1/27/11

Notes from our Budgeting Activity

Are you spending money on things you REALLY want or substituting for unsatisfying cheaper alternatives?


We brainstormed Benefits of Budgeting: Teaches kids to use money wisely. Makes you available to serve. Enjoyment of saved for recreation.   Sleep at night. etc.

Liquid savings should be for at least 3 months for household. Go to provident living calculator online to find out how long until you get 3 month reserve & pay off debt.


Budgeting is between spouses, AND children. Children need to learn to make sacrifices and be careful with money. Must pass on your knowledge for the next generation.


Make sure both spouses know how to do banking, bills, taxes investments, 401k etc. - do it together twice a year.


The 10 Principals from the book "For Love & Money":
1- Financial problems are usually behavioral problems.
2- If you continue doing what you've been doing, you'll get continue getting what you've gotten.
3- Nothing is worth sacrificing relationship for.
4- money spent on things you value usually leads to a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.  Money spent on things you don't value usually leads to a feeling of frustration and futility.
5- We know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
6- You can never get enough of what you don't need, because what you don't need can never satisfy.
7- Financial freedom is often the result of a decrease in spending, not an increase in income.
8- nothing (no thing) is worth risking the relationship.
9- The best things in life are free.

10-  The value of an individual should never be equated with net worth.

The Grow-Box


Hey, all you gardeners out there!  Spring is right around the corner, so it’s time to start thinking about your summer gardens.  Your winter garden should be doing great right now.  If it’s not, it is not too late to get in your peas, carrots, lettuce, onions, garlic, leeks, swiss chard, spinach, and other cool weather crops.  As for preparing for your summer garden, it is the right time to start seeds inside.  Right now is the best time for tomatoes and  peppers, and  in about three or four more weeks do your melons and squash. The latter can also be sown right outside.   You don’t need much to do this, just some peat pots or soil in an egg carton cup, and an enclosed case with a clear lid, like the plastic parts left over from your bakery items.  One key thing is, that they must be kept moist and the soil temperature must be warmer than room temperature.  Some put them on the dryer, where there is always a batch going.  Others use a heating pad.  I put mine out in the sun for several hours of the day to let the sun heat things up.
            The benefits of starting your own?  They are ready when Tucson weather is ready.  Too often, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc. get their starter plants when the rest of the country is getting theirs, which is too late for Tucson!   We need to plant outside in mid March, not mid May like Utah.  If you have questions . . . . . call Pres. Morris or your favorite gardener!

Happy Gardening!

1/11/11

Making "Cents"

Jenni Johansen teaching us the Ins & Outs of budgeting & how to get your family on track!

Making "Cents"
Thurs * Jan 20th
6:30pm in the Relief Society Rm

New Year Message from Pres Morris


Happy New Year Sisters!

Here we are at the  end of another Christmas & Holiday Season, and  at the beginning of a brand New Year.  It seems the traditional thing to do is to look back at the past year and reminisce, and look forward to the New Year coming up and make some changes, or goals for improvement.

In 2010 we learned how to do many new things, welcomed several new girls into the ward,  got to know each other better through service, and lived the Relief Society Motto quite well, that “Charity Never Faileth”.   We had 17 babies born,  had some families in great need at Christmas, and a million other things all year where you took care of each other and showed such charity and the True Love of Christ, as you filled those needs, often without signing up for it on a sign-up sheet, or being prompted in any external way, just through the promptings of the Holy Ghost and your good hearts.   I ‘m sure the Lord is pleased with all the good things you do to take care of each other.

While many of you were away for Christmas with your extended families, the Bishop spoke in Sacrament Meeting on something he felt was a great need we have to improve on.  Another form of charity.   Charity towards each other, not in the things we do, but in the things we say about one another.   An ugly word for it is Gossip.  Most of the time, I don’t think we are trying to be malicious about the things we say, but just want to share about the struggles others are having, or want to fill others in on the latest  news.  We need to be careful that we are being kind when we do that, and think  “if it were my problem, would I want others discussing that, or saying that about me behind my back?”  There is a fine line between informing others of struggles and trying to come up with a solution to help, and just passing on hot and juicy stories about others.     An old fashioned saying is:  “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”    That is still a good one.  Sometimes you are in a group, and haven’t said anything unkind, but someone else does.  It’s a hard thing to do, but you can kindly turn the conversation around and lead the way into a new direction and stop gossip in its tracks. 

Perhaps this New Year we could make some improvements in this area, and look at what we say about others a little differently, look at it as though you were being charitable in the things you say, like you are in the things you do.

May the Lord Bless you for your goodness, and give you a wonderful year of growth and blessings!

President Morris