December 5, 2017 • Page 2 shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Dave Says Budgeting for Holiday Happiness Dear Dave, My wife and I are trying to improve our finances by living on a budget and following your plan. We’re in the middle of Baby Step 2, so we’re working to pay off everything but our house using the debt snowball. We only bring home about $40,000 a year combined right now, so how should we handle Christmas budgeting in the middle of working our debt snowball? Scot Dear Scot, Working to get out of debt can cause Dave stress within a relationship. That stress is sometimes magnified if you’re serious about getting out of debt during the holidays. I’m glad you two are on the same page where your finances are concerned. The fact that you’re committed to becoming debt-free as a couple will go a long way toward ensuring a merrier Christmas. Just sit down together, have a look at your budget, and ask what she thinks is a reasonable amount to spend on gifts and things while you’re trying to get out of debt. If you think her suggestion is a manageable figure, just give her a hug, tell her you agree, and move on. If you’ve been trying to get out of debt for a while, you might even propose using last year’s Christmas budget. The important thing is to make sure you listen to each other, and approach this together. On the off chance one of you wants to spend what the other considers to be too much, talk about how and why you arrived at that figure. Then, using your budget as a guide, gently and lovingly talk things out. Honestly, I don’t think you’re going have problems if you’ve already been working together to get your finances in order. And remember, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to make people happy. Delicious homemade treats and thoughtful, handcrafted gifts can put a smile on anyone’s face. Merry Christmas! Ramsey — Dave 5 Gotchas to Budget for This Holiday Season One of the biggest problems with Christmas is how it moves around on the schedule every year. You never know when it’s going to be, when it might be coming, and then BOOM! There it is at your front door saying, “Hey, I’m Christmas. Buy stuff!” But, wait a minute … Christmas is on the same day every year! MV Shopper CLASSIFIEDS M I S S O U R I VA L L E Y IN PRINT & ONLINE To place your ad call... 605.665.5884 Steve slowly saddled his horse, Old Snort, and climbed stiffly aboard in the cold snap of morning. He pulled his hat down a little lower and pulled the wild rag up to cover his nose and mouth from the morning chill. How many mornings had he done this? As Snort trotted out into the meadows of the hills surrounding our valley, he looked with perked ears for cattle. That’s what Snort does for a living. Those ears worked back and forth like radar, searching through trees and behind logs for the tell-tale movement or color of range cattle. And Steve just grinned. How many horses has he ridden on a morning like this? A hundred? Well, fifty, anyway. And the mornings all stay the same in his memory even if he doesn’t stay the same. On a morning like this, his daily dose of “cowboyitis” lets itself be felt. That aching hip? Oh, he remembers when that colt dumped him into the rockpile, putting him on crutches for two months. The shoulder ache? Too many years with a rope in his hands. But he also knows when the fall sun gets a little higher, he’ll stretch and suddenly get younger. His gray mustache will, in his mind, turn brown again, and once more that young cowboy who terrorized stray cattle so many years ago will come back to life. He began kicking cows out and heading them back to the home pasture, and both he and Snort watched and waited for that one rogue that would make the morning complete. It was a black baldy cow who made a dash for the highups and Steve and Snort were flying through trees and over rock piles and finally headed her and turned her back with the others. A 19-year-old cowboy couldn’t have done it any better. Steve smiled and reached down to pat ol’ Snort on the neck. Thanksgiving can be more than turkey and cranberry sauce. Holiday Early Deadlines December 26th Edition Deadline is Thursday, Dec. 21st at noon January 2nd Edition Deadline is Thursday, Dec. 28th at noon The Missouri Valley Shopper will be closed on Monday, December 25th and Monday, January 1st. Happy Holidays from all of us at the... December 25th. Who knew? Somehow, too many of us are caught off guard year after year by Christmas. You already know you need to save throughout the year for holiday festivities. But we all have little things that, no matter what, sneak up on us. Here’s a list of “gotcha” items to include in your holiday budget: Stamps Uncle Billy is waiting on his Christmas card. Unless you plan on driving to Toledo to deliver it in person, you’re going to need a stamp — plus about 30 more for the rest of your family and friends. Even though they’re inexpensive individually, the cost can add up quickly. Wrapping Paper A pair of velvet slippers in a brown bag just doesn’t have the same effect. You can do so much better than that! Go the extra foot and buy some nice Christmas wrapping paper. While you’re at it, go ahead and include some extra cash so you can buy it on sale the day after Christmas so it’s waiting for you next year. Parties There’s your work party, your wife’s work party, your kid’s school party, your church party, the neighborhood party … During the holiday season, you probably need a project manager just to keep track of all the events. And whether you’re bringing cookies, decorations, drinks, or gifts, you’ll still need to plan ahead. Travel Going to see the parents? The in-laws? Maybe you’re taking a vacation that doesn’t involve awkward dinner conversations. If you’re traveling this holiday season, don’t forget about gas, snacks, hotels, checked baggage fees, rental cars, and anything else you might need to get around. Food You can’t possibly forget to budget for food, can you? Let’s hope not. But while you might not forget the bread, milk, and cereal, you also need to think about the seasonal food you’ll be buying, like egg nog, ham, turkey, and fruit cake. It’s time to make a vow. Let’s promise ourselves we won’t wait until the last minute to take care of the stuff we know is coming. Keep these things in mind while you’re out shopping this holiday season! — Dave * Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and business, and CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven bestselling books, including The Total Money Makeover. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 12 million listeners each week on 575 radio stations and multiple digital platforms. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com. Check out the for great specials at your local restaurants! In Print and Online! The Computer Mystery By Daris Howard Because I worked part-time for a government computer contractor doing internet development, the college where I worked decided to make use of those skills. My teaching was changed to part-time, with part of my assignment being the internet manager. I ran web servers, email servers, and some servers not commonly known today. I had only been in my office a short time one morning when my phone rang. On the other end of the line was the administrator over public relations, and he was irate. This was the first of many upset calls for the day. “Professor Howard, the internet was down again this morning. That is the eighth time in the last two weeks.” “Yes,” I replied. “The server is starting up now. It was off when I came into my office, and I started the boot process.” “This may not have been a problem before the internet was so critical to campus, or before email was so essential,” the administrator said. “But now that so many people are getting used to using the internet for everything, we get lots of complaints when it’s down. Is the computer having problems?” “Not that I can tell,” I answered. “When I pushed the button, it started right up. I have checked error logs, and nothing indicates any computer error.” “Well, I want you to investigate and find out the problem,” he said. “We can’t have it happening anymore.” The college didn’t feel that running the internet servers was even a part-time amount of work, so I was also the computer tech for four buildings. I was constantly called to deal with some issue. But I put every nonessential request on hold while I checked out every reason I could think of for the problem. But every idea I checked came to a dead end. I called the physical facilities people to see if there were any power outages on campus. They said their systems didn’t show any, so if there were any, they would have been only for an instant. We had battery backups on the computer that would have dealt with any short-term outage, and every indication from them was that they had never kicked on. The system ran on Unix, and I turned on every logging system available. I went home that night, hoping that I would find the computer on the next morning, but it was off again, and I received more irate phone calls. The next night I moved the server to the side and tried another one, but it was also off the next morning. I started looking for patterns. I checked the other eight days. First, I found that the logs all showed that the computer went off at almost the same time each day, just after five o’clock a.m. All logs showed nothing beyond that early morning time, so it had to be an instant shutdown. I wondered if the CPU had overheated, and had shut down the system, but the CPU logs showed everything normal up to the instant that they went blank. Besides, it shouldn’t have happened on both computers. With no idea what was causing the problem, I decided I would plan to be in my office by five o’clock so I could monitor the computer. 4-Hers Donate 19,474 Pieces Of Clothing BROOKINGS, S.D. - South Dakota 4-Hers donated more than 19,000 pieces of clothing to neighbors in need as part of the Head-to-Toe statewide service project launched in 2016. Organized by the South Dakota 4-H Youth Council, the annual service project provides an opportunity for 4-H members to give back to their communities, explained Amber Erickson, SDSU Extension 4-H Youth Development Field Operations Coordinator. "4-H proudly promotes service learning," Erickson said. "Each year the Youth Council selects a project youth from all counties across the state can become involved in to create a state-wide impact." To add some friendly competition to the service project, counties competed to see which could donate the most pieces of clothing. Tripp County won, donating nearly 7,000 pieces of clothing. The club responsible for this win was the Clovervale Club, collecting 6,962 pieces of clothing and distributing them to 15 community organizations, shelters, non-profits and state agencies to help meet community members' clothing needs. "When we went to the shelters to donate and we saw people who do not have what we have, it made me happy to see that I could go out of my way to help someone else other than myself," said Ryan Sell, 14. Although their entire 4-H club was involved, Sell, together with his brother, Clay and good friend, Rowdy Moore, were the members who dedicated the most time to the endeavor - meeting for about three hours every other Friday for five months to sort clothing donated to the Tripp County Extension Office. "It was a huge time commitment. I figured it would be a one-time collection and delivery, but then clothes kept coming," explained Jill Sell, Ryan and Clay's mom. 4-H's service to others focus, is a big reason the regional manager for South Dakota Department of Social Services enrolled her sons in the program. "I want my kids to grow up and not be self-absorbed. They need to be willing to help and be involved," Jill explained. Because of Jill's work, her sons knew that there are many South Dakotans in need, however, it was not until Clay, participated in the Head-to-Toe service project, that he really understood what his mom meant when she told her sons they were fortunate. "I saw the people at one of the places Quality... USED Cars, we dropped off Trucks, Campers, Boats & Consignments clothing and was 2013 Toyota like, whoa, this Scion is what it means 605-665-1596 not to have what www.bridgecityautoyankton.com you need. My 802 Broadway, Yankton mom would tell Buy • Sell • Trade $8,595 Bridge City Auto st Prices Be Town! In us that we have a lot compared to some, but I never actually witnessed that," explained Clay, 12 and seventh grader at Winner School District. Clay added that because Winner does not have school on Fridays, spending time with his brother and good friend, made the time away from class fun. "I get bored easily. This kept me busy," Clay said. His friend, Rowdy Moore agreed. "It was fun to spend time with the Sells and it felt good to help people because they don't have the stuff we do," Moore, also a seventh grader explained. Hands for Larger Service Service to others has been part of 4-H mission since the beginning of the organization more than a century ago, explained Laura Kahler, SDSU Extension 4-H Youth Program Advisor - Gregory and Tripp counties. "It's right here in the 4-H Pledge. 4-H has a lot of resources for volunteers and youth to connect them to projects to help their communities," Kahler said. "I am wowed by the quantity of clothing this club was able to gather and distribute and by the time the youth dedicated to the project." Tripp County did win the statewide competition. They county will be presented with a plaque and a $50 in 4-H Mall (shop4-h.org) credit the Tripp County 4-H Youth Program Advisor can utilize to cover costs of materials for county programming. 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