Tia Price

Before we venture out to vote tomorrow, let us spend a portion of today in prayer. Let us pray:

• For wisdom in our choices
• For peace and acceptance with the results
• For our current and future leaders and their families
• For our children
• For God’s presence at every polling station and at every rally

May we focus on the issues that are presented to us and respond the way God would have us to.

Vote!

Okay, I had a real eye-opening experience recently when I was asked to become the Box Tops for Education Coordinator for my children’s school. I knew that there were many programs out there that offered money to schools if people used their charge card or collected their bonus points but I never put much thought into them. Partly because I had no school-age children and partly because I thought that these programs would not pay the schools enough to make a difference.

I was wrong. The school my children attend has made a few thousand dollars since they started collecting tops. They’ve used the money for various items. Their goal this year is $500 and we are almost halfway there already. The principal just raves about the extra money and how useful it is in purchasing much needed items for the school.

How does it work? Each Box Top is worth $0.10. They are collected from certain brands of food and paper products by parents, teachers, and other friends of the school. The school coordinator and volunteers collect the Box Tops, sorts, counts, and bundles them. Then they are sent into the company to be counted. In a couple of months your school is sent a check. Real money, not a credit to their affiliated store or the like.

$500 might not seem like a lot, but when you are working on a tight budget (as many of us are), every little bit counts. Look into your school’s involvement in such programs and support them. You never know what kind of difference you’ll make. Just one dollar’s worth of support from each family can go a long way.

How may Box Tops for Education have you thrown away this year?

Don’t have a school to support? Donate your Tops to us.

With the presidential election arriving quickly it is not uncommon to find yourself in an unplanned political conversation with others. I have lately found myself in such situations several times over the past two weeks. I’ve also been berated by political emails, literature, and phone calls as well. What concerns me is not that people are campaigning or engaging in these types of communication (on the contrary, I think they are a healthy part of the democratic process). I am concerned about the manner in which people choose to talk about each candidate and their political party.

Some people are assuming that their close friends, neighbors, and relatives have the exact same political views as they and become comfortable in their conversation. They quickly move from respectful and or enlightening conversation to emotional or inappropriate comments or displays.

I recently attended a dinner party in which such a political conversation was started by a strong supporter of one of the candidates. Most at the party assumed everyone to be of the same opinion. The conversation turned into a racial one and then one related to class. Seeing that another guest was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, I interjected a question to redirect the conversation and suggested that maybe everyone there was not of the same opinion and we should move on to other topics. My suggestion was brushed off as if it were impossible and the conversation continued. The other guest and her family soon made excuses for an early exit. What was intended to be a time of gathering for friends and family to enjoy each other, quickly turned into something else.

These inappropriate displays have consumed so much of the media that most people are not even aware of what each candidate really stands for. What are the issues that really matter to you? Does the candidate line up with your views on those issues? It’s really not about finally getting a minority or a female in the White House. It’s not about electing or not electing a maverick. It’s about who is going to best lead our country and represent our values.

Check out this link for more on political etiquette (I think it applies to social situations as well as the workplace:

http://sites.jhu.edu/civility/Politicsatwork.pdf

On investing:

“We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”
Warren Buffett

On diversifying:

“Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing.”
Warren Buffett

If you are like most of the people in the US, you don’t have one or you just plan to use a credit card right. I’ve heard that the financial guys out there have suggested that you have enough in your savings to cover 6 months of your expenses plus another $1000.00 or more for emergencies and enough to cover deductibles for your insurance (i.e. auto insurance, home, etc.). For me and my family that would be almost $20,000.00. We just don’t have that much money stashed away in a savings account.

I don’t think we would have that kind of money just sitting in a savings account anyway. Especially since we have merged our money to help us pay off our mortgage in 9 years. I may not be the most financially savvy mom out their but I do know that I have the best financial coach available right on my own computer. I can access it 24 hours a day 7 days a week and on holidays. Not only is it helping me keep track of my finances, it is helping me to plan for the future (i.e. college, another home, retirement, etc.).

So as it stands, I don’t need a bailout plan. I have my finances under control. Want to know how I did it? Go to www.eightstreamswealth.com.