Hood River County leaders vowed Monday to sustain its support for the County Veterans Service Office. But the move came with sobering budget warnings from Board of Commission members.
From
To
The start of a new year is a time when people typically set goals for the months ahead. Although the most common publicized goal is weight loss, following the feeding frenzy of the holidays, there also seems to be an added focus on getting personal finances in order after the large expenditures of Christmas.
A friend of mine is the comptroller of a small corporation. As such, she is required to handle all aspects of that company’s finances including payroll. She takes the opportunity to figure and tweak the withholding from her own paycheck to reach her goal of neither owing taxes nor being due a refund on April 15.
For a good deal of my life I lived under a dark cloud of fear that I would end up financially destitute -- a bag lady. Studies reveal that I'm not the only one. Most of us have felt that way, not because we're broke, but because we lack confidence. That makes us timid, worried and financially insecure.
Finally, you have a couple of months where things are going well. The bills get paid on time and you actually have money left at the end of the month. Then POW! The water heater bursts, the car breaks down and the first half of the property tax bill is past due — and you’re broke.
Feeling down in the dumps because you don’t have an iPad or a pretty new sofa? Wish you could take your hubby to a nice restaurant for his birthday, but alas, you are broke? Turn around your attitude and cancel your pity party with a simple tool: a wish list.
There was a time when it was routine for banks and credit unions to pay 6 percent on savings accounts. Remember that? And if you were willing to commit to an extended period of time in a Certificate of Deposit (CD), you could get 10 percent, maybe more. Those good old days are gone, at least for now. Still, the term “high-yield” remains and refers to the handful of FDIC-insured online banks that continue to pay three to four times the amount of interest you’ll earn in a traditional bank or credit union.
