Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

A friend of mine told me a great car buying story this week and I want to share the substance of it.

She and her husband decided a good used car (already a sensible choice) was in their future. They did their research, packed a checkbook and headed out to test drive. Once they found their ideal car, and did their negotiating it was time to close. The sales person said, "I suppose you'll be needing to arrange financing", to which they replied, "No, it's ok if we write a check, right?"

"What?"

"Write a check. We're going to pay cash."

The entire dealership fell into silence. As they handed over the payment in full, they were told, "I don't believe this has ever happened here before."

I love the revolution! Talk about a stimulus plan. Pay yourself instead of the bank. Then pay in cash for what you need. Everybody wins. Except those who feed off of debt, of course. What is it we call things that feed off of other things again? Oh, that's right............ parasites!

Fun Discussion Today

I had a great time this afternoon discussing financial matters with a group of people I work with. We talked about budgets, saving for college, debt and the miracle of compound interest. We had some great laughs along the way. It was a refreshing change of pace from.......well.......work!

Just Some Shameless Self Promotion

It's almost time to get ready for Church, but I thought I'd take a minute and introduce some projects I'm working on. I've mentioned some of them before, but they are worth talking about again, because I've been in the workshop with them this week.

First, as announced last week, "IOU NO MORE" is now available as an ebook. We are very excited about this development, because of the growth of popularity of ebooks and because with ebooks, readers have the ability to check out the references, materials and tools referred to in the book just by clicking on the active links in the text. With traditional books, you must lay down the book, open your computer and find the url. We plan to use both traditonal and ebooks going forward.

We have two other active websites besides IOU NO MORE. The first is, Sam Burton Presents, nicknamed, SBP. SBP will become the primary portal for all of our sub pages, books, materials, newsletters, etc. IOU NO MORE will become of of the service sites under the SBP umbrella.

The second is, Sam Burton Ministries, or SBM, for short. We felt that this was an essential step for the many services, products and information we develop especially for Churches and other Faith Based groups. SBM is very special to me and I'm looking forward to developing it.

Both those websites are just in development phase and really only have holding pages up. But go ahead and check them out, save them to your favorites and let me know what you'd like to see in them. There is contact information all over them. In fact, that's about all there is right now.

Besides websites, I'm currently adapting the "IOU NO MORE" material into a format and presentation especially geared to men. I'm calling it, "DEBT BEAT DADS: common sense financial and life principles for men (and the women who love them). There are some nice 'manly' insights added to the material along with some tweaking of the Spending Plans that will translate well to the 'male mind'. If all goes well, that will be available by Christmas.

My regular reader (yes, I think there's only one), will remember that I'm working on "LIFE LESSONS FROM A LEAD DOG: amusing anecdotes and heart warming tales from 30 years with sleddogs". The proposal is coming along nicely, as are the seminars associated with it. I want to shop this to some major publishers. People keep telling me this one has a populist appeal.

In early Spring, 2010, you should look for an ebook on vegetable gardening basics for urban and suburban dwellers. This project is being outlined, along with a seminar, and should be a lot of fun. It does not have a title as yet.

Finally, I have outlined a book and seminar (I've presented the seminar hundreds of times in the classroom) on optimizing your career as a call (contact) center agent. No point having all these years of experience if I'm not going to share what I've learned. Right now I'm calling it, "BYE, BYE, DILBERT: a quick start guide for turning the mundane life of cube world into an adventure and turning your headset into a gold mine." Can you tell I like subtitles? They help with search engine optimization, in case you were wondering.

Well, that's enough for the moment. Some of this is rerun. Some is new. Thanks for stopping by. Time for Church.

Fall Garden Planted

This afternoon, Brittan and I put in our fall vegetables. We planted broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, snap peas and one last round of green beans. What else is a body to do on Saturday? Go golfing? Take a nap? Watch cartoons? Bah! Humbug!

I really do like vegetable gardening. It is therapeutic and productive all at the same time. I like prepping the soil, planting and harvesting. The tending to the plant in between is a chore, but there is always something to learn. Today, for example, we found squash bugs on our pepper plants. The weren't doing any damage, but since there is no squash for them, they are searching for new things to devour. Squash bugs have been a real nuisance this year. I hate them more than any other garden pest. The are prolific, destructive and they stink. I'm considering trying hydroponics for squash next year, just because there won't be any soil for the squash bugs.

Our pepper harvest just keeps piling up, as do the cucumbers. I have never been more sick of cucumbers than I am this year. Next year we're growing pickling cucumbers. Yummmm.

Watch for a Vegetable Gardening 101 ebook from Recession Proof Living and IOU NO MORE next spring. It's going to be fun to put together and a useful quick start guide for urban and suburban vegetable gardeners.

Read Em And Weep

Just read an article describing the bad and the ugly that is coming out of the new regulations for Credit Card Companies. Notice, I didn't add, 'good' to bad and ugly. There is no good. Sure, the CC companies will have to be more transparent in disclosing their fees and rates, but many of them are using the opportunity to raise those newly clarified fees. Yeesh.

There is a level on which I don't care what they do, because I haven't had a Credit Card balance in years. They could raise the rates to 300% and it doesn't change my world.

One interesting thing that came out of all this, though, is I found out I still have an open Credit Card account I didn't know about. I got a letter from a particular bank saying my cash advance limit had been reduced. Oh, darn. I thought I closed that with the rest of my Visa an Master Cards years ago. I certainly haven't used it. Oh well, it's closed now.

The first rule in the IOU NO MORE revolution, is "STOP BORROWING". That means Credit Cards, too. Don't give me the 'for emergencies' line, either. The emergency will be trying to pay the darned thing off.

Gotta get ready for work now. You can read the article HERE.

Workplace Suicide Rates on the Rise

I saw today that workplace suicides have risen 28% over the last year, while overall workplace deaths have declined. I find that quite disturbing; and more than a little disheartening.

There is little doubt in my mind, that the current economic and employment climates have played a significant role in the steep rise in on the job suicides.

After reading the article, I did some quick searches and found that suicide in general seems to be on the rise. I don't mean to sound crass, but that suggests to me that "Hope" and "Change" are not working out as planned.

I don't want to descend into politics. Government is not, and never should be, a solution to financial, career or personal difficulties. Certainly, money is no reason to take our lives over.

My first thought is to remind everyone that Jesus is our best Hope in all things. I would urge everyone to investigate Christianity before resorting to suicide.

Also, the overwhelming majority of people in financial crisis could gain perspective from a program like IOU NO MORE. There are answers. They aren't always easy. They sometimes require dramatic and drastic action, but what is more drastic than suicide?

Folks, things are not hopeless. Trust me on that.

What's in the Oven

The clock on the wall tells me it's about time to get ready for work, but before I begin my ablutions, let me share some things that are coming down the road for IOU NO MORE and Sam Burton Presents.

First, we have a brand new product that will be available later today. IOU NO MORE is now an ebook as well as a traditional paperback. The electronic version has an expanded appendix which includes reproducible forms (and a larger set of forms than in the paperback version). The "New IOU NO MORE" also includes the details of our referral program. The referral program looks like, and even pays out like, a traditional Multi Level Marketing plan, with one exception, you don't have to pay to participate. Everyone who purchases a book, ebook or starter kit from our shopping cart is eligible.

Speaking of the shopping cart, it's in the process of receiveing a makeover. Soon, customers will be able to track their purchases and will be able to directly download certain products rather than wait for the mail or email.

I am currently writing a spin off book, "DEBT BEAT DADS: Common Sense Financial and Life Advice for Men (and the women who love them). It will take the principles of IOU NO MORE and add some content especially geared towards men (and their wives).

I also have outlined a project, probably an ebook, on Vegetable Gardening Basics those who don't live in the country. Brittan and I have learned so much the last few years and we want to share it with others who want to eat better and be more self sufficient, but who are stuck in suburbia. It doesn't yet have a name. How about "Vegieburbia" or "The Suburban Gardener"? I'm open to suggestions. If you come up with the title for me, I'll give you a copy of the book and mention you in the acknowledgements.

I'm also working away on my book proposal for "Life Lessons from a Lead Dog". That book and the study materials that could spin off from it, has the potential to make a big impact in the and on the world.

Ok, enough commercials for now. Must get moving.