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Newsletter to Your Friends (Use this link only if you receive this newsletter by email) Week of June 14, 2010This is an OPT-IN list ONLY! If you feel that you have received this message in error, please follow the directions at the bottom of this email to unsubscribe. Thank you.Click Here to view this newsletter online. Navigate This ColumnGrandpa Terry's Update Welcome to The Budget Stretcher! While checking your credit statements each month has always been a good idea, it's more important than ever to do it now. It's easy to just receive the statement and pay it without looking at the numbers. There have been some major changes in the credit card industry this year and credit card companies are desparate to find ways to make up the money they claim they are losing. I would recommend when you receive your credit card statements that you compare it to the previous month's statement. Compare the balances, interest rates and finance charges at a minimum to see if they have made a change without your knowledge. If you find a discrepancy call them immediately and insist that the correction be made. I received the below email from Holly that suggest a better web site for saving on gas: Terry I have a better suggestion of a website for gas prices... http://www.gasbuddy.com These prices are actual prices that have been posted by members (as opposed to downloads from the gas companies). I live in Columbus, Ohio and a few of our Gas Buddy group gets together every 4-6 weeks for dinner! Savin' gas, Holly Gas price in Greenville, SC is $2.29 That's all for now. Remember, I really enjoy hearing from you folks. If you have any comments, complaints, suggestions or just want to say Hi, please send me an email to tre2000@midwest.net If you know someone that may be interested in subscribing to our newsletter just copy and paste the below link into an email to them and have them subscribe: http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/confirmsubs.html Have a great week, Grandpa Terry Sponsor AdvertisementAre you frustrated trying to get by on the money you make? Would you like to get a good view to where all your money is going? Would you like to start saving your money, or save even more? Looking for something easier then software like Quicken or Money? Would you like to teach your children about finance? Click Here to check out My Budget Planner Today Grandpa Terry's Tip of the WeekFirst of all those that pay their bills on time have to pay millions of dollars every year to cover losses from those that don't. This is built into the interest charges and other fees. When you sign a contract you are giving your word that you will pay according to the terms of that agreement. Anything less is a breach of that contract. While most people that are paying late can be traced back to overspending and credit card abuse, this isn't the case for everyone. Things happen that can't be avoided. A good example of this is medical bills which are a growing reason for bankruptcy filings in this country. People get into financial trouble whether it's their fault or not. I personally have made every money management mistake known to man and paid dear for it. Yes, I knew it was wrong at the time but there were things that I wanted and couldn't afford. I just didn't understand the full consequences. I realized long ago that finding fault wasn't the answer to anything. Most of the people that write me already know that they messed up somewhere along the way. They don't need me to tell them. For years, people were not taught the proper way to manage their finances either by the school system or their parents. It's not something that comes natural. I was happy to see my grandsons being taught financial responsibility in school the past couple of years as a direct result of state passed legislation. If you pay your bills on time why not join me in helping those that are having problems. You can do this by submitting a tip or even an article on how you do it and I will publish it. It will save us all money in the long run. Sponsor AdvertisementPaying highest-interest debt first is the SLOWEST way out ... You can laugh at money worries - if you follow our simple plan. Discover savvy consumer money secrets your friends don't know and banks won't tell you. Limited time only. ACT NOW: ///////////////////////////////////////// Grandpa Terry's EmailHi Grandpa TerryYou had a free website on your report a long time ago to check your credit. I was wondering if you could post it again on your letter. I really need to check my credit again. thank you Linda My Response: Hi Linda, No problem. I will put it in the newsletter again. But in the meantime you can request your 3 free credit reports at the below link: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp If you need anything else just let me know. All the best, Grandpa Terry Featured ArticleBy Annie Sires While talking to a neighbor yesterday, it came to light that this individual is a "Tea Party" member. That's fine. But this person made a point. He said to me that he is growing his own food and keeping populations of deer around the property for the coming times ahead. Now, I like him, but I am not quite that intense. But I am growing my own garden. I am raising my own chickens. Do you really want to drop the price of the meat you eat. Ok, so that I can show you how inexpensive it is to raise your own meat and eggs, let me walk you through the expenses in raising some chickens to slaughter or laying age. Chickens, meat birds specifically, are available from most hatcheries. I went with one fairly local, Pennsylvania, as I live in New England, it meant short shipping time and less stress for the chicks. I chose 1 day olds, so I wouldn't have to incubate eggs. They cost $2.00 a chick, minimum 25. 1% sent for loss, meaning on a Friday morning in May, I got a call from the Post Office saying they had a box of chicks for me. I had called them a few days earlier and let them know chicks were coming. I took the box home and put the chicks in a cardboard box (free from Walmart) with a heat lamp ($6), food ($12) in a feeder ($3), and a waterer ($3). I purchase a "game bird" mix from a local tack and feed so that I can eliminate the medicine that is in most chick's food, and also so that I can feed it to my older chickens. The box will last until they are fully feathered and can be outside, about 5 weeks. Meat birds will be old enough to go to "freezer camp" at 8-10 weeks. That means that I will buy about 3 50-lb. bags of Game Bird Crumbles. My cost for the birds, total, was $60. I lost two chicks despite my best efforts (accidents do happen) so I remove them fromt he count. I add in $2 for the cost of the electricity to run the pump that lifts the water in my well and you get: ($26 + $2 + $60 + $12) divided by 24 (number of chicks) divided by 5 (pounds - the smallest dressed weight for this kind of bird) comes to $.83/pound. That is dressed weight, meaning that this is the prepared bird, not the live bird. If I choose to have someone else slaughter them, that means my cost goes up a little to $1.58/pound. When was the last time you got organic (not fed chemicals), free range (you let them out of the pen during the day, chickens come back at dusk and go right in the coop) whole chickens, for 83 cents a pound or even a dollar and 58 cents per pound? If I calculate egg layers, I don't have to include the initial cost of materials, because I've already paid it! It is an average of 460 eggs per chicken per lifetime, we'll say 15 years, depending upon the breed of chicken, but for the laying breeds, it can be as many as 800 in a 15 year lifespan. I purchased breeds known for their egg production and the speed that they come to production age, which is about 21 weeks. For my numbers, we will say 15 years and 460. So it's 460 divided by 15 years divided by 12 months divided by 12 (eggs per dozen) times 14 equals 2.5 dozen eggs per month for me. If I figure that it costs me $1.86 per month to keep a chicken (figuring 2 50 lb bags of feed, which I won't use 2 per month since I free range them) that's 15 year lifetime, 12 months, $26 for feed divided by 14 chickens = 1.86 per month. That's $.73 per month for 2 and a half dozen eggs. That's 29 cents a dozen eggs... for the next 15 years!!! I haven't included that I can sell what I and my family don't eat. How much do you pay for organic, free range chicken eggs? And these are multi-colored, I will not only get brown, but all colors of brown and even green and pink! For the first several months, the chicken will lay more than one a day and so I will recoup the cost of the the initial outlay very quickly. It doesn't take brain surgery to figure out the math on this, nor does it take being a rocket scientist to know that I can cut food costs very low by just doing a little work. Yes, 14 layers seems to be a lot. I have a 4 by 8 home built shed (all free materials from freecycle and scrounging) and a run. I bought new hardware cloth for the bottom of the pen and new chicken wire for the upper part. We live next to a Nature Preserve and don't want to feed the local population. Every morning I go out and turn the shavings in the bottom of the coop so it only has to be replaced once a year. I check their water and go to the shed and pour 2 pounds or so of feed in a line on the ground. The chickens run behind me, they know my routine. I make sure that during bad weather, darkness and when the predators are out, that they are in the coop and pen. When I have to lock them up, I give them more food. Not only that, chickens are bug eaters and will keep ticks and fleas down, cutting down on the need for bug repellent. I will write another article on having a garden for your family that costs about $100 and will feed you for the entire year and takes no tilling, hoeing or difficult skills. You don't have to get 14 chickens, I got that many because I figure that since I have a few (4 is good for a family) I might as well get more and make some money! You can do a little suburban homesteading like we do. Check with the local ordinances to make sure that you are allowed to keep some of these easy food makers. I hope I have given you some "food for thought". Budgeting doesn't always have to be about how you save money, it can also be about how to do the same thing yourself, thus saving money. Saving money is good. Needing less money is better. Many more people are keeping chickens in their back yards in order to keep a little money out of the corporate pockets. Now that's real food! Annie Sires is a home school Mom and also has her own company, A Time For Cards, a web based subscription service that sends a real greeting card with a real stamp in the mail. www.atimeforcards.com She lives with a Navy man, two teens, 14 egg laying chickens and two dogs. Annie Sires http://anniesires.com Make Time to Send Greeting Cards http://www.atimeforcards.com |
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