Travel Tip
It’s Memorial Day Weekend. But travel plans may be local with the high price of gasoline. But look around, you may be surprised on what you can do closer to home:
view the national parks in your area
how about a bed and breakfast stay
other local travel spots and reviews
Home Improvement Tip
Memorial Day means barbecue on the grill and the start of outdoor fun with family and friends. do you have the garden furniture you need for entertainment.
view what’s new in garden furniture
Consumer Financing Tip
Have you looked at your cost of insurance? Like everything else, cost are on the rise. But so is the competition. Shop around for best deal:
view insurance information
Credit Card Tip: Reduce Your Gas Costs
College Planning Tip
Monthly Checklist for May 25
see our BLOG:
campus life for planning tips and other campus gossip
BLOG postings: (link to Achieving Success BLOG for all posts and PDF downloads)
Discipline to Success:
The Physical Temperance Attribute
We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power . . . The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
Patrick Henry
continuation from BLOG post: part VIII.c
Physical Temperance:
Moderation or self-restraint in action, thought, or feeling. Habitual moderation in the indulgence of the physical appetites or passions; not excessive in degree.
continuation
The physical temperance is the control of physical appetites and passions. We can segment the physical temperance attribute into two areas:
In our last posting, we outlined a 7-step plan for building your physical temperance discipline. The plan called for a 2-week development. So use this next week to continuing developing your plan.
Below is a summary of the 7-step plan:
Take a sheet of paper and form two columns with the following headings: Undesirable Physical Habits and Physical Indulgences. List under each heading any habits and indulgences that you would like to control and/or eliminate.
Select a habit or physical indulgence that you would like to control. Select just one habit or indulgence to work on at this time. Select a habit or indulgence that is isn’t too difficult; e.g., like reducing television viewing time to 30 minutes each day. This will help build the inner strength that can be used later to control more difficult habits and indulgences.
Research outside materials to review methods that you can use to achieve your physical temperance goal. Medical books, for example, may suggest some ways to overcome a habit or indulgence. You may want to consider medical or counseling advice from outside institutions, if necessary.
List your physical temperance goal on Weekly Goal Planning Sheet as illustrated here using Appendix Form-L. If you prefer, you can use the Character Attribute Development sheet from Appendix Form-E.
Note that you will continue to strengthen your physical development goal from the last chapter. You may want to increase the intensity of the physical goal — like jogging an additional 15 minutes per day — but do not change the goal. You will develop and strengthen the physical and physical temperance goals simultaneously for the next two weeks.
Develop and strengthen both your physical and physical temperance goals for the next two weeks. Record your daily progress using your day planner or electronic handheld. Or you may use Appendix Form-E to record your progress.
Some habits and passions may be difficult to control for a full day, particularly if it is a subconscious habit or addiction. Old habits will be hard to break and may take some time to control and change. If you made a serious attempt to control your physical habits or passions, check the box indicating completion.
Bookmark this page and return next week to complete the next step.
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You’ve sat out of the housing market for the past year as you wait for the market to hit bottom, though you possess the wherewithal to purchase a 
home now. You are new to the real estate market and have no recollection how previous market trends panned out. One question lurks in the back of your head: should I buy now or wait?
Clearly, there is no pat answer to this sort of question, but one answer does apply: timing isn’t easy to gauge and it shouldn’t be your only consideration when buying a new home.
Some real estate advisors are telling people to wait out the current slump and only jump in when prices hit bottom. What they don’t tell you is that it is virtually impossible to predict when the bottom prices have been hit. In fact, if you wait a month or two you could find out retrospectively that the housing market already bottomed out.
A better approach would be for you to find the house you want today and go ahead and buy it. If you have the funds available for a down payment and you are eligible for a mortgage, then negotiate your best deal for the home and jump in. It is still a buyer’s market, so negotiate a price to your advantage.
Another reason to purchase now are the low interest rates on mortgages, currently averaging 5.76% on a 30-year fixed rate loan. That figure is expected to rise, perhaps to as high as 7% in 2009. Take advantage of an attractive interest rate now to save hundreds on your mortgage payment.
Finally, when searching for a home always remember that location trumps everything else. Accessibility to stores, medical help, culture/arts, and schools are very important points to consider when buying a home. Good schools especially are prized since those markets are where buyers will pay a premium to live according to CNN/Money.
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