Greetings!

I hope everyone is well.

One nice thing about starting this blog is that I heard from a family member, my Aunt Celeste. Shout out to her. I remember her being a coupon maven way before it was in fashion. Great to hear from you.

Last time I posted about the hard time that the Sears corporation is having in finding funding. Well, if you plan to shop there, you might want to do it soon. The news (CNBC) is saying that now some vendors and suppliers are not delivering items to the stores. You might want to call ahead.

I am realizing today that I have never really stated what this blog is about. One part is to translate the business news to you the consumer. A lot of the reports you see on the news focus on stock prices and dividends, all the bigwig stuff. I am trying to bring that down to the street level, so that you as the manager of your household can see how the bottom lines of the these big companies can effect your household budget.

Another part will be to talk about saving money. That can include investigating alternative fuels to save on energy costs or where the best thrift stores in a particular town. I have my favorites. But the main part is finding the straight information to help you make the best decision you can.

I look forward to hearing from you

Hey Everyone!

I am posting late (the plan was to post it on Monday) but Boyo and I attended a workshop called, "Funding A College Education", on Monday.  I wanted to report on some of the things I learned there.

First, the workshop was on Naval Station Norfolk. There will be one in November and another one in December, both on military bases which means you would have to have access to the installation to attend.

HOWEVER!
The workshop is conducted by an organization called the Education Opportunity Center (EOC) which is part of the Virginia Tidewater Consortium.  They state they are "An Educational, Career and Financial Aid Counseling Center". All services are free. The gentleman who spoke was very knowledgeable.

I have not visited the center, but plan to very soon and will report back to you on what I find.
If you want to contact them, you can make an appointment by calling (757) 683-2312. I don't know if you can just walk in. The email is www.vtc.odu.edu/outreach

So how is the year going so far?
I love to talk and frequently ask other parents about what is going on in their homeschool. One thing I am hearing is that a lot of families are a little confused  about what the course of study should be in high school. They feel overwhelmed with conflicting information about what  a student needs to take in high school and when should they take it. The law does not give any real guidelines for graduation. So how does a parent know? I will put this out to all of you and ask some of my friends who have recently graduated a student to get some input. Stand by.


In the area of money for school.

Essay contests
from the Library of Virginia:
High School students in Virginia are invited to honor outstanding African Americans by participating in the Strong Men and Women in Virginia History student writing contest. You can learn more at
www.lve.virginia.gov/smw.  The prizes are an Apple iPad Air and a cash award.
Deadline is November 14.

Another opportunity for students
Visual Arts Competition
This is a Christian organization and you should read the information about what  they are looking for. Check it out at:
http://www.oaktonfoundation.com/---!visual-arts-competition/c1dzm#!visual-arts-competition/c1dzm

Finally this week, Amazon has a merit based scholarship available. My sister-in-law sent this to me. I have not checked it out but I wanted to let you know about it. It can be found at:

http://www.amazon.com/b/?node=9944643011

Have a great week!