If you listen to all the retail stores, news outlets and anybody else that is hollering for you to buy, the time to shop is always now! There is always a sale just finished, just started or going to start in a day or two. That’s because retailers are hurting and while that is not very good for them it is a good thing for you. So before the economy picks up and prices start to rise, it is a good time to shop if you have the resources. It’s never a good time to shop if you don’t have money.

The other thing people are afraid to do is barter with the store. Find a manager and make him an offer. The worst he can say is no and so you loose nothing by asking and have to possibility to get a better deal. This works when retailers are looking to sell you things they can’t seem to get rid of. No retailer want to hold inventory for very long as this creates a large problem as seasons change and new merchandise arrives. Offer to take it off his or her hands at a reduced price and see what happens.

Now that Thanksgiving is here, there are a few things you need to remember that can help you preserve your leftovers so they can be enjoyed for days to come. One of the things people used to do a lot is leave food out on the table for the entire afternoon so company can “graze” all day into the evening. Everything was pout up later that evening and most of it was thrown out because it was dry and crusty and just didn’t look appetizing anymore. No one ever talked about food poisoning either!

With microwave and convection ovens, food of all kinds can be easily heated up after the first sitting. With this in mind it is wise to put food in tightly fitted containers and place them as immediately as possible in the refrigerator. Having containers that stack can also help with organizing your leftovers as well. Breads should be placed in a paper or plastic bag and pies should be covered tightly and either stored in a cool place or the refrigerator, If you are saving the bones and giblets of the turkey but are not going to cook them down immediately, they also need to be put in a tight container or plastic bag and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them, which should be within a couple of days.

One of the most discouraging things that can happen to those of us that use and rely on our computer is loosing data or not having enough storage to compile all the data that needs to be stored. The truth is, today, that should never be an issue. There are so many different ways to store, maintain and save your information today that you should never have an issue when talking about space.

You may have to reconfigure a few things or make concessions if you are running an older computer. You can also upgrade to a newer model and have more of everything than we ever thought possible a few years back. It seems as if every year computers can do more, have more of everything including sound, video and gaming. There is also another option if you have specialty needs for your computer such as mechanical engineering, which uses some massive programs that need some room to run; hire someone to build one from scratch that will do what you want it too; not just what most consumers want. There are more options than ever before so look around before you make your final decision.

Everyone can use more storage. The question is not; do I need it, it’s what the best way for me to get it without spending a lot of money and a lot of time? Then you have to decide what a lot of money and time to you is? Until you define these things you will be out in limbo not knowing the best way to solve your storage issues. Though some people definitely want to have a storage building on their property, there are plenty of people that either don’t have enough space on their property or rent so they need another alternative to meet their storage needs.

Being away from your storage unit creates another set of problems that you will need to identify and deal with from the actual space and the time you have access to the space as well as payments and other criteria you need to know before moving your things into a place you don’t control. One thing I know for sure is there are sales listed in the newspaper every Sunday for entire contents of storage units where people have either missed payments or just not shown up to claim their things and they loose everything in the unit. So know what the rules are before you decide to play.

I was shocked to hear from a friend of mine that he got a political flyer tucked into his church bulletin this past Sunday asking the parishioners to help block the healthcare bill because it didn’t have language blocking abortion. He told me it was from the Bishops Council of the Catholic Church and he was stunned at how blatant it was crossing the line of church and state separation.

I was always told to not “throw the baby out with the bathwater”. In other words, don’t throw out good things with bad. But it does seem that any church that is against helping people get adequate healthcare because the language on an entire different subject is not adequate is doing just that. However, no matter what a church thinks there is a definite line that should not be crossed. We clearly don’t like other countries where the churches run the government but seem to be okay with our own country moving in that direction. I thought there were clear laws preventing just this kind of behavior and if we’re not going to enforce them, than I think churches should pay taxes and not be exempt. They are no longer a place you can go to find God but a place you go to be told what to do.