Lower Gas Prices, A Mixed Blessing?

This article appears in the All Things Eco Carnival at Focus on Organic. If you came from the carnival - welcome! I hope you will consider subscribing via RSS feed or e-mail.


(The Wild Center, Tupper Lake, New York)

Yesterday I was in what passes out here for the big city and paid $1.29 a gallon for unleaded gas. I live in serious oil patch country and low gas prices mean a different thing out here than they probably do in most other places. Here they mean a lot of people who were doing really well are going to get laid off. As a C.A.S.A. volunteer, I know it means a lot of our roughneck dads of kids in foster care are going to stop paying their child support. It means mid-week hotel rooms are going to get cheaper and easier to come by. The boom and bust of the oil business is old news out here. The young people are devastated but those who have been around awhile are used to riding it out and are hunkering down.

I have a different reason for being ambivalent about plummeting gas prices. Let me quickly say that I don’t pay for my own gas. I have a gas card provided to me by my primary client to which I charge all my gas and for which he pays. Lest you think I don’t consider the price of gas, my primary client and his wife are two close friends of mine and I spend their money even more cautiously than I do my own. It’s not the price of gas exactly; it’s where I believe the high price of gas was taking us.

We, as a people, were driving less and walking more. We were carpooling and biking. We were carefully considering whether or not we needed to run those errands, drive around for amusement or let our engines idle for extended periods of time. We were investigating hypermiling and getting rid of our vehicles with poor gas mileage. Demand for hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles was rising. Despite the corn gas debacle, we were headed in the right direction.

What will happen now? Regardless of the current prices, oil is a non-renewable resource and its reserves are finite. There is no question that, at some point, we are going to run out. If not in our lifetime, then in the future of a not-too-distant generation. If we don’t face it and get prepared, it’s going to be a disaster. The high price of gas was forcing us to get ready. Will we now slide back into complacency? I remember the gas lines in the 70’s. We certainly didn’t make any changes following that shortage. Will we now? I’m not optimistic; hopeful, but not optimistic.

In addition to the oil patch, West Texas is a land of big vehicles and lots of driving and I don’t see that changing. I’m glad the people I know in the cattle-hauling business have a chance of a better bottom-line. In fact, I’m happy for all the people who have to drive as part of their living. One of my brothers is a short-haul trucker. All the same, I hope UPS, FedEx and other fleet businesses keep investigating and investing in fuel efficient vehicles and driving practices. I hope everyday people will still trade out of their enormous and inefficient SUVs and get something smaller. As for me, I’m going to keep walking. I’m going to keep investing in my alternative energy index funds. I’m going to continue identifying and cutting back on all of my petroleum based products. I’m going to hope that we might have learned a lesson this time and that it might actually stick.

I’m curious, have you changed your $4.50 a gallon habits now that gas is again under $2 or are you holding the line?

Getting Back to Normal

Today my son and I are heading for the “big city” to do some shopping (gulp!), catch a movie and spend the night. Tomorrow I’ll put him on the plane back to Oxford, Mississippi, swing by the big grocery store and come on home. We’ve had a great week together. I love to cook and have enjoyed having someone for whom to do it. Having said that, I feel like I’ve spent a week doing nothing but prepping, cooking and cleaning up the kitchen! I now know why I didn’t become a really good cook until I no longer had to produce a meal every evening after a full day at the office.

In the spirit of having a nice visit, we’ve not yet talked about grades and the future. While he didn’t flunk any courses last semester, he didn’t do too well, either. I guess we’ll have that conversation this evening in the hotel. Reviewing my 2008 expenses, I averaged $550 a month to keep him at OleMiss. I plan to continue paying half his rent through May and then no more. He’ll have all summer to work full time and save his money so he can pay his own rent next year, his fifth year of college. I will continue to make up the difference between the cost of his tuition and his financial aid. As a single mother of an only child, we are very close and it is not my nature to take a hard line with my son. Now that I know where every penny goes, I’ve become more aware of the strain he is putting on me financially. I can’t help but think about how much more quickly I could reach my financial goals if I were done shelling out that college money, which I thought was ending in May. I can certainly tough it out an extra year but it was not in my plans and, since he doesn’t seem to be working all that hard, I’m not happy about it.

When I get home tomorrow, I need to buckle down. I’ve got loads of work to do, both the kind for which I am paid and the kind for which I’m not. I’ve got to get my yard bedded down and neatened up for winter, finish the gift I’m working on for my parents (yeah, I know!), close out my books for 2008, analyze the figures and set up my goals for 2009. Plus about a million other things. I have a lunch invitation for New Year’s Eve with my girlfriends and that will probably be the extent of my socializing for that holiday.

Yesterday I took advantage of having my son home and got him to help with taking down and packing up all the Christmas decorations. At least that’s done. As we packed, I couldn’t help but reflect on the big and unexpected changes in my life in the month since I put them all up. I know by the time I put them back up again in eleven months I’ll be reflecting on all the wonderful things that have happened since I took them down. I’m trying to “keep my eyes on the prize” of a future rich with promise.

What about you? What are your predictions and goals for yourself for this upcoming year?

Shrimp and Quail Pie

This recipe appears in the Make it From Scratch carnival at the carnival's homepage. If you came from the carnival - welcome! I hope you will consider subscribing via RSS feed or e-mail.


(My very poor food stylings. Don't hold it against the pie - it was delicious!)

Generally I polish and practice a recipe before I publish it. In this case, several people have asked so, with some hesitation, I’m going to go ahead and publish this recipe for the shrimp and quail pie I made for Christmas dinner. I did it on the fly, with no recipe, which is the way I usually cook, so, if you are a precise cook, you may want to look elsewhere! If, on the other hand, you are easy with using a recipe for “inspiration”, give this one a whirl! It was absolutely delicious. Just don't dwell too long on how much butter is in it!

I make my own pastry but you can certainly use a store-bought one from the refrigerator section. If you make your own, do it in advance so it has time to chill for at least an hour before you have to roll it out. If you’d like my pastry recipe, leave me a comment or send me an e-mail and I’ll be happy to share it. I use Julia Child’s recipe and it is always perfect.

½ lb large (30-40 ct size) shrimp, peeled, deveined and cut in half
7 quail breasts, boned and diced
(You could easily substitute a full chicken breast, boned, diced and pre-cooked)
1 8oz package of white mushrooms, sliced
1 large, sweet onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 Thai bird chili, or other small red dried chili like chili de arbol
Black peppercorns
Olive oil

For the beurre blanc –

1 -2 shallots, diced fine
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup white wine vinegar (you can substitute 2 tablespoons lemon juice)
1 tablespoon heavy cream (optional but it will make the sauce more stable)
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed

1 cup chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 450°.

Crush chili along with 8 or 9 black peppercorns. Heat 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan, add the chili and pepper and sauté for 30 seconds, add diced sweet onion and sauté until slightly translucent. (If you are using diced chicken, you could throw it in here to cook it. It might cook completely during the alloted baking time but I wouldn't want to risk it.) Add the garlic, sauté until fragrant; about 1 minute. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté until soft and their liquid is reabsorbed. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

Set out two individual oven proof bowls, I used two of those individual CorningWare French White large ramekins. They are about the size of a soup or cereal bowl. Put ½ the shrimp and quail in each dish, divide the mushroom and onion mixture between the two bowls.

Make the beurre blanc –

Put the shallots, wine and vinegar in a small saucepan over high heat and reduce until syrupy, you should end up with about 2 or 3 tablespoons. Add cream, when mixture bubbles, remove from heat. Start whisking in the butter, one cube at a time, add the next cube just before the prior cube is melted, keep whisking! If you must return it to the heat, make sure it is a low heat, if your sauce gets too hot, it will break. Once all the butter is melted, you will have a rich, creamy beurre blanc sauce. Add the chicken stock to thin it and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pour the sauce into your two bowls containing the quail, shrimp, mushroom and onion mixture. Give each a stir to evenly distribute the contents.

Quickly roll out your pastry and cut to cover your bowls, with a 1” overhang. Cover each bowl with the pastry, pinch to seal around the sides and score the top to allow steam to escape.

Chances are these pies will bubble over so put them on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or foil or something to catch the drips. Pop them in your preheated 450° oven for 15 minutes. Do not overcook or the quail will become stringy. At this high heat your pastry should cook and brown in that amount of time. If it doesn’t, run it under the broiler for a minute or two just to brown it.

That’s it. I think it’s correct. It was delicious! If you just can’t stomach all that butter, you could use a well-flavored chicken stock for the liquid. It won’t be as creamy but you also won’t have to feel as guilty!

Bon appetit!

A Foray into Online Social Networking

This article appears in the Rich Life Carnival at the carnival's homepage. If you came from the carnival - welcome! I hope you will consider subscribing via RSS feed or e-mail.


(Ivy Bean, at 102, she is the oldest person on Facebook!)

I’m slowly venturing into the somewhat confusing (to me anyway) world of online social networking. This week I joined Twitter, which is fun. At this point, I’m not following so many people that it is distracting. After setting up my Twitter profile I ran through all of the 80+ blogs that I keep up with regularly and followed the handful who said they had a Twitter account. A few other people materialized to follow me. Twitter, if you are not familiar with it, is a way to post a short, 140-character maximum, message, which broadcasts to whoever is following you. You can let people know about a new blog post on your site, you can let people know about something interesting you found on another site, you can let people know what you had for breakfast. It’s interesting that, although I’ve been reading some of my Twitter people’s blogs for months, the instant I began communicating with them on Twitter, I felt like I had a more personal relationship with them. I assume this is the real power of Twitter. My primary employer saw a story Fox News had picked up saying terrorists were using Twitter. I’m sure he’d be horrified to know I had signed up! After a little investigating I found the actual report, which really said that social networking in general could be used by terrorists for quick communication. In any event, it’s a neat idea (Twitter, not the terrorists!). If you are on Twitter and would like to follow me, my Twitter name is, of course, SimplyForties, or you can click on the follow me button with the little birdie in the right-hand column on my site. I promise not to tell you what I had for breakfast!

My other entré into the world of social networking this week was to set up a page on Facebook. To me, Facebook was something for kids, as my knowledge of it came from my son. Once upon a time you had to have a college e-mail address in order to set up a Facebook profile. Then it was opened up for high school students and now, evidently, it’s for everyone. I’m not sure how it came up but my younger sister mentioned to me that she had a Facebook page and that several members of her church had one as well. She encouraged me to make one. Right now all my “friends” consist of people with the same last name as mine! There are groups on Facebook that you can join, which presumably are designed to help you find people with similar interests to yours. I browsed around a little and was greatly amused to find a group related to throwing middle-aged people off of Facebook! My sister found lots of people from her church and from various places where she used to live and with whom she was able to reconnect. I don’t belong to any groups like that and have lived in the same tiny town for 30 years. I’m not sure Facebook is going to do anything for me as I have other, more conventional ways of keeping up with my family but I’m going to hang out there for awhile and see what happens.

Although I don’t understand it, I do Stumble because it’s a fun way to waste time on the Internet. I get Tip’d and I think Digg operates the same way. I’m fairly active on Blog Catalog and TBD. I’m sure all of these sites have a vast amount more to them than I take advantage of or even know about.

What about you? Are you signed up for social networking? What use are you making of it and are you happy with the results?

A Ripple Effect of the Mortgage Crises

This article appears in the Money Hacks Carnival at Cash Money Life. If you came from the carnival - welcome! I hope you will consider subscribing via RSS feed or e-mail.






I read an article recently about the huge rise in homeless children as a result of the mortgage crises and it has really stayed with me. Following the record numbers of layoffs and foreclosures the homeless rate amongst children is skyrocketing. Some school districts are seeing their numbers of homeless children go up fifty and even one hundred percent. These districts are being overwhelmed as they struggle to provide services to their homeless children.

First Focus, an advocacy organization that is committed to making children and families a priority in federal policy and budget decisions, puts the number of homeless children at two million. In Oakland, California, the number of homeless children has doubled. A survey of more than 1,700 school districts released by First Focus and The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY), another Washington-based non-profit, found unprecedented jumps in homeless students in the first three months of the school year. Nevada's Clark County, with one of the worst foreclosure rates in the nation, reports 4,033 homeless students; double the number from a year ago.

This is collateral damage from the housing crises to which I had not given much thought but it scares me. School districts provide many services for homeless children including transportation to and from school and are having a lot trouble. The problems include rising transportation costs and logistical challenges, as well as a lack of staffing necessary to identify and support children and youth experiencing homelessness. Moreover, schools have reported that while the severity of the need increases, available shelter space and low-income housing is decreasing. There are also reductions in other community services and supplies. Due to the increase in homeless children, the districts' budgets, already strained, are being stretched to the breaking point, making it harder to provide all of the services for which they are responsible, both for homeless and homed children.

This week, First Focus released another report finding that the United States will suffer a future economic loss of over $1.7 trillion if the current recession drives an additional 3 million children into poverty, as has been predicted.

All over the Web, I have read a lot of opinions along the lines of letting the people who are being foreclosed upon sink or swim. It’s hard to feel sorry for someone who bought a giant house they couldn’t afford, charged up their credit cards like there was never going to be a reckoning, and as a result, are on the street. On the other hand, these children are the real innocent victims and they need some help. When we look at our disappearing retirement accounts and the shrinking job market and wonder how long this economic situation will last, we might want to remember that for some of these children, it may last forever.

Homeless children are more likely to drop out of school. We all know that dropouts are less likely to become productive members of society than children who complete their education. If we use the numbers that First Focus is predicting, we could end up with literally millions of children dropping out of school, getting low-paying jobs and spending the rest of their lives below the poverty line. In my mind, we can help them now or we can pay for them forever. Thinking about it this way makes the various bailouts just a bit more palatable.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my readers who celebrate this holiday. Wherever you are, whomever you are with, I hope your day is a joyous one!

Christmas Roundup - Good Reading Around the Web

Carnivals and other good reading. I didn’t get it done last week so this is a two-week edition.

“Does Your Spending Support Your Values?” appears in the 23rd Rich Life Carnival. Limitless Units posted about breaking his addiction to caffeine. I went through this process myself a couple of years ago. It was a welcome change and, much as I love coffee, I have no plans to go back!

The Ultimate Christmas Dessert: Buche de Noel appears in the Make it From Scratch Carnival at 11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven. Nerd Family Food has a recipe for Peppermint Chocolate Chip Biscotti that looks great.

Finding Friends appears in the Advice for Women from Women Carnival at the carnival’s homepage.

As the Economy Goes, So Goes Recycling appears in the All Things Eco Carnival at Focus Organic.com

Why Not Try a Duck? appears in the Make It From Scratch carnival at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood. The Adventures of the Williams Family has a great recipe for homemade caramels and caramel turtles – yum! Funny About Money posted her menu and instructions for the fabulous Christmas dinner she has planned. I wonder if she has any room at her table?

Other good reading around the Web –

Of Cabbages and Kings is a neat blog, whose author posts about various amusing things that strike her fancy. Friday she posted a cute poem about what to give her blog buddies for Christmas. She decided a little link love was the perfect gift. It’s a funny poem and a great idea.

In a very timely posting Leo from Zen Habits wrote A Minimalist’s Guide to Using Twitter. In a mad burst of forward looking I signed up for a Twitter account and a Facebook page. Wow, aren’t I so 2008? (I did promise my son I would not ask to be his Facebook friend.) It was good to read Leo’s post as I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do with these tools.

If you don’t know about Life on Avenue Z’s Virtual Food Drive, you should check it out. She and her readers are doing wonderful work helping others.

Christmas Spending and Christmas Traditions

Now that time is just about up, how did you do with your Christmas budget? I did pretty well. I ended up spending less than $250 and got very nice gifts for everyone on my list. Some things purchased outright, some homemade things and some things purchased with points from various programs in which I participate. I think all my recipients will be happy.

Growing up, our Christmas tradition was to open our gifts on Christmas Eve. Our Christmas Day tradition was always to have our stockings and our “Santa” gift in the morning when we came down. I have carried on that tradition with my son. As he’s gotten older I have added a nice Christmas Eve dinner, kept the stocking and gave up the “Santa” gift.

Yesterday my son told me that his dad, who lives locally, and his dad’s family want to have their get together on Christmas Eve. He was making promises to run there and back again. I assured him that I’d rather have his undivided attention, as I’m sure would his dad’s family, and that I’ll happily give over and let them have Christmas Eve. I’ve never done Christmas Day and I’m trying not to be a baby about spending Christmas Eve alone. It’s funny how our personal traditions become so important to us!

I’m contemplating my Christmas menu, and while it pales in comparison to what Funny About Money is planning, I’m thinking about something with quail and shrimp and pastry. Perhaps some sort of pot pie or turnover. I’m having Brussels' sprouts, which I love, and a potato dish for my sides. Roasted squash soup for the starter and an eggnog crème bruleé for dessert. I’m sorry to say that my menu is mostly being driven by what is already in my fridge and freezer as I just didn’t feel like going to the store. One good thing about cooking for a twenty-two year old is that he will be happy no matter what I produce!

What are your childhood Christmas traditions? What have you kept and what have you discarded or tweaked a little?

Charity 2008

I just made what will probably be my final charitable contribution for 2008. I had taken a tag off our town's Giving Tree, which was sponsored by our local Department of Family Protective Services. I didn't really understand what I was supposed to be buying so I called the DFPS office and asked about my gift recipient. Turns out he is sixteen years old and has been in the foster care system since he was two. The woman with whom I spoke told me that she had personally transported this child to a group home a couple of weeks ago and that he was dressed in rags. She said the home managed to get together some things for him but that his situation was pretty sad. She gave me all his sizes and off I went to the local Bealls. I bought tennis shoes, jeans, shirts and a winter coat; all to the tune of $161. I felt wonderful and don't regret one penny that I spent.

As I'm finishing out my 2008 spreadsheet my charitable contributions for the year ended up being more than double my goal. I feel good about where I ended up. I'm going to be reviewing all the items in my spreadsheet for the past year and seeing where I can make adjustments. I'm not happy about the end result in several of my categories but charity isn't one of them. I also volunteer locally for several organizations and I'm not sure what value to put on that but, overall, for next year I'm going to up my goal so that it is a higher percentage of my total income.

Where we give, how we give and whether we give tends to spark a lot of controversy. Nevertheless, doing for others really makes me feel good and I intend to keep doing it!

Having a Hard Time Getting Life Insurance?

This article appears in the 91st Carnival of Money Stories at Greener Pastures. If you came from the carnival - welcome! I hope you will consider subscribing via RSS feed or e-mail.

A few months ago I decided that it would be a good idea to purchase some term life insurance. I’ve had a small whole-life policy for many years, which will cover my funeral costs but not much else. I thought purchasing a $100,000 20-year term policy would be a nice thing to do for my son. It looked like it was going to be about $25 a month. Many years ago I spent a few months working as an office administrator in an insurance office so I know a tiny bit about life insurance. Who can’t get term life insurance? It’s easy and cheap and would be a sort of gift to my son in the hopefully far future.

Three months later I still have not been approved and am beginning to wonder if I will be. A couple of years ago I was in my doctor’s office having my annual visit and I mentioned to her that I had a mole on my back that was getting itchy and had grown a bit. She took a look at it and said she thought it was nothing but, if I liked, she would make an appointment for me with another doctor. On the day of that appointment I had to go out of town and, by that time, the mole had shrunk back. I ended up cancelling the appointment and never gave it another thought. My doctor evidently made a note about it in my file. Fast forward two years and the insurance underwriters want the results of that visit to the other doctor. Evidently they don’t believe the story I’m telling them. I suppose they believe I just don’t want them to know about the dire results I must have received.

I understand that, after my summer of cancer nearly ten years ago, I’m more of a risk and they are taking a closer look at me and my history. Still, I’m getting very impatient with the whole process. There is a woman who contacts me periodically to keep me up-to-date. The last news I had from her was that the underwriters were waiting until after an appointment I have in January before they make a decision. I told her I was getting pretty annoyed and was about to chuck it in. Two weeks later I received a letter from ING Insurance telling me I had been declined. A couple of weeks after that I got a call from the insurance agent, who clearly wanted to jolly me along so I wouldn’t give up. When I told him about the letter he seemed to feel that it didn’t actually mean I’d been declined, just that they were waiting until January. He also seemed to think that my January appointment had something to do with the mole, which it doesn’t. I don’t know what’s going to happen but I’m tired of messing with it.

When I decided to get a term life policy I did not give the current economic environment any thought. It makes sense, though, that that the hard hit insurance companies would have tightened up their guidelines on writing new policies. I suppose I’ll let this play out. If it doesn’t work, I’m going to let it go for a couple of years. What do you think? Has anyone else had a similar experience to mine? My health issues are pretty far in the past and I did not expect them to come back and bite me. Have you applied for a life insurance policy in the last six months? Are you planning to apply any time soon?

I have a guest post up today at Living Almost Large on “Financial Mistakes Couples Should Avoid”. I hope you’ll go over there and check it out and consider subscribing to LAL’s feed. If you’ve come from her site, welcome! I hope you will consider subscribing to mine via RSS feed or e-mail.

Why Not Try A Duck?

This recipe appears in the Make It From Scratch carnival at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood. If you came from the carnival - welcome! I hope you will consider subscribing via RSS feed or e-mail.

Over the last several weeks I've been using my Sunday recipe feature to highlight some main dishes that would work well on the holiday table. After New Year's I promise I'll serve up a few more practical, everyday dishes!

This recipe, for Alton Brown's Mighty Duck, is a good one. While not difficult, it does have several steps, which require a good deal of time between them. I would suggest you watch this video, which will make some of the techniques easier to understand. This is actually part two of a two-part video. You only miss a tiny bit of making the brine from part one, which primarily deals with duck in general. If you want to see part one, click here. I have made this dish several times and it is always delicious. I've only done the chard part once and didn't care for it.

In most grocery stores you will find the duck frozen in the same section as the cornish hens and quail. If you've never looked, you may be surprised to find it!



Brine:
1/2 cup kosher salt
1 pint pineapple orange juice
15 whole black peppercorns
1 bunch fresh thyme
4 cloves garlic, smashed

1 (5 1/2 to 6 pound) frozen Long Island Duck, thawed

2 handfuls shredded chard
2 shallots, minced Dash sherry or balsamic vinegar

Combine all brine ingredients in a plastic container with a lid. Place the lid on the container and shake to dissolve the salt.

Remove the pop-up thermometer, liver, gizzards, and heart. Cut off the wings.

Using kitchen shears, locate the spine at the base of the neck. Cut up the line of the backbone towards the neck cavity. Turn the duck and cut straight towards the rear cavity. Remove the backbone.

Turn the duck over and cut straight down the middle of the breast bone, leaving 2 equal duck halves. To separate the legs from the breast, flip your halves over so the flesh side is facing up at you. Using a knife, make a crescent shape cut between the leg and the breast. Lay your knife flat against the skin and make 3 marks in one direction and then in the other, making an X. Make sure that you are cutting through the skin and not the meat.

Line the inside of a plastic lexan or a pot with a zip-top bag. Place the duck quarters inside the bag, and pour the brine over the duck. Seal the bag, ensuring that all air is removed from the bag. Brine the duck for 2 to 2 1/2 hours in the refrigerator.

Bring 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches of water to a boil in a large pot. Place a colander into the pot and line the sides of the colander with the duck. Do not stack the duck quarters on each other. Cover and turn the heat to medium low. Steam the duck for 45 minutes. Set oven to 475 degrees F. Place a large cast iron skillet into the oven.

Remove duck pieces from steamer and place legs, skin side down, into the hot skillet. Place the skillet into the hot oven immediately and cook the leg quarters for 10 minutes. Add the breasts, skin side down, and cook for 7 more minutes or until the duck takes on a deep mahogany color and the skin is very crisp.

Remove the duck from the skillet and rest under foil. Add the chard and the shallots to the skillet. Toss the chard in the fat until it barely wilts. Season with the sherry or balsamic vinegar.

Serve the duck with the chard.

Goodbye last week!

My bad week is over, thank goodness. In addition to my various financial surprises, my long-term boyfriend and I finally decided to call it quits. He flew home to New York yesterday. I know it was the right decision and I’m good with it but it was tough and it is a little quiet around my house right now. I called my son, who hasn’t yet managed to find a job to carry him through the winter break, and offered to change his plane ticket if he wanted to come on home. I’m picking him up at the airport tonight and will be happy to have him around the place for a week or so.

For the last several years my son and I have spent Christmas Eve alone together. Once he got old enough for us to have a nice dinner before opening our gifts, it became a very pleasant tradition. I usually make a formal dinner, which I enjoy doing. Last year we had the Herb-Crusted Leg of Lamb that I posted a couple of weeks ago. When I drive to “town” (170 miles away) this afternoon to pick him up at the airport, I’ll go by one of their big fancy grocery stores and see what they have to tempt me. Now that he’s older (and I’m more frugal!), there’s not so much under the tree and this meal is the highlight of our Christmas celebration. He spends Christmas Day with his dad and his dad’s family.

Tomorrow I'll be guest posting over at Living Almost Large. LAL is a 20-something DINK searching for true financial freedom who writes a great blog, to which I hope you'll consider subscribing! I’m getting myself organized for a fun, positive and productive week. How about you?

One Bad Week

This has not been a good week for me on many levels including some financial ones. Have you ever had one of those weeks where nothing is going right? Where to start? Not that long ago I bought four new tires for my car. Monday I discovered that my two front tires were worn so low that the wires were sticking through. When I took it in they discovered that, for some unknown reason, my car was far out of alignment and, as a result, my tires were basically chewed up. Great, two new tires $250 – ching! I had already arranged to have my windshield replaced just two days prior - $175 – ching! I took my car back yesterday to get the alignment done. When I called to check the status I was told, “Well, it’s off the rack. I’ll explain when you get here.” Evidently my car was so far out of alignment that I needed some parts, which of course they didn’t have. When the parts come in - $100 – ching! Then I discovered that the toilet in the downstairs bathroom, where I never am, has been backing up. Lovely. The plumbers are coming tomorrow to ream out the line from the house to the street – ching! Sometimes you feel like there is no point in being frugal. I am trying to disregard the strong urge to give up and am reminding myself that two steps forward, one step back still means that I am one step forward from where I was this time last year.

I’m also reminding myself that I have a job, a roof over my head and plenty of food in my refrigerator. Lots of people cannot say that these days. I have a wonderful family and a good group of close friends. My special son will be home from college on Wednesday. Perhaps by this time next year I might even be two steps forward! Maybe things don’t look so bad after all.

How about you? Are you in a better position this year than last? Treading water? Or going downhill? How do you keep your spirits up when everything seems to be going wrong?

The Ultimate Christmas Dessert: Buche de Noel

This recipe appears in the Make it From Scratch Carnival at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven. If you came from the carnival - welcome! I hope you will consider subscribing via RSS feed or e-mail.

For sheer showmanship, the Buche reigns supreme! Give yourself a few days to create this traditional Christmas dessert. Don't rush, have fun, and you'll end up with an offering that people will talk about for years after.

(My buche from 2007. Do a Google search for images and you'll come up much better photos than mine!)

Coffee Buttercream:
4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
24 tablespoons (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
2 tablespoons rum or brandy

1 Chocolate Genoise Sheet, recipe follows

Marzipan:
8 ounces almond paste
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 to 5 tablespoons light corn syrup

For Finishing: Cocoa powder Red and green liquid food coloring Confectioners' sugar

To make the buttercream:
Whisk the egg whites and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Set the bowl over simmering water and whisk gently until the sugar is dissolved and the egg whites are hot. Attach the bowl to the mixer and whip with the whisk on medium speed until cooled. Switch to the paddle and beat in the softened butter and continue beating until the buttercream is smooth. Dissolve the instant coffee in the liquor and beat into the buttercream.

Turn the genoise layer over and peel away the paper. Invert onto a fresh piece of paper. Spread the layer with half the buttercream. Use the paper to help you roll the cake into a tight cylinder Transfer to baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until set.

Reserve the remaining buttercream for the outside of the buche.

To make the marzipan:
Combine the almond paste and 1 cup of the sugar in the bowl of the electric mixer and beat with the paddle attachment on low speed until the sugar is almost absorbed. Add the remaining 1 cup sugar and mix until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add half the corn syrup, then continue mixing until a bit of the marzipan holds together when squeezed, adding additional corn syrup a little at a time, as necessary; the marzipan in the bowl will still appear crumbly.

Transfer the marzipan to a work surface and knead until smooth.

To make marzipan mushrooms: Roll 1/3 of the marzipan into a 6-inch long cylinder and cut into 1-inch lengths. Roll half the lengths into balls. Press the remaining cylindrical lengths (stems) into the balls (caps) to make mushrooms. Smudge with cocoa powder.

To make holly leaves: Knead green color into 1/2 the remaining marzipan and roll it into a long cylinder. Flatten with the back of a spoon, then loosen it from the surface with a spatula. Cut into diamonds to make leaves, or use a cutter.

To make holly berries: Knead red color into a tiny piece of marzipan. Roll into tiny balls.

To make pine cones: knead cocoa powder into the remaining marzipan. Divide in half and form into 2 cone shapes. Slash the sides of cones with the points of a pair of scissors.

To form the log: Unwrap the cake. Trim the ends on the diagonal, starting the cuts about 2 inches away from each end. Position the larger cut piece on the buche about 2/3 across the top. Cover the buche with the reserved buttercream, making sure to curve around the protruding stump. Streak the buttercream with a fork or decorating comb to resemble bark.

Transfer the buche to a platter and decorate with the marzipan. Sprinkle the platter and buche sparingly with confectioners' sugar "snow." Storage: Keep at cool room temperature. Cover leftovers loosely and keep at room temperature.

Chocolate Genoise Sheet Cake:
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
Pinch salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup cake flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup alkalized (Dutch process) cocoa
Special equipment: 10 by 15-inch jelly-roll pan, buttered and lined with buttered parchment

Set rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

Half-fill a medium saucepan with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat so the water is simmering.

Whisk the eggs, yolks, salt, and sugar together in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Place over the pan of simmering water and whisk gently until the mixture is just lukewarm, about 100 degrees (test with your finger).

Attach the bowl to the mixer and with the whisk attachment, whip on medium-high speed until the egg mixture is cooled (touch the outside of the bowl to tell) and tripled in volume.

While the eggs are whipping, stir together the flour, cornstarch, and cocoa.

Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture over the beaten eggs. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the flour mixture, making sure to scrape all the way to the bottom of the bowl on every pass through the batter to prevent the flour mixture from accumulating there and making lumps.

Repeat with another 1/3 of the flour mixture and finally with the remainder. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake the genoise for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until well risen, deep and firm to the touch. (Make sure the cake doesn't overbake and become too dry, or it will be hard to roll.)

Use a small paring knife to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Invert the cake onto a rack and let the cake cool right side up on the paper. Remove the paper when the cake is cool.

Storage: Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several days, or double-wrap and freeze for up to a month. Yield: 1 (10 by 15-inch) sheet cake

Weekly Roundup

My boyfriend is on the board of the National Border Patrol Museum and we are in El Paso for a couple of days while he attends a board meeting. I'm enjoying the luxury of two days with no claims on my time. I normally hate to be in the stores this time of year but, with my Christmas shopping done and my time my own, I haven't minded it.

Yesterday I took my car to have the windshield replaced and received excellent customer service. Not only did Alamo Auto Glass do the job for less than half the price of the other estimate I received, they were happy to give me a ride to a nearby shopping complex and then retrieve me when the work was done. They were cheerful, helpful and friendly and, as far as I can tell, did an excellent job. After two years of driving around with a badly cracked windshield, it's nice to see clearly again!

I have a few more errands to run today. It's nice not to have to be anywhere or do anything except what I feel like doing! We're heading home tomorrow. I'll have him with me for a couple of weeks before he heads back to the frozen north.

Carnivals and other good reading this week -

Finding Friends appears in the Carnival of Positive Thinking at Widow’s Quest. The Change Blog has another good article, this one on “Why Self-Awareness is Fundamental to Personal Growth (and how to cultivate it)”. Also, check out “Overwhelming Workload – Yes You Can Do It!” at Empowering Mom, a good blog that I’d not stumbled across before. In this article she writes about the difficulties of balancing work and home life when you work from home.

Some Myths About Couples and Money appeared as a top ten pick in the 42nd Money Hacks Carnival at Financial Wellness Project. This is a big carnival. Tough Money Love wrote an article warning of the dangers of the cash-out re-fi in “Beware the Cash-Out Re-Finance”. Also check out The Personal Financier’s article on,”The Wine Industry: a lesson in marketing”. I detect a bit of reverse snobbery there but it is a good article.

Other good reading around the Web –

There’s a neat little video at Recycle Now that shows “Christmas Wrapping the Eco Way”, Furoshiki gift wrapping. You’ve heard tips about using fabric to wrap your gifts? This video shows you some techniques. I have a good deal of fabric leftover from my active seamstress days and am going to fabric wrap all my gifts this year. Here's my first go -

Living Almost Large wrote an excellent guest post at Sound Money Matters, which asks, “Is Money a Relationship Deal Breaker for You?”

It's 10:00am in El Paso. I guess I'd better get out of bed, get dressed and head out! This has been a lazy two days!

Does Your Spending Support Your Values?

This post appears in the 23rd Rich Life Carnival at the carnival's homepage. If you came from the carnival - welcome! I hope you will consider subscribing via RSS feed or e-mail.

This article is the second in a short series examining some of the concepts and ideas espoused by David Bach in his book, “Smart Couples Finish Rich”. The first examined some myths about couples and money. I have been re-reading Bach’s book, which came out in 2001 and feel the information contained therein is worth repeating. One of the areas Bach covers that really resonates with me is the idea of determining the true purpose of money in your life.

In order to ensure that your life values and your financial decisions align, it is very important that you know what your life values are. Bach advises sitting down as a couple and defining your values. This exercise may be harder than you think. It is important to differentiate between goals and values. Taking more vacations is a goal; freedom is a value. Taking the family to Disney World is a goal; focusing on a strong, close family is a value. Spirituality, health, helping others and security are values many of us share.

How many middle-aged men do you know who say they spent all their working life on the job 60-80 hours a week in order to provide for their family? How many middle-aged women do you know who say they’d willingly trade most of their material wealth for more time with their husbands? Most of the men would say they have strong family values. This is a classic example of financial decisions not aligning with life values. Being at work all the time does not align with the value of a strong family.

Unfortunately, as difficult as it may be for couples to come up with a list of values, it is easy to come up with a list of the stuff we want. Looking back over the stuff you’ve acquired throughout your life, how often do you later decide you no longer want that stuff; you need different stuff? Conversely, how often do you decide that you no longer want your set of values and that you need new ones? Bach advises, “The sooner you and your partner start putting your values first and your stuff second the sooner the two of you will start living a life that excites and empowers you both.”

Thank about that a little bit. If you hold up your purchases or your wishes to purchase against the light of your values, do they fit? Values aside, we all need to be clothed, but do we need to be clothed in expensive designer outfits? What value does that expensive outfit represent? Would that money be better spent in support of our family or our secure future or as a charitable donation in support of our value of helping others? Once you are aligned with your values, instead of having to motivate yourself to do the right things, you find yourself being pulled in the right direction by the power of your values. Stuff may be nice, but it rarely pulls us anywhere worthwhile. Only values can do that.

Figure out your needs and your wants. Take care of your needs and then check your wants against your values. I suspect this exercise will allow you to cross some of your wants off your list.

I know I’ve got some work to do in this area. What about you? Does your spending support the person you would like to be?

93rd Make It From Scratch Carnival

Baby, it's cold outside! Why not stay indoors and cook and craft and get your Scratch Christmas going? Here are some ideas to get you started!

Organic Makeup and Skin Care shares a couple of recipes for lip balm and lip tint in "Organic Makeup – Balms and Lipsticks". I would never have considered making either of these products at home so I was fascinated to see her recipes. I'm going to give the lip balm a try. Not quite your cup of tea? She also fills us in on a few places to buy organic lip products.

Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker was a smart girl and rescued all her green tomatoes from the frost. They've been slowly ripening and she is making up a batch of "Spaghetti Sauce from Fresh Tomatoes". I sure wish I had a batch simmering in my kitchen!

Have you lost the box to your favorite game? Craft Stew has a clever idea for producing a "Replacement Game Container". This would be a great way to package your games for a road trip.

Do you have a taste for eggnog but not for eggs? Homestead Blogger has a recipe for "Egg-less Eggnog" that uses vanilla pudding mix instead. Interesting idea.

I'm always looking for a good veggie burger recipe. Kelly from Almost Frugal Food doesn't tout her "Chickpea and Corn Patties" that way but that's what I'm going to be thinking about when I mix up a batch.

Funny About Money helps us figure out how to frame our treasures without paying the high prices in her post, "Cheap Frames". This is a follow-up post to one she did the other day on avoiding expensive custom cut mats. If you have some unframed artwork stashed away somewhere, it's time to pull it out!

Cindy has another good gift idea up at My Recycled Bags. This time she shows us how to make "Christmas Kitchen Towel Sets". She is making sets in the red, green and white of Christmas. Very cute!

Stephanie from Make It From Scratch shares a recipe for "Chocolate Covered Gifts". As far as I'm concerned, anything dipped in chocolate is the gift for me!

Stop The Ride presents a way to get your kids together to make "A Handmade Grandparent Gift". It's a cute idea that the grandparents will be proud to display every year.

Midwest Neurotica tells us "How to Make a Horseshoe" and, well, you better just go take a look!

I had to consider for awhile about including Living The Scientific Life's post. While it's not about making anything, it is a review of a book about making some very interesting things. "The Hungry Scientist Handbook: Electric Birthday Cakes, Edible Origami, and Other DIY Projects for Techies, Tinkerers, and Foodies", sounds so intriguing, I thought you might enjoy knowing about it!

Here at Simply Forties I offer Parmesan and Herb-Crusted Beef Tenderloin, which will be a star on your holiday table. Impressive as beef tenderloin is, it is a very easy dish to prepare. Give this a try at one of your holiday parties.

That's it for this week's carnival. I hope you are inspired to check out some of the projects presented here. Don't forget to promote the carnival on your on site as well as through the various social networking sites.

Next week's carnival will be hosted at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven. You can submit your entry here.

When you're done checking out all the great articles, I hope you'll look around and consider subscribing to SimplyForties via RSS feed or e-mail.

Help From My Readers...

Any ideas on how to wrap this box, which showed up on my doorstep this morning, so that it doesn't look like the 7' fishing rod it contains?!

Thanks in advance for the clever ideas I know are forthcoming!

As The Economy Goes, So Goes Recycling

This post appears in the All Things Eco carnival at Focus Organic.com. If you came from the carnival - welcome! I hope you will consider subscribing via RSS feed or e-mail.

According to a recent article on Yahoo, the recycling market is in a slump right along with the rest of the economy. That’s a bit depressing. You can read the entire article here. West Virginia’s largest recycling center, the subject of this article, has put 20 of its 24 workers on reduced hours and informed the principalities from which they accept materials that, until further notice, they will only accept paper.

Evidently, as the demand for cars, appliances and new homes has waned, so has the need for scrap, paper and steel. The article quotes the price of cardboard as dropping from $135 a ton to $35 a ton just since September. Plastic bottles have fallen from 25 cents to 2 cents a pound. Aluminum cans dropped nearly half to about 40 cents a pound, and scrap metal tumbled from $525 a gross ton to about $100. Municipalities that were riding high on revenues from the sale of their recyclables are fast approaching the need to pay for having them hauled off. Budgets written with that revenue in mind are going to experience some shortfalls, which will have to be made up somewhere.

The Washington State University Recycling Public Drop-Off Station closed in August and announced that, until further notice, they would only be accepting material from University buildings and departments.

People who were selling scrap to help put food on the table will have to find another way to make ends meet for the foreseeable future. In this economy, that may be easier said than done.

At this point several commercial recyclers are stockpiling their materials in hopes of an upturn. Unfortunately, tied to our plunging national economy, the recycling market may not rebound for some years. Hopefully the growing “Green Revolution” will be able to sustain itself in some fashion even when there is nowhere to drop off our carefully separated recyclables.

As an aside, the article mentions that “most recyclables are shipped to Asian countries that use the material to make products that are shipped back to the United States to be sold”. That doesn’t seem very green!

Be sure and check back tomorrow for the Make it From Scratch Carnival!

Parmesan and Herb-Crusted Beef Tenderloin

If last week's leg of lamb won't find a home on your holiday table, how about this special beef tenderloin? It's a beauty! You should be able to find the veal demiglace in higher end groceries and food shops or you can order it online. Remember, this is a special occasion dish. Mix up a little fresh horseradish sauce and serve any leftovers on a cold buffet the next day – delicious!

12 TO 14 SERVINGS

• Two 3-pound center-cut beef tenderloin roasts, at room temperature
  
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
  
• Salt
  
• 2 teaspoons coarsely cracked black peppercorns
  
• 2 cups fresh bread crumbs
  
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  
• 3 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
  
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme
  
• 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
  
• Freshly ground black pepper
  
• 2 cups dry red wine
  
• 2 cups veal demiglace
  
• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

Preheat the oven to 425°. Rub the tenderloins all over with olive oil and season with salt and the cracked peppercorns. Set the tenderloins on a large, heavy-gauge rimmed baking sheet, allowing space between them, and roast in the upper third of the oven for 20 minutes.

1. In a medium bowl, mix the bread crumbs with the Parmesan, anchovies, garlic, thyme and parsley. Blend in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season the crumbs with salt and pepper.
   


2. Carefully pack the bread crumbs on top of each tenderloin. Lower the oven temperature to 400° and roast the meat for about 20 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 130° for medium-rare. Using 2 long spatulas, transfer the tenderloins to a carving board and let rest for 15 minutes.
   


3. Meanwhile, set the baking sheet over 2 burners. Add the wine and bring to a simmer over moderately high heat, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Strain the wine into a medium saucepan and simmer over high heat until reduced to 1/2 cup. Whisk in the veal demiglace and bring to a boil; simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the sauce stand for 5 minutes. Whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, and season the sauce with salt and pepper.
   


4. Using a gentle sawing motion, carve the beef tenderloins into 1/2-inch-thick slices and serve, passing the remaining sauce at the table.
   

MAKE AHEAD The herbed bread crumbs can be refrigerated overnight. Let the bread crumbs return to room temperature before proceeding.

I'll be hosting the Make it From Scratch Carnival here on Tuesday. Do you have a good recipe or a homemade gift idea, why not submit it here? The deadline is midnight tonight to be included in Tuesday's carnival.

End of The Season Roundup

This is the last weekend of deer hunting season in upstate New York. Time to pack it up for another year. When I was up in New York in October I set up an Excel spreadsheet for my boyfriend, who is the club treasurer, to use to track the accounts of the club. At the time I was a little concerned that he might not keep up with it and that computerizing their accounting might end up being a disaster. As it turns out, he has been conscientious about entering all the information weekly and is happy with the system. I set up the spreadsheet to do all sorts of calculations. Now that the season is just about over they know, for the first time in nearly sixty years, that the way they charge club members for beer, food and lodging actually nets them a tidy profit. Saturday night they will have the drawing for the raffle winner on the last fundraiser. My boyfriend bought me a ticket and I’m hoping to win the $2,500 prize. Wouldn’t that be a great way to fund Christmas?!

Carnivals and other good reading!

“What Kind of Shopper Are You?” appears in the 21st Rich Life Carnival. Be sure and read “Five Reasons to be Grateful for Difficult People in Your Life” at Purpose Power Coaching. Massage Therapy Careers has a good list of “50 Health and Beauty Products You Can Make at Home”. If you are a regular reader you know that I’ve been experimenting with homemade products. I’m going to try some things on this list.

Long Distance Relationships appears in Advice for Women from Women. Donna Friedman at SmartSpending, an MSN Money blog, has an excellent article, “What if a friend were losing her home?”, on helping each other. If you have children in daycare, MoneyNing wrote about Dependent Day Care FSA’s. I didn’t even know they existed. “14 Funky Ways to Calm Your Nerves Consistently” at Rejuvenation Lounge has some great ways to settle yourself during this hectic holiday season.

Pricing Shenanigan at Circuit City appears in Corporate Vigilance.

How Do We Say No? appears in the huge 1st Edition of the Carnival of Personal Development at Insight Writer. A very good Stress Relief Guide can be found at the The Change Blog.

Herb Crusted Leg of Lamb with Garlic Roasted Baby Potatoes appears in the 92nd Make It From Scratch Carnival at I’ve Got a Little Space to Fill. Penny at Walking Upside Down has a huge long list of homemade Christmas ideas that you should check out if you are cutting back this year. Homesteader Belle has a good recipe for homemade laundry detergent. I have all the ingredients and am going to give this project a try as soon as I run out of the store-bought stuff. Finally, Brighthaven Times shows how to make your own bird treats. These things regularly sell in the catalogs for $10 or more each. I may even give the birds a happy Christmas this year! I will be hosting this fun carnival next Tuesday and am really looking forward to it!

Looking for cheap housing in hard times? Check out “Hand-Build an Earth Sheltered House for $5,000”. It’s just about the neatest little hobbit house I’ve ever seen! What a resourceful young couple.

Some Myths about Couples and Money

This article appears as a top ten selection in the 42nd Money Hacks Carnival at Financial Wellness Project. If you came from the carnival - welcome! I hope you will consider subscribing via RSS feed or e-mail.

Recently I've been re-reading David Bach's, "Smart Couples Finish Rich" and find it to be every bit as good today as when it came out in 2001. A few things have changed but overall it is still very topical and relevant. Instead of formally reviewing it, I thought I'd take a closer look at some of his ideas in what will be a series of short posts, of which this one will be the first.

Myth No. 1 – If we love each other, we won't fight about money

I hope no one who is a grown up actually thinks this is true. Love and money don't really have anything to do with each other. You can have all the love in the world for someone but if you have different ideas about how to handle money, you will fight about it. If you value money differently you will have problems. If you spend money differently, you will have problems. If you don't understand and accommodate each other's feelings about money you will have problems. As the divorce rate shows, love actually doesn't conquer all.

Myth No. 2 – It takes money to make money

Thanks to the magic of compound interest, you can take very little money, stash it away in an interest bearing vehicle and, over time, make a great deal of money. Believing in this myth will give you a very defeatist attitude about saving. To illustrate the power of compound interest, take a look at the following chart showing daily, monthly and yearly investments suggested in order to build a million dollars at 12% by age 65:

Starting Age	Daily Savings	Monthly Savings	Yearly Savings
20	$2	$61	$730
25	$3.57	$109	$1304
30	$6.35	$193	$2317
35	$11.35	$345	$4144
40	$20.55	$625	$7500
45	$38.02	$1157	$13879
50	$73.49	$2235	$26,824
55	$156.12	$4749	$56,984

While the figures for starting at 50 or 55 are a bit daunting, the rest are bordering on that latté factor, for which David Bach is famous. Let's face it, twenty dollars a day is that coffee and a muffin at Starbucks and lunch out. Another way to look at it, $20 a day at 10% interest will get you a million dollars in 27 years. That's not actually all that long and twenty dollars a day can be pretty painless if you think about your spending. Since we're talking about couples; that's only $10 a day each! I realize the market has tanked but 10-12% interest is historically a pretty reasonable rate of return.

"Most people overestimate what they can do financially in a year and underestimate what they can achieve financially over a few decades."

Myth No. 3 – If we don't talk about money, everything will work out okay.

How? According to the American Association of Retired Persons, only one in five baby boomers has more than $25,000 in assets. That's a pretty scary statistic. How did that happen? Up until recently the economy was booming. Clearly too much spending and not enough saving was going on. The only way to get your financial house in order is talk with your partner about money. A lot of people grew up with the idea that talking about money was taboo. Parents did not talk to each other about money and they certainly did not talk about money with their children. That has got to change. Smart couples talk about money all the time. Couples who make a financial plan and work together to achieve it will be happier. It is terribly important to talk with your partner and find out how they feel about money. The idea is not to blame and chastise but to examine where you are financially and where you would like to be.

What about you? Any myths about money that you have debunked? Are you and your partner working as a team to reach your financial goals? How did you get started?

Bloggers Unite - Children and AIDS

UNICEF recently reported, “in 2007, it was estimated that 2.1 million children under 15 years old were living with HIV, 290,000 children died of AIDS and 420,000 children were newly infected. Over 15 million children under 18 have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and millions more have been made vulnerable. Children affected by HIV and AIDS may experience poverty, homelessness, school drop-out, discrimination, loss of life opportunity, and early death.” Those are shocking statistics.

Nine out of ten children living with HIV live in Sub-Saharan Africa, the region of the world where AIDS has taken its greatest toll. Large numbers of children with HIV also live in the Caribbean, Latin America and South/South East Asia. Around 90% of all children living with HIV acquired the infection from their mothers during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding. Many countries that had previously seen child-survival rates rise, as a result of improved healthcare, are now seeing these rates fall again. In Botswana and Zimbabwe, for instance, child mortality rates have nearly doubled since 1990.

Lest you think this is an issue that does not directly affect us here in the United States, AIDS has been the sixth leading cause of death in the United States among 15- to 24-year-olds since 1991. Children with HIV are at higher risk for some forms of cancer because of their weakened immune systems. Once a child is infected with HIV, they face a high chance of illness and death unless they can successfully be provided with treatment. HIV treatment for children slows the progress of HIV infection and allows infected children to live much longer, healthier lives. Sadly, an estimated 90% of children worldwide who could be benefiting from this therapy are not receiving it. A major problem is that few appropriate drugs are available. Young children ideally need to be given drugs in the form of syrups or powders, because they cannot swallow tablets. Unfortunately, most of the drugs that work well in children are only available as tablets. As a result, caregivers are often forced to break adult tablets into smaller doses for their children, which can lead to children being given too little or too much of a drug.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in America was once concentrated mainly in the gay populations on the East and West coasts. However, in recent years AIDS has become increasingly prevalent within black and Latino communities in many Southern states. The map on the left shows which states had the highest number of people living with AIDS in 2005, relative to the population of each state.
(Brown = highest concentration, light yellow = lowest).

The 2009 budget request for HIV/AIDS domestic spending is estimated at just over $18 billion. Of this, roughly 68 percent is for care, 15 percent for research, 10 percent for cash and housing assistance, and 4 percent for prevention. Although spending on the domestic HIV epidemic has risen in recent years, many AIDS organizations say it remains inadequate. Cash shortages are particularly severe in Southern states, where the epidemic is newer, and funding has not yet been allocated to reflect the increase in cases. Recent changes to the Ryan White CARE Act were designed to address this problem, but have met with strong opposition from those in higher prevalence areas, who have suffered cuts in federal funding to pay for improved services in the South.

Although biases against helping people who are infected with HIV/AIDS through lifestyle choices still exist, clearly children are the innocent victims of this epidemic and they must be helped. Raising money to help treat children with HIV/AIDS is critical. Education is also key. If you would like to get involved in helping children with AIDS, listed below are some resources. Hit Google and you will uncover hundreds more.

Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS

Save the Children

Avert

PEPFAR

UNICEF