I’m sick of politicians who are more worried about votes, Republican or Democrat, than actually doing what needs to be done. Sick of these fools buying votes with Federal programs for everything from farm subsidies to gelatin wrestling.
When someone runs for office, does an idiot switch get flipped? “Vote for me, I’ll spend like there’s no tomorrow. Cause look, honey, I got this magical piece of Uncle Sam plastic. It doesn’t cost anything. And when the bill comes, we’ll just tax all the rich folks to pay for it, and send government agents to put them in jail if they don’t. Or we’ll print money and make it all worth nothing. Or, better yet, we’ll just use the funds we set aside for social security. It would be dumb to just save and invest that money we’re taking from people for their retirements. I mean, it’s just sitting there earning interest. Besides, we’ll set it all up like Amway with downlines and circles, and the rising generation will just be taxed out of their brains to pay for it. And that will be someone else’s problem anyway. See the pretty money, honey. See it? Vote for me.”
They’re like that candy man in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with the nose that should have scared the soup out of those kids. Of course, American voters aren’t kids hiding in Benny Hill’s basement. Maybe the switch is getting flipped on some of us as well.
Here’s what we need. It’s not rocket science.
1. A balanced budget ammendment to prevent our super smart and caring representatives in Washington from continually spending what they don’t have.
No, really. It’s true. You just have to spend smartly. And in a special way.
Over the course of your life, if you make what the average American does, more than a million dollars will flow through your hands. And yet so many of us don’t feel rich. That’s because money is like the Gingerbread Man. Turn your back on it, and it’s out the door, rudely taunting everyone as it flies by. And then it gets eaten by a fox. Such a waste.
But it doesn’t have to be.
Let me share with you THE best method I’ve found for managing my money. It takes tons of anxiety out of spending and saving. And, if you’re a Dave Ramsey fan, it is the one thing upon which everything else he teaches depends. If you’re not a Ramsey fan, it doesn’t matter. After getting a job, this is the first thing you must do to get rich.
Here’s the big secret. It has three parts:
1) Decide how much you’re going to spend on various things BEFORE you spend it
2) Make what you have left in each spending category EASY to track
3) Manage the things you can’t foresee
To do the first two parts, you’re going to create a special kind of spending plan. We won’t use the term “budgeting” because “spending” is so much more fun, and because that’s what we’re going to do anyway. To understand how to do this, you need to watch three videos.
Before you do, please know I earned a Masters degree in accounting. I’ve used Quicken for more than twenty years. Neither of those things has helped me manage my money like this simple method. If you’re looking for a better way to manage your money, this is it.
First, watch this video to get an overall idea of how this method works.
Note: you can use actual envelopes and cash for everything if that makes you happy, but you really don’t need to. The idea is to think of pre-allocating your monthly income to categories of expenses AND then having an easy way to track what’s left.
Now, watch this bubba explain how he does it.
But John, didn’t he say the same thing?
Basically, but he has a fun accent. Besides, it’s good to see another example. And please note again: you don’t have to use actual envelopes and cash, although many swear by them.
Finally, watch this one. No, it’s not just another repeat. There are some additional important ideas illustrated here.
This video brings up the idea of why simply tracking an overall account balance isn’t very helpful. It also shows you WHY envelope categories are–they make it immediately apparent how much money you have to spend for a thing. If you just use Quicken to track what you spent (looking in the past), you’ll run into troubles. Let me tell you, I know this from experience. We use Quicken, and have for years, and plan use it for some time to come because it makes taxes and bank reconciliation a snap. But Quicken only tracks what you spent. Tracking, as important as it is, is not the key to success. The key is pre-allocating BEFORE you spend. And then tracking so you know what you have left in that category. And making that tracking EASY.
The final thing you have to do is manage the things you can’t foresee because things rarely go exactly to plan. Unexpected things ALWAYS come up. Your daughter will crash the car. Your husband will get appendicitis. You will forget that you had a $200 school sports expense.
Okay, fine. Things happen. But how do you manage them if you can’t foresee them?
If it’s really small, you simply adjust your plan. For example, if you need $30 more in food, you can transfer it from fuel if you have some extra there.
You manage larger things by building up an emergency fund. Ramsey suggests starting with a $1,000 emergency fund and then trying to get two to three months of living expenses—about $10,000 to $15,000 for most people. Unexpected things WILL happen and cost your money. So build up some cushion to take care of them.
Finally, you manage the really large things by getting proper insurance. This is what insurance is for. The types of insurance you need include (1) homeowner’s or renter’s, (2) auto, (3) medical, (4) long-term disability, (5) long-term care (for those 60 and older), and (6) life insurance. You may add true identity theft insurance as well.
Okay, so that’s the overview. If you want to try this, here’s how you do it. It’s fairly easy.
STEP 1: get your head straight
Resolve that you will NOT use credit for anything. You will not spend any money you don’t have. You will not put another dime on a credit card, and this despite the fact that the plastic devil companies are begging you with offers almost every day to sign up for their cards. (Hum, I wonder how they afford all that junk mail.) If your monthly bills are greater than your income, then we have to fix that first. But the new law of the land is zero new debt.
Next, always remember to allocate your money to these categories first—shelter, food, adequate clothing, and adequate transportation. This means if you have a crunch month, you would NOT pay credit card bills before food, even if you work for Visa.
STEP 2: get your blank sheet & pencil
Get out a piece of paper and pencil (not a pen) or open an Excel spreadsheet. Whoa, that was an easy step.
STEP 3: list your monthly income
List your expected monthly income at the top from all sources.
STEP 4: list your spending categories
List your spending categories. You’re going to split them into two groups.
The first group goes right below your income and includes all of your recurring monthly expense/spending categories. Not the amounts you spend. Just the categories. Things like mortgage, electricity, phone, groceries, dining, etc. Make sure you include some entertainment/fun money.
The second group goes below your recurring monthly expenses and includes all of your major annual periodic expense/spending categories. Things like Christmas, vacation, clothing, kids back to school stuff, etc. And things you want to save for—a couch, iPhone, car, etc. Your emergency fund goes here as well.
Decide how much you will spend in each category this month. You should have 0 dollars when you get to the bottom of the sheet. Spend (allocate) every dime BEFORE you start the month. You’re going to do this at the beginning of each month. And you will probably have to adjust it a couple of times during the month.
You will probably have categories that don’t get any money this month.
You will also have categories that get money, but you won’t spend any of it this month. These are your periodic expenses. Your goal is to have the cash up front to pay for them, so you have to save for them. Remember, you are NOT going to take on any new debt.
For example, if you’re saving up for Christmas, you allocate some money for that out of this month’s funds and TRANSFER it to savings. Then it will be there when you need it. You could draw the cash out and put it in an actual envelope, but you don’t have to. Just as long as you keep a record of the total amount in savings and what it’s all supposed to be for, i.e. total savings in July = $1,000: $500 for back to school, $200 for Christmas, and $300 for my trip with kids to Six Flags in 2013.
STEP 6: mark the “watch” categories
Some of the categories you need to watch closely, and some you don’t. The ones you need to watch closely will be your “envelope watch” categories.
The categories you don’t need to watch as closely are those that are automatically taken out of your account each month. And those you will write a check once a month for. These things include mortgage, car payment, electricity, etc. These are NOT categories you need to use actual envelopes for. You can track it on paper or in the spreadsheet. Not much happens with these categories.
But there are other categories that you’re going to be spending throughout the month, and it’s easy to over spend if you don’t track them. Groceries, dining, entertainment, gasoline, a specific vacation, etc. are all categories that you make multiple purchases with each month and are flexible/discretionary and need to be watched closely. So while everything is tracked in a category/envelope on paper or on the computer, you’ll track these with either a real envelope and cash or a virtual one using that free software you saw in the third video or a piece of paper with a running category balance in your wallet.
STEP 7: have fun and spend!
Now go out and spend!
Before spending, check your envelope. Do you have enough money? If you do, spend and be happy. If not, save up for it or find a way to save money in another category and adjust so that you’re still spending the same total amount. Never spend what you don’t have.
If you feel you need something not planned for, well, you have to get it later OR transfer something out of another envelope. I just make myself wait a day or three, and usually the urge to buy, Buy, BUY! goes away, and I see I don’t “need” it right now. Or maybe a more affordable option presents itself.
If the kids want something, and you feel guilty you can’t give it to them, just tell them what’s in the envelope/category, and tell them they can save for it or choose something else in that category that will fit with what you have left.
If you’re tracking envelopes virtually or using the paper balance in your wallet, you MUST update your envelope AFTER every purchase so you don’t spend more than you have. If you find you just can’t seem to remember to do this, go to the cash method.
That’s it!
Of course, that’s not quite it because even though it’s easy, if you haven’t done this before, it might take some adjustment. Give yourself a month or three to get it down. Because when you do, it WILL produce great results and peace. It’s doing that for us.
If you feel you need more info, I suggest you read Dave Ramsey’s Complete Guide to Money. Here’s the first chapter to sample: Complete Guide To Money sample chapter.
Happy spending.
EDIT: here’s another video to watch: http://www.youneedabudget.com/. Then read about the method: http://www.youneedabudget.com/method. This one highlights the idea that you need to make sure you realize that things will happen that you cannot foresee. No plan survives contact with the enemy.
I had business in Vegas and decided it was time to take the family to Zion’s National Park. We could drive down from the northern tip of Utah (Laketown) to the southern tip (St. George) together. Then I’d take a rental to Vegas, do my business, and hook up again with the fam to hike the canyons for two-days. (Hiking Kolob, folks, was incredible, but that’s another post.)
So I ask Nellie what she’s got to read to me as we drive down. She pulls out Diary of a Wimpy Kid by JeffKinney and says all the kids in her classes said she had to read it.
I think, hey, it’s got pictures. Any book with pictures gets one shot at the very least.
I’m happy to say I can’t tell you how many times she had to wait so I could stop laughing. We almost wrecked only once. And if I’m going to wreck I’d rather do it while laughing than asleep. Kenny has written and illustrated a wonderful, fun book. And now we have a new word in the family vocabulary–“Fregley.”
How about former CIA operatives and Navy Seals forming a private group to rescue child slaves?
Last January, Ballard made a bold move and left his job to form his own team of former CIA operatives and Navy Seals who operate undercover to bust child slavery rings
. . . . .
Ballard’s organization is called Operation Underground Railroad, and members call themselves abolitionists. The references to 19th-century slave liberation are deliberate.
There are currently 25 million people living in slavery, according to the 2014 Global Slavery Index research released by anti-trafficking organization Walk Free Foundation. The U.S. State Department puts the figure closer to 21 million, and about two million of those slaves are children.
Ballard’s line of work has opened his eyes to a problem most people are blind to — the fact that there are more people living in slavery now than at the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
. . . . .
Ballard knows better than anyone just how easy it is to buy a child. In an operation in Haiti earlier this year, he posed as a trafficker and visited an orphanage where two children — a brother and sister ages 2 and 3 — were sold to him for $15,000 apiece.
That’s the going rate for a child, says Ballard, and over time, the owner can make millions of dollars by selling the child for sex or forced labor.
The previews for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty didn’t look interesting at all. Furthermore, I’m not the biggest Ben Stiller fan. He’s a fine actor; I just haven’t been in the audience for a lot of his movies. Then someone I know recommended the film, and I decided to give it a go with Nellie.
We didn’t have high hopes. I mean, look at the movie poster. Does that get you excited? She thought it was going to be dumb. I thought it was going to be dumb. But after five minutes, we found ourselves enjoying the characters and story. We finished it, both of us absolutely delighted. I liked it so much I corralled my two daughters into watching it with me. Then I watched it again. I think I watched it four times total. And I enjoyed it as much, maybe more, each time.
Walter is a great guy who has had to play it safe and practical his whole life. When his and his co-worker’s jobs are threatened, he takes action and finds himself on a journey that starts in, ta-dum, Greenland. The movie’s got adventure, a slow-burn romance, and a cast of funny and quirky characters. But it isn’t mad-cap humor. It’s not a gushing love story. It’s something else. Something that left me feeling like my life had been leavened with a fine light joy. Give it a shot; I think you’ll be glad you did.
* * *
The previews for Non-Stop with Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore looked great. I’m happy to report that it was every bit as good as the previews promised.
Neeson plays a federal air marshal. While on a flight from New York to London, he gets a text telling him that unless 150 million dollars is transferred to an offshore account, someone will die every 20 minutes. But it’s not so easy finding the killer. The deaths are almost inexplicable. And things soon start to spin out of control.
This movie is filled with surprises and suspense. And it moves. Thrillers normally move quickly, but this one was on turbo. But that doesn’t mean the story was a bunch of light and noise. Quite the contrary. The writers skillfully balance the mystery, action, suspense, and even the character backstories. A lot of folks liked Taken. I liked this better than that film. In fact, it’s one of the better thrillers I’ve seen these last few years.
* * *
I’m a superhero lover, have been since I was a kid watching the Superfriends cartoon every Saturday morning. But I never know if I’m going to enjoy a superhero movie. I love the genre, but for some reason so many of the films go for effect over story. It drives me nuts. The movie ends, the lights turn on, and I sit in my seat and go “huh.” So I’m happy to report that Captain America: The Winter Soldier actually delivers.
I cannot say the same for Captain America: The First Avenger, the first in this series. That movie fell apart halfway through the film. The beginning was this wonderful story about a runt trying to do his duty and volunteer. The second half lost all its heart and turned into one big yawn. So for those of you who didn’t like that first film, know that this is a case of the sequel being far better than the original.
In this one, SHIELD, the organization that directs the Avengers, comes under attack from within. Captain America and Black Widow have to uncover who is behind it and stop them before it’s too late. There are a lot of cool visuals and awesome action scenes. For example, I loved how Captain America “parachutes” into the opening mission. I enjoyed watching him and Black Widow fight in their distinctive ways. But the film didn’t focus on the tech or the super powers. It focused on the characters and the story. The plot includes a number of delicious surprises and reveals. There are funny moments and some poignant ones. And not only did this movie, unlike the first one, develop a single story all the way through, but it also echoes with our current search for national security.
If you liked Iron Man and Iron Man 3, I think you’ll enjoy Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Okay, men. I’m going to share a secret. Maybe help you avoid my situation. Women love flowers. They love diamonds and other expensive bits of gravel you can’t find out at the road pit. Some relish a backrub. Those are all good. But if your girlfriend, wife, mother, sister, or daughter likes to cook, well, you’d better watch out.
About two years ago, Santa brought my wife a Cuisinart six-quart electric pressure cooker (item CPC-600). Every time she takes that thing out, she talks about what a great gift that was, and how wonderful it is to be able to cook foods in 30% of the time it normally would take, and how pressure cooking is more nutritious because vitamins and minerals can’t boil away. Foods stay moist and flavors stay true. Blah, blah, blah. Oh, how she loves Santa.
I have to admit, Santa was a genius for getting her that gift. But you don’t mess with my girl. This year, if he comes around (you listening, Santa!), I’m going to be waiting with my gun.
For the rest of you, I suggest you go out and find yourself one of these before Santa tries to muscle in. Him and his ho-ho-ho. If you google it, you’ll see it’s only $80 bucks online. A small price to pay, let me tell you. And it lasts a heck of a lot longer than flowers.
Adventure Jam
I’m one of those people who can’t go to a restaurant and order the dish that I know is good. Nope, just before the waitress comes to take my order, a compulsion to try something new takes hold of me. Alas, three out of four times, the dish I order will taste like somebody cooked it in a shoe. I’m thinking my plan from now on should be to lock myself in the car and wait until my wife calls me and tells me that she’s placed my order and the coast is clear.
Of course, that doesn’t prevent me from buying things like kippers and kumquats at the grocery store. Nor does it prevent me from accepting strange gifts. For instance, this last week I was asked if I would like a six-sided bottle of Montmorency Tart Cherry Jam from Woodyatt Cherry Farms. I love cherries, but cherry jam, with big old cherries in it? And what’s with the weird name and bottle?
But it was a gift from a fine friend, so how could I say no?
The next day I made toast and buttered it, and as I reached for the sure-fire delicious creamed honey, I was overcome by that maddening spirit of wild culinary adventure. So I pulled the six-sided bottle from the pantry instead, twisted off the white lid, and looked at the cherries crowded within. I drew back for a moment. What was I thinking?! The answer came: “Tart cherry jam, you wimp.”
So I manned up and spread the jammed cherries on my toast. I took a bite, waited to be disappointed, but it was good. I took another bite.
Dang. It was real good.
That jar of zingy jam is now almost empty. But I can tell you I plan on getting some more.
If you’re a bit adventurous and every now and again want something different but excellent, let me recommend this cherry jam to you. I couldn’t find a website for Woodyatt Cherry Frams, but you can drop by at 7630 S. Highway 89, Willard, UT 84340 or call them at (435) 720-7366 and place an order.
Funny Family Movie
My wife and I took the kids out to the Cinefour theaters this last week. That’s the three-dollar theater that’s nice and clean in Logan, UT. We watched the animated Despicable Me. I know, it came out back in July, but who said I had to review things the minute they hit the market?
Gru, super villain, has his secret hideout in a happy suburban neighborhood. He’s got everything a villain could want: a wicked jet-powered vehicle, freeze rays, and minions. But another villain has just upstaged him with a major heist in Egypt. So Gru decides make a bigger heist, the biggest in the history of the world—he’s going to steal the moon. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Ah, but he’s going to use a shrink ray first. Then he can put the moon in his pocket. The problem is the upstaging villain takes the shrink ray. And the only way Gru can steal it back is with the help of three little orphan girls.
The movie is full of humor (I laughed so hard at one point that I missed a full minute of the movie) and fun action. The orphans and minions are wonderful. Toward the end there was one moment where a sob caught in my throat. (The things cartoons will do to you these days!) The movie is not going to win an Academy Award. But I can guarantee you it will give you and your kids two hours of excellent entertainment and a few funny lines that will enter your family vocabulary.
Brown’s Shameless Commerce Section
I know some of you are at a loss for what to get your teen or adult friend who likes fantasy stuff—dragons, magic, etc. It’s not like you can just go buy them a pet monster or suit of armor. And there are soooo many books in the science fiction and fantasy section of the bookstore. So let me help you.
Servant of a Dark God was recently released in paperback (think inexpensive) and is the perfect stocking stuffer for readers who liked Lord of the Rings. Don’t let the title scare you; the book won the Whitney Awards Best Novel of the Year in speculative fiction and has been getting excellent national reviews. And it just so happens that your humble reviewer is the author.
If you want to read the first chapters or find out more about the book, click on the Fiction part of the site. There are copies in Smith’s, Macey’s, Fresh Market, Raley’s, and other grocery stores. Or you can order it from Barnes&Noble.com and Amazon.com and have it delivered to your door. Whoever receives it will thank you for the epic fantasy thrills.
Do you regularly sit through meetings that seem to accomplish nothing?
Meetings where people drone on and on and on.
Meetings where people discuss and no decision is ever made.
Meetings that always slide off topic.
Meetings that should never have been held in the first place.
In many cases, the reason these meetings stink is because those organizing them are not aware there’s any other way to hold a meeting. But there is. I was fortunate enough to have been exposed to it just out of college while working for a business consulting firm in San Francisco. (And why they didn’t teach this in my business degree I will never know!)
After learning the simple and powerful principles, I was eventually paid to plan and facilitate meetings for clients. In some of these meetings they were making incredibly important decisions. I remember a client flying me and a colleague from San Francisco to Delaware for two days of meetings.
You might be groaning at the thought. But they paid thousands of dollars to have us come and facilitate. And when we were done, the energy in the room was palpable. A number of those that were involved were astounded and said they’d never been involved in such productive sessions. They’d accomplished more in the hours we were there than in months of other meetings. They were happy and grateful we’d come.
Think of that—happy and grateful for a meeting that went on for hours!
When meetings are done right, the collaboration and synergy can be amazing. Now, you may think that some secret handshake is required to learn how to do this. Or that it’s only for those with some special knack. Or that it’s only for high-powered jobs. If you do, you’d be wrong.
And that’s because you can learn the principles all for a few bucks. They’re laid out in perfect clarity in How to Make Meetings Work by Michael Doyle and David Straus. This is the book that was the source of our training sessions all those years ago. And I reread it every few years to brush up. The principles work in everything from a family council to a board meeting to class settings. I know because I’ve used the ideas in all of them. And when I fail to take just a few minutes to prepare, that’s when the meeting becomes, well, just another (yawn) meeting.
If you hold meetings of any kind and want to improve them, give this book a try. I think you’ll be happy you did.
7 Comments
John, I agree with you. I’m one of those people who’s going to be taxed heavily to pay for all these wasteful spending projects. To make matters worse, I live in Rhode Island, who has major spending problems of its own. So both my Federal and State taxes are going to be jacked up and it’s going to put a long term burden on my family.
Dave Ramsey is a real bright guy. We all need to have some common sense about how we spend. I’m not saying we should stop funding all science programs but I think we can let private money take over more of the outlandish projects.
Someone needs to step up and clean house.
Another voice of agreement here. I happen to be following the Dave Ramsey plan right now myself. There’s definitely some discomfort in our family these days. It would be hard for an entire nation to go through that much difficulty, but there’s no getting around it.
I am no economist in any shape or form but I do find far to much “Less Spending Talk” to be going around. Frankly I never listen to it. For me it comes down to specific cuts(Don’t tell me we need to spend less tell me what we need to spend less on and why) and Raising taxes ON Everyone!! If you have a debt you pay it as quickly as possible. Sure it hurts the wallet but that’s what spending money does. I agree in general With everything that I heard at your link but its pointless and just more of the same crap everyone else is saying with an added dash of practicality.
But I find the thought of not raising taxes when a country needs money plain stupid so I guess I’m in the minority and really dont fit in with either political party.
-Rehcra
Rehcra,
It’s true, asking for less spending still doesn’t give you an action plan. But it does set the bar. And when you have politicians who won’t even take that first step, it’s a sign of a large problem. I think the only thing we have right now that gets into specifics is the Paul Ryan proposal.
As for taxes, they act like prices. For example, you can charge a LOT for a car, 200,000, sell only a few of them, and try to increase total revenues that way. Or you can charge 4,000 for a car, sell millions more, and try to increase total revenue that way. Higher taxes for everyone may result in more revenue, or it may lag the economy and make for less revenue.
However, I do think more people need a clear stake. Instead of super loading the rich, I think everyone but those under the poverty line should be contributing. And in a CLEAR way so everyone knows just how much Uncle Sam is taking.
Well said. A balanced budget amendment is long overdue. It wouldn’t solve everything, but it would stop the bleeding which is the first step in any triage.
I truly believe that beyond that we need real entitlement reform. Relying on Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid as they are now is a lot like riding a train along a rail, knowing eventually it ends abruptly over a ravine. They need to be restructured so they aren’t pyramid schemes. If we are going to have people paying into them, they should be able to have some confidence that someday there will be a return on their investment.
I also don’t think that it would be completely out of line to ask for a little community service in return for receiving entitlements. If Wal-Mart can find jobs for all sorts of people with all sorts of disabilities, couldn’t the government find some things for people living off entitlements to do? Maybe things like spending time with the elderly, or being a crossing guard, or reading to kids? Everyone needs a little help sometimes, but giving back should be something that we encourage and promote as a society.
That’s an interesting idea, although Social Security was actually taken from their paychecks. So technically, it was theirs to begin with. I know, I know, there’s monkey business with the payments. Still the idea was that they pay into the system when they’re working so they can take it out when they’re not. But the government’s screwed that up.
Same with unemployment. A woman came to visit some friends of ours for a number of weeks last summer. This gal has no children. Is capable of finding work. But refuses to. Just goes through the motions to get her welfare check, which she has drawn for years. That’s just not right. Her reason for voting for Obama–he’d keep her checks coming.
I had business in Vegas and decided it was time to take the family to Zion’s National Park. We could drive down from the northern tip of Utah (Laketown) to the southern tip (St. George) together. Then I’d take a rental to Vegas, do my business, and hook up again with the fam to hike the canyons for two-days. (Hiking Kolob, folks, was incredible, but that’s another post.)
The previews for 
The previews for 
I’m a superhero lover, have been since I was a kid watching the Superfriends cartoon every Saturday morning. But I never know if I’m going to enjoy a superhero movie. I love the genre, but for some reason so many of the films go for effect over story. It drives me nuts. The movie ends, the lights turn on, and I sit in my seat and go “huh.” So I’m happy to report that 
John, I agree with you. I’m one of those people who’s going to be taxed heavily to pay for all these wasteful spending projects. To make matters worse, I live in Rhode Island, who has major spending problems of its own. So both my Federal and State taxes are going to be jacked up and it’s going to put a long term burden on my family.
Dave Ramsey is a real bright guy. We all need to have some common sense about how we spend. I’m not saying we should stop funding all science programs but I think we can let private money take over more of the outlandish projects.
Someone needs to step up and clean house.
Another voice of agreement here. I happen to be following the Dave Ramsey plan right now myself. There’s definitely some discomfort in our family these days. It would be hard for an entire nation to go through that much difficulty, but there’s no getting around it.
I am no economist in any shape or form but I do find far to much “Less Spending Talk” to be going around. Frankly I never listen to it. For me it comes down to specific cuts(Don’t tell me we need to spend less tell me what we need to spend less on and why) and Raising taxes ON Everyone!! If you have a debt you pay it as quickly as possible. Sure it hurts the wallet but that’s what spending money does. I agree in general With everything that I heard at your link but its pointless and just more of the same crap everyone else is saying with an added dash of practicality.
But I find the thought of not raising taxes when a country needs money plain stupid so I guess I’m in the minority and really dont fit in with either political party.
-Rehcra
Rehcra,
It’s true, asking for less spending still doesn’t give you an action plan. But it does set the bar. And when you have politicians who won’t even take that first step, it’s a sign of a large problem. I think the only thing we have right now that gets into specifics is the Paul Ryan proposal.
As for taxes, they act like prices. For example, you can charge a LOT for a car, 200,000, sell only a few of them, and try to increase total revenues that way. Or you can charge 4,000 for a car, sell millions more, and try to increase total revenue that way. Higher taxes for everyone may result in more revenue, or it may lag the economy and make for less revenue.
However, I do think more people need a clear stake. Instead of super loading the rich, I think everyone but those under the poverty line should be contributing. And in a CLEAR way so everyone knows just how much Uncle Sam is taking.
Well said. A balanced budget amendment is long overdue. It wouldn’t solve everything, but it would stop the bleeding which is the first step in any triage.
I truly believe that beyond that we need real entitlement reform. Relying on Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid as they are now is a lot like riding a train along a rail, knowing eventually it ends abruptly over a ravine. They need to be restructured so they aren’t pyramid schemes. If we are going to have people paying into them, they should be able to have some confidence that someday there will be a return on their investment.
I also don’t think that it would be completely out of line to ask for a little community service in return for receiving entitlements. If Wal-Mart can find jobs for all sorts of people with all sorts of disabilities, couldn’t the government find some things for people living off entitlements to do? Maybe things like spending time with the elderly, or being a crossing guard, or reading to kids? Everyone needs a little help sometimes, but giving back should be something that we encourage and promote as a society.
That’s an interesting idea, although Social Security was actually taken from their paychecks. So technically, it was theirs to begin with. I know, I know, there’s monkey business with the payments. Still the idea was that they pay into the system when they’re working so they can take it out when they’re not. But the government’s screwed that up.
Same with unemployment. A woman came to visit some friends of ours for a number of weeks last summer. This gal has no children. Is capable of finding work. But refuses to. Just goes through the motions to get her welfare check, which she has drawn for years. That’s just not right. Her reason for voting for Obama–he’d keep her checks coming.