Substance of Living

Let's face it, it's tough in today's world.  More people are out of work, working two jobs, in debt or "under water" with their homes. How is the ancient art of Feng Shui going to help?  It is said that through decorating your home or office using the Feng Shui principles you will reap the benefits of: Better Health Increased Prosperity and Better Relationships By making subtle changes to your environment you can positively affect your life.  The subconscious mind understands chi (the subtle flow of energy) even though we may not. Think of a time when you walked into a store and the lights were too bright and the place felt harsh.  Or take the store that the lighting was too dim.  Did you feel clean or were you looking around wondering what was in the corners?  A room that is too bright can feel aggressive and one that is too dim can feel weak and secretive. The same theory can be used with a room that is full of stuff.  Antique shops ca...

Today's Money Matters Monday covers trending stories for the past couple weeks. Where will we be after the elections with healthcare in the United States?  Jay MacDonald, Bankrate Have you heard about the mobile wallet?  Walmart has begun a test market with the iPhone Scan and Go program.  Reuters Pay Pal has begun offering in-store payments through Discover Credit Card company.  The Associated Press This past week, Gina Rinehart , the richest woman in the world, was interviewed about the plight of unemployment in Australia (and perhaps the world).  Robert Frank | CNBC Do you remember Walmart's discount for gas last year?  They're doing it again this year through December 24, 2012 offering Walmart Cardholders 10 to 15 cents off.  Reuters Please share me with your friends! Please forward this post to your friends or better yet share on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.  THANKS!  Your comments and help in spreading the news ab...

Are you like me and secretly wish you were more like Martha Stewart when it comes to your house, garden, decorating, entertaining, and just about every other aspect?  If only Martha could advise me on finances I'd not need look any further. However, I've recently come to start channeling Suze Orman where my finances are concerned and went online today to find a spreadsheet by her and wasn't able to find anything.  She has several books about family planning, trusts, and why finances are so important but sometimes just the basics are needed.  Do you remember the show where the guy says, "Just the facts, Ma'am."?  So, until Suze starts emailing me personally, here are some budget worksheets to get us started.  There are more out there for holidays , vacations , gift purchasing , weddings , and just about everything else. Here are the basics... Quick-Start Budget by Dave Ramsey Household Monthly Budget by Practical Spreadsheets Household ...

You've probably heard about people who have so much money that no matter how much they spend, they will never out-spend their worth.  Well, that is what we're going to work towards here.  Dedication and belief  will allow the energy of Feng Shui and the power of the Law of Attraction to escalate your wealth. There have been many books and articles written about Feng Shui and the Law of Attraction.  We are going to concentrate on Feng Shui today.  It's such an allusive thing; talking about energy and the placement of certain things throughout the house or office.  Let me see if I can help make sense of it without being too esoteric. I like to think of Feng Shui as a harmonious balance.  I've been decorating my homes with Feng Shui for over 12 years.  Have you ever walked into a beautiful room and felt afraid to touch something for fear it would be wrong?  Or walk into a store or business front and have the feeling that you need to le...

The SIXTH step is to start saving a little each month. The money used, at first, might be the savings from using coupons, the difference between taking your lunch and what you would have spent by eating out every day, the change in your pockets or purse at the end of the day, rebates, or the savings from using a coupon while eating out.  Have a garage sale.  Take your nicer items to a consignment shop to be sold. Start SAVING money to pay CASH for Holidays, Birthdays, and other Special Occasions. Start saving money for a specific Goal. Start saving money for annual or quarterly payments such as insurance. DH and I have used our saved change to pay for vacations, holidays, or splurges.  We have some friends that hold a couple garage sales each year and use that money for a particular purchase.  I know you can do this with everyone in the family pitching in.  The key will be to find new and fun ways to get everyone involved and ex...

The FIFTH step is to pay down the debt while enjoying life. Knowing how much money is coming in and where your hard earned money is going puts you in the drivers' seat. See which credit cards or loans have the highest interest rate and start paying more each month. When you pay one credit card or loan off, apply that payment to the next highest interest rate loan. Pay your bills on time and ALWAYS pay more than the minimum required payment. See if you can feasibly transfer a balance to another credit card with a lower interest rate. If you do this, make sure that the amount transferred as well as the transfer fee does not take you over the limit. Do not use this newly transferred-to credit card for anything else.  At least until it has a ZERO balance. Pay your bills online through your bank.  Your bank ensures that the payment is made on the date you request and that it doesn't get lost in the mail. Check your statement to make sure that the amo...

The FOURTH step is to have a plan that will help you attain your goals. Find a program that works for you.  There are so many forms on the internet, books written containing forms, computer programs, and Apps that you will need to know yourself and what will work best. Gather as much information as possible this first month. Paychecks Bank Statement Credit Care Statements Car Loan Other Loans Child Care Insurance Statements (Mortgage/Rent, Life, Health, Car) Cable Bill Phone Bill Membership Dues (Fitness Club, Golf Club, Movie) Subscriptions to Newspapers and Magazines Guesstimate how much you spend on groceries, eating out, entertainment, doctor appointments, shopping, hair, nails, massage, gas, etc. Add more information next month with actual receipts.  (Try the June 2012 Money Management Challenge ) Groceries Meals out Entertainment Shopping Hair, Nails, Massage Gas Now you can really sit down and figure how much money you have...

It's important to know how much money is coming in, going out and where it's going.  It's also very important to have goals.  We need to ask the five W questions Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? so we can set clear goals.  Answering the questions will turn the dream or thought into an accountable and attainable goal.  The efforts to reaching a goal must be track-able. Who:   Who is responsible for each task What: What is the path, What will get paid off first Where: Where will the savings go When: When is the deadline or date Why:   Why save money How:   How is each task going to be accomplished The THIRD step is to look at your goals. Budgets that have short or long-term goals are most effective.  For example, a short-term goal might be to eat out once a month without using a credit card or taking money away from the bills.  Or, a long-term goal might be to take a vacation and pay cash. Start slowly with monthly sho...

Wearing a Mask Doesn't Always Protect Your Identity from Thieves   The SECOND step is to protect your identity.  Did you know that there are probably over 500,000 people, each year , that have their identities stolen? Thieves have ways of stealing your personal information: They could hack into your computer, break into your home of office, riffle through your trash, steal your mail, steal your purse or wallet, copy your credit card information.  There are probably as many ways as there are thieves. What specific items are these thieves seeking? Credit Card information Your FULL Name, Mother's Maiden Name, or any other information they may think you might use for your security codes or passwords Anything with your Social Security Number, Tax Information Pre-Approved Credit Card Offers Your Family's Names and Addresses, Email Accounts Where you went to School I'm sure there are more items.  Think about the information you might provi...

Do you have more month than money?  Are you not checking your mailbox because you know there are bills waiting for you?  Do you feel that the money goes out as soon, if not before, the money comes in?  Are you working two jobs and thinking how you can fit in another job just to pay your bills? You're NOT Alone. We can take the easy road and blame it on our parents.  But, if we did that, would we be any further ahead?  Probably not.  We would still be victims.  WE ARE NOT VICTIMS! Before you start grabbing your statements and bills, ask yourself how and why you are in this situation.  That's what DH and I had to do, and I'm sure many other people before and after us have done.  We, all of us, find ourselves over-extended from time to time and sometimes to no fault of our own. I think more families have filed bankruptcy in the last 10 years (since 2001) than ever before.  I don't know that for a fact, but looking at the unemplo...

We've had two full weeks of receipt collecting with the June 2012 Money Management Challenge .  Hopefully it's starting to become second nature remembering to keep the receipt or to ask for one.  What system did you choose?  Are you separating your receipts by week, putting them all in one envelope, or sticking them all on your refrigerator door? You've seen the commercials or magazine ads for Neat Receipts and the cool things it can do.  But do you really want to spend about $200 or more on a scanner or another piece of office equipment?  Probably not. Since the object of our goal is to save money, we tend to agree with Jack Busch at GroovyPost when he said, "Why not use my iPhone and Google Docs’ OCR capabilities and roll my own digital receipt filing system?"   So here are some ideas to help you continue collecting receipts for budget purposes, work, or taxes without having to spend more money. One of the larger organizations online is Min...

How are you doing so far with June's Money Management Challenge ?  Are you remembering to save all your receipts? DH and I are both taking the challenge.  The biggest thing that DH has found is remembering to ask for a receipt so he's had to write down a few purchases on a piece of paper.  He is keeping his receipts in an envelope and mine are stuck on the refrigerator with a magnet. In honor of full disclosure; we thought about postponing this challenge to another month that wouldn't be as hectic, but wondered what month would actually work.  See, we've had quite a few unexpected purchases already this month.  In addition to that, we're moving into our new home and to top it all off, DH has to get a crown on one of his molars.  All this, and we're not even to Father's Day yet!  Whew (wiping my brow)! But then, like we said, what month would have been more conducive to the challenge?  There are always going to be unexpected events or purchas...

One of the greatest satisfactions in life is feeling the relief of paying off a debt.  We all know that debt causes stress, and don't we already have enough of that in our life? Financial freedom is not necessarily having the finances to purchase whatever you want.  Financial freedom is having the knowledge and the wisdom to create a plan that allows you to live within your means. Each month's challenges will help us attain our Financial Freedom in the Money Matters Monday series. Throughout this series we will look into the management of our expenses.  We need to know where and when we are spending our money. We will then learn to categorize our spending. Then we will talk long term about some financial planning choices and where to start searching out the questions and answers. This month's Money Matters Monday challenge is to collect receipts .  That's right, it's as simple as collecting receipts for everything you purchase throug...