Close to retirement

Just a few months away from 70 now and thinking about the day I will retire. I have set a goal of retiring on my birthday, but as the days go by the anxiety is building. I have a great job and love what I do. Each day is a new challenge working in the building maintenance field.

Being a building caretaker for the disabled people in two separate buildings is a very rewarding  job. It comes with many extra duties that are not covered in my job description. Like picking up their keys when they are in their wheel chair and they drop them on the floor or removing their air conditioner when the weather turns cold.

My actual title is" Building and property maintenance caretaker". I have no responsibilities to the residents other than doing the maintenance request forms filled out for work to be done in their apartments. Its my policy to engage only in work related issues while in their apartments. This eliminates the possibility of favoritism and clinging.
As the time passes friendships have been developing and filling out work orders go by the wayside and verbal request become the normal. Its company policy to only do work when filled work orders are turned in. So it becomes a constant reminder to fill out a work order.

There are many factors to my decision to retire, one is my memory which is getting more forgetful by the week. If I don't write it down right away, then I'll go off and completely forget about it. Another is my physical strength is weakening and I cannot perform some of the task that I used to do.


As in many buildings that house people with disabilities there are a lot of drugs, both prescriptions and non prescriptions; along with illegal drugs. The buildings I manage are federally funded and need to be monitored for illegal drug traffic. With marijuana becoming more popular as a pain reliever and still considered illegal in federal buildings; the stress of controlling it has greatly increased.

I guess the natural deterioration of my body as I get older and the ability to cope with many of the problems of today is just a part of life. Therefore I will continue to live it to the best of my ability.
Comment on life.
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Earl Baldwin

A Budget or A Goal –
 The Ultimate Financial Management Tool
                              


You can call it whatever you want, a budget, goal, or plan, but you need a tool to manage your finances.

A carpenter uses a set of house plans to build a house. If he didn’t the closets might get overlooked altogether, and that wouldn't  make for a very good living space.

Rocket Scientists would never begin construction on a new booster rocket without a detailed set of design specifications. Yet most of us go blindly out into the world without an inkling of an idea about finances and without any plan at all.
Not very smart of us, is it?


A money plan is called a budget and it is crucial to get us to our desired financial goals.

Without a plan we will wander without direction and end up in a financial pit. One that will last several years or possibly a lifetime.

If you have a spouse or a significant other, you should make this budget plan together. Sit down and figure out what your joint financial goals are…long term and short term.
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Then plan your route to get to those goals. Every journey begins with one step and the first step to attaining your goals is to make a realistic budget plan that both of you can live with.

A budget should never be a financial starvation diet. That won’t work for the long haul. Make reasonable allocations for food, clothing, shelter, utilities and insurance and set aside a reasonable amount for entertainment and the occasional luxury item. Savings should always come first before any spending.

Even a small amount saved will help you reach your long term and short term financial goals. You can find many budget forms on the internet. Just use any search engine you choose and type in “free budget forms”.

You’ll get lots of hits. Print one out and work on it with your spouse or significant other. Both of you will need to be happy with the final result and feel like it’s something you can stick to.

Spending Wisely to Save Money


I am sure you have noticed that the things you buy every week at the grocery and hardware stores go up a few cents between shopping trips? Not by much…just by a little each week but they continue to creep up and up.

All it takes for the price to jump up by a lot is a little hiccup in the world wide market, a small outbreak of  e coli; or note the price of gasoline as it relates to world affairs.

There is a way that we can keep these price increases from impacting our personal finances so much and that is by buying in quantity and finding the best possible prices for the things we use and will continue to use everyday… things that will keep just as well on the shelves in our homes as it does on the shelves at the grocery store or hardware store.

For instance, dog food and cat food costs about 10% less when bought by the case than it does when bought at the single can price and if you wait for close out prices you save a lot more than that.

Set aside some space in your home and make a list of things that you use regularly which will not spoil. Any grain or grain products will need to be stored in airtight containers that rats can’t get into so keep that in mind.

Then set out to find the best prices you can get on quantity purchases of such things as bathroom items and dry and canned food.

You will be surprised at how much you can save by buying a twenty pound bag of rice as opposed to a one pound bag but don’t forget that it must be kept in a rat proof container.

You can buy some clothing items such as mens socks and underwear because those styles don’t change, avoid buying children’s and women’s clothing, those styles change and sizes change too drastically.

Try to acquire and keep a two year supply of these items and you can save hundreds of dollars.

Developing a savings habit is just one of the many ways towards being a good money manager. Today is the best time to start; don't put it off until tomorrow. If you are one of those procrastinating people, there is a good program that I use and you can view it at  http://1e5b5br6z06d1wemzmzlzzgm5o.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=STOPPROCRASTINATING

May your finances increase as you move forward in life.


BY: Earl Baldwin

Birthday week

I was preparing for my 69th birthday in a month, and sent a request into my corporate manager to take the whole week off. Things at my part time caretaker job was going smooth and I didn't forsee any problems. My plans were to travel to my sons home about 300 miles away to spend the weekend and celebrate my grandsons and my birthdays together.Then come home and replace my broken driveway. My manager was a little reluctant to give me the whole week off with no backup to cover emergencies, so I said I would handle any emergencies from home since I would only be gone for the weekend. My time off was approved. The weekend came and my wife and I were off to spend some time with the grandkids.We stayed at a Motel with a real nice pool for the kids to come and have some pool fun. After we checked in we met up with my 3 yr. old grandson,and him and I went shopping for the perfect present. We agreed on a $10.00 limit and within a half hour we had exactly what he wanted.As we were driving back to the house he was pointing out landmarks and telling me where to turn to get to his house, he was so excited because as soon as we got home the party was going to start. It was a small party, just his 3 brothers,2 sisters and thier Great Dane. We opened our presents and then it was cake and Ice cream. We let the desert settle and then headed for the motel for some swiming and fun. The next day we met for lunch then spent the afternoon socialiazing and giving driving lessons to a16 yr old. We headed back home for a day of rest before starting the driveway repair. My vacation was off to a great start . Shortly after arriving home I had an emergency call that the elevator in our handicap building was down.It turned out to be a minor repair , but took up most of the next morning. Around mid afternoon the contractor for the driveway showed up with his equipment and was ready to start. I had agreed to be his helper to cut down on some of the cost so I straped on my back brace and we began breaking up the old concrete. Laying out the new forms we decided to make it 5 ft. wider which ment we would have to do it in two different pours. One day breaking and hauling concrete,two days pouring concrete, and my whole body was throubing with pain. Wednesday we were finishing up the last part and I started feeling cramps in my gut. I went inside to rest for awhile then headed for the bathroom! I was in the bathroom every half hour for the next two days with diearea.Then the gas started and lasted the next two days. I decided that I had gotten Listeria from the cantalope I had from the week before. By Sunday I was starting to feel normal again, just in time to go back to work. This will probably be one of the most memorable birthday weeks of my life. A little get away, a little fun, a lot of hard labor, and a lot of pain, but thats life and I will simply continue to live it to the best of my ability.

Earl Baldwin