Financial Planning for Food, Fiber, and Fuel Bills

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Iran says $115 for a barrel of crude oil is not enough. We cannot blame him for dairy product inflation. You are plain lucky if the costs of eggs and milk does not worry you. Cheap credit from the Fed helps traders hoard scarce farm produce. Most countries have made credit expensive. It is a standard way to reign in rising prices. Washington is a Super Power. It has offered Wall Street a string of credit concessions. Small buys have not benefited. What should you do?

1. Raise additional income. Convert a part of your home in to an office. Cut back on leisure time. Use the Internet to earn. It does not matter if revenues start as a trickle. Keep customers happy. Be patient and allow the infant enterprise time to grow.

2. Change commuting habits. Join a car pool if there is no public transport to get you to work on time. Ask employees to downgrade their travel perquisites. Better still, switch to video conferencing with business associates.

3. Review your diet. Cut back on meat and other dairy products for at least part of the week. Explore cheap minor cereals. They are great value providers in terms of nutrition for every dollar. Be severe on alcohol, tobacco, sodas, and the like. Halve if not suspend dining out.

4. Watch the stock market every day. Identify stocks that fluctuate and that skip dividends on occasions. Make notes of your acquisition dates and prices. Sell these stocks on any stock market rally day. Use the money to build inventories of essential consumables. You can also recycle the funds into stocks with reliable dividend track records and favorable Price to Earnings Ratios.

We apologize to regular browsers. Some of the above are repeats strung along from parts of our earlier publications. It is a kind of last and final call from a boarding gate.

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