The Rise and Shine morning show blog: September 2008

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Save your money!

These helpful tips from Reader's Digest, June 2008.

10 Ways To Stash Cash

Inspired to save? I hope so. But maybe you're wondering where the money will come from. I put my head together with Jeff Yeager, author of The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches, to suggest ten places to start.

1. Adjust your withholding. If you get a tax refund each year, you're giving the government a free loan. Change your withholding, then save the difference in your take-home pay.
Savings: The average 2006 tax refund was $2,324 -- $194 a month spread out over a year (plus interest).

2. Limit trips to the supermarket. Every time you walk through those automatic doors, you're bombarded with opportunities for an impulse buy, and you may walk out with at least one or two things not on your list. Try to make one big trip a week.
Savings: If you make four trips a week and spend $10 extra each time, cut three to save $120 a month.

3. Coupons aren't just for groceries anymore. You can find coupons for movies, restaurants, and even clothing stores. Check out retailmenot.com.
Savings If your family dines out twice a month at $75 a meal, you'll save $180 a year with 10-percent-off coupons.

4. Use public transportation or carpool. You'll save on gas, maintenance, and even parking. Many companies take the cost of a monthly train or bus pass out of your paycheck pretax, saving you even more.
Savings: If you commute 25 miles round-trip each day, save about $100 a month by alternating driving each week with a friend.

5. Consolidate your plugs. Between 5 percent and 15 percent of the power used by electronics is consumed when they're turned off. Plug your TV, DVD player, cable box, and home entertainment system into a power strip or surge protector, then unplug it at night and when you're not home. Savings: If your electric bill runs $120 a month, you'll save up to $216 a year.

6. Lose the long-distance service. Even if you don't make a lot of lengthy calls, you're likely paying automatic billing fees each month just for having the service. Costco and Sam's Club sell prepaid calling cards for around 3 cents a minute. Or try an Internet service like Skype.
Savings: Up to $110 a year in fees.

7. Audit your bills. Call your wireless provider once a year to make sure you're on the best plan. Do the same with your cable, Internet, and (if you're not taking the advice above) long-distance providers. Bundling all three usually nets a discount.
Savings: Several hundred a year.

8. Shop health food stores. They often have bulk sections, where you can buy things like cereal and beans by the pound at big savings.
Savings: Oatmeal, for instance, is 89 cents a pound at my health food store, and $2.79 for an 18-ounce canister at the supermarket. If you buy it weekly, you save $100 a year.

9. Buy pet medicine, supplies, and food online. Petcarerx.com and 1800petmeds.com offer premium brands for less.
Savings: Up to 50 percent.

10. Recognize what things really cost. Before you commit to that new car, use Edmunds's True Cost to Own calculator. Input the car's make, model, and year to find out what it will actually cost you each year.

Election Guides!

VOTE!

And vote as knowledgeably as you can!!

We're talking today on the show about how it's important for voters to actually be informed about where the candidates stand on the issues...and not just on the presidential election...your local elections, too!!

It's a great idea to do a Google Search for one of these and see what you come up with:

Election Guide
Christian Election Guide
(Your county + candidates+election) example: Kankakee County, IL candidates election

Go! VOTE with a purpose!! And don't forget to pray for this whole process and the country as well!!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Helping the Needy - we should do that.;

So maybe you're like most of us on the show...
You're not a fan of giving "handouts" on the street downtown because who really knows where the money is going, right? But yet, God does call us to help the needy - and there is a difference between those who are "working the system" and those who are in legit need.

Props to the Daily Southtown Star for their recent article:

http://www.southtownstar.com/neighborhoodstar/chicagoheights/1187956,092808foodpantry.article

Lines growing at food pantries
(http://www.southtownstar.com/news/1187956,092808foodpantry.article)

September 28, 2008

BY STEVE METSCH, Staff Writer

Increasing gas prices. Increasing food prices. Foreclosures. Unemployment. Volatility on Wall Street.

Lawmakers are talking about ways to avoid an economic calamity.

But, for growing numbers of south suburban residents, calamity already has arrived.

Southland food pantries are reporting an explosive growth in the numbers of people who need help putting food on their tables. And there's no end in sight.

Sandra Graniczny knows all too well about the hardship.

With only a part-time job at a mall, she and her daughter have been homeless for a month. They spent the past week in her car. She lost her apartment when the landlord died.

"I was there five years, but never had a lease," she said.

Graniczny and her daughter, Samantha, moved in with Graniczny's mother.

"Then, she told me to leave. My daughter is anorexic bulimic and my mother couldn't deal with that," Graniczny said.

"It's been rough," she said, while standing in line Friday outside Respond Now 1439 Emerald Ave., Chicago Heights, waiting for food and, perhaps, a lead on a place to live.

She and about 25 other people were patiently waiting in line to get groceries and other assistance from Respond Now, a not-for-profit organization.

Respond Now has seen a 45 percent increase in the number of families it serves compared with a year ago, director Carl Wolf said.

Respond Now is not alone when it comes to being busy, said Bob Dolgan, spokesman for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Demand has increased countywide. The depository serves shelters and pantries in the city and Cook County.

"We've seen a 20 percent increase in pantry visits across Cook County from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2008. And, the early returns for this fiscal year are actually more stunning. We saw a 35 percent increase in July of this year compared to July 2007," Dolgan said.

Dolgan blames higher costs for food and gasoline.

"It's just harder and harder to make ends meet right now," Dolgan said. "For a lot of people, those extra costs mean they have to go to a pantry to get food. People aren't having near as much flexibility in their budgets, especially after they pay rent and utilities. There's not a lot of money left over," Dolgan said.

Wolf blames the economy.

"It always comes back to high prices. The cost of everything is going up," Wolf said.

The numbers back up Wolf's take on the situation.

From July 2006 to June 2007, a total of 10,203 families were given groceries by Respond Now. From July 2007 to June 2008, there was a dramatic increase with 14,792 families helped. That's an increase of 45 percent.

Wolf is concerned about what economic conditions mean for donations to Respond Now, which relies on about one-third of its food supplies from individual donors.

"We'll see what happens. Our key time for donations is the holidays. I'll have to write a good appeal (to potential donors)," Wolf said.

Suburbs may be harder hit than the city, Dolgan said, because suburban residents tend to need their cars to get around more than city dwellers.

Demand is up 25 percent at the food pantry Marianne Hill runs at the Orland Township office, going from 120 to 150 families each month.

"Every month is a little different, but we hear more people saying, 'I lost my job and everything is so expensive'," Hill said.

Like most food pantries, clients can get supplies once a month.

"We serve Orland Park, Orland Hills and parts of Tinley Park," Hill said. "But we get calls from all over. Oak Lawn. Bridgeview. People are desperate now."

She'll serve non-township residents once, she said.

Asked if she's worried about donations being down this year because past donors may be feeling the pinch, Hill said: "I always worry because we want to continue to help people, especially those with little children."

In Steger, at St. Liborius Church, they feed needy folks a hot meal on Tuesday or Wednesday each week. Business is booming.

"We've increased quite a bit. We serve well over 100 at the meals and we're filling 80 baskets of food a week," said Kay Cantway, vice president of the pantry.

Like many pantries, they buy supplies at reduced prices from the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

"We see young and old now. Big families. Five or six in a family. And we still have the senior citizens who don't get much from Social Security. I know how that is. I lost by husband in March and without the Social Security, I'd be in line (for food), too," said Cantway, 83, of South Chicago Heights.

Dee Wcisel, of Flossmoor, has been helping every Friday at Respond Now for 18 years. She's one of the people who fills the orders from clients, loading a grocery cart with items from the shelves and refrigerators, wheeling out the cart and talking with the people. That's the best part, she said.

"You sit and you talk with them. You find something special in every single person," Wcisel said.

Steve Metsch can be contacted at smetsch@southtownstar.com or (708) 633-5996.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Carly's Photo Shoot

Carly did fabulously at her recent 4-Year photo shoot. I'm not sure how I'm able to post this picture. For legal purposes, make note her pictures were taken at SEARS!!! Making Daddy proud with her Cubs dress (her choice!)...