Chatbug Karen

Do you know how many days there are until Christmas? I have not counted them and choose to keep my head in the clouds so I do not get stressed out about Christmas shopping.

When I get good and ready, I will be heading to Kohl’s website to not only buy gifts but to buy my winter boots and a new coat. First however, I will check to see what is available in kohls coupons at dropdowndeals. Dropdowndeals has all the coupon codes I need to save on everything from kitchen tools to slippers. I never shop online without coupon codes!

Many of you have listened as I whined about the road construction in front of our house. We have lived with machinery and dirt since last fall. I tried to keep a good attitude but this spring when our customers where unable to get into our business, it was wearing on my nerves, not to mention my bank account.

No one was able to get to our business and let me tell them about the best laminate flooring cleaner on earth. I got a lot of sewing projects finished, which was very nice but they don’t pay the bills.

I can finally say, hallelujah! the road is finished. It is a beautiful shade of black and has new street signs along its banks. We even got new mail boxes thanks to the state.

I saw, just before Christmas, a new way to compare prices on products. There are apps available for an iPhone that enable you to compare prices while you are in the store. What do you think about this idea? I am intrigued.

That said, I, as a retailer myself, understand that businesses have to make a profit in order to survive. Someone has to pay to keep a store heated, clean and able to pay employees. China already undercuts us on so many things that the products made in the USA are being pushed out of production. I don’t expect US companies to gouge people but I understand making a fair profit. The trickle down process effects us all. Want jobs? Buy American.

My son has been urging me to post more pictures of the construction going on in front of our house. The back ho is right in front of our house today. I am hoping I will be able to leave my driveway to get my roots colored. Now, that is a scary thought.

Hubby and I went to a nice restaurant on behalf of our investment guru. Ron had urged us for the past few years to come and listen to one of the big wigs of Lincoln Life speak to everyone about term life insurance. He basically reassured everyone that the world was not coming to an end and to leave our investments where they are while adding some new avenues of investing. I enjoyed the dinner and the rest was glazed over in my mind. My husband finds that stuff interesting and I trust him to make the right decisions.

I have been working on a fall pillow project and finally completed it yesterday afternoon. Let me tell everyone right now, I do not like making ruffles! I’ll show a picture of the pillow on my other blog, if you want to see it.

Don’t forget that this Saturday, May 8, is the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive sponsored by the national association of letter carriers. The need for food for people has become worse since the economy has soured. More people than ever need our help. The current recession and the rise in unemployment are having a profound effect on the nation’s food banks. Never mind the need for weight loss products such as 7-dfbx during these hard times. The face of hunger has changed due to the high unemployment rate in our country. We need to ban together as a nation and make sure everyone has a little something to eat. To find out whether your letter carrier is participating in the stamp out hunger drive, search the USPS website for the contact information for your local post office. Check out Facebook and choose the like button on Campbell’s soup’s donation ad. They will give one can of soup to the food banks for each “like” they receive. You can make a difference.

This week, on Tackle It Tuesday, the author mentioned how she was backlogged with paper work. I think that many of us were behind the eight ball with paper work because of tax form preparation. I hate getting things together to figure out our taxes. When we see how much we pay in taxes each year it is maddening. I have looked over all of our utility bills in an effort to save money. I bartered with the cable company and was able to get some deductions on our bill. I also got new term life insurance quotes and worked on the bill for our cell phone plans. Now, if I could get our health insurance figured out. Sigh…

Friends of ours recently leased a new Honda Accord. Having been raised with the idea that you should always buy a car rather than lease I began to question the logic in that thinking. Should you buy or lease a vehicle? Here is some random information I found.

Leasing is when you finance the use of a vehicle. If you enjoy having a new vehicle every two or three years this might be the option for you. You usually don’t build up any equity when you trade before five or 6 years of ownership. Another advantage to leasing is not having to worry about repairs. Finances play a big part in why leasing is desirable. You have the option of not making a down payment, you pay sales tax only on your monthly payments (in most states), and you pay a financial rate, this is similar to interest on a loan. Because you are paying for the depreciated value of the car rather than the actual value of the car, you can buy more car with your payment. You might be able to afford that car with butt warmers! There are so many different options available on vehicles, it is surprising they don’t also come with a pulse oximeter! Leasing is like paying for what you use. If you want all the bells and whistles, leasing might be for you. Or, opt for a low payment and use your money towards school or a savings account.

Buying a car means you will be financing the purchase of a vehicle. I would never look at buying a car as an investment. Because cars depreciate the moment they are driven off the lot, you never get out as much as you put in when buying a car.

The advantage to buying a vehicle rather than leasing one is that you are able to build up some trade-in or resale value. Another advantage is that you might eventually pay off your car and not have a payment at all. Wouldn’t that be nice. You would be wise to put some money into a savings account to pay for those inevitable repair bills that occur the minute you pay your last payment. I swear, there is a gremlin in vehicles that wrecks havoc the minute the payment hits the bank.

Another advantage to buying a car is that leasing with its restrictions on mileage may not be the best for you if you drive a lot of miles each year.

So, what I discovered is that it is really up to you. Where are you in the style of vehicle needed for your family? Do you drive a lot of miles? Do you tire of a style of car quickly?

Consider your options!

My husband and I just received a letter from our insurance company letting us know that our health insurance premium for April will be $876.00. I am so disgusted. We have a policy with a $5000.00 deductible. This is crazy and if it didn’t hit us right in the wallet, would be laughable. There is not a darn thing we can do about it. We are at the age where we have a few health issues with cholesterol and blood pressure so no other insurer will cover us. They have us where they want us.

Unlike carinsurancelist.com where one can go to find out about numerous companies with which to insure an auto, we are stuck with Anthem. Yes Anthem, the business with the fancy high rise, glass fronted buildings that have ponds and beautiful landscaping.

Here is an excerpt from President Obama’s recent speech given at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania.

And the insurance companies continue to ration health care based on who’s sick and who’s healthy; on who can pay and who can’t pay. That’s the status quo in America, and it is a status quo that is unsustainable for this country. We can’t have a system that works better for the insurance companies than it does for the American people. We need to give families and businesses more control over their own health insurance. And that’s why we need to pass health care reform — not next year, not five years from now, not 10 years from now, but now.

I never thought I would be for national health care but it is getting to the point of choosing to buy food or making enough money to pay our insurance premiums. I don’t know where else we can cut our budget.

I’m depressed.

I received the following in my email box and thought I would share.Whether it be weight loss pills or health care initiatives, we, in the US, will be affected by change. Perhaps we need to speak out before things are put into effect instead of complaining afterwords.

I bought a bird feeder. I hung
it on my back porch and filled
it with seed. What a beauty of
a bird feeder it was, as I filled it
lovingly with seed. Within a
week we had hundreds of birds
taking advantage of the
continuous flow of free and
easily accessible food.

But then the birds started
building nests in the boards
of the patio, above the table,
and next to the barbecue.

Then came the poop. It was
everywhere: on the patio tile,
the chairs, the table ..
everywhere!

Then some of the birds
turned mean. They would
dive bomb me and try to
peck me even though I had
fed them out of my own
pocket.

And others birds were
boisterous and loud. They
sat on the feeder and
squawked and screamed at
all hours of the day and night
and demanded that I fill it
when it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn’t even
sit on my own back porch
anymore. So I took down the
bird feeder and in three days
the birds were gone. I cleaned
up their mess and took down
the many nests they had built
all over the patio.

Soon, the back yard was like
it used to be …. quiet, serene….
and no one demanding their
rights to a free meal.

Now let’s see.
Our government gives out
free food, subsidized housing,
free medical care and free
education, and allows anyone
born here to be an automatic
citizen.

Then the illegals came by the
tens of thousands. Suddenly
our taxes went up to pay for
free services; small apartments
are housing 5 families; you
have to wait 6 hours to be seen
by an emergency room doctor;
your child’s second grade class is
behind other schools because
over half the class doesn’t speak
English.

Corn Flakes now come in a
bilingual box; I have to
‘press one ‘ to hear my bank
talk to me in English, and
people waving flags other
than our flag are
squawking and screaming
in the streets, demanding
more rights and free liberties.

Just my opinion, but maybe
it’s time for the government
to take down the bird feeder.

I had an interesting afternoon. I had a nice surprise when a salesman, who called on us years ago, stopped by for a visit. Roy is from Lafayette, Louisiana and always has a story or two to tell. Roy has kids that are the same age as our kids, 24 and 29. Our families seem to have a lot in common. Besides being a floor covering salesman for a major distributor, Roy and his family opened a Cajun restaurant near Indianapolis. My husband and I had dinner there a few months ago and were filled to the gills with Cajun food. Mud Bugs is a wonderful place to eat if you are ever in the Indianapolis area.

Roy has seen a down turn in sales in his territory just as we have. While tech jobs seem to be plentiful, sales of floor covering are slow. We have been fortunate to have steady work but it is a lot more fun when we have more sales than we can deal with! I think things will pick up soon. Everyone seems to be hesitant to spend money when they are not sure they will have a job. I can understand their feelings. The key to our economic situation is optimism. I am optimistic that things will get back to normal. Have you noticed a difference in your field of work? Are you making any changes in your spending habits?