downwithdebt

1.  I will not spend money I do not have.(Pretty self explanatory but you know how that goes).

2.   I will make better use of my resources that I have available and waste less.

3.  I will pay off my current debt except for my morgage.

4.  I will plan out my meals and activities so that I can maximize my health and dollars.

5.  Keep more organized by dealing with papers DAILY!  This means filing, paying, or throwing.

6. Now for the fun one.  Plant a slightly larger garden and try out some new things! I am open to suggestions on this one!

The deer seemed to think my garden was pretty good also!!  I quess next year I have to plant more if I want to get any green beans!!

NN.com and CNET.com are reporting that Microsoft has applied for a patent on , pay-as-you-go computing.

Who would buy this? Pay by usage, I don’t care how much or how little I use a computer I would never want some one metering how or what I use.
I don’t really call this a service I call this a rip off. Considering that you can buy computers fairly cheap, and can get open source software that will do everything Microsoft can do.
Is Microsoft trying to force feed everyone over like they did to there corporate customers with there “assurance program” requiring hefty annual maintenance fees.

I will buy a mac or go to Linux before I buy in to this scam.

All this scary news has got me thinking about gardening!!  I know it is a little early but I was thinking about starting some pepper plants out, maybe spring fever has caught up to me early.  After looking in the grocery store they want $1.00 each for them!  I have heard some people grow them year round in there home.  Has anyone had any success with this?

Also any ideas on tomato plants, I have had limited success starting these indoors. This year I would like to plant more green beans to can, but I am also looking at getting some other different vegetables, maybe trying some okra or eggplant.

Easy Last Minute Christmas cookies!

Since I am a working mom I don’t have a whole lot of time to cook, but I love to do it. I have a few simple and easy cookie recipes that I make, these are great for last minute Christmas baking or even if you want to give as gifts. There a big favorite in my home, and the guests have loved them!

Peanut butter Star Cookies

1 16-18 oz. Jar of Peanut Butter

1 1/4 cup of sugar

2 eggs

1/4-1/2 cup of flour enough to make the dough workable

1 bag of chocolate stars or Hershey’s Kisses (1 bag of chocolate stars does two batches of these cookies)

Mix together with fork and roll in to balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet

Bake in 350 oven until top get cracks in them

Take out of oven and press the chocolate stars in to the middle

The secret to keeping these cookies from falling apart is to let them completely cool before taking them off of the baking sheet, I live in Minnesota, and it has been cold here so I took them out to my attached garage and set them on top of my freezer to cool off, you could also probably put them in your freezer to let them cool if you have room and want to speed up the baking process.

Mint Christmas cookies

1 box of Ritz sytle crackers

Chocolate chips

Mint extract

I have also used Mint chips with these you can use what you have if you use chocolate chips you just have to add the Mint extract. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or I do it in the microwave, you have to stir it alot and be careful not to over cook, I add Milk to the melting chocolate chips to thin it out. Dip in the individual crackers and set on waxed paper, if you want sprinkle with christmas decor.
These cookies taste alot like the girl scout cookies if you like those.

You have to wonder, with all of these bailouts. Our government is undermining people who behave well, while rewarding those who are irresponsible.

With the SMP(streamlined modification program), homeowners who are 90 days late or more on their mortgages and have loans that are owned by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae or participating lenders are eligible to have their loan restructured reducing their monthly mortgage payments. (By not paying your mortgage for three months you could qualify for a mortgage modification that would lower your mortgage payment)

Wall Street boys and homeowners who  bought homes they couldn’t afford have abandoned the morals and are now heading down to bailout town, with there hands out.  Being rewarded from there bad behavior.

So what are we going to learn from all of this, is this not what got us here in the first place?  We did not care how a profit was made we just had to make a profit even if it was unethical.

We hand billions of dollars over to banks that made bad bets with other peoples money and lost, and now where involuntarily handing over our tax payer dollars for them to spend without requiring them to disclose where and what the money was used for.

While the main street workers are losing there jobs! Causing more homes to go in to foreclosure and more tax on the public system for unemployment and social service benefits.