Richest Man in Babylon
I just finished the book The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason (dad, I took it from your shelf, sorry for not asking). This book offers basic financial wisdom that is tried and true, I'll give some of the highlights. If you get rich off this advice, please remember who you got it from and give a little commission :)
A Part of all you earn is yours to keep--Pay yourself 10 percent of what you earn and live off the other 90 (pay your tithing of course too). If you're overly in debt, still pay yourself 10 percent and your creditors 20 percent and live off of 70.
Make your money multiply and guard it well--Once you pay yourself 10 percent, make it earn interest, (children and grandchildren) don't pull it out. Since it was hard-earned money, make sure you invest wisely; don't gamble it away or entrust it to someone that doesn't know how to use your money to safely earn more money.
Own your own home (no explanation needed)
Insure a future income--Put away for retirement and life insurance in case your breadwinner dies unexpectedly.
Increase your ability to earn--Whatever your profession is, continue to learn. Seek out educational opportunities and ask those around you for tidbits of their knowledge.
There you go, I expect everyone that reads this post to become the Richest Man in Babylon or Dayton or California or Utah, wherever you may live.
Fairtax
Even though this would put me out of work and make my educational degree obsolete, I endorse the Fairtax law. It will completely abolish the current federal income tax system and the IRS (don't we all hate them anyway) and put in place a national sales tax on all new items (my garage sale and thrift store purchases would still be safe). I can't fully explain how much this system would help our country and every worker (except for tax professionals and IRS employees) so for more information go to fairtax.org.
My little munchkins
What would this post be like if I didn't write about my two little girls? They just continue to grow up before my eyes. Rachel is getting little chubby cheeks and smiling and cooing all the time which just melts my heart. I am so much more laid back with child number 2 but she is just an easy baby. I can lay her down when she's tired and she'll cry for a couple minutes but then go to sleep. She sleeps around eight hours at night which makes mommy really happy.
Elizabeth is getting cuter too. For some reason she likes having a pacifier (aka fire) now, probably because she sees Rachel taking one sometimes. She calls her toes piggies because we play "this little piggy went to market, etc." on her toes. She likes kisses now too and points to her cheeks or wherever she wants a kiss.Elizabeth still loves to read and she likes to color too. Eric's sister Lisa gave us the most wonderful present for her. Crayola makes Color Wonder markers that don't color on any surface other than their special paper. It may be a little expensive but I think it's worth it for my peace of mind. I don't have to worry abbout her getting marker on her clothes (even if it is washable) or the walls!
