neither haste :: nor waste

Monthly Budgeting Can Be Hard Work

February 19, 2010

Overseeing my monthly budget has always been a headache, juggling between usual monthly bills and unanticipated expenses. My paycheck was already spent as soon as I received it. I get stacks of bills every month and put them off to the last minute, then dealt with them all in a flush. As a solution I ended up taking money from the next pay just to make it through. The problem was not related to how much money I made, it’s that I didn’t know how to manage mybudget. In the case of any emergency, landed me even deeper in debt.

Most of us have been in this situation. We try to be careful with our money, but long before month-end, the money is gone. Paying Off bills is a juggling act that most of us don’t have the time or energy to comprehend. There’s always one bill that was forgotten or delayed, one more expense we weren’t organized for. With school supplies and fees for the kids, groceries, new tires for the car, and the rising cost of petrol, just making it from paycheck to paycheck is hard enough; saving money is out of the question. Meanwhile, debt is softly building up. How can I get mybudget under control?

I was fortunate to have found a service which will help me manage my money more wisely and take away the stress of paying off monthly bills, allowing me to focus on the things that really matter to my family. I can ultimately relax not distressing about money, knowing that my monthly budget are in good hands.

How financial planning services work:
During your first consultation, your budget consultant will go over all of your existing debts and monthly payments and prepare a program that works for you. They will set aside money for savings, emergencies, and long term investment, ensuring your family’s financial security. If you are planning a major purchase, this will be forecasted into your budget so that when you are ready to buy, the money will be there for you.

Your paychecks are usually deposited with your financial planner, and a seperate living expenses account is setup for you. Your bills are directly delivered to your budgeting specialist for payment. There is a chance that your consultant can lower your monthly payments and reduce your outstanding debt by negotiating with creditors. A affordable monthly fee is assessed for all these services.

For me, the best monthly service my budget specialist provides is peace of mind. No more fuss with bill payment; I know my bills will be paid on time, and that I’ll have money in reserve for life’s little emergencies. My budget is finally under control, thanks to my financial planning service.

Learn to Manage Your Monthly Budget

January 20, 2010

While managing your budget can be stressful, not handling your monthly budget can contribute to putting you further in debt if you are not cautious. Managing your budget properly has many gains including saving you money and help relief some of your stress over debt. Always keep in mind that a budget is principally a program for your monthly expenditure. Your budget, like any programme, demands some degree of management gain success. The manner I handle mybudget, for instance, is by concentrating on keeping information organised and controlling my spending.

My main focus is on organizing the info in my budget. For instance, I keep track of running expenses like utilities, auto and mortgage repayments, insurance, and the like. Consider that without coordinating my budget, I can very easily lose track of my spending. By being informed of what expenditures repeat every month, I have an imminent hold on the minimum amount of money I have to put aside each month before I spend on other things I can monitor a little more such as entertainment, clothing, and holidays.

To make a financial progression, I make sure that I supervise my expenditure tightly in my budget. A strong measure of progress is placing money into a savings instrument or paying down debt. However, if I over spend, the opposite is true because rather than saving money I will use debt to help me cover the monthly expenditure in my budget. Distinctly, giving in to the stresses of budgeting can have expensive consequences for my finances, especially if I am unable to pay down my debt.

There are two gains for controlling and organizing my budget: First, I save money by fending off unnecessary expenses. Second, my finances are pointed at reaching financial goals. Basically, by spending sagely and buying only things that are essential, I am actually freeing up money that I can either use for something else or save. The spare money can also be useful in paying off debt or saving it for a holiday. In addition to having extra money, it will also allow me to establish longer term financial goals like saving and investing for retirement or paying off my mortgage or student loans. With my budget being organized and moderated, not only does my financial situation become more dependable but successfully managing my budget reduces the stress that often comes with being in debt.

Monthly Budgeting as a Long Term Strategy

November 23, 2009

If you are reading this, you’re most likely looking for a way to get control of your finances. Formulating and sticking to a monthly budget has always been one of the ideal methods to do this. Having a sound budget is important for managing your finances, one that has allowed me to live well even on limited funds. One of the most important things that I do every month is planning my monthly budget, and it has allowed me to systematically meet all expenditures, grow my savings, and eliminate debt.

I map out my budget for the upcoming month on about the 20th of the current month. This gives me a clearer view of my spending in the coming month. It’s not a good idea to prepare a budget after getting paid because, too often, that flush feeling of getting a paycheck leads to nonessential and spontaneous spending before the paycheck ever reaches the bank.

Start your personal budget by outlining all the things that must be paid that month like rent, electricity bills, insurance policies, loan repayments and telephone bills. The general idea is to apportion a budget for the things that I must pay to keep a adequate roof over my head and continue earning money. I like to pad these necessities to create “money back” after paying the bills and, if costs increase unexpectedly, I’m always covered.

Next, my budget is subjected to a list of discretionary things I need to cover but could live without if absolutely unavoidable. An example are monthly savings deposits, credit card repayments and donations. These things are also necessary, but in instance of emergency I could put them off for a short time. By giving credit card companies the maximum instead of the minimum, I keep my credit score high and my debt low.

My budget does not include the cost of food, clothing, or entertainment. These expenses get covered by what’s left over and that’s that. Some months involve lots of beans and rice, slow-cooker meals, free or cheap entertainment, and only one inexpensive piece of clothing . This strategy of handling my monthly budget has worked out very well over the long term as long as I honor it conscientiously.

Regained Hair & My Confidence!

August 24, 2009

The day I started noticing my receding hairline and bald spot growing bigger, I embarked on my hair loss treatment journey. I would always find ways to comb my hair in a certain way to hide my hair loss. I discovered myself wearing more hats on the weekends as I went out with my wife, friends or family. Walking in to work every morning was a painful experience without my hat on. You change the way you think when you are experiencing hair loss. It is so true that you never know what you have until you lose it. That can be accurate about your hair loss.

Having suffered from balding, I started to appreciate every strand of hair that I had left. It was as if with each individual hair I lost, so was a small part of my confidence gone as well. A friend of mine had the same problem as me. Yet lately he seemed so much more relaxed and I observed that it was as if his hair was growing back. I didn’t wanted to bring it up but after a while I decided to ask. That is when he told me about Advanced Hair Studio. My friend Josh told me that he had only had a few treatments and has already started to see some results, he not only regrown his hair, but his self-confidence as well. After seeing what Josh has attained from Advanced Hair, I made up my mind to pay them a visit.

I have to admit that I was a little skeptical at first. But within a few weeks the effects were . Not only on my scalp, but in my attitude. I started to lose the caps on the weekends and I quickly started to feel better about myself. My wife has also pointed out a change in my day to day behaviour as well. It is amazing how just a few visits to the Advanced Hair Studio had begun to change my life as a whole. I always felt as if the first thing people noticed about me was my bald spot. Now, I am not frightened to look people in the eyes again as I have my full set of hair back.

Advance Hair Studio has not only given me back my hair, but a big chunk of my confidence as well. If you are experiencing hair loss I highly recommend them as it has done so much for me in just a few months of treatments. Don’t let your self-confidence continue to be lost with your hair.

Own it! Natural Wigs Encourage Spirit

May 31, 2009

Browsing human hair wigs on the Internet won’t feel like your ideal shopping trip. Trust me, I’m a well-to-do woman blessed with unfortunate alopecia. I hold pride because I’m known (only by a few - hehe) to discreetly and naturally enhance my look with several well-done lace front wigs from my collection. I’ve got a hunch it won’t take long to discover your hidden confidence after experiencing the natural style and feel of well-made human hair wigs. I’ve seem them make a difference for so many celebrities in need.

There’s a good chance we have held similar fears that brought tears to my eyes. “Will it slide around?” along with “Will it match my hair texture?” were my biggest worries, most definitely. These early worries can be troublesome when you look at the facts so you can understand how many fabulous looking options are on the market. Alopecia wigs, made from actual hair, grant ladies of all types with confidence. There’s nothing to dwell over! There’s a reason people rarely think wigs are any good. Simply ’cause most never even know it from a full head of hair.

I’ll offer some wig shopping tips you should weigh. Hands down the best wigs are made from human hair. Wigs styled from human hair are roughly three times more expensive compared to the others with good reason. They may be 300% more valued by their wearers! I strongly recommend them. But if its just too much for the pocketbook, synthetic hair can be a good option and deserving your deliberation.

I spring for human hair wigs because several reasons. They last longer and I match my natural color with dye. Plus, they don’t itch my shoulders.

The choice is yours, so take your time to pick a full bodied hair piece that does your image justice, so you’ll own the look you’ve earned in confidence. Feel better about your appearance, but even more important, feel natural wearing it. Just like for any a terrific haircut, a wig expresses your unique humanity.

Stand Tall!

Denise Kaufman

Everything You Sought to Know about Anxiousness and Panic Therapy

March 12, 2009

We dwell in a world awash with tension and timetables. It seems that the more we acquire technology and means to produce things more rapidly, the more anxiety attacks increase. We should study this further. One might believe that progress in technology would lead to easing stress. However, anxiety and depression appear worse now than they ever were in the past. I guess it’s possible that in the past, people simply didn’t mention it. For sure that is not the same nowadays. Truth is, if you are a TV watcher, chances are that you have encountered an ad for a medicine, which offers panic attacks treatment (http://panicattacks-treatment.com).

More and more humans are confronting their problems in this innovative world of solutions. Whether it be sleep associated or fright of public spaces, researchers keep making progress with new solutions. Anxiety and depression are surely at the top of this long list. When I ponder the notion of depression, I think of an individual who has of late suffered the loss of a loved one or a person who is impaired in such a way that precludes them from living a regular life. In most situations this is not the case. Numerous individuals are distressed by the burden of anxiety and depression for other reasons. The fact is we oftentimes do not know the reasons. You may wonder if it concerns the food we eat. Peculiarly, contentment with life is elusive to most people.

We need to some degree to pay attention to teenagers’ plight. Panic attacks and depression seems to be affecting them more than anyone these days. Acknowledged, being a teenager is challenging in some areas, and incredibly easy in others. While some teenagers may contend that it’s dreadful. Even I was a teen before. We certainly know much of what they are going through. However, panic attacks were not part of my teen experience. Who knows what has happened in the last ten years. Panic attacks should not be a childhood experience. In fact, anxiety attacks and depression should be much less prevalent than it is altogether.

There’s Gold in that Silence

June 23, 2008

Can you recall a time where you utilized silence to make a point? If you can consciously recall, you probably know your silence made more than just a point; it made an exclamation point … and without a single word preceding it. Now that’s powerful.

Silence is a widely-known, but rarely used, powerful communication tool. Why is that? Because it can be used to shed light or convey darkness. Utilizing the sound of silence is truly the “master’s” art of communication. It quaintly epitomizes a spiritually and socially acceptable passive assertiveness. The ability to remain quiet confirms that one is in total control. It also confirms that the individual is disciplined and will not be lead into conversations that are counterproductive and energy-draining. Silence can help us listen, keep a secret, serve in love and receive the very core of what is being said. Silence can say “I really do care.”

Have you ever had a conversation where all you were waiting for was for the speaker to pause, just so you could say, what you needed to say? You know, where you start planning to respond to that which hadn’t even been said yet? We all have. When this happens, we don’t absorb the full content of the conversation. Many variables influence our desire to lose focus on what our speaker is saying. For example: your schedule, what you may be watching on TV, your mental, emotional, and physical states and of the like. Listen so that both your brain and heart are passionately aligned to receive the speaker’s words. Strive to increase your understanding and place it before your desire to be understood.

Learn to be comfortable with silence and master the self-control it requires. Only then will you be able to experience the “golden” within.

EzineArticles Expert Author Fran Briggs

Fran Briggs is the founder of The Fran Briggs Companies and is “a motivational speaker of the inspirational kind.” She is the author of severalarticles, manuals and books including her latest, “Seeds for Success.” This prominent voice of motivation speaks to audiences of children and adults of all ages and backgrounds with the aim of inspiring them to their respective levels of greatness. Sign up for your free successzine newsletter when you visit http://www.franbriggs.com

Get Things Done: Take 21!

June 9, 2008

Ever begin doing something that you do for a few days, and then simply stop doing it?

For example, let’s say you promised yourself that you were going to file papers immediately before they got out of hand, but then something else came up, and the next thing you knew, you had another pile of papers that needed to be filed.

Or perhaps, on January 1 you made a vow to yourself to exercise for 20 minutes every day. You exercised for a few days. But then, by January 5, you gave up.

This happens to everyone on one occasion or another. But, you really can start getting things done!

Next time you really want to do something, and you want to actually start and continue doing it, realize that doing it for one, two, or even three days in a row is usually not enough.

It takes at least 21 days to form a habit. This means that you have to do something at least 21 times before it begins to become part of your everyday routine.

So . . .

  1. Decide exactly what you want to do. Write it down and post it where you can see it every day, like your bathroom mirror. Be as specific as possible.

  2. Schedule time to do what you want to do. Again, it takes 21 days to form a habit, so schedule at least 21 days on your calendar and don’t let anything get in the way of your schedule. If you miss one of your scheduled days, it’s best to start over and schedule another 21 days. You must be consistent and dedicated to doing what you want to do.

  3. Once you reach your 21 days, congratulations! Don’t stop now though, schedule another 21 days, and then another and so on, until you do what you want to do, without even thinking about it . . . like brushing your teeth.

by Maria Gracia - Get Organized Now!

http://www.getorganizednow.com

FREE Idea-Pak and E-zine filled with tips, ideas, articles and more to help you organize your home, your office and your life at the Get Organized Now! Web site!

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About The Author

Maria Gracia, owner of www.getorganizednow.com and author of the book, ‘Finally Organized, Finally Free’ can help you organize your home, your office and your life. Visit her Web site at: http://www.getorganizednow.com

getorgnow@wi.rr.com

Creativity and Innovation Management - the Value of Challenge

June 5, 2008

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.

There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.

There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success, these processes improve the probability that good ideas will be generated and selected and that investment in developing and commercialising those ideas will not be wasted.

Money doesn’t do it

Challenge and the expansion of competencies figure highly in the realm of motivation. Most people require challenging work if only to prevent boredom.

The Eastern perception of creativity identifies challenge as a part of self-actualisation - the individual is moving toward his or her ideal self.

Competency expansion is positively correlated with a feeling of self-actualisation.

Competency expansion directly addresses problem solving, in that it gives the individual a problem to resolve that is beyond that individual’s present capability, and thus indices the problem solving state, or in other words, the creative state.

These and other topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with an Innovation Management Bible, a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com/

What’s in Your Blind Spot?

May 8, 2008

We frantically search for our “lost” keys that are lying in plain sight on the kitchen counter. We don’t we see the keys. Why not? Because we already decided “the keys are not there.” And once we make that decision, we create a blind spot in our awareness. The result is that we don’t see the keys where we don’t expect them to be.

If we miss seeing keys out in the open because we decide the keys aren’t there, what else could we be missing because we decide it’s not there? Could we be “blind” to other possibilities and opportunities that are right under our nose?

What’s New, Pussycat?

A mind-blowing scientific experiment reveals how the early physical environment of kittens determines what they are able to seeand not seeas they grow up. Two-week-old kittens are placed in a room with walls painted with vertical stripes and kept there as they mature. Almost from the moment they are able to see, the kittens live in an environment of vertical stripes. Later, the cats’ world changes. They’re removed from their vertically striped surroundings and placed in a room painted with horizontal stripes. Surprisingly, our furry felines don’t see the horizontal stripes. Bang! They run right smack into the walls painted with horizontal stripes, time and time again. Why? Scientists discovered that because the cats don’t have horizontal stripes in their environment as they grow up, the brains of the cats don’t develop the neurons that recognize horizontal stripes. So when elements they’ve never been exposed to appear in the cats’ world, their brains don’t register the new elements in their environment. Yikes! Could we be unable to recognize elements in our current environment because those elements were missing when we grew up? Yes, we could! But before we look for aspects of life we might not be seeing, let’s look for aspects we might not be hearing as well.

What’d You Say?

Studies with babies reveal how the early auditory environment of babies determines what they are able to hearand not hearas they grow up. Research shows that young babies have the ability to hear the full range of vocal sounds produced by the speech of all the human languages in the world. But then, babies are raised hearing only the narrow range of speech sounds within their social environment. Eventually, because they hear solely the speech sounds found within one culture, babies lose their ability to distinguish the full range of vocal sounds found in all human cultures.

This explains why Japanese children are unable to pronounce the English “r” sound that does not exist in their native language. “The common result,” according to a researcher at the University of California, “is essentially that if perceptual experience is limited, one will not be able to perceive things outside that experience.” This is why, in everyday life, we’re not able to recognizeor “hear”concepts that we weren’t exposed to in our upbringing.

Casting a Spell of Limitations

We all grow up in families and societies where we are only exposed to a limited view of lifelike kittens only viewing vertical stripes and babies only hearing speech sounds from their social environment. Our “stripes” consist of a limited range of cultural patterns of sights and sounds. These cultural patterns give signals to the brain that tell us “the way life is” within that limited environment. And the brain mistakenly “thinks” it knows “the way life is” outside of that narrow-minded environment.

Growing up in a limited environment has a comparable effect to being hypnotized. For example, when people are hypnotized, they can be told that certain elements exist or don’t exist in their environment. With hypnotic suggestion, a person can be told that there are no red books in a bookstore. And, even though many of the books are red, the person won’t see any red books. The hypnotic suggestion creates a blind spot, or filter, in the person’s perception of the world.

Similarly, we’re hypnotized by our parents and society to see certain aspects of realityand not to see other aspects of reality. Then, as adults, we only see the range of possibilities that we were exposed to as we grew up. We don’t recognize any alternatives outside of the range of viewpoints presented to us in our youth. Options and opportunities that we weren’t exposed to don’t even register with the brain.

By the very nature of how we’re raised, we develop blind spots. And these blind spots often prevent us from seeingand taking advantage ofoptions that are life-enriching and valuable to us. To what degree do these blind spots limit the abundance in our lives? What kinds of options could we be missing? Let’s “see.”

Missed Opportunities

On the first day of a four-day workshop I was attending, Martin complained that he didn’t have a way to get back and forth to the workshop everyday. He had camped several miles outside of town down a narrow, rough dirt road. Our disgruntled camper talked on and on about his dilemma. Martin had decided that there was no way to get to the workshop other than to walk. He couldn’t see any other options. He felt hopeless and discouraged. So, when someone in the group offered to give Martin a ride every day, Martin didn’t even hear the proposal. He was totally hypnotized by his belief that “there is no solution other than walking.” The person offered the ride several more times, yet the unexpected proposal continued to fall on Martin’s deaf ears. Finally, several people in the group yelled at Martin that he was not hearing the offer of a ride. This group outburst snapped Martin out of his hypnotized state, his blind spot. Only then was Martin able to recognize that his transportation issue was resolved.

Julia’s dream was to move out of her cramped apartment and buy her own home. Since she didn’t have enough money for a down payment, she was busily doing everything she could to earn more income. When someone heard about Julia wanting a home to live in, they offered to give her their home for a year rent-free while they went overseas. Julia turned down the invitation. She didn’t recognize her good fortune because the opportunity didn’t appear in the form she expected. Julia was fixated on the idea that to get the living situation she wanted, she had to own the house. She was hypnotized by her belief that “I don’t have enough money to buy my own house.” Her blind spot prevented her from seeing another solution to her problem. It didn’t register to her that her need had been fulfilled. She rejected an offer that would have allowed her to move out of her tiny apartment. If she’d accepted the gift, Julia would have enjoyed living in a spacious home right away. And she would have saved enough money during that year to reach her ultimate goalto make a down payment on her own home.

“The Way Life Is?”

When we’re young, we learn a lot about “the way life is” by observing the adults in our lives. And, these adults can, for the most part, only pass along their limited views of life.

For example, did you grow up being instilled with the viewpoint that “people work at jobs they don’t like to pay the bills?” If you were exposed solely to this narrow perspective about work, you might not recognize the available option that “people work at jobs they love that also pay the bills.” When you were young, perhaps you noticed that “many adults compromise and sacrifice in order to make a relationship work.” Spell-bound by watching this model of how partnerships function, you might not be able to see another viable alternative in which “adults find ways for relationships to be easy, fun and mutual.” If all you saw as a child was that “people become more stubborn and opinionated as they grow older,” then you wouldn’t have it in your realm of possibilities that “people become more flexible and allowing as they grow older.”

When our role models demonstrate that it’s “normal” to have jobs without passion or relationships without mutuality, we don’t see other options when we become adults. When our elders aren’t open and adaptable, we find ourselves accepting rigidity and narrow-mindedness as normal.

Unfortunately, the cats keep bumping into horizontal stripes for the rest of their lives. Likewise, many of us keep bumping into our personal “invisible” limits for the rest of our lives. But we don’t have to.

Intuition Saves the Day

There’s a way out of this conundrum! There’s a way around the fact that our mind is programmed with limitations. We’ve got intuition! Using intuition, it doesn’t matter that our brain doesn’t see or hear new life opportunities. Only the mind is restricted by the narrow options of childhood. Only the mind is hypnotized. Our intuition doesn’t have these limitations.

Using intuition, we have a natural ability to see into our blind spots. Although the brain doesn’t develop neurons to recognize “horizontal stripes,” intuition can detect them. Although the mind is hypnotized not to discern red books, intuition can discern them. Not being brainwashed with limitations, intuition can see options the mind doesn’t see. Intuition can lead us to options that didn’t exist in our childhood environment.

If we truly desire to discover fresh options, our intuition will guide us all the way. There are lots of other fulfilling alternatives out there. We just don’t see them. The more we stop looking with our minds and start looking with our intuition, the more opportunities we’ll see for happiness and prosperity. Our intuition will help us find the harmonious and loving future we dreamed of when we couldn’t wait to grow up!

About The Author

Sulana Stone, personal life coach, vision quest guide and animal communicator, assists people to discover and express their life purpose through private sessions and workshops. She provides hot tips and fresh articles for people who want more love in life, yearn for a more fulfilling job, or seek a purpose beyond the mundane in a FREE Prosperity Ezine at www.SedonaVisionQuest.com. Contact sulana@redvetteranch.com or 602.861.2631.