A great video on grieving

Lessons From Light

From the vantage point of a photographer.

Lessons From Light

Lesson From A Broken Lamp

This morning, while I was doing some light housework, I was in my bedroom when something triggered the heavy floor lamp to come falling towards my head.  Thankfully, I caught it and was unhurt, but the lamp broke in half and was no longer functional.  I unplugged it and removed the bulb, but given the weight of the lamp I didn’t feel comfortable yet to move it or dispose of it.

This afternoon, while reading Between Two Minds (Dr. Judith Stay Moore), I was reading through the grieving process chapter and while reading about some of the things on her list of fulfilling things, the thought came to me about the lamp and I was taught a lesson.

While that source of Light worked for me in the past, I have changed from the trauma and need to be seeking new forms of light.  The lamp (and the old light) needed to be replaced in my life.  As with me spiritually and emotionally, I need to find a new source for my Heavenly Light.  Not in the Light itself, but the way I obtain it.

Mind blown.

A Blank Piece of Paper

I was watching some TED Talks and found one from Jason B. Rosenthal.  Then I looked at one of the videos of his late wife, Amy.  The messages are fantastic.

Finance Basics Day 7: Additional Benefits For Widows

Some of the benefits are federal, some are state or county.  Some also depend on whether the deceased spouse was divorced previously and how the divorce decree was handled as far as the Social Security Benefit.

Social Security Survivor Benefit:

Here is more information regarding the Social Security Survivor Benefits

The one other benefit I know of offhand is within Maricopa County in Arizona.  Widows who were homeowners with their deceased spouse at the time of death can get their 1st year of property taxes exempted for primary residences in Maricopa County.

Click here for the pdf document from the Maricopa County Assessors office regarding the survivor exemption of property tax.

An article from Kiplinger:  When Widows Are Forgotten

From Wealthcare For Women:   7 Financial Tips For Your First Year As A Widow

Finance Basics Day 6: Using The Calendar In Addition To The Budget

A few years ago I participated in my Ward’s Family Finances class.  It was advertised within the Stake so members from other Wards were participating as well.

One of the participants came to class and told the rest of us that the budgeting wasn’t working, that she was still getting hit with NSF fees with the bills.  It turned out that all of the bills for the entire month were getting paid with the first paycheck, leaving no money until the second paycheck of the month hit their account.

I went home that night and used Excel on my computer to print out calendar pages for that month and the next two months for everyone in class, including myself.

I then showed on the calendar how to fill it out with paychecks being marked on the dates they were expected to be automatically deposited into the checking account.  Then I had the participants write down each bill, according to it’s due dates, on the calendar.

I was able to show them how to plan to pay their bills according to the calendar and not just pay everything on the first of the month.

By the second month, this participant came back happy and announced that their budget was now working with by combining the budget with the calendar.

Here is the video Angie made of her filing system:

Finance Basics Day 5: Sinking Funds or Gazelle Intense?

Sinking funds are great, however it will take longer to pay off debt.  For me, I was “gazelle instense” (a Dave Ramsey term) because I was getting repeated promptings from the Lord to get out of debt ASAP.  Sinking funds waited until I was debt free.  That didn’t mean I didn’t plan for the bills that don’t come monthly (like vehicle registration), I just knew that was something that was going to need to be added to the budget for the month it came up.  It was a calendar item, not a sinking fund.