Have you ever been out of work for a week, a month, even longer? Do you wish you could buy foods ONLY when they are on sale and with coupons? Do you wish you had a stockpile of grains now that the prices are getting so high?
I have the answer for you and it is called food storage! Food storage to me is similar to an emergency fund and can be split into two components as well, short term food storage and long term food storage. There are financial benefits to both types of food storage.
Short Term Food Storage
Your short term food storage consists of getting a 3 month stockpile of foods that you eat on a day to day basis. Once you have this in place you can start to grocery shop from your food storage and only replenish those items when they go on sale and/or you have coupons. This will actually reduce your grocery budget as you will only buy things that are deeply discounted. But those few dollars a month will not mean as much to you as the food will if you have a short term emergency. For example, my husband took a pay cut for several months and we were able to spend less than HALF of our usual grocery budget for those months because we had stockpiled so much of our every day foods.
Long Term Food Storage
Your long term food storage consists of getting a year’s supply worth of life-sustaining foods that have a long shelf-life. You probably won’t be rotating through this food as much since it will be items such as wheat, white rice, dried beans, powdered milk, etc. But since the shelf life is so long you can gradually purchase the items when they are on sale and work up to a year’s supply. If you only have to replace some things after 10, 15, 20 years it will not be a huge damper on your monthly budget. If you get brave enough to start using your long term food storage items you can save some money in the short term.
Homemade bread is significantly cheaper than store-bought, especially if you grind your own wheat. Making other items from scratch such as muffins, pancakes, etc. can also save you money over buying packaged items. In times of economic trouble you can rely on your food storage for long periods of time while other people are begrudging the high prices of rice and wheat. Prices will most likely come down before you deplete your stores. And finally if a major disaster, economic melt-down, or other long-term emergency were to occur, you can feel confident that your family will be able to survive with basic food and water for quite some time.
By: Jodi Moore
Posts Tagged ‘Money’
Why Food Storage Should Be Part of Your Financial Plan
February 2nd, 2010Fees Or Commissions in Financial Planning, Which is Better? Or is That the Right Question?
February 1st, 2010
Until 15 years ago, when you dealt with a financial advisor (regardless of whether they called themselves a stockbroker, investment executive, financial planner, etc.) you paid a commission for a transaction. Of course, you desired to get some very good advice before making a transaction.
But the fee-based business has grown where the advisor does not charge you for transactions, but rather an annual fee for handling your portfolio or an hourly fee for advice. Fee based advisors say that commission advisors have an incentive to sell something to generate a commission. Commission based advisors ask why you should pay a continuous fee if your portfolio remains unchanged or loses money for long periods of time?
Who’s right? I contend that this question is not the important question. How you pay an advisor is far less important than many other factors.
When you work with a trustworthy advisor, how you pay them is a matter of which system makes sense for you and will not be determinate of the level of happiness and comfort that you have with your investments. Both the commission based and fee-based advisor can obtain and recommend the same or nearly identical investments to you.
That being said, here is a list of the five most important things you should check before you worry at all about fees or commissions:
1) Where can you check out the advisor? The financial services business is intensely regulated. Look for their regulatory agency and then go online and do some digging. This may be the SEC, FINRA, or maybe the state department of insurance. They all have websites that show if there are any complaints against the advisor and if those complaints have been resolved. Ask the advisor that you are meeting with who regulates them. Yes, this is a fair question! If an advisor is hesitant to tell you where you can check them out, then run-don’t walk-for the door! Remember just one name: Bernie Madoff.
2) Can you talk to clients that have been with the advisor for more than just a few years? A good advisor will have testimonials and even people that potential clients can call to talk to personally. Check a few of them out.
3) What area do you specialize in? You do not go to the general practitioner for heart surgery. Likewise, you should not go to a stockbroker for advice on the best safe and insured fixed income products. That will not be their specialty. Most advisors today have their niche, and for good reason: There are thousands of products and companies in each financial planning category. Today’s financial advisor cannot know them all. Make sure you are with an expert!
4) What company/companies is the advisor recommending? Check the company out (mutual fund company, stock, annuity company, etc.) that the advisor is recommending. How long have they been in business? Why do they like them? Usually, the advisor is just a conduit between you and the actual products they represent. This leads into the last question you must ask.
5) What happens if they (the advisor) disappear? If they do not have a contingency plan in place for their practice, that’s a red flag. They obviously do not have much foresight with their business plan; therefore they may not have much foresight with your money! You want to know what happens to your accounts and financial well-being if something happens to the advisor.
Finally, remember-all advisors get paid. In the ends fees verses commissions is really immaterial. Keep your eye on the five questions listed above. Remember, it’s your money-which helps determine you and your family’s well being both now and in the future.
We will spend a week shopping for the best buy on a flat screen TV, but very few people actually check out the guy or girl who is going to be steering all of their family’s money. Take some time to do your homework. You’ll be glad you did! Remember, you can’t afford mistakes!
By: Jake Yetterberg