I recently read an article about military folks having job security during the credit crunch. The soldier’s wife who wrote it stated how grateful she is that her husband has a safe job during these difficult financial times.
I can see where she’s coming from, I really can. But the whole thing saddened me. The thought that people we love are more valued than ever risking their lives to “bring home the bacon” in case the depression/recession worsens made me think, isn’t it time we re-evaluated our whole social structure?
Are our marriage problems really going to be resolved or kept at bay because our significant other is still paid to be part of an organisation whose purpose is to kill other people? It is a very sad day indeed when we are saying “thank God for war.” (Because it means “I’m all right, Jack.”)
I’m not blaming that woman or her husband. I’m sure they are lovely people, and he is a brave guy whom we would dub a hero. It isn’t them, or the countless others who must be in similar circumstances.
We need a whole shift in our cultural and political thinking.
The fact is there is enough food and shelter for everyone on this planet. There is only one world with lumps of land on it that somebody sometime claimed chunks of for themselves and then became prepared to kill other people if anyone else tried to get it from them, or had some fundamental belief about how to live that wasn’t shared by the folks on a neighbouring lump of land!
Now that the credit crunch is here, shouldn’t we be looking at sharing everything: land, food, shelter, oil, resources in general? Then we wouldn’t need money and we wouldn’t require war!
Add that to the global warming problem, (had you forgotten that?), and we have surely long passed the day when we simply throw open the doors and our arms and declare “Everyone’s welcome everywhere!”
It is said that Hell is a place where everyone is made to stand around a gigantic cauldron of delicious food that bubbles away eternally. Everybody has a ladle strapped to their wrist that makes it impossible to bring the food to their mouth.
Heaven is said to be exactly the same, except that there everyone feeds each other.
Wouldn’t we have happier marriages if we were happier people? Doesn’t it make you feel good when you make someone else feel good? You can make them laugh, sort out their boy/girlfriend problems, give advice about how to cook a dinner, send a card or an email … the ways to make people happy are without number, and every one of them will make you feel good. Most of them cost nothing too.
So why do we think that if you have a husband, wife or partner who risks his or her life in the business of taking the lives of others makes our existence better? How can that solve anyone’s marriage problems?
Someone else’s husband may not be coming home in Afghanistan or Iraq or somewhere that “we” don’t like right now. This is not the way to a happy marriage or to resolve marriage problems!
Call me naive and utopian, but frankly, all the other choices seem pretty dark right now.
Anyone else got any thoughts?

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The credit crunch is a term that refers to lack of funds across the board for all kinds of financial companies such as banks and credit unions. This has the flow-on effect of causing the value of the share market to tumble and freezing the world’s economy. Interest rates on mortgages and credit cards have increased, as has the price of utilities, fuel and other necessary commodities for the man on the street. We need to look at the ways in which we spend money and see if they can be changed to lessen our debts. It all started twelve months ago in the US when lending institutions allowed people with poor credit to have mortgages to buy homes with. When these people could not repay their mortgages, the result was a lack of liquidity that has reached global proportions.Banks around the world buy and sell to each other. These bad debts – or sub-prime mortgages, as they are called – in the US were sold on to other banks across the world – bought and sold many times over – and so no one bank can tell how much bad debt they have purchased. But they now don’t want to buy and sell with each other anymore, for fear of purchasing more debt that cannot be repaid.This has the flow-on effect of causing the value of the share market to tumble and freezing the world’s economy. Banks around the world buy and sell to each other. These bad debts – or sub-prime mortgages, as they are called – in the US were sold on to other banks across the world – bought and sold many times over – and so no one bank can tell how much bad debt they have purchased. But they now don’t want to buy and sell with each other anymore, for fear of purchasing more debt that cannot be repaid. Interest rates on mortgages and credit cards have increased, as has the price of utilities, fuel and other necessary commodities for the man on the street. We need to look at the ways in which we spend money and see if they can be changed to lessen our debts.

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How? can anyone survive the? predicted credit crunch, recession??? as a christian? you are in the world , you are not of the world , so your economy is? embedded in the kingdom economy. The lord’s prayer as simple as it sounds , instructs us to as for our daily bread, if a bank closes or a hurricane takes place , and it is too much for the insurance to cover what can one do? whatever is on earth is terrestial but the whatever is of God is celestial . The moffat’s bible tells us in 2 corinthians 9 chapter 8 that ..God is able to bless you with ample means, so that? you always have quite enough for any emergency of your own and ample? besides for any kind acts to others..

But who qualifies for this?? the bible says? we should seek first the kingdom of God and all other things shall be added unto us.? He that dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide? under the shadow of the almighty. The serect place is His presence and there you get his presents.

We will need to dwell there. it is not automatic , there? are coming changes in times and seasons , end-times , when we will really have to depend on God’s divine provision , as we call upon Him in the day of trouble .. when it comes. Faith is needed, waiting upon God is needed. those that wait upon Him shall not be ashamed His word said.

There is the human part that has to be played and ?the God part that has to be played. He says Ask and it shall be given unto you , we do the asking and He does the giving.??There is the covenant relationship? that has to be involved , you have to be his child, relationship is part of what makes the covenant work.? covenant ? what is that???? an oath or a strong binding promise, a commitment.? God takes His seroiusly He says He will not break His. Why then do christians suffer or lack ?

They need to activate the covenant? , be in right standing and right doing which is just by saying it and meaning it. He gives us another chance? to comeback to Him. In? 2009, what? are we to do inspite of the news? all over the air waves ? in the book of Joshua , we discover it is better to believe the report of the Lord . our lives are hid in Christ and at the same time the greater on is in us so we are not to let our hearts fail us.

How do i survive the looming credit crunch and recession?

Stand on the promises of God , He? has the Whole world in His hand , He provided manna? for his children in the wilderness where there were no banks , shops etc He can do it again

He sent ravens to feed His prophet , He feed the poor widow with her son, He can do it again

God can create something out of nothing , only believe and connect? to Him.

If you have sown good deeds in the past , He never forgets God rewards those who help the poor. see Psalm 41.

When you pay your tithes and offerings dont just pay it give it an assignment? malachai 3 verse10-12

Daily ask for his grace, grace grace .? Ask for divine strategies,plan and insights. Isiaiah 11 verses 2-5 talks about the Holy spirit ,as the?spirit of wisdom ,might,understanding,counsel,knowledge of the fear of the Lord, not judging after our sight and hearing,? but been lead.so, ask for this power to rest on you and believe it. the Holy spirit is the covenant connector .He helps you to build and prosper.He gives you productive initiatives, enlarges your vision to blossom,gives you profitable insights, creativity and productivity, and He is the spirit of Grace.

That God will rebuke the devouer for your? sake, and also we are told that if we obey God we will eat the good of the land. pray for the nation you live and ask for? God’s mercy, grace and? Help everyday .

For more questions?on these topic or any other issue,? do visit www. prayerandfaithclinc.org or www. prayerandfaith-clinic.org

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Do you or your company experience any of the following?

?

If you have answered yes to any of these then you should read on!

In the past businesses have managed with what was considered an acceptable level of waste, rework or scrap. In a similar vein it was considered part of doing business that there would be some level of customer complaint.

The credit crunch mantra!

Have you or your business been tasked with any or all of these?

“How did that reject reach the customer and we didn’t know?”

I could go on, but you get the idea. So why is Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) the solution? Before I answer that, I suspect many of you are thinking,

“FMEA hasn’t been in the past, so how is it that FMEA can help us now?”

If you clearly define what happens in your process when it is successful you can then systematically and thoroughly define what can go wrong, why it happens and the consequences of it going wrong, (with the necessary process helps to ensure consistency and thoroughness.)

Now that this is done with the appropriate emphasis on all aspects of the process you can identify what you truly have in place to avoid failure and features that will detect failure. You can and must, at this stage, implement tasks to improve the situation.

Many of you will recognise this as the FMEA process. It is not enough just to create a robust document (many I critique aren’t), you now have two challenging parts which yield the dividends.

The practical deployment of the important content of the FMEA to the person doing the task described in the FMEA, in a usable fashion for that person. The maintenance of the documents to keep them up to date.

Summary

If you do all this correctly your FMEA will address the issues mentioned at the beginning!

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Everywhere we look around us, we seem to see?the doom and gloom of the credit crunch. Firms are laying off staff if not shutting down completely, food prices are through the roof, and consumers are tightening their purse strings severely.

But look at how many different parties are interested in trumpeting the credit crunch. We have newspapers looking to make sales with sensationalist stories. We have an opposition party looking to bring down a government with claims of gross economic incompetence (albeit some of which I am sure are justified). We also have countless businesses?wanting to use the recession as a marketing tool – ‘come to us to save yourself money in these difficult times’.

Now, we are obviously in challenging times, and no right-minded person would deny that we are in a recession. But let us take a step back and consider?the chances of much of what we?see and hear?about the recession being exaggerated, at least in some way.

Mr. Yorkshire has been looking around his county for evidence that we need not throw in the towel yet. Of course, he has been selective. For every positive story there are?possibly ten negative ones. But, to dispel any myths that everyone out there is in trouble and to?warm the heart just that little bit, take a look at these examples (from the Mr. Yorkshire Good News Portal):

i) Primark, the discount fashion chain, is such largely increased sales that it is opening 5 more Yorkshire stores by September.

ii) Dechra Pharmaceuticals saw an increase in profits of 23% in the six months leading up to December 2008.

iii) Smaller firms, such as cash and carry company Booker, have also shown resilience, with Booker reversing a decision to close its Huddersfield depot. Further, two hoteliers, Leslie and Julie Dyl, have been so successful with their Rags Hotel that they have bought luxury apartments nearby for extra guest capacity and are opening a fish and seafood deli nearby.

iv) Yorkshire property website Rightmove has seen a 40% rise in annual profits, mainly due to cheaper house prices.

v) Morrisons, the supermarket chain, has showed a 7% rise in annual pre-tax profits.

Now, of course not everyone can achieve results like these – they depend on specific circumstances. But with a combination of hard work, ambition and determination, the Mr. Yorkshire business profiling website suggests that there is light at the end of the tunnel for many businesses.

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The global credit crunch has hit many individuals and businesses hard, with a large number of companies looking to cut costs. Few realise however, that many of the essential services that a business need to run smoothly are available for free. Every business needs a website in this day and age, with most companies hiring web designers and programmers to build the website for them; but this can cost a lot of money and problems can arise in the execution and update process. However, simple to use flash-based applications can be found online that enable those without prior programming or design knowledge to create professional and respectable looking websites for no cost whatsoever. Using a straightforward drag and drop interface anyone can create their site, saving money in the process. Other facets of the internet can also help with advertising and promotion of a business, with multiple channels available to broadcast a company’s services. Keeping track of different aspects of a project can also be an expensive and not to mention painstaking, process. This can be helped with the use of free open source desktop applications that aim to simplify the complexities of project management. Indeed, such applications can help businesses dependencies coordinating, analyzing and resource assigning; saving money on man hours while still maintaining efficiency. Finding a tool to lower technical support costs is another route businesses can take. Paying a technician to sort out every little problem that arises in the office can lead to spending large amounts of money. However, free and professional technical support can be found online with a number of reputable forums and sites offering free advice for any size of business. Quite possibly the easiest way for businesses to cut costs and run a more efficient office space is to think about cutting energy costs. It is important to understand that a lot of energy wastage can actually come from old and inefficient equipment. Therefore, it may be more beneficial in the long run to invest in new equipment that is perhaps better for the environment, when it comes to budgeting for new office items. As such, the alternatives that are available can include small purchases like printers which have the capacity to print on both sides, a more energy efficient kettle, and even new office lamps. Furthermore, the effectiveness of ill working air conditioning systems may also be a point of consideration for the long term. Indeed, there are a number of ways to cut costs for businesses feeling the strain during the current credit crunch; from finding free business tools to running a more environmentally sound office, it is possible to help to lower expenditure whilst also maintaining efficiency.

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One of the most said phrases is “Keep it Simple, Stupid”. It applies to all aspects of life. And even though everyone knows about the K.I.S.S. principle, they don’t follow it. When things get too complicated, it’s harder to unwind the chaos and make changes because you don’t know where the mess begins.
We saw this happen in the “credit crunch” crisis of August 2008 but it began way before it hit the mainstream media. What happened was that a lot of investment banks and bankers thought they knew better because they had genius IQs; Guess what? Common sense trumps genius IQs any day. A case in point: how intelligent is it when any Joe Blow could come off the street and almost get instant approval for a loan? The interest rates are high and when he can’t make his minimum payment, he defaults on his loan. This story is so common and yet, these types of loans were sliced and diced, packaged and repacked and bought and sold as new investment vehicles.
Money doesn’t grow on trees and with the inappropriate lending by the banks, credit seized up. Now banks are making it more difficult to borrow money and the cost of borrowing are higher. This results in the slowdown of the economy as new business can’t start and existing businesses can’t expand. This is why the Federal Reserve Bank has been slashing the federal funds rate and the discount rate. If it costs less for banks and deposit taking institutions to borrow money from the Fed and each other, these savings would be passed onto the general public, consumers and business alike. This is also why the U.S. Treasury introduced a stimulus package to kick start the economy for which, by all intents and purposes is in a recession.
Now, how does one handle their personal finance in a recession? If you’re an investor with some cash, this might be a great time to invest. A lot of strong companies with good fundamentals have stock prices at a discount. The important thing is to leave out the noise of the macroeconomics. Unless you’re a day trader, you don’t need to the everyday trends of the U.S. dollar, price of oil, etc. In fact, all this doom and gloom is what is helping you get a good company at a discount price. The “weak hands” are selling in a panic and not thinking long term. But you, as a long term investor can reap the rewards. Now of course, you don’t want to buy and hold forever a losing stock, so how would you identify a good company from a bad company? What is amazing about buying stocks is that so many people would buy stocks without reseaching what the business is about on the basis of a “tip”. But think about this in terms of owning a business which you are as a shareholder. If you didn’t know the business would you invest in it a traditional brick and mortar enterprise? Most likely not. And we’d also be researching if the company has an advantage over its nearest competitors. Is the business easy to understand so it can be easily managed? If the answer is yes to all these questions, you just might be looking at a winning stock pick for your long term investment plans.
So once again, if you have the cash to spare, now might be the right time to go stock hunting. Keep that K.I.S.S. principle in the back of your mind and you might prove to be smarter than the average investment banker.

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The current credit crunch is creating ever increasing pressure on companies to reduce costs in order to remain competitive. As a result many analysts and market observers are predicting that the number of outsourcing deals will increase with a much greater emphasis on reducing and controlling operating costs and gaining a predicted improvement in service performance – the luxury of ‘innovation’ and flexibility is likely to take a back seat until the global economy recovers and provides a suitable environment for more strategic approaches.

Outsourcing at its simplest level is about delivering an agreed package of services to meet the current and anticipated requirements of the business with the ultimate measurement of success being stakeholder satisfaction and corporate performance. Both customers and suppliers measure this success through Service Level Agreements.

The contract that delivers those services must be robust enough to allow the parties to predict the cost and quality of services delivered but at the same time must be flexible enough to respond to changes in business requirements. That’s a tough balance to achieve and many organisations simply won’t get close.

Despite the fact that an outsourcing relationship can directly, or indirectly, affect the performance of a business for a significant number of years, many organisations still fail to recognise the absolute importance of aligning service delivery to business needs, and tend to treat the Service Level Agreement (SLA) as a post contract afterthought or a necessary evil that is all too easily confined to the top drawer after signature.

This weakness is likely to be exposed as never before during this credit crunch period as the pressure increases to conclude deals more quickly and more aggressively to minimise the cost of procurement and meet financial objectives. Developing and maintaining  effective SLAs will be critical for both customer and supplier organisations if they are to avoid the potential for future relationship difficulties.

A well written and well executed SLA lies at the heart of all successful outsourcing relationships and can often be a strategic differentiator for both parties. When executed properly the SLA ensures that the customer receives value for money from its supplier by balancing cost and quality of services.

So what makes a good SLA? Here are eight tips that should help you get the most out of your service contracts:

Getting the right SLA in place relies more on common sense and structured approach than rocket science. SLAs are simple two way agreements that ensure performance against contract. They are about:

They are also about continuous improvement in both relationship and service delivery.

There is a thin dividing line between success and failure and that’s what makes the process of developing them challenging. Get them right and they will protect your investment and support your business objectives. Get them wrong and you will end up paying heavily.

 Source: Outsourcing Leadership Forum

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If you are one of a family who celebrates Christmas. Here are ways you can enjoy the holiday season, spend quality time with your family and make the most of the social event during the depressing times of the credit crunch here in the uk.

Try these new ideas you will feel so proud of yourself helping others less fortunate than yourselves.You will find lots of enjoyment working with the family.You wont be worried about paying the debt off throughout the whole of next year. making huge savings all round too.

If you have to buy gifts for family and friends buy gifts while the sales are on.Purchase one each week now onwards and avoid using the credit card for these purchases.buy lots of useful pound shop items and wrap them up for the children ie colouring books, pens etc, you can often find the latest tv stars kids just love and pay less then the large shops for the same thing ie fimbles colouring books, barbie etc. children will also get the enjoyment of opening so many presents.

Buy a good quality card or make one from the kids scraps and decorate it so it looks really cool. stick a large star sticker in it saying special?surprise present watch this space.When they finally open all their presents?they will be so busy they will forget about it and you can then buy a gift in the january sales that you couldnt afford for christmas. You will have saved a fortune as a surprise gift you otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford.This is where you can get half price things for and that present they so desperately wanted.

Buy the Turkey before December prices go up towards christmas so you can get some good deals now and freeze it if you have the space.

Buy tinsel and trimmings from a charity shop , most are new and they sell them to raise funds and you will also be helping the charity buy buying from them.whilst there buy a box of mix match scraps of tincel etc for the children buy a small packet chocolate treats and let the children make their own crackers.Join in with them you all have fun and you can open them on christmas day.

gift ideas that dont cost the earth can also be found on our main website at? www.cheekychumsonline.co.uk

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Please feel free to use this article as long as credit is given to the resource box.? Copyright Arthur Levine 2008Words: 320Keywords: Copywriter, Product, Service, Marketing, Credit Crunch, PromoteAre you scared? Are you living in fear that our economy is collapsing? Are you worried that your customers will stop buying?This isn?t the time to freeze up in fear. This isn?t the time to stop promoting your product or service. This is the time to move your inventory or sell your service.If no one knows you are there then they definitely won?t buy what you have to offer.How is anyone going to find your great new product or service if you don?t promote it? You have invested heavily of your time; effort and money to get your Company to this point don?t fail to go the final mile because the economy is scaring you.Even in a recession people spend money for whatever it is they perceive that they need and they want. It is a matter of their priorities that determines what they buy.You can help them reorder their priorities so that your fine product or service is included in their list of must haves.It is up to you to see that this credit squeeze doesn?t put the squeeze on you. Even in today?s economy you can still finance goods and services that have been sold. Don?t miss this opportunity to put your product on the hot list. Be the first in line on the consumers buying list when things turn around. Get out there and start promoting.This is the time when creative copywriting can make a difference. Avoid the credit crunch with creative copywriting. You can contact me through my comment section. We can make a difference. We can help melt away economically induced resistance to your product or service.*****

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