Some Good Words

To struggle when hope is banished,
To live when life's salt is gone,
To dwell in a dream that's vanished,
To endure and go calmly on.

                   -Ben Johnson

GO EAGLES!!!

E.A.G.L.E.S.         EAGLES!!!




The Philadelphia Eagles are the 2018 Superbowl Champions!!




Congratulations Nick, Doug, Carson, and the whole Eagles organization!!  Well done.
Thank You.  


Let's do it again!     2019??!!!!

Movie Recommendation

Hey folks.


Movie:  Collateral Beauty    


I thought it was good.


I have four pet fish that I named Love, Time, and Death.  The fourth one, not a part of the movie I call Mystery. 


Love and Mystery stand out a little while Time and Death are only identified by not being Love or Mystery. 


Good fish.  Good movie. 


If I was middle-class I would buy the dvd.


Peace.
B.O.P.

Below

THE BLOG

Living Beneath Your Means: The Foundation of Financial Independence

05/19/2015 10:16 pm ET | Updated May 20, 2015

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• Bob LotichFounder, SeedTime.com

The whole concept of living beneath your means is so simple that it's virtually "old school". There's nothing high-minded about it, and no product to sell to help make it happen. For that reason, it's a concept that is generally ignored in favor of more technical financial applications. And yet it is virtually the foundation of financial independence.

There are a number of ways in which living beneath your means can virtually revolutionize your entire financial life.

Debt -- The Inevitable Result of Living Above Your Means

There are various strategies available to enable people to get out of debt. All of them ultimately point toward living beneath your means, although they will generally use much more technical language, as well as more advanced sounding concepts.

The reason should be obvious, until you can begin living beneath your means, you have virtually zero chance of ever getting out of debt.

In fact, it's essential that you recognize that the inverse of living beneath your means is the very cause of being in debt in the first place. Debt is the result of living above your means. If you earn $50,000 per year, but you spend $55,000, you will add $5,000 to your debt each and every year.

The only way to break that cycle is to reverse the trend. If you can reduce your spending to $45,000 per year, you will have the funds available to begin paying down your debt. But that reduction must occur in order for you to make any progress.

Chasing Higher Income Can Be a Catch-22

It's a common belief that financial independence will ultimately come as a result of a higher income. That can prove to be true but only if you are successful in keeping your spending level as your income rises.

This is often the opposite of what happens in reality. A higher income more typically leads to lifestyle inflation -- your cost of living rises in proportion to your income. The end result is that income never outstrips expenses, no matter how high your income goes.

This is why people often feel that they aren't any better off even with a higher income. This isn't to say that increasing income is in any way a negative thing. But it does have to be properly managed, otherwise it will not have a positive impact on your overall financial situation.

The Less You Spend, The More You Can Save

The most obvious benefit of living beneath your means is that it creates the ability to save money. Savings provide you with a cash cushion, that enables you to weather the storms of life, and to do so with less worry. But it also keeps you out of debt. After all, if you have sufficient liquid savings, you don't need to borrow money.

True Prosperity is Defined By How Much Money You Have, Not How Much You Earn

Though wealth in America is often measured by income, true prosperity is really a matter of how much money that you actually have. We can think of this as your surplus; and if you have enough of it you will have more control over your life and your future direction.

Financial independence is typically found in a strategy that steadily increases savings, which can then be invested to produce even more income. A perfect financial strategy is one in which investment income steadily grows until it fully replaces your earned income, and you can retire.

But none of that will happen until you first begin living beneath your means.

The Many Benefits of Living Beneath Your Means

Even apart from growing wealth and retiring, living beneath your means offers a number of attractive benefits:

Not being trapped in a job. People often stay in jobs they don't like because they are heavily dependent upon the level of income. But if you can live on less than you earn, you'll be free to take a lower paying but more satisfying job elsewhere.

You will become a natural saver. So many people are in debt because they never learned how to save money. But if you live beneath your means, you will always be putting money into savings, because that's what you do with money that you don't spend. Saving money is an underestimated survival skill. And if you have savings - and particularly if you don't -- you probably already know that life is better when you have a fully stocked bank account.

Being liquid. As a result of living beneath your means, you will always have extra money. This will afford you the freedom to go where you want and to do what you please in most circumstances. This will not be possible without the surplus that living beneath your means provides.

You'll have less stress in your life. When you have extra money in your budget, extra money in savings, and little or no debt, you'll worry less and sleep better at night. You'll probably even work more efficiently at your job, because you won't have concerns about not being able to pay your bills.

Living beneath your means is sort of like going on a diet. You know that there's something good about the lifestyle, and especially about what awaits you when you stay on course. But you have to make that initial decision to make the changes necessary in order to enable you to do it.

And once you do, you'll quickly realize that living beneath your means is the true path to financial independence, whatever your income level may be.

 

Wood

Woodman, Spare That Tree

 

By George Pope Morris  (1802 – 1864)

 

 

Woodman, spare that tree!

Touch not a single bough!

In youth it sheltered me.

And I’ll protect it now.

‘Twas my forefather’s hand

That placed it near his cot;

There, woodman, let it stand,

Thy axe shall harm it not!

 

That old familiar tree,

Whose glory and renown

Are spread o’er the land and sea, -

And wouldst thou hew it down?

Woodman, forbear thy stroke!

Cut not its earth-bound ties;

O, spare that aged oak,

Now towering to the skies!

 

When but an idle boy

I sought its grateful shade;

In all their gushing joy

Here, too, my sisters played.

My mother kissed me here;

My father pressed my hand-

Forgive this foolish tear,

But let that old oak stand!

 

My heart-strings round thee cling,

Close as thy bark, old friend!

Here shall the wild-bird sing,

And still thy branches bend.

Old tree! the storm still brave!

And, woodman, leave the spot;

While I’ve a hand to save,

Thy axe shall harm it not.   

fallen lauren wood

Stevie Wonder - As

really?

"Those who have some means think that the most important thing in the world is love.  The poor know that it is money."

                                       -Gerald Brenan

paradoxical mystery reigns yo

Peace.
B.O.P.

Save The Worm!

Question: When do you hold on, when do you let go?




You got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them....  Kenny Rodgers song.  How do you know what to do and when to do it?  Having the right timing and luck on your side is real.




There is a lot to be said about persistence...I think that even with persistence there is no guarantee.




I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.




Lol, God works on his time so you may not get what you want when you want it.  He may not give you exactly what you want either.




What is/are the secrets(s) to winning?




Please comment if you even kind of know.


Peace.
B.O.P.

Brownstone - If You Love Me (Acappella Version)

I hope I can post this video to my site.  Some of the time I'm blocked.

An example of the "real deal".

R.I.P.

My mom passed away today.


She was a good woman.


I am now alone.


No more words.

Yes, I'll Take Your Pennies

After I came out of a store from shopping the other day, I paused at the side of the entrance to organize & put my stuff in there proper place before I went on my way.  A guy comes out of the store after having bought some small item then proceeds to throw money to the ground.  


Me   -   Sir, you dropped some money.  Don't you want it?

Him  -  It's on you.

He keeps walking to his car as I go to the money spot and pick up the three pennies he casually discarded.  I know it's only three cents and he probably thought that I was a shmuck picking up after him but for me, money is money.  I think that if you respect the small amounts, the big amounts will take care of themselves.  The saying goes that pennies make dollars and I'm all into making dollars.  I will not be able to buy a mansion, but I hope the universe will see that I am willing to be a good steward of all the money that comes into my life and hopefully give me more.  He was not driving a fancy car so I hope he has his financial house in order.  When that young guy gets older, he may understand my thinking.

Peace.

B.O.P.

Still Here

Hey.


I don't post much any more.  I am now in a privacy phase of my life. 






We live in an open society so they say. 




There are secrets.  Time has an effect on secrets.




I am now for the most part shutting the hell up and mostly minding my own
business.  I will not be as successful as I want to be in my life-time but I will taste
some success. 


Loser?  Yes.  Successful loser?  Yes.  Paradoxical nonsense?  Perhaps. 


And yes, I am on my meds :)


Peace.

HHhhhhhmmmmmmmm.

"God is trying to tell you something." - (The Color Purple)

Tata Vega - Maybe God Is Trying To Tell You Something (Speak Lord)

Below Rock-Bottom

Financial Terrorism.



War has been declared.



Anything goes
By any means necessary
Whatever it takes



I HAVE ALREADY PREVAILED!


Bring It!


Boom.
B.O.P.

Ecclesiastes 9:11
Ecclesiastes 10:19

My God damned lunch!!!

Stuff Is Always Going On

I thought Rihanna's album Anti was only available on iTunes and Tidal.  I was in Walmart the other night. . .no title and no words.  Just a picture of the child with the crown pulled over his eyes and a sticker on the front indicating that it is Rihanna's album.  It's not in your standard CD jewel.  It's packaged in hard paper covered in shrink-wrap.  I'm not even totally sure it is in fact a CD!  They have the regular version ($12 bucks) and the deluxe version ($16 bucks).  I may buy one when I get some cash.  Choosing between cigarettes and music that I can get at the library basically for free is a hard decision because if I buy the CD, I can have the music at home.  Decisions, decisions....



Thought my dad hated me because he's always on my case.  Dude dropped $16K on a new used Honda Accord for me!!!  MY FATHER BOUGHT ME A FUCKING CAR!!!  I bought my last car but it was probably not going to pass it's upcoming inspection unless I got a worse-case scenario repair of about $1,500.00 which I didn't have and my father was not going to put money into a 17 year old car. 


Surprise.


Lol, God is good.  My dad is...wow.  Sometimes you just don't know when you think you know.


Peace.

B.O.P.

Michael Jackson - Workin' Day and Night (audio)

The other "real" work.!!

Making Your Own Luck? God Is Good.

I'm in the library parking lot after church today, waiting for it to open.  I decide to make some print outs but I have no money.  I search my car, my pockets, and my laptop bag.  No luck.  No print outs today - so I thought.  I remembered my "secret stash" of a few bucks and am able to get the print outs that I want and have change left over!


Also very hungry right at the moment with no food.  I have some starlight mints and candy near my stash.  POW - hunger pains gone!!


Improvise, adapt, overcome.  God helps you to do that.


Peace.


B.O.P.