Every day I get several scam calls even if I have punched the block this number button on my phone. One caller from Colorado calls every day at 9 A.M. telling on a recorded message that they represent my retirement insurance company. Every two or three days I get a call my extended warranty on my car has expired. They know what kind of car I have, the year of manufacture, and how long I have had it. I don’t know who shared that information with the scammer.

My wife and I use different techniques. When my phone says “likely a scammer” I answer, “Good Morning Scam and do not call again.” My wife plays along with them sometimes and asks how they got her number and she is going to find out and get the prosecuted. Do you think they really expect to sell you a medicare or health plan when they call? Do you think they think they will sell you an extended warranty on your ten year old automobile when they call? Do you think that the Social Security Administration is going to stop payments if you do not call them back within two hours? Do you think that the city you live in has condemned your property if you do not make certain improvements? Do you think it is required in your community that you have monthly treatments for termites to eliminate the spread within the community and they can save you lots of money if you just sign a monthly contract with them?

DO YOU REALLY THINK THE VARIOUS UNSOLICITED CALLS TRYING TO SELL YOU SOMETHING EXPECT TO SELL YOU THEIR SERVICE? THE COMPANIES THAT DO EXPECT TO SELL YOU INSURANCE , MONTHLY SERVICES ON YOUR PROPERTY, AUTO WARRANTEES, ALL SET A SHORT EXPIRATION DATE IN AN ATTEMPT TO CLOSE THE SALE. MOST OF THE OTHERS ARE TRYING TO GET YOU TO GIVE THEM YOUR EMAIL, YOUR ADDRESS, YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, A CREDIT CARD NUMBER, OR ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION THEY CAN USE TO USE YOUR ACCOUNTS OR BRIBE YOU TO NOT USE THE INFORMATION THEY EXTRACTED FROM YOU.

I will give you a couple of examples of a technique that has been used for several years now. A friend of mine that lives in Canada told me about his neighbor advertising his furniture on Craigslist. They had several calls and gave their address to one particular caller. A couple with a pickup came to look at the furniture and said they would pay them $8,500 for the furniture, his friend accepted the offer. When it came time to pay, they said we are moving from here to the U.S. and are leaving tomorrow which was a Sunday. They said we still have our bank account here and can give you a check. They talked to the couple for quite a while and decided to accept the check. Then another wrinkle entered the transaction, they ask if they could write it for $9000 rather than $8,500 and if the people would give them $500 for gas money? Again, both couples discussed this transaction trying to decide whether to accept the offer. Low and behold the people accepted the offer. Monday morning, they went to their bank and deposited the $9000 check, they were told you will have to wait five banking days before it hits your account. On the fifth banking day the people get a call from the bank telling them the check was no good. They were out the furniture and $500. The bank fraud division contacted them and told them they could go to jail for attempting to collect money on a fraudulent check. They ask what about the people that gave the check to us? The bank said you will have to get an attorney and try to find them and sue them for your loss.

I buy and sell bicycles on Craigslist and Offerup. About three years ago was the first time several people tried this scam on me for a new Schwinn Midtown bicycle. A woman sends me an email on the Craigslist email system and states my husband is a very busy man, he is in Chicago right now and we are moving to Hawaii, he loves Schwinn Midtown bicycles. His wife said he ask me to handle this transaction for him. She asked for my name, address, phone number, email, so she could mail me a cashier’s check that day which should arrive in one to two days. She explained that his agent would come and pick up the bike after I received the cashier’s check. She also said I will make it for $50 more than the price of the bike just for you saving it for him. THE FIRST TIME THIS PROPOSITION WAS PRESENTED TO ME I FELL FOR IT. Two days later I get a check marked cashier’s check written on an Illinois bank for $1,200. The price of the bike was $150 and the $50 she wanted to give me for holding it would have made it $200. A man called me on a Friday and ask if I received the check? I responded that I had, but what is the additional one thousand dollars for? He said just cash the check it is a good check and give the $1,000 cash to my agent that will come this afternoon to pick up the bike. I responded I am not a bank and I will not deposit the check or give your agent the bike or $1,000. The guy got real pushy he called me back several times just saying “Take the check to the bank and deposit it, they will take it”. I ask for his return address so I could send the check back. The guy on the phone refused to give me his name and his mailing address. At the conclusion I told him I had found the online sight of the FBI and I was sending the check to them. The caller hung up the phone and I never heard from him again. I did fill a report with the FBI for this transaction which included the guy’s email address and phone number. Two days later I got a check for $1,000 for another bike from a local person that was supposed to come and see the bike. It was in fact another scam attempt saying they were local but too busy to come and would be sending an agent and had already mailed me a check for the bike. I only gave them my name and address to come and see the bike. I also sent their $1,000 check to the FBI. I told the person calling that their check had gone to the FBI, they hung up. THAT WAS THREE YEARS AGO THIS SCAM SURFACED, NOW THREE YEARS LATER IT HAS RESURFACED. EVERY TIME I ADVERTISE A NEW SCHWINN OR DIAMONDBACK BIKE I GET AN EMAIL THAT THE PERSON IS SO BUSY THEIR SECRETARY IS HANDING A TRANSACTION TO PURCHASE A BIKE FOR THEM AND THEY WILL SEND A CASHIERS CHECK WITHIN TWO DAYS.

ANY TIME A CALLER ASKS FOR PERSONAL INFORMATION CONFIRM EXACTLY WHO THEY ARE BEFORE REVEALING ANYTHING. IT CAN COST YOU LOTS OF MONEY AND YOUR REPUTATION IF YOU DO NOT VERIFY THE PERSON REQUESTING INFORMATION FROM YOU OVER THE PHONE.

The interest rate paid by most banks is .40 % less than a half of a per cent. If you have the right to withdraw the money at any time probably that is better than just letting it set idle in your bank account.

There are banks and credit unions offering interest rates of several percentage points if you are willing to commit to leave the money for several years or suffer a withdrawal penalty.

Then there is the problem now that Congress is discussing monitoring every bank account for transactions $600 or more in an effort to detect income tax evaders. If the huge infrastructure bill is approved there are millions of dollars designated to hire IRS agents so every single tax return can be audited. That sounds like and looks like an impossible task. At any rate many freedoms we have enjoyed are disappearing by leaps and bounds under the current administration.

If the proposed plan is put into operation families are going to have to plan differently in handling their banking I am sure. We all know there are many cash businesses that people operate now. The number of those businesses will increase by leaps and bounds if their bank accounts are going to be a source of controversy. There are many people like plumbers, roofers, electricians, landscapers, insect control people, beauticians, and some retail businesses like cafes. There are other individuals that only accept cash. I do not know if they report the income or not. But the government’s plan is probably only going to expand the cash system dramatically. Also I would think they will collect less in taxes because people are going to figure out ways to avoid putting the money in the bank.

People on Social Security, Retirement Programs, Government and State funded income programs will have to have a bank account to receive the money. If that is the only income they have why would the IRS want to audit their tax returns, that would be a total waste of time and money. But we all know the Federal Government is very adept at wasting money and harassing citizens.

Write to your U.S. Representatives and Senators and discourage them from supporting such a costly plan with the only purpose being to collect all the money they possibly can for them to determine how it will be used.

IT IS TIME ALL CITIZENS TAKE NOTE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING AROUND THEM AND STAND UP FOR THE IDEAS AND SYSTEMS THEY CHERISH. WE ARE LOSING OUR FREEDOMS, WE ARE LOSING CONTROL OF OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM , AND WE ARE LOSING CONTROL OF OUR COUNTRY SINCE OUR PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT WILL NOT ENFORCE OUR IMMIGRATION LAWS AND ARE GRANTING AMNESTY TO MILLIONS OF IMMIGRANTS. ALL OF THESE THINGS SHOULD LIGHT A FIRE UNDER EACH OF US. WE SHOULD MAKE IT CLEAR TO OUR REPRESENTATIVES AND CURRENT ADMINISTRATION WE WILL NOT STAND FOR IT.

Walmart, Safeway, and Fry’s in our area all offer curbside pickup in the parking lot since COVID-19 free of charge.

It is so easy to enter each of the items by going to the store site for your location and paying for your order with a credit card when it is complete. The person goes to the numbered parking spaces designated for order pick up and calls the number on the sign and they bring your order out and load it in your car free of charge. There is also a sign on the Walmart spaces that tips are not accepted. Think of the time and the steps walking up and down the aisle that is handled by the personnel at the place you are ordering from. This service is great we use it once every two weeks at a Walmart in Coolidge , Arizona. They do a super job, they explain when they bring the order anything they did not have on your order or substituted brands for items ordered.

It is not surprising that you can save money when you only buy what you need when you order on line. If you go in the store and walk each of the aisles probably you are going to see and buy things you would not buy otherwise.

For Walmart you can order anything in the store in addition to groceries on line for pickup the next day. Safeway, Fry’s and Koger, on line order next day orders is pretty much restricted to groceries.

Petsmart also offers curbside delivery of orders texted by phone in advance of the visit. When the person arrives they call the specified number and a person brings their order to the parking space reserved for curbside pickup.

Some fast food and restaurants also offer curbside service for orders called in or texted , they call it no contact food delivery.

Home Depot and Loew’s are also offering delivery to designated spots in their parking lot. They select the items for you , put them in reserve spots in the store, and bring them to your mode of transportation. The person has already paid for the products with a credit card on line prior to pick up.

If you have not tried purchasing your groceries and other products using this service , try it and I am sure you will want to continue taking advantage of this great service that was born because of COVID=19.

If you go to the bank and ask them how much interest will you pay me to invest $10,000 for a year as I did , they will probably tell you the interest rate will be less than 1/2 of 1%, or 0.40%. When the bank told me that I started thinking what I could do that would help our family budget and make more income on the money we have to invest. I recently sold a summer retreat property and received enough for it to pay off the loan on our primary residence which is financed at 5 1/4%. We started the process to refinance at at 2.75% for 15 years instead of continuing with a 30 year loan. But the closing costs are so much that it takes at least 3 to 4 years before you can break even on the refinance.

I ask my wife what she thought of the idea of paying off the loan on our home and then saving the amount of house payment monthly to build up our savings? She is thinking about it.
In effect we will be saving 5.25% interest on $69,000 , we will have to pay the property taxes and insurance separately, but the result would be that we could put $400 a month in savings. So in effect we would creating a situation that we could have the equivalent of receiving 5.25% benefit as opposed to O.40% interest.

If a family has high interest credit cards, be on the lookout for the credit cards that offer 0% interest for a year to eighteen months for balance transfers. There is a transaction fee based on the amount transferred but generally you could save a substantial amount of money for the interest saved. Then try to pay the debt transferred off before the zero interest offer expires.

Edward Jones Investment company will make proposals after a family explains their financial goals based on their financial status. As long as the stock market does not tank investors seem to do pretty well with the mix of mutual funds that the Edward Jones representative recommends for their situation. If the market tanks the investor needs to have the discipline to ride out the dips because always in the past the market comes back within the next few months or years. My wife had $160,000 in Edward Jones American Funds when Obama was President and it decreased in value to $110,000 before stabilizing then it started to climb. Within three years her investment was back to the level before the declining market.

Wentworth investments advertising they are able to protect a families income in most financial situations. I do not know anyone that has used this investment service, I have only seen the ads.

Blogging has been around for quite a few years. If a person writes useful and thought stimulating dialog, blogs can influence the opinions of many people.

A successful blog needs to have a subject and title that causes a person to want to know what is on the inside. I started this Easy Personal Budget blog about twelve years ago. I write a blog with a different angle every month sometime before the 10th of the month. The intent of this blog is to encourage families to adopt a budget and keep refining it so it is useful in accomplishing their goals. A budget is very useful tool, it encourages thinking before you spend and the desire to seek a profession that will provide the needed family income.

Since the United States Government and the Presidency is in a state of flux with no really encouraging goals, each of us must make our desires known to our U.S. Representatives and Senators and the President and Vice President. There are websites for all those people where you can go on the internet and write to them. I have been writing to my Representatives, Senators , and the President for years. It is surprising that in recent years I have actually gotten meaningful replies to some of my letters and emails. A very liberal Senator wanted to engage me in a debate on fossil fuels, electric cars, and his proposed Green Energy bill. I responded to his arguments for those programs. I got a thank you letter back but not sure he agreed with my opinion on anything.

Writing to the Governor, City and County Officials, and School Officials needs to done also. If enough people write regularly to these people and they can see that majority of the people in their jurisdiction favor certain legislation, they will have to cave or be defeated at the polls. That is why we need a large number of people writing to them not just once but on a regular basis. Just like a person writes a blog regularly, you need to write the people you want to influence regularly to keep the subject fresh in their minds.

One method I would suggest is that you set aside a time each weekend to write to government officials. Look on the internet and copy the addresses of all the government officials you intend to write to during the next month. Set aside a weekend for Federal Government influence, a weekend for City, County, and School officials. Set aside a weekend for State officials. Set aside the fourth weekend of the month to write to government officials you feel are way off of the mark. For example Mitt Romney, AOC, the Squad, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Governors that will not enforce the law.

You say well what can I write to these people about. Some examples of subjects that need to be addressed are (1)Encourage the Congress to defund sanctuary cities because they are not enforcing the law (2)Encourage Mayors and Governors to enforce the immigration laws that exist (3)Demand that Congressmen and Congresswomen and Senators quit adding unrelated pork to all the funding bills (4) Ask the Congress to speak in unison to the President and his border Czar to quit lying and saying the border is closed and take action to close it. The wall needs to be completed(5)Encourage V.P. Harris to come out of hiding and do her job if the border is really her assigned responsibility (6) Tell your representatives your local needs that need to be included in the infrastructure funding
(7) Tell the President and and Congress not to pack the Supreme Court and get to work on the things that need to be done using the existing laws. (8)Encourage good candidates to run for office in the upcoming 2022 elections so we can get the government stabilized again. Under the present administration the people are in the dark and are foreign allies do not trust our President. Look how Israel was treated in the recent conflict. IN SUMMARY GET INVOLVED DO IT REGULARLY AND ENCOURAGE YOUR NEIGHBORS TO DO THE SAME. IT WILL HAVE A BIG EFFECT ON THE FAMILY BUDGET AND STANDARD OF LIVING IN THE FUTURE.

It is surprising how few people contact their representatives in government to express their preferences and views. I am told by a Congressman and U.S. Senator only a few people tell them what they want and it is the same people after then consistently. We need to decide what our priorities are as far as living in the society we are faced with. Make a list, for example: 1) Getting the kids back in school and teaching them an honest curriculum 2) Taxation by the Federal Government and where it goes 3)Regaining our freedom after the pandemic.
4) Higher Education and their tendency to plant socialism in the minds of the students 5)Voting rights bills and the purpose behind adopting them.

The names and addresses of all the U.S. Congressman and Congresswomen can be found on the internet. Construct letters and inquiries that make clear what you want your representatives to do and that you will not take “NO” for an answer. Multiple letters in different forms may be necessary. Invite your representatives to call , email , or write you. Get a dialog going. Try to see their point and if it is not congruent with yours tell them why and ask them to change their ideas.

We have been talking about the Federal level of government but the state, local , and school government, are equally as important. Go to the town council meetings , get on the agenda and express you disagreements and tell them why they need to rethink what they are doing. Go to party caucuses and volunteer to be a delegate at the conventions. Support local candidates that will maintain your views and will listen to the electorate.

Contribute small amounts of money to candidates you are passionate about. Volunteer to help with the candidate’s campaign. If you feel you are ready to run for an office, prepare yourself financially and mentally to go the distance to the election and beyond. It takes a tough person to withstand the criticism and opposition when running for office. Ask yourself am I totally committed to carry this campaign to the conclusion and beyond. Am I willing to listen to my friends , neighbors, and opposition , if elected?

More candidates holding office need to organize their voting base so they are the salesmen and saleswomen to sell their legislation to the public.

The address to write to the President is on the internet. Write to the President often. Also write to legislators from other parts of the country than your own and solicit their support for your ideas. Be critical of representatives that are trying to slam through legislation that is damaging to society, let them know what you think.

Every waking hour there is work to be done. With the pandemic and so many people working from home or unemployed it is a good time to check your priorities and start involving yourself with government reform. I encourage you go get started now. It is so sad that the electorate could not see what was going to happen if we took Joe Biden at his word, open borders, no fossil fuels, “Green New Deal”, free education for all, school from age 3, cancel culture, destroying our history, defund the police. I can see nothing in Joe Biden’s platform that is positive. Write to the President expressing your dissatisfaction with his policies. People say Joe doesn’t care what you think, tell him anyway and help with campaigns to get opposition control of Congress so a lot of this non-sense can be stopped in 2022.

For those that are willing there are many jobs available in many parts of the country. Many people receiving unemployment benefits have chosen to stay home and receive those benefits rather than work. Their reasoning is that those benefits in many cases pay more than the jobs available to them. That might be ok for a while but when those people that made that choice find themselves forced to find employment because the benefits have ended, the prospective employers will frown on the fact you chose not to work for an extended period of time.

My daughter who is a college graduate in dietetics had been working as a supervisor in the ski reservations area for a large ski resort company that had many ski resorts. She decided to work for the Census Bureau until she could find a less stressful job. When the Census job ended she began looking for employment. There were many jobs but not many that would pay much more than the minimum wage. She decided to lease a vehicle and work for a company that transports the elderly to appointments, does their grocery shopping , and is available to take them anywhere they want to go. She makes a decent wage and gets lots of tips. She has been selected as the employee with the most compliments several of the weeks she has been providing that service. She received a bonus for that award those weeks.

Clickbank has literally thousands of electronic systems and services in the “Marketplace”. People can find self help books that will be sent to them electronically for a reasonable price. There are a lot of services , like people finders, background checks, email locaters, and housesitting job directories available on Clickbank. I have purchased several items and have been pleased with most of them. A person can also receive a commission for selling any of the items on Clickbank. Those items can be sold by placing Bing ads at a small fee to Bing for the item you want to offer from Clickbank. There is free training by Bing and Microsoft on how to write and promote the ads. The person deposits money into their account and tells Bing what their daily limit for an ad is. For instance I set $20 a day as my limit, you are charged by the number of people that actually open your ad. When you set the ad up you put a hoplink in the Bing form and if the person purchases the item or service from your ad , you receive credit for it on the Clickbank payroll account. The person will receive payment every two weeks for any items sold from Clickbank. Each item a person wants to sell is called a campaign , I have several campaigns going at a time. This time of year house sitting and pet sitting has a lot of activity. If a person selects the vendor for that item that offers a catalog of those wanting house sitters or pet sitters and a list of those people offering their services for those assignments. There are codes to protect both the hiring people and the employee people until it is certain that they want to connect. Selecting items from Clickbank and listing them on a Bing Ad is something you can do from home and possibly make a little money. As a person gets better in selecting a vendor they want to promote they will make more money. Some people make a full time living doing just those simple procedures.

Doordash and the various food delivery services offer an opportunity to make money if you have a dependable car, a good driving record, and are willing to work evenings as well as days. Most of the food items for delivery occur between 5 P.M. and 10 P.M. so if a person does not want to work those hours as well as daytime hours, then they will probably not make it.

For someone wanting to investigate a new profession, installing laminate flooring is a high paying job in big demand in many cities. The installer for our laminate flooring hires helpers so he can complete the job quicker. He said most of his helpers don’t stay long, they can see how the installation is done and decide to go into business for themselves. Home Depot advertises that installation of laminate flooring is $3 a foot. Out installer charged $3 a foot and did 900 sq ft for a fee of $2700. It took him and two helpers 17 hours to do 900 sq ft. So you can see that is over $150 an hour. If he pays two helpers $15 an hour each that leaves $120 an hour for the contractor. Of course there is not always a job ready to go for laminate flooring every day but still it is high paying job that most men or women can master.

As you can see there are many avenues to explore to begin normalizing your income again if you find yourself unemployed or needing supplemental income.

Each day of the current Government Administration seems worse than the day before. I hope you will write and call your Congressman and Senators and ask them to insist President Biden complete the wall and close the border so the immigrants do not have to experience the discomfort and the people of this country are not stock with supporting them. Also encourage your Senators and Congressman to oppose eliminating the filibuster. Also insist that no way should they pack the Supreme Court. Our rights are being trampled on as racism is attached to everything they want to do and that is not the case for sure. The Second Amendment must be preserved for the protection of the American People. Tell your representatives there is no way the Electoral College should be eliminated. Do your part and asking your representatives to oppose those things. The Power Grab must be stopped before the country is completely destroyed.

I TOOK THE HEADER PHOTO OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY WHEN I VISITED NEW YORK CITY SEVERAL YEARS AGO. IT MUST NEVER BE UNDER ATTACK!

It was not hard to predict that the stock market and the people in the United States would not be in for bumpy ride if the Liberal ideas were adopted. We are here now with new unwise ideas translated into executive orders weakening the security and economy of our country. The “Border Crisis” is one of President Biden’s own making and affects us all. It is sad for those people that no one knows what to do with. It is sad that we have to figure out how to house, clothe, and support thousands of people with little or no skills and jobs. It is sad jobs American citizens should have access two now are being offered to illegal people entering the United States of America. The illegal immigration greatly weakens our health system as well as the economic system. It did not have to be this way, President Trump was working hard and closing the borders and now they have just opened the gates. How sad!

The Covid-19 immunization distribution is a a disaster. I have been on the list for four weeks and am told it may be another four to eight weeks before my wife and I who both are over the age of 65 can get the vaccine. We were promised that we were on the list and someone would call and give us an appointment in six to eight weeks. We live in Arizona.

The effort to destroy names of places and historical monuments that many people in the United States cherish is very sad. We have baseball teams re-naming their teams, Dr. Seuss books being banned , statues being torn down. All in all it is destruction of cherished and valuable property all over the United States.

The talk of paying people that had family members serve as slaves that Liberals classify as of white slave owners is sick. There have been and always will be some problems and inequities but after they are solved like the abolishment of slavery, you move on and make further social progress, you do not further divide our country with retributions. Those white people they are targeting did nothing wrong, so why make them pay.

THE PEOPLE THAT CANNOT ACCEPT THESE RADICAL CHANGES IN THE FIRST SIX WEEKS OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION NEED TO START RIGHT NOW GETTING CANDIDATES TO THE FOREFRONT TO RUN IN 2022 FOR THE HOUSE AND SENATE. WE NEED CANDIDATES THAT CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY AND WILL REVERSE THIS CRAZINESS. STATE AND CITY ELECTED OFFICIALS NEED TO BE REPLACED IF THEY ARE A PART OF THIS SAD SYSTEM THAT HAS ATTACKED THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. WE MUST REPLACE ALL THE BAD CANDIDATES IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS SO CONGRESS CANNOT RATIFY BAD LEGISLATION, THEN SELECT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES THAT WILL BE WORKERS THAT REPEAL A LOT OF THE LEGISLATION THAT IS DESTROYING OUR WAY OF LIFE.

YOUR FAMILY BUDGET is difficult to predict over several months or a year with a roller coaster government that is causing deep concern in the stock market. MONTHLY BUDGETS SHOULD BE PREPARED BY THE LAST WEEK OF THE PREVIOUS MONTH USING WHAT INCOME AND EXPENSE ITEMS YOU ARE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING. WHO KNOWS IF YOU WILL GET ANOTHER STIMULOUS CHECK, THE GOVERNMENT IS JUST PLAYING WITH YOU LIKE THEY ARE GIVING THIS TO YOU. IT IS YOU GIVING TO YOU , BUT THEY ARE GIVING TO FOREGN GOVERNMENTS , AND GOVERNMENTS IN THIS COUNTRY THAT ARE BANKRUPT. A VERY SMALL PORTION OF THE PROPOSED STIMULOUS BILL ACTUALLY FINDS IT WAY INTO THE HANDS OF THE MIDDLE INCOME AMERICAN TAXPAYER. MOST OF THE BILL IS LIBERAL FAVORITE POLITICAL PAYOFFS TO STATE AND FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS AND PROJECTS.

It is great that baseball is up and running. I am enjoying the Spring Training games on MLB TV network. For $129 you can subscribe for the whole season and watch many televised games in Spring Training and the regular season. They do black out games in your home area, but a lot of those games are on network stations so the people may be able to see them. College basketball is winding down but the limited number of fans takes a way from a lot of excitement of the games.

I am an avid bicycle rider that rides several miles every day. I photograph a lot of the things I see on the country roads and put them on Facebook. It is interesting to note that the price for an economical and expensive bicycle has gone up dramatically in recent months. That price may go up even more with dramatic increase in gasoline prices. I buy and sell bicycles on Craigslist and Offerup.

Keep the faith. If you are Christian pray for the people of America and the leaders to make good decisions. If you are of other faiths pray to the one you have faith in for peace, success, and good health.

I have a genuine concern about the new Administration and their lack of concern about the lower and middle income people of the United States of America. I had all of my income tax information ready two weeks ago to file my taxes for the tax year 2020. I completed my Federal and State tax returns on Turbo Tax and and a message appears, that Turbo Tax will hold your return, the IRS is not accepting any returns until after January 27th. So that did not completely shock me. Then President Biden comes out the next day and says I want to delay taking any tax returns until after February 14th because we have too much to do with a Stimulous Package and an immigration policy on the table. Plus he said those programs are more important than collecting taxes. Can you imagine the chaos with a six week back up in tax returns before they even begin to process refunds for the year 2020. Also think of the delay in getting tax money for the Federal Government to operate for the returns that would have normally come in in late January and early February.

As predicted the President says he wants to cancel the Trump tax cuts after saying throughout the campaign that he would only raise taxes on those people making over $190k or something like that. So President Biden is raising the taxes on the working class regardless of their gross income.

The COVID-19 vaccine distribution is going very badly and the President wants to increase the number of shots given daily. His request to increase the vaccine inoculations to high number daily is only to try to make him look better. The vaccine is not there , the manufacturers cannot make it fast enough to meet the current scheduled brackets. I am over Seventy Five and have not been able to even get on a list in my area. If I were to go to Phoenix they have 24 hour sites and I might be able to get a shot. Safeway, Fry’s , Walgreens, and CVS Pharmacy have received no vaccine in this area and are not even taking applicants. Some of my neighbors have gone to their primary care physician and gotten the vaccine. Apparently the doctors get it before the public locations. The whole roll out is a disaster and the current administration is making it worse. They say that soon the Administration is going to require that all flying passengers have the vaccine or they cannot fly. I can see why that might be good if there was enough vaccine that any one needing it to fly could get it, but that is not the case. Also there is such a shortage that the second shots are being delayed in many areas beyond the 21 and 30 day recommendation. One doctor here said on TV it will be ok if they get the second shot within 42 days. The manufacturers are behind on producing the vaccine for the second shot and the distribution is totally disorganized to get it to the right place at the right time.

On the 2020 tax return it is really a wake up call that it is required that you put the amount of the Stimulous money you have received and even the amount you have not received. I received the last $600 Stimulous payment in January 2021 in my bank account. The program used by Turbo Tax requires you put that payment like it came in 2020 or the IRS will reject your return for not having it on there.

The new Johnson and Johnson vaccine is estimated to be only 75% effective and is only one shot. If they could get an effective one shot vaccine that would sure speed things up , but 75% is not very good odds.

AS FAR AS MAKING A FAMILY BUDGET, IF YOU ARE UNEMPLOYED AND NOT SURE IF AND WHEN YOU WILL RECEIVE UNEMPLOYMENT CHECKS OR YOU ARE WORKING AND NOT SURE WHAT YOUR TAKE HOME PAY WILL BE IF THE TAX CUTS TAKEN AWAY, A SHORT TERM BUDGET IS ABOUT THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN GO AT THIS TIME. An approach would be to estimate how much you think you will be receiving from income and or unemployment benefits , and how much you estimate your expenses to be month by month. If you are paying rent and the landlord has followed through on the request by the government to defer receiving the rent, technically the landlord can come after you to collect the back rent after the government mandates expire. There are a lot of jobs available most places at this time but many on unemployment receive more money than they were earning. That was a gross error on the part of our legislators to create that situation. With the minimum wage going up to $15 as proposed that will help some people re-enter the workforce while others will lose their jobs because the employers cannot maintain the same number of people after the minimum wage increase.

Our government is in a state of flux while our Congress and Senate waste time over impeachment of a person that is not even in office. The American people are only pawns for government mandated programs as we move backwards.

Photography is a fun hobby for many people. I will furnish a link to an Instagram photography listing. This site allows a person to place photos on their site and people can decide if they want to purchase your photographs for commercial use. You get emails that tell you when people are looking at your photos and their comments about them. Selling access to your photos can be lucrative but it takes work to get people to notice your photos. The person can organize the photos into themes and genre to target certain people. The person can keep adding photos to their site.