Phase 3 COVID-19 Reopening Guidelines
•Until further notice, our office is open by appointment only
•Visitors are required to wear face masks at all times while in the office
•Please notify us of your arrival (580/228-2332) and someone will open the door for you.
•If you can answer “Yes” to any of the following, we ask that you notify us and reschedule:
- Do you feel unwell?
- Do you have a fever?
- Do you have a cough?
Have you been exposed to anyone with COVID-19 or the Flu?
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we strive to serve your needs during this pandemic.
4-H News: Due to the COVID-19, “face to face” 4-H summer camps, contests, events including State 4-H Round-up have been cancelled; HOWEVER – many will be offered virtually (ZOOM). We are excited to announce the next West District South District Culinary Creation Virtual Contest – Fruit and Vegetable Carving Contest via ZOOM on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 starting at 10am. This will be an individual contest patterned after the state fair contest and available to all 3 age groups. Registration is due by Friday, June 19 and participants must be bone fide 4-H members. Contact Tara Brown for the link to register. Our first virtual contest was Table Setting via ZOOM and it was very successful! We expect this contest to also be successful and encourage all 4-H members to participate.
4-H Stem Camps and State 4-H Roundup will also be held virtually. Get excited! Oklahoma 4-H Virtual STEM camps start next week and run through the first week of August. STEM camps are a great way for 4-H members age 8-12 to get involved with STEM and have some fun this summer! Camps include livestock science, bio energy, photography, camping, wearable tech and more. Register today at the link below!
These camps are short and video based and will be fun educational opportunities.
Contact Tara Brown for the links for registration for State 4-H Round-up.
Co-Parenting for Resilience classes will resume with limited class size until Oklahoma has completed Phase 3 of Re-Opening our state. Contact Tara Brown for the next scheduled class.
Basic Budgeting
by Cindy Clampet, Assistant State Specialist, Family Resource Management
There are lots of reasons you may resist creating a monthly budget. Maybe you strongly object to tracking how you spend your money. Or maybe you think having irregular income or expenses keeps you from establishing a budget.
On the other hand, there is a relief in knowing where your money goes every month, not to mention a budget gives you the flexibility to control where and when you spend or conserve money.
Additionally, a budget provides a map of your spending so you are not confused about where all your money went at the end of the month, and it allows you to pay your debts and monthly bills while saving some for emergencies and future big purchases.
To create a basic budget, start by figuring out how much money you have currently as well as how much you have coming in and going out every month.
List your expenses first. Develop two lists of expenses, one for essentials such as rent or mortgage, the car payment and utilities, and one for flexible expenses like gifts, clothing and eating out. Keeping the essentials and the flexible expenses separate will help you more clearly see where to make cuts, if needed.
Estimate what you spend. Go through your checkbook register and look at receipts from the past few months to see what you actually spent on each category. After compiling all your essential and flexible expenses, total each list.
Now list your income, including salaries, tips, child support or alimony and any other money coming into the household. Subtract the essential expenses total from the income total. If there is money left over, subtract the flexible expenses total from the remaining amount.
If you still have funds available, consider starting a savings account or an investing plan. If there is no money left over, or you went into the negative numbers, try to reduce your flexible expenses.
What if there is nothing to cut? Then, it is time to start thinking of ways to increase your income. A part-time job on the weekend, babysitting, cleaning houses, mowing lawns, delivering pizza are all easy ways to boost your income. Or, maybe you have skills that can be traded for money. Do you sew? Doing clothing alterations can earn some pretty good pocket change. Baking, cake decorating, selling crafts, working on cars, handy man jobs, even shopping for others are other examples of potential strategies for earning some extra money.
Having a budget on paper will not solve all your money problems, but it will give you a good picture of your spending and that will help you form a plan so those dollars go exactly where you want and need them to go.
For more information on setting up a basic budget, contact your local county Extension office – Tara Brown, (580) 228-2332.
Recipe
Cookie Dough Dip
Ingredients
8 oz. cream cheese
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup toffee bits
Cream the cream cheese and butter; add rest of the ingredients. Serve with Graham crackers or Apple wedges
