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Does your money matters?
How much does your money matters to you? Do you spend it all or save a portion? How you use your money determines how much it matters. I am sure that the 2019 federal government shutdown and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic forced a lot of people to evaluate how much their money mattered to them. If you were not born with a golden spoon in your mouth or lucky enough to win the lottery, what is your plan to create future wealth? If you have a mountain of debt, how do you plan to pay it off?
One of the best class I took in college was, “The Economics of Money, Bank & Investment.” The information I learned had a great impact on how I spend and save my money. What is money? Economist define money as anything that is generally accepted in payment for goods or services or in the repayment of debts . What is your source(s) of generating money? How much of your money do you save per pay period? Saving money is as important as making money. Personal savings provide you with future funding that you can use in case of emergency (government shut or pandemic), help you purchase a house, pay for college and more. Your personal savings can help the economy grow. When you save your money, banks will have money they can lend to businesses. As businesses use that money to expand, buy merchandise and employ people, it helps the economy to grow.
I know that in theory this all sounds good, but is it practical? Here is a real-life example of a couple, Jhanilka and Anthony Hartzog, who showed how much their money mattered to them. They paid off a mountain of debt and saved thousands of dollars. Their story is very impressive and is a blue print for how everyday people can make their money matters. Read their story….
One of the best class I took in college was, “The Economics of Money, Bank & Investment.” The information I learned had a great impact on how I spend and save my money. What is money? Economist define money as anything that is generally accepted in payment for goods or services or in the repayment of debts . What is your source(s) of generating money? How much of your money do you save per pay period? Saving money is as important as making money. Personal savings provide you with future funding that you can use in case of emergency (government shut or pandemic), help you purchase a house, pay for college and more. Your personal savings can help the economy grow. When you save your money, banks will have money they can lend to businesses. As businesses use that money to expand, buy merchandise and employ people, it helps the economy to grow.
I know that in theory this all sounds good, but is it practical? Here is a real-life example of a couple, Jhanilka and Anthony Hartzog, who showed how much their money mattered to them. They paid off a mountain of debt and saved thousands of dollars. Their story is very impressive and is a blue print for how everyday people can make their money matters. Read their story….
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Setting Goals
Most successful people and businesses understand the importance of having and setting goals. Goals give people and businesses specific targets to achieve and help them prioritize their life and business. Goals can be broken down into daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. Whether you are setting goals for yourself or a business, to successfully achieve your goals, they should be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and has a time limit).
Personal goalsetting can be overwhelming because an individual may not know how to start the goalsetting process. This 2021 Weekly Goal Setting Planner (Weekly GS Planner) was designed to help people set personal goals they want to achieve. The Weekly GS Planner consists of Goal Setting Exercises that are SMART, a monthly budget, a monthly calendar and weekly planners. If you are concerned about your budget, especially given the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, you can use the monthly budget to help you create a budget that works for you. You can use the Weekly GS Planner to set your goals, create a plan to achieve your goals and track your goals throughout the year.
What is the effect of defunding DC Metropolitan Police Department?
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The 2020 protest against police brutality and racial injustice by Black Lives Matter was the culmination of years of unjustified police killing and brutality against Black and Brown people in America. Incidents such as the killing of Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor and the gruesome killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis Minnesota by a police officer who knelt on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, cutting air to his lungs. There are too many of these killings, false arrests and mistreatments of Black and Brown people by police officers.
The July 7, 2020 article in Vox, titled “What the police really believe,” provides an interesting look into the ideology that many police officers have when dealing with people they were sworn to protect.
Many of the Black Lives Matter protesters demanded that police departments nation-wide be defunded.
As a resident of the District of Columbia, I decided to look at the budget of the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) from fiscal year 2008 – 2020, to understand how MPD’s budget is allocated.
My objective was to look at MPD’s budget to see if there are opportunities to re-allocate a portion of the budget to other areas of need that the Black Lives Matter protesters highlighted, and still maintain a high level of policing responsibility.
To achieve my objective, I looked at MPD’s budget from two budget periods, FY2008 – FY2013 and FY2014 – FY2020 (D.C. fiscal year is from October 1 to September 30). These two budget periods were important because in FY2009, MPD implemented a huge reorganization that affected how its budget was allocated for policing responsibilities.
From FY2014 – FY2020, MPD again initiated various organizational changes and went through a leadership change when Chief Cathy Lanier left for the National Footbool League. I will look at the level of police officers each calendar year. This is important because city leaders often tie the level of police officers to efficient policing and funding decisions. Read more..