Lower The River

We talked about raising the bridge by increasing the money you have coming into the household.  That is only one side of the problem.  Like the old Southern saying goes, “If you can’t raise the bridge, you have to lower the river.” 

No matter how much you increase the income, if you don’t get control of your spending, your life will be just like the federal budget.  They increase taxes, but then they increase spending by more than they increased the taxes.  The idea is to keep an eye on every amount of money that goes out.

Xerxes Principle says that your expenses rise to meet your income, if you don’t do something to prevent it.

The reason for this is that when we increase our income we begin to see a little relief.  We celebrate the increase in income by buying new clothes or a new car.  We eat out more often because we feel we have less time to prepare food at home due to our increased responsibilities that are part of a promotion that got us more money.

Somehow, we feel justified in spending more because we are making more.  We got along okay before the increase in income.  Now, we are just as broke as we were before our income went up with nothing to show for it.

We are going to discuss frugal living for a while now.  When we say frugal living, we are not talking about those people who dumpster dive for food or those who ask people in a restaurant for their leftovers.  We are talking about not wasting money.

In the next few episodes, we will discuss ways to reduce your outgo.  Not all of these ways will work for you.  Perhaps this information will spark ideas for you.

If you have any suggestions about how to save money, send them here.

If you would like for me to pray for you, please drop me an e-mail by clicking prayer.


Please Visit My Child Bride Suzanne's Blog

I respond to all approved comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!

Please be advised that all the information in this course is provided to educate, enlighten, and broaden your views in life.  The information provided is not a substitute for medical, legal, dietary, financial/accounting, or religious professionals.   Always consult a professional before you act on any of the information you find in this course. 

Do you have a frugal recipe?  Please e-mail it to me.
Help us reach 1,000 YouTube subscribers. Please watch some of our videos. If you like them, please subscribe. Also, please share our YouTube information with your friends.  We thank you so much for all your help. 

Disclaimer: The opinions or advice listed in this blog or website should be used as a place to start only. It is not a substitute for the use of a professional.

 Please be sure to consult your attorney, accountant, and/or other professionals with any specific questions. There is no one right answer to any business question that will cover all circumstances.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction. Thank you for your support!

Guest Post: Your November Financial To-Do List 5 timely ways to organize your life

The following is a guest post.  This post does not necessarily reflect the views of Suzanne and David E. McClendon, Sr. or Manian Debil Productions.

Your November Financial To-Do List

5 timely ways to organize your life    

In just a few weeks, the holiday shopping season will officially start with sales during Black Friday—the day after Thanksgiving—and Cyber Monday. It’s also the time of year when you’re likely to be more focused on traveling and social get-togethers.

Even so, there are important steps you can take this month to put you in better financial stead, from learning ways to save money while shopping to making a number of end-of-year moves.

Here’s what should be on your financial to-do list:

Save on Shopping

This month, you may be able to save money when shopping online by understanding how retailers adjust their prices. More retailers now use dynamic pricing strategies—they shift their prices as they monitor competitors’ pricing and customer demand. Some even use what they know about your shopping habits and location to set the prices they show you.

There are steps you can take that may help you pay less, such as letting items sit in your shopping cart until the retailer drops the price to get you to buy. Another idea: Input a friend’s or relative’s ZIP code, or enlist someone in another ZIP code to shop for you. Prices may be lower than in your area.

There are also a number of digital tools you can use to save money while shopping. They range from browser extensions such as Invisible Hand to gift cards that sell for less than face value at sites like Raise or CardCash.

Take Your Required Minimum Distributions

If you have money in a tax-deferred retirement account such as a traditional 401(k) or IRA, and you’re over age 70 ½, taking a required minimum distribution before the end of the year should be on your financial to-do list.

The amount that you must withdraw is based on the amount of money you have in such accounts and your life expectancy, according to the IRS. Note that you will also have to pay taxes on this income when you file in April.

Failing to take your required minimum distribution can be costly: You’ll owe the IRS a penalty that comes to half of the amount that should have been withdrawn. It’s a smart idea to get in touch with your financial adviser now to figure out how much money you need to withdraw.

If your money is in a Roth IRA, you won’t need to add this to your financial to-do list. Roth IRAs are not subject to minimum distributions. You are also not required to take a distribution from a 401(k) with an employer for which you currently work.

Plan Your Charitable Contributions

Giving money to important causes is in keeping with the spirit of the holidays, and doing so before year-end can give you an extra write-off at tax time. Before sending in money, run a check of the organization you plan to contribute to via sites like Charity Navigator and GuideStar. These watchdogs, as they are known, offer reviews from donors as well as data on how much of the contributions you make go directly to the cause. (For local or regional charities, check the BBB Wise Giving Alliance.) When you do give, be sure to save the receipt so that you have it at tax time.

Visit Your Doctor

If you still have money in a medical flexible-spending account at work, put this on your financial to-do list: Start spending it down. Although many companies now offer a grace period into next year, you’ll forfeit any money you haven’t spent once that period expires. Take the opportunity to make doctor’s appointments that you’ve been putting off, or to schedule a flu shot if you haven’t had one yet. November is the slowest month of the year for doctors, according to Zocdoc, a website that helps you to find a doctor and make medical appointments online. So you should be able to get a convenient appointment with a reasonable wait time.

Note: If your money is in a health spending account (an HSA rather than an FSA), the unused balance will roll over to next year.

Buy Items on Deep Discount

In addition to the savings you’ll get on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, November is a great time to get a discount on televisions and toys.

Research by Consumer Reports product experts, who track prices year-round, shows that November is an ideal time to get a good deal on coffee makers and refrigerators. The cooler weather means you may also be able to get a good deal on leftover bikes and gas grills, which retailers need to move out of their stores.

If you would like for me to pray for you, please drop me an e-mail by clicking prayer.



Please Visit My Child Bride Suzanne's Blog

I respond to all approved comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!

Please be advised that all the information in this course is provided to educate, enlighten, and broaden your views in life.  The information provided is not a substitute for medical, legal, dietary, financial/accounting, or religious professionals.   Always consult a professional before you act on any of the information you find in this course. 

Do you have a frugal recipe?  Please e-mail it to me.
Help us reach 1,000 YouTube subscribers. Please watch some of our videos. If you like them, please subscribe. Also, please share our YouTube information with your friends.  We thank you so much for all your help. 

Disclaimer: The opinions or advice listed in this blog or website should be used as a place to start only. It is not a substitute for the use of a professional.

 Please be sure to consult your attorney, accountant, and/or other professionals with any specific questions. There is no one right answer to any business question that will cover all circumstances.

Notice: This post may  contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction. Thank you for your support!

Guest Post: One for the Suggestion Box By Margaret Dulaney

The following is a guest post.  This post does not necessarily reflect the views of Suzanne and David E. McClendon, Sr. or Manian Debil Productions.

One for the Suggestion Box

By Margaret Dulaney

    I’d like to register a language complaint. Since when did the word prayer become so awkward? On what day did we all agree that if a friend announced that they were going off to their room to meditate, we would not flinch, but if the same friend said they were off to pray, the idea would be met with a sudden need to study one’s footwear. It hasn’t been too long since the words, “I will pray for you”, in answer to a difficult, personal story, would be welcomed with a “Thank you, I’d appreciate that.” Now the idea is almost freakishly embarrassing.

     We “keep people in our thoughts” now, we don’t pray.

      I am just as guilty as the next of this scaredy-pants word-substitution. I rarely admit to praying, and hardly ever use the word God in public anymore, unless I’m trying to say wowee.

     But, I do believe in God and I do pray.

     Check your pulse, is it elevated? Did you just break out into a fine sweat? or suddenly remember something you left in your car?

     What the hell happened?

     I think I might have the answer. It’s those wacky, loudmouth fundamentalists again. It’s those hardliner dogmatists and their finger pointing, I’ll hurl you into hell, butchery of the language of the divine. Think about it. These bossy-pants, scripture-twisting literalists have been kidnapping and torturing our sacred words for centuries. You’d think we would have caught on by now. But, the pathetic truth is that we allow them to get away with it!

     Who are the “we” among that we? those comparatively modest, quiet types, the ones who admit to praying (under their breath, of course), those who occasionally use the word God, but only when absolutely necessary, and never as a weapon, those gentle folk who are standing by watching while all of the good language of their various traditions is systematically sullied by careless, divisive people.

        So many of us are trying not to offend, not to let words separate us, that we are allowing those who use holy language as artillery to annihilate our sacred discourse. We can’t let them do this!

     I am reminded of the moment a decade ago when our country went to war in Iraq. After the attacks of 9/11 there was a lot of flag waving and verbiage tossed about stating that we were at war with a common enemy and everyone had to make a choice. “You were either with us or against us.”

     In the healthy push-back to this narrow way of thinking, many spoke out against the appeal for unquestioning patriotism, especially when they were asked to support a war against people who had nothing to do with the attacks of 9/11. Of the many actions this country could be proud, marching into Iraq was clearly not on everybody’s list. Troubled by the way the country was tending, and by the number of flags being unfurled in support of the move to war, those who doubted the need to invade Iraq began to rebel. “We want our flag back,” they protested.

     Some will say that we are still as divided as we were when we first entered that war. Perhaps we are, but today our opinions are not so closely linked with whether or not we have a flag waving in front of our house.  The flag was taken back, I’m happy to say, and once more represents the remarkable variety of individuals, political parties and philosophies that we are so privileged to live among in our openhearted country.

     I wonder whether we might do for prayer what we did for the flag.

     I would like to be able to say to a friend that I intend to pray for them without mumbling and blushing, and feeling as if I’ve just stuck my holier-than-thou foot in my self-righteous mouth. Why can’t we revive the good word?

     The next time someone tells me a difficult personal story: about a daughter who is ill, a husband who is leaving, a son who is being deployed, I plan on bringing up the P. word. Delicately, of course. “Ooo,” I will say, “May I add you to my prayers?”

I will once again unfurl the good word Prayer from my lips, in hopes that someday I will witness the sacred expression waving freely again from the mouths of the multitudes.

     “Please, if you don’t mind,” I will hear, echoing throughout my community, “may I pray for you?”

Margaret Dulaney is a playwright and essayist, and founder of the spoken word website Listenwell.org. Culled from a lifetime’s study of the ancients and mystics of all traditions, Margaret’s writings employ the ideas of Emerson, Lao Tzu, Hafiz, George MacDonald, Richard Rohr, Emanuel Swedenborg, Lorna Byrne, Marcus Aurelius, Shakespeare, Rudolph Steiner and many others.

In 2010 Margaret founded the open faith, spoken word website ListenWell.Org. Each month Listen Well posts one ten-minute, professionally recorded essay designed to puzzle out a spiritual theme through story and metaphor. Listeners vary from practicing Buddhists to open-minded Christians, from those struggling to find a working tradition to those who are happy with their practice. Margaret records her writings at Maggie’s Farm recording studios in Bucks County Pennsylvania.

Learn more about Margaret Dulaney at  www.listenwell.org and connect with her on Facebook.

To Hear the Forest Sing is available on Amazon select bookstores.

If you would like for me to pray for you, please drop me an e-mail by clicking prayer.



Please Visit My Child Bride Suzanne's Blog

I respond to all approved comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!

Please be advised that all the information in this course is provided to educate, enlighten, and broaden your views in life.  The information provided is not a substitute for medical, legal, dietary, financial/accounting, or religious professionals.   Always consult a professional before you act on any of the information you find in this course. 

Do you have a frugal recipe?  Please e-mail it to me.
Help us reach 1,000 YouTube subscribers. Please watch some of our videos. If you like them, please subscribe. Also, please share our YouTube information with your friends.  We thank you so much for all your help. 

Disclaimer: The opinions or advice listed in this blog or website should be used as a place to start only. It is not a substitute for the use of a professional.

 Please be sure to consult your attorney, accountant, and/or other professionals with any specific questions. There is no one right answer to any business question that will cover all circumstances.

Notice: This post may  contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction. Thank you for your support!

Guest Post: Know the Signs of Diabetes in Pets

The following is a guest post.  This post does not necessarily reflect the views of Suzanne and David E. McClendon, Sr. or Manian Debil Productions.

Know the Signs of Diabetes in Pets

AUSTIN—The prevalence of diabetes in pets is growing. According to Banfield Pet Hospital’s State of Pet Health 2016 Report, diabetes in dogs has increased by nearly 80 percent since 2006 and by more than 18 percent in cats over the same time period. These findings stress the importance of observing National Pet Diabetes Month in November, marking a time for pet owners to educate themselves on the signs of diabetes and its risk factors. Reliable and accurate information on diabetes can be found on TexVetPets.org, the veterinary professional-written and peer-reviewed pet health website of the Texas Veterinary Medical Association (TVMA). The website’s article on diabetes covers common signs, such as lethargy, excessive thirst and frequent urination; diagnostic testing; treatment options and prognoses.

Pet owners will learn that if their pets are showing signs of diabetes, it is vital to take them to be examined by their veterinarian because these signs may mean their pet is diabetic. With early diagnosis and proper care, a pet with diabetes can live a happy, healthy and active life.

Diabetes Management Varies For Dogs and Cats

Pixabay Image

Diabetes is caused by the body’s inability to process or release proper amounts of insulin, resulting in high blood glucose levels. Treating diabetes in dogs most often requires insulin injections, but in cats, it can sometimes be managed by weight loss and diet changes. Once your veterinarian has diagnosed a pet with diabetes, he or she will determine the most effective management plan for the owner to follow.

“Diabetic animals require frequent monitoring, including blood tests, and insulin-dependent diabetics typically require injections every 12 hours,” said TVMA Past President Lori Teller, DVM, DABVP, CVJ, who practices at Meyerland Animal Clinic in Houston. “It is much easier to prevent diabetes than it is to treat it, especially in cats, so maintain your pet at an appropriate weight and get regular veterinary exams. If your pet is displaying the signs of diabetes, have it examined very soon before it progresses to a life-threatening state.”

Obesity, Age and Genetics Increase Risks of Pets Developing Diabetes

While diabetes can’t always be prevented, obesity has shown to be a contributing factor, especially in cats. Other risk factors in dogs include age, genetics and intact females. Dog breeds that have a higher risk of developing diabetes include cocker spaniels, pomeranians, golden retrievers and dachshunds. Age, genetics, disorders such as chronic pancreatitis or hyperthyroidism and neutering in males are among the risk factors in cats.

There is no cure for diabetes, so effective management of the disease is crucial to your pet’s quality of life. Partner with your veterinarian to establish a treatment to ensure a happy and active life for your pet.

About the Texas Veterinary Medical Association

Founded in 1903, the Texas Veterinary Medical Association is a professional association composed of more than 3,900 veterinarians committed to protecting public health, promoting high educational, ethical and moral standards within the veterinary profession and educating the public about animal health and its relationship to human health. For more information, call 512/452-4224 or visit www.tvma.org.

If you would like for me to pray for you, please drop me an e-mail by clicking prayer.



Please Visit My Child Bride Suzanne's Blog

I respond to all approved comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!

Please be advised that all the information in this course is provided to educate, enlighten, and broaden your views in life.  The information provided is not a substitute for medical, legal, dietary, financial/accounting, or religious professionals.   Always consult a professional before you act on any of the information you find in this course. 

Do you have a frugal recipe?  Please e-mail it to me.
Help us reach 1,000 YouTube subscribers. Please watch some of our videos. If you like them, please subscribe. Also, please share our YouTube information with your friends.  We thank you so much for all your help. 

Disclaimer: The opinions or advice listed in this blog or website should be used as a place to start only. It is not a substitute for the use of a professional.

 Please be sure to consult your attorney, accountant, and/or other professionals with any specific questions. There is no one right answer to any business question that will cover all circumstances.

Notice: This post may  contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction. Thank you for your support!