Week of 2/2/2011

 Discounts For The Disabled

Living with a disability, including a chronic illness, can be challenging, and people with disabilities tend to have more financial burdens than most making daily life more complicated. But there are discounts for the disabled that can save hundreds, and maybe thousands, of dollars each year helping to brdige the financial gap. Problem is, they are not highly publicized.

Contact local community action programs and area agencies on aging. Although they don't deal with the disabled per se, they often know about saving opportunities for the disabled.

Locate non-profit groups associated with your disability. Associations like theAmerican Liver Foundation, ALS Association, Hemophilia Foundation, Muscular Distrophy Association, National Kidney Foundation and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society know where to find discounts on medical supplies, mobility equipment and support services.

Get accessibility software form E-bility.com. For some disabled people, using a computer can be difficult, but there is software out there, some of it free, that can make personal computers easier to use.

Sign up for two federal government discounts for the disabled. The Library of Congress lends audiobooks for free to the vision impaired or that have physical impairments that make reading books difficult. Our National Parks System offers those that are permanently disabled free access for life to national parks and other federal recreational lands. The pass is also good for free admission for up to 3 accompanying adults. Children are always admitted free.

Contact utility providers for discounts. Many utilities provide special discounts to users with special needs. AT&T and Verizon, for example, offer free directory assistance calls for with disabilities that make it difficult to use a telephone directory.

If someone you know is disabled and does not know about these and similar services, please pass this information on to them.

Week of 2/9/2011

Simple Saving - Talk To Yourself

When you go shopping and find something you really like, do you stop and ask yourself, "Do I need it?" What would happen to your saving plan if you simply began talking to yourself?

If you find youself in a "buying" mode, you might want to ask yourself a few more questions than just, "Do I need it?" Try these on for size, and you might see your savings grow at a faster pace.

• Do I want to dust (dry-clean, insure, store, fuel or otherwise maintain) it?
• Do I already have something that will do just as well?
• Could I borrow it from a friend or family member?
• Is this a good value?
• Do I have the cash to pay for it?
• How many hours will I have to work to pay for it?
• Could I possibly delay the purchase?
• Can I wait 24 hours before acting?

If talking to yourself can't get you to save more money, just lock yourself in the bathroom until the "buying" mode passes.

Week of 2/16/2011

Saving Tips -- Circa 1811

Thomas Jefferson was more than just our third president. He was a scientist, philosopher, inventor, gardener, reader and wine lover. He was also a very wise man.  As the story goes, when his granddaughter, Cornelia, was 12 years old, Jefferson decided she needed a few rules to live by. He sat down and wrote out 11 rules of conduct that he thought would benefit her. These 11 rules are as true today as they were 200 years ago.  Here they are:

1. Never put off tomorrow what you can do today
2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself
3. Never spend money before you have it
4. Never buy anything that you do not want because it is cheap
5. Pride costs us more than thirst, hunger and cold
6.  We seldom repent from having eaten too little
7. Nothing is troublesome that one does of his own volition
8. How much pain never occurred events cost us
9. Take things always by their smooth handle
10. Think as you please, and let others as well, to prevent any disputes
11. When annoyed, count to ten before you speak; if very annoyed, count to 100

Even though Jefferson was a relatively wealthy man, he was a frugal man as is evidenced by more than one of his rules. 

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