Day 6

I asked Barb if she knew the name of the new AD for Kansas University. She said, "Yes, it is Dr. Zenger." (Sheahon Zenger) My real question is how his first name is pronounced. Sean, Shawn, Sheahon or Dr Zinger are all in the ballpark. Oh well, tonight we'll get to see one of the last really fun games for the hawks before they start league play. UMKC will get to see the hawks run and dunk with a smile on their face. Oh Well, on with the good advice columns:


BUDGETS - Rule Number 1. Income must be greater than or equal to Outgo. If you don't know what your outgo is, you can never get this one right. I was going to put investments here but unless you have the ability to understand what a budget is, you will probably just save money to bail you out of problems later on. Budgets are a broad guide to trying to make an attempt to stretch your income to cover your outgo. If you want detailed guides, see Dave Ramsey. If you want simple, down and dirty here it is. The best place to start is to write down everything you spend for a couple of months. Never make a purchase that you don't get a receipt. Put the receipts in a zip lock bag for each day and after 30 days, just see what the results are. I'm sure that it will really open your eyes. The big fixed costs, house, car and utilities will not vary much but the discretionary spending will vary all over the place. I think you will find that with a little effort you will find places to save a few dollars every day. Eating lunch out every day is a budget buster unless you buy off the dollar menu at McDonalds. The cost of lunch is generally $8 to $10 dollars and if that is done 5 days a week for 50 weeks a year that amounts to $2,000 to $2500 a year for each person. Throw in the morning coffee and an evening meal out once or twice a week and you can spend big bucks just on meals away from home. Never go to a grocery store hungry and buy from a list. I try to buy personal use items at Walmart not Dillon's. A $1.97 bottle of deoderant from Walmart can cost $3.98 at the grocery store. If that is what you want, do it, but understand what it costs. I also try to cook from raw products instead of pre-packaged items. I find the frozen vegetables in the Steamers packages very good and pretty cheap but they are an exception to the rule of buying raw products and cooking them. TV Dinners are quick but not cheap. The budgeting part is actually setting an amount you want to spend on each item in your outgo stream. Once you know what you are spending, and have a plan to allocate money, you will better understand that life is a decision on everything and you can be in charge. Or Not! In buying things, there is an old saying that things can be two of three things; Quick, Good and or Cheap. Your choice. If you budget early on and save, you can be a little carefree later on. yes, a damn trip to Walmart for a few items can cost $50. Oh well.

MUD