I read about this car somewhere else on the internet and thought that was interesting; what I liked about this post was the two video links you added about the to antique road shows. The latter of the two you could see the old man was very choked up and you can sympathize with that because he was very proud of his family for keeping such an amazing piece of artwork/textile in the family.
I've found things of more modest value at our local thrift store before they made an "arrangement" with a dealer. It's fun to look. A tramp art frame for a quarter, sold to a dealer for $35 and a bohemian art deco glass vase for $4 sold at auction for $65. Old stuff is neat to look at too, and enjoy at home. Something about not paying a bundle for it makes it more enjoyable.
I waited tables at a restaurant where we always mailed out coupons. We would always get thrifty types using coupons for Buy1 Get1 or free appetizers. This greatly reduced the "tippable" amount, which was a bit frustrating for me. But you also have to consider that they might not have come in to eat at all without the coupon. An empty table made me zero dollars in tips.
I can't seem to figure out why, despite my frugal lifestyle, I never seem to have any money--on hand or stashed in a bank account. I always run out. My rent is about half the average rent for my area; my car is used and paid in full, and I hardly ever drive (I put less than 3000 miles on it last year); I cut my own hair and have done so for the past 10 years; I have only basic cable; I shop discount stores and thrift stores for most items; all my furniture is either from the thrift store or hand-me-downs from friends/family; I almost never go out to the movies or to fancy restaurants, and never buy designer clothing. My only "splurge" is my gym membership, I suppose, but I also consider that an investment in my long-term health, and yes I do go regularly. I don't have much debt (less than $1000 in credit cards). I put 15 to 20 percent of my paycheck into a retirement fund.
I'm doing everything "right" yet I can't make it.
It's just really frustrating to read all these "frugal living" articles and want to scream, "I already DO all that!" and yet I seem to have nothing to show for it. Right now my car is unusable because I can't scrounge up the $600 for repairs that it requires. It's ridiculous and I wish I knew how to fix this problem because it literally keeps me up at night, worrying about money all the damn time.
I have done all sorts of things an Ivy League grad is not supposed to do - in order to live on an artistic shoestring all my adult life. The designer clothes I have all come from thrift shops! I have found that I can dress much BETTER that way than by shopping at KMart. Ironic, isn't it? But I have also learned the lesson that some will sneer if you are too candid - so in the company of such, I just keep it to myself. And then let them wonder how we afford a BOAT.
An acquaintance commented to a friend after she heard about us having a boat and so on - "Are they RICH?" Certainly not - but by making choices about what we spend our money on (and realizing that boats depreciate like MAD) we are able to keep up what is a pleasant lifestyle for us.
I have known people who would rather spend money they didn't have on clothes with Saks 5th Ave. labels rather than go to the Garment District and get the same level of dress for what they COULD afford. That's madness. Why pay for anyone else's taste? If yours is good enough - you can get lots of great deals. The Calif. landscape painting I bought in Ventura for $15 could sell for hundreds in L.A. - but I paid what I could afford.
I think people who....are smart - and know how to work the system to their best advantage - within moral and legal limits! Why is that less glamourous that, say street life? Beats me.
But conspicuous consumption might have something to do with it - but rich people usually don't make their fortunes by throwing money around - only nouveaus do THAT. My millionaire uncle who once lived in Montecito used to go the McD's in his Rolls - but that's another story....
I thank you very much for your comment. What prompted me to visit this site is because I'm preparing a speech on IRAs and 401(k)s. With that said, I didn't mean to come across as an individual who would pursue the market over a one to two year period with the intention of liquidating soon after. I think when you look at the market you must be willing to invest over a 10 to 15 year period at the minimum. I plan on investing in my 401(k) over the next 40 years. Who knows where the Dow will be at then. But I do believe over the next 20 years our nation and the world will be faced with new problems that will require technological advances and innovation. For instance, one of these will be renewable energy and means of transit that emit zero emissions. I'm waiting for the day Congress passes some bill that will push our nation into a fossil fuel free nation where wind, water, and the sun powers all. General Electric stock is so-so, but can you imagine what would happen to share prices over night after legislation such as that? I'm very excited to continue my education in economics, psychology, and modern history (with respect to business and how certain events affect "people").
Reminds me of the story about that one guy who traded a paperclip for a pencil, the pencil for pen, the pen for a roll of tape, the tape for a stapler....etc. and ended up with a house years later.
at the restaurant I went to they included 18% tip on the original price, and since I usually tip 15 to 20% that was alright with me. It was still a good deal.
ha! and i was psyched when an old dusty sidetable in my garage that i'd gotten for free turned out to be a 70s era Knoll and netted me almost $400 on ebay as-is. i think the dealer that bought it refinished it and turned it around for like $900.
I and my fiancé have a combined income of $175k. I bought my house for $535k just over 2 years ago using a 30 year fixed loan. According to Zillow it is worth $675k right now. According to appraisers, more like $610k. I have never missed a payment and can afford to keep making my house payments. What kind of irks me though is that irresponsible idiots who bought the same kind of house with an ARM and had a bunch of kids and now are facing foreclosure are going to get to stay in their homes and end up with the ability to spend more on childcare than me and my fiancé will when we decide to start a family.
I worked hard and was responsible and I want my reward: A better quality of life for myself and my family than those who did not work as hard and were irresponsible. And I want my reward in dollars, not good feelings about myself for honoring my commitment to the bank.
My loyalty and duty is to my future children, not to a bank. If my future children would be better off if I quit my job now and stopped paying my mortgage then I would not think twice about doing so. I can handle the guilt for being a deadbeat because I will know I would have been looking out for my future children's best interest.
So, tell me, what should I do for my future children? What can I do now to make sure there is more money available to take them to Disneyland and send them to college? The only thing I can think of is to earn more, a strategy which me and my fiancé seem to have had good luck with so far but which might not work as well with the new economy.
I agree with the person who said that if loan principal values get modified it needs to apply to everyone, not just those who can't afford their payments.
We use restaurant.com regularly--it's definitely not a scam, but as others have pointed out, you have to read the fine print and know what you're getting into. Sure, some servers may act less than thrilled when they know you're using a coupon, but I find that's true at some places regardless of what type of coupon I have. There aren't a lot of restaurants in some markets, but I find that in my area there are more added each time I look.
Interesting point Myscha. But aren't most hand sanitizers mostly alcohol? That's a pretty drying substance. And if you use an all natural soap (rather than a "soap" that is mostly detergent) your hands shouldn't dry out that much regardless of how often you are washing them.
I got over $365 worth of gift certificates for only $28. I just got through reading the fine print and it says that you can only redeem one certificate at a time. If this is true then the savings is not as great as I thought. I thought they were gift certificates in that you can use them as such with no limit. It appears they are marketed this way but may in fact be "coupons."
I did some research about the "scam" and this is what I found:
At the end of an order with Restaurant.com there is an offer to receive $10 cash back for becoming a member with ShoppingEssentialsPlus. When entering your email address twice and clicking on the button 'Yes,' you have authorized Restaurant.com to transfer to ShoppingEssentialsPlus your information, including the credit card information that was used in your order. If you do not wish to continue your membership with ShoppingEssentialsPlus during your 30-day free trial,
you will need to contact ShoppingEssentialsPlus prior to being charged the $14.95 monthly membership fee.
I didn't do that so I am alright. As far as hurting the feelings of the restaurant for using a gift certificate, I don;t care. They are the ones that took that risk. If they are lucky I may become a regular customer. I will still tip well though, that is a no brainer.
Wow! A quarter million dollars?! I could only wish for a fraction of that. I briefly ran a consignment business through eBay. The things that people kept hidden in their attic or garage were amazing. I didn't feel like I was doing them justice by posting them for a profit, but hey I would can that moral setback for that much money.
Probably true. But we now are reminded of the fact that, even if the stockmarket is on a perpetual uptrend, we can get periods of a decade or two during which the overall trend is flat or even down.
During the long uptrend from the early 1980s through 2000, it was easy to forget that, and to imagine that stocks were a fine place to put your money even for short and medium term goals. But suppose someone who hoped to retire early had started pouring money into the stockmarket in 1997? There were a couple of points (in 2000 and again in 2007) when he probably felt like an investing genius. Today, though, he's probably behind where he'd have been if he'd have just left the money in cash--and that's no way to fund an early retirement.
My main point was simply that you need to keep your timeframes properly in mind. Just because the average return in the stockmarket is higher than the average return from bonds or cash, is not a reason to put money that you're going to need in a year or two into the stockmarket. For a few years, though, it sure felt like it.
My granddad used to collect clocks and fix the exteriors of them, and then several years ago my dad took up the craft and started fixing the interiors, using original parts.
When my granddad passed away, we inherited all the clocks in his house, which brought my parent's total to something like 70 clocks! One day not too long after, I made a comment to my dad about how we were tripping over them and should sell some on eBay, and he just looked at me and laughed. He then took me on a trip around the house, pointing out which ones were valuable, etc. Very eye opening!
But even better than that is how my dad won't get rid of any of 'em because they're a link to his father.
Speaking for myself, I still like to do this. Why? Several reasons, not the least of which is how often I need to wash my hands while cooking to get off batter before opening a new spice jar, after handling chicken and moving on to the salad, etc. If there is any time when I just need a little germ removal and not a full blown wash, my hands thank me for not drying them out anymore. Sometimes even lotion won't completely do the trick if I've been in the middle of a full blown holiday bake off.
First of all, I would like to say that I wholeheartedly agree with Naro-"horizon milk".
Second, I would like to say that I really liked what Jeremy Goodell-"new comer to the debate" had to say.
Third, I also really liked what the Mother who wrote "what's NOT in the milk matters" had to say.
Really, it's what you WANT to believe. If you WANT to believe that organic is no different than non-organic, than that's your own problem. Organic is not about whether food tastes better or not (although I have heard some people say that it does), it's about whether or not you want yourself, your family, your kids, etc., to consume pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemicals, hormones, food coloring, cancer causing items, every time you, and them, eat and drink. Organic is not just about not allowing pesticides in the food, but it also does not allow certain types of chemicals in the food. Also it does not allow GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) in the food-Which is a growing problem.
If you want to go picking on companies who are lying and hiding information from the public, then why don't you find the ones who are actually doing it. Like all the companies who make blue, red, green, and other fake colored jellos, juices, ice-creams, popsicles, sweets, candy, and other things that our kids, and us, eat that contain chemicals that cause cancer, ADD, ADHD, hypertension, and a number of other diseases. And what about all the products containing Splenda (which is not so splendid) and other disease causing artificial sweeteners that we are consuming. It's not just "junk food" that should get all the attention, either. What about crackers, chips, pretzels, snacks, margarines, chocolate, and countless other foods that contain hydrogenated oils??? It's not just lard and animal fat that clogs the arteries. Hydrogenated oils have just as much, if not more, to blame. Hydrogenated oils are silent invitations for heart attacks and strokes. And everyone is a victim unless we start reading labels and raising awareness.
People think that the FDA is there to protect us from harmful things in our food and water supply. People think that if there's something bad in our food that the President is going to make a public announcement about it and immediately put a stop to it. But, unfortunately, we couldn't be more wrong. The FDA doesn't care about our health and wellbeing. They just care about saving their own butts if something goes wrong and they are to blame. If they really cared, then there wouldn't be anymore sicknesses and diseases. Why??? Because. There wouldn't be anything bad in our food, water, air, enviroment, and everyday living.
And if people really want to make a difference in food and food production and standards, then let's hear your voice, because it's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil.
It makes me sick when people try to "put down" GOOD things for us and the environment, like organic and non-GMO.
Places like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's move into to small neighborhoods and take over and are the reason why some small family owned health food stores have to close down. Stores that were actually making a difference in the community and the world. These big chain stores are not all what thy are made out to be. If they were, then they wouldn't get there yards treated with chemicals, or use blue chemical sprays to clean their windows, or get the inside sprayed with pesticides for pest control. If they're selling organic produce but spraying their grass . . . somehow that doesn't make sense to me.
And to all the Moms out there who don't know whether to buy organic or not, do your research . . . and you will see, no matter how much it may cost, it is well worth it. And don't let anyone tell you different.
This is a great post. One thing most people do not take in to account when buying a rental property is property management fees. If you plan on hiring a property management company, say goodbye to any cash flow potential. I fully recommend being a do it yourself landlord. There are so many useful tools on the internet that help you to do this nowadays, that you really don't need a property management company. I highly recommend a site called www.rentalspacenetwork.com to advertise your properties and to take care of all of your applications, tenant screening and leasing. This is a fantastic site that eliminates paperwork hassles. I also recommend angieslist.com when you need a handyman. By using these two sites being a landlord has become much easier for me and I save 10% a month in property management fees allowing me to cash flow my rental properties.
I bought one of these $25 coupons (which is what they really are) yesterday to use at a local Italian cafe. I asked up front if the restaurant would honor it, and from that point on, the waiter was pretty grumpy.
Don't get me wrong, the food was great - but I couldn't help feeling guilty because, more often than not (according to our waiter), the servers get screwed over because cheap customers tend to tip on the "discounted" price, rather than the whole bill. In addition to that, the restaurant itself doesn't see a single penny of that $25 (our waiter said they see it as an "advertising cost", but it still doesn't make it any less painful to extend such a huge discount).
It was just me and my wife as they rolled out appetizers and entrees and desserts (to get up to the $35 min. purchase). I love saving money, but this just made me feel cheap. With the economy the way it is, these restaurants really can't afford to be giving such huge discounts regularly.
Before tip, we paid $10.80 for over $35 worth of food - and I'm positive that the ingredients and the labor that were used preparing that food cost at least $15-20 (I've worked in the food industry in the past).
My opinion is to use this $25 "coupon" sparingly to find new restaurants to try for the first time, and then pay full price on any return visits. I wouldn't ever use one more than once at the same restaurant, because that really isn't what the owners intend them for. And I personally wouldn't use them on restaurants that I already frequent, because, again, that isn't what they were intended for.
I do a lot of things to save money, but this is just something that I won't do again. Just my two cents, and of course you're entitled to your own opinion.
i bought two, for restaurants i know. there are restrictions -- like a minimum amount for 2 people ($20 at one and $35 at the other, not at all undoable) and you can only use them during the week rather than weekends, but i think it'll make for a good xmas gift.
What a terrific stroke of luck! Glad it turned out so well for the seller.
I read about this car somewhere else on the internet and thought that was interesting; what I liked about this post was the two video links you added about the to antique road shows. The latter of the two you could see the old man was very choked up and you can sympathize with that because he was very proud of his family for keeping such an amazing piece of artwork/textile in the family.
I've found things of more modest value at our local thrift store before they made an "arrangement" with a dealer. It's fun to look. A tramp art frame for a quarter, sold to a dealer for $35 and a bohemian art deco glass vase for $4 sold at auction for $65. Old stuff is neat to look at too, and enjoy at home. Something about not paying a bundle for it makes it more enjoyable.
Very nice story. Its fun to make life into a treasure hunt every once in a while.
I waited tables at a restaurant where we always mailed out coupons. We would always get thrifty types using coupons for Buy1 Get1 or free appetizers. This greatly reduced the "tippable" amount, which was a bit frustrating for me. But you also have to consider that they might not have come in to eat at all without the coupon. An empty table made me zero dollars in tips.
Linsey Knerl
@DancingOpossum:
Do you have a budget and track your spending? Because the answer to your question will be right there.
You might be interested in checking out my very first Wise Bread post: A budget is not a constraint.
I can't seem to figure out why, despite my frugal lifestyle, I never seem to have any money--on hand or stashed in a bank account. I always run out. My rent is about half the average rent for my area; my car is used and paid in full, and I hardly ever drive (I put less than 3000 miles on it last year); I cut my own hair and have done so for the past 10 years; I have only basic cable; I shop discount stores and thrift stores for most items; all my furniture is either from the thrift store or hand-me-downs from friends/family; I almost never go out to the movies or to fancy restaurants, and never buy designer clothing. My only "splurge" is my gym membership, I suppose, but I also consider that an investment in my long-term health, and yes I do go regularly. I don't have much debt (less than $1000 in credit cards). I put 15 to 20 percent of my paycheck into a retirement fund.
I'm doing everything "right" yet I can't make it.
It's just really frustrating to read all these "frugal living" articles and want to scream, "I already DO all that!" and yet I seem to have nothing to show for it. Right now my car is unusable because I can't scrounge up the $600 for repairs that it requires. It's ridiculous and I wish I knew how to fix this problem because it literally keeps me up at night, worrying about money all the damn time.
I have done all sorts of things an Ivy League grad is not supposed to do - in order to live on an artistic shoestring all my adult life. The designer clothes I have all come from thrift shops! I have found that I can dress much BETTER that way than by shopping at KMart. Ironic, isn't it? But I have also learned the lesson that some will sneer if you are too candid - so in the company of such, I just keep it to myself. And then let them wonder how we afford a BOAT.
An acquaintance commented to a friend after she heard about us having a boat and so on - "Are they RICH?" Certainly not - but by making choices about what we spend our money on (and realizing that boats depreciate like MAD) we are able to keep up what is a pleasant lifestyle for us.
I have known people who would rather spend money they didn't have on clothes with Saks 5th Ave. labels rather than go to the Garment District and get the same level of dress for what they COULD afford. That's madness. Why pay for anyone else's taste? If yours is good enough - you can get lots of great deals. The Calif. landscape painting I bought in Ventura for $15 could sell for hundreds in L.A. - but I paid what I could afford.
I think people who....are smart - and know how to work the system to their best advantage - within moral and legal limits! Why is that less glamourous that, say street life? Beats me.
But conspicuous consumption might have something to do with it - but rich people usually don't make their fortunes by throwing money around - only nouveaus do THAT. My millionaire uncle who once lived in Montecito used to go the McD's in his Rolls - but that's another story....
Mr. Brewer,
I thank you very much for your comment. What prompted me to visit this site is because I'm preparing a speech on IRAs and 401(k)s. With that said, I didn't mean to come across as an individual who would pursue the market over a one to two year period with the intention of liquidating soon after. I think when you look at the market you must be willing to invest over a 10 to 15 year period at the minimum. I plan on investing in my 401(k) over the next 40 years. Who knows where the Dow will be at then. But I do believe over the next 20 years our nation and the world will be faced with new problems that will require technological advances and innovation. For instance, one of these will be renewable energy and means of transit that emit zero emissions. I'm waiting for the day Congress passes some bill that will push our nation into a fossil fuel free nation where wind, water, and the sun powers all. General Electric stock is so-so, but can you imagine what would happen to share prices over night after legislation such as that? I'm very excited to continue my education in economics, psychology, and modern history (with respect to business and how certain events affect "people").
Reminds me of the story about that one guy who traded a paperclip for a pencil, the pencil for pen, the pen for a roll of tape, the tape for a stapler....etc. and ended up with a house years later.
at the restaurant I went to they included 18% tip on the original price, and since I usually tip 15 to 20% that was alright with me. It was still a good deal.
ha! and i was psyched when an old dusty sidetable in my garage that i'd gotten for free turned out to be a 70s era Knoll and netted me almost $400 on ebay as-is. i think the dealer that bought it refinished it and turned it around for like $900.
...gives motivation to move on
I and my fiancé have a combined income of $175k. I bought my house for $535k just over 2 years ago using a 30 year fixed loan. According to Zillow it is worth $675k right now. According to appraisers, more like $610k. I have never missed a payment and can afford to keep making my house payments. What kind of irks me though is that irresponsible idiots who bought the same kind of house with an ARM and had a bunch of kids and now are facing foreclosure are going to get to stay in their homes and end up with the ability to spend more on childcare than me and my fiancé will when we decide to start a family.
I worked hard and was responsible and I want my reward: A better quality of life for myself and my family than those who did not work as hard and were irresponsible. And I want my reward in dollars, not good feelings about myself for honoring my commitment to the bank.
My loyalty and duty is to my future children, not to a bank. If my future children would be better off if I quit my job now and stopped paying my mortgage then I would not think twice about doing so. I can handle the guilt for being a deadbeat because I will know I would have been looking out for my future children's best interest.
So, tell me, what should I do for my future children? What can I do now to make sure there is more money available to take them to Disneyland and send them to college? The only thing I can think of is to earn more, a strategy which me and my fiancé seem to have had good luck with so far but which might not work as well with the new economy.
I agree with the person who said that if loan principal values get modified it needs to apply to everyone, not just those who can't afford their payments.
We use restaurant.com regularly--it's definitely not a scam, but as others have pointed out, you have to read the fine print and know what you're getting into. Sure, some servers may act less than thrilled when they know you're using a coupon, but I find that's true at some places regardless of what type of coupon I have. There aren't a lot of restaurants in some markets, but I find that in my area there are more added each time I look.
Interesting point Myscha. But aren't most hand sanitizers mostly alcohol? That's a pretty drying substance. And if you use an all natural soap (rather than a "soap" that is mostly detergent) your hands shouldn't dry out that much regardless of how often you are washing them.
I got over $365 worth of gift certificates for only $28. I just got through reading the fine print and it says that you can only redeem one certificate at a time. If this is true then the savings is not as great as I thought. I thought they were gift certificates in that you can use them as such with no limit. It appears they are marketed this way but may in fact be "coupons."
I did some research about the "scam" and this is what I found:
At the end of an order with Restaurant.com there is an offer to receive $10 cash back for becoming a member with ShoppingEssentialsPlus. When entering your email address twice and clicking on the button 'Yes,' you have authorized Restaurant.com to transfer to ShoppingEssentialsPlus your information, including the credit card information that was used in your order. If you do not wish to continue your membership with ShoppingEssentialsPlus during your 30-day free trial,
you will need to contact ShoppingEssentialsPlus prior to being charged the $14.95 monthly membership fee.
I didn't do that so I am alright. As far as hurting the feelings of the restaurant for using a gift certificate, I don;t care. They are the ones that took that risk. If they are lucky I may become a regular customer. I will still tip well though, that is a no brainer.
- Neko
Wow! A quarter million dollars?! I could only wish for a fraction of that. I briefly ran a consignment business through eBay. The things that people kept hidden in their attic or garage were amazing. I didn't feel like I was doing them justice by posting them for a profit, but hey I would can that moral setback for that much money.
Caleb
www.blueprinteconomics.com
@Flash:
Probably true. But we now are reminded of the fact that, even if the stockmarket is on a perpetual uptrend, we can get periods of a decade or two during which the overall trend is flat or even down.
During the long uptrend from the early 1980s through 2000, it was easy to forget that, and to imagine that stocks were a fine place to put your money even for short and medium term goals. But suppose someone who hoped to retire early had started pouring money into the stockmarket in 1997? There were a couple of points (in 2000 and again in 2007) when he probably felt like an investing genius. Today, though, he's probably behind where he'd have been if he'd have just left the money in cash--and that's no way to fund an early retirement.
My main point was simply that you need to keep your timeframes properly in mind. Just because the average return in the stockmarket is higher than the average return from bonds or cash, is not a reason to put money that you're going to need in a year or two into the stockmarket. For a few years, though, it sure felt like it.
My granddad used to collect clocks and fix the exteriors of them, and then several years ago my dad took up the craft and started fixing the interiors, using original parts.
When my granddad passed away, we inherited all the clocks in his house, which brought my parent's total to something like 70 clocks! One day not too long after, I made a comment to my dad about how we were tripping over them and should sell some on eBay, and he just looked at me and laughed. He then took me on a trip around the house, pointing out which ones were valuable, etc. Very eye opening!
But even better than that is how my dad won't get rid of any of 'em because they're a link to his father.
Speaking for myself, I still like to do this. Why? Several reasons, not the least of which is how often I need to wash my hands while cooking to get off batter before opening a new spice jar, after handling chicken and moving on to the salad, etc. If there is any time when I just need a little germ removal and not a full blown wash, my hands thank me for not drying them out anymore. Sometimes even lotion won't completely do the trick if I've been in the middle of a full blown holiday bake off.
First of all, I would like to say that I wholeheartedly agree with Naro-"horizon milk".
Second, I would like to say that I really liked what Jeremy Goodell-"new comer to the debate" had to say.
Third, I also really liked what the Mother who wrote "what's NOT in the milk matters" had to say.
Really, it's what you WANT to believe. If you WANT to believe that organic is no different than non-organic, than that's your own problem. Organic is not about whether food tastes better or not (although I have heard some people say that it does), it's about whether or not you want yourself, your family, your kids, etc., to consume pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemicals, hormones, food coloring, cancer causing items, every time you, and them, eat and drink. Organic is not just about not allowing pesticides in the food, but it also does not allow certain types of chemicals in the food. Also it does not allow GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) in the food-Which is a growing problem.
If you want to go picking on companies who are lying and hiding information from the public, then why don't you find the ones who are actually doing it. Like all the companies who make blue, red, green, and other fake colored jellos, juices, ice-creams, popsicles, sweets, candy, and other things that our kids, and us, eat that contain chemicals that cause cancer, ADD, ADHD, hypertension, and a number of other diseases. And what about all the products containing Splenda (which is not so splendid) and other disease causing artificial sweeteners that we are consuming. It's not just "junk food" that should get all the attention, either. What about crackers, chips, pretzels, snacks, margarines, chocolate, and countless other foods that contain hydrogenated oils??? It's not just lard and animal fat that clogs the arteries. Hydrogenated oils have just as much, if not more, to blame. Hydrogenated oils are silent invitations for heart attacks and strokes. And everyone is a victim unless we start reading labels and raising awareness.
People think that the FDA is there to protect us from harmful things in our food and water supply. People think that if there's something bad in our food that the President is going to make a public announcement about it and immediately put a stop to it. But, unfortunately, we couldn't be more wrong. The FDA doesn't care about our health and wellbeing. They just care about saving their own butts if something goes wrong and they are to blame. If they really cared, then there wouldn't be anymore sicknesses and diseases. Why??? Because. There wouldn't be anything bad in our food, water, air, enviroment, and everyday living.
And if people really want to make a difference in food and food production and standards, then let's hear your voice, because it's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil.
It makes me sick when people try to "put down" GOOD things for us and the environment, like organic and non-GMO.
Places like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's move into to small neighborhoods and take over and are the reason why some small family owned health food stores have to close down. Stores that were actually making a difference in the community and the world. These big chain stores are not all what thy are made out to be. If they were, then they wouldn't get there yards treated with chemicals, or use blue chemical sprays to clean their windows, or get the inside sprayed with pesticides for pest control. If they're selling organic produce but spraying their grass . . . somehow that doesn't make sense to me.
And to all the Moms out there who don't know whether to buy organic or not, do your research . . . and you will see, no matter how much it may cost, it is well worth it. And don't let anyone tell you different.
This is a great post. One thing most people do not take in to account when buying a rental property is property management fees. If you plan on hiring a property management company, say goodbye to any cash flow potential. I fully recommend being a do it yourself landlord. There are so many useful tools on the internet that help you to do this nowadays, that you really don't need a property management company. I highly recommend a site called www.rentalspacenetwork.com to advertise your properties and to take care of all of your applications, tenant screening and leasing. This is a fantastic site that eliminates paperwork hassles. I also recommend angieslist.com when you need a handyman. By using these two sites being a landlord has become much easier for me and I save 10% a month in property management fees allowing me to cash flow my rental properties.
I bought one of these $25 coupons (which is what they really are) yesterday to use at a local Italian cafe. I asked up front if the restaurant would honor it, and from that point on, the waiter was pretty grumpy.
Don't get me wrong, the food was great - but I couldn't help feeling guilty because, more often than not (according to our waiter), the servers get screwed over because cheap customers tend to tip on the "discounted" price, rather than the whole bill. In addition to that, the restaurant itself doesn't see a single penny of that $25 (our waiter said they see it as an "advertising cost", but it still doesn't make it any less painful to extend such a huge discount).
It was just me and my wife as they rolled out appetizers and entrees and desserts (to get up to the $35 min. purchase). I love saving money, but this just made me feel cheap. With the economy the way it is, these restaurants really can't afford to be giving such huge discounts regularly.
Before tip, we paid $10.80 for over $35 worth of food - and I'm positive that the ingredients and the labor that were used preparing that food cost at least $15-20 (I've worked in the food industry in the past).
My opinion is to use this $25 "coupon" sparingly to find new restaurants to try for the first time, and then pay full price on any return visits. I wouldn't ever use one more than once at the same restaurant, because that really isn't what the owners intend them for. And I personally wouldn't use them on restaurants that I already frequent, because, again, that isn't what they were intended for.
I do a lot of things to save money, but this is just something that I won't do again. Just my two cents, and of course you're entitled to your own opinion.
i bought two, for restaurants i know. there are restrictions -- like a minimum amount for 2 people ($20 at one and $35 at the other, not at all undoable) and you can only use them during the week rather than weekends, but i think it'll make for a good xmas gift.