Jack’s Winning Words 6/10/15

“My father told me: It’s not how much you make or earn, it’s what you do with it.”  (Ronald Pieper in Thrivent magazine)  I learned how to manage money when I saw my mother take her “pay” each week and put it into envelopes marked, “food, rent, church etc.”  I also was taught by Glen who wore a t-shirt with “10-10-80” on it.  10% for God, 10% for savings, and 80% for self.  If you were to make such a shirt for yourself what would it say?    ;-)  Jack


FROM HONEST JOHN:  10% to charity  10% to savings  25% to Uncle Sam  55 % to bills and fun
I think the "self" category makes no sense.   For example, it includes taxes which is money that the bible would put under the tithe.    Also, there is a fine...often not discernible...line between bills and fun.   Is an iPad expense to be put under bills?====JACK:  It looks like you're going to need an X-LG t-shirt, or use small print.  iPads, for many, ought to be classified as entertainment.  And so...you would recommend that those who tithe should include taxes when figuring the 10%?   ====JOHN:  No.  I tithe and also pay taxes.   However, we should not forget that the tax is a contribution to our  general well being.====JACK:  So, in reality, you're going beyond the tithe.  Good for you!  I grateful for the many benefits that my tax money helps provide.  Yes, there is always waste.  Many garbage cans line our street on pick-up day. 

FROM PASTY PAT:  My Mom did the 'envelope thing' too --- hadn't thought of that in years.====JACK:  I think envelope-budgeting might have been a sign of "hard times."====PAT:  It certainly was in our house. I remember more than one meal that was only potatoes!====JACK:  My mother had a knack for "whipping something up."
FROM HAWKEYE GEORGE:  Another good one. One of the best things Sue & I did was to start tithing on our gross income in the first year of our marriage.====JACK:  There are good habits, and there are bad habits.  A successful life (marriage) is based on a foundation of good habits continued.
FROM TARMART REV:  Can't really improve on that formula, Jack . . . works very well!!! ====JACK:  Do you classify the cost of your daily bag of popcorn at Target as a business expense, or entertainment?
FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  All good. Dave Ramsey has an excellent section on this too. Another truism to add to this; I tell people that don't seem to know where their money goes is, "Most likely tracking is lacking..."  4 or 5 dollars a day here and there doesn't seem like much, but times 30 days times 12 months times 20 years, it is real money. "Like a monkey peeing on a cash register,  pretty soon it runs in the money." Have a great day Pastor, I'm in the middle of my 6 mile walk, waddle, and jog routine. Kinda nice here under this big oak....====JACK:  Some people have given up smoking when they've stopped to figure out the cost of a pack-a-day x 365 days a year.  I like the Everett Dirksen quote..."A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you're talking real money."  But, then, I read the truth.  It seems Dirksen never actually said this. The Dirksen Congressional Research Center says that fully 25% of enquiries to them are about the quotation. They could find Dirksen did say "a billion here, a billion there", but not the "pretty soon you're talking real money" part. They had one gentleman report to them that he had asked Dirksen about it on an airflight and received the reply: "Oh, I never said that.  A newspaper fella misquoted me once, and I thought it sounded so good that I never bothered to deny it."====JON:  Yes the quote, "The harder I work the luckier I get" Is a slight twist on something Thomas Jefferson said. Recently, I saw songwriter that is heavily credited with saying that.====JACK:  I knew a man whose father-in-law was a Tin Pan Alley songwriter.  He said that Irving Berlin did not compose many of his songs.  He bought them "for a song" from someone who needed the money, no matter how little it was.


FROM EDUCATOR PAUL:  "1% or 99% ...guess where I am?====JACK:  Knowing that you probably have a great retirement, I'd say that you are a 99%-er.


FROM JB IN MICHIGAN:  My father always said you should live on 1/2 of what you make.
10% give away   10% invest   30% goes to the government  50% pay your bills first and if there is any left go have some fun.====JACK:  I'm glad that I had a chance to meet your father.  I can picture him saying those words.  My father-in-law would often say, "I am who I am."