Posts Tagged ‘FREE to save’

I received tickets to see Oprah! Yes, in my mind there is applause in the background. I could not believe the wonderful experience. All of the contributors to the “O” Magazine were in attendance and they were just as awesome, informative and entertaining as Oprah herself. It was more amazing when I received the call asking if I had availability to attend with a VIP ticket. I wanted to say, of course I am available, didn’t you see my you tube video begging, lol. The experience manifested from a vision board that I am keeping. Smack in the middle of my journal says win tickets to see Oprah Winfrey and I did! It further confirmed the importance of a vision board. I look at it every morning, make my proclamation “God use for a purpose greater than myself” and I see the items on my board. It’s a daily reminder to remain focused on the goal and agree to make the board your reality.

So, my challenge is for you to start a vision board. It is a collage of pictures, notes, themes, quotes. It gives you a vision of your goals. Have fun with it and add colorful, whimsical and make it your taste.  You don’t have to wait for the New Year to make a resolution. Do it today!

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FEAR, the powerful four letter word invokes anxiety, heart palpitations and hot sweats, than any other word. Fear is a natural reaction and protection mechanism.  It keeps you safe from harm’s way, so it is a good thing.  However, how you respond to fear can make it not so good. First, fear then feelings of regret.

It’s funny because you aren’t born with fear, you learn and develop fear. It is the reason I insisted my children learn to swim early.  Babies swim around in the amniotic fluid and can naturally adapt to water when born. Babies are comfortable in and around water.  Once a child grows, becomes aware of his/her surroundings and develops cognitive skills, and then here comes the fear.

I read a wonderful article in Essence magazine and I was compelled to echo their sentiments.  Take correction action to combat your fears:

1. Speak victory
2. Create a plan or strategy to reach your goals.
3. Stay in tune with your inner voice; meditate and pray.
4. Seek professional for counseling and/or therapy.
5. Foster healthy relationships. Find networking groups of like minded individuals and surround yourself with positive friends and family.

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This is my tough love post! Every now and again, we need someone to give it to us straight. Do you realize it is easier to make excuses than to the task at hand? It drives me crazy when excuses are spoken first. For example, “When I get a bigger kitchen, I will learn to cook. “As soon as I get in shape, I will start exercising at the gym”. “As soon as the kids are older, I will make time for myself”. “When I get more time, I will start eating properly”.  Let’s tackle each EXCUSE.

You can learn to cook with a toaster oven and one pot! You need to take measures to get in shape instead of watching TV. You can steal 5 minutes in the bathroom to meditate to breathe deeply and nothing else.  You can grab a piece of fruit, just as easily as a donut. Keep nuts in the car for a quick fix while out running errands.

My point is good and bad habits develop over time. Good habits, such as saving, exercising, meditating, eating properly, organizing, praying, stretching, and require a consorted effort. According to studies (I know there is a study for everything!), it takes 15 times to repeat a function for it to penetrate in your brain and remember to just do it. So, start today by creating a good habit. No more excuses.

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This post comes from an article from a special edition Forbes magazine. The front cover reads “The 10 Steps to Make Your Kid a Millionaire”. Aside from having parents like Will & Jada Smith, there are steps that parents can take to make this a reality. Plus if you have done a good job financially, you want financially responsible children.

1.  Don’t overeducate. I know I have already lost some people on this first one. Securing a college degree is a must; however there is some merit to looking at a major that pays well AND know that you will like that type of work BEFORE committing to paying more money.

2.  Find a cheap Bachelor Degree. There are thousands of colleges to choose from and if you can write a blank check, then pick any Ivy League, historically black college or non-state funded university. If not, then pick a good school that is state funded or work for a company that will pay for it. It’s an unfair advantage to start your work life with thousands of dollars in student loans.

3.  Fund a Roth. You are never too young to start saving and the amount of time a teenager would have in a ROTH means a minimal amount they must contribute over time and still have a sizeable amount of money.

4.  Shun credit card debt. Repeat after me, “Credit card debt is bad”. There is no advantage to credit card debt, period, and the end. Short and sweet.

5.  Shop for a 529 college. It is a college savings plan and each state has one. They aren’t all good. Some have high fee and no tax deduction, so check out your state. One good thing is the college savings plan can be transferred to another child.

6.  Give away grandpa’s IRA. Passing money to the next generation allows an account to compound tax-deferred for many more years.

7.  Start them young. Developing good saving habits are taught, not learned in high school or college.

8.  Give Stock. If you own stock, you can sell for the benefit of income to your child. Giving your child stock could mean a down payment for a home and possibly tax deferred.

9.  Put your kids in a house. What a great way to start an adult life than with no mortgage and encourage savings per month for the next property investment.

10.  Hire your offspring. It’s great to hire children. There is a tax benefit, cheap labor, and a great way to build work ethic.

I hope you are inspired by the suggestions and implement in you and your children’s lives.

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Blog Funk Face

First and foremost I am blessed and grateful to God for so many things in my life. I know this sounds like the beginning of an acceptance speech for an award show. I started that way to be sure you don’t mistake my complaining for being ungrateful.

Here’s the deal, I am not having a good blog day, week or month. My laptop has gone to the dogs. I need to throw it off of a cliff, my website was down while I switched hosting providers, my latest video will not upload (only God knows why it will not!).  I am so behind on my goal of posting a video every two weeks. I have created another business model that is taking up a great deal of time. My latest post, didn’t. Although excited for my daughter, who is beginning a singing career, it is a long list of things to do to make that happen successfully. My twitter followers are few, my facebook friends are friends, but not all fans and my linked in has me feeling disconnected. I have no speaking engagements. I AM IN A BLOG FUNK! I need some help, some motivation, some prayer and supplication!

It’s hard to believe that the queen of positivity and money saving guru is acknowledging or giving any thought to a problem. Well, I think we all feel that way sometimes, so let me wallow in my funk for this night. I am looking for a resurgence. I signed up for the Bloggy Boot Camp in Atlanta and I am hoping to see and learn great things in the camp. Maybe I will enter a contest to be a speaker at the next Bloggy Boot Camp and I can be an example of a blogger that goes from dull to dazzling. Help me fellow bloggers!

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Everyone makes it sound so easy on how to save money with coupons. You maybe thinking that you have never been able to save 50% or more off your grocery bill. Well, it can be done! However, there are a few rules and tips that you should know. Numero uno, the example of saving 50% off your bill is only buying what’s on sale or clearance AND what you have a coupon for, nothing else. It doesn’t matter what is on your grocery list, don’t deviate, so you can see the savings. Secondly, the items are rung up BEFORE the store card is presented. Although I know there are a few people that don’t have a store card for everywhere they shop, but sounds like a tragedy because you save money just by having and using a store card.

In terms on joining the coupon, money saving frenzy, start with a method to organize your coupons. I understand that time is money and money is time, so you need to establish some way to stay organized. The way to organize could be a coupon organizer, a 3-ring binder with sheet protectors, a photo album holder or baseball card holder.

For more tips, download an e-book that will be emailed to you as an adobe acrobat reader file and start saving.

$3.99

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