Out house or in house - save money and save the environment

 I was just sitting here thinking about how to save a few bucks and remembered when many folks had out-houses.  It seems to me that we could lower green houses gases and save the earth if we went back to out-houses.  You see if we stopped flushing those toilets so many times each day and stopped using the sewage system in the big cities we would save water and electricity and time.  Plus if we stopped using toilet paper and started using old catalogue's (it use to be the Sear's and Roebuck) or newspapers and junk mail we could save a lot of energy.  And don't forget all those fans we have in the bathrooms which we would not need.  In fact if we stopped having all those light fixtures which cost a lot to make and just had a single light bulb, even an inefficient one, hanging from the ceiling we would save a lot of electricity.  Let's don't forget the toilet which you have to flush multiple times now because the government wanted more efficient toilets, NOT!

Now this brings me to a few more money saving tips.  You know all those LED bulbs the government makes us buy which are supposed to last 7 to 25 years and in real life last only one or two years if you are lucky,  if we count all the manufacturing cost plus the land fill costs they probably don't save us a dime.  Now don't get me wrong, I kind of like the LED bulbs but I am tired of replacing bulbs that do not meet the 7 year warranty.  And besides, who has the time and energy to save the sales receipts for those bulbs and then spend the time and money chasing getting the warranty coverage.  

Now this brings me to another money saving thought.  I just read that each time that battery driven vehicle needs charged it actually costs around $12.  No one seems to be talking about that aspect plus what about wear and tare on the roads and the fact no taxes are recovered to pay for their share of the road repair.  One big problem I see is what happens if we have a giant infrastructure shut down due to ice and cold.  I guess that could never happen, ha ha.  Visualize this, all cars and trucks and cell phones and computers and houses are shut down because there is no electricity.  I was just talking to my brother in law who works on wind turbines and he was telling me how they were damaged and shut down due to the ice and snow.  So I have one question, wouldn't it be better to have a hybrid vehicle like the Prius which generates electricity and runs on gas making over 50 miles to a gallon?  I am just a country boy but that makes a lot of common sense to me.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• One man's trash is another man's treasure - think about it
• Common sense goes a long way
• Finally, I figured out what to do with all that junk mail.  Does anyone need a wipe?

Thanks for listening,

gary

gary@mylifelegacy.co

 

How is cleaning erasers and investing similar?

I don't know why or how Beth Shumate (my 3,4 and 5th grade teacher) did it but she taught us how to clean the erasers and enjoy it.  In fact it felt like a victory to get chosen to clean the erasers.  For those of you who don't know, that meant getting the chalk dust out of the eraser and the way to do that was to pound them on the sidewalk outside the building.  Dust would fly everywhere and your clothes and hands and arms were covered with white dust when you were done.  It was particularly a high honor if you got to clean the extra long one with the bull hide on one side.  That eraser was about 12 inches long.  Another fun aspect of it was you could make designs in chalk all over the sidewalk and you could not get in trouble for enjoying the labor of it.  

So how is cleaning the erasers similar to investing?  There are actually a lot of similar characteristics.  Number one, you really need to enjoy it.  Second, you need to be focused and get it done.  Third, your investments are just like those erasers, they need cleaned and adjusted sometimes.  Right now the market is going down or I should say more down than up for the last week.  Again, kind of like cleaning the erasers, you have to go up and down to get the job done.  

From the market perspective when the market is down is the best time to buy.  This is the same as when there is a sale at Penny's, it is time to buy.  Have you ever heard of buy low and sell high?  That is the right formula.  What is strange to me and probably because I have been in the investment business for so many years, is that most folks seem to want to sell when the market is working its way down.  Personally, when I see a drop in the market I work really hard to be a buyer.  And yes, I have bought a lot of stocks all the way down.  Now I do not buy a company that is going down when everything else is going up or visa versa.  This is called "dollar cost averaging"  and you can look it up on the internet.  I also want you to know I am not recommending you do what I do but I do recommend you getting a good financial advisor and if you don't have one or don't know if yours is a good one, give me a call or email and I will give you some ideas on how to figure that out.  I can also recommend a few advisors to call.

Last but not least here is a testimonial I received today:  A young lady, defined as under 60 years old, sold a property and had a large amount of money to invest.  Her financial advisor (one of the ones I would recommend you to) suggested that she NOT dump all of her money into the market at one time but rather buy on the dips (like on sale at J. C. Penny's) and do it over several months.  What she and her advisor were doing is dollar cost averaging.  Also the advisor did NOT put her in individual stocks but an ETF (look it up, exchange traded fund).  

Thanks for listening,

gary

gary@mylifelegacy.co

How to save a few bucks:  Do your end of life planning NOW!  You can literally save thousands by planning ahead.  Funerals can easily cost up to $10,000 and more but on average about $7000.  Plus your family can be relieved of all the stress if you plan ahead.  If you need help on this sign up at mylifelegacy.co and we will walk you through it, but if you email me I will save you money on that also.