Give up your credit cards for one month challenge.

For years, I have respected Dave Ramsey and his get out of debt plan, except for that whole stop using credit card thing. I mean come on, I get 1% cash back, and 3% cash back if I use my credit card at a gas station. oh yeah! I pay my cards in full each month, so yeah I have the system beat. So like twice a year I could get a check for $10-$50, I'm well, on my way to becoming a millionaire. Well maybe not, but that was $50 I was getting for free, I was going to buy that stuff anyways, so I might has well be rewarded for spending.

Then I discovered River Valley Credit Union and their rewards checking account. They pay 4.5% if you make at least 12 debit card purchases a month. Then it occurred to me that I would make more money in interest than in cash back credit card rewards. So I switched to using a debit card. I discovered as a side effect that emotionally, I love having every item I buy be completely paid for. I really like not having a large credit card payment each month, budgeting becomes much simpler and I can look at my account and know exactly how well I'm doing at saving money. It's fun each month to earn more interest than the month before, you can see yourself winning. I'm not going back to credit cards, no way.

My challenge to you is the give up your credit card for one month and use strictly cash or your debit card. Let me know your experience and the freedom of one less bill.

Is Icelandic króna the next Zimbabwe Dollar?

Iceland was recently the UN's world’s best country in which to live. There prosperity was built on debt. Now the country's currency has lost half it's value.

New York Time's piece.

Wikipedia Entry.

Living Life Richly on the Cheap #13

#13 Finding the lowest gas price.

Normally on trips, I advocate not worrying about the price of gas, much. Most times gas prices are within 10 cents a gallon or so. It's not worth $2.00 a tank to hunt down the lowest price.

But today I was able to get gas for the lowest price in the area. $2.119 a gallon. Here are a few websites to help you find the lowest gas prices.

• DaytonGasPrices.com Internet user report the price of gas per staton. Also has great historical graphs and maps. GasBuddy.com is their national web site
• GasPriceWatch.com is also user reported prices. This site let you know the highest and lowest prices in the country.
• Speedway.com has a section that lets you know the street prices at Speedway stations. The site also gives directions and will plot the speedway stations on your route with their price.

How much is that new property tax going to cost me?

Here is Xenia, Oh there are 5 tax renewals or increases on the November ballot. Each are measured in mills. So what is a mill? A mill is one thousandth of assessed value of your property. Here in Ohio the assessed value is 35% of your appraised value. There is also a 10% rollback and other mysterious "any [other] reimbursements". If you live in Greene County Ohio, you can look this up here. Most other counties in Ohio have similar sites. You can find then using Google by searching [Your County's Name] County GIS.

Here are the issues in Xenia:
#20 Xenia Community City School District Income Tax- Bond Issue
4.2 Mills
$132 per year on a 100K house
1/2 % Income Tax Increase
$194 per year on the average family income of 43K

Greene County Children Services Board Replacement/Increase- Operating
1.5 mills
$48 per year on a 100K house

Greene County Greene Memorial Hospital Renewal- Operating
0.5 mills
$16 per year on a 100K house

Greene County Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Board Renewal- Operating
3.5 mills
$111 per year on a 100K house

Greene County Mental Health and Recovery Board Replacement/Increase- Operating
2 mills
$63 per year on a 100K house

I'm voting no all the tax issues. I'll lay out my reasons in a another post.

Here is a calculator I came up with so you can figure out what a tax issue would cost.

Ohio Millage Property Tax Calculator.

Appraised Value of your House:

Mill Rate:

Yearly Tax Increase:

This is only an estimate and includes the 10% rollback, but not the mysterious other deductions. If you live in your property you may be eligible for a 2.5% decrease. Also if you are 65 or older you maybe eligible for a Homestead deduction.

I see an Empire Falling...

The National Debt Clock has run out of digits. The most fascinating part of the whole clip to me was when a New Yorker said near the end "I see an Empire falling".

Maybe we should just knock off ten zeros. They tried that in Zimbabwe.

1/2 Trillion percent inflation

$20,000 is the newest note from Zimbabwe. This is after knocking off 10 Zero's two months ago. They are burning through 2 zero's a month. Maybe by the new year they will knock 10 more off.

The Cato institute has estimated the annual inflation rate of the Zimbabwe dollar at 1/2 of trillion percent. This is price doubling every 11 days. Here is an example of what it is to live in Zimbabwe economy.

NO $700 Billion Bailout

I digress into politics.... I'll refrain from ranting [too much] about how the United States in sliding into socialism... or the upcoming inflation nightmare. (Oil up $16 today)

I call my congressman's [office] for the first time in my life today. I called to voice my strong opposition over than $700 Billion Bank Bailout. It was quick took less than 5 minutes. The lady took my name and address and she would pass my concern on to the congressman.

Please consider calling your congress person and your 2 two senators.

Phone numbers found here: http://www.congress.org/c...

Tell them ...

1. You will not pay for Wall Street's mistakes.

2. You will not vote for anyone who dares suggest you should pay for Wall Street's mistakes.

Hate Tip to Brian for pointing me to this article about how we become the United States of France.

No Trays at Chuck's

In an effort to *Go Green* the cafeteria at the university were I work has eliminated trays at the cafeteria. It will be interesting to see what the reactions are from the students when they return in a week and a half.

Living Life Richly on the Cheap #1

Today, I am starting a new series called: Living Life Richly on the Cheap. I'll show you examples on how my wife and I have saved money.

Tip#1 Pay with Cash. Yes Hard Cold Cash.
I finally decided to replace the original muffler on our faithful '94 Saturn with 147K miles. According to the mechanics not only did the muffler need replaced, but the long pipe from the converter to the muffler needed to be replaced as well. Total cost with parts and labor was $235.19 before tax. I asked if there was a discount for paying with cash verses a credit card, knowing that he would have to pay credit card fees. He said that if I paid in cash I would not have to pay the tax. He even rounded down to a flat $235. And best of all we have a much, much less noisy car!! Wahoo!

Total savings: $12. 97 (((6.5% of 235.29) + .19) - (1% Credit Card Rewards) enough gas to drive 95 Miles ($4.099/Gallon @ 30MPG)
Extra Bonus: No Credit Card Debt.
Extra Hassle: Asking for a discount & Stopping by the ATM
Catch: This typically only works for larger purchases at small businesses. Beware of ATM Fees. Must have savings in the bank.

Zimbabwe Hyperinflation in Pictures

Zimbabwe Hyperinflation

Another Update from Zimbabwe

Here is another update from Nathan Williams describing his missions experience in Zimbabwe. As of this posting the Zimbabwe Dollar has officially fallen to 10 Billion to 1 us dollar with no bottom in sight.

Zimbabwe

(Nathan Williams) ...the longer I'm here the more I've been able to make friends with Zimbabwean nationals. A few new friends, Itai and Katsande, gave me an afternoon tour of the surrounding mountains and villages last week, which I had been really looking forward to. I've also had the opportunity to visit a few "mushas" (homesteads) to see how the average rural Zimbabwean lives. They really do fairly well considering they have so little. They've developed ways to boil and then dry fresh vegetables to make them last for weeks to months without refrigeration, and also they grind their corn into a powder which will sit on a shelf for years before it spoils.

When I'm not at work or taking hikes I do spend a lot of time playing with the kids. The older ones ALWAYS want to play a game (hide and seek, tag, kick the can, etc) whereas the younger ones are content just sitting on my lap and rubbing my face and head (the only thing I can assume is that they're wondering where all my color went...perhaps they're trying to rub off my "whiteness" so that my true, dark color can come through, haha). Tonight I invented a new game with the kids that essentially involves running really fast, then jumping and sliding as far as you can on your socked feet without falling down on our ultra-slick, freshly polished front sidewalk....obviously I defeated the children soundly (if you can't teach them the value of good, honest competition at this young age, then really, what have you taught them?).

I was also blessed to enjoy my 26th birthday out here on June 12th. It was fun, other than the fact that I was sick all day, haha. The missionaries actually had a mini-party for me last weekend, and I got a few nice Zimbabwean souvenirs as presents. Probably the best present was a bunch of homemade from scratch fresh cinnamon rolls from one of the missionaries! We call her "Ambuya" (which is Shona for "Grandmother") she is around 83, and she is the best baker on the planet. She and her husband (the hospital's lone surgeon right now) came out to Zim as missionaries in the early 1960's, and now their son has also joined them as a missionary surgeon at Karanda, although he is out of the country right now.

On a slightly more serious note, the political and economic situation here in Zim is very unstable. Due to this, I received word this week that the team of nursing students and the other RN who was supposed to lead this trip with me have been canceled from coming this summer. Please pray that they will be able to cope with the disappointment, and also that their contingency plans to serve at medical clinics in Swaziland is able to be completed. While none of us know the reasons, we must continue to trust that God's plan is perfect, and we should have faith that He works all things for our good.

While little is broadcast in the US about Africa (I can only assume it's because there's no oil here), you can read a lot online, and also BBC frequently airs stories about Zimbabwe. Since I arrived prices have jumped 15-fold, and now the exchange ratio is Z 3.5 Billion per US dollar. Even those Zimbabweans with jobs (under 20% of the population) are helpless because the banks only allow them to withdraw 10 billion per day, which is barely enough for a bar of soap or bag of rice. The political violence and intimidation is widespread, and many have been displaced as they flee the most violent areas. We treat victims of mob beatings daily at the hospital, and from all the reports we hear, we are in one of the "lesser impacted" areas. While none of the US missionaries or myself have felt threatened personally, we are very careful about where we go and what we say in public. A repeat presidential election is taking place in 2 weeks on June 27th. Pray that there is an end to the violence, and that Zimbabwe can have a free and fair election. Many worry that there could be a civil war post-election, but we're hoping for the best.

Overall things are going well, and although the country is in turmoil, things at the hospital run smoothly. If no one were to tell you differently, you could easily spend a few days out here visiting, vacation at Kariba Game reserve and then have a nice holiday at Victoria falls. Life continues with an unexpected "normalcy" despite the broader crisis of the nation.

I wish each of you well. Please continue to be in prayer for my ministry, safety, and the situation in Zimbabwe as I attempt to share the Love of Christ in a practical way through healthcare in this most-needy country. I would love to hear of any updates of new things God is doing in your lives, and interesting things you've been able to experience since I've been gone.

The rest of the Zimbabwe team is preparing to leave for Swaziland June 30. Thank you for praying!

Taken from Cedarville University MIS Team Updates.

New Stimulus package idea from the Federal Reserve.

Running short on Cash? Try this New Stimulus package idea from the Federal Reserve.

Cedarville University Missions Trip update from Zimbabwe

View Larger MapMany of you know my fascination with the current economic situation in Zimbabwe, Africa. Sometimes I get wrapped in all the numbers of their crashing dollar and miss the human side. Please read Nathan Williams account of being a Team Leader for the Cedarville nursing Missions trip to Zimbabwe. Please be in prayer for the people of Zimbabwe. Incidentally, the Zimbabwe dollar lost about 1/4 of its value this weekend alone and is trading near 1 Billion to one.

Zimbabwe team is delayed until July, but CU grad and one of the team leaders, Nathan Williams went ahead and sends this report 5/28/2008:

It's great to write to you all again from beautiful Zimbabwe! I've been in the country about a week and a half now, and just today completed my first full week of work out at the Karanda Mission Hospital. Where I am is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Harare, which is the capital of Zim. Out here I am literally in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by small villages, farms, and open space. Luckily, we have running water, electricity (at least 3/4 of the time), and satellite internet.

Just to give you a quick rundown of my normal day: I wake up at 6:00 AM and get ready for my busy day. Chapel for the hospital staff starts promptly at 7 AM, at which we sing a few Shona hymns (Shona is the tribal language of most of Zim) and one of the missionaries shares a short devotional. I then head off to work my 7 AM - 4 PM shift in Female ward (the hospital is divided into Pediatrics, Male, Female, and Maternity wards...no private rooms). A normal shift involves passing medications in the morning, assessing the patients with the doctor during rounds, and then a huge pile of paperwork to record all new orders, admissions, and discharges. Needless to say, nursing in a third world country is VERY different from the US. Over here we re-use virtually everything. Gloves are washed, powdered, and re-sterilized. vials of medicine are washed and reused to collect lab specimins. Syringes are re-used. We have 1 (count it: one) oxygen mask to use for Nebulized breathing treatments for the entire hospital...we just carry it from patient to patient as they need treatments.

I get off work around 4 PM, and after that I fill my evening with playing with the village kids (who are AWESOME!!)...and they're teaching me Shona language. I visit the shops in the village, take walks up and down the old airplane landing strip, hang out with missionaries, etc. Thursday night we have prayer meeting with the missionaries and Hospital staff. Saturday mornings I help with their AWANA program at the church, Sunday is church...all in Shona, so I can't understand a word, but the singing is probably the most enjoyable worship I've ever had! Africans REALLY get into their music...many in the congregation bring their own drums, tambourines, and maracas.

It's definitely tough working in this type of environment. around 25% of the population-at-large is infected with HIV/AIDS....but that jumps to about 75% of the hospital patients who have HIV. The most common things we see are TB, Malaria, Pneumonia, and complicated pregnancies...most of them resulting from AIDS. Many of the patients truly have no earthly hope of ever recovering from their illnesses and returning to a normal life. Luckily Karanda Hospital also offers spiritual care. While I don't personally do much in the way of witnessing at the hospital, our full-time staff of counselors prays with the patients and shares the love of Christ to those who are in distress. There is daily chapel for patients, weekly hymn singing by the staff, and ward-by-ward devotionals and worship time led by the pastor's wife and some other ladies from the church, Karanda Fellowship Chapel, which is here on the hospital compound.

Everything has gone very well since I arrived out here...a true answer to prayer. The violence and civil unrest that threatened to close the hospital not two weeks ago has completely subsided, and this area seems calm for the moment. Unfortunately this can not be said for the rest of the nation of Zimbabwe. Throughout the country are roving gangs of militia, police, and army personnel intimidating, beating, and burning the homes of political opposition supporters. Please be in prayer for those who are suffering in a very real way. Even those who have homes have great difficulty acquiring food and basic necessities due to the economic situation. Zim's inflation is uncontrolled. When I exchanged my US dollars for Zim currency last week, I was given 250 Million Zim dollars for each US dollar (my grocery bill was approximately 30 billion). 3 days later a doctor from the hospital exchanged his US dollars for 370 Million Zim dollars. Even nurses in this country make barely 20 billion dollars per month, hardly enough for food and clothing, much less transport costs and school fees for children. Life is tough for Zimbabweans, but they are very resourceful and make do with what they can obtain.

Prayer requests:
1. The political and economic situation in Zim, including prayer for the upcoming presidential election on June 27th.
2. That I am able to learn more of the Shona language.
3. That I am able to use challenges and struggles I face in this unique setting to grow in my Christian walk.
4. For the hundreds of Karanda Hospital patients who's only hope is Christ.

I look forward to hearing from all of you, and how things are going back in America. I miss you all and hope all is well.
-Nathan

Taken from cedarville.edu/christianministries/missionsinvolvement/misupdate.htm

Awana Bucks

Tonight at Awana we ran out of stuff to sell at the Awana share store. The Sparks bought nearly all the items and left nothing for the T&T group. The economist in me, knew exactly what happened. The total price of all the items for sale was less than number of Awana bucks awarded - Too many Awana bucks in the system. We award Awana bucks for nearly everything possible. I suspect that next time we will see a bit of price inflation or more items for sale. Reminds me a bit of Zimbabwe money or gas prices.

Zimbabwe Bucks

One of the guys from work found a Ten Thousand Dollar Zimbabwe bill that a student had left in a dorm room. About a year ago it was worth about 1 US dollar. As of Thursday it would take 256 of them to equal one US cent. The Zimbabwe Central Bank has not update the official exchange yet today, but the black market rates are approaching 380 Million to one US dollar. Today also is the first day of the 50 Billion Zimbabwe bill. This is worth about 200 US dollars, but I expect it to be worth about a buck in a few months.

What is going on with the Economy?

It looks very much like we are going to see 70's style stagflation soon and perhaps even worse. What is exceedingly frustrating is that we have not been able to learn from our past mistakes.
For the sake a brevity here is what is going on in America. We as a county and individuals are borrowed way beyond what is prudent and what we can repay. Our Federal Reserve refuses to correctly address the problem and we are heading into a full scale inflationary period with high unemployment. What we must understand is that the because of low interest rates the Fed sets, more people borrowed money. Every time we borrow money form the bank, the bank gets to create most of that borrowed money out of thin air. The more money that gets created out of thin air the more price rise. I'm sure you all feel this what trying to budget grocery and gas money. What is really happening is that our dollar is becoming worth less and less. The price of oil has not increased compared to gold. What the Fed does when it lowers interest rates is the *anti*-Robin Hood. That is steeling money from the poor and middle class through inflation to give money through low interest loans to Wall Street. Seniors with CD's are going to see their interest rates drop and at the same time they see their medical bills skyrocket. The middle class is going to see the yearly raises grow less than the cost of living. We are approaching a crisis situation in America, they few of us understand. Ron Paul addressed the Fed today. Listen to what he has to say. What we must realize is that government cannot outsmart to market, we will have to pay for our debts.

Get Your Tax Refund While to Government Still has Money

Danielle spotted this sign while we were driving in Xenia last night. I had to ride my bike today a get a picture of it.


This perhaps is the best sign I have seen in 2008, a true sign of our political times. I'm not sure what they are trying to tell us. Is this a prophecy? Are they Ron Paul supporters? Are they simply trying to get your attention? I did motivate me to finish my taxes today. At any rate, the sad fact is that the government is out of money and we have to borrow money from China or turn on the money printing press. Beware of hyperinflation.

Is Freedom of light bulb too much to ask in America?

It looks like our beloved congress and president are going to sign the Energy Bill. A little-noticed provision of the energy bill is going to phase out the traditional light bulbs and replace it with an energy efficient bulb. Now I am all in favor of efficient light bulbs. I bought 30 compact florescent for our new home. According to the box I'll save nearly $1350 over seven years. But why is this a matter for Congress? I have a light bulb in the attic that is a traditional 60w bulb. It will be lucky to be on 3 hours a year. Why should I spend extra money for a efficient bulb in my attic. Some light fixtures don't have room for the efficient light bulbs and some people cannot stand the light that comes from florescent bulbs. Their might even be medical reasons to avoid florescent light. The law has terrible unintended consequences. I want the right to pick what light bulbs I use in my house. Why are we letting our country to be over run by bureaucrats? One more reason the vote for Ron Paul.

I can't believe the number of people I know that actually want to vote for [Ron Paul]

“I can't believe the number of people I know that actually want to vote for him.” This was a statement made by a friend of mine about Ron Paul. He was saying this out of frustration. I am saying the exact same thing, but out of delight. I have known about Ron Paul for years and wished he would run for president. When I heard that he was running for president I was happy but figured he would only appeal to a few economic geeks like myself. After all who would vote for a guy that is anti-Iraq war, pro gold standard, pro-life and against nearly all types of government assistance and programs? Then I read on wikipedia that he a significant following on the Internet. The more I investigated the more support I found for him. I was amazed! There are people that feel the way I do. So why am I so passionate about him? Honesty and Consistency. If you listen to his speeches he says the same things, never pandering to the audience. I may not agree with everything he stands for, but I know where he stands and I know he is not going to change his mind. I wish the same could be said about our current president.

Ron Paul has the best foreign policy of all the Republican Party presidential candidates. I agree with his foreign policy, not because I’m simply against the war. I have carefully studied and researched foreign policy. While our intentions maybe noble, we cannot spread our good will through force or war. We can achieve much more in peace than we ever can in war. The terrorists of 9/11 didn’t attack us because they hate our freedoms or riches. They did not primarily attack of because of their religion. They are attacking us because they view our military actions in the Middle East as an occupation and threat to their holy land. We as Americans must understand this. “International pacifism” will achieve more trade, more friendships and perhaps lower prices at the gas pump and more peace. If we were to leave the Middle East, they would no longer view us as occupiers and lose their incentive to attack us. I’m not saying there will never be a terrorist attack, but there would be much fewer. The world will always have its nut cases. On 9/11 we lost 3000 people and several billion dollars in structures. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has cost us 5000 Americans, tens of thousands of Iraq’s and is approaching a trillion dollars of borrowed money, which Americans will have to pay for through taxes and inflation. How many more American soldiers are we willing to lose, how many families are we willing separate, and how many more dollars are we willing to borrow? If we ended our global military adventures, and had a strong defense at home we could save enough money to save social security and let the young opt out. With additional budget cuts we could even get rid of the income tax.

My friends, my support for Ron Paul is not some sort of hippy movement, but a result of diligent studying. I urge you to consider voting for this man for president. In October and November Ron Paul raised over 10 million dollars. This was more that the leading republican, Rudy Giuliani raised in the three months of July, August and September. December 16th will be another fundraising record for Ron Paul, which could push his fundraising total over 20 Million for the quarter. There are many people who feel very strongly about his chances to win. My hope is that this will be the election that will go down in history as the election where Americans said enough to the old way Washington is run.

Home Owners Again

Today Danielle and I closed on our house. Once again we bought a foreclosed house. We ending up playing the housing market. We sold of house in Nicholasville just before the housing market really started to fall and then bought this house in a foreclosed *fire* sale. The house needs new paint and carpet and new lights/fans and a REALLY good cleaning. Here are the first pictures. I hope to keep track of our progress.

Sold!