Gaining control of your finances!!

Dear Readers,

This month I decided to create a post about a topic that many of us struggle with, or have difficulty on some level...finances.  I wanted to share with you what I've identified as eight steps to take in the area of finances that will give you power, and help you to shift your perspective about where you are:

(1) Interview your parents and older siblings about the historical conversations in your family regarding finances.  We've all grown up with certain conversations about money that have been passed down from those who raised us.  Whether the conversation in your household  was "we can't afford it" or "you can have anything you want," the point is that the conversations were inherited, and not created by you.  Learning what those conversations were in your household, and taking a look at what you say to yourself now about money is a very useful exercise.  You will be able to determine whether you are continuing those conversations without even realizing it, or you may determine that you are telling yourself something different in an effort not to continue whatever those historical conversations were.  For example, a person who grew up in a conversation of scarcity may have become a wreck-less spender as an adult.  In their mind they may be making up for the things they couldn't have as a child.

(2) Calculate your lifetime earnings.  Yes...your LIFETIME earnings.  This is a very empowering exercise.  It provides you with the opportunity to see your earning power with clarity.  When I calculated mine, it was over $1 million!  I felt very powerful when I saw that over the span of my life, I was able to generate that kind of income.  In this exercise, you want to be sure to count EVERYTHING you've ever inherited, worked for, been given, etc.  A good place to start is to look at your most recent Social Security Statement.  It has your annual earnings from the very first job you ever had on record.  If you could remember, also count the paper route or money your earned babysitting before  you began officially working.  If you are self employed and don't pay yourself a salary, use the Social Security Statement for the last year you worked and then use your corporate taxes for all the years you've been in business (or your personal taxes if you're an LLC).

(3) Know what you have!  I've met so many people who have pension plans from old employers, and other retirement accounts such as 401K's and/or 403B's and they have no idea how much money they have in these accounts.  I encourage you to look up all these accounts, order statements, etc. and add up all your assets.  That would include any money you have in these various accounts, as well as your personal savings, bonds, CD's and any other assets.  Your assets could also include antiques and collectibles....art...jewelry, etc.


(4) Know how much you owe!  Sometimes we take on that we really don't want to know how much debt we have.  Maybe what's behind this thinking is that if we don't acknowledge it, we won't have to deal with it.  There's a lot of power in knowing exactly who and what you owe, even if you can't pay it all right now.  Pull out all those bills...the credit card statements, the collection notices, any bills that you are receiving in the mail...even the ones you never open.  One of the things that we do with our clients who we pay bills for and coach around financial empowerment, is create an Excel spreadsheet of all their debts, and keep the actual paper statements in a matching binder.  Once you've identified all your debts, you can create a place to start from in repaying what you owe.  About 15 years ago, at the age of 30, I paid off $25,000 in debt little by little.  What kept me from paying it for many years was the notion that it was so monumental that I would never be able to pay it off unless I borrowed more money to do it.  One day I had a revelation - I realized that if I created a plan to repay it all, each month, I could proudly acknowledge that I took action toward my goal of being debt free.  Once I began operating from this place, before I knew it, I had paid those debts down to about $6,000.  About six months after that I was able to increase the amount of my payments, and the last few thousand dollars go paid off in a much shorter time-frame.  I had done it!!

(5) Determine your net worth.  Now that you know exactly what you have, and exactly what you owe, calculate your net worth.  This is a very simple exercise where you list out your assets, and then list out your liabilities.  Your net worth is your assets minus your liabilities.  And don't be alarmed if your net worth is a negative number.  It doesn't mean it has to stay that way.  The first step in changing that number from a negative to a positive is acknowledging that for right now, its a negative number.

(6) Create a budget.  This is another service that we provide to our clients; creating a budget, and working with them to stick to it.  It takes a little discipline, but its not difficult to do.  One of the most important things about doing this is that you are able to recognize if your bills and expenses are more than your income.  In knowing this, you will have the power to eliminate the deficit by either cutting back and decreasing your expenses, or increasing your income.

(7) Pay attention to your money.  Our company uses a free online tool known as Mint.  Go to mint.com and check it out.  You set up all your bank accounts, credit cards and assets and it tracks your debit and credit card transactions.  By doing this you are able to track your spending, identify trends, and see where you are being smart and where you need to cut back.  You can even input the budget that you created in step 6 above, and Mint will send you text alerts when you go over your budget for any of your monthly expenses.

(8) Create a plan for paying down your debt.  This is another area that we work closely with our clients on.  Depending on how much debt you have, we suggest different strategies for getting the debts paid.  You may have to start off small, and you can increase your payments as you increase your earnings/income.  It is wise to work on paying off your debts with the highest interest rates first.  We also suggest getting all three of your credit reports and ensuring that all the information contained in them is correct.  Consider the items on your credit report as you decide who and what you are going to pay off first, even the creditors that may have sent you to collection agencies, but are not charging you interest.  Also, be sure to create a reasonable plan for repayment, ensuring that your goals are attainable.

I hope that these steps I've shared make a difference for you, and help you to restore your power around finances!

Is your cat or dog doing his or her business in the house?

One of the common problems that I see many of my clients dealing with is keeping the house clean, fresh and organized when they have cats or dogs.  Sometimes, dogs or cats will start going in the house in a particular area.  Here are some helpful tips to help manage this stressful problem:

1) For cats, make sure that the litter box is clean.  If you do not keep the litter box clean, cats will not use it.  Make sure you scoop the box out daily and change the litter as needed.  I suggest once per week.

2) If for some reason, your cat or dog has started to urinate or do any of his or her business in a particular spot in the house, this is the result of the enzymes that he or she can smell in that area.  It automatically draws them back to that spot to do their business.  What you need to do is eliminate the smell from previous offenses from that spot.  One of the home remedies for this is white vinegar.  Wash the area thoroughly with soap and water, and then soak the area in vinegar for 20 minutes or more.

3) You can also use the spray that is sold called "Urine Off."  You should be able to find it in pet stores, such as Pet Smart or Petco.  You may even be able to find it in Home Depot or the local supermarket.

4) For cats you can also try placing the litter box over that spot or area, in addition to the recommendation in number 2 above.

5) Take your dog out three times per day...at least 4 or 5 hours apart.

Maintaining an organized home when you have children

So often, moms hire me to organize the rooms of their little ones, pre-teens and even teenagers who are in high school.  What I've found is that, most of those households have tons of tools and systems for staying organized.  But what they do not have is structures...structures in place for their children to participate in the upkeep.  They'll have bins, book shelves, totes, nifty baskets, and many other devices that are so great for keeping the house organized.  And no matter how much of these tools and devices they have, they find that they aren't making a difference.  In these cases, I coach my clients to find ways to enroll their children in keeping their areas of the house tidy.

Here I am including some of the ideas that I pass along to my clients who are challenged by their children's belongings taking over the house or causing disarray:

1)  Find something that your kids love to do, and negotiate.  For example, if they love watching a particular show at 7, set up a time...maybe 6 - 6:30 in the evening three eves per week, before the show airs, to oversee them as they pick up their toys, put things away, and restore the order in designated areas of the house.  Make this a requirement if they want to watch their show at 7.

2)  One of the most common issues with number one above, that I hear from parents is:  "but what if I don't remember to do this?"  My answer to that is to put this activity into your phone/calendar, so that an alarm goes off and you are reminded when it's time to do it...and respect your alarm - don't put it off until later.  This is an example of what I am referring to when I use the word structures.

3) Create a game or contest!  I have a client who has twin boys who are challenged with making their beds everyday.  I coached her to created a game where, if both of the boys make their beds every morning, Monday through Friday, at the end of the week they would be rewarded (maybe an extra 1/2 hour of play or TV time; or maybe a trip out for ice cream on Friday evening after dinner).

4) Don't allow the kids' toys, books and etc to take over the house.  Instead, have designated areas (in their room, in the family room, etc).  Also, make collecting these items from around the rest of the house, and putting them away in the designated areas part of the clean up time that you schedule.

5) Be an example!  If your rule is that everyone washes their own dish after use, then wash yours too.  If the rule is for everyone to make their bed when they fall out of it in the morning, then make yours too!

If you start your children off with these practices, and they develop a muscle at using them, it will stay with them in their
teenage years and beyond.  The younger your children are when you start, the better, but it's never too late.

Dealing with Appointment Cancellations

As we get on with our day, things don't always turn out as planned.  Sometimes, we have our entire day laid out perfectly, and one or more of the people we plan to meet with call to cancel.  Typically, my first response to this is thinking that this time slot or part of the day is shot, and of how I could have booked someone else in that window. Immediately after this thought runs through my mind, I began to look at how I can make the best use of this time.  Below, I am sharing some of those ideas with you:

1) Offer to meet via Skype, phone or web.

2) Keep a running "to-do" list of things that aren't urgent, that is separate from your daily to-do list.  When you have a cancellation, pull out that list and take on completing one or two of the items on it.

3)  Catch up on social media!  If you have a blog, create a post; check up and respond to mail on your Linked In account; or update or post to your Facebook page.

4) Make some sales calls.  I keep a list with me at all times of current clients, as well as referrals.  I have booked some appointments that have really paid off, by sitting in my car making calls for a 1/2 hour after someone cancelled their meeting with me.

5) If you are a consultant like me, a good way to minimize client cancellations is to incorporate a cancellation fee into your client agreement.  Mine is only a fraction of what my charge would have been for the visit, but it still causes people to think twice about cancelling.



6) Pick up your dry cleaning, shoes from the shoemaker, or those few items on your shopping list that you've been meaning to grab.

7) Visit the local cafe (Panera Bread or Starbucks are my favorites) and read and respond to email...for me, I always have plenty of emails to read and many that require responses.

8) Check your voicemail and respond to messages.


This list is a little short, but it has certainly helped me to maintain my productivity when someone cancelled on me at the last minute.  I hope you find it useful!!

Document Management 101 - Organizing Your Documents

Ever wonder where to start as you stare across the room at the stacks of paper that continue to grow at home. Have you ever considered throwing out all those totes of papers but weren't sure what to keep and what to chuck? This blog is being written to provide you with some guidelines as you tackle all those piles of paper.


Documents to keep permanently:

• Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates
• Divorce, Citizenship, Adoption and Custody documents
• Social Security Cards
• Military Documents
• Medical History
• Appraisals (i.e. on jewelry, artwork, and other collectibles)
• Real estate documents and corresponding insurance policies and claim info 
• Tax Returns
• Wills and Advanced Directives (Power of Attorney, Living Will)

Determining how long to keep other documents:

• Once your year-end financial statements come in, you can chuck your monthly statements
• Utility bills need not be kept for more than 6 months; anything older than that can be accessed online
• I keep my credit card statements for 6 months in case I have to dispute anything or have a problem with merchandise purchased with a credit card. Generally, items purchased with a credit card are covered for replacement under certain conditions.

Travel Documents:

• When traveling internationally, email your documents to yourself before leaving for your trip. Be sure to send them to an email address that you can access from any computer. Include scanned copies of your passport, airline tickets, drivers license and if applicable, your visa.

As you work through your documents, be sure that you shred any documents that you plan to discard that have personal information on them (i.e. credit card statements older than six months, any documents with your social security number on them, etc.).

Managing Your Time Effectively

We all wear many different hats, and struggle from time to time with coming up with the best way to manage all of our priorities...between home, work, family, leisure time...how do we balance it all? Here are a few tips to not only help you get through the day, but to help you get the most out of your day, and be more productive. These tips can be applied both at home and at the office.

• When you start your day, write up a list of all that you'd like to accomplish for that day. Identify the priorities on the list and be prepared to shift things around, even moving some of the items to the following day if necessary. One thing I've learned is that its nearly impossible to stick to such a list exactly as it is written, or as you have planned it. I've found that I am far more productive when I remain flexible enough to deviate from the list in order to put out fires and/or handle emergencies, returning to the list once the emergency situation is under control.

• Don't be afraid to delegate when you need to. Many times, we are hesitant to ask for help and feel like we must do everything ourselves. One of the true characteristics of effective time management is knowing when and how to delegate tasks to those who are available and willing to assist you.

• I always recommend to my clients that they keep one calendar. Having more than one calendar leaves plenty of room for error - there's always the possibility that you might forget to update one of them and double book..or even worse..forget about an engagement because its not on the calendar you checked that day.

• Lastly, use your time wisely....even small intervals of time. This one is my favorites. Sometimes I'm amazed at how many things I have accomplished before arriving at the office in the morning. For example: in my area, Sams Club opens to business members at 7:30am, I often run in there at 8am to pick up a few items before going to my office in the morning. It is almost empty in there at that time, absolutely no crowds or long lines. Additionally, I often run out for lunch a little later in the day when most other people have already taken their lunch. This way I can handle errands like running to the bank or post office, and the lines aren't as long as they are around noon when everyone else takes lunch.

Organizing a Move

One of the biggest undertakings in life is managing a move.  There's researching neighborhoods and school systems, figuring out what's important to you in a community, deciding on what to take..what not to take...what needs to be replaced, and then there's packing.  Over the years I have provided move-related services to several people, and wanted to share some valuable tips to help move those of you with this project at hand through to the other side.

Whether your move is work-related, for family reasons, or for a change in climate, you may have already chosen your new community.  But in case you haven't, the following is a great site to do some research on different communities.  The site provides demographics on the neighborhood such as the average family income, demographic make up of the town, school ratings and more: http://www.moving.com/real-estate/city-profile/index.asp. 

If you are using a mover, be sure to conduct a thorough comparison of moving companies before you choose one.  Also, once you select one, make sure you read the fine print in the agreements and other paperwork.

The area in which I can be most helpful is providing advice regarding packing for the move.  Packing can be an overwhelming task, but you want to be sure that you do as much as you can on the front end, so that you have less to do when you land in your new home.  Here is a quick guide to help you with this task:

- You may have to purchase larger boxes, in which case I recommend a visit to Walmart.  Their boxes are much cheaper than the boxes sold at moving companies, storage facilities and truck rental companies.

- For smaller boxes, visit your local supermarkets and liquor stores.  In my experience, the people working in these stores have been very willing and helpful, letting me know what time to come gather boxes before they are put into the incinerator (sometimes its early in the morning or late at night).  The liquor store boxes are particularly good for glass items like drinking glasses, etc, because they are compartmentalized from the wine bottles being shipped in them.  The supermarket boxes are great for books because they are smaller and books are heavy.  You would not want to pack a large box full of books unless you are a body builder, in which case it would still be very awkward to carry :)

- When you begin your strategy for packing, think categories, but also work to pack a room at a time.  For example: when you pack your bedroom, you want to pack in categories like toiletries, shoes, small clothing (underwear, scarves, hats), etc. 

- Be sure to label every box with not only what it contains, but also what room it belongs in.

- Make sure you have enough insulation for your dishes, wine glasses, etc.  You can buy bubble wrap very reasonably at Walmart as well, but you also want to use resources around your home to minimize the cost, i.e. small plastic grocery store bags, newspaper, even paper bags and gift/tissue paper.

- In the kitchen you want to pack all the dry goods and seasonings together, and if you have any coolers, use them for the items in your refrigerator and freezer.  Of course you'd want to pack these at the very last minute.

- Also, you absolutely want to keep all cords that are detached, with the appliance that they go with, i.e. printers, cordless phones, etc.  You can tape those cords to their corresponding appliance so that you are not searching for them when you get to your new living space.

For the most part, if you work your way from room to room, remembering to pack like items together, and keeping the items in each room together for the most part, and labeling every box, you should be in pretty good shape when you arrive at your destination.

And if you simply cannot manage packing, or just choose not to, you can always hire a service to do it for you.  My customers can't share enough about the difference we've made for them in their moving process.

Lastly, when you get to your new home, unpack one room or half of a room at a time.  Don't try to do it all at once.

Hopefully, these tips will help make your moving process a little less stressful.