I love the following quote: “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide…
1. Incorrect tool. When building a house, a carpenter would never try using a hammer to cut a 2×4. It was not designed for that. Likewise, a budget is just one of many financial tools. It is useful for planning how to spend, but, for…
As we near the holiday season, greater pressure is exerted on all of us to spend. While much of that pressure comes from advertising and holiday sales, a significant amount comes from the expectations of our own traditions. Traditions often involve travel, gifts, decorations, sporting…
There is more to the story of my two persistent potatoes. I had some potting soil left over from this year’s gardening, and I thought, “What the heck?” So I trimmed the existing vines, cut the top of an empty orange juice container, filled it…
Like financial resources, time is limited and it’s use involves trade offs. One reason we find ourselves stressed is that we try using more time than we have. In other words, we have more things to do than there is time to do them. One…
For as long as I have known her (40+ years), my wife has made sugar cookies at Halloween. When our first granddaughter was born in October eleven years ago, we started the tradition of having the grandkids decorate Halloween cookies a few days before Halloween.…
A few weeks ago I was looking for something on one of the shelves in the basement. Wrapped in and around the bottom shelf were several long potato vines. My first thought was “where did these come from?” Then I remembered that we had some…
Most of us have a general idea about how we spend our time: eat, sleep, travel, work, email, texting, social media, a little fun, and so forth. But most people cannot accurately state the amount of time they spend in each activity. I suggest that…
Time is one of our most important resources. And it is also one of the most “wasted” resources. But what does “wasting time” really mean? Ask that question to the proverbial 100 people and you will get 100 different answers. The problem is that, like…
I’ve avoided this topic long enough, but there is no getting around it. What are the first things that come to your mind when you see or hear the word budget? Over the years I have met only a few people who actually have pleasant,…
