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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><h1>The Vigilant: March 2020<o:p></o:p></h1><h2><o:p> </o:p></h2><h2>Joe Orozco, Editor<o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h2>From the President’s Desk<o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>2020 has already made for some interesting memories! Some highs and lows to be sure.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>On Friday, our national board made the difficult decision to cancel all in person events at a national, state and local level over the next 30 days. We recognize that many have invested in developing impactful programs, and postponing these events will be frustrating. However, protecting the safety of our members and the general public must be the priority. Please be safe.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>To the extent that we can, the work must go on. We are glad to provide an update to highlight what we have accomplished together and the work ahead.<o:p></o:p></p><h1><o:p> </o:p></h1><h3>Progress in the Virginia General Assembly<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>On January 21, we fielded 14 teams meeting with legislators in the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates. With over 60 participants, we had the largest group of blind Virginians ever to advocate for our important issues. Our top priority was an expansion of funding for the Virginia Department for the blind and Vision Impaired (DBVI) to address the waiting list for services. The Governor’s budget proposal provided funding to eliminate the waiting list and was passed in the House of Delegates. However, The Virginia Senate’s budget provided a smaller increase in DBVI’s funding and the Senate version was the funding level included in the final bills passed by both chambers on Thursday. As we receive the exact details, we will share the budget result and the exact impact on the waiting list. This is a solid improvement and we should be proud of our efforts to ensure increases to DBVI funding.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Our second legislative priority HB 584/SB162 implemented a hiring preference in state employment for people with disabilities. The Governor has an initiative to increase hiring by the Commonwealth but there isn’t enough transparency to measure the success of this measure. The House and Senate sponsors asked for transparency and data to be provided to determine if the legislation is necessary. The bills were continued until the 2021 session with a hope that better data would provide greater support for legislation.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Finally, there has been action to eliminate sub-minimum wages in Virginia. HB333 eliminates the payment of sub-minimum wages and was passed by the House of Delegates. The legislation was continued in the Senate to the 2021 session, but this is a significant step in the direction to eliminate the discriminatory and immoral practice of paying people with disabilities below the minimum wage.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3>Washington Seminar update<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Washington Seminar was a tremendous success. We were honored that Congressman Scott addressed our Great Gathering In session on February 10 to energize the over 600 Federationists at this engaging rally. He talked about our partnership on the transition to Competitive Employment Act and the Access to Instructional Materials in Higher Education Act. Both bills are in the House Education and Labor Committee where Congressman Scott serves as the committee chair. Congressman Scott is a great ally. We had very strong participation in the halls of Congress as we met with the offices of every member of the Virginia Congressional delegation. We increased the number of co-sponsors for our legislative priorities and introduced the legislation to some of the members of Congress. In the coming months, we will have a variety of calls to action to ask you to assist us in encouraging these legislators to move from interested to on-board.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3>Membership Seminar<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>On Sunday, February 9, 30 members participated in an exciting seminar on membership recruitment and retention led by Anil Lewis. The seminar was fun, engaging, and informative. Through role play and interactive programming, we worked to overcome challenges of building our movement, one member at a time. Sandy Halverson did a great job in organizing this seminar and we expect even more exciting programming related to membership and effectiveness at our May 2020 board of Directors meeting.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3>Washington Seminar Career Fair<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>It was my pleasure to connect with members across the country at the Washington seminar career fair. Over 150 job seekers participated in the very successful career fair with approximately 20 employers ready to talk with job seekers and pitch the merits of positions with their employer. It is great that we can bring this great resource to our area, but it would be even better if more of our members took advantage of the opportunity. Please plan to attend next year.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3>Membership List Updates<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In 2019, we implemented a massive update of our membership rolls across all our chapters. Over the next month, we will be working to obtain updated information from each of our chapters. You can assist by ensuring you have paid your dues for 2020 and that you provide any contact updates to your local chapters.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Details on the update process will be provided shortly.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3>Maximizing Participation in the 2020 National Convention<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The 2020 National Federation of the Blind Convention will be a truly remarkable and motivating experience where you could learn and grow. If you have never attended a convention or have not attended in a while, we would like to encourage you to make July 2020 the time you attend our national family reunion. In every chapter, we hope your chapter can talk about the convention and help members find ways that they can take advantage of the experience and apply it to your life. We will hold a conference call to address questions and explain programs like our programs for first-time attendees such as the McDonald Fellowship and the Jernigan Scholarship. We want everyone to be considering how they can attend and look to eliminate obstacles.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3>Remembering Barbara Reed<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In late 2019, our friend and Chesapeake Bay Chapter member Barbara Reed passed away. Some may know Barbara as Mary Durbin’s Mother but many of us knew her as a friend. Barbara routinely attended National and state conventions, engaged with chapter events and welcomed many of us into her home with a warm smile and her sense of humor. She will be sorely missed.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3>Final Thoughts<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I know there is much sense of uncertainty in light of current events. it Is my hope that you will please reach out to your fellow members. It is in the midst of our times of uncertainty that we need each other more than ever. Times like these are what truly test our bond as a family. Please check in on your fellow members, make sure that especially vulnerable members of our chapters have the resources they need to navigate this period. If you are in a position to help make store or pharmacy runs with, or in behalf of one of your fellow members, please do so. If you have access to a computer and can help identify community resources that could prove beneficial for others, please volunteer your time and service. We absolutely need to look out for each other. In doing so, my hope is that someone will look in on you as well. We cannot make assuptions about who might be thought to be doing okay.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Please take good care of one another. If there is anything that needs to come to my attention, do not hesitate to connect with me.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Yours in service,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Tracy Soforenko, President<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>National Federation of the Blind of Virginia<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h2>This Month’s Words of Inspiration<o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#212529;background:white'>"In every crisis, doubt or confusion, take the higher path - the path of compassion, courage, understanding and love."--<em><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Amit Ray</span></em></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h2><span class=Heading2Char><span style='font-weight:normal'>National Federation of the Blind COVID-19 Policy Relating to Public </span></span>Events<o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>The National Federation of the Blind is closely following the rapidly evolving situation with respect to the novel coronavirus and its associated illness known as COVID-19. Since we issued our initial guidance on this situation on March 11, public officials across the nation have escalated their response to the virus and issued new and more aggressive directives. Generally, while specific directives as to the size of permitted public gatherings vary across states and local jurisdictions, public health officials agree that it is advisable to engage in “social distancing” in order to prevent or mitigate the spread of the virus, and people are being directed to minimize proximity and/or physical contact with others outside the home as much as possible. As a result, the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors met on March 13 and developed this policy directive related to public meetings of the organization.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>The National Federation of the Blind is the oldest and largest nationwide organization of blind people, with affiliates in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico; hundreds of local chapters; as well as statewide and national special-interest divisions. Together these are comprised of some fifty thousand members and countless volunteers and supporters who conduct various public meetings and events. The health and safety of our members and friends is our top priority, and we are also mindful of our obligation to follow public health directives and to engage responsibly with the general public. We also recognize the need for consistent guidance across our organization as our affiliates, chapters, and divisions consider or plan meetings and public events.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>To that end, the President and Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind hereby direct that all meetings, events, or public gatherings that are currently planned by affiliates, chapters, and divisions to take place within thirty days from today, March 13, 2020, are to be canceled or postponed until sometime after April 12, 2020. This includes, but is not limited to, statewide conventions or meetings, local chapter meetings, and statewide or local division meetings. Of course, where practicable, meetings to conduct the ongoing business of the Federation may be held via phone call or videoconference. Furthermore, the outreach and advocacy priorities of the organized blind movement can and should continue despite the disruption to public meetings, including monitoring unique barriers that blind individuals encounter due to the extreme circumstances. However, no official business of the organization should be conducted via in-person gatherings during this period. The national leadership will re-evaluate the situation on or shortly after April 12, 2020, and issue additional guidance if needed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>We are issuing this directive to align with the best available public health advice as well as with multiple state and local directives, and to carry out our general obligation to protect the health and safety of everyone in our Federation family. We wish everyone the best as together we meet the challenges and make the sacrifices required by this public health emergency.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h2>Frugally and Financially Preparing for the Unexpected <o:p></o:p></h2><h2>By Trent Hamm<o:p></o:p></h2><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>The following blog post appeared on <a href="https://www.thesimpledollar.com/financial-wellness/preparing-for-the-unexpected-frugally-and-financially/">The Simple Dollar</a>.</span></i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Over the last week, I’ve heard tons of questions and participated in lots of conversations about COVID-19. The topic of COVID-19 itself is pretty far outside the realm of what is covered on The Simple Dollar, as it digs deep into health care and public policy issues and The Simple Dollar sticks to personal finance and frugality issues. However, whenever there is a major societal challenge, there are financial and frugal impacts for all of us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>So, let’s discuss them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>In general, <strong><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>I tend to stick to the same basic principles in life through thick and thin.</span></strong> Rather than altering what I’m doing radically because of a crisis or a disaster, I try to live my life so that a crisis won’t upend things — or will alter things as little as possible. Thus, almost everything I describe below are things that I normally do during normal times <em><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>and</span></em> during moments of crisis. These principles and strategies are ones that I repeated during the financial crisis of 2008, during the severe flooding that rocked the area around where I live in 2010, and I’m using right now, too. They’ve helped during a lot of personal crises, too. I expect that these principles and strategies will be suited for almost every major crisis that comes along in my life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Who should I trust for accurate information?</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> In any situation, I tend to trust the people who have spent their lives working with and studying situations like these. In the case of an illness or pandemic, I trust doctors, medical scientists and virologists, not politicians or talking heads. In a natural disaster, I tend to trust engineers, building contractors and the like. Those people have been working with situations like this or studying situations like this for the entirety of their professional lives, and if anyone knows the situation, it’s them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>As an aside, it is never a bad idea to wash your hands often, minimize touching your face and stay at home when possible if you’re feeling sick as a way to avoid contracting and spreading many kinds of illnesses. Those are things we should all be doing all the time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Now, let’s talk about finances and frugality.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><h3>When the unexpected happens, don’t rock the boat with your finances.<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>If a major unexpected event in life happens, whether it’s a widespread illness, flood, stock market crash or a personal loss, <strong><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>it’s almost always a mistake to make a major financial move in the heat of the moment.</span></strong> You should not sell your stocks because of what the stock market is doing today or what it has done over the last week or the last month. That’s a giant mistake that usually just locks in your losses.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>So, if you have money in stocks right now, <strong><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>my advice is to sit tight.</span></strong> Ride the roller coaster. Pulling out money right now is nothing more than an extremely risky gamble. What about buying investments right now when the price is lower? That’s risky, too, but I view it as a lower risk than selling.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>What if you need that money to live on?</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> Many people are already in retirement but still have significant amounts of their retirement savings in the stock market. If that is your situation, then you need to speak to a fee-based financial advisor who can look at your exact situation and give you some guidance.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>What if you’re not in any immediate danger, but the stock market is leaving a sick feeling in your stomach?</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> Don’t look at it. Don’t sweat the day-to-day action. <strong><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>You are in the stock market for decades, not days and weeks.</span></strong> The only people that should worry too much about the daily action on the stock market are day traders and people in the financial industry — and I’m not talking to those folks. For everyone else, looking at the daily stock market returns is basically useless.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>My investment strategy is simple: <strong><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>if I am not going to need the money for 10 or more years, it’s invested in something aggressive, like stocks or real estate.</span></strong> Because I don’t need the money for that long, the volatility of a day, week or month isn’t a big deal. I have lots of time to recover and have the power of compound interest work for me.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>If I’m going to likely need that money within 10 years, it’s in something relatively safe and not volatile.</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> Things like highly rated bonds and money markets are good choices for those time horizons.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>What if you need to change things?</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> The best approach is to change your contributions. If you’re getting close to the point where you’ll need the money in ten years, shift your contributions from aggressive investments to safer things. That’s the money you’ll tap in ten years. If you need to, you can start slowly rebalancing by gradually moving money out of riskier things and into safer things, but try to do it with additional contributions at first. In general, don’t rebalance during periods of high volatility. If the stock market has gone up or down more than a few percentage points in a day within the last week or so, wait to rebalance.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>If your retirement savings are in a Target Retirement fund, you’re fine.</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> Those types of investments self-balance over time as you approach retirement, so you don’t really have to worry about these things.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>What I’m describing here is exactly what Sarah and I are doing with our retirement accounts right now.</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> We’re not touching a thing. In fact, we’re barely looking at the stock market right now. That’s what you should be doing, too. Looking at daily stock market swings adds stress when there doesn’t need to be any.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><h3>Smart frugal principles help right now, too.<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>We’ve all seen pictures and videos and read stories about people stocking up on things like toilet paper. To some, it seems crazy. To others, it’s worrying and a nudge to also stock up.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Here’s how we approach this.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>We tend to buy our nonperishable foods and household supplies in bulk and/or when there’s a sale (ideally both), regardless of what’s going on in the world.</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> That means at any given time, we have a month or so worth of food items and household supplies for our ordinary life around our house.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Our bulk buys are only things we know we’re going to use.</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> For example, the household supplies we buy in bulk are things like soap, toothpaste, floss, <a href="https://www.thesimpledollar.com/financial-wellness/optimizing-dishwashing-for-money-and-time/"><b><span style='color:#000099'>dishwashing detergent</span></b></a>, <a href="https://www.thesimpledollar.com/save-money/optimizing-laundry-for-money-and-time/"><b><span style='color:#000099'>laundry soap</span></b></a>, toilet paper, and so on. If I see a good deal on those things, I buy them because I know we’ll eventually use them. If I see that we’re running even close to low on any of those things, I buy a bulk bundle of them at the lowest price I can find (usually the biggest version of the store brand at a warehouse club, but <em><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>not always</span></em>).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>We do the same thing with a lot of food items — we buy nonperishable foods <em><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>that we know we will eat</span></em> in bulk. We always have lots of dry beans, dry rice, peanut butter, canned tomatoes (and, to a lesser extent, other vegetables, though we usually buy them flash frozen), dry pasta, flour, sugar and yeast (we bake a lot of our own bread products by hand or in a bread machine). When we see a really good sale on one of those items, we buy it. When we notice we’re getting even close to low on something, we’ll stock up on it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Aside from the cost savings of this strategy (buying in bulk, buying store brands, targeting sales and doing it only with stuff we know we’ll use), <strong><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>if something were to disrupt our ability to buy groceries or household supplies, we’d be fine for at least a while.</span></strong></span><strong><o:p></o:p></strong></p><p style='line-height:140%'><o:p> </o:p></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>What do you do if your cupboards are relatively bare?</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> I basically encourage everyone who isn’t pushed up against the wall financially to gradually move to a bulk buying system like this one, where you buy nonperishable things in bulk that you know you will use before their expiration date. If you have an opportunity to do so now without crushing your finances, do it, but do it in a realistic way. There’s no reason to buy six months’ worth of toilet paper. Buy one large package of it (in store brand form), enough for a month or two, at the best price you can get. Do the same for other nonperishable items <em><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>that you know you will use up anyway in the next few months</span></em>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Another valuable frugal principle to have is to <strong><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>make a lot of things for yourself, particularly food.</span></strong> The more adept you are in the kitchen, the less you have to rely on others to make food for you and the more money you save along the way. This also makes you less reliant on restaurants (and the health of restaurant workers and delivery people).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>I don’t claim to be an expert home chef, but I can make a lot of things with complete ease. <strong><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>I did this mostly by making dishes (with variations) that I liked and my family liked over and over, until all of the skills involved became second nature.</span></strong> My family likes spaghetti with sauce, for example, and I’ve made that so many times that I can practically do it blindfolded. Along the way, I got very fast at it, figured out how to make it with lots of variations, and also figured out how to make it <em><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>delicious</span></em>, none of which were true early on. I also got very fast at cleanup.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>That same thing is true for lots of family favorites, things like homemade pizza, homemade bread, tons of different soups and stews, tons of variations on eggs and omelets, and so on. <strong><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>Simply knowing how to do all of these things well and do them quickly means that I’m naturally more interested in cooking from home, since that’s more convenient and also far less expensive.</span></strong> It has the additional benefit of always being an option (as long as there’s electricity, of course, but then we’re beginning to talk about situations that there’s no real way to prepare for).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Another principle we follow is <strong><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>having a lot of finished meals on hand, stored away in the freezer for easy preparation.</span></strong> If I’m sick or otherwise incapacitated, I’m not going to want to cook. I’m going to want something as easy as possible to get calories in my stomach. We keep some prepackaged meals in the cupboard, but we really lean into preparing meals in advance and keeping them in the freezer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>If we make a big pot of soup, we make it even bigger and fill up some quart-sized containers of soup for the freezer. If we make a casserole, we make four of them and freeze the other three such that they can be pulled from the freezer and popped in the oven.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>This not only has the advantage of giving us really convenient food that we made ourselves, but the cost of that meal is usually really cheap because it was made from bulk ingredients. We could buy the 10-pound bag of potatoes at the store, for example, when making a big batch of potato soup. We could buy the jumbo box of lasagna if we’re making four pans of it at once.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>What if the unexpected is coming quickly?</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> These strategies help if you have some lead time, of course, but what if you have very little lead time? Getting <em><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>some</span></em> prepackaged foods is fine, but just make sure that you’re not buying more than you’ll ever use before they expire.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><h3>There are a multitude of other smart moves you can make, both to prepare for the unexpected and to help your financial future at the same time.<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Here are some additional specific things you should be doing in your ordinary life that really show their value in unexpected times.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Have an emergency fund.</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> This isn’t something that most people can produce in a jiffy, but moments of crisis should be a powerful reminder of how useful it is to have an emergency fund. Simply put, an emergency fund is cash stowed away somewhere (usually a savings account) that you can put to use during any kind of emergency. I have a small emergency fund in cash in my home and a larger one in a savings account in a nearby bank.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Obviously, building one very quickly isn’t realistic for many Americans, but it should be a good goal to have, simply because of the protection it offers against the unknown and unexpected. Things like a job loss or a period of illness are much easier to handle with an emergency fund.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>My strategy for building one is to set up an automatic transfer from your checking account to your emergency fund savings account, for a small amount each week. Make it $10 or $20. If you do $10 a week, you have $520 set aside after a year. If it’s $20, that’s more than $1,000. Then, <em><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>never turn it off</span></em>. Let it keep building, essentially forever. That way, after a while, you never have to worry about it being there.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>What if you don’t have an emergency fund and are facing a crisis that requires cash?</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> Unfortunately, in those situations, debt is usually the answer. If you have to put some expenses on a credit card or a personal loan to get through a very bad situation, that’s an unfortunate situation. However, you should aim to get that debt eliminated as soon as you can and, even more important, <em><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>keep that experience in mind as you aim to build an emergency fund.</span></em></span><em><o:p></o:p></em></p><p style='line-height:140%'><o:p> </o:p></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Constantly build new skills and relationships at work.</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> Your goal at your job, beyond doing the tasks assigned to you and collecting a paycheck, should also be to build some strong positive relationships with people there as well as building skills you can use to get a better job someday. That should be part of your motivation every day at work – you do the tasks to make money now, you build skills and relationships to make more money later.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>This helps in unexpected times because the more skills you have and the more relationships you have, the easier it will be to find work in an uncertain economy if you find yourself without work.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Yes, sometimes it will be hard to build good relationships in some workplaces. Don’t expect perfection – just remember that the perfect is the enemy of the good. Stick with being positive where you can and aim to lift people up rather than cutting them down, even when they’re not around. Help people out, especially when the effort you have to put out is much smaller than the benefit that the other person gets. (If you can do something in five minutes that will take someone else hours, just do it.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Most people should not be in immediate danger of losing their job due to current uncertainty, but this is still a great strategy to have for any job you hold.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Minimize your recurring expenses.</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> Take a look at every single weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual bill you have and ask yourself whether it’s actually necessary. If it’s not, is it providing you any real value for the money you spent? If you’re not getting enough value, cancel it. If it’s a necessary bill, is there anything you can do to make that bill smaller? Call up the company that’s issuing that bill and see what you can do to trim it down or consolidate it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>The smaller you can make your recurring expenses, the easier it is to make ends meet on your current pay and the easier it is to survive if you have to take a lesser-paying position unexpectedly.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Eliminate expenses that aren’t memorable.</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'> My rule of thumb when it comes to expenses that aren’t strictly needs is that <strong><span style='font-family:"Georgia",serif'>if they’re not memorable, then they shouldn’t recur.</span></strong> If I look at my bank statement and see a bunch of stops at the coffee shop and they all blur together and aren’t memorable, then I know I need to cut back seriously on those stops. If I see a meal eaten out and I can’t even really remember it, then I know I should eat out less often and save such events for special occasions. If I see an entertainment expense or a hobby expense and I have to struggle to recall anything about it, a real change is needed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Again, the reason this prepares you for the unexpected is that it frees up some of your spending to put yourself in a more financially stable position so that you can survive getting sick, you can survive a job loss, you can survive whatever life throws at you. You are much more likely to survive the unexpected if you cut out the unmemorable expenses in your life and apply that saved money to building an emergency fund or getting rid of debt.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>There’s nothing wrong with using money to do something you enjoy in a genuinely memorable and impactful way, but when you’re spending money on stuff that just fades away pretty quickly, there are better things to be doing with it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>You can start doing this immediately and it will have an impact very quickly. Look over your expenses for the last month. Which ones from two or three or four weeks ago do you barely remember or not remember at all? You should really cut down on those particular expenses going forward because they have no real positive impact on your life. They’re just dollars vanishing from your pocket, dollars that can do a ton of good when they’re used in other ways.<o:p></o:p></span></p><h3><o:p> </o:p></h3><h3>Unexpected events, big and small, are a part of life. While you can’t predict exactly what they are, you can expect that they will happen.<span style='font-size:13.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></h3><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>When times are good, you have an opportunity to get ready for the times when things aren’t quite so good. This way, when things take a tumble, you’re not caught in a panic with life changes that you can’t easily handle.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>My thoughts, hopes, and prayers are with everyone working to combat the coronavirus outbreak. The best thing I can do to help is to be prepared myself, take simple steps to keep myself and others safe, and share sensible advice. That’s all most of us can do in most unexpected situations.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'>Good luck!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><h2>Would You go to a Blind Doctor? How the Blind Respond<o:p></o:p></h2><h2>By John Bailey<o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“Would you go to a blind doctor”?, was the first of many challenging questions asked by Trisha Kurkarni At the February leadership seminar cohosted by the National Association of Blind Students in Falls Church, Virginia. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Trisha, one of the leaders in the organization, asked several challenging questions of her large audience of blind participants. Participants were asked to move to the right side of the room (facing the front) if they agreed and to the left side if they did not agree. By voice vote, a majority of the people said they would visit a blind doctor. Surprisingly, when the question was rephrased to “Would you go to a blind surgeon”?, many of those who said they agreed moved to the opposite side of the room.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Trisha followed up her original challenging question with two additional questions and noted the responses. The questions were “Would you only date a sighted person?” and “Do you believe in taking the $500 tax deduction for just being legally blind?” The responses and reasons from the participants were varied.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>When asked about only dating a sighted person, those who disagreed mentioned that it is helpful to be dating someone who can drive. An opposing response to the same question was that sharing the experiences of being blind made for a stronger foundation for a relationship. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>For the question of if others should take the tax deduction, one participant who agreed said that he had recently purchased a piece of adaptive equipment that cost over $3000 and that insurance would not cover it because it was not considered a health related cost. Someone who disagreed said that if we want to be treated equally, we should not have any ‘special’ privileges. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Trisha told the audience that there were no right or wrong answers. The philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind is that the challenges of blindness can be reduced to a nuisance given the right skills and attitudes. The exercise sparked much soul searching and conversation.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>What is your position on these issues?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h2>NFB Pledge<o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I pledge to participate actively in the effort of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>