Investing, gardening and Staycations

Hello All you Darling Divas,

I know I haven’t been blogging for some time; I have to confess I’ve been busy, busy, busy.

The rains have done “a number” on my garden so I’ve been working on getting it up to par, thanks to Juanita's son-in-law Manuel, I'm so glad that he's willing to take on some side jobs besides his regular work.

I'm happy to say that Juanita and her family are doing well, Constance and Manuel have such a nice large back yard that they are planting vegetables and several fruit trees and are getting into the food canning and preserving. Manuel knows some small holding farmers and he is even able to buy fruits and veggies that he is not growing. Constance told me that there is something very special in having a vegetable garden, a sense of time and purpose, something she really can't put into words but I know what she means.

Of late both Juanita and I have gotten into going to the Farmers' Market for much of our groceries and the variety and freshness is so wonderful, and it's so easy to over buy, so now in the garage Juanita has started a pantry of preserved foods.


Princess my little Diva Darling had a serious tummy ache a few weeks ago, seems she swallowed something she shouldn’t have, well as all you dog lovers know having your beloved pet going in for surgery is always a worry, but I’m happy to say she is just fine and her fur is growing out after surgery, we'll have to be more watchful from now on.

This brings me to the question of pet insurance. Should one pay for pet insurance especially in today’s economy? Only if you can budget for having a pet, otherwise I suggest that you not own a pet beyond a goldfish, although goldfish are not exactly huggable, in the right aquarium they can have a wonderful calming effect after a stressful day, far better than Valium.

But if you are considering owning a dog or a cat, I first would have to say you need to look at your life style, many Divas’ work 12 to 15 hour days at this time, or they love to travel or go out partying when they can afford to, or they are caregivers, or they maybe facing layoffs or budget crunches.

If you are in that category then do not get a pet, stay with gold fish.

But if you are more stay at home, love to jog, have a solid job with nearly normal hours and can give the attention that a pet needs, then a pet companion is worthwhile, and pet insurance is also a good investment, but you have to make sure that the insurance covers a lot of things, remember if you buy cheap you will get cheap and not have what you need covered.

Much of the vet visits are check ups, shots or the fox tail embedded in the skin or ear, the latter can cost you $400 if you are going after hours. Also find out what kind of pet insurance your vet takes or recommends, that can save you much worry.

It is a wise Diva who is thinking of being a pet owner to consider those things.

Now about finances: The state of the Union with its debt is not good, unless changes are made, and if they can raise their debt ceiling it still will not put us in good shape.

I recommend reading Thomas G. Donlan’s editorial in the June 20, 2011 Barron’s magazine, page 51, it is worth the read.

Unless the U.S. can bring back jobs to the U.S., increase it’s export of goods, get businesses back in American hands, stop giving money to countries that do not pay us back, become a credit nation as oppose to a nation in debt to others, then the U.S. will cease to exist as a great nation and be under the thumb of foreign interests which it already is.

And even owning gold will not help, unless we give up fiat money. We are paying more than the value owed, so it’s not real.

I Recently read in Fortune Magazine June 13, 2011 the article about Robert (Bob) Rodriguez (page 136) he predicted the last two market crashes when most other investors just poo-pooed his prediction and they were caught flat-footed, and he’s predicting another one---currently he’s refusing to invest in a bond market that is being distorted by government interference and he’s sticking with this approach, frankly I’m with him on this. READ THIS ARTICLE IN FORTUNE!

Currently his fund FPA Capital is closed to new investors but there are three others that have his approach such as risk aversion, emphasis on cash flow or a focused portfolio---they are The Jensen Portfolio, Yacktman Focused Fund and Sequoia Fund. I’m inclined to go with Sequoia Fund myself but all three are excellent.

More than ever people are looking at what they can truly afford; they are cutting back on useless things and taking a hard look at what they really need.

And Divas should do the same, you don’t need 10 pairs of Jimmy Choo’s shoes, shoes can have style and be sensible as well. Just the other day I ran into an acquaintance of mine and she had on the most stylish but sensible heeled shoes I’ve seen, I asked her where did she find such lovely things and she said that she found them at Nordstrom’s and on sale, they can go from Summer to Winter and back again, perfect for work meetings as well as going out.

The dear sweet young thing said to me “I’m going back to the ‘three basic black skirts’ concept” and it works! So what are the three basic black skirts? Three skirts of three different lengths, above the knee (but only if you have great looking knees and thighs), just below the knee, and ankle length, each one fills a perfect need, the ankle length is excellent for formal affairs, the below the knee is excellent for work and informal occasions, above the knee is fine for going out and having fun---but again that length only works if you are a certain young age.

She was surprised to find out in “The Week” magazine June 24, 2011, that back in 1930 women owned on an average just 9 outfits, now in 2011 the average woman has at least 60 pieces of clothing, and this is not including underwear, nylons, shoes, purses and for some—hats.

I know of one young man who is putting together a basic working wardrobe for young men or Divos (male divas) he said that as soon as he has it figured out he will let me know to post on my blog since he follows it as well.

Getting back to finances I still recommend following the investing articles in all the previous money magazines that I’ve suggested and I still recommend investing in commodities that withstand the test of time and economic fluctuations and companies that build support products for computers, such as printers, software, etc, but with electronics you have to be constantly on the watch for any sudden changes. Continue to avoid the dot.coms start ups as much as possible, a company such as Apple only comes along once in a generation.

Currently IBM (International Business Machines) is holding up very well, so if you want to invest is something like IBM or Apple, research it carefully, see if it has "legs" and is not "Pie-in-the-sky". I was very lucky, my Grandfather saw the solidness of IBM many years ago and in time I inherited a portion of his stock, which I built upon, and I did take "a flyer" on Apple many years ago because I felt it had "legs" but it is a bit scary when a stock on a company goes up and down based on the health of it's CEO. IBM doesn't do that, again I suggest look into companies to invest in that will hold out for the long haul, it may have a slow growth rate but you want it to be able to withstand the fluctuations of the economy.

On electronic equipment---Do I suggest going out and getting the latest ipad or ipod? No---what I do suggest is looking at what you really need to keep up with your job, what will work best.

Although I do have a cell phone I do not go in for all those apps, I feel they are a waste of money, unless you take public transportation, that application can come in handy, especially if time is of the essence and the calculator.

I still keep my hard wire land line only because the voice quality is so good, I’m not big on skyp, again I find the voice quality poor, but hard wire comes in handy when you are doing an order over the phone or you need to talk to someone about something and it’s going to take a long time to talk about whatever you need to discuss.

One thing I’ve been very discussed with is the phones that are hardwired to the wall but then you pick up the phone and can roam over the house with it, what one forgets is that the batteries in those phones die, so I prefer to have the head/hand set hard wired to the phone base, nothing dies although it’s difficult to roam all over the house but that doesn’t count when one is conducting business.

Alright enough of that----So vacations are becoming staycations, and gaining a certain amount of interest. Of course Mommy misses out on not having to cook or clean, but staycations can include that if everyone else pitches in on the cooking and cleaning and making mommies work easier, especially during the Summer.

Riding the bus, going to a park, camping in the back yard, visiting the local museum or Zoo, many people are amazed as to what is close to home that are either free or low cost---of course some young people need to go to that huge amusement park, but this is when the entire family should save up for it, save those pennies, nickels and dimes, recycle those cans and plastic bottles and see what one can get, have a yard sale or two, with a big event as the goal, with everyone joining in and working together towards the same goal it makes it more memorable.

Now that is for the family, but my dear Divas you can do it as well. Select the local spot that you are just wishing to spend a night or two at and be spoiled, by doing those savings, that is what makes it so much more splendiferous.

And for Moi? Well once again my brother and sister-in-law have invited me to their Ponderosa cabin in the mountains, I’ll get to see what improvements and special touches has been made on their home away from home, as I understand it some progress has been made but with the snows it had been a bit slow, but they are making up for lost time. Either way it will be nice to have a little get a way and do a bit of catch up with the family.

Until Anon my Darling Divas. Kisses.