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January 10, 2017 • Headline News
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UPDATED BY MARIA SIEVERDING JANUARY 10, 2017 1 P.M.
Napoleon firefighters respond to chimney fire Sunday morning
Wanda English Burnett
EDITOR
wburnett@ripleynews.com
Just before 10:00 a.m. Sunday, January 8, the call came in for Napoleon firefighters to respond to the report of a chimney fire at the James Peetz residence, near the corner of Jackson and Harrison Streets in Napoleon. Upon arrival, firefighters found the fire had already entered the attic space of the home. The fire was upgraded to a working structure fire.
PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF BEN PEETZ NAPOLEON VOL. FIRE DEPT.
The Napoleon Volunteer Fire Department was busy Sunday morning with this chimney fire at the residence of James Peetz.
According to information from Napoleon Fire Chief Ron Reynolds Jr., they had a turnout of about 15 firefighters and were also assisted by the Osgood Volunteer Fire Department. A report noted, “firefighters initiated an attack from the exterior until an entry team could gain access to the attic.
After a quick knockdown of the primary fire, personnel worked to chase hot spots in the attic, as well as the wall area that was smoldering behind the chimney.” It was reported that the structure suffered extensive damage in the area near the chimney. Chief Reynolds told the Osgood Journal that the fire originated in the chimney. He went on to emphasize that residents need to have wood stove, chimneys, fireplaces, etc., inspected and cleaned regularly.
Per protocol, Batesville EMS responded to the scene for mutual-aid support, but the chief said there were no injuries.
Resolve to replace your bad financial habits
“Practical Money Skills” by Nathaniel Sillin
Most people have at least one bad financial habit. Whether it’s impulse shopping, forgetting to pay bills on time or putting off building that emergency fund, balancing what you want to do and what you “should” do is never easy. The new year is the perfect time to identify potential financial weak points and replace bad habits with productive ones.
“Practical Money Skills”Start by identifying your bad habits. Sometimes a bad financial habit is easy to identify. For example, there might be a growing stack of bills in the kitchen that you willfully ignore. Others may be subtler, or perhaps they’ve become so ingrained that you do them without thinking twice.
Not sure where to start? Looking through your previous months’ expenses can help you identify expensive trends or one-off purchases that are part of a larger theme. Online or paper bank statements can make this particularly simple. If you have a budget, you likely already compare projected spending with actual spending on a monthly basis, if not, this might be a good time to start.
You might recognize a few of these common bad financial habits in your life:
• Paying bills after the due date.
• Paying only the minimum required on bills.
• Ignoring bills and letting them go to collections.
• Putting off saving for retirement or for a rainy day.
• Impulse shopping or “retail therapy.”
• Not keeping track of how much debt you have.
• Taking on debt to pay for something you don’t currently need.
Ultimately, all of these lead to spending more than you earn and in some cases, bad habits can have a cascading effect. Try to figure out what’s driving your behavior. You might need to figure out what triggers your behavior and the reward you perceive afterward before you can change a habit. However, triggers and rewards aren’t always obvious. For example, you might buy big-ticket items when they’re on sale because you want to feel like you’re accomplishing something by “saving” so much. Perhaps you could foster a similar feeling of accomplishment by investing the money in a tax-deferred retirement account and calculating how much it’ll be worth after years of compound interest.
Aim for these healthy financial habits. What habits should you try to adopt? Budgeting is certainly a worthy activity, but also consider the following mix of behaviors and specific objectives that can help keep your finances in order. Pay bills on time. In addition to avoiding late-payment fees, making on-time payments is one of the most important factors in determining your credit score. Make paying down debt a priority. Rather than accruing interest, make a point to pay down debts as quickly as possible. Build and maintain an emergency fund. Having three to six months’ worth of living expenses in savings can help cushion the blow from a financial or personal setback. You could start with a goal to put $1,000 aside and then build towards the full emergency fund. Save for retirement. You can put aside a percentage of your income for retirement and invest the money within a tax-advantage account, such as a 401(k) or IRA. Find a comfortable contribution amount to start with, and then try to increase it at least once during the year. Plan your large purchases. To help prevent impulse shopping from draining your budget, resolve to wait at least one day before buying anything that costs over $100 (or whatever amount makes sense for your budget). If you know there’s a large purchase coming up, start saving early by setting a little money aside from each paycheck.
You might consider asking others for input during this process. Especially if you’re having trouble identifying a bad habit or finding the motivation to change, sometimes an outside perspective can help.
Bottom line: Make a resolution to replace your bad financial habits with healthy ones this year. Start by identifying the habits you want to change and trying to figure out the trigger and reward that surround the behavior. Then, try to replace that behavior with something positive. After identifying and trying to change your personal financial habits, you might want to consider the financial practices you share with a spouse or significant other.
Nathaniel Sillin directs Visa’s financial education programs. To follow Practical Money Skills on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PracticalMoney.
UPDATED BY MARIA SIEVERDING JANUARY 10, 2017 1 P.M.
Local Bulletin Board
Blood donations needed
The American Red Cross has issued an emergency call for help. The organization needs blood and platelet donors after 37,000 fewer donations than expected came in at blood banks across the nation in the past two months. Any blood type is needed, according to Joe Zydlo, a spokesperson for the American Red Cross. This is the time of year when blood donations are typically low due to the holidays and bad weather being an additional factor that sometimes keeps people from getting to donation sites. Zydlo noted that snowstorms and severe weather across the Midwest forced nearly 100 blood drives to cancel in December, resulting in thousands of potential blood donations going uncollected. To find out where there’s a blood drive near you look online at RedCrossBlood.org and put in a zip code to find the closest location.
UPDATED BY MARIA SIEVERDING JANUARY 10, 2017 1 P.M.
Napoleon firefighters respond to chimney fire Sunday morning
Wanda English Burnett
EDITOR
wburnett@ripleynews.com
Just before 10:00 a.m. Sunday, January 8, the call came in for Napoleon firefighters to respond to the report of a chimney fire at the James Peetz residence, near the corner of Jackson and Harrison Streets in Napoleon. Upon arrival, firefighters found the fire had already entered the attic space of the home. The fire was upgraded to a working structure fire.
PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF BEN PEETZ NAPOLEON VOL. FIRE DEPT.
The Napoleon Volunteer Fire Department was busy Sunday morning with this chimney fire at the residence of James Peetz.
According to information from Napoleon Fire Chief Ron Reynolds Jr., they had a turnout of about 15 firefighters and were also assisted by the Osgood Volunteer Fire Department. A report noted, “firefighters initiated an attack from the exterior until an entry team could gain access to the attic.
After a quick knockdown of the primary fire, personnel worked to chase hot spots in the attic, as well as the wall area that was smoldering behind the chimney.” It was reported that the structure suffered extensive damage in the area near the chimney. Chief Reynolds told the Osgood Journal that the fire originated in the chimney. He went on to emphasize that residents need to have wood stove, chimneys, fireplaces, etc., inspected and cleaned regularly.
Per protocol, Batesville EMS responded to the scene for mutual-aid support, but the chief said there were no injuries.
Resolve to replace your bad financial habits
“Practical Money Skills” by Nathaniel Sillin
Most people have at least one bad financial habit. Whether it’s impulse shopping, forgetting to pay bills on time or putting off building that emergency fund, balancing what you want to do and what you “should” do is never easy. The new year is the perfect time to identify potential financial weak points and replace bad habits with productive ones.
“Practical Money Skills”Start by identifying your bad habits. Sometimes a bad financial habit is easy to identify. For example, there might be a growing stack of bills in the kitchen that you willfully ignore. Others may be subtler, or perhaps they’ve become so ingrained that you do them without thinking twice.
Not sure where to start? Looking through your previous months’ expenses can help you identify expensive trends or one-off purchases that are part of a larger theme. Online or paper bank statements can make this particularly simple. If you have a budget, you likely already compare projected spending with actual spending on a monthly basis, if not, this might be a good time to start.
You might recognize a few of these common bad financial habits in your life:
• Paying bills after the due date.
• Paying only the minimum required on bills.
• Ignoring bills and letting them go to collections.
• Putting off saving for retirement or for a rainy day.
• Impulse shopping or “retail therapy.”
• Not keeping track of how much debt you have.
• Taking on debt to pay for something you don’t currently need.
Ultimately, all of these lead to spending more than you earn and in some cases, bad habits can have a cascading effect. Try to figure out what’s driving your behavior. You might need to figure out what triggers your behavior and the reward you perceive afterward before you can change a habit. However, triggers and rewards aren’t always obvious. For example, you might buy big-ticket items when they’re on sale because you want to feel like you’re accomplishing something by “saving” so much. Perhaps you could foster a similar feeling of accomplishment by investing the money in a tax-deferred retirement account and calculating how much it’ll be worth after years of compound interest.
Aim for these healthy financial habits. What habits should you try to adopt? Budgeting is certainly a worthy activity, but also consider the following mix of behaviors and specific objectives that can help keep your finances in order. Pay bills on time. In addition to avoiding late-payment fees, making on-time payments is one of the most important factors in determining your credit score. Make paying down debt a priority. Rather than accruing interest, make a point to pay down debts as quickly as possible. Build and maintain an emergency fund. Having three to six months’ worth of living expenses in savings can help cushion the blow from a financial or personal setback. You could start with a goal to put $1,000 aside and then build towards the full emergency fund. Save for retirement. You can put aside a percentage of your income for retirement and invest the money within a tax-advantage account, such as a 401(k) or IRA. Find a comfortable contribution amount to start with, and then try to increase it at least once during the year. Plan your large purchases. To help prevent impulse shopping from draining your budget, resolve to wait at least one day before buying anything that costs over $100 (or whatever amount makes sense for your budget). If you know there’s a large purchase coming up, start saving early by setting a little money aside from each paycheck.
You might consider asking others for input during this process. Especially if you’re having trouble identifying a bad habit or finding the motivation to change, sometimes an outside perspective can help.
Bottom line: Make a resolution to replace your bad financial habits with healthy ones this year. Start by identifying the habits you want to change and trying to figure out the trigger and reward that surround the behavior. Then, try to replace that behavior with something positive. After identifying and trying to change your personal financial habits, you might want to consider the financial practices you share with a spouse or significant other.
Nathaniel Sillin directs Visa’s financial education programs. To follow Practical Money Skills on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PracticalMoney.
UPDATED BY MARIA SIEVERDING JANUARY 10, 2017 1 P.M.
Local Bulletin Board
Blood donations needed
The American Red Cross has issued an emergency call for help. The organization needs blood and platelet donors after 37,000 fewer donations than expected came in at blood banks across the nation in the past two months. Any blood type is needed, according to Joe Zydlo, a spokesperson for the American Red Cross. This is the time of year when blood donations are typically low due to the holidays and bad weather being an additional factor that sometimes keeps people from getting to donation sites. Zydlo noted that snowstorms and severe weather across the Midwest forced nearly 100 blood drives to cancel in December, resulting in thousands of potential blood donations going uncollected. To find out where there’s a blood drive near you look online at RedCrossBlood.org and put in a zip code to find the closest location.
