A Refreshing Approach To Holiday Bonus Giving
December 19, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Giving
Check out this article from USA TODAY about a bank in Fargo, North Dakota that gave $1,000 holiday bonuses to employees.
Seven Gift Cards To Buy For College Students and Teenagers
December 12, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Budgeting, Giving, Spending and Saving
College Kids and Teenagers are hard to buy gifts for. They never give you much of an indication of what they want, and now that they have their own jobs and not many bills or obligations, they usually just go out and buy what they want throughout the year. Instead, buy them what they NEED for the holidays. They’ll appreciate it much more than another turtleneck sweater or DVD. Here are some great gift cards to buy them:
- Health Care Gift Card. Go to High Mark to buy health care for a college kid that doesn’t have health insurance anymore, because they are no longer covered on your policy as a dependent.
Three Tips For Better Gift Giving
December 10, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Giving, Spending and Saving
First of all, there’s no specific right or wrong way to give a gift. But, there are some ways of giving that you should stay away from, and other ways of giving that make the experience that much better. Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year, because I really do like to give gifts. My wife and friends would argue that I love receiving gifts more than I like giving them, but I promise it’s not true! My wife has to be my mediator when it comes to gift giving or else I would go way over budget with our gift giving each year.
Five Great Gifts Under $50 for Anyone On Your Holiday List
November 27, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Budgeting, Consumer News, Giving
If you’ve took any of my advice about the holidays, then you’ve already set up a budget for each individual that you’re going to buy a gift for this holiday season. For instance, we get our nephews and niece a $25 dollar gift. We get our parents $75 dollar gifts for each parent and so on. I like the $50 dollar limit, because you can usually buy a pretty nice, thoughtful gift for under $50. Here are five gifts that are great for anyone on your list this year.
An MP3 Player (not one with an apple on the back of it). Go to this CNET page for a list of great MP3 players for under $50. I recommend any of the Sandisk players. Sandisk is a great company and I think their small MP3 players are better looking than the iPod Shuffle and Nano. Also, they come with an FM tuner, which is a feature that the new iPod Nano SHOULD have had, but of course, Apple won’t add that feature until they come out with their next generation of iPods another year from now. Ugh.
Build Wealth To Give Back To Others
November 10, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Giving
As a Christian, I am very familiar with the Christian scene. Many times, Christians take scripture, and they interpret it based on what it means to them. They forget to look at the context from which it was written, who was writing it, and for what reason it was being written. The verse that states, “the poor will inherit the kingdom of heaven”, is a verse which is often misinterpreted. Never in the Bible does it say that being wealth is a sin. When Jesus is speaking to the masses, he is intending to warn those that love money. If you are obsessed with money, possessions, and the pursuit of becoming even more rich, you will have a harder time accepting what Jesus teaches, because you will have all of your needs met. You’ll have a great house, plenty of food, plenty of attention, and tons of toys to distract you from what is most important in life.
Dave Ramsey Talks About Socialism and Eminant Domain In America
September 5, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Consumer News, Giving, Insurance, Taxes
This is not a political blog, but the issues that Ramsey talks about on this video are definitely political issues. My challenge is for you to research the presidential candidates before you vote in a year. Make sure that you choose a candidate that not only agrees with your foreign policy and selsocial views, but also your financial views. The idea of socialism, at its core, does not work and it only benefits the less hard working individuals in society. The idea of working hard to make something for yourself is why this country’s economy has thrived over the past 200 plus years. That’s not to say that the mentally ill and physically disabled should be left to fend for themselves, but there are plenty of other socialized systems in place that drain the congressional budget every year.
The 11 Principles Series: Give, Give, and Give Some More
July 16, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Giving
Have you ever been the recipient of a random act of kindness? Have you received an anonymous gift or had someone help you in a tight situation? When I was in college, I had horrible luck with cars. My first car lasted a couple of years, but it was about 15 years old, so I didn’t expect much. My second car was a 1996 Nissan Altima, and it was a great car, but it was totaled by some girl that ran a stop sign. Then, I had an older Mercury Cougar, and the head gasket on the engine blew. Compared to the value of the car, it wasn’t worth it to fix. So, I was in Gainesville, Florida with no car, taking the number 5 bus to school, and calling my girlfriend to pick me up for our dates. It wasn’t a high point in my life, but plenty of college students survive without cars. I had no money to pay for a used car or even a down payment for a financed car. My mom told my home church back in West Palm Beach, Florida about my situation, and that is when I became the recipient of a random act of kindness. Someone in the church donated a 1995 Nissan Altima to the deacon’s ministry at my church, and the head deacon gave me a call. He asked if I wanted the car, and I gladly accepted. I paid the deacons $100 a month for about eight months, and then they handed over the title to me. It was quite a blessing, because I had a reliable car for VERY cheap.
Giving Back To The Community In Your Retirement Years
July 9, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Giving
I was watching the weekend edition of the NBC Nightly News Sunday night, and there was a segment that struck me about a retired physician who started a free clinic for the poor in Hilton Head, South Carolina. This man came to Hilton Head almost two decades ago in hopes of living the normal retirement with plenty of golf, going out to eat, and laying on the beach. But, after a few years, he realized that fully retiring was boring. He saw a need where many of the blue collar workers in Hilton Head could not afford health care. He decided to start a walk-in clinic, and all patients that met the low income requirements were treated for free. The clinic helped take pressure off of the local emergency rooms to treat these individuals and the retired physician found a whole new meaning to his life when he started giving back to the community with his professional expertise.
What I Would Do with a $100,000 Windfall
June 3, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Budgeting, Giving, Spending and Saving
Have you been blessed with a windfall of money? Did you inherit a large sum of money, win a jackpot in Vegas, or did you make a lot of money from selling a rental property? Some of you may never gain a large sum of money at once, but many of you will. I have not had the opportunity to manage a large sum of money all at once, but I thought you’d like to know how I would handle it if I did.
If I inherited a $100,000 today, this is what I would do in order…
Organizing Your Finances The Money Crasher Way
April 15, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Giving, Investing, Spending and Saving
I have a hard time keeping my life organized, and I didn’t work about organizing my finances when I was in college, because I didn’t have any money to organize. But now that I’m in the working world, I have an emergency fund, a 401(k), lots of bills, and a condo that I own. It’s easy to accumulate many accounts over a period of time and have your money spread around so much that you lose track of it. My philosophy is to keep it as simple as possible. You can usually put your money into four different categories.
