Monday, August 30, 2010

Clutterbugs: Living with a Messie

Did you ever (poke) wonder what it (poke) is like for a cleanie (poke poke) living long-term with (poke) a messie? I'd imagine (poke) it's just like living with someone poking you all__the__time. I mean, we've learned to tune it out, but it's just not possible for them. And every piece of paper, cup, and all that clutter everywhere they look is just one more poke to them.

Those of you who are Mom's can relate to that. How many times have you had a kid who is pestering you like that and just getting on your last nerve? You know, the kid that says mommy. Mommy. MOMMY! about one thousand times until you think your ears are going to bleed. Or the one who kicks the table leg or snaps her gum for the 85th time? How hard was it to just not snap back at them? That's the way your cleanie partner feels about your situation when he or she has to come home to a messy house every day.

If you love someone, why would you want to do that to them? They have probably been trying to tell you about it for years, but you've just ignored them or discounted their feelings. But look at it this way. This is their HOME - it's the only place they have where they can go to unwind every day and if there is no corner of the house where they can have the peace and beauty they crave - that's just sad.

Maybe you can't change your ways 100%, but you can start being a more considerate partner. Start talking. And start listening. Maybe between the two of you, you can come up with a compromise that will work for both sides of the coin....

Come back every Monday for a fresh dose of Clutterbugs. If you'd like to view past offerings, just click on the Clutterbugs label at the bottom of this post for a complete list.

By TwitterButtons.com

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Smart Money: The Biggest Financial Mistake Women Make

OK, just because we’re friends, I’m going to clue you in on the biggest mistake most women make in their financial lives. They depend on other people – typically their husbands or partners, but sometimes their parents also, to keep them financially safe.

I get why we do that, I totally do, but I also get why that can bite you in the butt. Husbands might leave, or they die, or they could even become disabled and unable to provide for you and most importantly, your children. Parents die or become disabled, and sometimes are dependent upon YOU for their care. Have you checked the prices on nursing homes lately? It would scare the socks off of you.

In the event you do get divorced, did you know that a whopping 25%-40% of dads never pay a dime of child support, despite a court order? Not to wish anything bad on anyone, but if your husband announced he was leaving tomorrow to run off with his secretary or whatever, would you have enough assets under your own control to be able to support your family until child support or other arrangements could be set up?

What about retirement? If you’ve been married for a certain period of time, I believe you are entitled to 50% of any 401K’s or other retirement assets, but would that be enough? If you work, do you have your own 401K or Roth IRA set up? You really should, but a lot of women rationalize that they “don’t make enough”, or that their income needs to go for college or other expenses. That’s why such a high percentage of women retire in poverty in this country. We’re women and so we give and give to others our whole lives without taking consideration for what we might need for ourselves. But that poverty word, that sure doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, does it?

There are college loans, home improvement loans, car loans, and every other kind of loan, but the one loan they haven’t invented yet is a retirement loan. And statistically, that is the point in your life where your husband is much more likely to die before you will, so you may end up on your own. That is also the point where you are most likely to have health problems of your own and be unable to work. By then, your parents are likely to be gone, or in difficult straights of their own, so who is going to take care of you? Maybe your children, but you wouldn’t want that for them, and they are likely to be struggling to provide for their own families.

What is the message here? Well, for starters, think ahead and change your thinking. Don’t plan on always having your husband or your parents as a safety net. I’ve been lucky to have never been divorced, but I have lost both my parents and in-laws, so I’m learning how to live without the safety net and provide for my own security. I know I need to be prepared for that proverbial rainy day, and I’m working hard on it.

I save significant amounts of money out of every paycheck and I’ve had my own 401K since I was about 30 and I think I had an IRA even before that. We’ve both received small inheritances from our parents and I made sure that my portion is set up in a separate account under my own name. I’m not planning to get divorced, but just in case, that portion would not be considered joint property. Does that sound cold and calculating? Maybe, but that point was brought home to me very early on by my parents.

When I turned 21, I was living with a loser boyfriend. You know the type, couldn’t keep a job, sponged off his parents (and mine!), bought everything he could get approved for and then never paid the bills. I don’t know what I saw in him and fortunately, I broke up with him soon after, but my Mom, bless her heart, was looking out for me. She had my Dad give me $2,100 for my 21st birthday with specific instructions to keep that as a separate and secret emergency fund in case I ever decided to leave Mr. Loser. She wanted me to always have a little stash of cash for a rainy day. I held on to that account for years and years until my husband and I finally did have that rainy day when we were both unemployed and broker than broke and I was so happy to have that cushion available.

Even if you don’t work, it’s time to have a frank talk with your husband about emergency funds, savings plans, life insurance, and retirement accounts. He may not appreciate your nosing about in “his” money, but there may come a day when you’ll be glad you did.

Come back every Thursday for another dose of Smart Money. If you'd like to see past posts on Women and Finance, click the Smart Money tag below this post for a complete list.

By TwitterButtons.com

Monday, August 23, 2010

Clutterbugs: Take Action

How much pain is your messy house causing you and your family? Probably a significant amount. Even though you try to convince yourself that it doesn't matter and that is really isn't so bad, the problem with living in clutter is that you constantly feel out of control and are critical of yourself because of it.

It's natural to feel that way because our brains are wired to want order and control over our surroundings. Plus we have the opinions of others driving us. Every time we see a TV show with a beautiful house, or a friend talks with disgust about her messy family, or we drive by our neighbor's immaculate garden, we unconsciously compare it to our situation and feel a sense of inadequacy and frustration.

The best way to fight these feelings is with action. But you have to go about it in a sensible way. Your house didn't get in this shape overnight and it isn't going to get better overnight either. And the habits of a lifetime aren't going to change like magic just because you want them to.

But what you can do is make one positive change right now and then follow it with another one. Create a chain of positive action. What if you were to take a piece of paper right now and write down your top three challenges? Could be your laundry pile, your dining room table, and your guest bathroom. Now write down three small things you could do in each area - one to be done right now, one to be done in a couple of hours, and one before bedtime or first thing in the morning if it's getting late. That's not too overwhelming, now is it?

How do you think you'll feel after doing those nine things? Your house may not look measurably better, but you will have given yourself a push in the right direction, and that will give your spirit a lift and get your brain working in a positive direction rather than beating yourself up about it.

Then tomorrow pick 3 other areas and 3 small tasks you can do in them or even three small habits to work on - making the bed, folding your laundry right away, and putting your shoes in the closet instead of the living room. Don't forget to allow yourself a little time to just admire what you've accomplished. That's important. And even though you will want to, don't add four more things, or twelve. Just let those be enough for now and give yourself praise for doing them, just like you do when you want to encourage your kids.

And if you forget, or if you don't do one of the items perfectly, let it go. Don't stew and fuss about it, or call yourself names. Just pick a positive action you can do in the moment and follow it up with another one.A little bit of action is a beautiful thing....

Be sure to come by every Monday for a fresh dose of Clutterbugs. If you'd like to see a list of previous Clutterbugs posts, just click on the link at the bottom of this post for a complete list.

By TwitterButtons.com

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Smart Money: Time to Refi?

(Sorry this didn't get posted on Thursday, I thought I had a post pre-scheduled, but apparently I didn't.)

Got an Email from my Mortgage lady the other day. Apparently it's time for another refi. Rates are down to between 4.25% to 4.5% and she has a streamlined refi deal that won't even cost us any fees. Took me about 3 seconds to decide and I sent her a one word response - YES.

(Sidebar - kids, don't try this at home. Obviously, this wasn't one of those scam Emails you get all the time, this is someone at a reputable bank who has handled several loans for us. She's wonderful and always keeps an eye out for us like this! Plus she's a co-worker of mine and her son teaches my son's band class - hey, Salt Lake is kind of a small town that way.)

I think most women are amazingly smart about little things like using coupons and finding great clothing sales, but when it comes to big things like Mortgages that can save you some seriously huge money, we don't always get the memo.

A quarter of a percent might not seem like a big deal, but I ran some numbers just for giggles.

A $250,000 loan at 30 years with my current rate of 4.75%

Monthly Payment $1,304

Interest costs over the life of the loan $219,482.60

A $250,000 loan at 30 years if I go down to 4.50%

Monthly Payment $1,266 (saves me $456 per year - nothing to sneeze at)

Interest costs over the life of the loan $206,016.78 - that's a smooth $13K savings

A $250,000 loan at 30 years if I can get it down to 4.25%

Monthly Payment $1,229 (not a huge reduction, but saves me $900 a year)

Interest costs over the life of the loan $192,745.90 - now you're talking! $26K is a lot more than you'll save with coupons and 2 for 1 sales.

If I could manage the $500 per month bump to go to a 15 year mortgage, I would be saving a sweet $130K - that's almost half of the value of the whole loan, isn't it? Still think that refinancing isn't a good idea???

PS: Just putting in a plug here for bi-monthly payments. They were a big hit for a while, but you don't hear much about them any more. We use them for two reasons - it's easier to have half your house payment taken out of each paycheck than it is to arrange your finances to make one large payment at the first of the month. Also, with the bi-monthly scheme, you end up making an extra house payment every year because you are making 26 half payments instead of 12 full ones. That can make a big difference in the long run. So can making additional payments towards your principle. That's one thing we always intend to do, but it just never happens that way. Maybe that needs to be my goal once I get some other debts paid off.

There are other benefits to a refinance too - you generally get to miss a payment or two (my favorite part!) while they get the paperwork set up, and with some loans, you can also get cash out for home improvements. I know the ads on TV show people getting home improvement loans to use for vacations, boats, and all sorts of other bullshit stuff, but my personal opinion is that you should only take money OUT of your house to put something INTO your house.

Of course, every refi isn't a slam dunk. If there are fees, and usually there are, you need to take into account how long you plan to stay in the house and whether or not it's a good deal for your situation. I think the rule of thumb is that you need to plan to stay in the house for 2 or more years for every $2K in fees. As a bank employee, I do get a bit of a break there, along with my fabulous free checking account - oh joy!

But the flip side of the coin is that you are extending the life of your loan for additional years. Not a smart move if you're getting a bit older. That is one thing that concerns me - I could be about 80 years old by the time this house is paid off, and that's if we stay in this huge 6-bedroom house for that long - we love the extra room, but it wasn't the smartest choice for a couple with two half-grown kids. If we'd stayed in the little house we bought when we first moved to Salt Lake, our house would be 3/4 paid off by now - hindsight is 20/20 they say....

Come back every Thursday for a fresh dose of Smart Money. If you'd like to see past posts on Women and Finance, click on the Smart Money tag at the bottom of this post.

By TwitterButtons.com

Monday, August 16, 2010

Clutterbugs - How to Organize Your Pantry

Here's a great tip - label and organize your pantry shelves. This will make cooking and grocery shopping so much easier because you'll be able to see exactly what you have on hand and what you need. Also, this is a great time to wipe down those shelves and make them all sparkly! It doesn't take much time and will give you a nice lift.

This is a task that can easily become overwhelming, so set your timer and start with just ONE shelf. I take everything off of one shelf and either crowd the stuff onto the other shelves, or put it on the counter. Toss anything that is outdated or nearly empty. Then I take a damp cloth (I typed damn cloth!) and give the shelf a quick wipe. Now it's time to decide what item groups I'm going to use for that shelf - usually two or more groups per shelf. Here is how I group my items:

Soups
Canned fruit & veggies
Cereals - dry cereal, oatmeal, granola, etc.
Drinks of any kind - Kool aid, hot chocolate, iced tea
Pasta and beans
Boxed staples - pancake mix, au gratin potatoes, Minute rice, etc.
Baking items - flour, sugar, baking powder, etc.
Spices (in a separate cabinet)
Snack items - chips, cookies, Twinkies, crackers

The items we use the most are the ones I want on the most accessible shelves. So I would start with cereals and snack items because we use those pretty much every day. Group similar items together and organize by size as best you can. Don't forget to leave a little extra space for your next shopping trip. Consider using a basket or a small box for oddly shaped items like bags of pasta or taco seasoning packets.

Now label your shelves so when your family is putting away groceries, they will put them in the correct place. You can use one of those fancy label printers, or just some plain Avery labels and a Sharpie. Don't get hung up on having all the labels look a certain way or having all the boxes line up just so - that's perfectionism and it's not helpful!

Once you finish that one shelf, you can call it a day, or if you have time, start on another shelf. You should have some room since you will have moved some items down onto the first shelf. This time you might be able to just shove everything to one side and wipe it down a side at a time rather than take everything out. You'll be surprised at how much extra room you will find when everything is organized properly. It's so nice to have a neat, well-organized pantry.

Then when you are getting ready to shop, you can see at a glance how many cans of soup you have or how many boxes of cereal. Do you have an pre-printed grocery list? I have one and it's fabulous! I have it in an Excel spreadsheet and I have it in 3 columns all organized by meal or by type of item. Then I can go down and just check off what I want to serve that week for each meal.

Example: Breakfast - I check eggs, cereal, waffles, and bagels. Lunch - lunchmeat, chips, Capri suns, and apples. Paper goods - toilet paper, paper towels & garbage bags. I have other categories for toiletries, cleaning supplies, pet goodies, plus a little space to write special items that are a one-time purchase.

It takes me five minutes to throw together my grocery list for the week and with this list, I'm not very likely to forget anything and have to make another trip the next day. I know most of you do your own grocery shopping, but I tend to be a compulsive shopper, so I usually send my oldest son or husband. Hey, you gotta know your weaknesses and find a way to deal with them.

They've gotten pretty good at it and it's turned my teenaged son into a very smart shopper. He finds all the great deals and even uses coupons. I'll bet he's the only boy his age who knows the price of a box of cereal or a loaf of bread! But I reward him by letting him spend most of the money he saves on all the pizza, soda, and other goodies he loves for his lunches. I'd probably buy it anyway, but this way he feels like he's getting a reward - shhhhh!

Come back every Monday for a fresh dose of Clutterbugs. If you'd like to read past posts, just click on the Clutterbugs link at the bottom of this post for a complete list.

By TwitterButtons.com

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Projects from my August Class

My Stampin' Up! classes are really doing well. After all these years, I've finally gotten to the point where I needed to add a second night of classes. This week, I had my class on both Tuesday and Thursday and had a nice group of ladies at both of them.

This month, we got a little technique-y. We did kissing, rock 'n roll, and spotlighting, so I said it was kind of an Elvis night.

This is the kissing technique. The picture doesn't show it every well, but what you do is ink up a stamp and then kiss it with a stamp in a different color and pattern. We inked up the daisy stamp in our new Daffodil Delight and then kissed it with a tiny flower stamp inked up with Crumb Cake. Gives it a nice stippled look.

Here is our rock 'n roll card. It gets the name from rolling the flower around in the darker ink to get the watercolored looking edge to it. I think this one was the crowd favorite on both nights. I do like the monochromatic color scheme to it.

This is our spotlighting technique. I love how this gives a great POP of color to an image. This Lovely As a Tree set has been one of our most popular sets through the years. I know I've used it for dozens of projects because it's perfect for so many techniques like this.

I think this was my only non-technique card. I love this big hydrangea. You can do so many different things with it. I didn't have the right colors to watercolor it, so I browsed through some samples on Splitcoaststampers.com to find some good ideas that wouldn't require watercoloring and I really like the way this color combination came out.

A lot of my customers are teachers and they love these little boxes like this. They are perfect for party favors, or quick little gift boxes for all occasions. Best of all they are so easy to make. (Sorry the picture is so poor - you can't see the cute robot on the front from the Lots 'o Bots set - he's got a headache, so I put a Get Well greeting on it).

These classes are a lot of work to prepare for, but I really enjoy them and I get such a kick out of seeing the ladies reactions to the different projects. I never know which one they are going to like the most. And it earns a few extra dollars for me to stock up on some new stamps and cardstock for next month!

By TwitterButtons.com

Smart Money: Bill Paying Strategies

I'm writing this on my bill paying day, so it got me thinking. Paying bills is an important part of our financial lives, maybe one of the most important parts, so I'm wondering what is your bill paying strategy?

- Do you pay your bills right when they hit your mailbox?

- Do you have a set time every week or every payday to pay your bills?

- Do you pay them haphazardly - whenever you happen to have a minute? Or a few "extra" bucks?

- Do you pay bills on-line or through the mail? Please tell me you don't drive around town dropping payments off at various locations? My in-laws used to do that, but hey, they were OLD & didn't have anything better to do.

- Do you rely on your husband, partner, or parent to handle this little chore for you? That's certainly the easy way to do it, but if they weren't there, would you know how to take it over? Do you think they are doing a great job of it or could you do it better? I'm not trying to start any matrimonial holy wars here, but possibly your spouse might appreciate it if you took an interest in the bill paying once in a while. Legally, these are your debts too and you have a right and an obligation to know at least a bit about it. It might be a real eye opener for you.

I have to say, after many years of trial and error, I have become something of a fanatic bill payer. When we were first married, I tried leaving it up to my husband. Bad strategy. To this day, he has a very "relaxed" view of paying bills. His philosophy is that he will pay them when he is darn good & ready rather than when they are due. Uh, yeah Sparky, the world doesn't really work that a way.

He came close to ruining our credit rating during our first few married years and he used to drive his ex-wife crazy because he was perpetually late with the child support. I felt like she had a point, and she and I worked out a system of post-dated checks to make sure she always got her money when she needed it. Helped smooth over a lot of tensions for all of us that way.

Finally, I got him to realize that even though his male ego wanted to handle the money, he really wasn't the right person for the job. In my early twenties, I wasn't either, but of the two of us, I was at least a little better at it and I gradually got better as time went on. I stopped paying my bills at the middle of the pay period, or even worse at the end of the pay period, and started paying them the minute I get paid. That works out so much better! Trust me on this one, I know.

I always try to pay my bills and buy my groceries as early as I can in the pay period. That way I know exactly how much money I have left for everything else - clothes, eating out, stuff the kids need for school, books, or even frivolous stuff. Of course there are always unexpected expenses that pop up just about every pay period, but I have emergency savings to cover that. (By the way - emergency savings means doctor bills, car repairs, and unexpected school fees, NOT those cute shoes on sale at Kohl's or an unplanned dinner out with your girlfriends.)

I've paid my bills on-line for many years and I highly recommend it. Not only does it simplify your bill paying, but it allows you to pre-schedule bills on a monthly or quarterly basis that you might otherwise forget about. We have some insurance premiums, and other bills that only show up once a quarter and without this system, it would be easy to overlook those bills in our never-ending junk mail pile. But instead, I get a faithful reminder every quarter that these bills are due. It also makes it easy to calculate your bill load each payday, so you can adjust them in a way that works for you. In my particular system, it shows my current account balance off to the side and calculates how much money I'll have left as each bill is added, which I find particularly handy.

Are there pitfalls to paying bills on-line? Yes, there is one and I ran afoul of it just this last payday. You can overpay or double pay a bill and when you do, it is nearly impossible to get the money back, especially if it is a revolving account like a credit card bill. I accidentally paid one of our bills twice, even though there is a little warning marker to stop you from doing that. But they were paid on different dates and I didn't notice it. Fortunately, it was only $50, but still I'll be more careful next time. And I don't have to pay postage, or lug around stamps & envelopes, and I never have to worry about someone stealing my checks out of my mailbox. Plus I have an exact record of what I've paid going back for several years. And it takes me about 15-20 minutes every payday, but it gives me such peace of mind to know that everything is taken care of for the next two weeks.

A word about minimum payments. The word is NO. You don't ever want to pay the minimum payment on an account unless you are totally in financial survival mode. I don't know how they set those things, but if you're paying the minimum payment, you're just about wasting your time! Even if it's not a bill that I'm focusing hard on paying off, I routinely pay at least double the minimum payment, and triple if I can manage it. That's the only way to make any progress with paying off a revolving account. Otherwise, they can easily drag on for years and years, charging you interest the whole time.

Me, I'm a nibbler. I like to nibble away at my debts like a little mouse. I'd rather pay a small amount every payday, than a large amount once a month. The reason I do this is to avoid the late fees. You are much less likely to have a late payment if you are paying the $15 minimum payment twice in a month than paying $30 once. And those late fees are such a killer and can even raise your interest rate to an alarming level. Yes, it's more payments to keep track of, but I don't care. Bill Pay is free, so it doesn't cost me anything. With my Pampered Chef and Stampin' Up! businesses, I throw money at them all_the_time. Every time a customer makes even a small purchase, I don't let that money sit in my account, I shoot it off right away where it can start doing me some good.

So take a look at your bill strategy. What are you doing well? What can you do better? Make it a game to outsmart those credit card companies. Do like they do on TV and make a big red thermometer chart or one of those big graphs. I keep mine on post-it notes on our master bathroom mirror. No one goes in there but us, and it's nice to see those post-it notes going away as we get accounts paid off.

Come back every Thursday for a new installment of Smart Money. To see past posts on the subject, just click the Smart Money tag at the bottom of this post for a complete list.

By TwitterButtons.com

Monday, August 9, 2010

My Clutterbugs Story

Here is my story about how I came to start with my Clutterbugs posts. It's been a long time in the making. It has taken me more than 20 years to finally feel comfortable with my house and my level of cleaning/organization. I have learned a lot along the way, both about myself and about the basics of housecleaning. After all my experiences, I felt like I wanted to be able to share these tips with other women who are in the same position as I was.

I think for a lot of us the messy house issue is rooted in childhood. Whether your Mom kept a clean house or a messy house, it has an effect on you. My husband and I came from completely opposite backgrounds. His Mom was definitely a perfectionist and kept a very clean house, but because she never allowed him to participate in the cleaning and never required him to do the daily things that are necessary to keep his own space clean, he never learned how to do it himself. I'm sure there was also a habit of rebelling against her because she was always nagging him about keeping things picked up.

On the other hand, I grew up in the messy house. My Mom was a single working Mom. She left the house at 7:00 in the morning, dropped me off at a sitter and picked me up again at 6:00 or so. This was the routine for nearly every day of my entire childhood. We ate TV dinners every night and spent the remainder of the evening watching TV, reading books, and working on our craft projects. Dishes were left in the sink until the weekend, laundry was done once a week and vacuuming and dusting were done once a month, if we thought to get around to it.

That's nothing against my Mom, it's just that she had other responsibilities in her life and other priorities. After working all day and all week, she felt like the rest of her time should be spent relaxing and spending time with me. The TV was on virtually all the time. People almost never came over to our house, so it wasn't a problem if our house was cluttered or messy and it usually was. She was a bit of a compulsive shopper and having grown up in the Depression, she rarely, if ever discarded anything, so we had a lot of "stuff".

So when my husband and I got married 25 years ago, we both had a lot of challenges as far as the house cleaning goes. Neither of us had any concept of daily cleaning routines, or felt that housework was a priority. We've both worked full time during our whole marriage and had a instant family as he came to me with his 3 year old son, plus our two other sons who came along much later.

By the time we had been married for several years, we had a perpetually messy house, were fighting constantly about the housework, and had accumulated a LOT of "stuff" that we were constantly trying to get a handle on.

I think the real eye-opener for me was when we moved from California to Utah. We filled up a 15 foot truck, my parents car, my husband's truck, plus my car AND a 10 foot open U-Haul. And even then we had to leave a bunch of stuff behind! I had no idea that we had that much stuff until I saw it all in one place.

That was the turning point for me. From then on, I started shedding stuff. I started taking a really close look at what we had and how much of it we really didn't need. We had also bought a really gorgeous new house in a very nice neighborhood, so I was really motivated to want to keep it clean. I started doing regular clear-outs of our clothes, books, movies, and toys. By the time we made our next move, a year or so later, we had about 20% less stuff.

We made a couple of more moves over the next decade and each time, I made a big point of decluttering more and more stuff. I also got a better handle on my overshopping problem so I wasn't bringing so much stuff in. I also started to build some cleaning routines that worked well for myself and my family. About this time, we got a computer and started to get access to that "new" thing called the Internet (yes, I am THAT old!).

I found a website called Flylady.com that really saved my life. She started to teach me that being messy wasn't something I needed to be ashamed of. I wasn't a bad person and I wasn't alone. I was just doing the best I had known how to do and if I would just start building some simple daily routines I could get a better handle on things and be happier with my life and my house.

I didn't have to be perfect and I didn't have to spend all my time cleaning. In fact, one thing I discovered is that as a messy person, I spent much more time cleaning than the clean people did because they don't wait until it gets so far out of control that it takes whole days to clean things up.

Turning 40 was a big life changer. I began to be very interested in changing virtually all aspects of my life, including my housecleaning habits. I began to read self-help books - LOTS of them. I read books, listened to audio tapes, and bought movies of all the major self-help authors of the 20th century, including Zig Ziglar, Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, Earl Nightingale, Tony Robbins and more others than I can count.

I also got numerous books by all the "cleaning gurus" - Flylady, Sandra Felton, Julie Morgenstern, and many others. And I worked weekly with a personal coach. Very slowly, things in my life started to change, bit by bit. I began to have a more positive attitude. I began to look at the problems in my life in a different light and to see more possibilities to resolve them. I began to have more hope for the future and to take more responsibilities for my actions.

As I began to get my house in order (both literally and figuratively), I wanted to share what I had learned with other women who were facing the same challenges. I love to write (obviously), so I started building some lessons. I did some advertising and started teaching my first classes. I never had a lot of attendees because I am terrible at the marketing side of this, but I was so encouraged when I started seeing what a difference these classes were making in the lives of my students. One lady cleared an entire truckload of clutter out of her house as a result of my words.

I continue to work towards my goal of perfecting my routines and getting my house exactly the way I want it, but as long as I continue to make progress, I'm content. Perfection is never the goal, just progress, and when I look back to where I started and see how far I've come, I can see that I am well on my way.

Come back every Monday for a fresh dose of Clutterbugs. If you'd like to see the previous lessons, just click the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of this post for a complete list.

By TwitterButtons.com

Friday, August 6, 2010

Clever Ideas from PeerTrainer

A few weeks back, I ran across a free website called PeerTrainer. They have a somewhat different approach to the whole diet and exercise routine that I found very intriguing. They understand that we are real people with insanely busy lives and that it is difficult to maintain our healthy routines for the long-term, so they have a number of great strategies and resources they have developed to help regular people like me on the right track.

I'm applying to be a part of their spotlight program right now and I asked their permission to share one of their articles with you because I thought it was something you would be interested in.

How To Exercise Without Burning Yourself Out or Totally Losing Motivation

We just finished a process where we had people fill out a survey for our new PeerTrainer Spotlight. The first question we asked people was simply "where are you in your journey to become a more active person?" We got over 500 completed applications, which gave us a very detailed view of where a lot of you are.

The main thing I am seeing is that a lot of people are having a very hard time sustaining any sort of consistent exercise. And I am also seeing a lot of people who are burning themselves out, which often leads to long periods of inactivity. And I have a somewhat controversial suggestion that I think will help both groups.

Key Concept

If you are having a hard time starting to exercise or keeping up with it, it may be that your vision of "what exercise should be" is based on what you see in the media. All over the place we see people going all out, cardio to the max, burning it up etc. The drill sargeant making the person who lacks the motivation cry and then "break through."

The Problem With This Approach

A simple analogy will help to explain how crazy this approach is for the average person. Most first graders do not read Shakespeare. When you learn to read you start with the basics and then build up over time. It is the same thing with a baby learning to walk. Gradually the body grows, gets stronger and more coordinated.

But with exercise everyone seems to be trying to short circuit this process. I see this all over the place. Whether it is someone with a lot of weight to lose or it is someone who is in decent shape who starts training for long distance running, if you go "all in and all out" you are going to get frustrated or you are going to get hurt.

If You Are In These Categories Here Is What I Want You To Do:

1. The very first thing I want you to do is give yourself a major break and radically shift your notion of "what proper exercise is." Many people have very limited time, energy and even mobility but are looking to do something. If this describes you, a very helpful thing to do is start to view your everyday movement as exercise.

Simply become aware of how much you are already moving. You obviously want to become stronger over time and build your endurance. This is critical as you get older, you need strong muscles and bones. But I know that so many of you have become sedentary for whatever reason.

2. The second thing that I would like you to do is find a way to develop an exercise strategy that is a complete fit with your life. Not how you want your life to be, but how it actually is. If you only have two minutes on your way to the bathroom, garage, home office, kitchen or whatever, develop some sort of system (or game!) where you can get some sort of activity in every single time.

Automatically Trigger Daily Action!

People often talk about having a "home gym", but the ideal is to turn your whole house into a "challenge course" where there is always something that triggers activity as a result of visual stimulation. Meaning you see it, and then do it. It is like food. If you see it in front of you, you will eat it. The great thing about exercise is that you can take that phenomenon and make it work for you!

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Sponsor Section:

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Two Proven Products For Your Home That Can Trigger Daily Action:

There are two things in our own home that help trigger easy and consistent action. The first is the Total Gym, something you have seen on TV for years. Something that you may not know is that the company also makes high end versions of this product for physical therapy and rehab centers. The reason for this is that the Total Gym can be very easy and gentle to use. Especially on the lower settings. It engages the body really well, and is just easy and enjoyable to do. For people who have joint pain and don't want to go out and run, the Total Gym can help you get a full body workout in way that goes easy on the joints.

Something like a Total Gym will work if you have it in a place in your home where you are going to see it every day. It is the kind of thing that you can get on for even a few minutes and activate your body. You can also get a much more intense workout on the Total Gym as well. The company has been around for 30 years, so this is a really proven thing. The company often features special deals on their website, and from time to time sells pre-owned versions on their website:

Total Gym Website

The second thing you want to look at are Bodylastics Resistance bands. Resistance bands are cheap and can fit anywhere. But Bodylastics took the concept and built a unique clip and handle system that turned a simple set of bands into something that can mimic any exercise that you would get in the gym.

The best thing about these bands is that you can set up a couple pairs and leave them anywhere in your house. For example, you can take two bands and attach them to handles and leave them on the floor of your closet. When you wake up on your way to the shower you can do a set of curls or squats or flys in just a couple minutes. If you are looking to build muscle strength, this is an instant access exercise. If you are one of those people who "have not exercised in years" this is something that will instantly end that, just by having them in your bedroom, living room, office. Wherever. It is an excuse killer.

Bodylastics has been around for 12 years. The system is versatile, and allows you to use very low or very intense levels of resistance. If you go to their website you can see how the product works. And maybe if you already have a set, this article will help to remind you to put them in a place where you see them to get that visual trigger. Make it work for you.

Bodylastics Website

In the current PEERtrainer Spotlight we are testing a new product, the Philips DirectLife system. With this system you wear a small activity monitor which records your movement. The monitor is then connected to a website account where live coaches keep tabs on people and offer suggestions. We are intrigued about this concept and product, because it teaches you exactly how to create an exercise program built around your own life.

This very much fits with our overall philosophy of exercise, where you gradually build your fitness level based on what you are already doing. This is a critical concept because once you have this mindset or awareness you no longer think of yourself as someone who has "fallen off track", or who "used to workout", or who "doesn't have the time".

Those of you who left those comments, my objective here is to permanently change your mindset, and the way you think about activity. We are all going to get stronger and feel great!

-Jackie

By TwitterButtons.com

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Smart Money:: Be a Smart Shopper

I generally try to be a smart shopper, especially for big ticket items. For example: I was quite pleased when I managed to save my son $3,000 on the purchase of his first car. We know that because we found some paperwork in the glove box from a girl who had bought the car a few weeks earlier and had to return it, probably because her purchase price was $3,000 more than the price we negotiated on it. That's my idea of being a smart shopper.

However, we all have our less-than-perfect moments and I had one a few months ago. Obviously, I am a very active computer user and having a reliable laptop is essential for me. My last Ebay-purchased laptop was a terrific deal and lasted me for about 4 years, so I can be excused for thinking I could pull off the miracle a second time. I did all the right things, bought from a dependable user with good feedback, purchased a Square Trade warranty for it, tracked the shipping, etc. But I had nothing but bad luck with it. First I had a hard drive crash (covered under warranty), dropped the darn thing (not covered under warranty) and then had an unrecoverable memory error.

After the 3rd problem and several hundred in repairs, I decided to call it a day and look for a new computer. At that point, I made the fatal mistake. I was just sooo busy and I didn't have the time to shop around for a great deal, so I rushed over Dell.com to pick out a computer. Did I get a good deal? Yes. Was it worth it? Hell no.

I kid you not, after waiting almost ten days for the darn thing to be delivered, it acted up the first time I used it. It would randomly go into hibernation right in the middle of a sentence. And it did it every time I used the computer. There were times when I couldn't type a complete sentence. Talk about crazy-making when you are a blogger!

Now, here's the big problem with Dell. They contract all their support functions out to India. The people are actually quite nice and they aren't too hard to understand, but their customer service skills - not so great. And they are a looong way off when you have a problem. If you buy a computer from Best Buy or wherever and you get fed up with it, you can walk back in and hand it to them, and they have to do something to make it right. Not so with mail order ~~brides~~ laptops.

After numerous hour-long "support visits" with people from India and a lot of griping to their Twitter team and their escalations team, I finally got them to send me out a replacement. After a wait of another 7 to 10 days (no escalated shipping even when it is their fault!) I was excited to get my replacement unit. I was a little less excited when I discovered it had exactly the same problem.

I was even less excited when I ~~demanded~~ asked them nicely for a refund and was told that I would have to return both units, with written proof of shipment, wait for confirmation of receipt, and then wait another 30 to 40 days for my refund to be processed. They did pay the return postage - wasn't that nice of them? Complaint department? Yeah, they don't really have one. My husband went on-line and found 50,000 complaints lodged against them with the Better Business Bureau. Probably should have checked that first, but that commercial with the lollypop song is just so cute!

Took me about six weeks of stress and aggravation and so many different phone calls, Tweets, and Emails to get it all straightened out. Tied up double charges on my credit card for a month because I had to go out and buy my new computer from Best Buy (for almost the same price and it works perfectly!) and still wait for the refund from Dell. And I lost a bunch of my files in trying to transfer them between three computers. I'm still looking for stuff. It was so not worth it. Smart shopper fail!

Come back every Thursday for a new installment of my Women & Finance series - Smart Money. Click on the tag at the bottom of this post to see a complete list of previous posts.

By TwitterButtons.com

Monday, August 2, 2010

Clutterbugs - Do you Act Like a Kid?

I had a thought the other day. If you had a kid who didn't do their chores, didn't eat properly, and just basically wouldn't follow any of the rules you've set down (yeah, I know, who doesn't?), what would you do?

Now how many times do you act like that? We all do, don't we? We all know the things we are supposed to do around the house - dishes, laundry, picking stuff up, you name it. But for some silly reason, we just don't want to do them.

What if you talked to yourself the way you would a misbehaving child? Sometimes I think it's important to address that "inner child" and admit to those issues and deal with them head-on, just the same you would if it were a real child behaving this badly.

On the other hand, my kids respond much better to rewards than they do to punishments. Maybe you are the type who would respond better to some kind of a reward instead. And rewards can be many different things. Maybe it's just some time to read a book, or call and talk to a friend you wouldn't normally. Maybe it's going to a movie, or even just a gold star on your hand. You have to mix it up and pick whatever is going to work for your particular inner child.

So, go clean up your room, young lady!!!

Be sure and come back every Monday for a fresh dose of Clutterbugs. If you'd like to view my previous posts on the subject, click the Clutterbugs link at the bottom of this post for a complete list.

By TwitterButtons.com

Sunday, August 1, 2010

545 People vs. 300,000,000 People

I don't often post political posts, but one of my friends sent me this one and it really caught my eye. My friend Alli Worthington over at Mrs Fussy Pants has been posting about our failure to pay attention to our politicians lately and I think this really speaks to that issue.

What the heck has happened? 545 people vs 300 million people

This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be - read it!! The article below is completely neutral, ...not anti republican or democrat. Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinal has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgements made that impact each one of us every day. Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.

545 vs. 300,000,000 by Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them..

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits..... The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red ...

If the Army and Marines are in Iraq, it's because they want them in Iraq

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power..

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

What you do with this article now that you have read it......... Is up to you.

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Sales Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service FeeTax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

Comments are open, but please keep them respectful. I am a registered Democrat and while I don't agree with everything President Obama does, I do support him in his efforts to make the best of a tough situation. Thoughtful discussion is always welcome, inflammatory or uncivil comments are not.

By TwitterButtons.com

Pages

Monday, August 30, 2010

Clutterbugs: Living with a Messie

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Smart Money: The Biggest Financial Mistake Women Make

Monday, August 23, 2010

Clutterbugs: Take Action

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Smart Money: Time to Refi?

Monday, August 16, 2010

Clutterbugs - How to Organize Your Pantry

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Projects from my August Class

Smart Money: Bill Paying Strategies

Monday, August 9, 2010

My Clutterbugs Story

Friday, August 6, 2010

Clever Ideas from PeerTrainer

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Smart Money:: Be a Smart Shopper

Monday, August 2, 2010

Clutterbugs - Do you Act Like a Kid?

Sunday, August 1, 2010

545 People vs. 300,000,000 People

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