It’s true! The Blog Mastermind Mentoring Program will open its doors again to new members in June who want to learn how to become professional bloggers.
In a previous post, How to Start Blogging for Beginners, I discussed the basics of becoming a blogger and posted links to free material to teach you how to start a blog and start writing posts.
Yaro Starak, the Blog Mastermind Mentor, recommends you do one thing prior to the program reopening if you plan to sign up:
Download (free) and read/listen to the Blog Profits Blueprint. You can download the ebook version and the audio version. I recommend both if you like to listen to audio books. You’ll still need the pdf file with the links to accomplish some of the learning. Click on the banner below:
If you are new to blogging or want to review how to start a WordPress blog, follow this link to free video lessons:
BecomeABlogger.com
I’ve been using WordPress for over 6 months and I learned a few very useful tid-bits from BecomeABlogger.com. If you’ve taught yourself WordPress by the seat of your pants, I recommend reviewing these free lessons.
Sherri Joubert
Blog Mastermind Student
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May 26th, 2008
Posted by
joubess |
Resources |
no comments
The price of gas is way higher than we’re accustomed to, so we feel it’s high. We’re used to gas being cheap and plentiful in the U.S. We all get very cranky when it’s not cheap and plentiful. Right now, we have enough gas to go around, but it’s comparatively expensive. We have a problem when our addiction is being tampered with. And yes, we Americans are addicted to oil.
Many today are too young to remember the oil crisis and long lines to the gas pumps in the 1970’s. Gas was both expensive and scarce. The price of gas in 1970 was $0.34/gal before the oil shortage. After the economic beating we took throughout the 70’s the price of gas in 1980 was $1.23. That’s 3.6 times higher than the price just a decade before. The price of gas in 1990 was $1.09, and in 2000 it was $1.66. Last night, in 2008, I paid $3.66/gal. That’s only 2.2 times higher than in 2000. Source: California Energy Commission.
Price of gas in 2007 dollars
The above numbers are a bit deceiving because the value of a dollar has declined since 1970 due to inflation of about 3%/year on average. If we look at past gas prices using 2007 dollars here’s what we get:
- 1970 $0.34 = $1.46 in 2007 dollars
- 1980 $1.23 = $2.72
- 1990 $1.09 = $1.60
- 2000 $1.66 = $2.06
- 2007 $3.08 = $3.08
- 2008 $3.66 = $3.55
The price of gas is 2.1 times higher today than it was in 1970, and 1.3 times higher than in 1980. If you look closely at 2007 and 2008, gas has gone up by more than inflation in one year. If the price only increased by the rate of inflation, today it would cost $3.17/gal. But it costs $3.66/gal, $0.49 higher than from inflation alone. Still, how many things can you say have only doubled in price in the last 38 years? Not many.
We also listen to the news and we know that the Saudi’s have reduced the amount of crude oil they pump out of the ground per day and ship to us, inflating prices. The extra $0.49/gal we’re paying is because we are at the mercy of another country in an unstable part of the world who can decide how much oil they want to pump out of the ground. They can decrease the supply and the price will go up because the demand will still be the same or it will increase as China and other countries industrialize quickly. That’s exactly what’s happened. The Middle East, Saudi Arabia in particular, has us under their oil-producing thumb. What could and should be done about that will have to be another post.
We complain about it so much because we have to buy gas no matter what the price, or we have to drastically change out lifestyles to depend on other forms of transportation, also a topic for another post. If cable goes up, we can go down to a lesser package to offset it. We can even drop cable entirely. But we need gas to get to work and school, and to perform some of the necessary functions of daily living.
Let’s get some perspective:
Comparisons with some of today’s most popular products:
In 1970, we didn’t buy bottled water in the U.S. If we needed to bring water with us somewhere, we put it in a thermos or cooler or other reusable container and carried it.
Today, people buy small and large bottles of water. Some of us need to keep bottled water for emergencies like hurricanes and flooding because our water supply could easily be contaminated. But for the rest of the country and during seasons of the year that flooding and hurricanes are less likely to happen, people still empty the store shelves of bottled water on a regular basis.
Let’s say you grab a 20 oz bottle of water from the cooler in the check-out line at the grocery store for $1.29 (plus tax). That water costs 6.5 cents/oz or $8.26/gallon!
Water from your tap at home costs about $12/month. If you don’t like the taste of your water, buy a filter system. It’s very cheap compared to the price of bottled water.
In 1970, Starbucks and all the other coffee houses didn’t exist, and we didn’t even have the word “latte” in the dictionary. It wasn’t in the dictionary in 1989 either.
Here’s another comparison we can all relate to today. This is a quote from the Dave Ramsey Newsletter:
Earlier this month, an algebra teacher in Michigan sent me a great email that I read on the radio show. She wrote:
Dave, I often give my math students this calculation to figure out. A typical latte costs $3.59 for 16 oz. That’s 22 cents per ounce or $28.72 a gallon! Ask your listeners if they’ve drunk a gallon of latte lately!
For those of us who don’t remember all our English units so well, there are 128 ounces in one gallon (when will we finally adopt the metric system???).
Here’s a calculation that translates more directly to gasoline:
If you bought one 16 oz. latte 5 days a week, you would buy 80 oz in a week. That costs $17.60/week.
There are 4 1/3 weeks on average per month (take 52 weeks and divide by 12 months to get the average number of weeks per month in a year). Those lattes are running $76.27/month. I don’t know about you, but that will fill my Honda up with gasoline twice at today’s prices.
If you calculate the cost of lattes over a year you would be spending $915.24/year!
I seldom buy bottled water. I save large containers and fill them with water when we need bottled water. I may buy a case of bottled water if we have to be ready to evacuate. I never got in the habit of buying lattes. I like my coffee plain and black; no cream, no milk, no sugar or sweetener of any kind; and I brew it at home. If I’m going somewhere I put it in a thermos and take it with me.
Gas prices are pinching my budget a little. The other thing that’s pinching my budget are the increases in prices of food and utilities because of the increased price of oil and natural gas. I hate paying more than I’m used to as well. But the big-picture conclusion is that gas prices really aren’t a budget-buster.
So dear readers, I have a question for you. How much is the price of gasoline pinching your budget? Please speak your mind by leaving comments.
Trying to keep it real,
Sherri
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May 23rd, 2008
Posted by
joubess |
Cost Increases |
5 comments
UPDATE: The bee man came this morning and took care of the bees. Two large hives cost $350, but the bees are gone! Now we don’t have to run for the mail anymore!
We have an unexpected cost this month, at least $200. There is either one really big bee hive or two somewhat big bee hives under the siding of the two-floor portion of the house. The bee man said they are probably also in the space between the two floors.
The bee man is coming at 7:30 in the morning. He thinks he’ll have to destroy them because they are really hard to get out of spaces like that. He may be able to capture some and place them in the wild, but likely most will have to be destroyed. I hope he can also seal up where ever they are getting in so a new hive doesn’t come in and take the space over again.
The bees are not completely docile honey bees. They are a bit aggressive. A few chased my son into the house this week and one stung him. About 50 swarm around the outside light each night. We can’t get in or out the front door without letting a few in the house. There are a lot of dead bees on the front porch and I can’t sweep them up because they come over and investigate anyone staying on the porch for more than a minute.
I’m not sure how the mail carrier delivers the mail, but he/she does, and so far hasn’t been stung. I also manage to get the mail, but it has to be during daylight and I have to move quickly. I guess the mail carrier moves pretty quickly and doesn’t attract their attention.
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May 22nd, 2008
Posted by
joubess |
Maintenance & Repairs, Unexpected Costs |
no comments
I’ll called today to make an appointment with my bankruptcy attorney. The appointment is on May 28, a week from today. My attorney is on vacation this week or we could have met sooner.
Here’s the list of documents I have to bring with me:
- Driver’s License
- Social Security Card
- Paycheck stubs
- Bank statements
- Tax returns
- Credit and collections statements
- Law suit papers
- Business financial statements
- List of house contents
Additionally,
- Budget
- Debt snowball
- CCCS certificate
- Contact information for all creditors
I have most of them together. I need to print current bank statements and financial statements.
A Fly in the Ointment
Then starting June 2-6, I have jury duty. I have to spend 5 days in the jury pool. They call about 400 people per week, and then you don’t have to serve again for at least two years.
Last time I didn’t get called to do anything (yeah!) and spent 5 mornings at the River Center Branch of the public library. I got a lot of reading done. I expect much of the same this time. Even if my group makes it into screening for a trial, they usually wouldn’t pick someone like me. I’m a scientist and I’m not swayed by non-physical evidence or emotional testimony. I could be called for a civil trial which would still require evidence.
The downside is I can’t start tutoring that week during the day because they can keep us until 4:30 p.m. They usually don’t, but they can, so this will hit my income hard. They will pay for mileage, but that is barely a drop in the bucket compared to the money I’ll be losing.
I would try to get out of it based on financial hardship, but about the only things that will keep you off jury duty here is death, hospitalization, or you’re out of town on business or in the military on active duty. They don’t really give a rip what your problems are. They need warm bodies and your’s will be one unless you like jail.
Oh well. I’m bringing my laptop and seeing if I can pick up a non-encrypted wireless signal so I can work online while I’m waiting. If not, I may be able to get on one of the library’s computers and work an hour at a time. Sessions are 60 minutes, then you have to log in to get on another computer for another hour. I haven’t been to the River Center Branch in a long time so I don’t know how many computers they have available. I’ll be finding out, though.
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May 21st, 2008
Posted by
joubess |
Bankruptcy |
no comments
Hey everybody,
I’m so happy!!! I finally got my laptop fixed. It spent a month at home waiting for me to save the money to take it in, then spent another month at the shop while they got what I needed done confused. But, all is well and I’m writing this post on my laptop.
Total cost to replace the CPU cooling fan: $174.38. That’s a lot less than originally quoted and budgeted for, so now I have a little extra money. I’m very glad I chose to fix this computer. I’m also glad I got the desktop machine back in working order. Now I’ll just have to keep a closer eye on it to keep it running smoothly.
The extra money will help pay court costs and attorney’s fees when I file bankruptcy in the next couple of weeks.
It’s been a long week. It’s dead week, the week before final exams. My students are panicking and scheduling lots of extra sessions. I’m not sure whether I’ll be done Wednesday or Thursday next week. Thursday is the last day of exams, so that’s the absolute last day for this semester. I’ll have about 10 days off before I start summer tutoring for the 8th grade LEAP test.
During that time I’ll be working on my blogs, writing my son’s 7th grade homeschool curriculum, and drumming up more tutoring clients for the LEAP. I’ll keep you posted!
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May 16th, 2008
Posted by
joubess |
Maintenance & Repairs |
2 comments
