Progress update (not good)

 So here's an update.

I'll write this as if someone cares.

2022 has been one of the hardest years I have ever experienced. Here is a part of a journal entrie that explain what has happened.

"Sunday June 12 2022

Ugh. Where do I start. I've been thinking of a first line to this journal entry. There's many so I'm going to use a few that came to my mind and you can use whatever you would like.

1.Well we were suppose to be in Washington today for ◼️◼️◼️ homecoming but gas prices and finances have killed those plans

2.What a week, there's a lot to do in the yard because of the ◼️◼️◼️ breaking later this month. I'm trying my  best to balance my time between the two projects.

3. Man it sucks not having money.

4. So both cars broke down this week."

This is not the hardest trial I have had this year but it does affect alot. Money not coming in causes a lot of stress. We were off of food stamps. We were making it! Then gas prices increase, car problems occur and your out of a job when your job requires your car. I even bought a second car and BOTH cars broke down within a month of each other!

The first car that broke was my wife's. The transmission wouldn't engage. Unfortunately with everything increasing in prices, used car parts have gone up to 4 times the price they were 2 years ago. 

 

While doing my best to fix that car, I tried working only to cause more issues with my other car! It continually kept overheating. Not knowing it then my head gasket had a leak which caused more heat and more pressure into my coolant system. My radiator, plastic housing, plastic pipes, and several gallons of coolant was waisted. Not to mention the battery and other parts that needed to be replaced all the while not earning the income to replace them.

A while back I've posted several times about tithing. Last year I sent nearly 3000 dollars in one check at the end of the year over paying what I actually owed. This year I am not even kidding when I say this. I haven't paid a dime and I am so far a full tithe payer. Now to put this in perspective, I can earn 18,500 dollars before even having to pay tithing. Why? 

I consider my house an investment. All payments, upgrades, fixes are tithing exempt UNTIL I either sell it or pay it off. At that time tithing will be paid.

The other major thing that happened was my daughter required surgery AT THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER. With no money, 2 vehicles broken, summer was completely ruined. We did do some camping but honestly it's been bad

And my dad died. I'd rather not talk about that.

Worst year ever. That's for sure.

Oh and before posting this I have had major dental work too. One tooth costing almost 2 grand to fix!

No wonder I'm poor.

I joke with my wife, my prayers have been answered with a "NO" stamp lately.

I wonder if a reverse prayer will throw off my guardian angels.

Me-"God. I don't want to win the lottery this weekend."

God-"No"

I win.

Oops….

Protect those dollars! Savings tips on beverages.

I forget to post this. A little outdated due to Joe Bidens Inflation crises but still some good info.

Protect those dollars!

Here's another fine tune your finances tip.

Today I went out and bought a couple of 20 oz soda's and grabbed a couple of lottos. Haven't done that in a while but after a week of making over a grand in gross revenue , my biggest pay in a while, I decided to treat myself and my wife.

Someone reading this will probably be like "I buy 20oz sodas all the time. What's the big deal?"

Well you're driving up food cost for one and 2 your not thinking 4th dimensionally.

First of all my drinks rang up higher than they should have costing me nearly 5 bucks for 2 sodas, (should have been 3.33 before taxes) an issue I should of spoken up about but didn't, and 2 this when issue could have been avoided had I simply planned ahead.

Guys I'm sorry but we are freaking paying way to much for instant unplanned gratification. Not to mention being overtaxed for these same gratifications, Drinks are one of many things that is eating away at our paychecks! It's something most of us don't even think about. When we are at a drive thru we order a combo for 9 bucks when with a coupon and some planning could be half that price or lower. When something rings up wrong at the register, we ignore it saying we won't buy it again next time. You're at a sit down restaurant, you order a drink not even caring about the cost. Be more attentive protect those dollars! When you think fourth dimensionally you realize if you don't shut off your spending habits, your future dollars, are being wasted. Those vendors are stealing your future holdings.

Heres a few suggestions that will save you a ton on those drinks.

#1 be more attentive to what you are paying. Don't ignore it. If you don't agree with the price your paying be prepared to find a different price, find a different product, or simply cut back and go without.

#2 Pack a cooler! Today's current prices for my favorite drink, coke, is this. (Or Pepsi)

McDonald's 1 dollar

Taco Bell 2.29

Cafe Rio 2.69

Jimmy John's 1.99

Wendy's 2.79

Burger King 2.89

Subway 2.49

Texas Roadhouse 1.99

Walmart 12 oz 39 cents a can!

Sam's club 12 oz 38 cents a can!

Walmart 16.9 oz 64 cents each!

Sam's club 16.9 oz 54 cents each!

How long does it take for a cooler with ice to produce an ice cold beverage? A half hour.

Over time this truly does add up to hundreds of dollars saved and less taxes paid!

Every trip small or large my wife and I pack a personal cooler with our favorite drinks. Whenever we are ordering from a drive thru we hardly ever order drinks.

3.Try different brands! I for one love to explore other flavors. In Arizona we had Bashas quarter pops. Up here in Utah it's Shasta. I still occasionally get a 12 pack of Sam's Choice. At the dollar store it's Stars n stripes (not available in a can)  some of my best and not so good memories are with non brand sodas. When I was dating my wife I spent a week with her when we were dating long distance, and Sams is all I could afford. I remember a particular week when money was so tight we couldn't spend a dime. I still bought a 52 cent 2 liter from Walmart. I swear that lasted till our next payday. I would seriously just take a shot of it every meal. 

Right now as of writing this a can of Sam's is as low as 22 cents

#4 BONUS. For The penny pincher.

This is one of those suggestions I am heavily considering myself. It takes a little more determination and goal in mind. What sacrifice are you willing to make to obtain your financial goals? For example lets say you have a goal of taking a vacation to Hawaii. What is holding you back? Time off and finances right? Look every dollar counts. It's amazing when you start budgeting and cutting back what you can accomplish. So for the penny pincher here's my suggestion. Buy the cheapest off brand soda you like. My personal choice. Big K Cola Oh.

The closest soda to coke zero. Cheapest option, 2 liter bottles at a whopping 69 cents. This makes a 12 oz can equivalent 12 freaking cents. I personally would save my glass store bought jars that once held pickles or spaghetti sauce, clean it out real well and pour a few glasses very carefully when the glass and soda are cold to minimize carbon loss.  Put a straw in it your golden. The cheapest satisfaction money can buy.

And that is it guys. 

Dollar store Christmas

 Im kinda torn this Christmas. I'm excited for it yet I'm not. I'm all good as far as financial and food but mentally and somewhat physically , I'm just not feeling good. (Update: let's be honest I need a job. I've tried locally and no one wants to hire me. I honestly think this has been my Christmas funk lately)

In previous years I've been more pumped. We've had our fair share of Hallmark movies to criticize. Activities as well as other Christmas traditions that fill up the holiday and make it fun.

So what's missing?

I'm not sure if I can pinpoint just one thing. I mean I am a bit stressed about money. Joe Biden is a disaster who is causing higher gas prices and higher food prices. I don't have a job. I'm not all there spiritually. I don't know.

I have motivation to work hard I just need a simple push in the right direction. Every time I say a prayer I ask for that push yet I'm not getting anything.

There's a quote by one of the apostles it goes something like this. "The lord is more willing to help those who get off the wagon and push rather than the person who sits still no matter how fervant or well the prayer is said."

I just don't know where to begin. Plus my Grandma died this year along with traditions and I may lose another member next year. The future is not so bright.

Anyways, in other news.

Last year I talked about a family down in southern Utah who were asking for help with Christmas. They had two kids and the dad was missing a paycheck. I wrote about it here.

http://viscarjones.blogspot.com/2020/12/its-ok-to-have-poor-christmas.html?m=1

Well they are back again. They were asking for some more Christmas help. Their add had been deleted so I suspect they got what they wanted but I find it interesting for 2 years they still need Christmas help.

Let me also make this statement. Over time and while writing this blog I have realize it's actually ok to ask for help when you need help. I have overtime even realized people who teach you that you need to be self reliant at one time or another received help. Sometimes the rule makers are not following the rules.

I wrote more about that here.

http://viscarjones.blogspot.com/2020/08/thats-why.html?m=1

Now let's get to why I even wrote this.

What to buy at the Dollar store if that's your only option for Christmas.

If you are super tight on cash what do you buy?

I'm not only going to add suggestions. Guess what. I actually went out and bought a gift for my wife.

So if I were this family what would I buy.

For The two year old. 

This one is the easiest. Toy cars and tracks. Puzzles. Coloring books with crayons blocks.

For the 6 year old. Puzzles again! A paint set. Colored clay, coloring books and an art set. Her own cup and plate. I would even grab a small pan and a cookie mix for her to make cookies.

For the Parents you have to think as in a theme. For example. For the wife a relaxation kit. Bath bombs a candle relaxing lavender bath soap. Massage oil. Bath salts.

If husband is into camping and survival give him.a survival kit. Rope a lighter duck tape a tarp or plastic cover. Flashlights and batteries

 They even sell pocket knives. Combine that with a bag of food.

How about a travel kit for when finances get better. Toothbrush and toothpaste snacks shampoo soap deodorant. Notepad crossword puzzles. Put in an itenerary of where you would like to go and make it a goal to go!

Shaving kits. Assured razers are not too bad. I just used one the other day.

A tool box. Pliers razer knives screw drivers wire cleaners

Cell phone chargers car chargers electronic cleaners.

Car cleaning kit. Armor all, sponges, wheel cleaners soaps wrags.

Car oil change kit. Oil, oil pan.

Seriously it really is an option. Think of it as a blessing before the bigger blessings come. 

My medicine cabinet.

 So while I was playing pharmacist and Dr. Dad in my family I thought I would share what I use and some money saving tips when it comes to over the counter medicines, pills and such

My go to pill for almost everything is ibuprofen. It's not a cure all but it's certainly my first choice. Have a cold try ibuprofen. Have a headache try ibuprofen. Nose stuffy, try ibuprofen. If that doesn't work then I move on but more than 50 % of the time, ibuprofen does work.

Now I am not one to buy name brand. That is pretty much a quick way to overpay and simply give your money away. A name brand bottle can cost 10 times that of an off brand. The cheapest ibuprofen I know of is Sam's club. 10.88 for 1200 pills. Less than a penny a piece.

I don't mind using Aspirin but don't use it that often. Aspirin is in the same family of drugs as ibuprofen but I feel it's not as effective unless it is taken with Tylenol then it's very effective. I will get into that later.

Tylenol is a pill I try to avoid. So many warnings and I've even heard that Tylenol is just not good for you. If I'm not having success with ibuprofen or Aspirin I will alternate with Tylenol. I did this recently at Disneyland. What could have ruined my vacation was stopped with Tylenol and ibuprofen. I typically won't use Tylenol by itself.

Because I don't use it often I typically buy a Tylenol off brand at the dollar store. 

Aleve use to be my go to pain reliever until it stopped working. The problem with Aleve is that you have to wait 12 hours before taking another pill. Let's say you have a headache and you take two pills. 2 hours later your headache still hurts and it feels like Aleve is not working. Well unfortunately you have to wait another 10 hours before you can take another pill. With ibuprofen you can take up to 4 pills and take them every 4 hours. If the pain doesn't subside in the first 4 you can redose and try again.

I'll say this too. If this does happen I would be taking Tylenol after 2 hours. Then alternating every 3 hours after that.

Again I don't even have Aleve in my medicine cabinet but if I did I would purchase it at the dollar store. Typically I think it's 12-15 pills for a dollar.

Off brand is called naproxen and it's in the same family of pain relievers as Aspirin and ibuprofen

Excedrin. I love Excedrin. Yet I don't have it in my medicine cabinet nor do I buy or use it often. You get a similar effect by alternating ibuprofen and Tylenol. If you're not familiar with what Excedrin is, Excedrin has 3 ingredients. Aspirin, Tylenol and Caffeine. You can buy all 3 ingredients at a dollar store. This is why I don't have Excedrin in my medicine cabinet because it is alot cheaper to make it than to buy it. Even Aspirin and Tylenol sold at the dollar store comes with caffeine!

Now after doing some research it seems that Walmart does have the cheapest option at just a dollar for 24 pills for 4 dollars you can get 200 pills. At the dollar store you would buy 60 aspirin and 40 Tylenol which works out to be around 80 pills for 2 dollars. The dosage for an adult is 500, mg of aspirin and 500mg of Tylenol. Aspirin comes in at around 325 and Tylenol is 500 in one pill. I'm fine dosing higher with two pills with aspirin but again Tylenol is one I stay at or below dosage.

I also have about 7 pills that are locked up in a safe of Percocet. These are simply for pain emergencies. It is so hard to get these now days and thankfully I haven't needed them. I keep them because I have had to wait 12 hours in #10 pain to get to a Dr only to write me a prescription for this and some antibiotics. I'm not addicted and I don't have any addictions. (Except soda!) These are simply to remain functional until I can get to a Dr if pain is at that level again.

I'll talk about 2 other drugs I take and quite honestly the rest of my cabinet is mainly stuff I take every once in a great while or my kids take it. For example Allergy medicine. It's not very effective with me and overtime my allergies have subsided quite a bit but on a really bad day I do take some Benadryl. I have several options and they all have their potency.

Pseudoephedrine is a decongestant. It is only available across the counter. You cannot buy it off the shelf. For colds this is an awesome decongestant. Not to be confused with phenylephrine which is more common in cold medicines and sucks

Lastly Day and Night time cold relief. I take these every once in a great while yet again these have ingredients that I don't like such as phenylephrine and Tylenol (acetaminophen) I'd rather take pseudoephedrine with some ibuprofen and make Tea with honey and lemon for my cough.

As a bonus I like to keep zinc on hand. When you start to feel the first symptoms of sickness, take some zinc every few hours. It has been proven to minimize colds. I did this while having Covid. You can believe what you want but for me it helped.

Oh and one last thing I want to mention. You've heard of an aspirin regimen? Taking a low dose of aspirin to prevent a heart attack or stroke. I have practiced something similar when it comes to vacations or strenuous activity. I don't know what it is but like I mentioned above I do get these very painful headaches on vacation. Typically they only last 24 hours and I'm good for the rest of the vacation but they knock me out. Similarly hiking or in one trip taking a handcart across the Wyoming desert can cause some unwanted pains at night so here's what I do and what has saved alot of vacation time. I start taking 400 mg of ibuprofen every 8 hours a day before the vacation starts till about day 3 or 4 OR after a sign of a headache. Trust me. This has been a lifesaver.

Why does Arizona get to keep Their Easter Pageants?

 So I'm kindof mad tonight. 

I'll keep it brief and to the point although trust me I could go off the rails with this topic.

With the reopening of the Mesa Arizona temple I wondered if Arizona will resume pageants. I guess I didn't get the memo that they are indeed next year going to resume the Easter pagent.

I mean that's good news! ….For my friends in Arizona. But why do they get to continue their traditions and quite honestly can I say this their CULTURE, if we in Utah cannot!?

Mantis pagent gone!

Clarkson pagent gone!

Hill Chamora gone!

Church's Statement on pagents

Three pagents still remain. One I can understand continuing the other two quite honestly feels like favoritism.

The 3 that remain are The British pageant, The Mesa pageant and the Nauvoo pageant. I would be fine if they hacked all the pagents leaving the Navoo and the hill Chamora. I don't get why Mesa Arizona still gets their Pagent and Utah gets absolutely nothing?

"Larger productions such as pageants are discouraged"??

Lately we've been talking alot about cultures. Mixed cultures accepting other cultures. Why can't we as Latter Day Saints continue our traditions and cultures. We love these pagents as much as those do in Arizona yet. The leadership of the church probably went to several of these pagents with their families but me and my family??

Sometimes I wonder if it's simply to do with growth. Because we the future generation, just missed the good times. Instead we are told to "learn at home" It feels as though God is just Cramming as many people as he can down here on earth. Streets are packed the beautiful hills around me are now littered with houses. Even the grocery store has traffic jams.

I don't get it.

Look I actually have no plans to leave the church.

I will admit this though. I dislike my ward. I actually wrote hate and felt that was too strong of a word. It's growing so rapidly 2 Sundays ago, we ran out of seats. The gym was full! How is that fair to anyone? I mean I look at our Churches and wonder why they were even designed the way they are. We should be having church in an auditorium with how much growth we've been getting or at least have a different design where we sit above the person in front of us. I don't feel welcomed anymore. Lately I have been going for one hour and that's it. I can't stand a packed priesthood meeting or a Sunday school.

I'm done ranting and have work in the morning.

Good night.

It's called Compounding Cashback

 At my previous job, my boss or coworker (not sure what he was) asked me what my hobbies were. He was confused when I told him I am into cash back and gift card collecting.

If your not sure what that is I'll explain, and explain a little history.

When I was getting out of debt using strictly credit cards I noticed I began to get cash back every month. Because I was paying off my credit card statements in full I would get around 20 bucks a month. Back then 20 bucks helped alot. This in turn would be credited back to my account giving me an extra debt payment that to me was free. I wondered what other secrets are out there so I studied up on maximizing my credit cards through travel blogs. I didn't travel at the time but all the information they had to travel for free I could use to pay off debt. I learned about cash back categories different cards to use and eventually applied for alot of credit card. Today due to unforseen circumstances (and by choice) I'm in healthy debt. I control it so well my neighbors wonder how. My debt practically pays itself off.

Now unfortunately it would take me pages and pages to explain everything but let me give you a few pointers.

-Credit cards typically give cash back up to 5%

-Gift card resale sites sell gift card at up to 55% plus off. (Adding a credit card gives you cash back plus the discount)

-theres also Cashback websites such a Raketen. Your credit cards may have deals through their website such as capital one. These work the same as Raketen where you make a purchase and your card is reimbursed. On Bank of America Chase and Wells Fargo cards they have deals you can add that will pay you a percentage back on your purchases. For example last week I made a purchase at McDonald's and received 20 percent of my money back through a deal.

I mean it's honestly great yet you Begin to realize there is strategies to improve your game.

For example I just made a purchase on my Amazon account. I had three options. First of all I could have used points from a credit card. I could also use points from my Amazon card too. These both would have cost me more than if I would simply use my Amazon card. Why? The one card, a chase card would have charged me a 20% fee to use it. I mean it may seem free because your using your points but your still losing a fifth of your money!

Amazom points are slightly different. They are worth dollar for dollar but here's the issue. I call it compounding cash back. You've heard of compound interest right? This is the same thing through purchasing! Your cash back can make additional cash back! For example. I have a hundred dollars worth of Amazon points. The total value of those points is a hundred dollars. It cannot purchase more than a hundred dollars. But if I direct that money through a different avenue say cash it out and pay off my hundred dollars I just put on the Amazon card now it's worth 105 dollars! I just made 5% on free money! Take that 5 dollars do it again and I have 25 cents do it one more time and I have an additional Penny making my compound cash back 105.26

Doing this over and over again really does add up.

Other cards that I strategize on is my Citi double cash card. This too has several ways it will try and lure you to cash in your points. Just recently I had almost 500 dollars worth of points. This card rewards cash back two ways. Buying and paying. Had I simply asked for a statement credit I would be missing out on 5 extra compound dollars. Always cash out then pay towards the balance.

What about gift cards you ask. I can get a gift card and use that at my favorite restaurant or store. Well unless your card doesn't offer cash back I would advise against it. Gift cards normally are the exact same dollar for dollar. You might as well cash out and pay a credit card you used at that store or restaurant. There are credit cards that do not offer cash back or don't make sense to make more in cash back. In those cases get what you can get. 

One last thing I want to mention is to check gift card resale sights. I'm mentioning this again because you may be tempted to cash out your cash back for gift cards. You might find those same gift cards at up to 50 % off. Most of my favorite restaurants are 20 percent off. Even airfare is 10-20%

Moral of this post. Always cash out then direct your cash back to it's proper place. For the most part don't use your points for anything else.

More lessons learned on vacation

 So this is my once in while post about what I learned from my recent vacation. Very short vacation but I still learned a little.

First of all wow! I have forgotten the power a weekend getaway can do to your mind. I was going to say and body but I just ate like crap all day. So it didn't much help my body. It was nice to just get away. My kids are at that age each of them can take care of themselves. When it was time to pack each kid packed up there stuff and we were in the car ready to go in no time. It's nice to finally have an independent family.

Second we forgot something and had a hard lesson. After eating alot of junk food drinking soda and playing hard my daughter wakes up in the middle of the night throwing up all over herself. We've warned her in the past to take it easy and forgot this time. She's fine if she eats this way before 4 but after 4 her stomach has a bad reaction. So... two things: one prevention next time and two a bucket or bag to catch the puke. You can only do do much but more preparedness equals a better trip. This is why I have a list and stick to it.

Speaking of that!!

So we were at a popular falls in Idaho when turning around in a parking lot a woman holding a boy glares at me for no reason! Her family does the same! I say toy wife "bet their from California" they weren't. I believe they were from Nevada. First of all why are you so angry? Your on a trip with your family! Your luckier than most Americans! I'm just going to say this. I wonder if preparedness could of helped. Did they forget something or not have a plan? Unfortunately unplanned quick trips are not very fun if something goes wrong. You may be like me back in the day and just not plan ahead. Live for the moment. Trips are expensive! Unexpected events can cause more expense than needed. Cutting cost where you can will not only help your mood it can create a closer family unit. Being less rushed and eating sandwiches at a park with yout family out of a cooler will be more beneficial than relying on cash to buy burgers and fry's to eat in the car. I've gotten so prepared, I sometimes pack my table top grill and have burgers or hot dogs at a park.

Quick story then I'll call it good. My first Disneyland trip was somewhat ruined. Why? Being unprepared. I had such a massive headache one night it ruined my night out with just my wife. Had I started a pain relief plan as soon as I felt the pain or before the pain started my headache would have been under control. Why didn't I do that? I didn't think to pack it. Now days if the trip is very important I'll take ibuprofen every 10 hours to prevent a headache. 

So in closing I'm sharing 3 items I pack every trip that you may not think of.

First ibuprofen. This is a very good cheap multipurpose pain reliever. I do pack Tylenol too but only use Tylenol to alternate with ibuprofen. 

With prices at less than a penny a pill it is best and a great money saver to not forget this Vacation Saving pill. Buying this on the go is a rip off! My wife forgot to pack it once and ended up paying 7 dollars for FOUR PILLS! IF you need to buy it on the go look for a dollar store.

Second Ziplock bags. Guys you'll be amazed how much you use these on a trip especially if you have kids. Packing lunches. Keeping food water tight in a cooler, collecting sea shells or having a place to gather all the crayons on the car. Pack them you'll see what I mean.

Lastly baby wipes. My youngest is not a baby. We don't pack these automatically anymore. While on a trip recently one of my daughters got a bloody nose. We had nothing to give her. Eventually we had to use a bottle of water and a shirt to clean her up. Baby wipes are such a great universal cleaning wipe. We now keep a pack up front ready to clean up any mess while driving.

Well that's it guys. I'm getting close to another trip. See ya.