One last thought about money. I have had the song by Shaina Twain going through my mind. Ka-Ching talks about the foolish lifestyle that most people were living. Using their house as an ATM machine and their foolish purchases. You can change it. It is a matter of self control and to shut down ALL spending. It will be hard. But you can do it! You can make your financial goals if you want it badly enough. You can live on less and save.
No is a nasty word in my house. My children hate that word. In the stores I would say no and they would throw the biggest temper tantrum I had ever seen. And each time they did it the next one got bigger and bigger. People would look at me as if I had spanked my child right there in the store. I only told them no. So a coping skill that I developed is that when I got the dirty looks I would tell the person "Ahh - the power of NO". Then the other customers would laugh and know what was up with my children. I had said no to them.
But what we need to do is say no to our selves. Maybe this posting is more for me to have a reminder to myself. I thought at least I would share my thoughts with you today. I hope you enjoy this blog.
Good luck to you!
Cynthia
-like the eyes in this one-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko1KjoQh9TE
Copy and paste this in a new window if you want to watch or listen to Shaina Twain's song called Ka-Ching.
Ka-Ching lyrics
We live in a greedy little world--
that teaches every little boy and girl
To earn as much as they can possibly--
then turn around and
Spend it foolishly
We've created us a credit card mess
We spend the money that we don't possess
Our religion is to go and blow it all
So it's shoppin' every Sunday at the mall
All we ever want is more
A lot more than we had before
So take me to the nearest store
[Chorus:]
Can you hear it ring
It makes you wanna sing
It's such a beautiful thing--Ka-ching!
Lots of diamond rings
The happiness it brings
You'll live like a king
With lots of money and things
When you're broke go and get a loan
Take out another mortgage on your home
Consolidate so you can afford
To go and spend some more when
you get bored
All we ever want is more
A lot more than we had before
So take me to the nearest store
[Repeat Chorus]
Let's swing
Dig deeper in your pocket
Oh, yeah, ha
Come on I know you've got it
Dig deeper in your wallet
Oh
All we ever want is more
A lot more than we had before
So take me to the nearest store
[Repeat Chorus]
Can you hear it ring
It makes you wanna sing
You'll live like a king
With lots of money and things
Ka-ching!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Uses for Homemade Cheese and Cottage Cheese
Howdy All!
My cousin sent me some interesting information. I am posting it below. (Thanks Tonya!)
Uses for Homemade Cheese and Cottage Cheese
Because most homemade cheese made from powdered skim milk have the unique quality of not melting, they are more versatile than commercial dairy products. The important thing to remember is that when heated at high temperatures, they become more firm and tough, so avoid boiling.
Unflavored cheeses: Soups, salads, sandwiches taco filling, stir-fry, omelets, patties, loaves, casseroles, lasagna, on freshly sliced tomatoes, or mixed with one-half commercial cottage or grated cheese.
Flavored cheeses: Chip dips, sandwich fillings, casserole toppings, jerky, mixed with parmesan to use on top of pizza and spaghetti, seasoned with curry powder to use in cracked wheat and rice pilaf.
Flavor-causing enzymes come from bacteria which produce acid and then release enzymes. That bacteria is found in commercial cheese making cultures, but since those cultures are expensive and have a very short shelf life, I eliminate the long culturing process and use an acid to curdle the milk while the milk is heating, often adding buttermilk or other spices and herbs. When I want a different flavor or texture or a cheese that can be aged for one-two months, I use buttermilk, yogurt or acidophilus as cultures.
Drain and rinse cheese made with old, strong milk powder to improve color and flavor. I rinse the cheese first in hot water which seems to take out the strong taste, ten in cold water, which lightens the color and firms the curd.
Cheese colorings can be added to any recipe during the blending process. Dairies, some health food or preparedness stores and mail order catalogs for cheese supplies carry liquid or tablet forms of yellow coloring. Paste coloring can be obtained from stores that carry cake decorating supplies. Ordinary food coloring made for home use is not permanent and will not work as it rinses out during the rinsing and draining process.
Important Helpful Hint: Always spray the inside of a warmed saucepan with lecithin-based spray and re-heat until oil browns before adding milk to the pan.
Rennet Cheese
1 qt hot tap water
1 c. Buttermilk
2 junket rennet tablets dissolved in 1 T. Cold water
2 c. Dry milk powder
2 T. Vegetable oil (opt.)
Blend all ingredients and place in a heavy saucepan coated with a nonstick spray. Let sit undisturbed for 10 minutes. Cut or stir to break into curds and cook over medium heat for five minutes. Pour curds into a strainer, rinse with hot, then cold water, and drain. Salt to taste, then refrigerate. Or, place in a cheesecloth bag and press. This is a very mild cheese, good with salt and chopped chives. Use within 3-4 days.
To make cream cheese from this recipe, reduce rennet to ¼ table and add 1 c. Buttermilk when mixing ingredients. Set in a warm place overnight. After cutting set curds into cubes, place curds over medium heat, and cook five minutes. Pour into a cheesecloth lined colander and let rest 15 minutes. Gather edges of bag, secure with a rubber band and hang, or press until firm like cream cheese. Add salt if desired.
Soft Cottage Cheese
2 c. hot water
1-1/2 c. dry milk powder
3 T. Fresh lemon juice or white vinegar
Blend water and dry milk and pour into saucepan (foam and all).
Sprinkle lemon juice or vinegar slowly around edges and gently stir over medium heat just until milk begins to curdle, separating into curds and whey. Remove from heat and let rest one minute. Pour into strainer or colander, rinse with hot, then cold water. Press out water with back of spoon. Makes about 1-1/2 c. curds. If desired, moisten rinsed curds with a little buttermilk before serving and add salt to taste. Refrigerate if not used immediately. Whey from fresh milk powder can be used in place of water in breads and soups.
Quick Soft Pressed Cheese
2 c. boiling water
1-1/2 c. dry milk powder
3 T. vegetable oil
1 c. buttermilk
3-4 T. fresh lemon juice
cheese coloring tablets (opt.)
Blend water, milk and oil, allowing foam to settle slightly. If colored cheese is desired, add ½ tablet cheese coloring (or cake decorating paste color) while blending. Pour into hot saucepan coated with a nonstick spray and heat to at least 160 degrees. Add lemon juice and continue to stir until mixture curdles.
Pour into a cheesecloth lined colander. Rinse curds with warm water, then salt to taste. Place cheese in cloth between two plates or spoon into a cheese press. Apply weight and let sit for ½ hour or longer, depending on how firm you want the cheese to be. Remove from plates or cheese press, rinse, wrap in plastic and refrigerate. Use within one month or freeze. This cheese can be sliced, grated, or crumbled. For Smoky Cheese, add ½ t. Liquid Smoke flavoring and ½-1 t. salt after rinsing curds.
For additional fast powdered milk cheese recipes, along with recipes for yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese, order your copy of Rita's Powdered Milk Cheeses for only $5.50 (includes postage) by calling toll-free (800) 484-9377, ext. 6276.
My cousin sent me some interesting information. I am posting it below. (Thanks Tonya!)
Uses for Homemade Cheese and Cottage Cheese
Because most homemade cheese made from powdered skim milk have the unique quality of not melting, they are more versatile than commercial dairy products. The important thing to remember is that when heated at high temperatures, they become more firm and tough, so avoid boiling.
Unflavored cheeses: Soups, salads, sandwiches taco filling, stir-fry, omelets, patties, loaves, casseroles, lasagna, on freshly sliced tomatoes, or mixed with one-half commercial cottage or grated cheese.
Flavored cheeses: Chip dips, sandwich fillings, casserole toppings, jerky, mixed with parmesan to use on top of pizza and spaghetti, seasoned with curry powder to use in cracked wheat and rice pilaf.
Flavor-causing enzymes come from bacteria which produce acid and then release enzymes. That bacteria is found in commercial cheese making cultures, but since those cultures are expensive and have a very short shelf life, I eliminate the long culturing process and use an acid to curdle the milk while the milk is heating, often adding buttermilk or other spices and herbs. When I want a different flavor or texture or a cheese that can be aged for one-two months, I use buttermilk, yogurt or acidophilus as cultures.
Drain and rinse cheese made with old, strong milk powder to improve color and flavor. I rinse the cheese first in hot water which seems to take out the strong taste, ten in cold water, which lightens the color and firms the curd.
Cheese colorings can be added to any recipe during the blending process. Dairies, some health food or preparedness stores and mail order catalogs for cheese supplies carry liquid or tablet forms of yellow coloring. Paste coloring can be obtained from stores that carry cake decorating supplies. Ordinary food coloring made for home use is not permanent and will not work as it rinses out during the rinsing and draining process.
Important Helpful Hint: Always spray the inside of a warmed saucepan with lecithin-based spray and re-heat until oil browns before adding milk to the pan.
Rennet Cheese
1 qt hot tap water
1 c. Buttermilk
2 junket rennet tablets dissolved in 1 T. Cold water
2 c. Dry milk powder
2 T. Vegetable oil (opt.)
Blend all ingredients and place in a heavy saucepan coated with a nonstick spray. Let sit undisturbed for 10 minutes. Cut or stir to break into curds and cook over medium heat for five minutes. Pour curds into a strainer, rinse with hot, then cold water, and drain. Salt to taste, then refrigerate. Or, place in a cheesecloth bag and press. This is a very mild cheese, good with salt and chopped chives. Use within 3-4 days.
To make cream cheese from this recipe, reduce rennet to ¼ table and add 1 c. Buttermilk when mixing ingredients. Set in a warm place overnight. After cutting set curds into cubes, place curds over medium heat, and cook five minutes. Pour into a cheesecloth lined colander and let rest 15 minutes. Gather edges of bag, secure with a rubber band and hang, or press until firm like cream cheese. Add salt if desired.
Soft Cottage Cheese
2 c. hot water
1-1/2 c. dry milk powder
3 T. Fresh lemon juice or white vinegar
Blend water and dry milk and pour into saucepan (foam and all).
Sprinkle lemon juice or vinegar slowly around edges and gently stir over medium heat just until milk begins to curdle, separating into curds and whey. Remove from heat and let rest one minute. Pour into strainer or colander, rinse with hot, then cold water. Press out water with back of spoon. Makes about 1-1/2 c. curds. If desired, moisten rinsed curds with a little buttermilk before serving and add salt to taste. Refrigerate if not used immediately. Whey from fresh milk powder can be used in place of water in breads and soups.
Quick Soft Pressed Cheese
2 c. boiling water
1-1/2 c. dry milk powder
3 T. vegetable oil
1 c. buttermilk
3-4 T. fresh lemon juice
cheese coloring tablets (opt.)
Blend water, milk and oil, allowing foam to settle slightly. If colored cheese is desired, add ½ tablet cheese coloring (or cake decorating paste color) while blending. Pour into hot saucepan coated with a nonstick spray and heat to at least 160 degrees. Add lemon juice and continue to stir until mixture curdles.
Pour into a cheesecloth lined colander. Rinse curds with warm water, then salt to taste. Place cheese in cloth between two plates or spoon into a cheese press. Apply weight and let sit for ½ hour or longer, depending on how firm you want the cheese to be. Remove from plates or cheese press, rinse, wrap in plastic and refrigerate. Use within one month or freeze. This cheese can be sliced, grated, or crumbled. For Smoky Cheese, add ½ t. Liquid Smoke flavoring and ½-1 t. salt after rinsing curds.
For additional fast powdered milk cheese recipes, along with recipes for yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese, order your copy of Rita's Powdered Milk Cheeses for only $5.50 (includes postage) by calling toll-free (800) 484-9377, ext. 6276.
10 reasons "Why I Don't Have my Food Storage"
I have heard this before. So I thought I would post it here for you. There are 9 parts to the You Tube video. Basically you need to do what is best for you and your family.
The video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGaTlwYs-s
Wendy Dewitt's top 10 reasons "Why I Don't Have my Food Storage"
10. My neighbors have a TWO year supply! No, they don't. They don't have any food. Did you know that 85% of the members of the church don't have any food storage at all? If your idea of food storage is to eat someone else’s food………..this is a really bad plan.
9. I've paid tithing for 20 years...the church can give me a little food. Many members believe that when the times get hard, the church is going to come through like Joseph in Egypt. Absolutely not true. All the church storehouses and welfare farms across the country would only feed 4% of the members of the church. The church has been asking YOU to store food for 75 years. They're NOT storing food for you. Thus, another bad plan.
8. I'm moving in with my children / parents! Really....that’s just a bad plan all by itself. But it points out that most members don't have a year's supply because they're PLANNING on eating someone else's food! Of course, since no one HAS any food, we have yet another bad plan.
7. I have a year's supply...and the bullets to go with it! I've heard time and again, "How dumb is that to go to all the time and expense of getting food...just to have some guy with a gun come and shoot my family to take it away?" Here's a better question. Are you afraid of the guy with the gun? Or are you more afraid of BECOMING the guy with the gun? What would you do if your children were starving to death? Would you lie? Cheat? Steal? Would you shoot your neighbor for his food? I guarantee....if you were watching your child starving to death, you would do anything you had to to keep them alive. If you don't have your year's supply, you are putting yourself in danger of losing not only your temporal salvation, but your spiritual salvation as well.
So far, all the reasons we don't have our food storage involve eating someone else's food. Please, don't put your family's temporal salvation in other people's hands. No one is storing food for you. Not your neighbors, not the government...not even the church.
#6. The boat and the 4 wheelers are taking up all my storage space! (priorities!)
#5. 3 letters....Y2K. Ok, that's 2 letters and a number....but they're always making way too much out of everything! This is never going to happen!” (Every prophecy that has ever been given WILL happen.)
#4. If anything DOES happen, the government will be here within hours! (insert laughter) Did you know the government has been telling us that we need to have food storage? They're actually CALLING it food storage! We now have the government telling us to store food, water, medicines...whatever we will need to be able to stay in our homes for several months.
#3. I can't afford scrap booking AND food storage. The average food storage can cost as little as a dollar a day. We live in the richest society in the history of the world, and while there are cases where money may be a problem, most of the time it is a matter of priorities. We have chosen bigger homes, nicer cars, more tv's, computers, vacations ...everything is more important than our food storage. If I asked, "Who has a cell phone?" most of you would say yes. You pay at least $30 a month to have a cell phone....that's about a dollar a day...the cost of one year's supply of food for your child. Is your cell phone really more important than your child's temporal salvation? You have to make food storage a priority.
2. I'm waiting for the cannery to sell Papa John's dehydrated pizza! Food storage has always had a stigma attached to it. If it's not wheat, beans and powdered milk, it's not food storage. With the system I use, food storage can be sweet and sour chicken, tamale pie, chile and cornbread, beef stew, shepherd's pie, minestrone...even chocolate chip cookies! Your imagination (and your pocketbook) are the only limitations you have.
And the #1 reason why I don't have my year's supply of food? A year?? I thought it was 72 hours!!
You KNOW you should have your food storage. You WANT to have it, but it can be so overwhelming! How much do I buy? Where do I store it? How do I cook it? It seems like an impossible task.... but it's not. It doesn't matter if you use my system or just start buying extra food, the important thing is to do something. Good luck in your efforts! Wendy DeWitt
The video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGaTlwYs-s
Wendy Dewitt's top 10 reasons "Why I Don't Have my Food Storage"
10. My neighbors have a TWO year supply! No, they don't. They don't have any food. Did you know that 85% of the members of the church don't have any food storage at all? If your idea of food storage is to eat someone else’s food………..this is a really bad plan.
9. I've paid tithing for 20 years...the church can give me a little food. Many members believe that when the times get hard, the church is going to come through like Joseph in Egypt. Absolutely not true. All the church storehouses and welfare farms across the country would only feed 4% of the members of the church. The church has been asking YOU to store food for 75 years. They're NOT storing food for you. Thus, another bad plan.
8. I'm moving in with my children / parents! Really....that’s just a bad plan all by itself. But it points out that most members don't have a year's supply because they're PLANNING on eating someone else's food! Of course, since no one HAS any food, we have yet another bad plan.
7. I have a year's supply...and the bullets to go with it! I've heard time and again, "How dumb is that to go to all the time and expense of getting food...just to have some guy with a gun come and shoot my family to take it away?" Here's a better question. Are you afraid of the guy with the gun? Or are you more afraid of BECOMING the guy with the gun? What would you do if your children were starving to death? Would you lie? Cheat? Steal? Would you shoot your neighbor for his food? I guarantee....if you were watching your child starving to death, you would do anything you had to to keep them alive. If you don't have your year's supply, you are putting yourself in danger of losing not only your temporal salvation, but your spiritual salvation as well.
So far, all the reasons we don't have our food storage involve eating someone else's food. Please, don't put your family's temporal salvation in other people's hands. No one is storing food for you. Not your neighbors, not the government...not even the church.
#6. The boat and the 4 wheelers are taking up all my storage space! (priorities!)
#5. 3 letters....Y2K. Ok, that's 2 letters and a number....but they're always making way too much out of everything! This is never going to happen!” (Every prophecy that has ever been given WILL happen.)
#4. If anything DOES happen, the government will be here within hours! (insert laughter) Did you know the government has been telling us that we need to have food storage? They're actually CALLING it food storage! We now have the government telling us to store food, water, medicines...whatever we will need to be able to stay in our homes for several months.
#3. I can't afford scrap booking AND food storage. The average food storage can cost as little as a dollar a day. We live in the richest society in the history of the world, and while there are cases where money may be a problem, most of the time it is a matter of priorities. We have chosen bigger homes, nicer cars, more tv's, computers, vacations ...everything is more important than our food storage. If I asked, "Who has a cell phone?" most of you would say yes. You pay at least $30 a month to have a cell phone....that's about a dollar a day...the cost of one year's supply of food for your child. Is your cell phone really more important than your child's temporal salvation? You have to make food storage a priority.
2. I'm waiting for the cannery to sell Papa John's dehydrated pizza! Food storage has always had a stigma attached to it. If it's not wheat, beans and powdered milk, it's not food storage. With the system I use, food storage can be sweet and sour chicken, tamale pie, chile and cornbread, beef stew, shepherd's pie, minestrone...even chocolate chip cookies! Your imagination (and your pocketbook) are the only limitations you have.
And the #1 reason why I don't have my year's supply of food? A year?? I thought it was 72 hours!!
You KNOW you should have your food storage. You WANT to have it, but it can be so overwhelming! How much do I buy? Where do I store it? How do I cook it? It seems like an impossible task.... but it's not. It doesn't matter if you use my system or just start buying extra food, the important thing is to do something. Good luck in your efforts! Wendy DeWitt
Thursday, February 12, 2009
March Ensign
In the March issue of the Ensign there are 4 articles on being prepared. If you want to read them I have scanned them. Please send me an email to ccwpllc@yahoo.com and I will send them to you.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading!
Monday, February 9, 2009
CANNING BUTTER- from endtimes report
I think I am going to try this the next time I find butter on sale.
See the web site for a picture
http://www.endtimesreport.com/canning_butter.html
Jars of canned butter
Now you can purchase canned butter from The Internet Grocer http://www.internet-grocer.net/butter.htm or make it yourself using the directions below.
1. Use any butter that is on sale. Lesser quality butter requires more shaking (see #5 below), but the results are the same as with the expensive brands.
2. Heat pint jars in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes, without rings or seals. One pound of butter slightly more than fills one pint jar, so if you melt 11 pounds of butter, heat 12 pint jars. A roasting pan works well for holding the pint jars while in the oven.
3. While the jars are heating, melt butter slowly until it comes to a slow boil. Using a large spatula, stir the bottom of the pot often to keep the butter from scorching. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes at least: a good simmer time will lessen the amount of shaking required (see #5 below). Place the lids in a small pot and bring to a boil, leaving the lids in simmering water until needed.
4. Stirring the melted butter from the bottom to the top with a soup ladle or small pot with a handle, pour the melted butter carefully into heated jars through a canning jar funnel. Leave 3/4" of head space in the jar, which allows room for the shaking process.
5. Carefully wipe off the top of the jars, then get a hot lid from the simmering water, add the lid and ring and tighten securely. Lids will seal as they cool. Once a few lids "ping," shake while the jars are still warm, but cool enough to handle easily, because the butter will separate and become foamy on top and white on the bottom. In a few minutes, shake again, and repeat until the butter retains the same consistency throughout the jar.
6. At this point, while still slightly warm, put the jars into a refrigerator. While cooling and hardening, shake again, and the melted butter will then look like butter and become firm. This final shaking is very important! Check every 5 minutes and give the jars a little shake until they are hardened in the jar! Leave in the refrigerator for an hour.
7. Canned butter should store for 3 years or longer on a cool, dark shelf. [It does last a long time. We have just used up the last of the butter we canned in 1999, and it was fine after 5 years.] Canned butter does not "melt" again when opened, so it does not need to be refrigerated upon opening, provided it is used within a reasonable length of time.
See the web site for a picture
http://www.endtimesreport.com/canning_butter.html
Jars of canned butter
Now you can purchase canned butter from The Internet Grocer http://www.internet-grocer.net/butter.htm or make it yourself using the directions below.
1. Use any butter that is on sale. Lesser quality butter requires more shaking (see #5 below), but the results are the same as with the expensive brands.
2. Heat pint jars in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes, without rings or seals. One pound of butter slightly more than fills one pint jar, so if you melt 11 pounds of butter, heat 12 pint jars. A roasting pan works well for holding the pint jars while in the oven.
3. While the jars are heating, melt butter slowly until it comes to a slow boil. Using a large spatula, stir the bottom of the pot often to keep the butter from scorching. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes at least: a good simmer time will lessen the amount of shaking required (see #5 below). Place the lids in a small pot and bring to a boil, leaving the lids in simmering water until needed.
4. Stirring the melted butter from the bottom to the top with a soup ladle or small pot with a handle, pour the melted butter carefully into heated jars through a canning jar funnel. Leave 3/4" of head space in the jar, which allows room for the shaking process.
5. Carefully wipe off the top of the jars, then get a hot lid from the simmering water, add the lid and ring and tighten securely. Lids will seal as they cool. Once a few lids "ping," shake while the jars are still warm, but cool enough to handle easily, because the butter will separate and become foamy on top and white on the bottom. In a few minutes, shake again, and repeat until the butter retains the same consistency throughout the jar.
6. At this point, while still slightly warm, put the jars into a refrigerator. While cooling and hardening, shake again, and the melted butter will then look like butter and become firm. This final shaking is very important! Check every 5 minutes and give the jars a little shake until they are hardened in the jar! Leave in the refrigerator for an hour.
7. Canned butter should store for 3 years or longer on a cool, dark shelf. [It does last a long time. We have just used up the last of the butter we canned in 1999, and it was fine after 5 years.] Canned butter does not "melt" again when opened, so it does not need to be refrigerated upon opening, provided it is used within a reasonable length of time.
The Grasshopper and the Ant
With all of the reports and headlines in the news these days I begin to wonder how we are going to survive. Life is getting more and more complicated all the time.
I have realized something this morning. I have become more and more like my parents and grandparents in the fact that I go around turning off lights ALL the time. And I have energy saving light bulbs, unlike the time when I was a child and there was no such thing as energy efficient lighting.
I am burning wood in my wood stove to help reduce my heating costs. I am gardening, canning, starting beekeeping, and shutting down all excess spending in my house. These are cost saving events that my parents and grandparents did.
After I was married about 23 years ago, we bought a house near my grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa lived through the Depression and World War II. Grandma told me stories of how she made it through the Depression.
One funny story from Grandma was that during the Depression there were no stockings for women. Grandma said that her and her girlfriend use to paint lines down the backs of their legs. Then when they went to town everyone thought they had stockings on. That is until one day when it rained and their stocking lines washed away.
Grandma Perkins had a saying she always told us. It is also found in President Faust’s talk from April Conference from 1986 “The Responsibility for Welfare Rests with Me and My Family,” (I think it is partly a Depression Era saying)
“Eat it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”
I have heard this saying so many times from so many people but mostly from Grandma. We have tried for many years to be frugal with our household. Sometimes we slip, but then we have to pull everything back in and follow the advice of our elders and get frugal again. For us this is one of those times right now. We are pulling in our outgoing expenses and trying to save money everywhere.
So now you ask what I should do to prepare. Well be like the ant in the Aesop fable of “The ant and the grasshopper”. It is a fable attributed to Aesop, providing a moral lesson about hard work and preparation.
The story concerns a grasshopper, which spends his time warming himself and playing during the warm summer months of the year. Meanwhile the ant is hard at work. When the winter months come the grasshopper upon finding himself dying of hunger and lack of warmth tries to get the ant to provide for him. The ant rebukes him for his idleness throughout the summer. This story teaches us about the virtues of hard work and saving, and the perils of improvidence.
When I taught in the past about food storage and being prepared, I would often quote a poem. The author is unknown to me.
Mr. Meant-To
Mr. Meant-To has a comrade,
And his name is Didn’t-Do;
Have you ever chanced to meet them?
Did they ever call on you?
These two fellows live together
In the house of Never-Win,
And I’m told that it is haunted
By the ghost of Might-Have-Been.
Everyday let’s not be like the grasshopper, and be more like the ant. Let’s put our houses in order as we have been commanded to do so by the General Authorities for years and in the scriptures (see D&C 88; 93; and 132). Then we won’t be in the meant-to crowd, and be haunted by the ghost of might-have-been.
I have realized something this morning. I have become more and more like my parents and grandparents in the fact that I go around turning off lights ALL the time. And I have energy saving light bulbs, unlike the time when I was a child and there was no such thing as energy efficient lighting.
I am burning wood in my wood stove to help reduce my heating costs. I am gardening, canning, starting beekeeping, and shutting down all excess spending in my house. These are cost saving events that my parents and grandparents did.
After I was married about 23 years ago, we bought a house near my grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa lived through the Depression and World War II. Grandma told me stories of how she made it through the Depression.
One funny story from Grandma was that during the Depression there were no stockings for women. Grandma said that her and her girlfriend use to paint lines down the backs of their legs. Then when they went to town everyone thought they had stockings on. That is until one day when it rained and their stocking lines washed away.
Grandma Perkins had a saying she always told us. It is also found in President Faust’s talk from April Conference from 1986 “The Responsibility for Welfare Rests with Me and My Family,” (I think it is partly a Depression Era saying)
“Eat it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”
I have heard this saying so many times from so many people but mostly from Grandma. We have tried for many years to be frugal with our household. Sometimes we slip, but then we have to pull everything back in and follow the advice of our elders and get frugal again. For us this is one of those times right now. We are pulling in our outgoing expenses and trying to save money everywhere.
So now you ask what I should do to prepare. Well be like the ant in the Aesop fable of “The ant and the grasshopper”. It is a fable attributed to Aesop, providing a moral lesson about hard work and preparation.
The story concerns a grasshopper, which spends his time warming himself and playing during the warm summer months of the year. Meanwhile the ant is hard at work. When the winter months come the grasshopper upon finding himself dying of hunger and lack of warmth tries to get the ant to provide for him. The ant rebukes him for his idleness throughout the summer. This story teaches us about the virtues of hard work and saving, and the perils of improvidence.
When I taught in the past about food storage and being prepared, I would often quote a poem. The author is unknown to me.
Mr. Meant-To
Mr. Meant-To has a comrade,
And his name is Didn’t-Do;
Have you ever chanced to meet them?
Did they ever call on you?
These two fellows live together
In the house of Never-Win,
And I’m told that it is haunted
By the ghost of Might-Have-Been.
Everyday let’s not be like the grasshopper, and be more like the ant. Let’s put our houses in order as we have been commanded to do so by the General Authorities for years and in the scriptures (see D&C 88; 93; and 132). Then we won’t be in the meant-to crowd, and be haunted by the ghost of might-have-been.
The Responsibility for Welfare Rests with Me and My Family
The Responsibility for Welfare Rests with Me and My Family
Elder James E. Faust
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
James E. Faust, “The Responsibility for Welfare Rests with Me and My Family,” Ensign, May 1986, 20
I wish to speak of the basic principles that keep our feet on the ground economically. This is important to our happiness. Let us examine ourselves and, like pilots in the sky, take our bearings to see if we are on course financially. We must build upon sound principles. The bedrock principle of which I speak is that the responsibility for welfare rests with me and my family. In 1936 the First Presidency said in a great statement of purpose, “The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves.” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1936, p. 3.)
Some of us are children of the Great Depression in the United States over fifty years ago. Most of us who passed through that period will never forget the difficult economic times almost everyone experienced. At that time many banks failed; people lost their life’s savings; a great many were unemployed, and some of them lost their homes because they could not pay the mortgage. Many went hungry. If we didn’t eat our oatmeal cereal for breakfast, we would often have it fried for lunch or dinner. Such widespread economic problems could come again. But any of us, at any time, could meet with a personal calamity, such as sickness or an accident, which could limit or destroy our income.
The purpose of the welfare program is to care for the poor and the needy and make the members of the Church, by their obedience to gospel principles, strong and self-reliant. At the center of caring for the poor and the needy in a worldwide church is a generous contribution to the fast offerings, and personal and family preparedness. At the very heart of taking care of our own needs is our own energy and ability, with help to and from our own families.
I should like to discuss five prescriptions which, if followed, will make each of us better able to control our destinies.
First prescription: Practice thrift and frugality. There is a wise old saying: “Eat it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” Thrift is a practice of not wasting anything. Some people are able to get by because of the absence of expense. They have their shoes resoled, they patch, they mend, they sew, and they save money. They avoid installment buying, and make purchases only after saving enough to pay cash, thus avoiding interest charges. Frugality means to practice careful economy. (See Webster’s New World Dictionary, 2d. college edition.)
The old couplet “Waste not, want not” still has much merit. Frugality requires that we live within our income and save a little for a rainy day, which always seems to come. It means avoiding debt and carefully limiting credit purchasing. It is important to learn to distinguish between wants and needs. It takes self-discipline to avoid the “buy now, pay later” philosophy and to adopt the “save now and buy later” practice.
There are some investment counselors who urge speculative credit practices described as “leverage,” “credit wealth,” and “borrow yourself rich.” Such practices may work successfully for some, but at best they succeed only for a time. An economic reversal always seems to come, and many who have followed such practices find themselves in financial ruin and their lives in shambles.
Elder Ezra Taft Benson stated: “A large proportion of families with personal debt have no liquid assets whatsoever to fall back upon. What troubles they invite if their income should be suddenly cut off or seriously reduced! We all know of families who have obligated themselves for more than they could pay.” (Pay Thy Debt, and Live, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year, Provo: 28 Feb. 1963, p. 10.)
Owning a home free of debt is an important goal of provident living, although it may not be a realistic possibility for some. A mortgage on a home leaves a family unprotected against severe financial storms. Homes that are free and clear of mortgages and liens cannot be foreclosed on. When there are good financial times, it is the most opportune time to retire our debts and pay installments in advance. It is a truth that “the borrower is servant to the lender.” (Prov. 22:7.)
Many young people have become so hypnotized by the rhythm of monthly payments they scarcely think of the total cost of what they buy. They immediately want things it took their parents years to acquire. It is not the pathway to happiness to assume debts for a big home, an expensive car, or the most stylish clothes just so we can “keep up with the Joneses.” Payment of obligations is a sacred trust. Most of us will never be rich, but we can feel greatly unburdened when we are debt-free.
Second prescription: Seek to be independent. The Lord said that it is important for the Church to “stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world.” (D&C 78:14.) Members of the Church are also counseled to be independent. Independence means many things. It means being free of drugs that addict, habits that bind, and diseases that curse. It also means being free of personal debt and of the interest and carrying charges required by debt the world over.
President J. Reuben Clark’s classic statement on interest bears repeating:
“Interest never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; it never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation; it never visits nor travels; it takes no pleasure; it is never laid off work nor discharged from employment; it never works on reduced hours; it never has short crops nor droughts; it never pays taxes; it buys no food; it wears no clothes; it is unhoused and without home and so has no repairs, no replacements, no shingling, plumbing, painting, or whitewashing; it has neither wife, children, father, mother, nor kinfolk to watch over and care for; it has no expense of living; it has neither weddings nor births nor deaths; it has no love, no sympathy; it is as hard and soulless as a granite cliff. 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, p. 103.)
Extended economic dependence humiliates a man if he is strong, and debilitates him if he is weak.
Payment of our tithes and offerings can help us become independent. President Nathan Eldon Tanner said: “Paying tithing is discharging a debt to the Lord. …
“If we obey this commandment, we are promised that we will ‘prosper in the land.’ This prosperity consists of more than material goods—it may include enjoying good health and vigor of mind. It includes family solidarity and spiritual increase.” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1979, p. 119; or Ensign, Nov. 1979, p. 81.) It is my firm belief, after many years of close observation, that those who honestly pay their tithes and offerings do prosper and get along better in almost every way. It is my testimony that in discharging this debt to the Lord, one enjoys great personal satisfaction. Unfortunately this great satisfaction will be known only by those who have the faith and strength to keep this commandment.
Third prescription: Be industrious. To be industrious involves energetically managing our circumstances to our advantage. It also means to be enterprising and to take advantage of opportunities. Industry requires resourcefulness. A good idea can be worth years of struggle.
A friend who owned some fertile fields complained to his sister about his lack of means. “What about your crops?” asked the sister. The impoverished man replied, “There was so little snow in the mountains, I thought there would be a drought, so I did not plant.” As it turned out, unforeseen spring rains made the crops bountiful for those industrious enough to plant. It is a denial of the divinity within us to doubt our potential and our possibilities.
The great poet Virgil said, “They conquer who believe they can.” (International Dictionary of Thoughts, comp. John P. Bradley, Leo F. Daniels, Thomas C. Jones, Chicago: J. C. Ferguson Publishing Co., 1969, p. 661.) Alma testified, speaking of a just God, “I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire.” (Alma 29:4.)
To be industrious involves work. It involves creativity. It also involves rest. It includes both aspects of Sabbath day observance. On the one hand, we are to labor six days. On the other hand, we are to rest one day. This rest will leave us with more energy and resources to make the rest of the week more productive and fruitful.
Fourth prescription: Become self-reliant. I have always admired those who have the ability and skills to make things with their hands. When those skills were passed out in the previous world, I must have been out to lunch. The ability to make repairs around the home, to improvise, to take care of our own machinery, to keep our automobiles running, is not only an economic advantage, but it also provides much emotional resilience.
President Spencer W. Kimball counseled: “I hope that we understand that, while having a garden, for instance, is often useful in reducing food costs and making available delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, it does much more than this. Who can gauge the value of that special chat between daughter and Dad as they weed or water the garden? How do we evaluate the good that comes from the obvious lessons of planting, cultivating, and the eternal law of the harvest? And how do we measure the family togetherness and cooperating that must accompany successful canning? Yes, we are laying up resources in store, but perhaps the greater good is contained in the lessons of life we learn as we live providently and extend to our children their pioneer heritage.” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1977, p. 125; or Ensign, Nov. 1977, p. 78.) This heritage includes teaching our children how to work.
Fifth prescription: Strive to have a year’s supply of food and clothing. The counsel to have a year’s supply of basic food, clothing, and commodities was given fifty years ago and has been repeated many times since. Every father and mother are the family’s storekeepers. They should store whatever their own family would like to have in the case of an emergency. Most of us cannot afford to store a year’s supply of luxury items, but find it more practical to store staples that might keep us from starving in case of emergency. Surely we all hope that the hour of need will never come. Some have said, “We have followed this counsel in the past and have never had need to use our year’s supply, so we have difficulty keeping this in mind as a major priority.” Perhaps following this counsel could be the reason why they have not needed to use their reserve. By continued rotation of the supply it can be kept usable with no waste.
The Church cannot be expected to provide for every one of its millions of members in case of public or personal disaster. It is therefore necessary that each home and family do what they can to assume the responsibility for their own hour of need. If we do not have the resources to acquire a year’s supply, then we can strive to begin with having one month’s supply. I believe if we are provident and wise in the management of our personal and family affairs and are faithful, God will sustain us through our trials. He has revealed: “For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.” (D&C 104:17.)
Much of our own well-being is bound up in caring for others. Good King Benjamin, speaking through the pages of the Book of Mormon, counsels, “I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.” (Mosiah 4:26.)
You may ask, “How can I discern which of the prophetic utterances of this conference have a particular message for me?” My answer is, you can know. You can know by the whisperings of the Holy Spirit if you righteously and earnestly seek to know. Your own inspiration will be an unerring vibration through the companionship of the Holy Ghost. As the Lord spoke to Elijah, this will come, not in the great strong wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in a still, small voice. (See 1 Kgs. 19:11–12.) This will help us, if necessary, to make the required change in our lives and life-styles to get onto a sure course.
The parable of the ten virgins, five wise and five foolish, has both a spiritual and a temporal application. Each of us has a lamp to light the way, but it requires that every one of us put the oil in our own lamps to produce that light. It is not enough to sit idly by and say, “The Lord will provide.” He has promised that they who are wise and “have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide” will have the earth given unto them. (D&C 45:57–58.) It is further promised that “the Lord shall be in their midst, and his glory shall be upon them, and he will be their king and their lawgiver.” (D&C 45:59.) May it ever be so I pray humbly in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Elder James E. Faust
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
James E. Faust, “The Responsibility for Welfare Rests with Me and My Family,” Ensign, May 1986, 20
I wish to speak of the basic principles that keep our feet on the ground economically. This is important to our happiness. Let us examine ourselves and, like pilots in the sky, take our bearings to see if we are on course financially. We must build upon sound principles. The bedrock principle of which I speak is that the responsibility for welfare rests with me and my family. In 1936 the First Presidency said in a great statement of purpose, “The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves.” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1936, p. 3.)
Some of us are children of the Great Depression in the United States over fifty years ago. Most of us who passed through that period will never forget the difficult economic times almost everyone experienced. At that time many banks failed; people lost their life’s savings; a great many were unemployed, and some of them lost their homes because they could not pay the mortgage. Many went hungry. If we didn’t eat our oatmeal cereal for breakfast, we would often have it fried for lunch or dinner. Such widespread economic problems could come again. But any of us, at any time, could meet with a personal calamity, such as sickness or an accident, which could limit or destroy our income.
The purpose of the welfare program is to care for the poor and the needy and make the members of the Church, by their obedience to gospel principles, strong and self-reliant. At the center of caring for the poor and the needy in a worldwide church is a generous contribution to the fast offerings, and personal and family preparedness. At the very heart of taking care of our own needs is our own energy and ability, with help to and from our own families.
I should like to discuss five prescriptions which, if followed, will make each of us better able to control our destinies.
First prescription: Practice thrift and frugality. There is a wise old saying: “Eat it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” Thrift is a practice of not wasting anything. Some people are able to get by because of the absence of expense. They have their shoes resoled, they patch, they mend, they sew, and they save money. They avoid installment buying, and make purchases only after saving enough to pay cash, thus avoiding interest charges. Frugality means to practice careful economy. (See Webster’s New World Dictionary, 2d. college edition.)
The old couplet “Waste not, want not” still has much merit. Frugality requires that we live within our income and save a little for a rainy day, which always seems to come. It means avoiding debt and carefully limiting credit purchasing. It is important to learn to distinguish between wants and needs. It takes self-discipline to avoid the “buy now, pay later” philosophy and to adopt the “save now and buy later” practice.
There are some investment counselors who urge speculative credit practices described as “leverage,” “credit wealth,” and “borrow yourself rich.” Such practices may work successfully for some, but at best they succeed only for a time. An economic reversal always seems to come, and many who have followed such practices find themselves in financial ruin and their lives in shambles.
Elder Ezra Taft Benson stated: “A large proportion of families with personal debt have no liquid assets whatsoever to fall back upon. What troubles they invite if their income should be suddenly cut off or seriously reduced! We all know of families who have obligated themselves for more than they could pay.” (Pay Thy Debt, and Live, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year, Provo: 28 Feb. 1963, p. 10.)
Owning a home free of debt is an important goal of provident living, although it may not be a realistic possibility for some. A mortgage on a home leaves a family unprotected against severe financial storms. Homes that are free and clear of mortgages and liens cannot be foreclosed on. When there are good financial times, it is the most opportune time to retire our debts and pay installments in advance. It is a truth that “the borrower is servant to the lender.” (Prov. 22:7.)
Many young people have become so hypnotized by the rhythm of monthly payments they scarcely think of the total cost of what they buy. They immediately want things it took their parents years to acquire. It is not the pathway to happiness to assume debts for a big home, an expensive car, or the most stylish clothes just so we can “keep up with the Joneses.” Payment of obligations is a sacred trust. Most of us will never be rich, but we can feel greatly unburdened when we are debt-free.
Second prescription: Seek to be independent. The Lord said that it is important for the Church to “stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world.” (D&C 78:14.) Members of the Church are also counseled to be independent. Independence means many things. It means being free of drugs that addict, habits that bind, and diseases that curse. It also means being free of personal debt and of the interest and carrying charges required by debt the world over.
President J. Reuben Clark’s classic statement on interest bears repeating:
“Interest never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; it never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation; it never visits nor travels; it takes no pleasure; it is never laid off work nor discharged from employment; it never works on reduced hours; it never has short crops nor droughts; it never pays taxes; it buys no food; it wears no clothes; it is unhoused and without home and so has no repairs, no replacements, no shingling, plumbing, painting, or whitewashing; it has neither wife, children, father, mother, nor kinfolk to watch over and care for; it has no expense of living; it has neither weddings nor births nor deaths; it has no love, no sympathy; it is as hard and soulless as a granite cliff. 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, p. 103.)
Extended economic dependence humiliates a man if he is strong, and debilitates him if he is weak.
Payment of our tithes and offerings can help us become independent. President Nathan Eldon Tanner said: “Paying tithing is discharging a debt to the Lord. …
“If we obey this commandment, we are promised that we will ‘prosper in the land.’ This prosperity consists of more than material goods—it may include enjoying good health and vigor of mind. It includes family solidarity and spiritual increase.” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1979, p. 119; or Ensign, Nov. 1979, p. 81.) It is my firm belief, after many years of close observation, that those who honestly pay their tithes and offerings do prosper and get along better in almost every way. It is my testimony that in discharging this debt to the Lord, one enjoys great personal satisfaction. Unfortunately this great satisfaction will be known only by those who have the faith and strength to keep this commandment.
Third prescription: Be industrious. To be industrious involves energetically managing our circumstances to our advantage. It also means to be enterprising and to take advantage of opportunities. Industry requires resourcefulness. A good idea can be worth years of struggle.
A friend who owned some fertile fields complained to his sister about his lack of means. “What about your crops?” asked the sister. The impoverished man replied, “There was so little snow in the mountains, I thought there would be a drought, so I did not plant.” As it turned out, unforeseen spring rains made the crops bountiful for those industrious enough to plant. It is a denial of the divinity within us to doubt our potential and our possibilities.
The great poet Virgil said, “They conquer who believe they can.” (International Dictionary of Thoughts, comp. John P. Bradley, Leo F. Daniels, Thomas C. Jones, Chicago: J. C. Ferguson Publishing Co., 1969, p. 661.) Alma testified, speaking of a just God, “I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire.” (Alma 29:4.)
To be industrious involves work. It involves creativity. It also involves rest. It includes both aspects of Sabbath day observance. On the one hand, we are to labor six days. On the other hand, we are to rest one day. This rest will leave us with more energy and resources to make the rest of the week more productive and fruitful.
Fourth prescription: Become self-reliant. I have always admired those who have the ability and skills to make things with their hands. When those skills were passed out in the previous world, I must have been out to lunch. The ability to make repairs around the home, to improvise, to take care of our own machinery, to keep our automobiles running, is not only an economic advantage, but it also provides much emotional resilience.
President Spencer W. Kimball counseled: “I hope that we understand that, while having a garden, for instance, is often useful in reducing food costs and making available delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, it does much more than this. Who can gauge the value of that special chat between daughter and Dad as they weed or water the garden? How do we evaluate the good that comes from the obvious lessons of planting, cultivating, and the eternal law of the harvest? And how do we measure the family togetherness and cooperating that must accompany successful canning? Yes, we are laying up resources in store, but perhaps the greater good is contained in the lessons of life we learn as we live providently and extend to our children their pioneer heritage.” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1977, p. 125; or Ensign, Nov. 1977, p. 78.) This heritage includes teaching our children how to work.
Fifth prescription: Strive to have a year’s supply of food and clothing. The counsel to have a year’s supply of basic food, clothing, and commodities was given fifty years ago and has been repeated many times since. Every father and mother are the family’s storekeepers. They should store whatever their own family would like to have in the case of an emergency. Most of us cannot afford to store a year’s supply of luxury items, but find it more practical to store staples that might keep us from starving in case of emergency. Surely we all hope that the hour of need will never come. Some have said, “We have followed this counsel in the past and have never had need to use our year’s supply, so we have difficulty keeping this in mind as a major priority.” Perhaps following this counsel could be the reason why they have not needed to use their reserve. By continued rotation of the supply it can be kept usable with no waste.
The Church cannot be expected to provide for every one of its millions of members in case of public or personal disaster. It is therefore necessary that each home and family do what they can to assume the responsibility for their own hour of need. If we do not have the resources to acquire a year’s supply, then we can strive to begin with having one month’s supply. I believe if we are provident and wise in the management of our personal and family affairs and are faithful, God will sustain us through our trials. He has revealed: “For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.” (D&C 104:17.)
Much of our own well-being is bound up in caring for others. Good King Benjamin, speaking through the pages of the Book of Mormon, counsels, “I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.” (Mosiah 4:26.)
You may ask, “How can I discern which of the prophetic utterances of this conference have a particular message for me?” My answer is, you can know. You can know by the whisperings of the Holy Spirit if you righteously and earnestly seek to know. Your own inspiration will be an unerring vibration through the companionship of the Holy Ghost. As the Lord spoke to Elijah, this will come, not in the great strong wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in a still, small voice. (See 1 Kgs. 19:11–12.) This will help us, if necessary, to make the required change in our lives and life-styles to get onto a sure course.
The parable of the ten virgins, five wise and five foolish, has both a spiritual and a temporal application. Each of us has a lamp to light the way, but it requires that every one of us put the oil in our own lamps to produce that light. It is not enough to sit idly by and say, “The Lord will provide.” He has promised that they who are wise and “have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide” will have the earth given unto them. (D&C 45:57–58.) It is further promised that “the Lord shall be in their midst, and his glory shall be upon them, and he will be their king and their lawgiver.” (D&C 45:59.) May it ever be so I pray humbly in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
More families are struggling as the economic divide widens
More families are struggling as the economic divide widens
By Lois M. Collins
Deseret News
Published: February 8, 2009
Miranda Uribe, 10, is not going to be on a baseball team this year. It isn't in the family budget. And her little sister Emma turned 8 yesterday without the party fanfare that usually accompanies birthdays.
The economy has forced a rethinking of how the family spends money, says their mom, Tillie Uribe, a grade-school teacher and single parent who has always considered herself distinctly middle class. When her husband died last year, she and her four daughters — the "giggle of girls" also includes Analisa, 11, and Eva, 4 — had to make some adjustments. The economic crisis has made things worse.
Theirs is the story of the middle class for the past few decades, not just now in an economy pocked by rising unemployment, failing businesses, plummeting home values, more bankruptcies and fewer retirement dollars. The rich have been getting richer. The poor became a tad less poor. And the middle class has gone, well, nowhere.
Uribe divides life into "still-do" and "can't do" and "scaled down": Tae kwon do, church activities and grief-support group are in. Ice skating, baseball, birthday parties and restaurants are out. They reduced cable TV to the most basic package, eat fewer fresh fruits and vegetables and wear warmer clothes so they can turn the furnace down. Haircuts and family outings happen less often, and dinner is a "whole lot of chicken and hamburger when I can find it on sale," Tillie Uribe says.
She can't escape her housing costs or the several hundred dollars a month she pays for the family's medications. Her teacher's salary is not likely to go up anytime soon, she says. "We're hanging in, but we're slowly losing ground."
For more than three decades now, the middle class has not fared well, at least compared to the groups that book-end it, says University of Utah economist and finance professor Scott Schaefer. The country's been heading toward "haves" and "have-nots" for some time, and those in the shrinking middle know it. So do public officials. Vice President Joe Biden recently announced he's making the middle class and its advancement a priority.
In a survey released last April by the Pew Research Center, middle-class respondents said they believe they have stopped making economic progress. The numbers say they're right. They believe they're doing better than their parents. Also true. But it's getting harder to maintain a middle-class standard of living, they say. And the numbers, again, agree.
Men who work full-time now make on average $800 less than their dads did at the same age, says Elizabeth Warren, a law professor at Harvard Law School and a noted authority on economic trends. Her comments came in a 2007 lecture at the University of California at Berkeley that is widely available online. Her lecture compared inflation-adjusted data from 1970 to that in 2005.
Family income rose solely because women entered the work force, usually of necessity. Savings dropped from 11 percent of take-home pay then to nothing now. Credit-card debt totaled 15 percent of annual income for the median family in 2005, compared with 1.4 percent in 1970.
Warren's examination of federal data shows debt is not being driven by people living the high life. A family of four spend 32 percent less on clothes, 18 percent less on food, 52 percent less on appliances, 24 percent less per car, she says. But housing costs 76 percent more, and lower interest rates don't make it up. The cost of employer-sponsored health insurance rose 74 percent.
Two-earner households have two cars and now pay child care. Finally, tax rates have gone up 25 percent, because the second wage raises the bracket.
It boils down to this: A middle-class family in 1970 made about $32,000 a year, compared with 2005's $73,000. But that 1970s family spent half its income on big expenses it couldn't cut. Now, the average family spends three-fourths of its income on basics. And if a disability or other catastrophe hits one parent, what happens to the rest of the family?
The growing gap
Between 2000 and 2006, real annual income for the median American family fell 2.7 percent, according to "The Middle Class Squeeze," a report prepared for the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform in 2006. In working-age families, median income dropped more than 5 percent.
There may be a small spot of comfort for some families who are worrying their way through this recession, Schaefer says, although economists have not had time to study it carefully. While Americans have lost a whopping half-million or more jobs a month recently, the middle class has not borne all the pain.
"One of the hard-hit sectors has been the financial sector, and some of those are very high-paid jobs," he says.
Meanwhile, gas prices have dropped — a huge plus for low- and middle-income consumers who spend a good chunk of their income on fuel. Inflation has been nonexistent, and grocery prices have slipped from last year's highs. So while the economy spells disaster for those who are laid off, for those who have their jobs, wages haven't gone up, but they also haven't declined. "Just in terms of money in and going out, things may have actually gotten a little easier recently," Schaefer says.
Still, when your 401(k) has lost one-third of its value and your home one-fourth of its worth, you feel poorer. And you are.
One of the trickiest parts of examining how the middle class is doing involves defining it. "Middle class" is to some degree a state of mind, researchers say. The Pew study found that more than half of Americans see themselves as middle class, including 4 in 10 of the people with household incomes less than $20,000 and one-third of those with incomes over $150,000.
"There's no precise definition of middle class," Schaefer says.
To see what's happening to those in the middle, he says, economists might look at someone in the top 10 percent of wage earners, someone smack in the middle and someone in the bottom 10 percent and see what happened to their incomes. You pick a couple of points in time, say 1980 and 2005.
Such a look back right now, he says, shows the top 10 percent have done really well. And the lower 10 percent have been gaining a little, though they're still poor. The middle guys seem to be stuck right where they were, hammering away to stay even. "In our economy, there's a growing gap between the rich and middle class and a closing gap between the poor and middle class," Schaefer says.
Losing ground
Why aren't middle-class earnings keeping up? Some experts point to rising gasoline and food prices, health bills including insurance, child care and increased education costs. Schaefer says the "why" debate among economists is mostly theory, since you can't say with precision what would have happened in other circumstances. Capital-gains tax cuts certainly benefit the wealthy, but you can only guess what would have happened without them, for instance.
Clearly, though, people right now feel poorer, and consumption is fueled largely by how you perceive your wealth. When your retirement savings tanks and your home equity plummets, it's natural to cut back spending, Schaefer says. You start saving and stop buying.
But that ripples down. If you don't buy gewgaws, gewgaw-makers lose their jobs. Then they stop eating lunch next door, and that diner lets people go, too. Consumer spending, that economic driver, has been down consistently since mid-2008.
Bertha and Ronald Torrez don't need an economist to tell them that they're losing ground in their middle-class lifestyle. About nine months ago, they both left semi-retirement. She'd put in 20 years at the phone company and another decade at UPS and had two small pensions, but she's now working part-time at a fabric store to make ends meet.
Recently, she has cut back on her diabetes medicine. "I don't take it exactly the way it's prescribed," she says. "We don't eat a whole lot of groceries, but we've cut back on how much we do eat. We don't eat steaks, that's for sure."
Her husband steamed and froze vegetables to get them through winter, and they typically buy frozen or canned fruit. "We try to cut back on how much heat we use. During the day, we wear sweatshirts," she says. They travel to see the grandkids less often, as well.
Even tax policy contributes to the growing gap. It has been kindest to those who have assets, according to a 2006 report, "Subsidies for Assets: A New Look at the Federal Budget," commissioned for the Federal Reserve System. The report found that nearly half of all tax benefits went to people making at least $1 million a year.
Those making less than $80,000 shared 10.5 percent of the $367 billion in benefits available in fiscal year 2005. The bottom 60 percent of households got less than 3 percent of the benefits. "The poorest fifth got, on average, $3 in benefits from these policies, while the wealthiest 1 percent enjoy, on average, $57,673," the report says.
The effect of recent and ongoing stimulus efforts was not factored into the report.
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development said in October that the gap between the middle class and the rich in America in 2005 (that's the latest data) was exceeded only by that of Mexico and Turkey. And the 2208-09 Measure of America report, put out by the American Human Development Project, said the richest 10 percent of households hold 71.5 percent of this nation's wealth.
It is possible, warns the report, that the middle class will lose the most ground in a bad economy. Already, "problems once the burden of the poor — vulnerability, no safety net, living paycheck to paycheck, no health coverage or retirement savings — are now shared by many in the middle class."
Trying to cope
For some people, it's already reality. Matt Minkevitch, who directs Road Home homeless services, and Jim Pugh, head of Utah Food Bank and related programs, have front-row seats to the recession's devastation. Both men have seen more working-class families who need help because of lost jobs, reduced hours, forced unpaid leave or loss of once-plentiful overtime.
But the community has created more affordable housing and services to get people out of homeless shelters, Minkevitch says. Since July 1, Road Home served an extra 523 men, but with 549 fewer nights of shelter. And Road Home is not turning people away.
Pugh says food banks statewide have seen a 30 percent increase in demand, and the clientele is changing. "We're seeing more and more of the working poor — full-time wage earners with full-time jobs" who increasingly "are choosing between medicine and rent. A few years ago, some of those same families were dropping off food." Calls to the 2-1-1 Information and Referral line for help are up 18 percent.
Uncertainty is the hardest, says Kim Jeffery, who was laid off in November from a work-at-home job processing medical claims. She quickly found home-based data entry work, but it doesn't pay as well. Her husband, Mike Jeffery, owns a landscaping business, but he is not always paid promptly. "I definitely am worried," she says. "We're cutting back."
They're trying to sell a newer car. She worries about the cost of health insurance — she and her husband have to cover the entire cost of the policy. Parents of three children — 8, 6 and 2 years old — she says that she and her husband have always been careful. They pay their bills and they save. She's just thankful they don't have chronic medical problems.
In the same Midvale neighborhood, Jared and Kiely Hanks are raising four kids, 9 months to 8 years old. She's a stay-at-home mom, and he manages a pension firm his dad owns. Although his work is apparently secure, she's being careful, too.
She watches what groceries she buys and where she buys them. Little things have dropped off the shopping list to stretch a dollar. They gave up their home phone and changed TV providers to take advantage of an offer that will save them money for a while. They sock money away "in case."
Meanwhile, prices have not yet gone up as much as she feared. Utilities are only slightly higher and gas is nowhere near what it was for a while. Mostly Kiely says she's struck by how much groceries cost. "I shop the ads more and use coupons." She keeps a mental tally of what she typically pays for commonly bought items. If she sees a good deal, she gets it.
It's going to take more than pinching pennies, though, to reverse a decades-long trend. Warren worries that we're going from three classes to two. "Those with two incomes, who don't get sick or have a tragedy, they stay with the upper group ... and the rest of us is just one long trail of underclass that stays on the constant debt treadmill" with no real security, she says. It's "not the kind of security that for the first three-quarters of a century we associated with being middle class."
E-mail: lois@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved
By Lois M. Collins
Deseret News
Published: February 8, 2009
Miranda Uribe, 10, is not going to be on a baseball team this year. It isn't in the family budget. And her little sister Emma turned 8 yesterday without the party fanfare that usually accompanies birthdays.
The economy has forced a rethinking of how the family spends money, says their mom, Tillie Uribe, a grade-school teacher and single parent who has always considered herself distinctly middle class. When her husband died last year, she and her four daughters — the "giggle of girls" also includes Analisa, 11, and Eva, 4 — had to make some adjustments. The economic crisis has made things worse.
Theirs is the story of the middle class for the past few decades, not just now in an economy pocked by rising unemployment, failing businesses, plummeting home values, more bankruptcies and fewer retirement dollars. The rich have been getting richer. The poor became a tad less poor. And the middle class has gone, well, nowhere.
Uribe divides life into "still-do" and "can't do" and "scaled down": Tae kwon do, church activities and grief-support group are in. Ice skating, baseball, birthday parties and restaurants are out. They reduced cable TV to the most basic package, eat fewer fresh fruits and vegetables and wear warmer clothes so they can turn the furnace down. Haircuts and family outings happen less often, and dinner is a "whole lot of chicken and hamburger when I can find it on sale," Tillie Uribe says.
She can't escape her housing costs or the several hundred dollars a month she pays for the family's medications. Her teacher's salary is not likely to go up anytime soon, she says. "We're hanging in, but we're slowly losing ground."
For more than three decades now, the middle class has not fared well, at least compared to the groups that book-end it, says University of Utah economist and finance professor Scott Schaefer. The country's been heading toward "haves" and "have-nots" for some time, and those in the shrinking middle know it. So do public officials. Vice President Joe Biden recently announced he's making the middle class and its advancement a priority.
In a survey released last April by the Pew Research Center, middle-class respondents said they believe they have stopped making economic progress. The numbers say they're right. They believe they're doing better than their parents. Also true. But it's getting harder to maintain a middle-class standard of living, they say. And the numbers, again, agree.
Men who work full-time now make on average $800 less than their dads did at the same age, says Elizabeth Warren, a law professor at Harvard Law School and a noted authority on economic trends. Her comments came in a 2007 lecture at the University of California at Berkeley that is widely available online. Her lecture compared inflation-adjusted data from 1970 to that in 2005.
Family income rose solely because women entered the work force, usually of necessity. Savings dropped from 11 percent of take-home pay then to nothing now. Credit-card debt totaled 15 percent of annual income for the median family in 2005, compared with 1.4 percent in 1970.
Warren's examination of federal data shows debt is not being driven by people living the high life. A family of four spend 32 percent less on clothes, 18 percent less on food, 52 percent less on appliances, 24 percent less per car, she says. But housing costs 76 percent more, and lower interest rates don't make it up. The cost of employer-sponsored health insurance rose 74 percent.
Two-earner households have two cars and now pay child care. Finally, tax rates have gone up 25 percent, because the second wage raises the bracket.
It boils down to this: A middle-class family in 1970 made about $32,000 a year, compared with 2005's $73,000. But that 1970s family spent half its income on big expenses it couldn't cut. Now, the average family spends three-fourths of its income on basics. And if a disability or other catastrophe hits one parent, what happens to the rest of the family?
The growing gap
Between 2000 and 2006, real annual income for the median American family fell 2.7 percent, according to "The Middle Class Squeeze," a report prepared for the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform in 2006. In working-age families, median income dropped more than 5 percent.
There may be a small spot of comfort for some families who are worrying their way through this recession, Schaefer says, although economists have not had time to study it carefully. While Americans have lost a whopping half-million or more jobs a month recently, the middle class has not borne all the pain.
"One of the hard-hit sectors has been the financial sector, and some of those are very high-paid jobs," he says.
Meanwhile, gas prices have dropped — a huge plus for low- and middle-income consumers who spend a good chunk of their income on fuel. Inflation has been nonexistent, and grocery prices have slipped from last year's highs. So while the economy spells disaster for those who are laid off, for those who have their jobs, wages haven't gone up, but they also haven't declined. "Just in terms of money in and going out, things may have actually gotten a little easier recently," Schaefer says.
Still, when your 401(k) has lost one-third of its value and your home one-fourth of its worth, you feel poorer. And you are.
One of the trickiest parts of examining how the middle class is doing involves defining it. "Middle class" is to some degree a state of mind, researchers say. The Pew study found that more than half of Americans see themselves as middle class, including 4 in 10 of the people with household incomes less than $20,000 and one-third of those with incomes over $150,000.
"There's no precise definition of middle class," Schaefer says.
To see what's happening to those in the middle, he says, economists might look at someone in the top 10 percent of wage earners, someone smack in the middle and someone in the bottom 10 percent and see what happened to their incomes. You pick a couple of points in time, say 1980 and 2005.
Such a look back right now, he says, shows the top 10 percent have done really well. And the lower 10 percent have been gaining a little, though they're still poor. The middle guys seem to be stuck right where they were, hammering away to stay even. "In our economy, there's a growing gap between the rich and middle class and a closing gap between the poor and middle class," Schaefer says.
Losing ground
Why aren't middle-class earnings keeping up? Some experts point to rising gasoline and food prices, health bills including insurance, child care and increased education costs. Schaefer says the "why" debate among economists is mostly theory, since you can't say with precision what would have happened in other circumstances. Capital-gains tax cuts certainly benefit the wealthy, but you can only guess what would have happened without them, for instance.
Clearly, though, people right now feel poorer, and consumption is fueled largely by how you perceive your wealth. When your retirement savings tanks and your home equity plummets, it's natural to cut back spending, Schaefer says. You start saving and stop buying.
But that ripples down. If you don't buy gewgaws, gewgaw-makers lose their jobs. Then they stop eating lunch next door, and that diner lets people go, too. Consumer spending, that economic driver, has been down consistently since mid-2008.
Bertha and Ronald Torrez don't need an economist to tell them that they're losing ground in their middle-class lifestyle. About nine months ago, they both left semi-retirement. She'd put in 20 years at the phone company and another decade at UPS and had two small pensions, but she's now working part-time at a fabric store to make ends meet.
Recently, she has cut back on her diabetes medicine. "I don't take it exactly the way it's prescribed," she says. "We don't eat a whole lot of groceries, but we've cut back on how much we do eat. We don't eat steaks, that's for sure."
Her husband steamed and froze vegetables to get them through winter, and they typically buy frozen or canned fruit. "We try to cut back on how much heat we use. During the day, we wear sweatshirts," she says. They travel to see the grandkids less often, as well.
Even tax policy contributes to the growing gap. It has been kindest to those who have assets, according to a 2006 report, "Subsidies for Assets: A New Look at the Federal Budget," commissioned for the Federal Reserve System. The report found that nearly half of all tax benefits went to people making at least $1 million a year.
Those making less than $80,000 shared 10.5 percent of the $367 billion in benefits available in fiscal year 2005. The bottom 60 percent of households got less than 3 percent of the benefits. "The poorest fifth got, on average, $3 in benefits from these policies, while the wealthiest 1 percent enjoy, on average, $57,673," the report says.
The effect of recent and ongoing stimulus efforts was not factored into the report.
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development said in October that the gap between the middle class and the rich in America in 2005 (that's the latest data) was exceeded only by that of Mexico and Turkey. And the 2208-09 Measure of America report, put out by the American Human Development Project, said the richest 10 percent of households hold 71.5 percent of this nation's wealth.
It is possible, warns the report, that the middle class will lose the most ground in a bad economy. Already, "problems once the burden of the poor — vulnerability, no safety net, living paycheck to paycheck, no health coverage or retirement savings — are now shared by many in the middle class."
Trying to cope
For some people, it's already reality. Matt Minkevitch, who directs Road Home homeless services, and Jim Pugh, head of Utah Food Bank and related programs, have front-row seats to the recession's devastation. Both men have seen more working-class families who need help because of lost jobs, reduced hours, forced unpaid leave or loss of once-plentiful overtime.
But the community has created more affordable housing and services to get people out of homeless shelters, Minkevitch says. Since July 1, Road Home served an extra 523 men, but with 549 fewer nights of shelter. And Road Home is not turning people away.
Pugh says food banks statewide have seen a 30 percent increase in demand, and the clientele is changing. "We're seeing more and more of the working poor — full-time wage earners with full-time jobs" who increasingly "are choosing between medicine and rent. A few years ago, some of those same families were dropping off food." Calls to the 2-1-1 Information and Referral line for help are up 18 percent.
Uncertainty is the hardest, says Kim Jeffery, who was laid off in November from a work-at-home job processing medical claims. She quickly found home-based data entry work, but it doesn't pay as well. Her husband, Mike Jeffery, owns a landscaping business, but he is not always paid promptly. "I definitely am worried," she says. "We're cutting back."
They're trying to sell a newer car. She worries about the cost of health insurance — she and her husband have to cover the entire cost of the policy. Parents of three children — 8, 6 and 2 years old — she says that she and her husband have always been careful. They pay their bills and they save. She's just thankful they don't have chronic medical problems.
In the same Midvale neighborhood, Jared and Kiely Hanks are raising four kids, 9 months to 8 years old. She's a stay-at-home mom, and he manages a pension firm his dad owns. Although his work is apparently secure, she's being careful, too.
She watches what groceries she buys and where she buys them. Little things have dropped off the shopping list to stretch a dollar. They gave up their home phone and changed TV providers to take advantage of an offer that will save them money for a while. They sock money away "in case."
Meanwhile, prices have not yet gone up as much as she feared. Utilities are only slightly higher and gas is nowhere near what it was for a while. Mostly Kiely says she's struck by how much groceries cost. "I shop the ads more and use coupons." She keeps a mental tally of what she typically pays for commonly bought items. If she sees a good deal, she gets it.
It's going to take more than pinching pennies, though, to reverse a decades-long trend. Warren worries that we're going from three classes to two. "Those with two incomes, who don't get sick or have a tragedy, they stay with the upper group ... and the rest of us is just one long trail of underclass that stays on the constant debt treadmill" with no real security, she says. It's "not the kind of security that for the first three-quarters of a century we associated with being middle class."
E-mail: lois@desnews.com
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved
Saturday, February 7, 2009
There is something about money
There is something about money
By Nicole Warburton
Deseret News
Published: Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009
What is the right balance between faith and wealth?
Search the Bible and you will find hundreds of verses addressing the topic of wealth.
In fact, some researchers believe Christ preached more often about money and possessions than either heaven or hell, according to Lisa Keister, a professor of sociology at Duke University.
Consider the oft-quoted scripture in Matthew: "And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
Why then, do studies show people who attend religious services generally achieve more wealth than people who don't? Keister believes it's both a direct and indirect result of the emphasis religions place on issues such as marriage, childbearing, education and goal-setting.
Those are all big contributors to a person's lack or excess of wealth, she said.
So how does one reconcile the attainment of wealth with the teachings that wealth can be detrimental?
For some, it's a matter of interpreting the scriptures literally. Conservative Protestants as a whole tend to accumulate less wealth than Jews, Catholics or mainline Protestants, according to Keister.
Others believe it's a matter of attitude. The scripture in 1 Timothy does not say, "money is the root of all evil." It's the "love of money" that is the root of evil.
"We don't see wealth as good or bad," said Pastor Steve Goodier of Salt Lake City's Christ United Methodist Church. "It's what it does to you that makes a difference."
From his perspective, money can be a great tool, but the more tightly a person holds onto their wealth, the easier it is to focus on attainment and develop a "fearful" spiritual attitude.
He encourages people to try and seek balance with their money. It's important to save so as not to become dependant on others, but it must be done appropriately without hoarding, Pastor Goodier said.
Likewise, he believes a person must learn to spend appropriately, and also be generous in donating their money.
Within the Jewish faith tradition, Rabbi Tracee Rosen of Salt Lake City's Congregation Kol Ami said it is clear wealth is a gift from God and people have a responsibility to use it to benefit others. But giving must be done with balance so as not to indebt the giver, she said.
"We believe very strongly in individual choice," said Rabbi Rosen. "We charge human beings to behave in spiritually responsible ways regardless of financial status."
But what about a lack of money? Even debt can affect spirituality, according to researchers, educators and some clergy.
Ned Hill, a professor in the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University and also a former dean, said he believes debt can act as a constraint to correct moral behavior.
Consider the cases of Enron, WorldCom and other major companies that have failed as result of dishonesty and greed, he said. It was because of debt and pressure to perform.
"Studies show people who behave fraudulently generally have a high debt level," Hill said. "It brings worries into their lives and constrains behaviors. For example, if you have debts and you're working in a job and your boss says 'I want you to lie about something,' it can constrain your behavior from doing the right thing."
From Keister's perspective, religion and attitudes toward money are clearly connected.
"People draw on the tools they learn from religion to develop consistent strategies for dealing with problems and for making decisions such as savings, investment, and consumption decisions," she wrote in a recent study about wealth and religion.
It's just a matter of achieving the right balance, according to Colleen Gundreau with the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City.
"In no way can I say that I deserve or am worthy of anything God has given me, not my being, not my call to salvation, not my service in the community," she said in a statement. "But the essential question is not about my worthiness. The essential question is about my response: what do I do with the gifts that God has given me?"
Income diversity among religions
A recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed there is great diversity in the income of various religious groups within the United States.
The study showed Hindu and Jewish traditions were the top wage-earning religions, with Orthodox, Buddhist and mainline Protestants coming next. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Catholics fell more toward the middle in terms of income while Muslims, Jehovah's Witness and "historically black Protestant churches" were at the bottom.
Rabbi Tracee Rosen with Congregation Kol Ami says a strong focus on education may explain why members of the Jewish faith were near the top.
"By and large, with young Jewish individuals, it's no longer enough to have a Bachelor's, they have to have a Master's or better," Rosen said.
________________________________________
E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com
MormonTimes.com is produced by the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Copyright © 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company
By Nicole Warburton
Deseret News
Published: Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009
What is the right balance between faith and wealth?
Search the Bible and you will find hundreds of verses addressing the topic of wealth.
In fact, some researchers believe Christ preached more often about money and possessions than either heaven or hell, according to Lisa Keister, a professor of sociology at Duke University.
Consider the oft-quoted scripture in Matthew: "And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
Why then, do studies show people who attend religious services generally achieve more wealth than people who don't? Keister believes it's both a direct and indirect result of the emphasis religions place on issues such as marriage, childbearing, education and goal-setting.
Those are all big contributors to a person's lack or excess of wealth, she said.
So how does one reconcile the attainment of wealth with the teachings that wealth can be detrimental?
For some, it's a matter of interpreting the scriptures literally. Conservative Protestants as a whole tend to accumulate less wealth than Jews, Catholics or mainline Protestants, according to Keister.
Others believe it's a matter of attitude. The scripture in 1 Timothy does not say, "money is the root of all evil." It's the "love of money" that is the root of evil.
"We don't see wealth as good or bad," said Pastor Steve Goodier of Salt Lake City's Christ United Methodist Church. "It's what it does to you that makes a difference."
From his perspective, money can be a great tool, but the more tightly a person holds onto their wealth, the easier it is to focus on attainment and develop a "fearful" spiritual attitude.
He encourages people to try and seek balance with their money. It's important to save so as not to become dependant on others, but it must be done appropriately without hoarding, Pastor Goodier said.
Likewise, he believes a person must learn to spend appropriately, and also be generous in donating their money.
Within the Jewish faith tradition, Rabbi Tracee Rosen of Salt Lake City's Congregation Kol Ami said it is clear wealth is a gift from God and people have a responsibility to use it to benefit others. But giving must be done with balance so as not to indebt the giver, she said.
"We believe very strongly in individual choice," said Rabbi Rosen. "We charge human beings to behave in spiritually responsible ways regardless of financial status."
But what about a lack of money? Even debt can affect spirituality, according to researchers, educators and some clergy.
Ned Hill, a professor in the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University and also a former dean, said he believes debt can act as a constraint to correct moral behavior.
Consider the cases of Enron, WorldCom and other major companies that have failed as result of dishonesty and greed, he said. It was because of debt and pressure to perform.
"Studies show people who behave fraudulently generally have a high debt level," Hill said. "It brings worries into their lives and constrains behaviors. For example, if you have debts and you're working in a job and your boss says 'I want you to lie about something,' it can constrain your behavior from doing the right thing."
From Keister's perspective, religion and attitudes toward money are clearly connected.
"People draw on the tools they learn from religion to develop consistent strategies for dealing with problems and for making decisions such as savings, investment, and consumption decisions," she wrote in a recent study about wealth and religion.
It's just a matter of achieving the right balance, according to Colleen Gundreau with the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City.
"In no way can I say that I deserve or am worthy of anything God has given me, not my being, not my call to salvation, not my service in the community," she said in a statement. "But the essential question is not about my worthiness. The essential question is about my response: what do I do with the gifts that God has given me?"
Income diversity among religions
A recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed there is great diversity in the income of various religious groups within the United States.
The study showed Hindu and Jewish traditions were the top wage-earning religions, with Orthodox, Buddhist and mainline Protestants coming next. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Catholics fell more toward the middle in terms of income while Muslims, Jehovah's Witness and "historically black Protestant churches" were at the bottom.
Rabbi Tracee Rosen with Congregation Kol Ami says a strong focus on education may explain why members of the Jewish faith were near the top.
"By and large, with young Jewish individuals, it's no longer enough to have a Bachelor's, they have to have a Master's or better," Rosen said.
________________________________________
E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com
MormonTimes.com is produced by the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Copyright © 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company
Friday, February 6, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Wise Financial Management During Tough Economic Times
SALT LAKE CITY 24 September 2008
Recent studies show one in four American workers is seriously distressed about his personal financial situation. Add to that the uncertainty of the economy and there becomes an increased need to improve personal and family financial management.
Richard W. Ebert Jr., the director of Employment Resource Services for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, says, “Financial problems are a source of much unhappiness and are certainly a major factor in family and work difficulties. Unresolved, they can lead to crushing debt and divorce.”
Knowing this, leaders of the Church have counseled its members for decades to prepare for hard times by avoiding financial problems and becoming more economically stable. Recently, the senior leadership of the Church published the brochure All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Finances to help members manage their resources.
The brochure advises families to “prepare for adversity by looking to the condition of your finances. We urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt. Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from this bondage. Save a little money regularly to gradually build a financial reserve. If you have paid your debts and have a financial reserve, even though it be small, you and your family will feel more secure and enjoy greater peace in your hearts.”
The brochure is available on the Church Welfare Services Web site at www.providentliving.org. The Web site also provides the following guidelines for families to become more financially responsible:
1. Avoid debt. Learn self-restraint by spending less money than you make and saving money to purchase what you need. Avoid debt except for vital needs, education and the purchase of a modest home. If in debt, try to pay it off quickly.
2. Use a budget. Keep a record of your monthly income and expenses. With this information, set up a family budget. Establish how much you will save, how much you will spend for food, housing, insurance, utilities, etc. Reduce what you spend on things that are not necessary.
3. Teach family members early the importance of working and earning. Children should be responsible for the decisions that affect their own money and face the consequences of their bad spending. As your children mature, help them understand the family financial situation, budget goals and their individual responsibility within their families.
4. Work toward home ownership. Improve the home you acquire so you can use the accumulated equity for a better home if you decide to sell it.
5. Appropriately involve yourself in an insurance program to avoid the significant debts place upon families when they are uninsured.
6. Involve yourself in a food storage and emergency preparedness program. Planting and harvesting a garden annually can help the family budget and encourage food storage.
7. Build a reserve. Accumulate savings little by little and use it for emergencies only.
The Web site also provides a number of financial tools to guide families and individuals in the decision-making process. These tools can help determine — based on an individual’s own income — how soon loans and debts can be paid off, how much to save for retirement, how much to save to reach a specific goal, and the monthly payment on a new home.
Recent studies show one in four American workers is seriously distressed about his personal financial situation. Add to that the uncertainty of the economy and there becomes an increased need to improve personal and family financial management.
Richard W. Ebert Jr., the director of Employment Resource Services for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, says, “Financial problems are a source of much unhappiness and are certainly a major factor in family and work difficulties. Unresolved, they can lead to crushing debt and divorce.”
Knowing this, leaders of the Church have counseled its members for decades to prepare for hard times by avoiding financial problems and becoming more economically stable. Recently, the senior leadership of the Church published the brochure All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Finances to help members manage their resources.
The brochure advises families to “prepare for adversity by looking to the condition of your finances. We urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt. Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from this bondage. Save a little money regularly to gradually build a financial reserve. If you have paid your debts and have a financial reserve, even though it be small, you and your family will feel more secure and enjoy greater peace in your hearts.”
The brochure is available on the Church Welfare Services Web site at www.providentliving.org. The Web site also provides the following guidelines for families to become more financially responsible:
1. Avoid debt. Learn self-restraint by spending less money than you make and saving money to purchase what you need. Avoid debt except for vital needs, education and the purchase of a modest home. If in debt, try to pay it off quickly.
2. Use a budget. Keep a record of your monthly income and expenses. With this information, set up a family budget. Establish how much you will save, how much you will spend for food, housing, insurance, utilities, etc. Reduce what you spend on things that are not necessary.
3. Teach family members early the importance of working and earning. Children should be responsible for the decisions that affect their own money and face the consequences of their bad spending. As your children mature, help them understand the family financial situation, budget goals and their individual responsibility within their families.
4. Work toward home ownership. Improve the home you acquire so you can use the accumulated equity for a better home if you decide to sell it.
5. Appropriately involve yourself in an insurance program to avoid the significant debts place upon families when they are uninsured.
6. Involve yourself in a food storage and emergency preparedness program. Planting and harvesting a garden annually can help the family budget and encourage food storage.
7. Build a reserve. Accumulate savings little by little and use it for emergencies only.
The Web site also provides a number of financial tools to guide families and individuals in the decision-making process. These tools can help determine — based on an individual’s own income — how soon loans and debts can be paid off, how much to save for retirement, how much to save to reach a specific goal, and the monthly payment on a new home.
Personal Experience from the Cluff's
I asked Sister Zanna Cluff to share her experience with food storage and the importance of obeying the prophets counsel. I want to thank her very much for sharing their history with us.
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After Jerry and I got married, Jerry worked construction for nearly 18 years. As most of you know, construction is a very seasonal and volatile working occupation. I used to be sick with fear if I saw Jerry come home during the day. I knew he had probably lost his job. It wasn't Jerry's fault, or problem with the work he performed. Back then, they didn't do concrete work in the winter, so construction stopped with the cold weather. We were out of work most winters. Sometimes his boss quit building, which left all his employees out of a job, including us. Several times there was a recession and there was no construction work to be found. Jerry and I learned the hard way early in our marriage that having food storage in our home was not only a good idea, but absolutely necessary! The first time we went without a job or food or money to pay our bills was a real eye opener for us. We went to the bishop to see if the church could help us. He wanted us to ask our families first. Both of our families were not in a position to help us, they would have if they could, but at the time it wasn't possible. It was very hard. We felt bad, both about having to ask for help, and the helpless feeling at not being able to provide for ourselves. It was a huge learning experience for the both of us. We decided that we would do everything we could to build up our food storage when we had work, so that the times we were out of work we would at least be able to eat. I cannot tell you how many times I prayed that something wouldn't happen to the economy right then , because we were living on our food storage. Many times we were out of work, but it took only once for us to learn that our prophet was inspired to direct us to store food against times of need. Jerry and I both have a testimony of the importance of following the instructions of our prophet. The peace of mind is worth every effort.
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After Jerry and I got married, Jerry worked construction for nearly 18 years. As most of you know, construction is a very seasonal and volatile working occupation. I used to be sick with fear if I saw Jerry come home during the day. I knew he had probably lost his job. It wasn't Jerry's fault, or problem with the work he performed. Back then, they didn't do concrete work in the winter, so construction stopped with the cold weather. We were out of work most winters. Sometimes his boss quit building, which left all his employees out of a job, including us. Several times there was a recession and there was no construction work to be found. Jerry and I learned the hard way early in our marriage that having food storage in our home was not only a good idea, but absolutely necessary! The first time we went without a job or food or money to pay our bills was a real eye opener for us. We went to the bishop to see if the church could help us. He wanted us to ask our families first. Both of our families were not in a position to help us, they would have if they could, but at the time it wasn't possible. It was very hard. We felt bad, both about having to ask for help, and the helpless feeling at not being able to provide for ourselves. It was a huge learning experience for the both of us. We decided that we would do everything we could to build up our food storage when we had work, so that the times we were out of work we would at least be able to eat. I cannot tell you how many times I prayed that something wouldn't happen to the economy right then , because we were living on our food storage. Many times we were out of work, but it took only once for us to learn that our prophet was inspired to direct us to store food against times of need. Jerry and I both have a testimony of the importance of following the instructions of our prophet. The peace of mind is worth every effort.
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