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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Smart Money: An Attitude of Gratitude

If you've known me for a while, you probably know that I am a big fan of The Secret and the Law of Attraction.  I have both the movie and the audio tape and I listen to them frequently, especially when things aren't going the way I would like.  

Over the years, I've had some pretty amazing experiences with it.  There are several posts on my blog about it.  Like the last time I needed a car and I found something worth $50,000 sitting in my closet, or when we got a basically free cruise for our 25th anniversary, or even how I manage to avoid colds & flu, etc without bothering with all the anti-germ stuff everyone else fusses over. 


I think what you've had some of these experiences like I have, I guess it makes it more believable for you.  That's why I share this kind of stuff with you, because I hope it will help you in your own life.  


Now, I have had something else amazing happen.  My husband bought this nice car this week and was able to pay cash for it, basically with money that just fell out of the sky.   

I told you that he had an accident a couple of weeks ago.  However, rather than a big stress on us, it turned into a blessing.  He wasn't especially hurt, or even particularly shaken up, and we had already been planning to trade in his truck because it had about 180,000 miles on it and we were getting nervous that it would start needing major repairs.  

So, we ended up getting about double the amount we would have received for it as a trade-in.  So, the timing on it was really amazing, and when you look at what happened to his truck, the fact that he wasn't seriously injured is doubly amazing!  



But the really amazing thing happened about a month before the accident.  I had an Email from our Mortgage Advisor that we had done a couple of home refi's with.  She said that the rate had briefly dipped to an unbelievable low and did we want to do another refi?  I sent back a one word answer - YES!  This refi allowed us to take some money out of our home equity to replace Tony's truck.  

I asked the guy when we were closing our loan if he had seen anyone come through with a rate as low as ours and he said he hadn't seen a rate that low in many years!  Between the two things, we had just exactly enough money to pay for the car, the taxes & fees, plus a one year warranty.  Short of winning a car in a lottery, I just don't see how the universe could have lined things up any better.  

I can't tell you how grateful I am for the way this has turned out.  I've been stressing out about this over the last couple of months.  My van is getting kind of over-the-hill also, so I was terrified that we could have literally ended up with two car payments at once, along with all our other bills, and that could have been financial disaster for us!  

So I've been working like a little squirrel lately trying to work out debt snowball from every angle to get us into a position where we would be able to afford one or possibly two car payments when the day came that we had to replace the cars.  Now, we don't have to have a car payment at all.  That to me, is just amazing and such a blessing for us!

So, I think it is important to sit back and just have a moment of gratitude that we received this wonderful gift, all tied up with a bow.  They always say that what you give, you receive tenfold.  We are big into charitable work and support several worthwhile charities.  We give money when we can, but also time, energy, expertise, clothing, household goods, blood, food, and even our kids' time and energy.  

While I can't prove it, I hope that this car is an expression of all these things coming back to us.  You know the old saying - what goes around, comes around, and hopefully when you put good things out into the world, they come back to you like this.  At least, that's the view of the world I try to envision. 

Have you ever had an experience like this?  I'll bet you have, but you've written it off as a "coincidence".  How can you look at experiences like this in a different way?

If you'd like to see past posts on the subject, just click the Smart Money tag at the bottom of this post. 

Monday, October 25, 2010

Stamped Stuff: Digital Page - In My Heart

I have a years-long backlog of scrapbook pages and other stamped stuff.So I thought I'd start a new weekly feature.  My friend Laurie Turk over at Tip Junkie is starting her new Tip Me Tuesday, so I think I'll join her little party over there every week.







I've been going crazy with my Stampin' Up! My Digital Studio program and I've probably made enough new pages to last me for the rest of the year.  This one came together in about 15 minutes.

It's kind of weird to have my son in the picture with the grandkids, but our family is strange like that.  It's not that often your son is only two years older than your oldest grandchild!  But I did love this picture - it's from a photoshoot our friends over at Cheapshots did for us.  If you are local, give them a call - great prices and they do wonderful work as you can see! 


handmade projects

If you'd like to see previous posts on the subject, click on the StampedStuff tag at the bottom of the page.



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Thursday, October 21, 2010

Smart Money: Read the Fine Print

Do you read the fine print before you sign something? I do! Why? Because When you put your signature to something, you can be held legally liable for whatever is written on that page.



This has burned me a few times. Back when we were first married, we bought a car. My husband and I were bickering about the type of car, so I didn't read the contract carefully. I forget what the interest rate was, but it was something outrageous. Since I had signed the contract, I was stuck with it.  

Then years later, when I was signing a real estate contract, they made a major mistake on it.  Cost me about $1,000 bucks to fix because we ended up having to probate my father's will to correct it.

So, now whenever I have to sign something, I stop and read it first.  Sometimes people look at me oddly when I do it, but generally they are pretty understanding. 

Have you ever had an experience where signing without reading something has caused you a problem?

If you'd like to see previous posts on the subject, just click on the Smart Money tag below.


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Monday, October 18, 2010

Clutterbugs: Money = Motivation

Zig Ziglar has a saying about motivation that I love.  He says “Motivation isn’t permanent, but then neither is bathing”.  Whether you are trying to lose weight, keep your finances under control, or turn your house into the fabulous place you envision, motivation is the key.

It’s easy to get yourself fired up on a short-term basis, but these are not changes you can make overnight.  You need to find a good way to sustain that long-term motivation.

This week I heard about a very powerful technique that fascinates me.  A professor at some university was having a problem with his PhD students procrastinating on their thesis documents.  So what he would do is make a deal with them.  They had to turn in a section of it every quarter and if wasn’t in his hands by midnight on the last night of the quarter, they had to pay him $100 – in cash and in person, in front of their peers.  During the whole school year, not one of them turned in a late paper. 

This really triggered my imagination.  How can we make this work for us?  Well, first of all, you have to find the right partner for this technique.  It needs to be someone who has an interest in helping you succeed with your goals.  But it also has to be someone who loves you enough to get tough and actually take the money. 

For whatever reason, cash has much more power than a lot of things.  My son had a gym membership and he wouldn’t go and wouldn’t go.  But he wouldn’t cancel either because he always had this idea that he would go sometime.  So I told him to visualize taking $25 out of the bank and walking over and physically handing it to the person at the gym.  Once he saw that, he cancelled his membership the next day. 


"What do you think the chances are that you will accomplish that task that you’ve been putting off for ages?"

It doesn’t have to be $100, I think even $10 is enough to get the job done as long as it's actual cash - a check, an IOU or anything else just won't work.  But it has to be a goal that is measurable and realistic for you to accomplish.  How about if you agree that you will have your most challenging room cleaned and organized within a two week period, or you will have to pay your husband $10.  Or your Mom or your sister?  What do you think the chances are that you will accomplish that task that you’ve been putting off for ages?

How can you make this technique work for you?

If you’d like to view past posts on the subject, click on the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of this post. 


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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Great B-day and a bad Accident

Well, I can certainly say it was an eventful weekend!  First I had a great Girl’s Night Out with the Sassy Scoops at The Chocolate in Orem. 

TheChoco-2

TheChoco-1
Kara & Ashlee were having fun.  Not sure what Stephanie was doing – tucking away a snack for later???






Tauni was hanging out with us too.  We had a great group of fun ladies – probably about 30 of us – we were crammed in like sardines in their little old house where the Chocolate was located.  

TheChoco
I had something called a Magic Potato.  It was fabulous – whipped pumpkin with brown sugar, butter & pecans topped with ice cream. 





Then on Saturday morning, I had a nice breakfast with my Sis and my Nephew and his wife.  It was nice to catch up with them.  We always used to have breakfast at Village Inn with my Mom on special days, so it was just like old times.  

Big 5-4Then we had the big party itself.  It was just what I wanted – a total mob scene.  Counting kids, we squeezed 31 people into our house.  It was standing room only!



Big 5-1Big 5-5We had so many dear friends of ours that we have known for years.  What a great way to celebrate a big birthday!
















Big 5-17
My cake was so funny! My friend Thom made it for me, but then it started to slide apart on the way over to our house.  I thought it was the perfect cake for an over-the-hill birthday party!  

Big 5-0
My husband loves to BBQ in his smoker and he was set up for a meat fest.  We had brisket, pork roast, and bratwurst, plus a ton of great side dishes.  I went to sleep that night in a haze of alcohol and happy thoughts. 
TonysTruck3

However, the next day was not so fun.  I got that call that we all dread.  My husband had been in an accident.  Some dumb kid with a learner’s permit pulled in front of him and froze.  

Nothing he could do.  At least no one was hurt!  We thought he had broken his wrist at first, but it looks like it was just a bone chip and a little soreness.  Looks like it’s time for a new truck.  But we were so incredibly thankful that he came through this without a serious injury.  


TonyWreck
This is the other vehicle.  Not nearly as bad.  The kid's Mom and I hugged it out.
As a teen parent myself, I know how it is, and we were just thankful that no one was seriously hurt!  


What was your favorite birthday?



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Thursday, October 7, 2010

Big Happenings - The Big 5-0

I haven't had a lot of time lately for much in the way of personal posts. I've been trying to keep my head above water and keep up on the Clutterbugs and Moneymatters challenges. And of course, I've been my usual over-busy self. But there are some big changes coming up.

For one thing, I've got a birthday coming up this week and it's a big one! Yep, it's the big 5-0. I don't know how I feel about it. I've kind of been trying to ignore it. That half-century label sounds kind of drastic, but I guess it beats the alternative! We're doing a huge party with a bunch of friends and family. I love to entertain, but it is a lot of work.

One eye opener was a card I got when I was 35.  It said "Turning 35?" and then on the inside it said "Wow!  People have been known to live for weeks after that!"  Boy, that puts it all into perspective, doesn't it?

The other big perspective is that my son Matt is getting ready to move out into his own apartment.  I think it's great, but I'm a little freaked out.  I'm going to miss him so much!  Even though he's only moving a couple of miles away, it still is going to be so strange.  He's lived under my roof for practically every day of the last 21 years, so it's weird to think that a month from now, he isn't going to be living under my roof any more. 


(yes, this is my handsome son in a kilt - hey, we're Scottish, what can I say)

I like that he's going about it the right way.  He's been figuring out his budget to make sure he can afford everything and reading the on-line reviews of all the different apartment places.  He's even drawn out a whole floor plan so he can figure out where to put all his furniture (well, MY furniture mostly). 

He promises that he'll come home every week for dinner and laundry and to watch Project Runway, Castle and Bones with me, but we'll see how long that lasts.  I think there's going to be one sniffly Mom in a couple of weeks - right or wrong, my son is just about my best friend in the world, and I'd like to know who the heck gave him permission to grow up!

What will you do when your kids grow up and leave home?



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Saturday, October 2, 2010

I went with the Perm

Remember this a few days back.  Well, I didn’t get many opinions, so I decided that the interwebs didn’t really care one way or the other if I got a perm, so I decided to go for it anyway!


Perm2010-Cropped


Whaddya think?  I kind of love it!  After having hair that was so fine, I couldn’t even keep a barrette in it, it’s kind of nice to have some texture to my hair again.  It’ll relax a bit over the next couple of weeks, but so far, I think it was a good change.

PS:  I’m trying out Windows LiveWriter to compose my posts, it’s supposed to be the bomb for web posts, so I hope you like it!




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