Regardless of how tight your budget is, there’s no need to go without soap and detergents. In fact, there are a number of alternatives to commercial soaps that are cheaper and healthier for you and your family. Among other things, you may find that reducing your exposure to the phthalates and fragrances found in commercial cleaning products may alleviate a number of immune-related problems.

Making Plant Based Soaps

As you may or may not be aware, most commercial soaps are made from animal fats. While you can make these products on your own, you may not be able to tolerate the smell of fat rendering if you live in an apartment or poorly ventilated area. That said, there are many plant-based soap recipes for you to try at a fraction of the cost. In many cases, you l find that these soaps clean just as well as animal-based ones. You l also be able to add a variety of herb-based skin conditioners and fragrances to improve your homemade soaps.

Budget Home Fresheners

Of course, you can always go to a dollar store and buy home air fresheners on the cheap. But have you ever read the warning labels on many of these products the ones that read, o not inhale directly? There’s no way to know what, if any, long term health problems could result from breathing in these foreign chemicals, so you may want to consider some other ways to deodorize your home. For example, you may want try burning natural beeswax candles to improve the smell of your home, or try making your own blends of essential oils and potpourris.

In the kitchen, a simple open box of baking soda will keep your refrigerator and freezer smelling fresh and clean. You may also want to freshen up carpets by sprinkling baking soda on them, and then vacuuming the next day. This method will work well for pet odors, as well as many other unpleasant odors. Unfortunately, if it’s humid in your area, you may find the baking soda sticks to the carpet. If you aren’t sure whether or not this will work for you, it may be best to test the product in a small area first.

Vinegar and Your Laundry

Even though white vinegar is fairly cheap, it’s one of the best things you can add to your laundry to prevent static cling, increase fabric brightness and reduce all kinds of stains. In many cases, presoaking with vinegar and water will restore clothes with all kinds of stains on them, including wine, grass and grease stains. As more information becomes available about the link between the fragrances used in soaps and an increase in cancer rates, it may be to your advantage to avoid commercial products at all costs. Fortunately, you l find that vinegar is a safe, inexpensive alternative.

Aside from being expensive, there’s a growing body of evidence that commercial soaps can have negative health consequences. Therefore, being budget conscious when it comes to these items may also equate to being health conscious. For example, simply substituting vinegar for your fabric softener and stain booster may save you from being exposed to a number of harmful chemicals. In a similar way, using baking soda to eliminate odors can help give you a clean smelling home without the financial and health costs associated with commercial deodorants.

For more helpful housekeeping advice, check out My Housekeeping Blog

Some of my other articles have touched on the enormity of the current credit crisis, but since this issue seems to be at the forefront of financial news lately, I’d like to take a minute to discuss the United States’ situation in better detail.

According to Mike Larson, author of an article recently published in Money and Markets, in the past year or so, the United States government has loaned, invested, or promised the following amounts:

- $200 billion to help the world’s largest mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, get back on their feet
- $25 billion (so far) to the three auto manufacturing giants
- $29 billion to Bear Stearns
- $150 billion went to AIG
- $350 billion shelled out to Citigroup
- $300 billion was put into the Federal Housing Administration rescue bill intended to refinance faulty mortgages
- $87 billion paid back JPMorgan Chase for bad Lehman Brothers trades
- $200 billion went toward the government’s Reserve Term Auction Facility, which provided loans to banks
- $50 billion supported short-term corporate IOUs that were held by money market mutual funds
- $500 billion rescued various credit markets
- $620 billion left our country to provide aid to industrial nations, such as the Bank of Canada, Bank of England, and the Bank of Japan, just to name a few
- $120 billion more left out country to help emerging markets like the Bank of Brazil, the Bank of Mexico, etc.
- A few miscellaneous trillion dollars went toward other government promises to bail out failing institutions

The grand total of this spending spree was a whopping $7.8 trillion, and it’s not over yet.

How much is this obscure number worth, you ask? Mike Larson puts it into perspective for us. He explains that $7.8 trillion is:

- Half the annual output of the U.S. economy in its entirety
- Equal to an astounding $25,507 for every man, woman and child in the U.S.
- Three-quarters of the public debt acquired prior to this credit crisis. That’s right; in a matter of months, the government managed to loan, invest, or promise three-quarters of the debt that previously took two hundred years to accumulate.

If that’s not quite enough information, Jim Bianco of Bianco Research offers further explanation to help us better understand how much debt the government truly owes.

He says that the cost of the current bailout plans are more than all of the following events in America’s history combined (of course, he accounted for the cost of inflation, so all costs noted are in current dollars):

- The Marshall Plan, which went toward rebuilding Western Europe after WWII. Total cost: $115.3 billion
- The Louisiana Purchase, which, as you probably know, was the government’s purchase of 829,000 square miles of land from France. Total cost: $217 billion
- The Apollo moon missions from 1961 all the way through 1972. Total cost: $237 billion
- Bailing out the S & L crisis. Some of you may remember that between 1986 and 1995, more than 1,000 savings and loans worth over $500 billion failed, and the government stepped in to help. Total cost: $256 billion
- The Korean War. Total cost: $454 billion
- The New Deal, which was FDR’s plan to pull the U.S. economy out of the Great Depression. Total cost: an estimated $500 billion
- The Gulf War II, aka the War on Terror, including the cost for homeland security and both theaters of war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Total cost: $698 billion
- The Vietnam War. Total cost: $698 billion
- All of the money spent to date on the NASA space program. Total cost: $851.2 billion

The grand total of the above life-altering events was $3.92 trillion, about $359 billion less than the current bailout packages. And we haven’t even touched on another major event in the world’s history: World War II, which would cost $3.6 trillion in today’s money. Even this enormous bill doesn’t come close to equaling the cost of the current bailout packages.

So there you go, a quick and simple education in the current financial crisis.

Ron Wellman is the founder of We Invest Online, Inc., an Investment Concierge company specializing in high quality real estate investments and alternative investment opportunities for today’s sophisticated investors. For more information on how he can help you make informed investment decisions, please visit his website at www.weinvestonline.com

We find ourselves in a somewhat turbulent time with regards to the economy and the stress and ongoing debates on recessions and related issues can affect us negatively. We might start worrying about our debt management, or of potential business that may well be lost due to the current economic climate.

If one conducts a search on the internet for debt management and related issues, you will find that there is an onslaught of millions of pages pertaining to this issue. There are resources from do not do this to beware of that and then of course this you must see. These are marketing efforts by people and companies that are offering debt management services and products. Some may well be worth looking at whilst others might be a complete waste of time in terms of actual accomplishing anything.

The main issue is that you have access to a lot of differing opinions, products and services with respect to debt management and it may be worth your while in investigating what these have to offer, from the great reviews to the articles on this process of debt management.

An issue to a small business owner that has a debtors book would be the effective collection and the debt management, as this uncertain period may well prove to be somewhat difficult and the debt management process really requires attention and careful planning at this point. Unfortunately most small business are impacted heavily during times like these, as their debt management procedures and collections are usually in line with the cash flow requirements and expectations. That is why it is said that very debt management must be ensued during these periods, to ensure survival of the business.

Take care in your debt management program, if you are looking at your own personal credit and debt balance, ensure that if you do enter into agreement with a debt management company, that these people or even the computer software has a proven and stable track record. Unfortunately in the times we live there are a lot of chance takers and a lot of unfulfilled promises are made and believed. All you have to do is conduct a bit of research on the company or software before signing anything or entering into any agreement. Perhaps check with some friends or family that has had similar experiences and they may well be able to advise you or even refer you to a reputable company or software program.

Personal involvement in the debt management process is highly recommended in order to stay abreast of your current situation as well as future developments and potential pitfalls. Rather operate from an educated position in the debt management than from a reactive and uneducated basis.

For information on Debt Management or even Credit Card Debt Consolidation pop along to http://sheddebt.net

Getting ahead financially can seem like a challenging prospect during downturns in the economy. But planning for a successful financial future extends beyond immediate conditions. It requires an ability to look far ahead of tomorrow with a firm plan in place. No matter when you begin to enact a plan, there are a series of fundamental strategies for getting ahead:

Take Control
With more families facing significant amounts of personal debt, the first step to financial success is to take control of your money. Financial success can only be achieved with a realistic budget. And a realistic budget is one that is based on an income that is sufficient to meet expenses. The only way to know if this is so is to track actual expenses in a typical month. Tracking expenses shows where money is being spent and where it might be potentially wasted. With that in mind, you can find areas where spending may need to come under control. Those whose expenses exceed income have two choices: increase income or decrease spending. There are always ways to reduce spending to free up additional funds for spending and saving goals.

Another way to bring spending under control is to spend less than you earn. This can be a challenging goal but think of it this way: If every time you earned a raise in the marketplace and instead of increasing spending, maintained the current lifestyle, the extra money could be used to pay off debt, bolster an emergency fund, or go towards retirement. One rule is always true – no one can get ahead finically if they spend more than they earn.

Be a Debt Buster
With a clearer idea of where money is being spent, the next step in the plan is to examine any existing debt. Credit card debt is the number one obstacle to achieving financial success. Incredibly, some people are unsure of how much debt they are actually carrying. It’s important to add those figures up and be aware of how much interest you’re paying on each card. A large portion of a successful financial goal should include goals to pay down debt and resist adding to it.

Pay Yourself First
In an effort to achieve freedom from debt, people often forget they need to pay themselves first. Meeting other financial obligations first to see what’s left over for savings is a sure-fire solution to a weak savings plan. To create a healthy savings account, set aside at least 5% to 10% before paying bills. Having money automatically deducted from a paycheck and deposited into a savings account has been a proven method for those who are serious about saving.

The other important element to savings is that it’s a necessary step in a plan to financial freedom because without any funds available for an emergency, people are more likely to use their credit cards as a backup, which further extends their debt. Some financial experts recommend that those who are just beginning to take savings seriously should accumulate at least $1,000 in an account in case of an emergency before paying off debt.

Contribute to a Retirement Plan
A 401(k) plan is one of the most beneficial ways to save for retirement, especially if an employer matches a portion of the contribution. Those who start saving for retirement in their 20s can amass a sizable nest egg with little effort, thanks to compounding interest. For instance, a 25-year-old who invests $2,000 a year for eight years and never invests past the age of 33 earns more money by the age of 65 than a 34-year-old who invests $2,000 for 32 years.

IRAs are another recommended retirement savings tool. Traditional IRAs allows participants to contribute pre-tax dollars that are tax-deferred. In other words, taxes are not paid on funds until they are withdrawn, which means the amount to be paid in taxes also earns income. Conversely, a Roth IRA will allow after-tax contributions that may grow tax-free as long as the money is not withdrawn before a participant is 59 yrs.

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