Interesting article...

I found this article on Yahoo! this morning and I found it to be VERY intersting. Click HERE to read about different shoppers. It was kinda funny :)

Which one are you?!

I personally have been guilty of being all of them at one time or another.

I buy things that I know I don't need, then take them back out of guilt. I buy one for me, and save the free one for a friend. I stayed up late before Black Friday to get deals, and carefully mapped out my plan for Black Friday (which only consisted of 2 items.)

WHICH ONE ARE YOU?

I keep asking because it's healthy to KNOW! Just like it's important to have a budget and to stick to it, it's important to know what kind of shopper you are and what your "Triggers" are for buying more and MORE and MORE!

WHICH ONE ARE YOU? Take the time to figure it out before the new year starts. :)

(Kinda graphic if you think about it... but SO true. This is the time to save money. In this tough economic time with so much uncertainty, this is the time to SAVE, not SHOP.)

FREE PANTIES AT VICTORIAS SECRET!

Tomorrow, get a FREE pair of New Years panties when you make any purchase at your local V.S. store.

Click HERE to view and print your coupon :)

HAPPY SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My room make-over challenge

I rarely get magazines in the mail or buy them. Actually, i NEVER do that. The library gets EVERY single magazine and I can go read them for free there. Ya know me... cheap is good--free is SO much better. BUT, if I can get a subscription for free than I ALWAYS do it. Even if it's just so that my daughter can have a magazine to cut up and make collages out of. ANYWAYS--I get Better Homes and Gardens for free which is awesome. I usually read it in 2 seconds and chunk it. Or attempt one of the "Fat burning" workouts they have in the back. But last week they sent January's edition and it was all about getting organized in the new year. I have known I needed to do that but i didn't even wanna THINK about it. BOO on organizing. I love it when it's done, but I HATE the process. So I knew that I had to make it fun.

Let me explain... my husband and I are both in school. We both work. We both have kids. We both have bills. We BOTH have crap that somehow ALWAYS ends up on the kitchen counter. (Grrrr....) So I KNEW that I needed an "office" type space. We now have a much bigger house and actually have the room for it so I knew at some point i'd have to transform the guest room to contain at least a desk for studying, bill writing, etc. But when i got this magazine i got SUPER inspired to start early.

Here is the picture that gave me the idea in the first place... (WARNING--my finished product will NOT look like this)

I challenged myself to do this in $100 dollars or less. So I set out on a journey... I found the desk first. KNEW I had to start somewhere... I bought this bargain for $25 bucks. It's not big, it's not small--it is PERFECT!!!!!!!

Then it was time to look for something to hang over the desk. Not a regular old peg board kinda thing, but something different. Something that could look like art, but could also allow me to tack things to it... so i headed to Michaels. I bought 2 pieces of styrofoam then went to Wally World and bought some fabric.

So fun, SO easy!! buy styrofoam of whatever size you are wanting. (This could serve as wall art, or as a board to hold memos, or a board to hold bows... it could really be ANYTHING you want it to be.) Then buy the fabric. Pretend you are wrapping a present. That's how you get the clean lines, pull the fabric tight and staple away!

It's not complete. I still have plenty of things that i need to find to go on the desk for organization purposes and some cute things just to have. :) But i am SO pumped at what I have so far!!!





CHRISTMAS!

How did you do with your Christmas budgets? did you blow it?

REMEMBER THIS... NOW is the time to start shopping for next year!!!! If you start now, you can be finished early and save stress AND money. If your family draws names... what BETTER time to do it then right now when Christmas is fresh in everyones mind?!?!?!

Begin making your new years resolutions involving budgets and finances. Share them with me if you can :)

When making a budget...

It's that time of year when make resolutions... AND it SHOULD also be the time of year that we focus on revamping our budgets!

When you are making your annual budget (i encourage weekly and monthly's as well to make sure you stay on track), you need to remember a few things!

1. Don't forget about credit cards. If you are sticking to your budget but using credit cards all the time then you HAVE to consider that. DON'T pat yourself on the back just yet... if you made the budget but credit cards are still covering every day costs then you need to re-vamp it...again!

2. Birthdays and holidays. You know that christmas rolls around every year JUST like your husbands birthday does... so BUDGET for that! Budgets are not meant to include only monthly bills with nothing extra attached to them. That's not the purpose.

3. Don't forget to save! It's GREAT if you are paying your bills on time and cutting back on exepenses but that does not give you a free card to spend all that extra money! The point is to get out of debt, then BUILD wealth and you can't build it if you spend every dime you make.

4. Don't foget ANYTHING! If you have to buy a new filter for the fridge once every 3 months, then budget for that! Dont let the little things escape your mind because they will also take your money with them!

There ya go...you ready for that budget????

Financially Responsible

Content by Sol Rosales

Being financially responsible wasn’t something I grew up learning how to do, unfortunately. When I graduated from college I had tons of credit card debt and student loans on top of it and I’m just now working my way out of that hole. I’ve been really responsible since I learned how to but man, what a change that was in my lifestyle. I looked into utility providers (who knew I had the power to choose?) to get the best rates and I talked to my landlord about coming down on rent. There were just so many ways to save a few bucks at a time that I eventually paid off most of my debt and I’ve been living on an all-cash budget since then. I don’t want to make the same mistakes or get myself into any trouble. I have a clean slate now and I’m working hard to build back up my credit so I can buy a house at some point, although that’s a long ways away. One can only dream about it!

Understanding finances

There are so many aspects of finances that I simply do NOT get. I understand couponing (finally) and I understand that sometimes you just have to cut back... but the overall BIG picture of the financial world has always gone over my head.

I'm a firm believer in doing your "homework" so to speak. If you want to be successful at anything--fighting a cold, winning an argument, getting the raise you want, or making millions--you MUST do your research. :) I'm a google fantatic. If it can't be googled, I don't want to know about it. lol. Okay, not REALLY but you know what i'm saying. Getting info and learning everything you can in life is important.

So WHAT ABOUT THE FINANCIAL WORLD? I just simply don't get it... let's take chemical investment banking for example. Without the help of the Valence Group website I wouldn't know a thing. I had NO idea that there was a team of experts out there that could help me invest in things such as chemicals and materials. These people are TRAINED to help me get the best bang for my buck,. Who woulda known?

Have you considered these type of investments. If so, you are going to need a chemical m&a advisory team! You will need advisors that can help you every step of the way. From the beginning when all you have are just questions, to the actual steps of investments and you will need someone to advise you every single step of the way!

I don't know much, but I DO know that I need to start investing NOW when I am just 27 years old.

what about you? Does the world of finances make perfect sense to you or do you find yourself totally confused?

When you HAVE to start over?

Every person in the world has had times in their life when they SO desired to press the reset button life. Or maybe just on a particular situation. BEEN THERE--done that. Did NOT want a t-shirt. We can switch jobs, make new friends, move, or change vehicles, but when it comes to finances it's just not that simple.

In today's hard economic times it's no suprise that bankruptcy numbers are up! When the economy goes down and people lose money and the things they used to throw away money on are no more--stress happens. Financial stress is one of the TOP reasons for divorce. Think about that for a second. Money can effect EVERYTHING. Not just your credit, or you ability or inability to shop or buy something, but it can take a toll on your marriage. On your family. On you.

If you are in a situation right now where you are looking for the reset button, then i encourage you to take a second to go through a credit counseling course. This may be something that has the BEST impact on you. Your financial situation may not be as bad as you were thinking, OR you may have been right all along. Pressing the reset button and filing bankcruptcy may be your best bet. I am not down on bankruptcy. Sometimes in life you HAVE to press that button even if it means facing consequences afterwards.

know your options. Feel confident about them. Do NOT let money and financial stress WRECK your life! Take control. Take a course that helps decide what is best for you!