Scruvy Dogs!!

I read an interesting book recently that in part, described the discovery of vitamin c. At the time there were quite a few theories but little actual data about what caused scurvy in mariners.

All that was known was that sailors tended to recover quickly once back on shore. It also mentioned that humans and guinea pigs are the only animals that can't synthesize their own vitamin c serum. Why we share this strange quirk with the lovable pet is not currently known.

So eat your fruit on long voyages to distant lands, and don't forget to be nice to the natives.

Saving Money

There are plenty of things that I don't know very much about. I have no idea which is the best diet pill for women, or who would do the best job leading the Fed. There are a few things that I have picked up however.

For one thing, you CAN get a handle on your money. Dave Ramsey has a proven plan that I have followed and continue to follow. It has totally changed our view of money and how to manage it. We are so much better for having learned what his plan has to teach us.

Get rid of your debt and plan for the future. There is no need to be a slave to lenders.

The Rose Market

If all commodities were as easy to predict as roses, we'd all get rich off of the market. At certain times of year it is about impossible to fine places that have flowers from $19.99 down.

Other times you can get a full dozen for next to nothing. The nature of roses is such that you can't really stock up during the low periods and sell during the highs. This makes for a very interesting and captive market.

It can be frustrating paying a lot for something that you know is MUCH cheaper at any other time than the time you need it, but in this case there is really nothing you can do, except convince your Wife somehow that flowers are lame. (good luck)

Clothes Shopping

Shopping for clothes can be hard, especially when you are buying for someone other than yourself, such as now during Christmas season or buying for your kids. We have two little girls who each have very different ideas about what is comfortable so whether it's jeans, shirts, casual dresses, or what have you, we rarely can reuse outfits.

So we do our best to find the best possible deals. This can require a bit of digging around but we've found that saving the money over the long term really adds up.

Budgeting

I am a big proponent of The Dave Ramsey Plan for financial freedom. For the last few years we have been working really hard to pay off our debt and change our mindset about money so that we never get in debt again. Up until this year we had paid off quite a bit and our debt snowball was growing steadily. We took some time off of the plan to work on our basement. I'm guessing Dave would have disagreed, but I really want them to have their own rooms. Now that the windows are done I am starting to get serious about debt again. I'm expecting our tax return to cover the remaining basement expenses so we are back to snowballing our debt. So naturally we have put a stainless steel Schlage on the budget. One side effect of taking some time off to work on the basement was that we became a little lax with our spending. But despite that, I feel like, Lord willing, we should be able to be at a point very soon where we have no debt left other than our house and school loans.

Still a ways to go but when I think about where we were a few years ago, it amazes me that we have come so far. I can't believe we got ourselves into that mess in the first place, but I am determined to never go back.