I can remember when I was a high school senior and I applied to go to Virginia Tech. I was accepted to go there, but I did not qualify for enough grants and scholarships to be able to attend – even though I had taken college preparation courses in high school and had received all A’s and B’s on my report cards. My parents were already sending my older brother to college and they said that they could not afford to help me to attend college as well. So, I could not go to college. My life’s dream of becoming a veterinarian would never come to pass. If I had been able to attend college right out of high school, I would have led a much much better life, and the lives of my children would have been much better as well. College is the foundation on which financial stability is built. Our children need and deserve the chance to improve their lives with a good education.

I immediately started reading an article about how to save money on tools, and enjoyed reading his little story about when he was a little boy his grandfather gave him his first set of tools, and how he and his grandfather worked together on a variety of projects that needed tools. The story brought back memories of my own relationship with my own grandfather and it brought a smile to my face. You see, even though I am female, I was a tomboy, and my grandfather treated me like the son he never had of his own. It was great fun visiting him on his farm and helping him plant seeds in the garden and follow him around in the barn and watch him slop the hogs and feed the cows.

Realizing that I enjoyed his writing style, I decided to click around on his website, and found that the author of the website is offering college scholarships! I found that very interesting that he would do that, and decided to read more about that. Apparently he is going to award two $5,000 college scholarships a year! His requirements for winning the scholarship do not seem to be unreasonable, based on academic history, extra curricular activities, and ingenuity of essays.

That particular article brought back the memory of how my youngest son was able to go to college on a full grant/scholarship to Princeton due to the generosity of one of Princeton’s alumni. A friend came over to visit a few days ago and she was talking about how her son had thrown away his chances to go to college on a full scholarship and how upset she was that he was not taking advantage of the opportunity. Her concerns made me so grateful that my son was fortunate enough to get the financial grants he needed to go to Princeton, and how that college degree will be opening doors for his career for the rest of his life.

I’ve bookmarked this frugaldad.com website; I think I’ll be going back to read it again and again.

Looking at their list of participating retailers, I have to admit that if I were to be opening a new account to save money for someone’s college expenses that I would not hesitate to join this site. They offer some coupons and discounts at a lot of the stores that I normally frequent. If you are a young parent, I think that checking out this website would be a smart thing to do if you are concerned about saving money for your children’s college expenses. It’s sooner than you think.

Is it my imagination, or is raising kids today more difficult than in previous generations? When I was growing up, it seemed that I didn’t know anyone who had been in legal trouble. Now it seems that almost everyone I know is related to at least one person that has a criminal record. I think that is a sad commentary for today’s society. Are these people turning to crime because they are lazy, stupid, or desperate?

When I was younger and in school we were taught that most crimes were basically the result of desperation from poverty, but more and more it seems that crimes are the result of greed. Plain and simple greed. And that scares me.

I always make sure that on her birthday I place some chrysanthemums on her grave.  She loved those flowers and even grew them to sell to a local florist.  That woman could make money from the ground like no other I have ever known.  Like I said, she was a very special person and I have learned so much more about life and living from her than I could have ever learned in any classroom.

The problem with doing this type of loan is that if you are not able to pay it back within a few days of borrowing the money, you end up paying an enormous amount of interest, and by the time you are finished paying it off, you end up spending three or four or even five times the amount of money that you borrowed in the first place! Trust me, I am not a big fan of eating peanut butter and jelly every day, but if that is what it is going to take to make ends meet for a few weeks, it might be smarter to restrict yourselves to eating cheaper food for a while in order to prevent yourself from being trapped into a never-ending debt. Please folks, be really careful if you try to get a short term personal loan. Read the fine print carefully and make sure you understand all of the costs.

When the Internet first became available in my area it was restricted to dial-up, and that was the only option for a very long time. Because of that restriction I used it for emails and research only for a very long time. I had to go on a waiting list for faster Internet and when it finally became availabe I was so happy to be able to go online and see and do things I had only been able to do at work before. Now whenever I go to my mother’s house and use her computer to check my email I am reminded about how lucky I am to live in an area that has fast Internet connectivity.

Occassionally I find myself reading a magazine article, or an online article about the importance of making sure that your credit score is not being falsely harmed by fraudulent or mistaken errors on your credit report. The first step on any Credit Repair process is to review your credit report. You are legally entitled to get a copy of your credit report once a year for free. Reviewing it for mistakes is the first step you should take. Even The Best Credit Repair Service money can buy will tell you that is the first step in the process. The last time I checked my credit report, I found a couple of mistakes on it, and I have been trying to clear them up. That can be a frustrating process, trust me!