Furniture Capital of the World

High Point, NC has long billed itself as the furniture capital of the world. In the past, the city and many surrounding cities built alot of furniture. Among the cities are Thomasville and Lexington--very popular names in the furniture business. Well, something that grew and maintains somewhat today is what we call Furniture Market. They have two markets a year, one in April and one in October. The market has been known to pull around 80,000 people to a city that only boasts about 95,000 to 100,000 residents. People come from all over the world and definitely from all over the U.S. There are buyers and sellers from many companies big and small. Also, twice a year they have premarkets that bring in people before the actual markets start. This of course brings a ton of money to our area. They are other furniture markets held around the country, but we are told that we are consistently the largest and best.

Well, it is that time of the year for the spring market. People have been gradually arriving in the area. The economy has been slowing the last few markets down and alot of the manufacturers and stores around here have either gone out of business or shipped themselves overseas. That's not to say that alot of companies are not left. Although the manufacturers are leaving, many businesses still house the furniture here and ship it out through the country. Of course, with that many people arriving in town the local restaurants and hotels see a huge increase in business.

I have been lucky enough to have a connection to a restaurant that I worked at for many years. I started there when I was 18! I have done every job imaginable there from waiting tables, cooking, bartending and even a stint as the manager.The place is called Austin's Steakhouse. Well, many times they ask me to come back and work the markets which ends being about 10 to 12 days of night shifts. The place is only a couple of miles away from the hustle and bustle of the downtown market activity. Lots of times I have made great money. I remember one market making about $200 to $250 a night-awesome!! Most years you can count on $100 a night. The last couple of markets have been much lower- $37, $27, $68, and last night I made $105 waiting tables. We still have about a week to go, so maybe things will be more consistent. Either way, I am just happy to be seeing some money come my way.

Container Garden

I bought a bunch of seeds, some fertilizer, and the container in the last picture all on sale at Kmart.I then recycled some older containers(some not shown here) to start the seeds off in, and I made a wooden frame to start some of the vegetables off. I hope to start a good mix of flowers and vegetables here. It looks like I am off to a decent start! As you can see, some of the seeds are already beginning to sprout. I have always enjoyed doing yard work and some landscaping. I have planted flowers many times and a couple of trees and bushes with pretty good success. I posted about trying cucumbers last year. They didn't do well at all. I have often thought about trying a garden, and I thought this would be an easy way to start one. By the way, the plant in the middle is one I have had for many years.I actually have three in my house right now. My mom used to have these in her house. I like them and they always remind me of her. She even planted a garden a couple of times and did pretty well. But about the plant, it is so easy to start a new plant from a clipping off of the original plant. You can just clip a piece off and pretty much stick it in some dirt and it will start growing. I decided to try and start two more! Maybe I will hang these on the front porch! If you guys have any tips on what I should be doing for my container garden, I will gladly listen. I will need all the advice I can get!

No Great Deals--but Still Got Some Free Items!!

I guess I got pumped up from the great Purex deal--by the way I heard that they stopped the promo(I got lucky on that one!!). So I was reading The Thrifty Mama , and saw all these great deals at Target and something to look into at Walgreens and CVS. So Ryan and I made a day of it, along with our trip to the gym. We then hit Hardees for a burger--only because I had a BOGO free Little Thickburger. That cost about $2.50! Then we drove across the street to see the Paul Blart-Mall Cop movie at the $1 movie theatre.By the way, it was a little corny, but great for only a dollar! It cost a $1!! Ryan was free! I am going to just post my comment on Thrifty Mama's site--some of it kinda shorthand, because it seemed to be a long post...Here that is:


Ok --my experience today in Target--I saw all these great deals, and thought, hey, I have to try. I most wanted to get the Aveeno products. Ok, so I signed up and I got the 3 coupons fine--I figured out that if you hit the back button on your browser, you could actually print them a second time. At Target--only found small tubes of lotion for $2.99 each---grabbed 3.Cashier tried to scan--computer wouldnt let her do something--she called supervisor over, and he said since they werent the "ageless" they couldnt do it. Ok, so I went to another Target--didnt even have anything for that cheap!
Axe trial size--grabbed 2. Got those for free.
Printed salad ones.No Super Targets here-some food--but no salad--
Printed one coupon for the mac bowls on the target coupons--coupon.com must have taken the coupon off for the mac.Didnt get that.
Dry Idea was on sale for $2--bought 2 for my girlfriend(free)--hope she will use it
Hersheys Bliss--nothing marked down--both stores were $3.56, so I didnt buy that
Wanted fruit snacks--looked by register--couldnt find them

Sorry for the long comment--just wanted to say alot of that must be regional-I only came away with 2 deoderants and two trial body washes. But I saved $9.68 there.

Then at CVS I bought the SOBE Lifewater --4 of them for only 6 cents. I combined the stores BOGO together with the manufacturer coupon of BOGO. I saved $5.96 there!

CVS Savings--Free Again!!

Thanks to DealSeekingMom.com I ran across this deal. You can go on Coupons.com and see if the coupon is available in your area. On the site you should look for a coupon that has Purex for Buy One, Get One Free(BOGO) up to a $7 value. You can print two by pushing the back button on your browser after you print the first one. Then you can go to CVS, which is currently running its' own BOGO at its' stores. I technically got all four items, valued at $6.99 each for a total savings of $27.96, for FREE!! The only catch was that I had to pay the tax on the items. It came to a grand total of 94 cents!! That's what I call a great deal!

I want to note a couple of things. I didnt even know you could double up the BOGO store and manufacturer deals like this. And I must admit, that I was a little worried if it was actually going to work. Everything went smooth though, and I came out feeling great! Also, I am usually one of those people that have to stick to one name brand for washing powders. I have always used Gain . However, when items are free like this, how can you not try other products? One other thing I noticed is that to me the bottles seem small. But as you can see on the picture, two of them will do 32 loads and the other two will do 24 loads. Its all about saving money and when it comes free--trust me, I can't complain!!

Entrepreneur Corner--Bob Parsons- The Man Behind GoDaddy.com

Have you seen the commercials? GoDaddy's most known ones usually appear on Super Bowl Day. Sexual inuendo and appeal, celebrity, and sports are used to promote a site that mainly registers new domain names. We all have seen that! But do you know anything about the man behind the successful business/website?

The man seems to have been an over achiever all of his life.Here is some info about him from his own blog.Bob Parsons is the CEO and Founder of The Go Daddy Group, Inc. Parsons joined the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and received the Combat Action Ribbon, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and a Purple Heart Medal. Upon his return, Parsons enrolled in the University of Baltimore where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. He is a Certified Public Accountant.

A serial entrepreneur, Parsons’ first endeavor was Parsons Technology, a software company he started in his basement in 1984, after teaching himself how to write computer programs. After creating the company’s initial software, MoneyCounts and Personal Tax Edge, Parsons used direct mail marketing to sell these and subsequent products.

When Parsons Technology was sold to Intuit, Inc. in 1994 for $64 million dollars, the company had nearly 1,000 employees, $100 million in annual revenue and three million customers. At the time, Parsons Technology sold more than 100 products, was releasing a new product or significant product upgrade every six days, and was sending more than six million pieces of direct marketing mail each month.

In 1997, Parsons started Jomax Technologies, using funds from the sale of Parsons Technology. He renamed the company Go Daddy in 1999, and in 2000, Go Daddy became an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar.To read more click here.

Also, Bob has built his company through sponsoring celebrities and having commercial endorsements in racing like Danica Patrick. Also in Nascar, GoDaddy has been sponsoring Dale Earnhardt, Jr and his driver Brad Keselowski in cup races and in the Nationwide series.

Interestingly, Bob has 16 rules that he has followed since he was a humble youth through to his huge success today.Here are the first six. Click on this link to read the rest.




1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone.
I believe that not much happens of any significance when we're in our comfort zone. I hear people say, "But I'm concerned about security." My response to that is simple: "Security is for cadavers."

2. Never give up.
Almost nothing works the first time it's attempted. Just because what you're doing does not seem to be working, doesn't mean it won't work. It just means that it might not work the way you're doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn't have an opportunity.

3. When you’re ready to quit, you’re closer than you think.
There's an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed."

4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be.
Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of "undefined consequences." My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, "Well, Robert, if it doesn't work, they can't eat you."

5. Focus on what you want to have happen.
Remember that old saying, "As you think, so shall you be."

6. Take things a day at a time.
No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don't look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

The New Tourney Town--Greensboro Coliseum Rakes in Millions

The city of Greensboro, centrally located in North Carolina, has something to be proud of. First of all, the Gate City is located about an hour and half each way from the state's two biggest cities. Charlotte is on one side and our state capital ,Raleigh,is located towards the eastern side. Greensboro still has a long way to go before it catches the likes of these two big cities in population and prestige. However, one way Greensboro is carving its' own identity is with its coliseum. The city is lucky to have had the foresight nearly 50 years ago to conceive this complex and actually implement the idea. Tim Rice, in our Greensboro News & Record, reported that the coliseum has drawn in hundreds of millions of dollars to our area.

The city hosted the Women's ACC Tournament recently and then hosted the first two rounds of the Men's NCAA Tournament. Those two events filled our town's hotel's and restaurant's and the total economic impact was estimated at $23 to $25 million. Attendance records were set for both events. The women's tourney mark was set at 73,187 and the men had the highest attendance of any 1st and 2nd round site at 62,711. Rice is hoping along with the rest of us that we earn the title of "Tourney Town".

Basketball has been great, but the coliseum has pulled in big numbers in the music area as well. Concerts like Bon Jovi,The Eagles, The Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen, and an upcoming sold out Taylor Swift have come or are still coming and people are showing up in droves. Also, Greensboro landed the 2011 U.S. Figure Skating Championships that will bring in thousands from around the country and should yield an estimated $30 million impact. The coliseum has been hosting 750 to 850 events a year, and the city thinks we can still do better.

The city has an approved swim center through a bond referendum that should be started in the near future, and it will possibly be located on the coliseum property. Also, the proposed ACC Hall of Champions might be built on the site. $2 million has already been awarded by the state for this project.

As you can see, Greensboro, has done a good job in promoting itself through the help of the coliseum. But I ask, what will it take to be great? What will it take to have Greensboro mentioned in the same breath as other large cities across our nation? It takes leadership and planning! We have to build on what we have done but not stop there. When the economy rebounds, Greensboro might be able to position itself to make a charge. The coliseum can only help!

Gardening 101-Grow 100 lbs. of Potatoes in 4 Square Feet

I always have enjoyed working out in the yard. I like to landscape, mow, trim bushes, and to plant and grow flowers. The flowers have always turned out pretty well and with not a lot of effort. It's amazing what a little color and curb appeal can do for a home as well. Along this same line, I have often thought about growing a few vegetables. A small garden, nothing too big.Being raised in the city, gardens are not as common.However, my mom had done one before. Also, when I was a child my next door neighbors--considerably older(The Cannon's)-- They had a garden that I remember my brother and I taking an interest in. Anyway last year I decided to buy a few cucumber plants from the local Lowes. I planted them in a flower bed, in a corner kind of by themselves. They seemed to start out really well. The vines seemed to take off within a matter of weeks. I gave them some Miracle Grow and plenty of water. After a while, you could see little flowers emerge. My girlfriend's mom told me that when you see them that the cucumbers should be coming next. Shortly thereafter, I did see a couple of cucumbers growing. It was exciting! I mean you just put a few plants in the dirt and,voila, up comes something you grew and could eat. It never happened though because for some reason they started to wilt and to die off. I think we got a lot of rain at one point. Could that be why, too much water?? Either way, that was my first try at gardening and it didn't work out too well. Does anybody have any tips on what a novice could grow?

Well, I haven't given completely up on the idea of growing something. Now times are desperate and it would be great to save a few more dollars and to get more healthy choices in our kitchen. Anyway, that brings me to why I wrote about this topic. Yesterday, I was surfing the Internet and ran across LifeHacker's website. The site had a great post on how to grow potatoes. It seems easy for a novice like me, and something that I might try.


Excerpt:
Potatoes seem like the kind of plant you'd need a substantial garden for—the kind your grandparents had, right? Actually, tubers aren't all that picky, and you can harvest a whole lot from almost any yard. Check out the rest of the story here. This was submitted to the site by a Jason Fitzpatrick. However, he referenced the info from another source, The Seattle Times, here.

CVS--A Coupon Adventure;All Free!!

I am still watching our spending and trying to save money when possible. I look at other coupon blogs and see where the deals are at. They will tell you the store, the sale price, and where to look for the coupons. There just happens to be a CVS right by the gym I work out at, so it is convenient to stop in. You can see the five items I bought tonight. As the title says, all free! How about them apples!

Pringles--88 cents on sale a piece(reg $1.99) ---I had a buy 2, get a $1 off coupon=76 cents total

Colgate Toothpaste--$2.99--CVS gave $2 ECB's(like $2 coupon on next purchase)75 cents coupon= 24 cents total

Shick Int Razors(for girlfriend)--$9.99 a piece--BOGO also Buy One Get One Free--1 coupon for $4 off each one- $1.99 total price

I had some ECB's left from a previous visit- I used six dollars worth of ECB's to pay and I still have $5 worth ECB's left---using those CVS credits brought my total to zero! How about that, not too bad for a dad! If you haven't noticed, razors can cost you an arm and a leg these days so I am always looking for great deals on them(as you can see, this was one of them).

Lil Rascals-Future David Beckham!

Tonight after hitting the gym, Ryan and I headed out to his third soccer practice. He had his first game ever this past Saturday. Today was the first time we have practiced outside, because for the last two weeks it has rained on practice day. It was still cool tonight, but I bundled him up and practice went great.

13 Innovative Ways to Stimulate the Economy

Aol Story Here is some food for thought in new ways to stimulate the economy that I read on AOL.

Brainstorming for a Better Economy
Politicians and policy wonks have been working overtime to come up with ways to stimulate the economy. But many of their best ideas -- from investing in infrastructure, to cutting taxes, to bailing out banks -- seem pretty stale by now.

T.Boone Pickens-- Part 2-- The Energy Plan

Mr. Pickens has an energy plan that he has been promoting since the last presidential election in the USA. This is a man who has made billions. He has also given away millions of dollars in his lifetime to various charities and his Alma mater. Indeed, he is a man that should be listened to. Lately he has been promoting alternative energy sources such as his favorite, natural gas. Its his choice for America's future as a fuel choice. He promotes starting with the countries transportation systems like buses and garbage trucks. He also likes electric/hybrid, ethanol, and solar power as options. He makes a valid point in asking about where the source of electricity comes from, noting that it is not cheap to produce. Other interesting points of note in the book is dealing with water. As with oil, water is also finite. An estimate is that roughly 75% of the Earth is water. Only 1% of that is deemed drinkable! Lots of countries have scarcity issues as well as clean water issues. We have even seen drought issues here in the United States recently. We all know that wars have been fought over oil, and he claims that wars of the next century could be fought over water. He states that water will get more valuable and that its prices will go up. As populations increase, so does the problem with water.Next up we need to think of energy sources such as wind power. Pickens built the largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle. Wind is a clean energy source, its readily available, domestic, and a renewable natural resource. Wind power does not create any pollution! The one downside is the way they look. The turbines themselves can be 330 feet tall to the hub-the center of the blades from the ground. Then you can add another 150 feet or more from the hub to the tips of the blades. One can be the equivalent in size of a 48 story building. All of the above mentioned topics are a part of The Pickens Plan. As you can see, I will not be going into too much detail, but here are some of the main points of his plan.

Pickens thinks that the number one priority is to have leadership whose mandate is to make reducing America's reliance on foreign oil our number one national priority. The cost to do business with other countries when buying their oil could undermine the U.S.'s position as a superpower. Basically, we are at their mercy in situations like this. He also says that developing alternative fuels is not about cleaning up the environment. For him, alternative energy will help America achieve it's national energy security. He is pushing in his plan wind power as the solution for our current energy woes. Government needs to subsidize wind and solar power in his opinion. Wind can generate 20% of U.S. electricity in less than ten years. If we take much longer, like 2030, our country could be bankrupt. One 3- megawatt wind turbine can produce the same amount of energy in a year as 12,000 barrels of imported oil. Wind and solar corridors could generate 20 to 40% of the nation's electricity. He believes we should be pushing natural gas next and then clean coal. Natural gas, again, should be used for our transportation systems.Also, he recommends stepping up Nuclear Power to a new level. He says that our federal government has to push this plan. They can't just stand back or let the usual slow bureaucratic way of doing things stop us or slow us down from creating some alternatives. We all know that the federal government has a way of bringing great plans to a screeching halt. We have to remember that these new energies will produce new jobs and revitalize towns and the United States as a whole. Job growth , a larger tax base,then leading to housing construction--all will be results of pushing this plan.Do we need to wait until the situation is dire?Pickens has a plan ;at least we should give it or something like it a chance.Do people have to suffer through price gouging and inflation and death in wars before we will do something? Can America stand strong and lead the nation and the world again into a new era?

UNC rolls to title, rips Spartans 89-72

Congratulations to the Carolina Tarheels! They came out firing on all cylinders in the first half and put Michigan State away easily. UNC scored at will and used a variety of players to do so. Ty Lawson scored 21 points and had 8 steals to lead the Heels. He was awarded the player of the game award. Tyler Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington had great games as well. Coach Roy Williams lead a Carolina team to a national title game win two times in five years. Can you say, show me the money! Plus he will be hailed as one of the best college coaches ever in the game. Michigan's economy is in the pits and many had said if the Spartans won that it could help boost their economy. Seems a little too much to hope for! However, there was a record crowd of over 72,000 and that had to help the economy some in that area. Back to the Tarheels...I'm not sure what Carolina will look like next year with the graduation of Hansbrough. You have to think that Lawson, Ellington, Deon Thompson, and Danny Green might try to head off to the NBA with Tyler after winning all that college ball has to offer. We could hope that they all would return to try for a repeat!It's only a game but for the team it has been an incredible year!

Entrepreneur Corner--T. Boone Pickens

A couple of weeks ago I finished reading a book about a famous Texan named T. Boone Pickens. He is a self made billionaire and the title of the book is "The First Billion is the Hardest". Can you imagine? And I thought the first $50,000(or less) was the hardest! Anyway, if you like to learn and want to find some insight to a man that has made billions, you might want to read about this man and his story.He is after all the 117th richest person in America! I had never really heard of him until around the presidential election when he was running commercials in support of his new energy plan for America. I will post about that plan specifically in the next posting. Isn't it so great in this country to know that their is so much money to go around? I mean their are literally dozens of billionaires now that I and I imagine others that have never heard of them. That's on top of the multimillionaires and millionaires.

Pickens, in his 80's, is still at it. He's amassed a fortune over the years in many different ways. He started in oil founding an oil company that would later become Mesa Petroleum. He expanded by acquiring other oil companies. This led him into mergers and acquisitions. Later in life, he started BP Capital Management and he is currently the chair of a couple of hedge funds. He has also acquired rights to a lot of water in Texas, acknowledging that water is limited and that one day a premium price will be charged to get it. He also has interests in natural gas. He formed another company in 1997,Pickens Fuel Corp, and promotes natural gas as the best alternative fuel for vehicles. Right now he is concentrating on powering the country's transportation systems. He sees it as cleaner-burning and a major plus is that it reduces foreign oil consumption. The company was aptly renamed Clean Energy in 2001. The company now owns and runs natural gas fueling stations from British Columbia to the Mexican border.



Although it was great to see what a man can accomplish, I enjoyed reading about the man behind the companies. His grandma taught him the value of a dollar and he tries to be frugal in his life and in his businesses. He has even resoled the same pair of penny loafers since 1957. Also in the book, he tries to pass on some lessons. One is that you should always think like an owner. You have to remember that shareholders of a company are the real owners of a company. You must remember that management, and that includes CEO's, are just employees. He noted that he had found that top execs in oil companies had spent their entire working lives at one company. They avoided what in Pickens mind is the difference between success and failure. That is taking risks! He thinks that too many execs are more concerned with the 4 P's than with making profits for shareholders. The 4 P's are pay, perks, power, and prestige. He also makes the point that an owner or a CEO that doesn't own a significant amount of stock in his own company or the one he runs, does not represent their company well. How can others believe in a company if the owner or CEO doesn't?

Their are many lessons in this book for entrepreneurs. The first lesson he offers up is one I have heard before. A big deal takes just as much time as a little deal! Of course if you have never put together any "deals" before, it makes it harder to start big in my opinion. He says to do what you know best. If you have worked at a car lot all of your life, then try to start a small used car lot for example. Entrepreneurs put their money at risk. Only with risk will the greatest jobs and profits come! As a business owner you need to surround yourself with employees smarter than you in all areas of the company. Just like a sports team you need varied ages, backgrounds, and experience to make your biz well rounded. You need some rookies and some veterans! You need a mix of skills, each with their own strength. Pickens notes that a team comprised of only all- stars rarely shines. As an owner you need to lead but also listen! Developing a rapport with employees will be in your best interest.A leader encourages teamwork and keeps people focused on the future.

In life Mr. Pickens has something for us to think about too. He talks about depression and its four main triggers. They are losing a job, moving out of your home, divorce, and the death of a family member or a close friend. He also says many great things about maintaining health. He says, as we should all know, that no amount of money, success, or fame can raise a body from a bed or turn fat into muscle. He determined a number of years ago that he would recommit himself to physical fitness. He says that Arnold Schwarzenegger once said that weights in a gym never care about how rich or famous you are. Only constant and aggressive exercise can keep a human being young and fit. He says that exercise increases stamina and concentration. That means you will be able to get a lot more done and have more energy. In his 80's, I was surprised to find that it seems like his workouts are tougher than the ones I have been putting myself through lately. He has a personal trainer that really pushes him! Incredible right?--more fit than most half his age. He also that the way to live your life is with engagement,involvement, and constant action.He even gave Mesa employees , his first company,YMCA memberships. Later he would build a company gym. He believes in corporate wellness programs. He says that these programs have paid for themselves in health care savings in three years. He says that you should build team spirit by coaching your players to work together. He notes that everyone is a player and that no one is a superstar. He likens the workplace to football and he is the coach. He says that you don't manage, you should lead. People tend to follow your lead if you set a good example. You need to show loyalty and pay your employees well. Give them the best equipment and the best working environment. In the end, you will get rewarded with a low employee turnover rate.

As you can see their is a lot to learn from this man. As mentioned earlier, he is still working and earning money in his 80's. At this point, he shows no signs of slowing down either. He is now pushing another "big deal" potentially worth millions to his own bottom line, The Pickens Plan. I read in an interview, I believe in Fortune Magazine, that many say he just pushing his own agenda. What I like is that he didn't back away from it. He readily admitted that he would earn money if America could switch to alternative energy sources. However, he says, and I tend to agree, so what? The plan is ultimately in the best interest of our country. If he makes money, so what! Trust me someone is going to make money no matter if you use his plan or someone else's. At this point, don't we agree that something needs to be done to protect America and lessen its dependency on foreign oil and offer new alternative methods to creating energy?At least he is offering up a plan--I dont see our federal government stepping up yet now or when Mr. Bush was president!.... Mr. Boone's Energy Plan will be discussed in the next post!

How Bout Them Heels??

UNC defeats Villanova 83 - 69! Next up in the finals, Carolina will take on Michigan State. This is it baby! Carolina Tarheels-- Monday night!

In other news, Ryan played in his first soccer game today! Although the weather climbed into the 70's about 4 or 5 today, the Lil Rascals played at 11am when it was about 60 degrees. The wind was blowing viciously and with a chill that probably made it feel like 45 degrees. These were 3 and 4 year olds--Ryan will be 3 Tuesday--, so the moments of brilliance were minimal. That's OK though, it was fun! If only we could keep distractions like the playground invisible!! The kids were cool in all black!! And I ,as the dad, got to break in the new samsung camcorder. Next we grabbed some lunch, and headed to his birthday party! It was a small family party themed with Batman. Man does this little boy always rack up! I can remember many birthdays not getting one gift!

Weekend Plans--Soccer & Birthdays

Saturday Heather and I will be taking Ryan to his first soccer game at 11 and at 2 we will be having his birthday party. He will actually be 3 on April 7th and coincidentally I will be 35 on April 11th(too old-lol). We are super excited about the game, although it will probably be chaotic at best!Its all about fun at this age! The weather here tomorrow is supposed to be in the 70's. That will be great since we have been getting alot of rain lately. His first two practices were held indoors because of the rain. Then tomorrow night Carolina takes on Villanova in the second game of the Final Four. You know I will be glued in front of a TV then! Go heels!!

Sunday we were thinking about taking him to an Easter Egg hunt. This will be his first time doing that. I know he would love it! I just think there might be too many kids there-yikes!

What Can we expect for our Kids?

Earlier this week J.D. over at Get Rich Slowly ran a guest post of Chett Daniel's regarding the world of personal finance through the eyes of a 4th grader. There was a lot of discussion on his site about the level of financial knowledge students currently have, and what should be done to change it. Check out the original post at Get Rich Slowly ,"What 4th Graders Know". Chett then left a followup post on his own site 5k5k , a site that I like because it combines two of my favorite subjects--Health and Wealth( By the way should that be the name of my next site--TriadHealthandWealth??--I want to combine fitness and wealth uniquely.)

Chett's follow up post can be found here! He also found two great videos on kids consumerism on YouTube. I am going to post the first one here on my site. It is all very interesting! Hope you find it interesting as well!

Scavenger nation: How to save money and skip a full-time job

This article was written by Vanessa Richardson on Walletpop. I thought it was interesting and showed a radical way to save money and to provide food for thought.


That's what Kristan Lawson and Anneli Rufus do -- they routinely burrow through dumpsters and piles of stuff left on sidewalks. The couple, married for 20 years and living in the Bay Area, write books to pay the bills (and put a roof over their heads for they do own a house), but their full-time job is scavenging. ...One Man's Trash

Ramit Sethi's "I Will Teach You to be Rich"

Mr. Sethi just wrote and released the book , I Will Teach You to be Rich. He is a recent Stanford graduate and lives in the San Franscisco area. I haven't read the book, but I have read good things about it on site's like J.Money's site, Budgets Are Sexy. Anyway, since I read about the book I decided to check out his website. He posted a funny video about being frugal. I don't see anything wrong with being frugal, but some people say that being frugal is not a good thing. Either way, you can get a good laugh from the video. Here's the link... Frugal Video. I couldn't figure out how to post it directly on my page, but maybe that's the way he wanted it!