Approaching 100........

I am approaching my 100th post. I would like to know from you what have been your favorite post. I am going to list out my top 5 and I want to list out a readers top 5. You can search through the archives and refresh yourselves on previous post. If you are new, you can do the same. When submitting your favorites in the comment box, just give me the title and/or date of the post. Thank you!!

This post is #90.

They claim it is for education................

...............I say it is utterly stupid. As Dave Ramsey likes to put it "Lottery is a tax on poor people and those who cannot do math." Oklahoma is now a lottery state. Yes, that means people can throw away their money at the gas station as well as the casinos. For me, it means waiting in line to pay for my gas longer. A friend of mine told me that he had a person in front him the other day get $10 gas and $20 in lotto tickets. He had to wait for this person to get done scratching his tickets and lose before he could pay for his gas. Sounds to me like that person would of been better off putting that $20 in the tank since $10 did not get him 5 gallons of gas. People are so blind. We always hear around election time that so and so only gives tax breaks to the wealthy. We hear how poor people are overtaxed. People, are you stupid!!! With the introduction of lottery, poor people just got the biggest tax hike in who knows how long! "But, Trevor, anybody can play lottery. Rich and poor." I want to know when someone has seen a BMW or Mercedes parked outside a gas station, because the owner is getting a powerful ticket? People that have any financial sense do not play lottery. In casinos, it seems to me that one of the most popular things are the slot machines. These are machines that are programmed to take in more money than they put out. Did everyone notice an important word that I used? I will help you out: PROGRAMMED!!! You are set up to lose. You cannot outsmart them. It is their game!!!

Let us look at some of the odds (against you).

In the $25,000 Jackpot scratch off game you have a 1,890,000 to 1 chance of winning the $25,000 prize. It cost $5 to play. That means you could spend up to $9,450,000 before you would win. Yes, that is not a typing mistake. $9 MILLION!!! "But, Trevor, their are other cash prizes too." The lowest cash prize is $10. You have a 30 to 1 odds of winning that prize. That means you could spend up to $150 to win that prize. Now, the overall odds of winning something is 3.46 to 1. The reason why that is so low is you could win a free ticket. You will on average have to spend $17.30 to win something. That something is will most likely be a free ticket that will win you nothing. In my example above a person spent $20 and won nothing. Let me say this again: YOU WILL NOT WIN AT THEIR GAME!!!

Let us do some more positive math. In our example let us say some person spends $20 a week in Lotto tickets. That is $80 a month. This number could be low for an active Lottery player. If they invest that $80 a month in a mutual fund with a proven track record of earning 12% this is what they would have: In 20 year - $73,588.54, 30 years - $246,477.60, 40 years - $783,444.55. Going further, if they save $105 a month for 40 years they would have $1,028,270.98. They would retire a MILLIONAIRE!!! "Trevor, I want the money now!" The odds say you can play Lottery for the next 40 years and you will still be broke. The odds say if you save $80 per month for 40 years you will have almost $800,000 EVERY SINGLE TIME!!! "Trevor I play Lottery for fun." Sorry honey, giving your money away with rip off odds is never fun. I guarantee, retiring a millionaire will be fun every time. That is where I plan to be.

References:
Dave Ramsey
OK Lottery Odds
Calculators.net

NO MORE TAX INCREASES ON THE POOR!!! SAY NO TO LOTTERY!!!

And I have the picture to prove it.........

Can you believe it!!!. Gas stations just might be able to use their signs fully again. Instead of $ .09 (for $3.09) you can see $1.99. I was beginning to think that I might not see in under $2 again. I can only hope that it will keep going down. Fat chance!!!. I am going to enjoy it while I can. What does gas cost where you live?

The Chronicles of Shoutfest........part 1.........

I have spent the past couple months doing inflatable games for the Shoutfest tour. What is Shoutfest? Well, go to www.shoutfest.com for details. In a glimpse, it is a one day Christian music festival. I went to eight in all. Our company went to 12 in all. It was an experience and was a load of fun among the work. I am going to try to chronicle my time at Shoutfest over the next few post.

Of course, I must talk about the most band ever!!! (Yes, I said "the most band ever")

They are the pioneers of POSH ROCK!!!

They are from Atlanta, GA........wait.......they are now from Birmingham, AL!!!

FABRIK!!!

Our first Shoutfest was in Toccoa, GA. This band caught my eye from the beginning. Their show was fun and catchy. They love what they do. And......they actually had time to talk to me. Who would want to do that? After eight Shoutfest events together, I had a chance to get to know them a little and they are some quality Southerners. I did go home with a Fabrik hat, hoodie, and their posh rockin album. Myself (Trevor) and Trevor Taylor dot com fully recommends and endorses Fabrik as the most band ever. Check them out at www.fabrikband.com.

Marriage done.........No, not mine.......

My little brother Tyson is now married. May God have mercy on his soul..... just kidding. It is done and went fairly painless. Except my nephew got sick on the way to the reception, which ran my older brother late, (who was the best man) then put me (the 2nd best man) in charge of the toast speech at the reception. I guess I do an OK job at improv. Actually it was pretty easy in this circumstance. It is my brother. We have loads of childhood fights, um, I mean..... memories to talk about and share with the honored guests. Then it was cheers and bottoms up.

Hitchhikers Guide...............

I recently finished The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It was a fun read. It was completely off the wall. I found myself smiling and laughing out loud much of the time while reading this short book (140 or pages). I did not know that a book with the complete destruction of Earth could be so fun. Douglas Adams has a total of six books in the Hitchhikers series. The addition that I bought has all six books in one. I will soon start my was through book two, but I am currently reading Out of the Silent Planet by none other than C.S. Lewis.

Life in action.......Marriage action........

Hello everyone! I am sorry for my absence. Life has been good and busy. I do not lack content to write here on my blog. I just lack time, motivation, and actually being around my computer to do it. I have so many things I want to tell you about. Work with me and I will try to catch up. This weekend I am off to Missouri to spoil my nieces and nephew, and see my little bother married off. Have a great week everyone!!!