Please pay extra on your taxes this year.

This article was in our local newspaper (The Pantagraph) yesterday (12/15/09):

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/article_d214ac88-e92e-11de-963d-001cc4c002e0.html

I found it interesting as someone who owns a condo south of Detroit whose property value has plummeted, yet the taxes owed that are supposedly based off that same property value have not dropped. Odd. I work for State Farm and support any individual or company that feels they are being over-taxed appealing their assessment.

Here’s the portion of the story that really frustrated me:

The county’s general fund is capped at $0.25 per $100 equalized assessed valuation. The county currently is taxing at $0.2453 per $100 EAV for that fund, he said. So the county couldn’t recoup a 2 percent drop in assessed valuation by raising its levy.

“It could mean potential cuts,” Lindberg said.

However, Lindberg added, “I’m highly confident State Farm will live up to its motto, ‘Like a Good Neighbor,’” and the situation will be resolved.

Terry Lindberg’s title is “County Administrator.” What Lindberg appears to believe is that because not being able to over-tax a large company like State Farm could affect his budget, it is State Farm’s responsibility as a “Good Neighbor” (nice cheap shot Lindberg) to pay taxes they do not owe so that his budget (which apparently was not prepared responsibly) does not suffer. It is frightening and sad that someone who believes such nonsense holds an important position in our community.

The giving State Farm does to this community is very large. But even if it wasn’t and State Farm was full of money hungry hoarders, it would in no way make them responsible for paying taxes they don’t owe to pad a budget of the county. It’s just another example of someone looking for a handout. I would be willing to bet that Mr. Lindberg does not pay a penny more on his income taxes every year so that the government can start paying off the billions of dollars of debt they have accumulated.

Lindberg knew what he was doing. He was using an interview that he knew would be published in the local paper to paint State Farm as the bad guy in this situation knowing full well (hopefully) that State Farm isn’t the one that would be suffering from having to pay taxes it doesn’t owe. The policy holders would. Sounds like being a good neighbor is exactly what they are doing by making sure they don’t have to raise premiums because they are forking over their policyholders money to pay taxes they don’t owe.

Look what else I found on the Pantagraph-

“McLean County will have a new administrator next month. The McLean County Board approved a two-year contract with Assistant County Administrator Terry Lindberg, paying him $125,141 each year to be the county's administrator.”

The full article can be found at:
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_a4e218e2-220f-5603-a1be-f42bee942df2.html

It seems to me Mr. Lindberg makes a good living for himself and can afford a pay cut if need be to help his budget. Perhaps he should be a good neighbor and do so.

Mr. Lindberg, you are a dope.

An Open Letter to Grocery Stores

Dear Satan (as I will refer to you from this point on),

I loathe you. I could spend hours going through examples to support my feeling but for the sake of my blood pressure, I will give you one.

First, answer one question. Have you ever put mayo on your salad? Ever? Now I admit that I have never put, say, blue cheese (or "bleu" cheese for those of you who think you can misspell it and look smart) on my salad and yet I recognize that there is such a thing as blue cheese dressing. So I guess we need a follow up question. If you have never put mayo on your salad (and... you haven't), do you know anyone that has? Ever? Well Lucifer, Prince of Darkness, you have been around a long time. So to give you the benefit of the doubt, I'm going to concede that at some point in history, there was someone who has. Sure she was 90 years old with coke bottle glasses who thought she was reaching for the Ranch dressing while mumbling nonsense to her friend that didn't exist, but I'll give it to you.

My point is this. Today I had a sandwich from Jimmy John's. I took the readily available condiments that were supplied by the good folks who know what we (in this time and place in history) put on certain foods. What were they? Mayo and mustard. Sure, there are other condiments that exist. Ketchup is a pretty big one. But very few people would put ketchup on a sub sandwich, so they don't even bother giving you ketchup packets. And I did not for one second search through the packets looking for one that had red lettering. But do you know where I'd have to go in your evil store to buy the same toppings for my sandwich? I'd have to pick up mustard in the condiment section (logical) and then head over to the SALAD DRESSING aisle to find the mayo. This is total crap and you know it.

Here's the thing. I don't know the origins of mayo. I don't know if when it was invented everyone got together and had salad parties where the mayo was flowing. Maybe that happened. But the fact is, it doesn't happen anymore. Next time you go to ANY restaurant, ask what kind of salad dressings they have to choose from. If mayo is included in the list along with Ranch, French, Italian, Blue Cheese, etc. save me the trouble and punch yourself in the face because you're lying. In fact, go ahead and ask for mayo on your salad and see what kind of reation you get. Do people use mayo to make coleslaw? Of course. They also use carrots. I have never seen a row of carrots sitting next to the French dressing in your stupid little store. Tomato's are used to make ketchup- no one would look at a tomato and a bottle of mustard and think, "Condiments!"

Your stores should be set up and organized in a way that compliments how we actually use food together. I cannot think of one instance in which being able to pick up mayo and Ranch dressing in the same area would overshadow the obvious logic and convenience of having it with the rest of the condiments. So if there is a historical method to your madness, it is just that. Historical. Since that time we have adapted. If the North has defeated the South and women can vote, surely we can move ahead and organize our food more efficiently.

And by the way. Water chestnuts are vegetables. Just because they are harvested in Asian countries does not mean they need to be put in your little "Asian" section of your store. The vegetable area will work just fine, thank you. Unless we start going to a geographical organization method where oranges are put in the "Florida" aisle and Potatos in the "Idaho" aisle, you can get over your stereotype that only Asians eat water chestnuts and put it in the appropriate section.

So Beelzebub, it brings me great joy to remind you that you have already been defeated and someday all things will be made right again and mayo will be put in it's rightful place. The condiment aisle.

Blessings,

Common Sense

Financial Peace Graduate

Back in September, Corinne and I signed up for Dave Ramsey’s “Financial Peace University” class. There were a handful of local churches that were hosting the DVD led class, so we chose the one that was held on Thursday nights to accommodate our schedules. After completing the course, I would 100% recommend that every person/couple go through the class as well. The principles that Ramsey teaches are not groundbreaking by any means. But they are principles that sometimes you need to be pushed to implement. I’ve always considered myself to be pretty good with my money, but this class has helped me become even more organized with my finances. The class is 13 weeks long and goes through the basics of many different subjects like saving, paying off debt, insurance, retirement, budgeting, college tuition, mortgages, etc. I’m 30 years old and until we started this class, I have never lived on a budget. Again, I considered myself pretty good with my money but creating and sticking to a budget has been very freeing. I now know where my money goes every month and can be proactive in setting money aside for upcoming expenses or special purchases I want to make, etc.

Aside from having a monthly budget from this point on, I think the biggest thing I took from this class is the need for people to get their finances under control. Most people in the United States should look in the mirror and consider our culture when looking for where the blame for the financial crisis in our country should be placed. At the heart of many of our problems is peoples inability to manage their finances. We spend too much money on things we don’t need. We don’t save enough money. And worse, we borrow too much money. Our culture in America is so consumer driven that we’re led to believe that we need stuff and that we are entitled to live a lifestyle that few can actually afford to live. We drive cars and live in houses we cannot afford because we think we deserve to do so. We put big purchases on credit cards and spend most of our lives only paying off interest.

The message that was re-iterated through this class was “stop borrowing money.” A mortgage is an exception (though Ramsey says that you should put down at least a 20% down payment and limit your loan to 15 year mortgage) but all credit cards should be cut up. The idea is- if you don’t have the money to purchase something… you don’t purchase it. What a concept! Unfortunately too many people spend so much of their incomes on paying interest on their cars, their mortgages, their credit cards, etc. It’s just a waste. We throw our money away and have little to show for it. And more and more people are having to put off retiring simply because they cannot afford to do so- mainly because they went through life without a plan. I know emergencies come up and that major events sometimes take place and can set an individual or a family back. But if we are honest with ourselves probably 90% of those events wouldn’t break us if we were living on a budget and had money set aside for such times.

The scary thing about the future of the average family’s financial picture is not much is being done to educate high school/college/young adults about how to manage their finances. Instead, they are the ones that are bombarded with credit card offers, commercials, ad campaigns, etc. They must be taught early on how to save and manage their finances, especially since the important ages for saving for retirement are the early 20’s.

So my point is- take the class. It was only $93 for both Corinne and I to take it. We learned a lot, had a lot of fun, and it opened up dialogue between us with our plans and ideas with our finances. You can follow this link http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/ to find out more about the class and also find where the nearest class is going to be starting around you.

If you’re someone who has gone through the class, what did you think?

Try this!

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Ketchup

It's been about a month since my last post. Since then I have had the swine flu (I'm pretty sure) and started a new job. In that order, though they were not related. Oh, and it has gotten cold. Really, really cold. Which brings me to this:

I'm on weather.com right now and it tells me it is 13 degrees farenheit outside. I'm ok with that statement. I believe it could very well be 13 degrees. That's not what concerns me. It's what is under that. "Feels like -6." WHAT? It took me quite a lot of pondering to understand how time could be relative. I guess I was not prepared that temperature too, could be relative. How can it be one temperature out, and feel like it is another? And is this universal? If you and I are both standing outside next to each other in the 13 degree weather- do we both feel like it's -6 out? Or could it feel -5 out for me?

And this whole "wind chill" explanation isn't doing it for me. If it's 13 with no wind and -6 with wind and it's windy, guess what? It's -6 out. My question is this- if it's 36 degrees out but it "feels like" 31- does water freeze? Is it 31 degrees to the water as well? Or can only objects with souls experience the "feels like" temperature?

Please. I would like to hear your theories.