reliance," The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints emphasized the path to self-reliance lies through obtaining "sufficient knowledge, education and literacy; by managing money and resources wisely, being spiritually strong, preparing for emergencies and eventualities; and by having physical health and social and emotional well-being." (Quoting Sister Julie B. Beck, Relief Society General President).

Here is an exceptional video on the history of the Church's Welfare System:

Checking out Urban Legends

2009-05-10T10:52:00.003-07:00

It is truly amazing how many unfounded stories circulate on the Internet in the form of chain E-mails. How do you know if the latest threat to society or heart rending loss is real? Larry Richman at LDS Media Talk has provided a list of ways to check the validity of a source before you pass it along to the your entire E-mail list.

To quote Mr. Richman, in part,

Check the facts on a fact-checking site. The following are the big four: Snopes.com is the grand-daddy of all fact-checking sites. Some of the worst chain spams even quote Snopes with an embedded link to give their e-mail an added level of authenticity. TruthOrFiction.com is an excellent site from Rich Buhler. About Urban Legends is an about.com subsite that has been hosted for ten years by David Emery, who is passionate about finding and debunking rumors, myths, pranks, and odd stories. Break The Chain has been around since 1999 and is an authoritative source on stupid chain mails.

We usually call this type of story or news article an "alligator story" after the reference to alligators in the New York sewers. Don't fall for alligator stories. Check your facts.

You might want to be prepared to have a lot of popups if you follow some of the above links.

The recession is over -- we can all go out and spend money

2009-05-05T20:47:00.003-07:00

Yeah, sure. Recent news articles paint a rosy picture of the end of the current recession. According to the New York Federal Reserve "there is almost no possibility that the economy will be in recession by the middle of this year according to the Fed's model, which has accurately predicted the last 7 recessions, back to 1960."

Without going to the "experts" what do the most relevant statistics say?

Although the next release of the Employment Situation is scheduled for May 8th, 2009, as of April 3, 2009, nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline sharply in March (-663,000), and the unemployment rate rose from 8.1 to 8.5 percent. Payroll employment has decreased by 3.3 million over the past 5 months. In March, job losses were large and widespread across the major industry sectors. There were 13.2 million unemployed workers in the U.S.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI-U decreased 0.1 percent in March after rising 0.4 percent in February. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in March, the same increase as in February. So despite the current recession, we still have a small increase in inflation. The housing price index continued to decline in March.

Bankruptcy filings in the federal courts rose 31 percent in calendar year 2008, according to data released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The number of bankruptcies filed in the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2008, totaled 1,117,771, up from 850,912 bankruptcies filed in CY 2007.

I don't want to paint a totally gloomy picture. But it is unreasonable to suppose that this long standing problem will not be resolved in one or two more months. It is time to be prepared and continue to avoid debt, prepare for emergencies and rely on counsel from the Prophets of God.

Gardening in containers

2009-05-02T14:05:00.002-07:00

As suggested by the Provident Living Website, "You can plant in almost any kind of container. Try using plastic jugs, garbage cans, milk cartons, cans, plastic bags, baskets, a wagon bed, kitchen canisters, or clay pots. The bottom of the container should have several small drain holes and be lined with 2 to 3 inches of small gravel before you put in the topsoil. Hang containers from windows, put them on windowsills or in window wells; line your sidewalk or driveway with them, or hang them from your ceiling."

There are an abundance of resources on container gardening. Try some of the following:

Vegetable Gardening in Containers, Texas A&M University

Guide to Container Gardening

Vegetable Gardening in Containers, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Container GardeningTips.com

You can even grow plants upside down on grow poles.

There are even places to grow a garden in the center of large cities. On a recent trip to New York, we looked out our hotel window into a rooftop garden. Here is an article on one in Vancouver.

"A garden is never so good as it will be next year."-- Thomas Cooper

What to do about Swine Flu

2009-04-29T17:25:00.002-07:00

Straight from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention, here are their suggestions for avoiding problems with the Swine Flu outbreak:

What You Can Do to Stay Healthy

Stay informed. This website will be updated regularly as information becomes available.
Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
Take everyday actions to stay healthy.

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
Stay home if you get sick. CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.
Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.
Develop a family emergency plan as a precaution. This should include storing a supply of food, medicines, facemasks, alcohol-based hand rubs and other essential supplies.
Call 1-800-CDC-INFO for more information.

The number one way to avoid infection is to wash your hands frequently. This is from my own personal experience. Since I spend my days around people all the time, I wash my hands every time I get a chance and every time I come home.

Gardening with the priciples learned from the panqar huyu

2009-04-28T12:32:00.003-07:00

The Panqar Huyus is a system of agriculture developed by the Benson Agriculture and Food Institute of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. To quote the Manual for the Construction and Management of Panqar Huyus,

The panqar huyu is a small semi-subterraneous green house. The top assembly onsists of a polythene covering commercially known as "Agrofilm", which is partially opened during the day as a lid. The plants germinate and grow inside due to the warm temperature maintained inside because of the specially prepared floor and walls. In this way, the panqar huyu allows the cultivation of species that are normally not produced in the Altiplano. Crops can be harvested multiple times in a year, and the crop cycle can be shortened accordingly. This allows families to produce and consume more vegetables that are rich in nutrients that would otherwise be unavailable to families in the high altitude regions and during certain seasons of the year.

In other words, this is an extreme variation on the grow box method of gardening.

The point of this illustration is to show that there are innovative methods of growing plants for high production at a minimal cost. If you meticulously calculate the cost of home production and compare it to the purchased cost for processed foods, you will find that it is nearly always less expensive to grow your own food. This is especially true if you grow herbs and vegetables that are less popular. One limitation on the cost of growing your own food, is for field crops, such as corn, potatoes, wheat and other similar plants. In the case of wheat, for example, it is difficult to crow enough to make a difference and the harvested seed is usually more expensive than purchased seed because of economies of scale.

Click here for a detailed discussion of the cost of canning tomatoes. If you do a search on the Internet on store bought vs. home grown, you will find hundreds of thousands of hits.

It is absolutely important in today's world of instant gratification that we return to the basics and one of those basics is knowing how to grow plants. By utilizing one of the many high production methods, you could feed yourself and your whole family on a very small sized garden plot. Even if you live in an apartment, you can still grow a sizable amount of produce and herbs in boxes and pots.

The reality of unemployment

2009-04-24T18:06:00.004-07:00

One of the products of the recent economic downturn is an increase in "unemployment." At least once a month we get new unemployment figures and collectively wring our hands over the increase. News reporters and magazine writers give us interviews with the recently unemployed and how they are coping with their "unemployment." I submit that we do not have a consistent concept of the components of the unemployment statistics and have no consistent idea or definition of what it means to be unemployed.

Usually, the person interviewed as recently losing their job, is cited as having worked for the same company or in the same type of business for a long period of time. What is ignored in the news accounts is the underlying problem associated with employment in the best of times. The graph above, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics demonstrates the problem. The bottom line of the graph is 4% unemployment. In other words, 4% of the population is always unemployed.

In most cases, the newly unemployed are just joining those who lost their jobs during even boom times. The present unemployment rate is about 2% higher than the jobless rate in 2003. The actual unemployment rate topped out at 6.3% in 2003 and the last figure for March, 2009 was 8.5% a difference of 2.2%.

Why this observation? Losing your job is a fact of life in America today. If you do not prepare for the event, you will suffer. The time to think about upgrading your job skills is right now. Go to school. Learn a new trade. Take an on-line class. Do yourself and your family a favor, don't wait for the pink slip, retool right now.

Gardening for self reliance

2009-04-21T11:49:00.002-07:00

Lessons learned through revolutionary microfarming techniques in third world countries are also applicable to home gardens in the United States. Just as learning to grow a productive garden can improve the quality of life of the impoverished people of the earth, returning to basic agricultural practices can improve the quality of life of anyone, willing to put forth the effort.

One of the earliest proponents of the gardening revolution is Dr. Jacob Mittleider, world-renowned international agricultural consultant. Beginning in 1964, as a result of working with Lima Linda University in California, Dr. Mittleider developed the Mittleider Method of grow box gardening.

This early method of mixing hydroponics with grow boxes has evolved into a number of more recent iterations. The most popular of these is the "All New Square Foot Gardening" from the Square Foot Gardening Foundation.

It is debatable whether the organizations propounding the various gardening methods are more interested in the money to be made from the gardeners by selling books and supplies, or whether they are actually dedicated to improving home gardens.

Whether or not you subscribe to one (or more) of the popular types of gardens, it is the actual activity of planting and caring for your garden, not to mention the food, that creates the benefits. As stated by President Thomas S. Monson, “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare,” Ensign, Sept. 1986, 3: “Self-reliance is a product of our work and undergirds all other welfare practices. It is an essential element in our spiritual as well as our temporal well-being.”

Quoting from the Provident Living Website, "Planting a garden, even a small one, allows for a greater degree of self-reliance. With the right information and a little practice, individuals and entire families can enjoy the many benefits of planting and tending a garden."

Brand names and advertising

2009-04-19T09:28:00.003-07:00

This last week we took one of our periodic trips to Costco. In the entrance to the store, they had two shopping baskets overflowing with various items. On one side they had "brand name" products, and on the other side, the Costco "house brands." The point of the display was to show the "savings" achieved from purchasing the Costco brands versus the nationally recognized name brands. First of all, this comparison is entirely fictitious. Remember the one important detail not set out on the comparison lists; Costco sets the prices. It is extremely easy for Costco, or any other retailer for that matter, to give a price advantage to their own house brands, all they need to do is set the price lower, often only by a few cents, than the national brands.

Here are three questions to ask yourself before you automatically purchase either a national brand or house brand, based on the price in the store:

1. What is the comparison price to other stores? Just because the generic breakfast cereal is cheaper than the name brand in any particular store does not mean that the price is good compared to those same items in another store.

2. How do the two products, name brand versus house brand, compare in ingredients, size of container and the amount of product in the container? A can or jar containing an ounce or two less per container is not a fair comparison.

3. Does the house brand have the same taste, quality or consistency as the national brand? You may actually prefer the house brand to the national brand, in fact, they may be exactly the same product with merely a different label.

One thing that happens with purchases at warehouse stores like Costco and Sam's Club, is that both the house brands and the national brands come in significantly larger quantities. This may or may not be an advantage. If you only eat one container of a product a year, having two large ones with a limited shelf life may not be a savings at all, but may be a waste of money and shelf space in your own home.

Buy wise and shop sanely.

Reconizing an addictive spending habit

2009-04-12T20:51:00.002-07:00

Many things can become addictive, including the obvious drugs, alcoholism, gambling, pornography and other equally harming substances or activities. It is well documented, that unfortunately, spending is also addicting. The same types of brain activity and the rush of the incredibly satisfying neurotransmitters called serotonins that occurs when a person is addicted to drugs, occur to the person addicted to spending.

One of the hallmarks of an addictive behavior is denial. The first step, as in conquering all addictions is a detailed review of all of your spending habits. The question to ask is how is the spending affecting my finances? My work? My family and my personal life? Indiana University gives the following description of a shopping addict:

Shopoholics, when they are feeling "out of sorts, shop for a " pick-me-up." They go out and buy, to get a high, or get a "rush" just like a drug or alcohol addict. Shopping addiction tends to affect more women than men. They often buy things they do not need. Holiday seasons can trigger shopping binges among those who are not compulsive the rest of the year. Many shopping addicts go on binges all year long and may be compulsive about buying certain items, such as shoes, kitchen items or clothing; some will buy anything.

There is actually an organization for addicted shoppers called Debtors Anonymous. You can take their debt quiz to see if you have a problem. They describe their organization as follows:

"Debtors Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from compulsive debting. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop incurring unsecured debt. There are no dues or fees for D.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.

D.A.is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stop debting one day at a time and to help other compulsive debtors to stop incurring unsecured debt."

Living within your means

2009-04-09T19:27:00.002-07:00

It is inevitable that just as you begin to get your finances in order, along comes an emergency and you are right back where you started, in debt! If that is the story of your life, you need to be even more realistic about your needs and wants. Most crisis are highly predictable.

For example, if you have deferred maintenance on your car or truck, you will one day pay the price in expensive repairs. Having your car break down should not be an emergency that puts you into a panic and spending money you do not have. Every item we own has an overhead of maintenance, storage and cost of use. In the case of something like a pencil, the cost may be insignificant or even free and there may be no maintenance at all other than sharpening the pencil periodically. But even pencils become a product in need of replacement.

Cars and computers are at the other end of the spectrum. Whenever I teach about a computer program, which I do frequently, I am always asked about the cost of upgrades. Upgrades and periodic hardware replacements are a cost of computing, just like gas and oil for your car. You can try to defer the costs out into the future, but you will pay then with a great degree of anguish through the loss of data, or save now with planning and foresight.

If you intend to keep your appliances and mechanical devices, from air conditioners to blenders, operating and useful, you must always budget for the time the item must be repaired or replaced. It may seem too obvious, but car tires wear out and you can expect the tires to need replacing. To do this without going into debt, you must budget an amount sufficient each month to pay the pro rata cost of replacement when it is needed. The same could be said for medical expenses, and other "unexpected" but certain expenses.

Use your head, think ahead and plan for the maintenance of all of the things that might break or wear out, everything from clothes to paint for the house. Without a budget, everything that happens will turn into an emergency.

If you think about repairing an item, such as a washing machine or dryer, you may look at the cost of a new item before spending hundreds of dollars on repairs. Sometimes the cumulative cost of repairing an old item outweighs the advantage. If you determine, through tracking your expenses that there are things you don't need, like cable TV, then cut then out of your budget and save the cost.

The first step to breaking the cycle of debt

2009-04-08T06:34:00.004-07:00

In a talk given at the April 4, 2009 General Conference of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Robert D. Hales counseled members to break the cycle of debt and other uncontrolled wants. This is good advice for all, whether members or not of the Church. Elder Hales said, "Learn to say, 'We can't afford it, even though we want it.' Or, 'We can afford it, but we don't need it.' "

Provident living is about separating those things we need and can afford from those we don't need and can't afford. Don't be too anxious to put something into the category of a "need," For most, especially those living in the United States, we can usually save and live on less. The trick is living on less in good times, not just in bad times. As Elder Hales said, "Our challenges, including those we create by our own decisions, are part of our test in mortality. Let me assure you that your situation is not beyond the reach of our Savior. Each temptation we overcome strengthens us, not destroys us. The Lord will never allow us to suffer beyond what we can endure."

The first step in breaking the cycle of any addiction, including the cycle of debt, is to recognize that we have a problem that needs to be solved and then immediately beginning to focus on the things we do that lead us to the unwanted behavior. We cannot do this alone, again quoting from Elder Hales, "Our success is never measured by how strongly we are tempted, but by how faithfully we respond. We must ask for help from our Heavenly Father and seek strength through the atonement of his Son, Jesus Christ. In both temporal and spiritual things, obtaining this divine assistance enables us to become provident providers for ourselves and for others."

Urban Survival

2009-04-05T11:17:00.002-07:00

I was reading parts of a book lately, McNab, Chris. Living Off the Land. Guilford, Conn: Lyons Press, 2002. Not that I plan on doing that anytime soon, but one of the chapters caught my eye; Urban Survival. One of the things the author advocated was an "emergency food stockpile." His suggestions include (see pages 179-180):

One or two large sacks of rice.
Several bags of pasta.
Copious amounts of canned meat, fruit and vegetables.
Cartons of long-life milk.
At least 2 litres of bottled water per person per day for a minimum of seven days.
A good selection of durable energy foods, such as chocolate and nuts.
Plenty of pack of dehydrated survival food, as used by campers.

Now, the idea has merit but the methodology is all wrong. Food storage is for an emergency, but acquiring the food is not an emergency and should be done in a systematic way, using both short-term storage items, which should be used and thereby rotated on a regular basis and long term storage items, which should also be used but kept in sufficient quantities to act as a long term maintenance food supply.

For example, white rice, if kept cool and dry, has a shelf life of over thirty years, as does macaroni or spaghetti, but the so-called long-life milk has a shelf life of only six months without refrigeration. Likewise the shelf life of chocolate is generally a year. Ingredients such as nuts will shorten the shelf life. Chocolate kept beyond 1 year may suffer flavor loss or texture changes. On the other hand, non-fat dry milk has a shelf life of 20 years.

One other major concern is the number and age of people dependent on the food storage. The suggested list has no quantities suggested other than "plenty" and "copious." Neither of these suggested amounts have any relationship to reality or to what the family or individual may actually use. For example, we have "energy bars" which I just checked have expired dates. I found some salsa in the pantry with expired dates more than three or fours years old. If you aren't going to use it, don't count on the food being good past its self-life date.

The last item on the list, dehydrated food, is fine, but you also need to be aware that without water it isn't much good. If you are going to depend on dehydrated food in a storage system, make sure you take into account the water needed to process the food.

Food storage is an attitude and a way of life, although it is good to have food stored for an emergency, it is better to have food stored all the time in a systematic and usable way.

Home Storage Food Online

2009-03-31T18:12:00.002-07:00

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Provident Living Website has a form for ordering food from the Church's Home Storage Centers. Generally, the centers are located in areas with a larger concentration of the Church's members. If you are interested in visiting a center, you can contact a member of the Church and ask them to accompany you to a local center.

Although you may not be located near to a Home Storage Center, the form itself provides a way to compare prices and to see what foods can safely be stored for extended periods of time. The Provident Living Website also provides valuable help in all areas of preparedness, not just food storage.

The members of the Church believe that a cardinal principle of the gospel is to prepare for the day of scarcity. Work, industry, frugality are part of the royal order of life. Remember these words from Paul: “If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” (As quoted from Keith B. McMullin, “Lay Up in Store,” Ensign, May 2007, 51–53)

Education Pays

2009-03-29T19:07:00.002-07:00

There is a inverse relationship between the unemployment rate in 2008 and a person's level of education. A graph from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows annual average for the unemployment rate for people with doctoral degrees was only 2%, while those with less than a high school diploma were at 9%. If you need any more incentive for staying in school, the same graph shows the median weekly earnings in 2008 for those with a doctoral degree was $1,555 while those with less than a high school education earned only $426 a week. That means half of all the people in the U.S. with less than a high school degree earn less than $426 a week. Those people with professional degrees made less but had a lower unemployment rate.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported another monthly increase throughout the U.S. in unemployment. The national unemployment rate rose from 7.6 percent in January to 8.1 percent in February, which was 3.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier. The only state to increase employment was Louisiana. However, Michigan has a jobless rate of 12%.

Despite the clear message that staying in school or going back can pay significant dividends, this rule may not always be the case. In looking at the Occupational Outlook Handbook, out of the top twenty jobs expected to have the greatest increases in numbers over the next seven years, only four of the twenty involved a graduate or professional degree.

Life is like a journey in a wagon

2009-03-27T18:25:00.003-07:00

In the pioneer days, my ancestors traveled long distances, across the continent and from Utah to Arizona, in horse or ox drawn wagons. These pioneers had to make hard decisions about what to take with them and what to leave behind. In a talk given on 13 November 1990, Ardeth G. Kapp said, "We read about the pioneers who, in the early history of the Church, left their possessions, "their things," and headed west. Those who were with the handcart company who would push or pull their carts into the wilderness would give much thought to what they would make room for in their wagons and what they would be willing to leave behind. Even after the journey began, some things had to be unloaded along the way for people to reach their destination."

She went on to say, "In our season of abundance and excess, even while we are counseled to reduce and simplify, there will be a high level of frustration until we understand the value of pruning. When someone asks the question, "How do you do it all?" our answer should be, "We don't." We must be willing to let go of many things but defend with our lives the essentials."

What if you had to leave tomorrow and all you could take with you had to fit in your car. What would you take and what would you leave? If there are things that you would leave, why do you keep them? If you fear the lose of things, then maybe things are more important to you than peace of mind and security. Preparation involves making decisions about what is really necessary and important and discarding the unneeded and the unnecessary.

Riding out the storm

2009-03-26T10:34:00.002-07:00

“Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economic lives if they had their . . . supply of food . . . and were debt-free. Today we find that many have followed this counsel in reverse: they have at least a year’s supply of debt and are food-free.” President Thomas S. Monson, “That Noble Gift— Love at Home,” Church News, May 12, 2001, 7.

Being debt free and having a supply of food is good start, but one of the most important preparations we can make in the present hard times, is for the loss of our employment. Life has no guarantees except that it will end. We cannot assume that the job we now have will continue. Companies go out of business, government budgets are cut, partners disagree, the ways that employment can end are themselves endless.

What can we do to prepare for the loss of a job? Unfortunately, many people strongly identify their self worth with their employment. This is evident when people are asked to introduce themselves, in the great majority of times (especially men) define themselves by the type of work they do. Reference is repeatedly made to the fact that men who retire suffer more physical and mental illness than those who continue working. This is especially true for professionals, whose lives are wrapped up their work. Coping with the loss can be overwhelming.

The starting point for an assessment of our job capabilities is a realistic inventory of our actual job skills. It is also important to evaluate whether or not your particular skills are needed in the geographic area in which you are presently employed.

Although I have been employed as an attorney most of my life, I left the profession voluntarily for more than six years to work in computer businesses. I distinctly remember driving home from the law office one day, thinking about my skills and possible job opportunities and realizing that I didn't have to be a lawyer. I think that this realization never comes to those who make no effort to broaden their skills and interests. I am constantly reminded of this when I see friends spending months and months pursuing replacement employment with the exact same job description and in the exact same geographic area.

An important part of our preparedness is broadening our job skills and becoming more adaptable to changing times.

Short term vs. long term food storage

2009-03-24T13:21:00.002-07:00

Most food products lose nutrients over time. Prepared foods come with a date stamped expiration, after which the manufacturer does not recommend use. Notwithstanding the date stamp, many foods will still be edible long after that date. The reason for following the guidelines, is that knowing which foods fall into the category of extended shelf life is very difficult to predict.

However, there is a whole category of foods that have tested to extra long shelf life. As quoted from the Provident Living Website, "While there is a decline in nutritional quality and taste over time, depending on the original quality of food and how it was processed, packaged, and stored, the studies show that even after being stored long-term, the food will help sustain life in an emergency."

Those foods that store well for as long as 30 years, so long as they are kept dry and free from pest infestation, are wheat, white rice, corn, sugar, pinto beans, rolled oats, pasta, potato flakes and apple slices. Both non-fat powdered milk and dehydrated carrots can last as long as 20 years. Some other staples that have a long shelf life include items like salt, baking soda, and Vitamin C.

Foods high in oil and vegetable oil itself may only last one or two years.

Short term storage works well with a system of rotation, putting the newly purchased items in the back in a first in-first out system of management. If you inventory your food supply and find items that are older and have not been consumed, you can draw the conclusion that your particular needs do not include that item.

In all food storage situations, local laws and ordinances concerning food should be observed. Although in the U.S. food storage is somewhat unusual, it is not bizarre or strange to have a adequate food supply for times of need or emergency.

What a sacrifice!

2009-03-23T18:02:00.004-07:00

A recent news article on the impact of the downturn in the economy quoted a young married woman as claiming that her concern about her job and her husband's job had her purchasing generic paper towels over a brand name. I was struck by this person's efforts to get back to the basics, regular no-name paper towels. What a sacrifice! But it did get me thinking about the impact our purchasing choices have on our own personal cost of living.

I really don't know whether the reporters who use this kind of example are serious or not. But look at the difference in cost between a generic or house brand of paper towels and the high end brand names and you will see significant differences in price per sheet or price per use, however you want to look at it. Underlying this concern about paper towels is another more serious issue. The notion that you have to use a consumable. A Swifter instead of a mop. A paper towel instead of a wash cloth. A disposable duster rather than a dust cloth.

Modern advertising has convinced the younger generation of middle class educated people that they can only be clean and sanitary if they use the "disposable" product instead of the germy old fashioned re-usable cloth. This attitude of disposable commodities permeates our society to such an extent that most people never even see the alternative, which in most cases is much less expensive (and has less of an environmental impact).

You may not spend much on paper products, but you could probably spend less. Using less expensive options is not so much an exercise in frugality as it is an exercise in realizing that paying to dust your home may not be the best overall solution. It is impossible to imagine how a person caught up in the spend to clean mode could understand the real issue of living providently. Next time there is a "spill" unlike the TV ads, try using a reusable wash cloth instead of a paper towel.

Learning to manage your money

2009-03-20T11:45:00.002-07:00

Whatever your income level, you can always do a better job of managing the resources you have. Unless you are faced with a catastrophic loss due to injury, illness or death, how you manage your resources determines whether or not you survive or go into debt. Controlling your expenditures is definitely the first level of concern. but many people lose money through ignorance of their rights and knowing their options.

The U.S. Financial Literacy and Education Commission (the government has a commission for everything) has an extensive Website called "Mymoney." They have resources on budgeting and taxes, credit, financial planning, home ownership, paying for education, children, privacy, fraud, scams, responding to life events, retirement planning, saving and investing and starting a small business.

Education is the first step to enlightenment. Use the resources available to educate yourself as to the best ways to avoid debt and survive these hard times.

I find it sad

2009-03-15T19:49:00.002-07:00

I read more and more stories in the news about older people losing their jobs. Now, that may be a sad state of affairs, but not as sad as the aftermath. So many of these people are quoted as not knowing what to do with their time. The loss of human productivity through lack of alternatives is appalling. It doesn't seem to occur to these people to volunteer at a local charity, or library, or homeless shelter, or volunteer at the local school.

What about learning? There are always hundreds of free classes, on-line, off-line or from schools, community colleges or universities. What about learning a new trade, a new language, a new way of life? What about starting a new business? Or just getting out and exercising and enjoying nature?

There are the exceptions. One man in our neighborhood, upon losing his job, has turned his whole back yard into a productive garden, growing fruit and vegetables to feed his family. Personally, if I were to lose my job (not likely, by the way unless through illness or senility) I have so many projects in place, lined up, that it would be years before I ever had a day off.

The tragedy of life isn't in the things we lose, but in what we do or do not do with what is left.

Some thoughts on the financial crisis

2009-03-14T16:41:00.002-07:00

A recent article in USA Today highlighted the anxiety and need for second jobs of those impacted by the recent economic woes. Using the example of a bank manager whose wife was laid off by Anheuser-Busch. "There's definitely anxiety," says the husband, whose employer is cutting his salary by 5% this year. Now, if you have read any of my past posts, you can probably guess what is coming: (names omitted)

The family's income dropped from about $93,000 to $47,000 a year. After paying their $1,700 mortgage and some of their roughly $50,000 in credit card debt each month, the husband says, there's barely $200 left.

So they tap their savings, and weigh every expenditure — from an ice cream cone to a haircut.

"Sometimes you can't afford to get food," he says. "We just scrape whatever's in (the pantry)."
The wife remains unemployed, but is searching for a job.

In February, the husband tried to get food stamps and make payment arrangements with his credit card companies. But he was turned down for both — because he earned too much money to qualify for food aid, and he already had the lowest interest rates offered on his cards.

What is wrong with this picture? $50,000 in credit card debt on the previous income of $93,000 a year!!! Not only that, on an income of $47,000 a year he tries to get food stamps. Why aren't I sympathetic to this scenario? What happened to thrift, provident living and food storage? And we expect the U.S. Government to bail out these people?

The article also mentions a 39-year-old lawyer, who has three children and is concerned about her family's financial security. She fears her husband's job could be cut. What happened to savings and paying off debt? Why not use some of that $93,000 to pay off all those credit cards and the house too?

Now, someone is going to say, they probably got all that debt from medical bills. Not likely, with a job at Anheuser-Busch and medical coverage.

It is really time not just to think about the basics of provident living, but to do something about it. Get out of debt. Build up your food storage to have a three month's supply of food and other necessities, put off purchasing anything that you cannot afford. Live frugally and survive. What is more prosper in hard times.

5 ways to significant savings

2009-03-12T07:02:00.004-07:00

Here are some simple and reasonable suggestions for saving money. They do not take any major changes in the way you live or spend, but they are methods of savings that will, in some cases, dramatically affect the way you view your expenditures. Recent news reports indicate that Americans are saving more for the first time in years. If you aren't one of those whose savings have increased, maybe you could try some or all of the following:

1. Pay off existing debt and avoid interest payments.

One of the first ways to save significant amounts of money is to stop using credit and start moving towards paying off high interest loans. Begin by identifying the actual rate of interest you are paying on any credit balances. You are in real danger if you are paying only the minimum due on credit cards or other revolving credit obligations. Start by paying more than the minimum on the debt with the highest interest. Even a small payment in excess of the accumulated interest will start to have an effect. When one obligation is paid, take the money that went to that payment and apply it, plus the regular payment, on the next higher interest rate obligation. Although this method starts slowly, as payments accumulate, the debts will get paid faster and faster.

Once you have paid off high interest obligations. Do not use those credit cards again. Cut them up.

2. Substitute lower priced store bought items.

Many times brand name merchandise is no better quality or usefulness than the generics. But beware of generics that actually cost more than the name brand! Use the cost comparison labels in the supermarkets and try not to purchase items on a whim or spur of the moment. Plan all your purchases.

3. Plan shopping and activities to conserve fuel.

It is amazing how much time and money you can spend on short shopping or activity trips. Many the children don't need five extra curricular classes a week. Maybe, by making lists and keeping track of purchases, you can go to the store only once a week, rather than daily. Use your networking skills to carpool, even though gas prices have come down from historically high levels, there is still room to make significant savings through driving less.

4. Lower your thermostat.

High fuel costs do not just affect driving costs. Home heating and cooling costs can be one of the most significant expenses for a family. Lowering your thermostat in winter and raising it in the summer can have a dramatic impact on the cost of heating and cooling. Wear a sweater, rather than heat the house. Use the outside temperature to your advantage by opening and closing windows. Spend a little time analyzing your window coverings and shade possibilities. Spend more time outside.

5. Take advantage of sales.

The Internet has given all of us the ability to shop for values on items we need. But it has also made a available the ability to purchase items we would never have purchased. Be aware of the actual cost of items. I have seen items marked for sale, some of which were really higher priced than the "regular" cost. It may be necessary to monitor the price of an item over a period of time to see if a "sale" is nothing more than the usual seasonal variation in prices.

The amount that can be saved by being aware of your spending habits and taking charge of your spending can be significant.

Poverty -- a perspective

2009-03-10T18:54:00.005-07:00

Once while traveling home from my mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I visited Lima, Peru. Lima is a unique city. The coastal desert of Peru is very dry, it makes the Sonoran Desert look like a jungle. Even though I had lived in Argentina for two years, nothing had prepared me for the poverty of Lima. I was by myself and walked or rode the buses around the city. It took me a while to realize that the cars that were stopping at the bus stops, were actually "buses." The private owners had a route and when they stopped, you just climbed in.

I soon discovered that in Peru, the rich people lived in the center of the city and the poorer people lived on the hills in the "suburbs." I climbed the hills and soon became very concerned for my well being. The pens were full of pigs and chickens and the smell was overpowering. I felt very rich and very vulnerable. I took the picture above and hurriedly left.

Years later, I was living in Panama. I worked in the Church in downtown Panama City, while I was serving in the U.S. Army. I took the above picture from a hill overlooking the city. Now, Panama is much more modern and the downtown is all high rise hotels and offices, but back then the areas with the metal roofs were crowded with the poorest people imaginable. The average occupancy of the downtown area, in some places was 50 people per room. In my work in the Church, I would often go into these poorer areas. By this time in my life I had no fear. I walked through the crowds and the garbage and refuse and felt right at home. I loved the people and I loved the City.

One day we were looking at old pictures from my missionary experience. When I came to the picture at the beginning of this post, I could not remember where this place was. I had not remembered going into a nice prosperous looking suburb, especially one with hills. It took me a long time to realize that this was the "poor" neighborhood in Lima.

I have now seen real poverty. I know what it is like to live without sufficient food or clean drinking water. I know what it is like to have a whole family, mother, father, six or seven children, some married and grandchildren, 23 people living in a one bedroom apartment with one bathroom.

I do not feel that I am any better than any of these people. They are all children of a loving Heavenly Father. But one thing I can say, if you haven't lived with these people you don't know poverty. Losing a few dollars (or even a lot) in the fall of the stock market is no preparation for real poverty. Get a perspective on life and appreciate the great abundance and blessings of our lives. One thing I did learn, we can certainly live happy and well without much more than a tin roof and some rice and beans.

Netbooks, the challenge to never stop learning

2009-03-08T15:35:00.005-07:00

There are thousands of well paying jobs today that did not even exist ten years ago. Changes in technology are accelerating despite the economic crisis. Right now, for example, a whole new type of computer is being sold, the netbook. This category of computer is so new, you may not have seen one or you may have seen one and not noticed. Recently, Costco featured a display of netbook computers by HP for under $500. The first true netbook is considered to be the ASUS Eee PC introduced in 2007. As reviewed in Wikipedia, it was noted for its combination of a light weight, Linux operating system, solid-state drive and relatively low cost. Newer models have added the option of Windows XP operating system and traditional hard disk drives. Following the EeePC, Everex launched its CloudBook, MSI released the Wind, Dell and HP both released a "Mini" series (the Inspiron Mini and HP Mini), and others soon followed suit. Windows XP based models were also introduced.

A quick check of the prices shows that these mini-computers begin around $250 new.

It is even rumored that Apple may develop a model, perhaps a hyped up iPhone with a keyboard.

One measure of preparation is the ability to react quickly to changing circumstances. As these new products begin to sell in the millions of units, various secondary markets, programs, accessories and add-ons will likely become available. These new inexpensive computers are not a passing fad, they will fundamentally change the way computers are sold and marketed again, and probably yet again when the market is redefined. Meanwhile, those who ignore reality and fail to prepare through additional learning, as the old saying goes, prepare to fail.

At a recent software company presentation, I was disappointed at the antagonism the computer users had to change. Not only were they unhappy that they might have to learn a new program, they were positively angry at the prospect of something new. Too bad for them. In this changing world economy, change and preparation and learning are the keys to survival.

When all around are losing theirs...

2009-03-07T13:39:00.003-07:00

It is hard to read the news without encountering a comparison of the recent economic downturn and the Great Depression. I didn't live through the 1930s, but my parents and grandparents did. There is not one of the comparisons about the present economy that bears even the slightest shadow of resemblance to the Great Depression. I have written about this topic before, but it bears repeating.

In the 1930s the life expectancy of the average male was 58.1 years and female was 61.6. Today, the average life expectancy is around 75.2 years for males and 80.4 years for females. The average salary in the 1930s was around $1,368 dollars a year. In 2009 dollars that salary is about $17,296 a year. In 2007, the median annual household income was $50,233. In the 1930s on an annual income of roughly $1000, most families had between $20 and $30 a week for food, clothing and shelter. That same $20 in 1930 translates to about $250 a week in 2009.

Before we start wringing our hands about the economy, think about all the things you couldn't buy in 1930; computers, CDs, DVDs, cell phones, home air conditioning, household refrigerators, digital cameras, the Internet and on and on an on.

I need only mention segregation, lack of education, the fact that a huge percentage of the U.S. population lived on farms and any of a hundred or thousand other changes in our society, to show that there is no way that conditions are even faintly comparable to today to the 1930s.

Will the economic downturn have an effect on our lives and our society? Yes, of course, but lets not get carried away thinking we are in any way comparable to the suffering and deplorable conditions that existed in the 1930s.

The hidden costs of credit cards and debit cards

2009-03-03T15:20:00.004-07:00

Visa announced a new ad campaign. In previous campaigns Visa showed people making major purchases for vacations and other large ticket items using their credit card. The new campaign is an attempt to overcome the effects of the major downturn in the economy. The company explains the goal of the ads to deliver "a single marketing message that is consistent with the company's core strategy of migrating cash and check spending to Visa. The campaign is not about spending more, it is about using Visa for more of your spending."

Previously Visa was concerned that people were not using their credit card and were migrating to using debit cards. However, even though the user does not pay a fee for the use of their Visa Debit Card, the merchant who sells to the user does pay a fee. That fee is passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices for goods and services sold with the "convenience" of a debit or credit card. This hidden cost is compounded even more if the user is charged a fee for the use of the debit card, as is done in many gas stations across the country.

Another hidden cost of using your credit or debit card is the cost of the world wide advertising campaign. See videos of campaign. Notice the absence of such values as thrift, industry, savings, self control and provident living. We are in the middle of a severe economic downturn and Visa is advertising ice climbing, surfing, travel and a lot of people doing things that have nothing to do with everyday living, especially those people shown flying in a private plane.

Credit and debit cards are not free. You pay extra for every purchase.

Economic Seff-Reliance

2009-03-01T16:48:00.002-07:00

Brigham Young University has a Center for Economic Self-Reliance. In answer to the question, what is the ESR Center, BYU says the following:

Poverty is a word that conveys a lot of different meanings to different people. Some see hunger, others see disease, while others see squalor. These mental pictures often come from the media's publication of dire cases of starvation and cataclysm. Yet there is another, often more insidious side to poverty. It is the fact that it exists just around the corner, and that we choose not to see it. This is why as a worldwide community we respond more to disaster than the daily, grinding catastrophe that is poverty.

For instance, here in Utah where the ESR Center is located, almost ten percent (225,000 people) live in poverty. In the United States, almost thirteen-percent (37 million) live in poverty, while over forty percent (2.7 billion) people around the world live in poverty. For millennia the same questions have been asked, "What causes poverty? What can be done? How can I help in a way that builds self-reliance?"

The news is full of stories about those who have been recently impoverished or may soon become so. The mission of the BYU ESR Center is explained by their Web site:

The BYU Economic Self-Reliance Center (ESR Center) was founded in 2003 with the express purpose of answering those questions by focusing on helping families become economically self-reliant. As an academic research center, we do this by helping socially minded practitioners to better serve their clients. Our research agenda investigates and develops interventions that best promote economic self-reliance—both domestically and abroad.

The two main projects that are the focus of the ESR Center are Microfranchising and the Single Mom Initiative.

The ESR Center defines MicroFranchises as small businesses that can easily be replicated by following proven marketing and operational concepts. The overall objective of MicroFranchising is to promote economic development by developing sound business models that can be replicated by entrepreneurs at the base of the pyramid; therefore, the start-up costs of MicroFranchises will be minimal. The key principle is replication, replicating success to scale. MicroFranchising is a new tool designed specifically to assist these entrepreneurs to become more successful and reach economic self-reliance, through the provision of successful business models with the necessary initial and on-going training needed to succeed.

The Single Mom Initiative (SMI) represents the ESR Center’s effort to help families in Utah. Beginning in late 2005, the SMI was created in partnership with the Single Mom Foundation with the express purpose of helping single moms in Utah achieve economic self-reliance.

Although the U.S. is not considered a poverty stricken country, but with 7.6% over-all unemployment and with the rate certain to increase, there are many people who are facing poverty without the tools to survive. Maybe it is time to use what we have learned from dealing with poverty in third world countries, right here in the U.S.

Save money -- keep clean

2009-02-24T19:30:00.002-07:00

We are so used to using commercially sold chemical cleaners, we often forget that common household substances can do the job equally as well at a small percentage of the cost. These common substances are powerful cleaning agents and should not be used without the same caution you would use with so-called powerful cleaning solutions. As an added bonus, these agents are all biodegradable and environmentally safe. There are hundreds of thousands of Websites with lists of the types of products. Here is one example.

As you can see lemon juice, baking soda, castile soap, Borax or Boric acid, white vinegar, washing soda, and cornstarch make up the majority of the ingredients.

White vinegar is the most amazing. We have been trying it lately, and it works as well or sometimes better than most of the commercial products and at about $3 a gallon it is a real bargain.

This is a situation where new isn't necessarily better. It may not seem much of savings to buy natural cleaning products over commercial brands, but once you begin the process of realizing that there are alternatives to expensive products your whole world may reorient itself into significant savings.

Always salable skills

2009-02-23T20:13:00.003-07:00

It is sad to see so many people losing their jobs. One person I know was commenting that several managers over his particular department had disappeared lately. My friend's comment, we never could figure out what they did in the company. To quote the Current Employment Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Nonfarm payroll employment fell sharply in January (-598,000) and the unemployment rate rose from 7.2 to 7.6 percent. Payroll employment has declined by 3.6 million since December 2007; about one-half of this decline occurred in the past 3 months."

A look at the statistics for employees on nonfarm payrolls by major industry sector, 1959 to date gives some good general guidelines for those work areas that are in the decline and those that are increasing. For example, construction is way down as is manufacturing. Transportation is up or steady, while education and health services are dramatically higher. Government employment is at an all time high. Information services are on the decline, contrary to the ads you see on TV.

Despite these statistics, there are those who will always be employed. They are those who learned to work and work hard at whatever job they have or can find, who give an honest day's work for their pay. Even though Mesa, Arizona is one of the hardest hit areas for construction, there are still contractors and crews out there working hard on jobs because they are sought after for their honesty, dependability and skill. Although a good contractor may lose a job, one that knows how to work and do a job well will always be in demand. This is the same everywhere in every profession, honesty, dependability and skill are always salable.

Count the beans

2009-02-21T21:04:00.003-07:00

Do you care that the house brand of some foods contain significantly fewer food items than the "name" brand? Have you ever compared cans of beans, for example, by dumping out the cans and counting the beans? Maybe if you have enough time to do this, you should get a life. But, if you do, and I know people who have done this, you might find that the house brand contains significant amounts of filler and/or water over some more "expensive" brands. Fortunately, the food labels give you a lot of information, if you know how to read them.

Here are some of the key Websites:

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. You need to look at the Heart and Vascular Information, The Low-Down on Food Label Claims

Reading Food Labels

U.S.D.A. How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label

Don't pay for filler or water. Use your head and think about the food you are buying. Does it do what I want it to do? Is it a good price based on content, cost per volume or weight and quality?

Do I really need the calories?

The Amazing Shrinking Twinkie

2009-02-19T21:56:00.001-07:00

There is sometimes little difference between the perception and the reality. It is my perception that many of the products I used to buy in a certain size or quantity are shrinking precipitously. Take for example ice cream. It is very disturbing to me that a half gallon (64 oz) ice cream container is now only 1.75 quarts. Not only is the price going up, the size is going down. Candy bars and other items have begun their collapse into singularity.

Now, what does this have to do with survival in the modern age? It really does have a lot to do with survival. If you are one of those people that buy things based on price, you may forget that the ice cream you bought last week was so much a half gallon and the apparent good price of the new container is based on the fact that it is 25% smaller.

I don't think that Twinkies have actually shrunk, but they do seem a lot smaller than they used to be when I was young. There doesn't seem to be a lot written about the historic size of Twinkies but I don't remember them being quite so dinky.

The moral of this story is to watch carefully the cost/weight or quantity rather than the total price. The differences in price may actually reflect size differences. Also, larger isn't always cheaper. I am always looking at some huge container at Costco and saying maybe we should buy that, when the comment from my wife is always that the price is cheaper at some other store, even though the package is smaller. This knowledge ends up with us having a variety of container sizes. This week milk is cheaper in quarts and next in gallons etc. Look to the real cost, not the package cost.

Watch the prices rise

2009-02-16T17:07:00.003-07:00

Even the cost of living very frugally is going up. We discovered that a regular round box of oatmeal at just under 3 lbs. has gone up to $5.50. That works out to about $1.83 a pound. It may be higher in your area or lower, but the price has increased considerably in the last month or so. I did find prices at less on line, about $1.71 a pound but with shipping the cost is more.

Recent estimates state that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all food is forecast to increase 5.0 to 6.0 percent in 2008, as retailers continue to pass on higher commodity and energy costs to consumers in the form of higher retail prices. The CPI for food increased 4.0 percent in 2007, the highest annual increase since 1990. Food-at-home prices, led by eggs, dairy, and poultry prices, increased 4.2 percent, while food-away-from-home prices were up 3.6 percent in 2007.

Many of the basic foods store well, like wheat, oats, rice and other grains. Food storage is one way to ameliorate the rate of the price increase. By buying foods when the price is lower, seasonally or based on supply, you can reduce the overall impact of the price increase. Also buying in bulk can dramatically reduce the unit price. For example, bulk food suppliers still have rolled oats for about $1 to $1.25 a pound.

You may respond that you don't need fifty pounds of rolled oats, but maybe you can find two or three or more people who do want them and purchase cooperatively. There are strategies for reducing food costs dramatically.

$3 each, 6 for $20

2009-02-14T18:16:00.004-07:00

Going by a display in Safeway, the pricing on fire logs caught my eye. Not that I am in the market for a fire log, but the idea that they could sell 6 for $2 more than the cumulative individual price said either that they couldn't add (or multiply) or they expected that their customers can't either add or multiply. There are any number of these kinds of pricing strategies in supermarkets across the U.S. Buy one, get one free and actually pay more than the unit price for the same product. Get a $2 off coupon for a product that cost $10 more than the generic brand. Regular price $15, today's special $4 (when was the last time the item sold for $15?).

One of the most useful aspects of food sales is the availability of unit pricing. Most supermarkets mark their product shelves with small labels that tell the cost of the item and and some breakdown of the cost per weight or volume. The range of prices can be considerable, with "house" brands usually costing the least. Wise shoppers learn how to interpret the information provided in the stores to get the best bargains.

By having at least three months of food storage, the buyer is not forced to purchase items at a high seasonal or scarce price. The existence of stored foods, liberates the buyer from the vagaries of day to day price changes and opens up the concept of planned purchases of food. You buy products during the season when the price is low and live off of the stored food when prices are high. You can also adjust the way you purchase food to avoid price spikes.

Food storage becomes a strategy to save money on food over the long term, rather than simply starving when either money or food are scarce.

Having a disaster plan

2009-02-10T16:47:00.002-07:00

In our super connected world of cell phones and computers, it may seem difficult to visualize yourself and your family in a situation where none of the normal methods of communication are available. But these situations arise every day. Power outages are almost an every day occurrence somewhere in the world. Recently, bad weather and an ice storm left tens of thousands of people without power. The same power outage can disrupt cell phone service and even land line telephones.

In a warning on the Provident Living Website, in addition to a natural disaster, an emergency may occur anywhere and without warning. Examples include hazardous material spills, fires, power failure, and terrorist attacks. Consider which emergencies are possible in your location and identify specific ways to communicate in these types of emergencies.

If the disaster is confined to your home, such as a fire or other emergency, it is a good idea to have an evacuation plan and a place to meet. You may wish to practice, just like the fire drills they have in schools across the country. Boy Scouts have an Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge and the pamphlet for the merit badge is a good guide for any such emergency. The Merit Badge requirements include a sample home safety checklist.

There are a number of companies that specialize in home emergency equipment. One common recommendation is a 72 hour emergency kit. A Google search on "72 hour emergency kit" returned 11,200 results. There are a number of checklists on line advising what to put in the kit.

When we had a lot of children attending schools across the U.S. our family had its own 800 number, so that in the event of an emergency, any of the children could call home without incurring a charge. We still have an 800 number available, but with cell phones the need has diminished.

From experience, one of the most useful items to have in any emergency is a flashlight. But you should also consider food, water, bedding, clothing, fuel, and some basic equipment like knives and a shovel. Don't forget toilet paper.

Sewing-- a lost art?

2009-02-08T21:25:00.005-07:00

There a some fundamental skills that should not be lost. One of those is the skill and art of sewing. Statistics show that the number of sewing, needlework and piece goods stores in the United States has remained stable for the past ten years or so, but many schools have dropped the teaching of sewing and other home economics type skills. Except for historical dramas, the portrayal of people involved in sewing has completely disappeared from the American media. When was the last time you saw someone in a movie or television show sewing clothes for their family?

The real fact is that the woman who sews at home, says the trade organization Sewing Fashion Council, is college-educated, is 25 to 45 years old, often has a child ; her household income is $35,000 to $40,000. "There is a very high correlation between highly advanced education and women who sew," said Caryl Svendsen, a spokeswoman for the Sewing Fashion Council, a consumer-information resource in Manhattan. The Sewing Fashion Council says that the average cost of a contemporary sewing machine is $1,125. And while 29 percent of machine owners surveyed in 1988 had incomes under $20,000, another 29 percent had incomes over $50,000

Sewing, like many other activities, has become high tech. The number of electronic and computer operated machines for sale has increased dramatically. Even if you are not into the newest electronics, sewing is skill that can enhance your ability to weather the storms of modern life.

Homemade Bread

2009-02-07T18:08:00.003-07:00

One of life simple pleasures is coming into a house where bread had been recently baked. Anyone who has never had this experience is missing out on real life. There is no comparison between the white, almost tasteless air bread sold in stores, and a substantial piece of homemade bread made with your own cracked and milled wheat.

By storing wheat you already have the prime ingredient for making bread. There are endless bread recipes, here is one that is current in our larger family circle:

Dissolve and let bubble:
7 cups warm water [3-1/2]
5 Tb. yeast [2]
4 Tb. brown sugar [2]
Add the rest and beat until smooth:
1 cup oil [1/2]
4 Tb. salt [2]
1 cup honey [1/2]
7 cups white flour [3-1/2]
11 cups whole wheat flour [5-1/2]
Knead. Let raise until double, pan the bread, let raise. Bake
for 40 minutes at 350°. [Half recipe.]

Of these ingredients, all can be purchased at greatly reduced prices in bulk from suppliers. Yeast last for long periods if kept refrigerated or frozen. Brown sugar will last for a long time also but gets really hard over time. Oil will not store well. At most, it is good for a year. Salt stores forever, it is a mineral and will not deteriorate if kept dry. Honey will store for a year or so. Wheat stores for years if kept dry and cool. Fortunately, the ingredients that are most needed in quantity for long periods of time.

Another benefit of making your own bread, is the control over the ingredients. Many commercial breads contain a pharmacy of chemicals, preservatives and other ingredients. Fresh home baked bread is a treat not a treatment.

Simplify to Survive

2009-02-03T11:42:00.002-07:00

In our longing to find relief from the demands and stresses of our lives, the key to preparation and survival is often, simplification. One of the most visible symptoms of the intrusion of the world into our lives is the large flat screen TV. This obsession with huge displays was recently parodied in an episode of Monk. Police Lieutenant Randy Disher purchased a huge TV display to watch a major football game, in the course of trying to get the TV up to his apartment, the display became wedged in the staircase and Randy ends up watching the game upside down while lying on his back. He is joined in the hallway by Natalie Teeger, Monk's assistant who, at the end of the episode, possibly sarcastically comments, that watching the game upside down really is better than being there. (For all you fans, this summer is the final 8th Season of Monk).

The giant TV wedged in a hallway is a metaphor for how our desires to have the ultimate in possessions will often rule our lives. If we think that we will be that much happier or that much more important if we own a huge TV, then we need to reflect on the real values in our lives and start eliminating things that do not contribute to real security and happiness.

In a talk given at the October Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles commented on the basic needs of life and the spiritual (and economic) benefits of a simplified life style. He listed food, clothing, shelter and fuel, borrowing the list from Henry David Thoreau. As a summary of the concept, he quoted Elder William R. Bradford, “In righteousness there is great simplicity. In every case that confronts us in life there is either a right way or a wrong way to proceed. If we choose the right way, we are sustained in our actions by the principles of righteousness, in the which there is power from the heavens. If we choose the wrong way and act on that choice, there is no such heavenly promise or power, and we are alone and are destined to fail” (“Righteousness,” Liahona, Jan. 2000, 103; Ensign, Nov. 1999, 85).

He concluded with these thoughts, which might be a good thing to remember as we think about buying another huge TV, "In our search to obtain relief from the stresses of life, may we earnestly seek ways to simplify our lives. May we comply with the inspired counsel and direction the Lord has given us in the great plan of happiness. May we be worthy to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost and follow the guidance of the Spirit as we navigate this mortal journey. May we prepare ourselves to accomplish the ultimate purpose of this mortal test—to return and live with our Heavenly Father"

Worshiping at the shrines of commercialism

2009-01-30T17:42:00.004-07:00

It was Sunday again and the worshipers were filling the malls in their weekly devotions at the New Age Church of Commercial Enterprise. The crowds begin showing up before the doors even open to avoid sitting on the back seats. The music plays incessantly, repeating the words of veneration emanating from the Cathedrals of Consumption (Kowinski, William Severini. The Malling of America: Travels in the United States of Shopping. [United States]: Xlibris Corp, 2002).

Shopping has become the major cultural activity in our "united states of shopping" and many people have substituted a trip to the mall for sabbath worship. Although the actual day of observance is sometimes disputed, there is little dispute among Christians as to the existence of a sabbath day. See Exodus 31: 16-17 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual ^acovenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in ^asix days the Lord ^bmade heaven and earth, and on the ^cseventh day he ^drested, and was ^erefreshed. See also Mosiah 18: 23 And he commanded them that they should observe the ^asabbath day, and keep it holy, and also every day they should give thanks to the Lord their God.

In an article entitled "The Sabbath--Holy Day or Holiday" Elder Charles Didier of the Presidency of the Seventy asked the questions "Now is the time to ask ourselves: Is the Sabbath a holy day or a holiday? Shall I worship the Lord or worship pleasures and recreation?"

We may ask ourselves the same questions.

The time to prepare for a layoff is before it happens

2009-01-27T19:09:00.002-07:00

This week the news has been filled with gloomy predictions regarding employment. Major companies announced the lay off or laid off over 40,000 additional employees. Unemployment in the U.S. rose to 7.2 percent in December of 2008.

The time to prepare for a layoff is long before it happens. One of my friends confided in me that they will lose their home in a couple of months due to a layoff. But if you have no contingency plan in place, this could be a natural consequence. It is difficult in these times not to take an "I told you so" attitude but my heart goes out to those suffering, even if it is from their own choices. I feel so bad for those who are out of work and for their families.

President Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lifted a warning voice back in 1998. You can watch and listen as a prophet of God gives advice on the coming hard times, more than ten years ago.

President Hinckley said, speaking of his counselor, James Faust;

President Faust would not tell you this himself. Perhaps I can tell it, and he can take it out on me afterward. He had a mortgage on his home drawing 4 percent interest. Many people would have told him he was foolish to pay off that mortgage when it carried so low a rate of interest. But the first opportunity he had to acquire some means, he and his wife determined they would pay off their mortgage. He has been free of debt since that day. That’s why he wears a smile on his face, and that’s why he whistles while he works.

I urge you, brethren, to look to the condition of your finances. I urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt to the extent possible. Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from bondage.

If you had given heed to President Hinckley's warning more than ten years would have passed and possibly, you would have freed yourself from the bondage of a mortgage. Possibly, you would not have ridden the waves of speculation in the housing bubble and you would have taken the time to pay off your mortgage and become debt free. There is certainly a lesson here.

I hope that if you were not one of the prudent ones who paid off your mortgage that you will take heed in the future. You will not continue to bind yourself through costly interest. As you seek work, seek also to follow the counsel of a living prophet. Get out of debt!

The Compulsive Shopper

2009-01-23T07:21:00.004-07:00

Even in the best of economic times, a compulsive shopper can court financial disaster. In a crashing economy, compulsive shopping is even more destructive. In families and particularly between husband and wife, money management or the lack thereof, is one of the major areas for disagreement and disharmony. From a Los Angeles Times article, "A study published in the October 2006 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry found that at some point in the lives of an estimated 5.8% of the U.S. population, shopping will become a source of shame, a cry for help, the cause of job losses and broken relationships, a road to financial ruin. They are “compulsive buyers” – troubled by intrusive impulses to shop, prone to lose track of time while doing so, plagued by post-purchase remorse, guilt and financial woes and sometimes given up on by loved ones."

The article quoted by the Times is called Estimated Prevalence of Compulsive Buying Behavior in the United States, published in Am J Psychiatry 2006 163: 1806-1812. The article notes that for "some adults, shoppingis also a leisure activity (1), a means of managing emotions(2), or a way to establish and express self-identity (3). Forothers, the inability to control buying urges brings significantadverse consequences (4, 5). Uncontrolled problematic buyingbehavior has been referred to as uncontrolled buying (4), compulsivebuying (6), compulsive shopping (7), addictive buying (8), excessivebuying (9), and "spendaholism" (10)." [numbers are to references in the article].

The article notes that "[t]he adverse consequences includeguilt or remorse, excessive debt, bankruptcy, family conflict,divorce, illegal activities, such as writing bad checks andembezzlement, and even suicide attempts." In my personal experience, I have seen nearly all of these consequences.

I think there is an appropriate quote from Blaise Pascal (1623-1662):

Qu’est-ce donc que nous crie cette avidité et cette impuissance, sinon qu’il y a eu autrefois en l’homme un véritable bonheur dont il ne lui reste maintenant que la marque et la trace toute vide, qu’il essaye inutilement de remplir de tout ce qui l’environne, en cherchant dans les choses absentes le secours qu’il n’obtient pas des présentes, et que les unes et les autres sont incapables de lui donner, parce que ce gouffre infini ne peut être rempli que par un objet infini et immuable, c'est-à-dire que par Dieu même. (Project Gutenburg)

Translation: What does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object, in other words by God himself.

Diderot Effect

2009-01-21T07:29:00.002-07:00

The Diderot Effect was first described by Denis Diderot (1713-1784) in an essay entitled Regrets on Parting with My Old Dressing Gown [Regrets sur ma vieille robe de chambre]. Wikipedia explains the Diderot Effect as follows:

The Diderot Effect is the result of the interaction between objects within "product complements", or "Diderot unities", and consumers. A Diderot unity is a group of objects that are considered to be culturally complementary in relation to one another. For example, items of clothing, furniture, vehicles, etc. McCracken describes that a consumer is less likely to veer from a preferred Diderot unity in order to strive towards unity in appearance and representation of one's social role. However, it can also mean that if an object that is somehow deviant from the preferred Diderot unity is acquired, it may have the effect of causing the consumer to start subscribing to a completely different Diderot unity.

In simpler terms, the Diderot Effect describes the propensity people have to either complete a set of something or to make things match. Carried to an extreme, like some people I have known, purchase of new curtains ends up with the purchase of a new house, i.e. you need new furniture to go with the curtains, new carpeting to go with the furniture, new paint to go with the new carpets, then on to a new house for the new furniture and so forth.

This compulsion can only be overcome by recognizing the effect before the second purchase. You do not need new dinnerware because you bought a new set of glasses. Unfortunately, almost every ad you see tries to tell you otherwise. HomeDepot's success in "home improvement" depends, to a large measure, on people upgrading everything all the time. This effect is particularly pervasive in the area of fashion. You buy a new shirt and need matching tie and pants, or a new skirt and need matching blouse and purse.

Part of the effect also concerns the desire to have items that will fulfill a supposed need, i.e. if I just get a little bit faster computer, I will be able to do my work that much faster and better. Although some of these desires may be valid, to avoid a never ending spiral of purchases, you have to evaluate each purchase in terms of real value added and whether or not you will really use the newer or replacement item. If you haven't used that camera for a year, will purchasing a new one really change your pattern of use?

Being prepared includes the idea that you can actually cope with modern life and prosper, not just survive. Prosperity comes through making right choices consistently. Buying something new is not bad, by itself, but it can be, if you fail to understand that prosperity does not mean having new everything.

Deciding between needs and wants

2009-01-18T19:37:00.002-07:00

How we chose to spend our time and resources decidedly influences our spiritual and material well being. An important factor in that choice is our ability to distinguish between needs and wants, between those items of our material culture that improve our life and those that have a negative impact on our spirit. As Evita sings:

And as for fortune and as for fame
I never invited them in
Though it seemed to the world
They were all I desired
They are illusions
They're not the solutions
They promise to be
The answer was here all the time

The choices we make concerning our possessions will affect our spirit. As it says in Moses 3:5; "For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth.... And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them"

If we can recognize the spiritual nature of the physical world, we may be able to begin to separate those physical things that we need, food, clothes and shelter from those that we only want and can live without. There is a danger that this consideration alone, in its extreme, can lead to asceticism and withdrawal from society. But, contrary to this form of extreme denial, we can achieve a higher potential by focusing on a balance between the material and spiritual. Much of the fear we experience comes from our concern about our material well being, when our concern should be directed more to the well being of our spirit. We should consider whether acquiring another physical item will in itself add to our spiritual well being or decrease our ability to appreciate what is really important to our lives.

It is basic human nature to trust in the security of objects, however, security never comes from the acquisition of more objects, no matter how many things we have around us it is never enough to make us secure. We always believe that one more (fill in the blank) will make us truly happy. When true happiness comes as a condition of the soul, the result of righteous living in accordance with eternal principles. True happiness is a conscious decision. The security we all seek, to overcome the fear of loss comes only from this willingness to do the will of God even in difficult circumstances.

The cost of status consumption

2009-01-15T07:30:00.002-07:00

Branded selling is so pervasive in our society there is virtually no refuge from viewing advertisements aimed at convincing us that we must purchase a certain named product. Even the lunch trays in airplanes are now covered with ads. It is amazing that years after purchasing a car, the owners are still driving around with a decal and or a license plate holder advertising the dealer where the car was purchased, many of whom have long gone out of business. Even the receipts you get at the store now carry a heavy dose of advertising and special sales promotions.

Our susceptibility to brand advertising is linked to our propensity to make status purchases. We may be able to find exactly the same quality or even the same goods at Walmart or other discount outlets, but we still pay more for the same product. The generic oat cereal may be exactly the same as Cheerios, but we buy the brand. I have known people who would literally rather die than eat cracked wheat. Not because they didn't like the flavor etc. but because they associated eating cracked wheat with poverty. The same people would pay five times more for cosmetics or clothes, simply because they came from a prestigious department store rather than from an outlet.

It is absolutely undeniable that consumers will purchase brand-oriented products and pay a large percentage of the price for advertising when the higher priced products are only symbolically different but not functionally different from lower-priced products. For a good discussion of this phenomenon see Schor, Juliet. The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting, and the New Consumer. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1998.

If you doubt this conclusion, go into any mall and sit and watch the people who pass by and see how many logos and trademarks you can count on shoes, shirts and pants.

Why is this an issue? Do our children really need babygear from Fisher Price? Will our child's development be stunted because we don't buy him a GeoAir or her a Snuggle-Kins baby swing? will our lives be of any less value if we drive a Hyundai rather than a BMW? Thinking about how and why we make purchases is one large step to financial independence. It is also part of living in the world and not being of the world. If we purchase a toy for our child or grandchild and find it in pieces scattered around the house, doesn't that tell us something about the real value of the product? Think of all the great men of history who grew up without Legos?

Let's think about our needs and not our wants.

Buying into status

2009-01-13T18:28:00.003-07:00

One of the biggest challenges to our overcoming materialism and our dependency on our possessions, is the problem of our purchase of status goods, items we purchase to demonstrate our social position to the world around us. Each culture and age had or has its status goods, whether they be a string of beads or $250,000 Porsche. We are so immersed in this code of status that we are hardly aware, most of the time, that our purchase decisions are governed not by quality or price, but by how our neighbors will view us.

In extreme cases, our dependency on material goods can affect our relationships with our family and friends and can even destroy our happiness and enjoyment of life. The huge overhanging credit card debt in the U.S. is only one symptom of this dependency.

This fixation on status extends to every level of our material cultural lives; from our cars and boats to our living room furniture, from our shirts and pants to the kind of watches and jewelry we wear. We also establish our status by the types of activities we participate in. How many of you know someone who "just returned from a trip to ... [name the location]. To the extent that we allow status and cultural "norms" to determine what and who we are and what we buy, we are slaves to materialism.

It is sadly true that our social class can be accurately inferred from the inventory of products we own. This was early recognized by studies by Francis Stuart Chapin a t the University of Minnesota beginning in the 1920s. See also Schor, Juliet, Sut Jhally, and Loretta Alper. The overspent American why we want what we don't need. Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation, 2003 at page 35.

In order to break out of this pervasive system, we must first recognize our dependency on our material goods. We can only begin to make purchasing decisions based on our needs, if we recognize the difference between our needs and our wants and further, recognize the role material goods play in the perception we have of ourselves and our status in society. If we do not realize our addiction to status producing material goods, perhaps we need to go through the classic 12 Step program for addicts:

We admitted we were powerless over our material purchases—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His Will for us and the power to carry that out.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

This program was designed for alcoholics but it will work for those who cannot control their purchases also. We all know someone whose buying habits we consider to be out of control, but how many of us recognize those tendencies in ourselves. If we would be prepared for tomorrow's coming hard times, we need to overcome our bad spending habits today.

Inch by inch, row by row

2009-01-11T16:09:00.002-07:00

I'm gonna make this garden grow... It is amazing how a connection to the soil and growing things is fundamental to our well being. It is also important to our survival as individuals, as a society and even our survival as a race on this earth. It is also amazing how far away from the soil our society has drifted in its never ending pursuit of prepackaged, preprocessed, almost pre-digested food. I was standing the line at my neighborhood supermarket some time ago, I was supposed to get some vegetables for dinner. I believe I had a couple of artichokes, when a younger girl, probably in her twenties, asked what they were. I guess I stared at her for a second to see if she was serious and explained that they were artichokes. She wanted to know if we ate them or what. Now, giving her the benefit of the doubt, I do have to admit that some people probably do not eat artichokes regularly. But, because of the question, I got into a discussion with the attendant, and she indicated that this was a regular experience. Younger people did not recognize vegetables.

This experience has actually happened to me twice. I have also read about people having similar experiences. We have almost always had a garden, unless we were renting or living abroad, and over the years, I have found that most people cannot identify the plants growing in the garden. They do not recognize squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, or nearly any other plant. If you show most teenagers a vegetable, not only will they not recognize what it is, they will find it impossible to tell you whether it grows on a vine, a bush or a tree. Living in a warm climate, like we do, we have citrus trees. Many people who visit us have never seen a grapefruit or orange growing on a tree.

I see this as a problem. If we lose the ability to grow food, who will grow our gardens? When you visit the vegetable section of the supermarket, you will find little stickers on all the products, usually telling you that the produce was grown in Mexico, Chile, the Philippines or somewhere else. I recognize that there are adults who grew up hating to eat their vegetables. As for me, I love so many kinds of vegetables that I can't imagine that attitude. You cannot match the quality and taste of garden fresh vegetables with any factory farm produced Styrofoam imitations. Also, growing your own food, you become aware of what goes into it and you don't have eat ten or fifty different kinds of pesticides.

I am not always successful in growing any specific kind of plant. Recently, we discovered a strange plant growing in our garden. I wasn't sure what it was, since I hadn't seen that type before. I was pretty sure it wasn't a weed. When it started to flower, we realized that it was an okra plant. Now, we didn't particularly like okra. But because we had this huge plant, we learned how to prepare and cook it. We had a wonderful gumbo that we really liked. I can assure you that we would never have purchased okra in a store, but the growing experience helped remind us of a whole new aspect to gardening. Learning again to use and prepare new foods from scratch.

Part of the security of overcoming a dependency on our material society is learning the self sufficiency of growing your own plants and food, even in small quantities. I have found that even a small window box garden can produce delightful food and add to your understanding of the natural and real world around us. By the way, take time to educate your children as to where and how we get our food. Grow a garden, get in touch with life in our real world and become more prepared to face the challenges of the future.

There is still no free lunch

2009-01-10T20:13:00.002-07:00

The phrase referring to no free lunch has become such a staple saying in our society that the whole phrase "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch," has become an acronym: TANSTAAFL (said tan-staffel). The phrase itself comes from Robert Heinlein's classic science fiction book, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. The development of the concept of the lack of a "free lunch" has been attributed to the work of economist Milton Friedman. In the context of being prepared for hard times it is important to remember this principle, everything has an economic value. Just because we do not get paid (in cash or equivalents) for what we do, everything connected with our lives has a value or cost to the society.

If I chose to live on the street as a homeless person, with no belongings other than the clothes I was wearing, my life and existence would still impact the rest of society. Just one example, there are a multitude of public and private organizations and agencies that primarily monitor and assist the homeless. By being homeless, I create a need and a motivation for these organizations to exist

How I chose to spend my time and my resources will always have an economic impact on me, on my family and ultimately on everyone else in the world. There is no such thing as "free time." If I chose to watch television instead of working or if I chose to work instead of spending time with my family, in every decision there is always a cost associated with that decision. When I choose to spend my money on present gratification, rather than on food storage or some other method of being prepared, that choice will ultimately impact society as whole, especially, if I cannot support myself and my family and become a burden on the church or government's welfare system.

You may not be able to chose whether you are rich or poor, but you can chose how you allocate your resources. For example, the savings rate in China has been quoted as being as high as 50% in both the public and private sectors. Although some sources quote a much lower rate but in the U.S. the rate is less than 10%. There are likely many reasons for this difference, some cultural and others social, but it is undisputed that the higher standard of living in the U.S. does not result in a higher savings rate. It is also undeniable that by any standard in the U.S., the average Chinese standard of living would be considered very low.

Being prepared to face the challenges in the future implies a realistic knowledge of the cost of the various components of our economic life. Not only should we be aware of the cost of our food, shelter and transportation, we should also be aware of the cost of our decisions to spend our time in different ways. If we do make a decision to play a video game or watch a movie, we should do so knowing that the choice has an economic impact because there is no free lunch.

Fuel economy -- is it a real concern?

2009-01-08T09:52:00.004-07:00

Even though the price of gasoline has moderated in the past few weeks, price increases are inevitable. One of the important factors in preparedness is evaluating the cost of our transportation needs. Gasoline price increases draw a lot of attention to fuel costs as a component of the overall cost of owning and operating a vehicle. If you are in the category of those buying expensive luxury cars, then you probably don't spend much time worrying about the gas costs. On the other hand, most of us are concerned about the extra expense of $4.00 plus per gallon gasoline.

Although most of the current car ads emphasize fuel economy, there is a real question about the relative importance of this particular component of the cost of operation. For example, if you are purchasing a $20,000 car on a contract at 6% interest, your interest cost alone, without compounding or any extra charges, would be around $1200 a year. Fuel costs would vary with the fuel economy of the car and the miles driven.

Focusing on the fuel costs, the Environmental Protection Agency has fuel economy guides for the present car years and for many past years. Even a brief review of the reports, shows that fuel economy varies dramatically. For example, minicompact cars vary from 13 mpg to 32 mpg. Assuming gas at $2.50 a gallon and an average of 15,000 miles driven per year, the cost of gasoline alone can vary between approximately $2,900 a year at the low end, to $1,200 a year at the high end. The largest range in efficiency is found in midsize cars which vary between 11 mpg on the low end, to 46 mpg on the high end. You can immediately see that any cost savings from buying a higher mpg car can be negated by the cost of borrowing money to purchase the car in the first place.

So what does it cost to own a car? The actual cost includes depreciation, interest on your loan, taxes and fees, insurance premiums, fuel costs, maintenance and repairs. Edmunds.com has a True Cost to Own calculator. For example, a standard 4 dr hatchback, 2009 Toyota Prius costs $39,236 with an average cost per mile of $0.52. This cost compares very favorably with Nissans and Hondas in the same category. By comparison a 2009 Corvette Z06 costs $101,164 and the average cost per mile is $1.35. A car like the Corvette depreciates over $9,766 in the first year alone. Even by the fifth year, the car is still depreciating over $5,700 per year. Even the Prius depreciates from $4,246 in the first year, to about $1,655 in the fifth year.

Even with gas at $4.00 a gallon, for an average of 15,000 miles per year, even if you drive a Prius (or practically any other car) the depreciation cost exceeds the cost of fuel and that staple of the Arizona family, the 2009 Chevrolet Suburban, costs, depending on the model, over $1.00 per mile to drive and loses $19,244 in depreciation IN THE FIRST YEAR alone.

Since such a large part of a family's expenses go to transportation, part of being prepared in order to survive, includes knowing the true cost of your choice of vehicles. Fuel economy is only one of the very expensive factors to consider in purchasing a car.

You are not prepared if...

2009-01-06T06:44:00.002-07:00

With the euphoria of a new presidential administration, you could almost believe that the end of the hard economic times will come as soon as the U.S. government starts spending the trillions of dollars it doesn't have. A look the current economic reports still gives pause for concern. November figures (the latest to be released) show a steady increase in unemployment and layoffs. The Consumer Price Index fell again in November by 1.7 percent.

The question still remains, are you prepared for the hard times? A Google search on the phrase "prepare for hard times" showed over a million responses. The Web sites tout everything from preparing for a coming nuclear attack, unlocking your brain's potential and secret Masonic rituals as the answer to preparation. Not having anything to sell at the moment, except some junk in the garage, I think the answer is really quite simple.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said:

We can so live that we can call upon the Lord for His protection and guidance. This is a first priority. We cannot expect His help if we are unwilling to keep His commandments. We in this Church have evidence enough of the penalties of disobedience in the examples of both the Jaredite and the Nephite nations. Each went from glory to utter destruction because of wickedness.

We know, of course, that the rain falls on the just as well as the unjust (see Matthew 5:45). But even though the just die they are not lost, but are saved through the Atonement of the Redeemer. Paul wrote to the Romans, "For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord" (Romans 14:8)...
We can set aside some water, basic food, medicine, and clothing to keep us warm. We ought to have a little money laid aside in case of a rainy day.

If we fail to head this counsel, we are not prepared.

We are not prepared if we are still in debt other than for a home and perhaps one car.

We are not prepared if we are still buying things we do not need.

We are not prepared if we do not save.

We are not prepared if we do not have a basic supply of food, medicine and clothing.

We are not prepared if we are not studying and learning.

The list can go on and on. Heed the counsel given by the Lord and be prepared.