This is me.....Then: November 2015

Saturday, November 28, 2015

My 7-Step Holiday Spending Strategy

MY 7-STEP HOLIDAY SPENDING STRATEGY

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This year, we decided to come up with a spending strategy for the holidays. So far, we have had one hiccup in our planning......we should've planned to have all holiday funds available by Black Friday. I will admit, my planning assumed that we would not need any holiday spending money until December. This left us without a spending plan when we found great deals during Black Friday. We ended up spending our own "fun" money and unaccounted for joint money. No bueno!

Aside from the one misstep above, I do believe our holiday shopping plan will run smoothly for the remainder of the year.

Rule #1: No going into debt for gifts. If we don't have the cash saved, we don't buy. Period.

Now, I present to you "My 7-Step Holiday Spending Strategy."

STEP 1: Make a budget and savings plan
We decided on a $500 budget and started a SmartyPig account to save the $500 over time. The savings goal was started in October. Next year, we will start planning a little earlier.
* Please note that this $500 budget does not include what my husband and I will spend on each other's gifts. Our gifts to one another does not come out of our joint banking account, but rather is purchased with our own "fun" money that we receive bi-monthly.

STEP 2: Finalize your holiday list and categorize/prioritize
We created a list of everyone we wanted to buy gifts for and assigned each person a maximum dollar amount that we would be willing to spend. We discussed possible gifts for each person. For the record, we set Selah's (our daughter) budget at $100. We also set our budget for holiday cards at $100. This leaves about $300 for others.

STEP 3: Redeem points in the form of gift cards (credit card, Ebates, uPromise)
I went to all of my online credit card accounts and rebate accounts to redeem any rewards or money that I had accrued over the past year. I was able to redeem a $25 Gap gift card with my Citi Thank You points, which were accrued over the past year for using my various Citibank accounts. Gift cards and money redemptions can be used in addition to the $500 we budgeted.

STEP 4: Strategically place money in Smarty Pig account
At the point when we made our budget in October, we started a SmartyPig savings goal and immediately funded the first $100 into that account. The plan was to put additional money in on a regular basis, but we got an old tax refund in the mail, which allowed us to not have the burden of having to save money out of our regular monthly payroll.

STEP 5: Redeem SmartyPig money in the form of transferred cash and strategically selected gift cards
This is the step I am at now. Unfortunately, I didn't think to redeem the money in our SmartyPig account in time for Black Friday, so we ended up having to spend our own cash or use the joint account when we found great deals during Black Friday. I intend to redeem the money we have saved by the end of next week.

STEP 6: Purchase gifts through websites during sale cycles through websites like eBates or UPromise....using gift cards obtained at a discount through SmartyPig.....while purchasing in-store at locations that provide better deals in-person.
Side Note: I just found out about a website called "Shopathome.com" that provides similar cash rebates to eBates and UPromise. Before I purchase anything online, I check all three websites to determine who offers the largest rebate.
SmartyPig allows you to redeem all or portions of your saved fund in the form of discounted gift cards.

STEP 7: Purchase gifts on my credit card that can not be purchased through the gift cards available through SmartyPig and other discount card sites/venues (Card to be paid off in Full)
Self-explanatory

Let me know in the comments if you have developed a holiday spending plan/strategy for your family. How did that turn out? Do you use credit cards for holiday shopping or do you only use cash and debit?

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Sign up for Ebates here.
Sign up for SmartyPig here. Mention my referral code: B9F6E44T
Sign up for UPromise here.

Monday, November 23, 2015

5 Weeks To The Holidays: Gift Wrap Organization

5 Weeks To The Holidays: Gift Wrap Organization

In mid-October, I committed to spending the next 10 Weeks Organizing my Holiday Celebrations with Organize365.com.. Please join me as I go through this challenge and feel free to follow the steps, as well.

I will start each week’s challenge on a Sunday (oops…..I’m a little late again) and the challenge will end on Saturday, December 26^th.

Last week, we decided what we would eat......for Thanksgiving. We will likely be house hopping for most of the Christmas holiday and will likely be responsible for a dish.

This week, we will be organizing our gift wrapping. Currently, we have several baby gift bags that we recycle from gifts given to our daughter for our baby shower and her 1st birthday party last May. We also have several other gift bags and wrapping paper that we have stored from previous holidays.

My goal for this week is to put all gift wrapping paper and gift bags in one location and make note of additional products that will be needed. I found one great organization suggestion on the Organize 365 website. The below picture shows how to store the gift bags in some kind of college crate.

As I find good prices on additional gifting products, I will buy and store them with the products that we already have. My main source for additional products are various dollar stores and Jack's.

How about you? Do you have a place where you store all of your gift wrap? Will you be buying more gift supplies for the holiday?

See the rest of the 10 Weeks to Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations:
10 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Commit
9 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Make A Plan

8 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Will You Send Cards?

7 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: What Do You Want To Do?
6 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: What Will You Eat?
5 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Gift Wrap Organization {You're here!}
4 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Decorating The House
3 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Stock Up On Basics
2 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Create Bags For Each Event
1 Week To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: DeClutter and Donate Old Toys

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

I WILL TEACH YOU TO BE RICH…..Starting Today!

I WILL TEACH YOU TO BE RICH…..Starting Today!

Okay, okay! WE will teach you to be rich….starting today!

My co-partner in crime is Ramit Sethi, the author of the New York Times bestseller, I Will Teach You To Be Rich. While he has authored the book, I will be doing the reading. I will be breaking down theories and steps in the book, as well as providing real life examples and cute little antidotes.

SPOILER ALERT:

The key to being rich (according to Ramit) is to set up accounts at a reliable no-fee bank and then automate savings and bill payment, then know a few things to invest in and let your money grow for 30 years.

MY TAKE:

It takes a bit (lot) more than that and I will make sure to bring up any areas that Ramit tries to tip toe over.

I WillTeach You To Be Rich is broken up into 6 weeks of topics, followed by a set of action steps. At the end of the 6 weeks, if you follow all of the action steps, Ramit promises that you will be well on your way to being rich…..if you are consistent and faint not. :-)

By the way, this is my November/December read and I will be going through and completing all 6 weeks of action steps by the end of the year. Feel free to join me each week while I discuss the topic and action steps towards richness, indeed.

WEEK 1: OPTIMIZE YOUR CREDIT……CARDS

While there are experts out there (Ahem…..Dave Ramsey) that believe that debt is against the bad and that you avoid it and a credit score at all costs. My beliefs are more in-line with what is taught by Ramit.

If you do not know how to responsibly use debt, avoid it like a plague (or get some discipline). However, if you are have the discipline to use your card prudently and to pay off your credit card every month, it can actually be a benefit.

Even if you have the money in your account, who wants to have that ridiculous hold that hotels put on your account when you use your debit card to reserve your room? When you rent a car, who wants to pay that ridiculous insurance, when there are really good credit cards out there with exceptional coverage? When you buy an expensive product and something goes wrong, who wants to wait for the bank to put the money back into your bank account? Who wants to pay for an extended warranty, when there are credit cards out there who will give you an extra year or two, just for making the purchase on their card? If I can save major money by utilizing the benefits that only credit (not debit) cards provide and I know that I am going to pay the full balance off that month, I choose credit.

To optimize your credit you must do the following…..THIS WEEK!

1. Know what is on your credit report and know your FICO score.

a. Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com and receive a copy of 1 (or all three) of your credit reports for free. Make sure that they are accurate. Work to remove all negative credit history over time.

b. Get your credit score. You can purchase it from MyFICO and other websites for a nominal fee, but I would suggest getting it for free. I monitor my credit score through Credit Sesame, Credit Karma and one of my credit cards.

2. Set up your credit cards

a. Do you have an active credit card? If not, do your research and get one (unless, of course, you fall into that undisciplined category). If no one will have you, find a good provider of secured credit cards that will report your payment history to the credit agencies to help you build credit. Otherwise, find a card with the most benefits that will fit your lifestyle.

3. Make sure you are handling cards effectively

a. Set up auto pay to pay off the full balance each month. Split the payments to match your paycheck schedule, if necessary.

b. Get fees waived and negotiate a lower APR, where relevant.

c. Become familiar with the benefits offered by your card and make good use for them, when needed.

4. Make a plan and start paying down debt (if applicable)

a. I am a fan of the Snowball Method (as suggested by Dave Ramsey). List all of your debts from smallest to largest. Pay the minimum on all the debts, except the smallest debt. Based on your budget, pay an additional amount on this debt each month. Once that debt is paid off, move to the next smallest debt. In addition to the minimum due that you had already been paying, roll the amount that you were previously paying on the smallest debt over to the next smallest debt, and so on and so on, until all of your debts are paid off.

b. In addition to the snowball method, I am also a proponent of the Snowflake Method. If you get a side hustle, if you find a penny on the ground, if you get a bonus check or tax refund, etc., etc……apply that extra money to the lowest debt.

* Personally, we have paid off all of our credit card debt and are currently working on obliterating some rather stubborn student loans (long story…..don’t want to talk about it). Once that is complete, I fully plan to work Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps as outlined in his Total Money Makeover book. We never stopped our 401k contributions, as he suggests, but that is because I did not think it was the best plan of action. However, that’s another story for another day.

I encourage you to go through the 4 steps listed above with me. Let’s try to get rich together and if it doesn’t work for us, we can all blame Ramit Sethi.

BUY BOOKS HERE:

I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

The Total Money Makeover: A proven plan for financial fitness by Dave Ramsey

Monday, November 16, 2015

6 Weeks to the Holidays: What will you eat?

I will start each week’s challenge on a Sunday (oops…..I’m a little late again) and the challenge will end on Saturday, December 26^th.

Last week, we discussed what we are doing for the holidays. It's still not completely decided, but we've agreed on some things.

~ Thanksgiving at our place.

~ We will participate in our typical Christmas Eve traditions and have added a new tradition to the mix. Our Christmas Eve traditions include:

1) We buy each other pajamas to be opened and worn on Christmas Eve

2) We buy each other a book to be opened on Christmas Eve

3) *new tradition* We buy a gift for the house that can be enjoyed by all of us and open it on Christmas Eve.

~ Christmas Day is undecided, but likely will spend it at home

This week, we decide on what we will eat.

One thing is for sure. We will have a turkey for Thanksgiving. I believe we have a little under $60 to spend between now and Thanksgiving to earn a free turkey at ShopRite.

Christmas dinner is undecided, but we will discuss it, this week.

How about you? What will you be cooking for the holidays? Do you have any food traditions that you automatically know that you will have each year?

See the rest of the 10 Weeks to Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations:
10 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Commit
9 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Make A Plan

8 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Will You Send Cards?

7 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: What Do You Want To Do?
6 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: What Will You Eat? {You're here!}
5 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Gift Wrap Organization
4 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Decorating The House
3 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Stock Up On Basics
2 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Create Bags For Each Event
1 Week To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: DeClutter and Donate Old Toys

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

7 Weeks to the Holidays: What are you going to do?

I will start each week’s challenge on a Sunday (oops…..I’m a little late again) and the challenge will end on Saturday, December 26^th.

Last week we decided if we would send out cards. The plan is to send out cards. I sent my husband a link to Minted last week, so that we can agree on a design. I used Minted for my daughter's birth announcement cards, last year, and they were absolutely stunning. The cards are not as cheap as Shutterfly*, but the quality is totally worth it. Either we will use some of the pictures we took this past Spring with our favorite family photographer (Photography by Jen Davis), we will use one of Selah's school pictures (that she's actually taking today) or we will be getting pictures taken specifically for the purpose of the Christmas/ Holiday cards.

Beginning today (well.....Sunday actually), there are 7 Weeks to Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations and the task for the week is to decide what we want to do.

The things we will be discussing are:

1) Where will we be spending Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the weekend after Christmas?

2) What foods do we want to make and which dishes will we request that others provide?

3) What about Christmas activities? Tree lighting ceremony? Sesame Place?

4) What about decorations? Do we want a Christmas tree? Real or fake? Do we want a wreath for the door? Any new ornaments?

So how about you? Are you into Holiday Planning? Have you thought about what you will eat, where you will go and how you will decorate?

See the rest of the 10 Weeks to Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations:
10 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Commit
9 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Make A Plan

8 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Will You Send Cards?

7 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: What Do You Want To Do? {You’re here!}
6 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: What Will You Eat?
5 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Gift Wrap Organization
4 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Decorating The House
3 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Stock Up On Basics
2 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Create Bags For Each Event
1 Week To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: DeClutter and Donate Old Toys

* Shutterfly is offering 50% off on all cards and 20% off on all photo cards purchased through the links on this page by December 31st, 2015.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Love & Respect

During the month of July, we attended a 4-week marriage conference at Fellowship Alliance Chapel (FAC) in Medford, NJ.

There were many takeaways that we got from the conference. The most tangible were:

1) Matching T-Shirts (mine not shown)

2) A book entitled, "Love & Respect"

The philosophy of this book is based on Ephesians 5:33, which reads:

“However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” (NIV)

According to the author, this is the secret (and God given instructions) to a happy marriage.....or at least a marriage that is pleasing in God's eyes.

RULES OF THE GAME:

- Women have an innate need to have someone love them, to make them special and to make them the most important one in their life. Men have the need to feel respected and admired by the woman in his life.

- When women do not feel love from their spouse, they tend to be disrespectful towards them. When the man feels disrespected, he tends to withdraw his love. This is called the "Crazy Cycle" because it goes on an on in a downward spiral, unless someone decides to make a change.

- Who should make the first move? The one who sees himself or herself as the most mature.

Taking the role of the mature mate and moving first may be risky, but it is very powerful. The fear, of course, is that you will show love or respect to your spouse and get a bad response. However, holding back your love or respect will just keep the Crazy Cycle spinning away. Being mature and making the first move could slow it down or even stop the crazy cycle.....and take you to the "Energizing Cycle. "

The basic principle of the Energizing Cycle is as follows:

HIS LOVE MOTIVATES HER RESPECT; HER RESPECT MOTIVATES HIS LOVE

What if your spouse is unmotivated, no matter how you act towards them?

A HUSBAND IS TO OBEY THE COMMAND TO LOVE EVEN IF HIS WIFE DOES NOT OBEY THE COMMAND TO RESPECT, AND A WIFE IS TO OBEY THE OMMAND TO RESPECT EVEN IF THE HUSBAND DOES NOT OBEY THE COMMAND TO LOVE, UNCONDITIONALLY.

This brings us to the "Rewarded Cycle."

HIS LOVE BLESSES REGARDLESS OF HER RESPECT; HER RESPECT BLESSES REGARDLESS OF HIS LOVE.

Throughout the book, the author emphasizes that if the husband and wife are both people of basic good will, they can use Love and Respect principles to make a bad marriage into a good one and a good marriage into a great one. However, even if your wife does not show you respect or your husband does not show you love, God commanded men to love their wives and women to respect their husbands.......unconditionally!

Unconditional love and unconditional respect will be rewarded.

If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? (Matthew 5:46 NIV)

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. (Ephesians 6:7-8 NIV)

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church--for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:21-33 NIV)

What you do matters to God. Nothing is wasted.

*This book can be purchased on Amazon.com

Home

Saturday, November 28, 2015

My 7-Step Holiday Spending Strategy

Monday, November 23, 2015

5 Weeks To The Holidays: Gift Wrap Organization

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

I WILL TEACH YOU TO BE RICH…..Starting Today!

Monday, November 16, 2015

6 Weeks to the Holidays: What will you eat?

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

7 Weeks to the Holidays: What are you going to do?

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Love & Respect