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Wethinkweworkto pay the bills. But the truth is that most of us spend more than we make on more than we need, which sends us back to work to make more money, which we then spend to buy even more stuff than we need. On and on it goes like one big, fat, expensive vicious cycle. So here you are, well into a new year, deter- mined to improve the quality of your life by liv- ing at your means. The task at hand seems per- fectly clear — you need to find more money. You have two choices: Increase your income or reduce your spending. Making more money does seem like the most logical way to fix a finan- cial problem. But there are limited ways to do that. BEEF UP YOUR PAY- CHECK. You can ask for a raise. You can land a new job that pays much more than your current job. Or you can get a second (or third) job to supplement your income. SELL YOUR ASSETS. A good option, perhaps, if you can find a cash buyer for your grandmother's sterling silver or sell any real estate that you own. LAND A WINDFALL. You can win the lottery, receive a large inheritance or befall some other stroke of luck. I suppose any of these things could hap- pen, but I wouldn't count on them being realistic op- tions for changing your fi- nancial picture. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning than winning the lottery. All of these are ways to increase your income and improve your finances. But let's get real. If you could do any of these things, you would have done them al- ready. While increasing your income is a way to change your financial picture, the change may have negative effects; It could push you into a higher income tax bracket or prompt you to go more deeply into debt. A smarter way to im- prove your financial pic- ture is to systematically, methodically and intelli- gently reduce your spend- ing. For example, if you are currently spending $1, you need to find a way to reduce that to 80 cents (unless you live below the poverty line — in which case you have a different set of challenges). I am confident that with persistence you can re- duce your spending. You can. This approach will have all the positive effects of increasing your income without the challenges mentioned above. INSTANTANEOUS. Re- ducing your spending brings instant gratifica- tion. For example: Nor- mally, you spend $140 on groceries each week. This week, spend $100 and you will have $40 left in your wallet for some other use. You'll have no loans, no debt and no taxes. That $40 has already been earned and taxed. It's yours. LESS STRESS. Assess- ing the ways you spend your money forces you to focus on what really mat- ters. You begin to no- tice unnecessary baggage. You're more willing to ac- knowledge what brings you joy, what needs to go and how to create the life you love. MORE CONTENT- MENT. Thinking about what is meaningful to you and then having the cour- age to change your spend- ing habits accordingly will bring a sense of content- ment to you and your fam- ily. Overindulging in un- necessary things clut- ters your life and can cause stress. Instead of be- ing concerned about get- ting everything you want, you'll be content with what you have. I hope these solutions make you excited about what can happen in your life when you begin to live simply and according your means. And if you've al- ready begun your jour- ney, I hope to inspire you in the coming months and year to do even better. Youcanemail Mary at mary@ everydaycheapskate.com. EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE Finding money you didn't know you had Mary Hunt Red Bluff Rotary cele- brated Dr. Bob Stoufer's 53 years of community service as a Rotarian on Tuesday. Stoufer joined Rotary in January of 1963 as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. He served as Rotary President in 1968-1969. Stoufer has seen many changes in Rotary over the years. He says the change in membership rules in 1989 that allowed women to join Rotary has been the most significant improvement of all. Also at Tuesday's meet- ing was Rotary's newest member, Penny Johnson. Penny is the daughter of Mike Metherd, making her a third generation Red Bluff Rotarian. Memberscelebrate 53 years and first day COURTESYPHOTO Red Bluff Rotary members Bob Stoufer and Penny Johnson. ROTARY By Jennifer Cooper Social Security manager in Redding It's leap year and that means one thing — you can add one extra calendar day to your February schedule. Many people are preparing for the upcoming elections. Others might be getting a jump on spring cleaning. What will you do with your extra day? You could use a few of your extra minutes to check out what Social Se- curity offers at www.so- cialsecurity.gov/onlineser- vices. There, you can apply for retirement, disability, and other benefits; get your So- cial Security Statement; appeal a recent medical de- cision about your disability claim and find out if you qualify for benefits. If you're planning or preparing for retirement, you can spend a fraction of your extra 24 hours at my Social Security. In as little as 15 minutes, you can create a safe and se- cure my Social Security account. More than 21 million Americans already have accounts. In fact, someone opens one about every 6 seconds. Join the crowd and sign up today at www.socialsecurity. gov/myaccount. With a personalized my Social Security account, you can obtain an instant, personalized estimate of your future Social Secu- rity benefits; verify the ac- curacy of your earnings record — your future ben- efit amounts are based on your earnings record; change your address and phone number, if you re- ceive monthly Social Se- curity benefits; sign up for or change direct deposit of your Social Security bene- fits; get a replacement SSA- 1099 or SSA-1042S for tax season and obtain a re- cord of the Social Security and Medicare taxes you've paid. And if you have a little time to spare, you can al- ways check out our blog, Social Security Matters, at blog.socialsecurity.gov. There, you will find guest posts by Social Security experts, in-depth articles, and answers to many of your questions about re- tirement, benefits, and healthcare. Each post is tagged by topic so you can easily search for what mat- ters most to you. Leaping from webpage to webpage, you can easily see that Social Security has you covered all year long, not just on that extra day in February. Remember, you can access our homep- age that links to our wide array of online services any day of the— at www. socialsecurity.gov. SOCIAL SECURITY Use your extra day to leap into retirement The role of community service in being a good and contributing citizen is the focus the annual scholar- ship offered to Tehama County students by the Te- hama County Republican Central Committee. Last year two deserv- ing Tehama County se- niors benefited from the award. "As a committee we felt this was one way we could invest into the future," said Michael Holtsclaw, Te- hama County Republican chairman. "Most scholar- ships reward those stu- dents who stand out aca- demically, and that's im- portant, but we also want to honor those who do a lot in order to better the com- munity of which they are part." All qualifying high school seniors in Tehama County may apply for the scholarship. Applicants must be a member of the current year graduat- ing class from any public, private, charter or home school in Tehama County who has maintained at least a 2.0 grade point av- erage in high school. Students will be asked to complete an application, provide two letters of ref- erence and submit an es- say detailing their com- munity service and why community service is im- portant in being a contrib- uting citizen. Students will be notified if they are selected to be interviewed. The number of recipients and amount awarded will be deter- mined by the Scholarship Committee. The scholarships will to be awarded to worthy re- cipients who will pursue a course of study leading to a post-secondary degree or certificate from a college, university, community col- lege or vocational school. The school where such studies are to be pursued shall be accredited and ap- proved by the appropriate State Department of Edu- cation. Scholarship applica- tion forms may be ob- tained from the Tehama County Republican Cen- tral Committee website at www.tehamagop.org. The deadline for submissions is April 15. SCHOLARSHIP Tehama County Republicans offer scholarship The Red Bluff Califor- nia Highway Patrol office is getting prepared to hold its next Start Smart classes for young drivers with a focus on the new drivers. This class is designed for the 15-and-a-half-year-old who is just getting a per- mit. The next classes are set for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 2, and again March 16. Sign-ups are requested prior to the class. For more information, call 527-2034. Within the last three years, Tehama County has had seven fatalities involv- ing drivers ages 19 and younger, said Public Infor- mation Officer Troy Soma- via. All of these were due to unsafe speed or un- safe turning movements, which are preventable and discussed in the one-night class. "The CHP Start Smart program was designed for the new driver, but also targets the parents," So- mavia said. "It's a two-hour, one time strictly educational program to educate both the parents and the new teen driver. A lot of times we go out to a traffic stop (with teens) and they say I had no idea I couldn't do this. There's a lot of preconceived notions out there." The class covers dis- tracted driving, which in- cludes the use of cell phone and how it increases the risk of being involved in an accident by 64 percent, or four times more likely, Somavia said. For fatal accidents, teen drivers are found at fault 66 percent of the time if they are involved, even though they are roughly 4 percent of the state's li- censed drivers. Both the parent and child attend the class so that parents can see what things are discussed and targeted in the class. Often the parents get more out of the class than the teens do, Somavia said. The class includes safety tips for driving, the impact of distracted driving and what that entails, how to avoid being an aggressive driver as well as a book- let of safety tips for out on the road. CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL St art S ma rt c la ss f or n ew d ri ve rs s et Seven spots remain for Saturday's Cards 4 Kids Texas Hold 'em Poker Tour- nament, a fundraiser for the Red Bluff Kiwanis Club. Proceeds help send local children to Kiwanis Camp for five days at Camp Te- hama. Costis$65inadvance,$75 atthedoor.Theeventwillbe 5-10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27 at the Red Bluff Community Center, 1500 S. Jackson St. The will be food, a full no-host bar, raffles and a consolation table. Call 966-7975 to reserve a spot or for more informa- tion. KIWANIS Last call for poker tournament fundraiser happening Saturday The Resource Conser- vation District of Tehama County (RCD) has a va- cancy on its Board of Di- rectors. Resource Conservation Districts have been in Te- hama County since the 1940s. The district was cre- ated by merging four dis- tricts in Tehama County, which formed the RCD that now encompasses the en- tire county. Serving as a board mem- ber of the RCD is very ful- filling. The board is a testa- ment to that, as the board members have each com- mitted anywhere from 5 to 30 years. The four board members now serving are Jack Bramhall, retired for- ester; Anne Read, cattle rancher; Ryan Sale, farmer and Walt Williams, retired Calfire. RCD directors are ap- pointed by the Tehama County Board of Supervi- sors, but the RCD is assist- ing in the search for a new board member. Qualified candidates must be a reg- istered voter in the state, must reside within the dis- trict and either own real property or be a designated agent of a landowner in the district. The RCD Board meets on the third Wednesday of every month at 8:30 a.m. for 2-3 hours, interested candidates are invited to attend the March 16 meet- ing. The RCD is a non-profit special district created to assist people to manage, conserve, and improve the natural resources of Te- hama County. Staff are in- volved with many differ- ent projects and educa- tional endeavors ranging from free irrigation sys- tem testing and creating shaded fuel breaks, to ex- otic plant removal and hosting hands-on work- shops. For more informa- tion about the district, visit www.tehamacoun- tyrcd.org. Anyone interested in a position on the board of the RCD can call District Manager Vicky Dawley at 527-3013 x114 or write to vicky@tehamacountyrcd. org. RESOURCE CONSERVATION DISTRICT Vacancy on board; interested candidates may attend meeting PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. Thank you! 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