Sometimes when I take my early morning walk (from 5am to 6am), I had strange/unusual thoughts pop into my head. The other morning I, for some reason, thought it strange that leave and left are variations of the same "word". And I wondered, "Why?"
Then I started thinking...and I came up with a few more:
bereave....bereft
cleave...cleft
heave...heft
leave...left
reave...reft
sieve...sift (okay...not quite the same thing)
thieve...theft
weave...weft
Not a huge list, but not too bad for so early in the morning. My mom was a high school English teacher. I think that's where these thoughts come from. Or maybe from my 2 years at Augustana College in Rock Island getting a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geology. There we received a liberal arts education..."forced" to think. I guess repetition leads to habits...and old habits are hard to break.
I love word games and word plays. They keep my mind agile!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Found Money
One of my goals is to lose weight and get into better shape. In the past 8 days I have dropped from 230 lbs to 225 lbs simply by walking regularly and eating less.
In my high school and college days I was a runner. At my peak I was running 100+ miles per week at just below elite level. I even earned a spot at the University of Oklahoma on a relay team that ended up winning the NCAA Indoor Two Mile Relay! But that was thirty years ago. I raced at 145 to 150lbs. And I ate and ate and ate. Thirty years later I find myself eating and eating and eating, but not exercising at all.
So I started walking 2.5 miles each morning, 1 mile at lunch, and occasionally in the evening. But walking can get boring. So if it is light outside, I read when I walk. But in the early morning, when it is dark, that simply isn't possible (or safe). So I have begun watching the ground for change that has been dropped. This past week I found $3.63. Combine that with the $5.22 from emptying the change from my pockets each evening, and that's almost $9! I plan to use this "found money" to make an extra payment on my house this year and help reduce the interest to be paid and the life of the mortgage. Not much, but as Dave Ramsey says...Baby Steps!
In my high school and college days I was a runner. At my peak I was running 100+ miles per week at just below elite level. I even earned a spot at the University of Oklahoma on a relay team that ended up winning the NCAA Indoor Two Mile Relay! But that was thirty years ago. I raced at 145 to 150lbs. And I ate and ate and ate. Thirty years later I find myself eating and eating and eating, but not exercising at all.
So I started walking 2.5 miles each morning, 1 mile at lunch, and occasionally in the evening. But walking can get boring. So if it is light outside, I read when I walk. But in the early morning, when it is dark, that simply isn't possible (or safe). So I have begun watching the ground for change that has been dropped. This past week I found $3.63. Combine that with the $5.22 from emptying the change from my pockets each evening, and that's almost $9! I plan to use this "found money" to make an extra payment on my house this year and help reduce the interest to be paid and the life of the mortgage. Not much, but as Dave Ramsey says...Baby Steps!
Debt Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau
I was flipping through the channels last week and saw an infomercial by Kevin Trudeau promoting his book "Debt Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About". I watched the show for a while and thought the book might be an interesting read.
What a disappointment! Trudeau never really gets to talking about what the title states. he talks about the shady and evil practices of credit card companies. He talks about the burden of the tax system. He talks about the problems with debt. But no where in the book could I find anything new. He simply rehashes the "common wisdom" making the rounds today regarding debt, debt reduction and wealth building. He keeps saying he'll tell you the secrets, but none of the steps or methods he tells are secret. Nor are the business practices of the credit industry. Anyone who has debt and has had late charges or fees knows how and why the credit industry does that.
If you seek to gain more knowledge on getting out of debt and beginning to create wealth, you will much better off to consult books by Dave Ramsey, Larry Burkett and David Bach.
Kevin Trudeau's "Debt Cures" won't help YOU much, but by purchasing his book, you will help HIM build wealth.
What a disappointment! Trudeau never really gets to talking about what the title states. he talks about the shady and evil practices of credit card companies. He talks about the burden of the tax system. He talks about the problems with debt. But no where in the book could I find anything new. He simply rehashes the "common wisdom" making the rounds today regarding debt, debt reduction and wealth building. He keeps saying he'll tell you the secrets, but none of the steps or methods he tells are secret. Nor are the business practices of the credit industry. Anyone who has debt and has had late charges or fees knows how and why the credit industry does that.
If you seek to gain more knowledge on getting out of debt and beginning to create wealth, you will much better off to consult books by Dave Ramsey, Larry Burkett and David Bach.
Kevin Trudeau's "Debt Cures" won't help YOU much, but by purchasing his book, you will help HIM build wealth.
Start Over, Finish Rich by David Bach
Last week I finished reading "Start Over, Finish Rich" by David Bach. This is a book that I had read last spring, but thought I needed to read again. In it, David Bach emphasizes that we should all pay down our debt, increase our savings, and be in position to build wealth, even in, and especially in, times of economic downturn like we have experienced the past two years.
Bach's "big thing" is to make as much of you financial life as automatic as you can. Automatic paycheck deposit, automatic payment of bills, automatic drafts to savings, automatic investment. He is also an advocate of finding out where you spend money each day (your "Latte Factor" and cutting some of that expense and putting that money towards debt paydown or into savings and investments.
Most authors are great at presenting their ideas and identifying the steps to take to achieve what they have presented. BUT, those steps are often HUGE and, for the average person, unattainable. Bach lists 25 easy ways to save money, ranging from carpooling to canceling subscriptions. He identifies steps to take to evaluate that you do each day, what services you use, and ways to reduce or cut those services that in the end will save you money that you can then save, invest or pay debt with.
In the Spring of 2003, my family took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class. In 36 months we paid off all our debts (which were substantial) and since that time have had our finances fairly well under control. So when reading through Bach's list of 25 ways to save money, I was a bit disappointed. Not in Bach's list, because the list is excellent- 25 simple ways to seriously reduce household and personal expenses and "find" money. My "problem" was that we had already done most of the action steps that Bach lists.
All too often we read a book or listen to advice and hear what we have heard before and simply tune out- all because we've heard it before. On reading Bach's book a second time, I purposed myself to read every word and to pay attention to what I was reading. I actually read this section twice. Of the "25 ways to save money, 3 did not apply to me or my household, and 18 we had already done. BUT...that leaves 4 that we have not done or never considered! And after reading this section of the book and ruminating on it, I realized that of the 18 we have already done, at least 7 of them were done over 2 years ago and may need to be considered/reconsidered again.
"Start Over, Finish Rich" by David Bach is a must read. It is a quick read. It will give you ideas for ways to get finances under control and begin building wealth. It is NOT a "pie in the sky" or hard-core financial book. It is a practical, easy to read, easy to follow book that will help you On the Road to Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.
Bach's "big thing" is to make as much of you financial life as automatic as you can. Automatic paycheck deposit, automatic payment of bills, automatic drafts to savings, automatic investment. He is also an advocate of finding out where you spend money each day (your "Latte Factor" and cutting some of that expense and putting that money towards debt paydown or into savings and investments.
Most authors are great at presenting their ideas and identifying the steps to take to achieve what they have presented. BUT, those steps are often HUGE and, for the average person, unattainable. Bach lists 25 easy ways to save money, ranging from carpooling to canceling subscriptions. He identifies steps to take to evaluate that you do each day, what services you use, and ways to reduce or cut those services that in the end will save you money that you can then save, invest or pay debt with.
In the Spring of 2003, my family took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class. In 36 months we paid off all our debts (which were substantial) and since that time have had our finances fairly well under control. So when reading through Bach's list of 25 ways to save money, I was a bit disappointed. Not in Bach's list, because the list is excellent- 25 simple ways to seriously reduce household and personal expenses and "find" money. My "problem" was that we had already done most of the action steps that Bach lists.
All too often we read a book or listen to advice and hear what we have heard before and simply tune out- all because we've heard it before. On reading Bach's book a second time, I purposed myself to read every word and to pay attention to what I was reading. I actually read this section twice. Of the "25 ways to save money, 3 did not apply to me or my household, and 18 we had already done. BUT...that leaves 4 that we have not done or never considered! And after reading this section of the book and ruminating on it, I realized that of the 18 we have already done, at least 7 of them were done over 2 years ago and may need to be considered/reconsidered again.
"Start Over, Finish Rich" by David Bach is a must read. It is a quick read. It will give you ideas for ways to get finances under control and begin building wealth. It is NOT a "pie in the sky" or hard-core financial book. It is a practical, easy to read, easy to follow book that will help you On the Road to Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.
Week One
My goal for 2011 is to become a better rounded person in all aspects of life. In other words, I am starting down the road to being Healthy, Wealthy and Wise. This doesn't mean I want to become buff, rich and a know-it-all. I simply want to get some control back in my life, to be active and not just reactive. I want to get my finances back in control. I want to become closer to God and display the love of Jesus more and more often. I want to lose some weight, drop my cholesterol levels and become more healthy. I want to read books that spark an interest- both fiction and non-fiction. I want to become a better husband and father. I want to become more knowledgeable in my field and better my skills.
With all this in mind, I also want to keep track of my progress. I've never been good at documenting progress in life, so I will be using this blog as a way to force myself to keep track of what and how I've been doing. Much of the blog will be mundane little items. Other items will be my review and evaluation of foods, training schedules, products, books, etc.
In this first week, I began walking regularly and bought a step counter to keep track of number of steps and distances walked. I finished reading David Bach's "Start Over, Finish Rich" and started reading George Foreman's "Knockout Entrepreneur". I sat down and set some loosely outlined goals for my genealogy hobby to turn it into a "business". I set loosely defined goals for finances for this year, for household maintenance (and honey-do list) and for establishing garden beds. I made a list of books I would like to read and requested the first 7 from my local library.
This is just some of what I have done in my first week of journey On the Road to Healthy, Wealthy and Wise. At the end of each week I will post the highlights of what I have done that week- both successes and failures. During the week, I will occasionally post reviews, thoughts, ideas, "light bulbs", and other items that interest me, and hopefully will interest anyone who happens upon this blog.
Off I go to week two On the Road to Healthy, Wealthy and Wise!
With all this in mind, I also want to keep track of my progress. I've never been good at documenting progress in life, so I will be using this blog as a way to force myself to keep track of what and how I've been doing. Much of the blog will be mundane little items. Other items will be my review and evaluation of foods, training schedules, products, books, etc.
In this first week, I began walking regularly and bought a step counter to keep track of number of steps and distances walked. I finished reading David Bach's "Start Over, Finish Rich" and started reading George Foreman's "Knockout Entrepreneur". I sat down and set some loosely outlined goals for my genealogy hobby to turn it into a "business". I set loosely defined goals for finances for this year, for household maintenance (and honey-do list) and for establishing garden beds. I made a list of books I would like to read and requested the first 7 from my local library.
This is just some of what I have done in my first week of journey On the Road to Healthy, Wealthy and Wise. At the end of each week I will post the highlights of what I have done that week- both successes and failures. During the week, I will occasionally post reviews, thoughts, ideas, "light bulbs", and other items that interest me, and hopefully will interest anyone who happens upon this blog.
Off I go to week two On the Road to Healthy, Wealthy and Wise!
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