We were visiting friends yesterday, they just recently bought a new home. How exciting that is when you are settling in and figuring out where everything is going to go….then the gaps or wanted upgrades start showing up. This is what this family has run into. It is tough especially if you are going into a larger home, it can also be overwhelming and quite crazy because “re-decorating” can get a bit expensive. Not impossible, it just takes a little planning. My suggestion to this friend was to go from room to room and make a “wish list” of home improvements/furniture/accessories that she would like to do. Generally speaking she could put price estimates/budget on it for now until she is ready to start “window shopping” for that particular item/improvement. The next thing is going to be to figure out what cash flow she has as well as what percentage her and her husband will decide on will go for home improvement and what will go for debt reduction, this is after all the bills/living expenses are accounted for. My suggestion was to set it up automatically, set up a separate “home improvement” account that money gets funneled into from each check, as well as the “debt reduction” account. The rest of the check is for on-going expenses. This way, they are still working towards debt reduction but also have a plan to get the home improvements they want to do. Once the automatic account is set up they will know how much money they have to work with, do they want to start saving up for a big item or knock out a whole bunch of little items. This is when the list is pulled back out and now prioritized to figure out what they want done and when.

Of course the money flowing into the home improvement account will never be enough or fast enough. So some suggestions to fast forward the plan a bit would be to cut the everyday expenses so you can funnel more into the home improvement account. Also look for free financing for XX months, then plan accordingly, so when the plan comes due that money is sitting in your home improvement account. Perhaps a 0% credit card that can be paid off with the home improvement account. I would suggest working with the D2D Money calendar to make sure these options are workable, since we don’t want to create more debt doing these options. Other income sources can always boost the plan as well; i.e., garage sale, extra hours if you can pick them up, a seasonal job, eBay/craigslist listings, maybe a special talent that you can make into an income stream.

We made these over the weekend, they are so easy and yummy, thought I would share, we got this off the Kellogg website. I didn’t know you could freeze them….good to know…

3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows
- OR -
4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies®

1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
2. Add KELLOGG’S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS:
In microwave-safe bowl heat butter and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Follow steps 2 and 3 above. Microwave cooking times may vary.

Note

For best results, use fresh marshmallows.
1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow crème can be substituted for marshmallows.
Diet, reduced calorie or tub margarine is not recommended.
Store no more than two days at room temperature in airtight container. To freeze, place in layers separated by wax paper in airtight container. Freeze for up to 6 weeks. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

I was reading an article that I thought was interesting (link to full article below), that restaurants can be an indicator as to how the economy is doing. I thought it was interesting the results, since last October was when everything blew up with the economy. Mimi’s Cafe I thought was interesting, was everybody in denial last year and continued eating out OR have people started to watch their budgets more and refrained from eating out in the more expensive, trendy hot spots. In the article it even cited the surprise with McD’s, even their sales are slowing, which may be an overall indicator that people may be slowing down on spending and eating at home more. What would have been really interesting to see is a comparison chart for grocery stores, to see if they had the opposite affect with better sales in this same period. Food for thought…haha, pun intended.

Restaurant Chain October Same-Store Sales

McDonald’s -0.1% / 3.3% (U.S. / overall)

Bob Evans Restaurants -2.0%

Mimi’s Cafe -7.2%

Buffalo Wild Wings (Nasdaq: BWLD) 0.8% / 1.9% (company-owned / franchised)

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) 2.7%

Cheesecake Factory -2.8%* *Results for recently announced third quarter.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/11/12/diners-trading-up-down-or-staying-in.aspx

I had a great and exciting conversation with a client the other day. Part of what I do as a Financial Organizer is to find out where people are today, and then help put plans/goals together to get them where they want to be(part of the $150 yearly membership). One of the tools I use is called the Pay-Off Calculation Worksheet, it is an awesome automated little tool that I created to help show how many months until payoff for each debt someone holds, and prioritizes them by APR, etc. If you want to do this yourself, just take the APR times balance, divide by 12, take away your payment, then deduct from balance, that is what you will pay down in a year.

Well I was working on one with a client and we were playing with the numbers adding to money she could use to pay down debt each month, the snowball effect was amazing and we had a very productive/realistic plan going forward as to how she could get where she wanted to be….faster. Since she is having it auto-debited from her paycheck, she doesn’t see the “extra” money and she can’t spend what she doesn’t get. Now her plans/goals are on auto-pilot and she doesn’t even have to sit down and crunch numbers each month, she knows what she has to work with AFTER her debt-free plan is paid for each paycheck and she lives off what’s left.

Commit to a plan and put it on auto-pilot…and before you know it, you will be where you want to be, painlessly as possible.

Reading an article from Suze Orman, (link below), she had some good points, but the overall best thing I got from the article is stop worrying about things that you have no control over, sort of the concept from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, take care of the things in your circle of influence and don’t fret about things that you have no control over. For instance in your personal situation, you cannot control home values, if you are living in a home you like and plan on staying there…ignore the news stories, the website alerts, etc that are saying that the home values are taking a dive. Better to stay on your plan and not worry what “evaluators” are saying about your house. Same with your 401K or stock portfolio, you need to set up a plan that you are comfortable with and not look at what the ticker across the bottom of your screen is doing, and have that determine your day. If you are fretting you need to get more conservative so it isn’t running your life.

So take that time and fretting and put it to good use, set aside 1/2 hour per week(if you are a client, set up a phone call with me, we will come up with something for your situation!) to do something to improve your financial situation. Set up an auto-payment, or set up accounts on line so billing paying is just clicks away. Jot down your 2010 financial goals. Set up your D2D Money calendar to make sure all the bills are covered for 2010, with your spending plans in place. Set-up that rainy day fund through your paycheck. Research to see if you are over paying for car/life/health insurance, phone/internet/TV. Sit down and plan your financial week, bills, car fill ups, gifts need, groceries, date night. These are all the things that you do have control over and once addressed you will not lose sleep over your financial concerns. Last night I got a new client set up on the D2D Money calendar, he was shocked that everything was laid out in front of him and all he had to do is follow the Calendar and he never had to worry about not being able to pay a bill or running out of money. He said it was amazing and hard to believe that one tool could give him such peace of mind. If you want to test out the D2D calendar, email me and I will get you the remainder of the 2009 Calendar, FREE, to test drive. It will take less than 1/2 an hour to set up and it populates the whole calendar year.

http://www.oprah.com/article/oathome/200806_oah_money/3

Reminder that I am giving a FREE Money Challenges Seminar tonight at the Winter Haven YMCA, from 6pm-7:30pm, or until all the questions are answered. Join me in learning how to identify your areas of concern regarding your money and how to overcome and succeed with your money. Also you can test drive my D2D Money Calendar and see my other Money tools in action.

If you can’t make it tonight but would like to test drive the D2D Money Calendar for the remainder of 2009, Free, please email me at darcey.martin@d2dsolutions.com and I will send it. And if you are already using the D2D Money Calendar and would like to get the Calendar for 2010 it is $29.95. If you have a current membership ($150 per year for my services-full money analysis, goal/plan setting, coaching, tools, etc), it is included, and you should be receiving it in December, if you want it earlier send me an email.

I was reading an article about Woman and Happiness….just to let you know we aren’t as happy, collectively, as we were 40 years ago (Link to article below) Anyway the article went into a whole bunch of reasons but I thought the most interesting part of the article was the following quote. Apparently, we Moms are just plain stressed out, or that is what we are projecting to everyone around us.

“And the kids appear to be aware of this. A recent study of a thousand 3rd- through 12th-graders asked: “If you were granted one wish that would change the way that your mother’s work affects your life, what would that wish be?” In a parallel study, their mothers were asked to guess what their children would wish for. Here’s what they found: “Most mothers (56 percent) guessed that their children would wish for more time with them. In fact, only 10 percent of children made that wish. Their most frequent wish: ‘I want my mom to be less stressed and tired’ (34 percent).”

This was quite the ah-ha moment for me, most mom’s who work outside the home deal with the guilt of not spending more time with their kids….but that is not what the kids see, it is Mom being stressed and tired……..so conclusion, whether you are a working Mom or a stay at home Mom, we need to take care of ourselves so we are not projecting “stressed and tired” to all those around us. How to do that? Less scheduled activities, less TV, less computer time and probably less housework and more sleep. We all want to be super-Moms but all our kids want is what is best for US!! Now that is an AH-HA that we need to acknowledge. I know it is going to make me more aware of what I am projecting out to my kids.

http://www.oprah.com/article/money/career/pkgstrongestlife/20091019-orig-marcus-buckingham-certain/3

Okay, so I was a little skeptical myself on this one. We have health insurance coverage through Aetna and they have been talking up these health coaches as well as 24 hr nurse on call, you just call Member Services and the nurse is an option. I actually used the option last week and it worked really well, I was impressed with the professionalism and the knowledge and the confirmation of information that I was given. It also saved me a $30 co-pay, always a good thing with me. I will give you my example and I encourage you to try it if you have a question and have Aetna or if you have another insurance provider that offers you this service. My little girl, yes the same one who had H1N1, I hope this is not starting a trend with her. Well she slammed her finger in the door over the weekend, it instantly turned purple but we were able to stop the crying with a “special powers” ring, so we figured no big deal. A few days went by, a neighbor told us not to poke a hole in the nail or it could open everything up for infection, that we should just leave it. Well come Wednesday, it was ugly, she had a bulge in the area below her nail and it was all bruised. It didn’t feel hot to the touch but it looked pretty bad, I was tossing around the idea of taking her in because it looked that bad. I had a flyer from the mail advertising this nurse on duty thing with Aetna, so I figured it couldn’t hurt. I got right through, explained my situation, she asked some great questions, I answered them, she gave me some great info including confirming that poking a hole is a no-no, and gave me signs to look for, if those things happen, she said get in to see your Dr., this assured me that I was not under-reacting or being a bad Mom for not running to the Dr. Well none of those bad things happened, her nail is still black but the nurse also said this would go away, the bump in the area under her nail is gone and she hasn’t even mentioned it in days.

So lessons learned, try out those free resources it may give you a pleasant surprise and save you a few bucks. I will definitely be calling them prior to running to the Dr. in the future.

I recently had to google “How to get crayon out of carpet?” (Don’t ask ) A suggestion was WD-40 and a brush, low and behold, it worked. Ironically this AM I got sent an email about all the different uses of WD-40. The main ingredient is Fish Oil it is safe on so many things, I was shocked but am a believer after the carpet episode.

Here are some other uses:

1. Protects silver from tarnishing.
2. Removes road tar and grime from cars.
3.. Cleans and lubricates guitar strings.
4. Gives floors that ‘just-waxed’ sheen without making them slippery.
5. Keeps flies off cows.

6. Restores and cleans chalkboards.
7. Removes lipstick stains.
8. Loosens stubborn zippers.
9. Untangles jewelry chains.
10. Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.

11. Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
12. Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing.
13. Removes tomato stains from clothing.
14. Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.
15. Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.

16. Keeps scissors working smoothly.
17. Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes.
18. It removes black scuff marks from t he kitchen floor! Use WD-40 for those nasty tar and scuff marks on flooring. It
doesn’t seem to harm the finish and you won’t have to scrub nearly
as hard to get them off. Just remember to open some windows if you
have a lot of marks.
19. Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car if not
removed quickly! Use WD-40!
20. Gives a children’s playground gym slide a shine for a
super fast slide.

21. Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of
handling on riding mowers.
22. Rids kids rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises.
23. Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes
them easier to open.
24. Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
25. Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles,
as well as vinyl bumpers.

26. Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27. Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans.
28. Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and
bicycles for easy handling.
29. Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps
them running smoothly.
30. Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
31.. Removes splattered grease on stove.
32. Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.
33. Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34. Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
35. Removes all traces of duct tape.

36. Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to
relieve arthritis pain.
37. Florida ’s favorite use is: ‘cleans and removes love bugs
from grills and bumpers.’
38. The favorite use in the state of New York , WD-40 protects
the Statue of Liberty from the elements.
39. WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a little on live bait or lures
and you will be catching the big one in no time. Also, it’s a
lot cheaper than the chemical attractants that are made for just
that purpose. Keep in mind though, using some chemical laced baits
or lures for fishing are not allowed in some states.
40. Use it for fire ant bites. It takes the sting away
immediately and stops the itch.

41. WD-40 is great for removing crayon from walls. Spray on
the mark and wipe with a clean rag.
42. Also, if you’ve discovered that your teenage daughter
has washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry,
saturate the lipstick spots with WD-40 and rewash.. Presto!
The lipstick is gone!
43. If you sprayed WD-40 on the distributor cap, it would
displace the moisture and allow the car to start.

P. S. The basic ingredient is FISH OIL.

Well that isn’t very fair, and on top of them getting a prime plan, not social security, they don’t even pay into it. Wow, sign me up for that program. I recently got an email with this information. A quote from email, “You see, Social Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their rare elevation in society. They felt they should have a special plan for themselves. So, many years ago they voted in their own benefit plan. In more recent years, no congress person has felt the need to change it. After all, it is a great plan. For all practical purposes their plan works like this: When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die. Except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments. …… ” Sounds like it is a pension plan of sorts, they should have the great opportunity(sarcasm) to pay into 401K’s and SS like the rest of us, those programs are good enough to “secure” our futures, they should be good enough for our public servants. Instead we have to pay into our individual programs AND pay for their plan as well through taxes, doesn’t seem quite fair to me.

The question is, how are the “people” going to get Congress and the Senate to vote for something that would hurt their back pocket?