No, I’m not selling my yard -although, on days when it’s so tall I need to flag the house to find it, selling my yard doesn’t sound like such a bad idea…

Anyway, my subdivision has an annual yard sale, and so far, we’ve managed to come up with enough junk to participate numerous times. I’m continually amazed that the junk we originally thought we couldn’t live with out ends up on a table in my garage with a rock bottom price tag affixed to it. What amazes me even more is that there are some who participate every year. That’s right -every year! That makes me suspicious. I’m thinking that these yearly participants go to other yard sales throughout the year and pick up items they’ve negotiated lower price for, raise the price slightly, and stick it out in their yard sale. How else could anyone come up with so much junk to sell? Every year?

If you’re stuck in this kind of a rut and want to get away from all the consumerism, try visiting www.sensiblelife.com to see tips and suggestions on spending money more wisely. My friends at Sensible Life have a lot of great tips on arts and crafts and getting free patterns, as well as economical travel tips and inspirational stories. They do a great job every issue!

What is it about spring that brings out the worst in lawn ornaments? You’d think one would want the decor to go with the theme of the area, blend into the natural environment, or at least go together to create one flowing illusion, but silly me -I guess not. My neighbor has this wild, wild west meets New England thing going, which clashes a bit with my nautical/pool thing right next to it, but at least the onlooker can figure mine out. Nautical, pool, fountain -ah, yes -it’s about the water.

Although, on the other hand, my neighbor could be working directly with my theme and creating something from east, west, north and south. Feasibly, we could imagine mine to be the south (not, I’m not going to put a car on blocks in my front yard -I’m talking further south than that), and all we need now is something from the north. Hmmm…I have some Canadian bacon in the fridge. That’s pretty far north, but it could work…

If you’re a small business and you are thinking about incorporating in the state of Kentucky, you’d better check the requirements -or better yet, ask an attorney for advice. It could save you in the long run. My friend, an entrepreneur, just had to pay the minimum amount of $175 to the state of Kentucky for her new business that operated at a loss the first year. As I understand it, all businesses incorporating in the state of Kentucky must pay this amount regardless of expenditures or lack of income. If you’re close to the border to another state, it may make more sense to look at that state’s tax laws. For example, Indiana has nothing like this at all, and some types of corporations can be combined with your personal income tax to minimize your tax liability -this is especially helpful if you are a start up business requiring capital investments from your personal income.