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If I ruled the world…
Written by: Lisa Conti-Bacon
If I ruled the world (with apologies to my favorite Geezer-read Gary Julian’s blog “If Geezerville….Ruled the World” dated March 3, 2011″)
When I rule the world; I am going to make a few changes. It may take a couple of generations to get it done so I think I will get started come
April 16.
When I rule the world men and women will still be different physically, mentally and emotionally and they may tend to have different strengths and weaknesses; but all people will be equal in every way and endowed by their creator with the same rights and the same opportunities to succeed or screw up, to sink or swim, to excel or just coast.
When I rule the world persons will not be tempted to guess at another person’s skill set by the way he or she looks. Each of us, male or
female, blonde or brunette, gray (or folliclely challenged), limbs straight or crooked, tan or fair, old or young, tall or short, slender
or chubby, will get a chance to be judged on the quality of our work and the content of our character.
When I rule the world, persons that don’t have the skills to be a doctor, lawyer or cpa won’t feel second class because their own set of
skills (for housekeeping or plumbing or carpentering or driving a truck) will be recognized by everyone as being just as important.
When I rule the world, market forces will still govern what various careers pay (rock star, civil attorney, sports star, teacher) but those
market forces will make the pay more related to the time and effort expended than some luck of genetics or birth. (OK so this one may take
some time).
When I rule the world fame will be different than infamy, quality distinct from notoriety, performance separate from words.
When I rule the world reporters will report, professors will teach, doctors will heal, parents will nurture, preachers will inspire, actors
will act and politicians will hold themselves to a higher moral and ethical standard because they are servants of the public.
Ok, back to work.
Debt Management During the Holidays
Written by: Lisa Conti-Bacon
Previously we looked at debt faced by American families, beginning a budget, when holding debt might be ok or even advisable. It this blog let’s discuss going through the holidays without undoing the progress you’ve made in paying down your debt to date.
If you’ve been working on your budget you probably have found some money wasters that you have eliminated. Perhaps you have been able to begin paying down some of your credit card debts, or if you didn’t have consumer debt maybe you have built an emergency fund or some savings.
Or you could have been like many Americans who have lost their jobs and you are getting by on savings and unemployment assistance. It is almost Christmas time and regardless of your religious affiliation you are probably thinking about buying a bunch of gifts for friends, family and maybe yourself. Whatever your financial position, it is easy to fall in to more debt during this season than any other. Let’s think this through!
First of all, most people I meet are generous and want to give other people gifts. We want to give money to charity; We want to give our kids a magical Christmas; We want to give our spouse a perfect gift that will make them sigh; We want to give the paper boy a reward for keeping our morning editions dry in the rain; We want to give our neighbors a little something so that they know we are thinking about them; Those are great instincts! But we absolutely not need to go into bone crushing, soul draining, butt ugly debt to do these things! Let’s talk about them one by one. Read the rest of this entry »
Thankfulness
Written by: Lisa Conti-Bacon
Early this month I received several invitations from my space twitter
friends for an event called “25 Days of Thankfulness”. “Oh”, I thought, “another one of those ‘I should feel lucky’, tear jerky things circulating among my silly friends”. Actually it was an invitation to post to my status update each day, something that I was thankful for. “Ok”, I decided, “I’m gonna do this because the economy is bad and politics are a mess and I’m tired and feeling cranky because I have been so busy all summer and fall that I haven’t had a real break and this is going to force me to look on the bright side of things”. And, well, that’s just what it did.
Most days have been easy and my status update has revealed that I am thankful for my home, or my family, or living in America. There were days I was thankful for the beautiful weather, the lighter than usual traffic on I-16, and a good meal. But some days were a little difficult. Like the day I was thankful for my car breaking down on a weekend instead of on a weekday when it would have made me late for work. One day, I was thankful for that I had to stand in line outside in the cold for an hour as I waited in line to vote because it meant that lots of people were voting. One day I was thankful that I had such a long and difficult day at the office because I had a job when others didn’t and the difficulty meant that the work was complicated enough to challenge me and make my skill set valuable. And today as I write this, I am thankful that my stepdaughter came to visit from Michigan even though it has been a long and arduous last minute trip for her to come for her Aunt’s funeral and it will be a quick trip where I won’t get to visit with her very much.
Read the rest of this entry »
Money is just a tool
Written by: Lisa Conti Bacon
Lisa Conti-Bacon is a CPA with Hancock Askew & Company. She can be reached at 912-234-8243 or lcontibacon@hancockaskew.com.
Previously we looked at the debt faced by American families and beginning a budget. Now let’s consider when going into debt may be a good idea.
Money, and by extension debt, is not intrinsically evil. Money is just a tool, without sentience. Debt, taken on wisely and with forethought, can be a smart decision. So when is going into debt worthwhile?
Some of the questions you might ask yourself include the following: Read the rest of this entry »
Budget
This Blog is about the 1st step in controlling your spending, whether you are getting out of debt or just want to make the most of your finances. It is a primer on making a budget.
Yeah, I used the B word…BUDGET. “Ick, ick, ick”, you’re thinking, “I’m not a math geek”. But the truth is you don’t need to be. Really, you don’t. Budgets can be complicated, it’s true, but they can be as simple as you want them to be. More important that writing a complicated budget that accounts for every penny and predicts the future with 100% accuracy, is writing a budget; any budget. Especially in the beginning, if you had poor spending habits that you’re trying to change, you may not know where you were actually spending your money. The act of thinking about a budget and recording where the money had gone is more important (at least in the beginning) than the budget itself. And besides, even math geeks (like me) can drift into debt or poor spending habits. Read the rest of this entry »
