Some great quotable quotes from well-known people. It all boils down to, “Persevere to reach your goal. Find happiness.” Now that sounds like a plan, I wish good health and good fortune to everyone in 2010.

~~ “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” —Marie Curie

~~ “The road to happiness lies in two simple principles; find what interests you and that you can do well, and put your whole soul into it—every bit of energy and ambition and natural ability you have.” —John D. Rockefeller

~~ “Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.” —Winston Churchill

~~ “The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will and the other from a strong won’t.” —Henry Ward Beecher

~~ “The discipline you learn and character you build from setting and achieving a goal can be more valuable than the achievement of the goal itself.” —Bo Bennett

~~ “One only gets to the top rung of the ladder by steadily climbing up one at a time, and suddenly all sorts of powers, all sorts of abilities which you thought never belonged to you suddenly become within your own possibility, and you think, ‘Well, I’ll have a go, too.’” —Margaret Thatcher

~~ “If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity, it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high, look it squarely in the eye, and say: “I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.” —Ann Landers

~~ “For every failure, there’s an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.” —Mary Kay Ash

~~“It’s a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.” —Lucille Ball

~~ “Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.” —John Barrymore

The past year has been financially difficult for many. There is no better time to make plans, O.K., call them resolutions if you must. But do make plans/resolutions to get fiscally fit, not just physically fit. Also, if you busy getting pumped up about saving money and getting out of debt you may forget to nosh.

• Save 10 percent. Put aside 10 percent of your income for long-term investments and retirement savings before paying any bills. Even if you are retired you should continue to add to your porfolio.

• Track your expenses. Record every dollar you spend, for at least one week. You will get a clearer idea of where the money goes and what you can cut back on.

• Stay home. Resist the temptation to eat out. Cook more meals at home. Instead of going to the movies, rent a video, read a book, or a play a game with your whole family.

• Do not rely on credit cards. Credit card debt can eat up your savings and your future. Start reducing your debt, and don’t buy anything on credit if you don’t have the money to pay the bill off promptly.

• Pay down your mortgage. You can save a lot of money on your mortgage by paying just $50 to $100 more a month. Is is a wise idea? It appears that the answer is more gray than black or white. See what AARP and CBS Money Watch have to say.

• Energize your house. Look for ways to make your house more energy efficient. You will save on heating and cooling costs and also help the environment.  Good advice for homeowners and anyone who rents and pays separate utilities. See Consumer Reports magazine  and 12 ways to cut cooling costs from Bankrate.com

Entrepreneur and businesswoman and author Deborah Rosado Shaw rose from poverty to create a multimillion-dollar umbrella-making business, Umbrellas Plus LLC. 

Ms. Shaw’s advice on getting ahead:

• Be willing to sacrifice.

• Get used to fear.

• Know where you’re going.

• Enlist the help of a business coach or mentor.

• Be creative about what you want.

• Make noise.

• Trade what’s predictable for what’s possible.

 Read article  Millionaire Moms Tops Inventions

I came across yet another group calling itself “Wednesday’s Child…” I am familiar with the term “Wednesday’s child” and know there are numerous children’s help organizations, etc., called by that name in some manner or another, “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.”

Now this got me to wondering about the poem and the actual day of the my birth. I searched for a retro calendar and found one, it turns out I am a Monday baby. Next, locate the poem. It is titled Monday’s Child.

MONDAY’S CHILD 

Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for its living,
And a child that’s born on the Sabbath day
Is fair and wise and good and gay.

If you do not know the day of your birth and are curious, check out this site, Time and Date and for some background on the poem, see Monday’s Child at Wikipedia.org.   

Mmm–I think I have just proved  that you can research anything The computer makes it quick and simple.