New frugality is the new normal, by necessity
By ASHLEY M. HEHER, AP Retail Writer Ashley M. Heher, Ap Retail Writer Mon Sep 7, 1:23 pm ET
CHICAGO – A year after "shop 'til you drop" stopped, the nation fixates on this question: Will consumer spending ever return to pre-recession levels?
Increasingly, the answer appears to be no. Belt-tightening in bad times is normal. And after every other recession since World War II, penny-pinching quickly fell out of fashion and Americans resumed their demand for houses, cars and everything else.
This time it's different. Like the Great Depression in the 1930s, the Great Recession seems destined to turn many Americans into lasting coupon-cutters, scrimpers and savers. Consumers dug a debt hole over the past decade from which there's no easy climb out. The population segment that drives spending the most — baby boomers — faces special pressure: Boomers are running out of time.
A study by research firm AlixPartners concluded that once a new normal sets in after this recession ends, Americans will spend at about 86 percent of their pre-downturn level.
In an economy driven by consumption, the implications are far-reaching if that forecast proves correct:
• For every kitchen not remodeled, there will be lost sales of appliances and supplies, and fewer jobs for designers and contractors. As homeowners do work around the house themselves, there will be less work for gardeners, plumbers and handymen.
• For every shopper who trades down from luxury stores to discount stores, it will mean less profit for retailers and manufacturers. Retailers will continue to offer few product choices and leaner inventories, and they'll reassess store locations and advertising.
• If sales of cars and trucks average closer to the recession level of 10 million a year than the 16 million in boom times, more suppliers will fail and further consolidation among automakers could occur. Taxes not paid on lost vehicle sales will continue to stress budgets of state and local governments.
Frugality may be good for family budgets, but it's bad for the national economy. And that has the potential to reinforce and continue the miserly mood. A Gallup survey last month found seven in 10 Americans are cutting weekly expenses — a number that has been consistent through the summer.
A year after last fall's financial meltdown turned a garden-variety recession into the worst downturn since the Depression, thriftiness is still driven by the twin engines of necessity and fear. Unemployment, now at 9.7 percent, is still rising and expected to reach double digits before year's end for the first time since 1982. Many who still have jobs are getting paid less, and investments have a long way to go before they return to pre-meltdown levels.
Kathy Haney, 46, of Orland Park, Ill., has a job but is scaling back her shopping and packing her lunch.
"You put your priorities in different places because you never know if you're going to have a job tomorrow," the legal secretary says. "You think twice now. I have six TVs in the house. Do I really need a new flat screen?"
For her and many other Americans, the answer is no. The underlying causes of the meltdown and where it left millions financially suggests a fundamental change is under way. Personal spending has fallen in four of the last six quarters — the only time that's happened since quarterly records were first compiled in 1947.
In a normal recession, a vicious downward cycle of reduced spending by consumers and layoffs by employers finally eases and a virtuous cycle begins. Consumers start spending again. Factories ramp back up to meet the demand and hire workers. Incomes rise, fueling greater spending, more production and more jobs.
Until the Great Recession, the worst recession since World War II was in 1981-82. Unemployment peaked at 10.8 percent in December 1982, a month after the recession had ended.
The recovery that followed was powered by baby boomers, they were mostly in their 20s and early 30s then. Their careers were taking off, they were starting families, and they were spending freely. On homes, furniture, cars — and everything else. Saving for retirement was the last thing on their minds.
Fueled by boomers, when the recession ended, growth was explosive. Consumer spending rose 5.7 percent in 1983. GDP rose 4.5 percent in '83 and 7.2 percent in 1984.
"If someone gets more comfortable, they spend a little more," says Erik Hurst, an economist at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. "As they spend a little more, someone else spends more."
Jump to today. For most of this decade, Americans enjoyed a credit-fueled binge that allowed them to spend more than they made. They snatched up everything from gadgets to houses.
Those houses soared in value and became as valuable a source of cash as a bank ATM. Home equity was tapped to pay for vacations, new cars and kitchen renovations. The rising stock market gave people an inflated sense of wealth as they watched their retirement accounts grow.
Not unlike the Roaring '20s, which preceded the Great Depression three generations ago, people believed the good times would never end. Per capita personal spending ballooned 25 percent from 2003 to 2005, according to data from Euromonitor International.
When the party ended, the nation was left with more than just a hangover. Personal debt had doubled in a decade. As of July, it stood at $13.8 trillion, or about $124,000 per household. Despite months of frugality, that was only slightly below its 2008 peak.
It will take years to work down the debt, which will prolong people's thriftiness. Paying it down will be harder because of the layoffs, pay cuts, freezes and furloughs. Personal income has fallen or been flat eight of the past 10 months.
On the asset side of their balance sheets, plunging stock prices and home values have made Americans feel poorer. Their net worth — the difference between the value of what they own and what they owe — has taken a staggering $12.2 trillion hit in the Great Recession. Net worth fell from $62.6 trillion at the end of 2007 to $50.4 trillion at the end of this year's first quarter, figures from the Federal Reserve show.
The result: Consumer spending adjusted for inflation fell 0.2 percent in 2008 — the first annual drop since 1980. Hardest hit from the first half of last year to the first half of this year: Motor vehicles and parts (down 17.2 percent); furnishings and durable household equipment (down 8.8 percent); clothing and footwear (down 5.8 percent).
"There will be a fundamental shift in the kind of cars we buy, a fundamental shift in the homes we buy, and a fundamental shift in consumption generally," says Matt Murray, an economist at the University of Tennessee. "And that is not something that took place in the 1980s."
As in the 1980s, much of that shift will be driven by baby boomers. For the 78 million people born from 1946 through 1964, the Great Recession hit at a particularly inopportune time — during peak years of earning and saving before retirement. Boomers range from 44 to 63 today — the youngest is nearly 10 years older than the oldest was in 1982. They are running out of time and are most likely to remain cautious spenders and become aggressive savers even as the economy improves.
The housing bubble mistakenly led boomers and millions of others to believe their home was their retirement nest egg. If they left their home equity alone during the boom, they've taken a hit the last couple years but are still ahead. But many treated their home like a personal bank and spent the gains by tapping a home equity line of credit.
Some now feel disgusted with the great national buying binge and are reacting against it. Last month, Chicago playwright Maureen Riley began giving away what she amassed.
"I felt this tremendous clarity as I looked around and saw my space emptying out and my closet emptying out," the 55-year-old says.
Despite all the battered personal balance sheets, thriftiness will abate somewhat as the economy continues to recover. There will still be vacations and home remodeling. But there will be caution, too.
Sanda Schramm, 63, a second-grade school teacher from Florham Park, N.J., and her husband Rob, 64, made changes after their retirement funds fell 20 percent below their peak. They considered themselves frugal before the recession. Now, they are even more tightfisted.
Instead of scouring for 40 percent discounts at Macy's and other department stores, she looks for 75 percent markdowns and shops more at consignment stores. They go out to dinner once a month instead of twice a week. And most everything they buy is paid for in cash, not with a credit card.
When the economy bounces back and her retirement accounts recover, Schramm says she'll continue to shop at consignment shops but will probably go to restaurants more.
"When the housing market and stocks were booming, everybody felt wealthy," she says. "But when everything goes down, you feel you're vulnerable ... I have always been careful, but now I am even more careful."
___
AP Retail Writer Anne D'Innocenzio contributed to this report from New York.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Rose Park Mormon a gardening advocate
Rose Park Mormon a gardening advocate
By Sharon Haddock
Mormon Times
Published: 2009-08-26 00:17:21
ROSE PARK, Utah -- With the national economy stumbling and the world climate changing, now is the time to become proficient at growing food.
So says a Rose Park, Utah, Mormon who hasn't bought a vegetable in a store for more than 20 years but still sits down to a healthy, veggie-laden meal every night.
"My mother used to make me take care of the vegetables in our garden," Ralph Steenblik said. "I thought it was an abomination."
Today, Steenblik, 81, cares for an 18-tree orchard and a large garden. He also oversees the Rose Park Community Garden just a ways north of his home in Salt Lake City.
Steenblik tills, seeds, weeds, waters and harvests all season long and even tends a few hardy crops through the winter. He raises sweet corn, celery, tomatoes, beets, carrots, 10 varieties of squash, beans, garlic, cabbage, leeks, chard and spinach.
"I eat fresh spinach all winter long," said Steenblik, who covers the plants with a layer of leaves so they continue to grow in the cold.
Eighty-one-year-old Ralph Steenblik works in his garden at his home in Rose Park, Utah. Photo: Michael Brandy, Deseret News
Steenblik freezes or cans his harvest. Last year, he put up 160 quarts of fruit, canned string beans and dill pickles, and froze corn, peas, broccoli, cauliflower and English broad beans.
At one point in the process, he stood back and surveyed the quart jars and the sink full of dishes and told himself, "Ralph, you'd make somebody a good wife!"
Steenblik, a widower with six children, 29 grandchildren and 20 great-great grandchildren, has lived in the Rose Park area his entire life. He has a knack for gardening, and he's learned a lot from books.
But the most valuable knowledge came from growing plants for years in the clay soil that's typical of the area.
He knows if he wants good carrots, he has to break up the soil to about a 1-foot depth wherever they are planted. He knows potatoes won't do well in the hard clay.
He knows to push the soil up around the celery plants and corn stalks to support them.
He understands the value of staggered plantings to assure fresh crops throughout the summer.
He's trying some peanuts to see what happens, and he's thinking about adding a few chickens to the mix.
"I don't grow radishes or red beets because I don't care for them," Steenblik said. "I won't waste my time with melons here. They didn't grow, so I'm not going to monkey with it."
He figures he's not only saved a good amount of money over the years from gardening, but he also eats healthily and feels good.
Steenblik can't believe people aren't growing their own food, given the current economic circumstances. Sometimes, he's the only one who shows up on Wednesday and Saturday evenings to work in the community garden, a place designed to benefit those who want fresh vegetables in return for a few hours labor.
"People will starve to death before they'll come and work and do something," he said. "That's my gut feeling."
E-mail: haddoc@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 Sharon Haddock
Mormon Times
Published: 2009-08-26 00:17:21
ROSE PARK, Utah -- With the national economy stumbling and the world climate changing, now is the time to become proficient at growing food.
So says a Rose Park, Utah, Mormon who hasn't bought a vegetable in a store for more than 20 years but still sits down to a healthy, veggie-laden meal every night.
"My mother used to make me take care of the vegetables in our garden," Ralph Steenblik said. "I thought it was an abomination."
Today, Steenblik, 81, cares for an 18-tree orchard and a large garden. He also oversees the Rose Park Community Garden just a ways north of his home in Salt Lake City.
Steenblik tills, seeds, weeds, waters and harvests all season long and even tends a few hardy crops through the winter. He raises sweet corn, celery, tomatoes, beets, carrots, 10 varieties of squash, beans, garlic, cabbage, leeks, chard and spinach.
"I eat fresh spinach all winter long," said Steenblik, who covers the plants with a layer of leaves so they continue to grow in the cold.
Eighty-one-year-old Ralph Steenblik works in his garden at his home in Rose Park, Utah. Photo: Michael Brandy, Deseret News
Steenblik freezes or cans his harvest. Last year, he put up 160 quarts of fruit, canned string beans and dill pickles, and froze corn, peas, broccoli, cauliflower and English broad beans.
At one point in the process, he stood back and surveyed the quart jars and the sink full of dishes and told himself, "Ralph, you'd make somebody a good wife!"
Steenblik, a widower with six children, 29 grandchildren and 20 great-great grandchildren, has lived in the Rose Park area his entire life. He has a knack for gardening, and he's learned a lot from books.
But the most valuable knowledge came from growing plants for years in the clay soil that's typical of the area.
He knows if he wants good carrots, he has to break up the soil to about a 1-foot depth wherever they are planted. He knows potatoes won't do well in the hard clay.
He knows to push the soil up around the celery plants and corn stalks to support them.
He understands the value of staggered plantings to assure fresh crops throughout the summer.
He's trying some peanuts to see what happens, and he's thinking about adding a few chickens to the mix.
"I don't grow radishes or red beets because I don't care for them," Steenblik said. "I won't waste my time with melons here. They didn't grow, so I'm not going to monkey with it."
He figures he's not only saved a good amount of money over the years from gardening, but he also eats healthily and feels good.
Steenblik can't believe people aren't growing their own food, given the current economic circumstances. Sometimes, he's the only one who shows up on Wednesday and Saturday evenings to work in the community garden, a place designed to benefit those who want fresh vegetables in return for a few hours labor.
"People will starve to death before they'll come and work and do something," he said. "That's my gut feeling."
E-mail: haddoc@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
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Grow 100 lbs. Of Potatoes In 4 Square Feet:
(For pictures please see the web site)
How To Grow 100 lbs. Of Potatoes In 4 Square Feet
Posted By TipNut On April 7, 2009 @ 1:06 pm In Garden & Plants, Popular Tips | 54 Comments
Potato Box Project By The Seattle Times
Quite the clever gardening tip here folks! Today’s feature includes tips from three different sources for growing potatoes vertically (in layers) instead of spread out in rows across your garden. If you have limited garden space or want to try some nifty gardening magic, this could be a great option for you.
First, there’s this article from The Seattle Times: It’s Not Idaho, But You Still Can Grow Potatoes [1]:
The potatoes are planted inside the box, the first row of boards is installed and the dirt or mulch can now be added to cover the seed potatoes. As the plant grows, more boards and dirt will be added.
You plant potatoes in one bottom layer, boarding up the sides of each layer and adding dirt as you go higher (you wait until the plants have grown a bit before adding a new layer). While new potatoes are growing in the top layers, remove the boards from the first layer at the bottom to carefully dig out the potatoes that are ready for harvesting. Fill the dirt back in and board up the box again. You move up the layers and harvest as the potatoes are ready. I imagine the new potatoes in the first couple bottom layers would be somewhat awkward to get at but as you move higher–not so bad.
I traced the information provided in the article to Irish Eyes Garden Seeds, they have another how-to article online here: How to Grow 100 lbs. of Potatoes in 4 Square Feet [2]. They also advise you can skip the box and try growing the potatoes in a barrel or wire cage instead.
In another article on The Seattle Times (How To Grow Potatoes At Home [3]), I came across this blog post from Sinfonian’s Square Foot Garden that details his attempt at growing potatoes with this potato box method: Build-As-You-Grow Potato Bins [4]. The info was from last year (lots of pics) and he’s promised updates of this year’s attempts. He added this tip for a better yield:
Greg from Irish-Eyes Garden City Seeds let me know that Yukon Golds, and all early varieties set fruit once and do not do well in towers. You only get potatoes in the bottom 6 inches, which is what I got. Late season alternatives to yukon gold are Yellow Fin and Binjte.
Bonus! For a handy project sheet, The Seattle Times has a nice image file detailing the steps (click to view the original):
How To Build & Use Your Potato Box: The Seattle Times
Imagine growing all those potatoes in a just a few square feet–and how drastically reduced the potato-patch weeding job will be! So Clever.
Reader Update: Here’s some info sent in by Christine who made a potato bin using wood pallets:
Last weekend, I was inspired by the Tip Nut potato bin – grow 100 lbs in 4 square feet. As nice as it looked, it seemed to be very complicated, especially unscrewing slats. Being a “just do it” kind of person, I asked my husband to build me one using pallets — which are free. He picked some up, but I realized that they were enormous, so he cut them in half and made side by side compost / potato growing bins.
The Tip Nut plan called for unscrewing the bottom portions to get the grown potatoes out. Rod attached pieces of wood to hold the front pallet in place and to allow you to slide it up like a window. I took books of hay to stuff in the openings of the potato bin so the dirt wouldn’t fall out. We’ll see how it does.
Here’s a photo:
Christine's Wood Pallet Potato Bin
Unfortunately we placed it up against our neighbor’s fence. On the other side is their dog, who our Puggle Feeney loves to visit. He is always trying to dig under the fence. With the bins in place over his digging spot, the poor guy jumped into the compost bin and got stuck!
Christine’s Update: After having it in place for a couple of weeks, I discovered that the local cats think it makes a fine litter box, so I’ve added a frame on the top with chicken wire to keep them out, but allow the sunlight and water in. See her page here for lots more info and tips: Food Security 2009 [5].
*Updated, corrected information
How To Grow 100 lbs. Of Potatoes In 4 Square Feet
Posted By TipNut On April 7, 2009 @ 1:06 pm In Garden & Plants, Popular Tips | 54 Comments
Potato Box Project By The Seattle Times
Quite the clever gardening tip here folks! Today’s feature includes tips from three different sources for growing potatoes vertically (in layers) instead of spread out in rows across your garden. If you have limited garden space or want to try some nifty gardening magic, this could be a great option for you.
First, there’s this article from The Seattle Times: It’s Not Idaho, But You Still Can Grow Potatoes [1]:
The potatoes are planted inside the box, the first row of boards is installed and the dirt or mulch can now be added to cover the seed potatoes. As the plant grows, more boards and dirt will be added.
You plant potatoes in one bottom layer, boarding up the sides of each layer and adding dirt as you go higher (you wait until the plants have grown a bit before adding a new layer). While new potatoes are growing in the top layers, remove the boards from the first layer at the bottom to carefully dig out the potatoes that are ready for harvesting. Fill the dirt back in and board up the box again. You move up the layers and harvest as the potatoes are ready. I imagine the new potatoes in the first couple bottom layers would be somewhat awkward to get at but as you move higher–not so bad.
I traced the information provided in the article to Irish Eyes Garden Seeds, they have another how-to article online here: How to Grow 100 lbs. of Potatoes in 4 Square Feet [2]. They also advise you can skip the box and try growing the potatoes in a barrel or wire cage instead.
In another article on The Seattle Times (How To Grow Potatoes At Home [3]), I came across this blog post from Sinfonian’s Square Foot Garden that details his attempt at growing potatoes with this potato box method: Build-As-You-Grow Potato Bins [4]. The info was from last year (lots of pics) and he’s promised updates of this year’s attempts. He added this tip for a better yield:
Greg from Irish-Eyes Garden City Seeds let me know that Yukon Golds, and all early varieties set fruit once and do not do well in towers. You only get potatoes in the bottom 6 inches, which is what I got. Late season alternatives to yukon gold are Yellow Fin and Binjte.
Bonus! For a handy project sheet, The Seattle Times has a nice image file detailing the steps (click to view the original):
How To Build & Use Your Potato Box: The Seattle Times
Imagine growing all those potatoes in a just a few square feet–and how drastically reduced the potato-patch weeding job will be! So Clever.
Reader Update: Here’s some info sent in by Christine who made a potato bin using wood pallets:
Last weekend, I was inspired by the Tip Nut potato bin – grow 100 lbs in 4 square feet. As nice as it looked, it seemed to be very complicated, especially unscrewing slats. Being a “just do it” kind of person, I asked my husband to build me one using pallets — which are free. He picked some up, but I realized that they were enormous, so he cut them in half and made side by side compost / potato growing bins.
The Tip Nut plan called for unscrewing the bottom portions to get the grown potatoes out. Rod attached pieces of wood to hold the front pallet in place and to allow you to slide it up like a window. I took books of hay to stuff in the openings of the potato bin so the dirt wouldn’t fall out. We’ll see how it does.
Here’s a photo:
Christine's Wood Pallet Potato Bin
Unfortunately we placed it up against our neighbor’s fence. On the other side is their dog, who our Puggle Feeney loves to visit. He is always trying to dig under the fence. With the bins in place over his digging spot, the poor guy jumped into the compost bin and got stuck!
Christine’s Update: After having it in place for a couple of weeks, I discovered that the local cats think it makes a fine litter box, so I’ve added a frame on the top with chicken wire to keep them out, but allow the sunlight and water in. See her page here for lots more info and tips: Food Security 2009 [5].
*Updated, corrected information
Reaping fruits of their labor
(See the article for pictures.)
Church News
Reaping fruits of their labor
By Lisa Christensen
Church News staff writer
Published: Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009
What started as a simple idea to help a ward in troubled economic times has sprouted into a program that will continue to benefit present and future ward members and non-members alike.
A former farmer, Bishop William Erickson of the Battle Creek 2nd Ward thought of the ward garden as a way to help his ward through the trying economic and spiritual times. After the Pleasant Grove Utah East Stake was asked to develop a 3-acre parcel of land in 2008, Bishop Erickson realized gardening was an efficient way to teach gospel principles, as well as supplement the needs of the Bishops' Storehouse, the use of which, he said, had increased by 40 percent as the economy had recently faltered.
"This year we have more people who have been out of work for a period of time than ever before," he said.
A member of the ward, Shirley Stone, had a small field behind her house. She agreed to let the ward use it as a garden. The land, about 3/4 acre, hadn't been used for years, and there were a lot of rocks to clear — three weeks of work. From there, the ward planted some winter crops to be harvested in the spring. Bishop Erickson said they didn't have high expectations for the first year of crops but have been pleasantly surprised: The ward started harvesting in early July and now harvests three times a week. Tim Salsbury, co-chairman of the activities committee and garden specialist with Scott De Montmorence, said the progression of the garden from being rocky and unused to fertile and bountiful has been interesting and rewarding.
"It's been fun to see it develop from what it was to what it is now," he said.
Brother Salsbury was recruited in part because of his profession as a plumber. Bishop Erickson provided the materials necessary to set up a watering system and Brother Salsbury put it together, creating a drip watering system, which he said reduces weed and insect problems, and eliminates the need for furrows. It also makes it easy for members to water the garden, Bishop Erickson said.
The members planted a diverse bunch of vegetables, including not only the standard fare of tomatoes, beans and squash, but also less-ordinary plants like broccoli rabe. Their harvesting started this season with spinach and radishes, and now has moved on to include beans and peas. Their planting isn't over, either: The ward recently planted some carrot seeds for a late harvest. Bishop Erickson said the harvest, seeing the fruits of their labor, is one of the benefits to the members he had hoped for.
"Producing crops you can see the fruits of your labor," he said. Seeing those fruits makes the work worth it, and, he added, builds a work ethic within the members of the ward. Such patience and work ethic required to garden is rare these days, he noted, but so important. "They're going to have a lot of difficulty if they don't learn how to work," he said.
The produce, as per the original plan to help provide food for members in need of assistance during trying economic times, has been given to those who have been struggling recently and, as more preservable vegetables ripen, Relief Society members will can them for the months ahead, as well as teach others how to can their own. The garden has been a missionary tool, too, Bishop Erickson said. Neighbors and friends who aren't LDS have helped in the garden and reaped the benefits, also.
The point of the garden, Bishop Erickson said, is to share and give some to everyone. The ward strives to not only produce food and work hard at the garden, but also to utilize their resources as best as they can.
"We're utilizing every inch of that ground," Brother Salsbury said. The project has helped forge better ties between ward members, he said. "It's been a good fellowshipping thing."
Bishop Erickson said the fellowshipping has been particularly helpful in regard to less-active members and people who have recently moved in and might not know the people who have been there longer. He noted that the project has reaped not only tangible rewards but spiritual fruits have been cultivated, too.
"To have the opportunity to do this … it has been very, very spiritually rewarding," Bishop Erickson said.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company
Church News
Reaping fruits of their labor
By Lisa Christensen
Church News staff writer
Published: Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009
What started as a simple idea to help a ward in troubled economic times has sprouted into a program that will continue to benefit present and future ward members and non-members alike.
A former farmer, Bishop William Erickson of the Battle Creek 2nd Ward thought of the ward garden as a way to help his ward through the trying economic and spiritual times. After the Pleasant Grove Utah East Stake was asked to develop a 3-acre parcel of land in 2008, Bishop Erickson realized gardening was an efficient way to teach gospel principles, as well as supplement the needs of the Bishops' Storehouse, the use of which, he said, had increased by 40 percent as the economy had recently faltered.
"This year we have more people who have been out of work for a period of time than ever before," he said.
A member of the ward, Shirley Stone, had a small field behind her house. She agreed to let the ward use it as a garden. The land, about 3/4 acre, hadn't been used for years, and there were a lot of rocks to clear — three weeks of work. From there, the ward planted some winter crops to be harvested in the spring. Bishop Erickson said they didn't have high expectations for the first year of crops but have been pleasantly surprised: The ward started harvesting in early July and now harvests three times a week. Tim Salsbury, co-chairman of the activities committee and garden specialist with Scott De Montmorence, said the progression of the garden from being rocky and unused to fertile and bountiful has been interesting and rewarding.
"It's been fun to see it develop from what it was to what it is now," he said.
Brother Salsbury was recruited in part because of his profession as a plumber. Bishop Erickson provided the materials necessary to set up a watering system and Brother Salsbury put it together, creating a drip watering system, which he said reduces weed and insect problems, and eliminates the need for furrows. It also makes it easy for members to water the garden, Bishop Erickson said.
The members planted a diverse bunch of vegetables, including not only the standard fare of tomatoes, beans and squash, but also less-ordinary plants like broccoli rabe. Their harvesting started this season with spinach and radishes, and now has moved on to include beans and peas. Their planting isn't over, either: The ward recently planted some carrot seeds for a late harvest. Bishop Erickson said the harvest, seeing the fruits of their labor, is one of the benefits to the members he had hoped for.
"Producing crops you can see the fruits of your labor," he said. Seeing those fruits makes the work worth it, and, he added, builds a work ethic within the members of the ward. Such patience and work ethic required to garden is rare these days, he noted, but so important. "They're going to have a lot of difficulty if they don't learn how to work," he said.
The produce, as per the original plan to help provide food for members in need of assistance during trying economic times, has been given to those who have been struggling recently and, as more preservable vegetables ripen, Relief Society members will can them for the months ahead, as well as teach others how to can their own. The garden has been a missionary tool, too, Bishop Erickson said. Neighbors and friends who aren't LDS have helped in the garden and reaped the benefits, also.
The point of the garden, Bishop Erickson said, is to share and give some to everyone. The ward strives to not only produce food and work hard at the garden, but also to utilize their resources as best as they can.
"We're utilizing every inch of that ground," Brother Salsbury said. The project has helped forge better ties between ward members, he said. "It's been a good fellowshipping thing."
Bishop Erickson said the fellowshipping has been particularly helpful in regard to less-active members and people who have recently moved in and might not know the people who have been there longer. He noted that the project has reaped not only tangible rewards but spiritual fruits have been cultivated, too.
"To have the opportunity to do this … it has been very, very spiritually rewarding," Bishop Erickson said.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company
Cash out of Debt: Three Steps to Financial Freedom
**I found this article and I thought that it was really good. As always you can click on the title to go to the web site where I found the article.**
Cash out of Debt: Three Steps to Financial Freedom
by Don Milne
Debt. It's a four-letter word that many of us use with careless frequency. We get a loan to buy a car. We get a second mortgage to pay for a wedding. We even buy our groceries with a credit card. It adds up. If you're like most people, you have between $40,000 and $50,000 in consumer debt, including about $9,000 of credit card debt.
Save. Another four-letter word and one that too many of us avoid. Save for emergencies. Buy food storage. Save for missions. Pay the home off early. Save for retirement. Save for college expenses. Chances are that by trying to do them all, you will do none of them. That would make you normal. It will also make you broke.
Three Simple Steps
During our first twenty years of marriage, my wife and I handled money the way most people did--we borrowed. We weren't spendthrifts; we paid our tithing and lived frugally on a single income. But every year we ended up a little more in debt than the year before.
Fast forward twenty-three months, and our consumer debt went from $26,000 to $0. What changed was not knowledge, it was behavior. We followed these three simple steps:
1. Pay a full tithe and generous offerings.
2. Save a beginner's $1,000 emergency fund.
3. Pay off all consumer debt, one debt at a time beginning with the smallest.
In order for this plan to work, we also had to change three behaviors:
1. We cut up our credit cards.
2. We started using a cash envelope system
3. Together, we planned a monthly zero-based budget to tell our money what to do, each and every month.
Now the only debt we have is our mortgage. Great, you can be happy for me, but what does that do for you? Not much. But if you decide to follow these three steps and change these three behaviors, I predict that in eighteen months to three years, you too will be debt free except for your mortgage.
Step 1: Pay a full tithe and generous offerings
As a rule, many of us could do better with charitable contributions beyond tithing and fast offerings. Maureen Smith from Bountiful, Utah, who was still in debt, had been saving her music lesson money to replace a ten-year-old living room carpet worn thin by six busy children. In December 2005 her bishop was asking for donations to help needy families with Christmas. She gave him $600 - so much for plans for a new carpet. Around this same time, a local restaurant burned to the ground, and the law firm next door was required by their insurance company to pull out their three-month-old carpet, even though it was not damaged. To Maureen's surprise, the carpet was dropped off in her garage and is now in her home.
Step 2: Save a beginner's $1,000 emergency fund
If you set up a $1,000 beginner's emergency fund, two things will happen--you will be more careful in spending your hard-earned cash, and emergencies will happen with less frequency. Most people can set up this emergency fund in a few weeks or months. Sell something, take a temporary job, make minimum debt payments and throw that money into this fund.
Step 3: Pay off all consumer debt, one debt at a time beginning with the smallest.
With the first two steps taken care of, focus turns to paying off all consumer debt. Make minimum payments on everything but the smallest debt and use all your financial resources to pay it off as quickly as possible. As each debt is paid off, the amount you have to attack the next debt grows like a snowball. With focus, planning, dedication, and discipline you should be debt free except for your home in around two years.
Consumer advocate and personal finance author Dave Ramsey likes to say, "Personal finance is eighty percent behavior and only twenty percent head knowledge." If you can implement the following three behaviors, you will be able to easily follow the three steps above.
New Behavior 1: Cut up your credit cards
Professor Elizabeth Warren of Harvard Law School is known for her bold statement that credit card companies use the same marketing tactics as drug dealers. The average household has at least four credit cards, and fifteen percent have at least ten. The average user with a credit card balance owes around $9,000, and just like a drug addict, they had no intention of getting into this position. The average non-user owes nothing. There is no reason why a family can't make do with one credit card or none at all. You can use a debit card in place of most any type of credit card purchase.
New Behavior 2: Use a cash envelope system
Studies have shown that people who buy things with a credit card will spend thirty percent or more than by using cash. Your money will last a lot longer if you set up a cash envelope system for food, entertainment, clothing, and any other area where it is easy to overspend. Decide how much you are going to spend in each of these areas on payday and put the cash in separate envelopes. This money needs to last until you refill the envelopes again with the next paycheck.
Mandy and Steve Baker of Burley, Idaho, have used this system for a number of years. They have found that sometimes they have had to juggle money between envelopes, but they don't overspend. As a result, they have paid off nearly $10,000 of consumer debt and are now building up their emergency savings fund to equal three to six months of expenses.
New Behavior 3: Plan a monthly zero-based budget to tell your money what to do each and every month
Tyrell Arnold of Vanderhoof, British Columbia, was $30,000 in debt, and his wife BreAnn was expecting their first child. They held monthly budget meetings to plan what their money would do each month. They sold an expensive truck and made other adjustments that allowed them to pay off all their debts in four months. No debts mean they are getting a head start on saving for their children's education.
Joe Loughmiller of Fairmont, Minnesota, started holding a monthly budget meeting with his wife, and in twenty-eight months paid off more than $40,000 of debt. This monthly budgeting kept them on track with their goals. It was hard the first few months as they learned and honestly confronted their spending patterns, but they soon got the hang of it, as the results show.
The key is to use this budget for at least three months. Each month you will do better.
You now can choose to be normal and broke or change your behavior by following these simple steps to financial freedom. Since being debt free is more compatible with gospel principles, I hope to see you join the thousands of members that have already found this financial peace.
Don Milne lives in Bountiful, Utah. He directs a Zions Bank program (endprogram.com), which has partnered with businesses and churches in Utah and Idaho to teach classes on getting out of debt. More than 6,000 people have participated.
LDS Living, Inc. Copyright September/October 2007. Photo by Fernand Mengoni/sxc.hu.
Cash out of Debt: Three Steps to Financial Freedom
by Don Milne
Debt. It's a four-letter word that many of us use with careless frequency. We get a loan to buy a car. We get a second mortgage to pay for a wedding. We even buy our groceries with a credit card. It adds up. If you're like most people, you have between $40,000 and $50,000 in consumer debt, including about $9,000 of credit card debt.
Save. Another four-letter word and one that too many of us avoid. Save for emergencies. Buy food storage. Save for missions. Pay the home off early. Save for retirement. Save for college expenses. Chances are that by trying to do them all, you will do none of them. That would make you normal. It will also make you broke.
Three Simple Steps
During our first twenty years of marriage, my wife and I handled money the way most people did--we borrowed. We weren't spendthrifts; we paid our tithing and lived frugally on a single income. But every year we ended up a little more in debt than the year before.
Fast forward twenty-three months, and our consumer debt went from $26,000 to $0. What changed was not knowledge, it was behavior. We followed these three simple steps:
1. Pay a full tithe and generous offerings.
2. Save a beginner's $1,000 emergency fund.
3. Pay off all consumer debt, one debt at a time beginning with the smallest.
In order for this plan to work, we also had to change three behaviors:
1. We cut up our credit cards.
2. We started using a cash envelope system
3. Together, we planned a monthly zero-based budget to tell our money what to do, each and every month.
Now the only debt we have is our mortgage. Great, you can be happy for me, but what does that do for you? Not much. But if you decide to follow these three steps and change these three behaviors, I predict that in eighteen months to three years, you too will be debt free except for your mortgage.
Step 1: Pay a full tithe and generous offerings
As a rule, many of us could do better with charitable contributions beyond tithing and fast offerings. Maureen Smith from Bountiful, Utah, who was still in debt, had been saving her music lesson money to replace a ten-year-old living room carpet worn thin by six busy children. In December 2005 her bishop was asking for donations to help needy families with Christmas. She gave him $600 - so much for plans for a new carpet. Around this same time, a local restaurant burned to the ground, and the law firm next door was required by their insurance company to pull out their three-month-old carpet, even though it was not damaged. To Maureen's surprise, the carpet was dropped off in her garage and is now in her home.
Step 2: Save a beginner's $1,000 emergency fund
If you set up a $1,000 beginner's emergency fund, two things will happen--you will be more careful in spending your hard-earned cash, and emergencies will happen with less frequency. Most people can set up this emergency fund in a few weeks or months. Sell something, take a temporary job, make minimum debt payments and throw that money into this fund.
Step 3: Pay off all consumer debt, one debt at a time beginning with the smallest.
With the first two steps taken care of, focus turns to paying off all consumer debt. Make minimum payments on everything but the smallest debt and use all your financial resources to pay it off as quickly as possible. As each debt is paid off, the amount you have to attack the next debt grows like a snowball. With focus, planning, dedication, and discipline you should be debt free except for your home in around two years.
Consumer advocate and personal finance author Dave Ramsey likes to say, "Personal finance is eighty percent behavior and only twenty percent head knowledge." If you can implement the following three behaviors, you will be able to easily follow the three steps above.
New Behavior 1: Cut up your credit cards
Professor Elizabeth Warren of Harvard Law School is known for her bold statement that credit card companies use the same marketing tactics as drug dealers. The average household has at least four credit cards, and fifteen percent have at least ten. The average user with a credit card balance owes around $9,000, and just like a drug addict, they had no intention of getting into this position. The average non-user owes nothing. There is no reason why a family can't make do with one credit card or none at all. You can use a debit card in place of most any type of credit card purchase.
New Behavior 2: Use a cash envelope system
Studies have shown that people who buy things with a credit card will spend thirty percent or more than by using cash. Your money will last a lot longer if you set up a cash envelope system for food, entertainment, clothing, and any other area where it is easy to overspend. Decide how much you are going to spend in each of these areas on payday and put the cash in separate envelopes. This money needs to last until you refill the envelopes again with the next paycheck.
Mandy and Steve Baker of Burley, Idaho, have used this system for a number of years. They have found that sometimes they have had to juggle money between envelopes, but they don't overspend. As a result, they have paid off nearly $10,000 of consumer debt and are now building up their emergency savings fund to equal three to six months of expenses.
New Behavior 3: Plan a monthly zero-based budget to tell your money what to do each and every month
Tyrell Arnold of Vanderhoof, British Columbia, was $30,000 in debt, and his wife BreAnn was expecting their first child. They held monthly budget meetings to plan what their money would do each month. They sold an expensive truck and made other adjustments that allowed them to pay off all their debts in four months. No debts mean they are getting a head start on saving for their children's education.
Joe Loughmiller of Fairmont, Minnesota, started holding a monthly budget meeting with his wife, and in twenty-eight months paid off more than $40,000 of debt. This monthly budgeting kept them on track with their goals. It was hard the first few months as they learned and honestly confronted their spending patterns, but they soon got the hang of it, as the results show.
The key is to use this budget for at least three months. Each month you will do better.
You now can choose to be normal and broke or change your behavior by following these simple steps to financial freedom. Since being debt free is more compatible with gospel principles, I hope to see you join the thousands of members that have already found this financial peace.
Don Milne lives in Bountiful, Utah. He directs a Zions Bank program (endprogram.com), which has partnered with businesses and churches in Utah and Idaho to teach classes on getting out of debt. More than 6,000 people have participated.
LDS Living, Inc. Copyright September/October 2007. Photo by Fernand Mengoni/sxc.hu.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Water Storage - For Your Information
FYI- Here are some links about water storage and the purchase of water products. Good luck reading and learning. It made me think.
http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,7534-1-4065-1,00.html
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/safewater/
http://beprepared.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_137_A_c2c_E_tn_A_name_E_WaterStorageandWaterFiltration
http://beprepared.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_160_A_name_E_Water%20Storage
http://www.watertanks.com/
http://www.survival-center.com/guide/water.htm
http://www.preparedness.com/water.html
http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,7534-1-4065-1,00.html
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/safewater/
http://beprepared.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_137_A_c2c_E_tn_A_name_E_WaterStorageandWaterFiltration
http://beprepared.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_160_A_name_E_Water%20Storage
http://www.watertanks.com/
http://www.survival-center.com/guide/water.htm
http://www.preparedness.com/water.html
Wow Red - Pink Water
This morning we woke to see red now fading to pink water. Darren asked me to call the water company and they said "it was safe to shower and drink". I am not so sure so as a precaution a friend and I did some research and found out that the chemical that spilled in the water was Potassium permanganate. After further research in large quantities it can be quite toxic.
So I decided that we would use our stored water supply for drinking and hand/body washing. Which made me to think about the storing of water. (See the next posting for links.) I can't store water for everyone. I have just enough for 2 days of very conservative use for one house. But I have decided to change that!
The bathroom hand washing tub.
So I decided that we would use our stored water supply for drinking and hand/body washing. Which made me to think about the storing of water. (See the next posting for links.) I can't store water for everyone. I have just enough for 2 days of very conservative use for one house. But I have decided to change that!
The bathroom hand washing tub.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Church Welfare Program Helps People Help Themselves During Tough Economic Times
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-welfare-program-helps-people-help-themselves-during-tough-economic-times
Watch the videos if you have time.
Watch the videos if you have time.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Packs
http://www.shelfreliance.com/shop/emergency
I found this site and thought I would share it with you.
If you click on kit planner then you can plan you own kits.
http://www.shelfreliance.com/planners/emergency/profile
I thought it was pretty cool. I planned for a worse case scenario and found some really cool items I might get one day.
Happy reading!
I found this site and thought I would share it with you.
If you click on kit planner then you can plan you own kits.
http://www.shelfreliance.com/planners/emergency/profile
I thought it was pretty cool. I planned for a worse case scenario and found some really cool items I might get one day.
Happy reading!
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