Why Store Fruits and Vegetables?…A Few More Things You Should Know About Increasing Taxes…Win a Consulataion
There is more and more information coming to light about the ways in which our taxes will increase beginning January 1st. Some apply to all of us and some to fewer but we need to be aware and prepare. January 1st will mark the biggest tax increase in history. The child care tax credit will be cut in half. Under Obama Care if you have a Health Savings Account you will no longer be able to purchase over the counter medications, FLEX accounts which allow for the care of the disabled and special needs will be capped at $2500.00, and there will be a higher tax rate on money withdrawn from these accounts. I think the one that disturbs me the most is the huge increase in inheritance taxes. These will affect every estate over one million dollars. That may seem like lots of money but just think about estates when mom and dad have a home that is paid off plus an insurance policy and a little cash on hand. It would not take much to reach that million. Worse still is the number of small business owners who have estates over the million dollar mark. What will happen to all those businesses when the kids can’t afford the taxes without selling the business? That means all those jobs lost. A small farming business would only need a modest farm and minimal equipment to reach that million but they may employ a dozen people. If a farming family is forced to sell the farm what happens to the crops they were producing? They go to housing and parking lots. All small business will be affected in the same way and many forced to close. With our population aging and so many of those small businesses being started 40 years ago or more we are prime for having many of those founders pass away. This is very frightening to me. It is not the wealthy who will be affected by this tax but all of us. So…the answer as always, prepare to care for yourself and your family.
For those who are just beginning and as a reminder to all who have been at this for years, a tutorial about why we store the things we store. So, why is it important to store fruits and veggies and not just wheat and beans? Simple, all the foods we consume contribute in some way to our overall health. During a time of stress it is even more important for all of these vitamins and nutrients to be present to insure good health.When considering foods to store first refer to the list you made when you created your ingredient list. Then consider color. You should be storing fruits and vegetables in every color. This will guarantee you are providing all the vitamins and minerals available. Store orange: peaches and apricots, yellow: corn, pineapple, applesauce, pears, Red: beets, red cabbage, cherries…you get the idea.
We have had this discussion before so I will summarize and just say, remember canned foods will keep at least two years past the expiration’s date. Also remember in all the studies that have been done comparing frozen, fresh and canned foods it has been shown that canned foods provide as much nutrition as fresh foods which have been harvested after just 24-48 hours. In other words, they are as nutritious as fresh fruits and vegetables you would purchase in the grocery store which are at least that old when they hit the store shelves.
This is what fruits and veggies contribute to our health:
Calcium: Calcium is essential for healthy bones and teeth. Promotes healthy functioning of muscles, nerves and some glands.
Fiber: Diets rich in dietary fiber has a number of beneficial effects including, decreased risk of coronary heart disease, reduces colon diseases, helps control cholesterol, and helps control blood sugar levels.
Folate: Healthful diets with adequate folate may reduce a woman’s risk of having a child with a brain or spinal cord defect. Builds red blood cells.
Iron: Needed for healthy blood and normal functioning of all cells.
Magnesium: Magnesium is necessary for healthy bones and teeth and is involved with more than 300 enzymes in your body! Increases metabolism and tissue formation. Inadequate levels may result in muscle cramps and high blood pressure.
Potassium: Diets rich in potassium may help to maintain a healthy blood pressure.
Sodium: Needed for normal cell function throughout the body. Most diets contain too much sodium which is associated with high blood pressure.
Vitamin A: Promotes good night vision, and maintains healthy skin and membranes and helps protect against infections.
Vitamin C: Helps heal cuts and wounds by building strong blood vessel walls. Keeps teeth and gums healthy.
Finally, this morning I had a visit from a couple of friends. One I had not seen for many years and all she wanted to talk about was food storage. She asked questions for over an hour and as we talked she thought of questions she didn’t even know she had. That is what is called a consultation. It wasn’t meant to be but that is how it turned out. You can qualify to win a consultation too. Get busy today and win one so we can talk! You could just hire me but why do that if you can win one?
****Win a Consultation!***
To help motivate you to share I am offering the chance for you to win a personal one hour consultation. This will be a phone call where you can ask any questions you may have. You may even ask a group of friends to join you on a conference call or just using your speaker phone. To win one of five consultations just refer five friends to blog.totallyready.com and our yahoo group. Have them mention your email address when they log into the yahoo group and leave a comment on any blog post. Ten friends and you get two chances to win. Fifteen friends and I will call you, guaranteed! It’s that simple. Watch for other special offers as we progress. I know I don’t want to look back when things get worse and think I could have done more to help you.
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granted we may have an increase in taxes because of the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. But do you realize they were NOT paid for when they were encated? There is a CBO study that shows KEEPING these tax cuts will significantly add to the deficit, that so many blame Pres Obama for. People, have you ever cleaned anyone else’s messes up? So you do realize it takes more time and effort and sometimes money, to clean up so you can get everthing in place. Change is hard,correcting the deficit is going to hurt,no matter were it happens. Unfortunately, this may be one of those times, and when it happens in our backyard, why do we scream about it? Didn’t you want to decrease the deficit?
BTW, I am one of those small businesses, having been in business since 1992, with a now $3 million dollar gross. We had to watch our money, raise a family, live within our means, build a great “general store” and live within our means. we pay for very limited healthcare, with a preexisting condition. With the eradication of that exclusio by Obamacare, I will be able to improve or change our policy.
This is obviously a topic on which there will be lots of disagreement. History has shown that raising taxes has never worked to curb inflation or to bring the country out of a recession or depression. I hope this is the first but I am very skeptical. All the small business owners I know are scared to death of both the health care bill and the financial package passed yesterday. With increased power to unions in the bill I know two employers who will close their doors if the unions force their way in. The depression proved increasing government regulations caused the depression to deepen. When the presidents’ own debt commissioner says this is the worst financial crisis in history I believe him. I know from personal experience that when a family gets a bonus or a pay increase they rarely save that but they raise their life style and before long all those wants have turned into needs. The same has happened with our government. The more taxes that came in the more they spent. I don’t trust that they would use the increase in taxes to pay down the debt. I believe they would use it for more social programs, such as health care and they will plunge us into more debt and doom the nation. By the way I do not have health care. I can’t afford it. I believe this health care plan is a hastily crafted law that is doomed to failure. I guess we will both have to wait to see how it all pans out. In the meantime I am storing food and preparing for the worst but praying for the best.