Oh this is going to be a long year.  Negative campaign ads, with their sound bite "facts", leading you to believe that what they are saying is the truth.  Here's the sad part:  most people you know will not take 15 minutes to get on the candidate's web site and verify whether something is true or false.  Ever hear of a "lie of omission"? Basically that's not telling you the whole story and letting you assume the obvious - even though it's a lie.  We are so much smarter than that!  But, we're often too busy to do anything about it.  My hope this political season is that we all - and I'm just as guilty - take that 15 minutes and arm ourselves with knowledge that will ultimately help us all.

What's up with MONEY?

This week there have been a lot of articles written about how our (taxpayers) money is being wasted.  I have to admit, this is one of the few ways that I feel totally helpless.  Congress makes laws that don't apply to them, millionaires have legal loopholes that allow them to pay taxes around a 10-15% bracket, while most people I know are in the 20-30% bracket.  Hmmmmmm.  One of the things that B.A.B.E is about is saving, investing and growing your money.  Sure would be nice to be able to use what we really earn to secure our own futures! Our deal here is apolitical, which means we don't preach politics as I believe it's a personal decision who you vote for.  But, encouraging you to vote and make your voice heard, is a different story!  To make it easy, here is the handy address for said representatives:
http://www.house.gov/

Intersting accompanying article: http://www.foxbusiness.com/investing/2012/01/16/congressman-takes-up-buffetts-debt-offer/

Our Money is being hung out to dry!

Another thing?  Anyone who thinks that the rich should "pay more"  is missing the real point.  What "pay more" is supposed to mean is "pay your fair share".  That is fair and right.  What I hear people grumbling about, and what I think they think it means, is that the rich should pay more than the rest of us.  The United States was built on the principles of "work hard and get rewarded".  Not "some of you can work hard and share your wealth with those who choose not to work hard or have a career that doesn't pay as much as you make". Many people seem to have gotten into this mind set that we all should be equal, that there are no winners and losers, that there is nothing exceptional - or acceptable - about those who can rise up and excel.

What I wish everyone would do is learn to live within whatever means they have and be happy for those that can do better.  My disclaimer:  this does not count those folks that have special needs, illnesses, deaths, horrible and sucky situations that come about in life sometimes.  I had a friend that was a single Mom of an extremely special needs son who sucked every last dime she could get.  She did the best she could with what she had, but was always behind.  But, she - as a matter of fact - was happy for those that excelled, tried her best every day to rise above her situation - never quite making it  - but still tried to live that REAL American Dream of making a better life for herself and her son - honestly and with dignity.  Too bad there weren't more people like that in the world.

Time vs. Money

I have to say that when it comes to saving time or saving money, saving money usually wins out for me every time.  Recently my daughter's schedule ramped up into a tizzy on Monday nights and we found ourselves running from 4:20-8:00.  She is in an advanced orchestra group (so proud!) and we made the leap to Club volleyball.  Despite my best efforts, the winter volleyball team ended up practicing on the same night as orchestra - Monday.  Her orchestra practice starts at 5:15 and is 10-15 minutes from home and lasts 1.5 hours.  I pick her up and we race to volleyball practice - which has already started and is on the other side of town basically - while she changes in the car.  Now, you may have noticed that this is all during dinnertime as well.  Ordinarily, to have a healthy meal and save money, I would go back home.  But let me tell you how I've found the peace and tranquility of taking my laptop to Wendy's (where I'm writing this blog), hooking up my headphones, connecting to wifi, ordering a healthy salad, unsweetened berry tea and a small chili.  WOW!  Love it!  It is worth every penny I spend; I'm not rushed, my belly is full and it was a healthy choice.  Look at me: spending money to save time (although I am not giving up my frugal ways)!

Reclaim Your Born Identity- Authenticity Pays Off

As we start the new year, please take a moment and read this. It's a great reminder of the importance of living your life to the fullest and becoming "you" to the fullest. Very often wives and mothers are too good at wearing all the masks described in the following piece, doing for and developing those around them, but never take 5 minutes to explore their own selves. Becoming "You" is such an important thing, because if you aren't "you", who are you?

Reclaim Your Born Identity- Authenticity Pays Off

Weight loss challenge: Track it, log it, stay on schedule

Here are some great ideas to help you with your 2012 weight loss goals, via Joy Bauer from the Today Show:

Weight loss challenge: Track it, log it, stay on schedule

A Green Dream for 2012

This is an awesome wish for 2012:

A Wish List for Congress in 2012

Why does Congress make everything so darn complicated?  I guess when you have a battle between morality and greed, it gets a bit dicey.  This is why I maintain my stance and aim on making it one of my goals this year:  stay educated and always let your representative know what's on your mind!

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/republican/top-10-congress-wish-list?src=nl&mag=tdg&list=nl_dgr_got_non_010212_congress-wish-list&kw=ist

Recycling 101

I've had a few requests to cover recycling basics.  So I am happy to share this riveting essay on the ins and outs of recycling: why, what, how & where.  If you’re already a recycling fiend, then good job!  If you are not, there’s no better time to start than this week!

Why? It’s always difficult to begin a new habit.  The young kids I worked with in a local school district were already familiar with recycling and many did it at home.  It was easy breezy to teach them about recycling and to build on their existing habits.  Unfortunately for many adults, recycling has not been part of our lives until recently.  As the world moves forward, there is only so much space available for trash.  We have become disconnected from the consequences of our consumption, as in what it takes to make what we buy and what happens when we’re done with it.  If items aren’t recycled, then new “stuff” must be created from earth’s resources.

I met a woman who refused to recycle because, in her words, “The recycling company is making money off of me, so I’m not recycling”.  Wow.

So really, why should we recycle?

1. The earth is kinda running out of landfill space...and do we really want more?
2. Recycling, more often than not, saves existing resources.
3. Recycling items can save money.
4. Recycling is efficiency and responsibility all in one.

 So you’ve thought about it & you’re on board to get started.  Now what? 

1. Form a plan: where you’ll keep your recyclables (a bin in the pantry, in the garage).
2. Will you sign up for pick up (or have it in your city already) or take them to a pick up site?
3. Have a family meeting & celebrate being an B.A.B.E!

What? A quick peek of what we can recycle in general, everywhere in the U.S.:

• Newspaper
• Cardboard (no greasy pizza boxes)
• Magazines
• Plastic (#1-3)
• Glass
• Aluminum
• Steel
• Paper

.  Here is what cannot be recycled:

• Lids of anything and butter tubs…it has to do with the type of plastic they are made of; we won’t bore you with the process J
• Greasy pizza boxes…because they are greasy and the paper content is degraded.
• Ziplocs
• Milk & juice containers with a bunch of juice left in them.  This attracts pests to the recycling site, makes a mess & contaminates.  Give these items a quick rinse & be done.
• Any food or organic matter.
• Aluminum foil with last night’s BBQ sauce all over it
• Toilet paper, tissues, paper towels.  And for the record, recycled toilet paper means it was made out of recycled paper, not used toilet paper.  Really?
• Styrofoam and packing materials
• Window glass & mirrors
• Gift wrap, apparently¸ is of too poor quality of paper to be recycled.  
• Mustard-colored envelopes.  We didn't know this, but the dye in the envelope is too difficult to remove during the recycling process.

As exciting as this article has been to read, all good things must come to an end.  We’ve told you what you can & can’t recycle and some ideas of how to get started at home.  We believe that we’re at a point in this country where we should ALL be recycling, whether it’s mandatory in your area or not.  Did you know:

• It takes 80-100 years for an aluminum can to decompose (break down) in a landfill, but recycled, they can be made into soda cans, pie plates, license plates, thumbtacks, aluminum foil, and many other items.
• Glass takes over 1,000,000 (one million) years to decompose in a landfill, but can be recycled into jars, jewelry, bottles, dishes, drinking glasses, coffee mugs and many other items.
• It can take up to 700 years for plastic to decompose in a landfill, but recycled, PET plastic can be made into clothing, fiberfill for sleeping bags, toys, stuffed animals, rulers and more.

The energy savings aren’t huge for recycling material into new uses, but the raw material savings are priceless.  We often forget that for all the stuff we own, that “stuff” had to be made from something.  Saving our earth’s resources, where possible, only makes sense.  Want a great little informative flick?  www.thestoryofstuff.com

As for TVs, computers, batteries, oil, electronics, paint, appliances and other large or questionable items, log onto your local solid waste authority’s web site & they’ll let you know how & where you should dispose of these items.  Many electronics contain valuable copper and other recyclable parts, but also many other components that are toxic and need to be removed before being thrown out.

I think we’ve covered all the basics.  You now have absolutely no reason to not go out and recycle with enthusiasm! Yahoooo!