I never find myself falling short on ideas for articles on Provident Planning. Personal finance includes so many different areas that the topics are endless. Budgeting (and every area you might spend money), retirement, investing, insurance, estate planning, taxes, education, and strategies to increase your income are all fair game.

       I tend to want to start by writing about the basics and build up from there. I’d like to see Provident Planning become a place where people can learn most everything they need to make smart personal finance decisions that will honor God. But that takes time and it can be really boring, too. And there’s information on the basics everywhere. (I think the basics are essential though. They’ll get you 90% of the way and they’re all most people ever really need.)

       I want to be useful to you all, my readers, while I’m building up the material on this website. So I’m asking you: What are your money questions? They can be questions about personal finance in the Bible or just personal finance in general. Your questions will make the articles I write more interesting and relevant for you.

       If you have a question or topic you’d like to see me write about, you can leave a comment on this post or you can contact me directly. Either way, I’ll respond to you and write an article to cover the questions you have. Sound like a good deal? Great! Now just start sending in those questions!!!

       Living in “Amish country” often affords me the privilege of seeing some interesting sights. Take this one for instance:



       And in case you can’t tell what’s wrong with the picture, I’ve zoomed in and highlight the problem for you:



       This is an example of the dangers of extreme frugality (frugality at the expense of safety). I hope this was just a temporary fix!

       This was just an interesting picture I wanted to share with you all. Hope you got a laugh like I did!

       And yes, the Amish do drive tractors occasionally. Some even own tractors, but those tractors won’t have rubber wheels. Instead, they use steel wheels. I’m guessing this guy was borrowing the John Deere from a neighbor.

       Last month, I posted an update about how my wife and I are raising a cow for beef. This is a summary of our activity and costs for month 9. As always, let’s first check Bambi’s growth. Here he is at eight months old:



       And here he is at nine months old:



       A few weeks ago we checked Bambi’s weight. He was around 520 pounds then, so he should be close to 550 by now. I think he’s growing quite well for a Jersey, and I’ve had several farmers comment that he looks like he’s doing well. Despite his increasing size, he’s still easy to handle most days. Even when he gets to acting up, it doesn’t take much for me to calm him down again.

Costs & Time

       I’m still taking Bambi out to graze every day except when the weather is especially bad. He’s actually become quite handy because I’ve been using him to mow down the weeds behind the barn. If he’s not out there, he’s in specific places in our yard (the places we don’t walk much…).

       We only had to buy feed this month. I estimate I spent a couple more hours this month than last because I’ve been taking Bambi out nearly every day. It takes time to move his stake and the blocks I use to hold his water bucket in place. Plus, I have to deal with trying to get him where I want him to go and then back to the barn in the evening. (Though I’ve gotten pretty good at that part now.)

• Feed – $40.06

       

• Time – 11 hours

       And here are our total costs over the past nine months:

• Cost of Bambi – Free!

       

• Castration & Dehorning – $16.00

       

• Milk Replacer – $45.54

       

• Miscellaneous – $46.87

       

• Feed – $281.84

       

• Hay – $88.00

       

• Straw – $20.00

       

• Medicine – $5.00

       

• Total Spent – $503.25

       

• Time – 83 hours

       After nine months we’ve spent a total of $503.25 and 83 hours raising a cow for beef. We’ve finally broken the $500 mark and Bambi’s pushing 550 pounds. It’ll be interesting to see what my final totals are and how much meat we get. I’ll have to figure out how I’ll measure the value of that meat later.

       Cleaning Bambi’s stall is going easier just as I expected. More time outside means less manure in the barn. This is a very good thing. I could have been finished in less than half an hour the last time if I hadn’t turned the compost pile first (which isn’t really composting very well). I guess time spent turning compost isn’t an actual cost for raising Bambi, but I wouldn’t have the compost pile if it weren’t for him.

       That’s it for this month. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. And make sure you sign up for free updates to Provident Planning if you’re interested in knowing what it takes to raise a cow for beef!

       Last month, I posted an update about how my wife and I are raising a cow for beef. This is a summary of our activity and costs for month 8. As always, let’s first check Bambi’s growth. Here he is at seven months old:



       And here he is at eight months old:



       Bambi continues to gain weight at a steady rate. He’s up to at least a quarter of a ton now. I’m hoping he’ll reach 1,000 pounds by November, but I’m not sure he will since he’s 75% Jersey. We’ll see!

Costs & Time

       Now that spring is here, I’ve been able to let Bambi graze. While it saves me money on hay, I have to spend a little more time than normal to take him out from the barn along with his grain and water. However, it takes very little additional time.

       As I mentioned last month, we won’t be spending as much from here on out for hay and straw. We still have to buy feed (grain) every month and that will continue until Bambi goes to the butcher. Here are our costs for this past month:

• Feed – $40.62

       

• Time – 9 hours

       And here are our total costs over the past eight months:

• Cost of Bambi – Free!

       

• Castration & Dehorning – $16.00

       

• Milk Replacer – $45.54

       

• Miscellaneous – $46.87

       

• Feed – $241.78

       

• Hay – $88.00

       

• Straw – $20.00

       

• Medicine – $5.00

       

• Total Spent – $463.19

       

• Time – 72 hours

       After eight months we’ve spent a total of $463.19 and 72 hours raising a cow for beef. Bit of an expensive experiment, huh?

       My idea to clean out Bambi’s pen a little every day helped when I cleaned the whole thing out one Saturday. It wasn’t nearly the struggle it usually is, so I’m happy about that. But now that he’s not eating as much hay and is spending more time outside the barn, I expect the cleaning to go quite a bit quicker.

       A side benefit of mucking Bambi’s stall is the material I get for compost. I suppose I could consider that on the plus side of the equation, but I don’t want to complicate things too much. Compost is valuable and should help in my garden, but it’s probably not worth a whole lot.

       That’s it for this month. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. And make sure you sign up for free updates to Provident Planning if you’re interested in knowing what it takes to raise a cow for beef!

       A while back, I wrote an article titled “What Caused the Economic Downturn? How Do We Rebound?” It was an entry for the What Would John Templeton Say? blog contest. With a top prize of $500, second place of $300, and third place of $200, I thought there would be plenty of entries. Unfortunately for the website running the contest, there weren’t. (Though that was fortunate for me!)

       Apparently some people thought it was too complicated to garner many entries. I think that’s crazy. It wasn’t very difficult at all. The premise was simple. Taking John Templeton’s lecture “The Religious Foundation of Liberty and Enterprise” into account, which vice is most responsible for the recent economic downturn and which virtue is most important to the economy’s rebound? To learn what John Templeton described as the economic vices and virtues, you simply had to read 10 short posts on the website. Here they are:

Economic Vices:

• Envy
• Greed
• Pride
• Intolerance
• Moral Relativism

Economic Virtues:

• Cooperation
• Creativity
• Charity
• Adaptability
• Integrity

       That was it. I didn’t find the reading or concepts very difficult at all. I think I spent a total of 2-3 hours reading, preparing my thoughts, and writing my entry. Even if I had only won third place, that still would have been a nice return on my time (better than most of the articles I have written…).

       I’m not sure what the personal finance lesson is here. When the risks are low and potential rewards high (or just moderately high) then take your chances? Or maybe it’s just to keep your eyes open for opportunities and be ready to take action. What do you think?