January 21, 2004
January 20, 2004
It's a jungle out there! The purpose of this ezine is to guide you through the swamp and onto the mountaintop. Life is a journey; Solidgoldmonthly is here to bring provisions and guide maps to assist you in finding the path of success.
Its time to put the old fears, problems, and antagonisms behind us and get a fresh start. Carolyn and I are dedicated to assiting you in meeting your goals in life. 2004 is your year! Get up out of that rut and get going. This issue is dedicated to you and your new start.
Thank you for allowing us into your mailbox and for your time. Please feel free to forward this issue to your friends. Comments and article submissions are always welcome. Our email address is solidgoldhome@charter.net. If you wish to subscribe or view past issues please visit our website at Solidgold Home Business. If you have not already downloaded your fr*e ebooks the email addresses are below.
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Contents
Thought-Recipe for a Happy New Year
Special Offer from the Newbie Club
Article-The Village Idiot
Article-Five Easy Ways to make $1000 in 2004
Humor-How do you tell the difference between a liberal, a conservative, and a Texan. Contributed by one of our Texas friends.
Radar Speeding Ticket-From the Speeding Ticket Forum
New Year's Resolution-Lose Weight
Fr*e ebooks
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RECIPE FOR A HAPPY NEW YEAR
To Leave the Old with a Burst of Song, To Recall the Right, and Forgive the Wrong.
To Forget the Things that Binds You Fast, To the Vain Regrets of the Years that's Past.
To Have the Strength to Let Go your Hold, Of the Not Worthwhile of the Days grown old.
To Dare To Go Forth with a Purpose True, To the Unknown Task of a Years that's New.
To Help Your Brother Along His Road, To Do His Work and Lift His Loads.
To Add Your Gift to the Worlds Good Cheer, Is to Have and Give a HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!
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Beware when you head to the mailbox! Your credit card company will be sending you a friendly little reminder about your holiday spending.
If the joy of the holidays is replaced by the aftershock of credit card bills, it's time to resolve to change your spending habits. After all, it's no fun to be reminded month after month that you may have overspent and put yourself further in debt this past holiday shopping season.
Now's the time to resolve to change those habits. First I want to introduce you to Hugh Millety.
The Village Idiot
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Once upon a time there was a village named Egoville hidden away in the mountains. Now, this village, like most villages, had their own idiot. His name was Hugh Millety.
Hugh, the village idiot, was the ridicule of Egoville. The towns folk would often set him up with silly choices in order to laugh mercilessly at him when he made the wrong choice.
"Hugh," they'd say, "would you rather have this shiny new quarter or this dirty old torn dollar bill?"
"I'd like the shiny quarter," Hugh would reply. His tormentor would give him the quarter and walk away laughing, declaring Hugh a true village idiot. Hugh would just shrug and go about his business.
Even though it was a poor village with little opportunity, this was repeated several times a day by many people. As the years went by, the ridicule became a ritual that dozens of townies took part in. The towns folk had little to their names, but at least they could feel better about themselves in comparison to the village idiot this way. It was their small comfort in the lap of poverty.
Not everyone would make fun of Hugh though. A few felt sorry for him and gave him hand-me-down clothes, leftover food, and even an old shack to live in at the edge of town. Hugh lived off of the handouts of the charitable few.
One day, Hugh showed up at the village square wearing a brand new suit. Everyone was amazed, for few people in the town could afford new clothing, let alone a nice suit. The small village didn't even have a new clothing store, only a used clothing store.
One of townsfolk asked Hugh where he got his new suit, thinking he must have stolen it. He bought it, he told them. And furthermore he added, the fine new house being built on the mountainside that everyone was wondering about, that was his.
When questioned where he got the money, he told them it was the money they gave him. With people giving him food, clothing, and shelter, he simply saved and invested everything they gave him. "I may be your village idiot," he smiled and said, "but I'm no fool."
But why then, they asked, did he always take the lesser amount of money they offered him if he was so cunning?
Hugh replied that if he had taken the greater amount of money, they would have stopped offering it to him. He earned his money by letting them laugh at him, but he knew the first time he took the greater amount they'd stop offering him money and find something else to laugh at him about.
"Now," said Hugh, "I'm the richest person in town and have all the money I need. I didn't waste money amusing myself at the expense of someone I falsely perceived to be a lesser person. And you, all of you, have little more now than you had when you started ridiculing me. So tell me, who is the village idiot now?"
Hugh smiled again, then handed out hundred dollar bills to those who had been kind to him. The townsfolk were shocked. It was true though, they had frittered away their money a little at a time, trying to make themselves feel big by comparison to the village idiot.
It just goes to show you, if you live in Egoville, take care not to become the village idiot by your vain perceptions. On the other hand, if you follow the wisdom of Hugh Millety, you might just become the richest person in town.
The lesson is that it does not take a lot of money to reap large rewards. One author calls it "the latte factor". Here are a few tips to help you be the "Village Idiot".
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Five Easy Ways to Earn $1000.00 in 2004
by Wayne Patterson
OK, so I lied a little bit. This article actually is five ways to save $1000 in 2004 but if I said that would you really read it? If I said $100,000 instead of $1,000 you would have thought it was a scam and probably been correct. If the title gets you to read this article then it has served its purpose. If you have an extra $1000 at the end of the year isn't that really the same as earning it? For some reason "saving" just doesn't have the same appeal as earning. We concentrate on earning to fill up our barrel with money but neglect the holes that keep it empty. Here are some "hole plugging" suggestions.
1. Drink Water
Think about it. How many times do you and your family eat out each week? Have you noticed your check and the total amount for beverages. The average cost for tea, coffee, or a soft drink is around 1.25. For a family or four eating out four times a week this is 20.00 or 1040.00 per year.
Not only will drinking water help your pocketbook but also help you keep that New year's resoulution to lose weight. Have a teenager with an acne problem? Drinking water is one of the best ways to control acne. Save money and improve your health at the same time! Add the free lemon for a little flavor.
2. Change Telephone Providers
Examine your telephone bill and see how much you are paying each month. Then sign up for a service that meets your needs. You can now get unlimited local and long distance for 50.00 a month. Buy an answering machine and do away with the monthly charge for the answering service. Do you really need that inside wire maintainence plan?
What about that cell phone bill? Have you called your provider and let them review your usage and recommend the best plan? They will all do it if you just ask. It's not hard to save $80.00 a month.
3. Comparison Shop
From groceries to gas to dry cleaning. Review your normal expenditures and the businesses you frequent. Are they offering you the best price or are you buying there out of habit? Does your car need new tires? How many places do you check prices? Our trucks have six tires and it is not unusual for the per tire price to vary up to $30.00 each on the exact same set of tires. Are a couple of phone calls worth saving $180? You bet they are!
Never be afraid to ask for a discount. I know many people who won't because they think it makes them look cheap. I'm cheap and proud of it, now give me my discount.
The internet has now made it easier than ever to comparison shop. Carolyn recently found a Ralph Lauren sweater on sale for $89.00 but he store did not have her size. A Google search turned up the same sweater on sale for $69.00 with free shipping and no sales tax.
4. Lower your credit card interest rates. The best way is to pay your cards off every month and not pay any interest charges. Unfortunately most of us are not able to do this and carry a balance on our cards. Rates have dropped and many will give you a better rate just for the asking.
5. Start a Home Business
The question in your mind is immediately "How can I save $1000 by starting a home business?" April 15th will be here shortly. A home business automatically turns many of your personal expenses into tax deductions.
The computer you are now using becomes a "business asset" and you can deduct the cost. Vacations can now be deducted if you travel to a convention and attend business meetings. It is not a coincedence that most conventions are held in locales like Las Vegas and Florida.
Of course it must be a legitimate business with a profit motive. But having more deductions than income is perfectly legitimate as long as you follow the rules.
Homework assignment.
For one week I want you to keep a comprehensive list of every dime you spend. Right down to that daily cup of latte and twinkie. Then make a concious decision to omit $20.00 worth of unnecessary spending and place that money in a mutual fund account every week. Trust me, you really will never miss whatever it is that you give up. By the end of 2004 you will have a good start on your retirement plan.
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Joke-Contributed by one of our Texas friends
How do you tell the difference between Liberals, Conservatives and Texans?
Pose the following question:
You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children. Suddenly, a dangerous looking man with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, raises the knife, and charges.
You are carrying a Glock .40 semi-auto, and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family.
What do you do?
Liberal Answer:
Well, that's not enough information to answer the question! Does the man look poor or oppressed? Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack? Could we run away? What does my wife think? What about the kids? Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand? What does the law say about this situation? Does the Glock have an appropriate safety built into it?
Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children? Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me?
Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me? If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?
Should I call 9-1-1?
Why is this street so deserted? We need to raise taxes, have a paint and weed day and make this a happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior.
This is all so confusing! I need to debate this with some friends for a few days and try to come to a consensus.
Conservative Answer:
BANG!
Texan's Answer :
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
click...(sounds of reloading).
Wife: "Hun, he looks like he's still moving, whadda y'all kids think?"
Son: "Mama's right Daddy, I saw it, too."
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! click...(sounds of reloading).
Daughter: "Nice group, Daddy! Were those the Winchester Silver Tips?"
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Radar Speeding Ticket
Tuning forks cannot be calibrated, nor do they calibrate a RADAR unit. Tuning forks, however, can be certified as being "in tune" which refers to their correct oscillation at a given frequency. A tuning fork can be wrong, that is, vibrate at an incorrect frequency. The likely cause would be chipping of the metal or excessive structural wear. As a result, it is generally common practice to have the tuning forks checked within a given length of time which varies by states. Some states require a RADAR unit to be matched with one set of tuning forks (NC), whereas, others simply state that the RADAR unit and the tuning forks have to be certified as accurate, however do not need to be matched (NJ)
Have a speeding ticket question? Come to the Forum
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New Year's Resolution
If you are like most of us your number one resolution for the new year is to lose weight. by now you know that fad diets and pills only work for the short term and before long you are right back up there. If you are serious about weight loss you need to read the following article in order to really understand why you gain weight and the correct ways to lose weight and keep it off. Click on Special Reports
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wayne and Carolyn 512 Hood Road Greenville, SC 29611