Now is the time to get the home budget under control, assess debt, and keep track of business costs.  Setting up a system at the start of the new year somehow seems more satisfying than starting in May.  A few easy tips:

1. Spend less than you make, after taxes.  What you make after taxes is the actual disposable income.  Many people forget about taxes, whether property, income, sales, car registration, or state taxes, and then are surprised when the paycheck runs a little short at the end of the month.

2. Create a realistic budget.  Sit down with the credit card receipts and the checkbook, and figure out the major expenditures, such as the house and car payments, utiities, and food.  Then create the rest of the spending plan after you have paid the bills.

3. Know where the money goes.  Many people get into trouble because they truly cannot figure out where the money went.  So track it.  And be honest.  If you truly do spend $60 a month at Starbucks, but buy your clothes at Goodwill, that is okay as long as you have planned for that in the budget.

4. Write it down.  The best way to know where the money went is to track it.  There are many great personal finance programs available.  You can use a ledger book.  You can use a school notebook.  There is a free downloadable monthly budget program on my website that allows you to either make your own book by printing out monthly sheets or you can maniplate the entries and amounts and it does the math for you.  It is yours to use, and is not on any server, so your information stays completely private.  www.organize-you.com/refills/

5. Plan for the rainy days.  If this recession taught us nothing else, it alerted us that anyone have financial troubles, so it is wise to save for emergencies.

Good luck and let me know how it goes!!!

Mary

I left the white snow to go the white sandy beach for Christmas, not because I am a sunbather (ha!) or because snow is cold (it is), but because my sister and her kids, my brother and his kids, my cousin (who is a awesome) and parents all decided to head to FL for the Christmas holidays. So the dogs and I hopped into the car and drove 1600 miles to share in holiday fun.

The house is full of the chaos and noise that corresponds with children, and I just love it.

The dogs have been complete troopers, both on the long 2 day drive (I know!) and with the small people who insist on tugging and pulling on the dogs while teaching them how to play Candyland.

My parents are of the age where the loudest noise they hear during the day is when Dad pops the top off a beer. So the riotous fun of the children is a big change for them. (They mute television commercials because they don’t like the noise.)

The kids, of course, are having a grand time – they are other adults to pounce upon with books, demanding stories, and all kinds of new games. Aunt Mary thinks poker is a great way to teach numbers and counting. Grandpa loves to teach toasting. Grandma is working on Scrabble with the 6 year olds. Great Aunt Mary is a fan of building sandcastles with shoes on.

So far, so good. No major meltdowns or fits of crying, and the kids are holding up too.

Merry Christmas!
Mary

~ 10 Ways to Enjoy the Joy with a Stress-Free Holiday ~

Leadership is not just a position at work. Leadership also means taking responsibility at home, and that means ringing in theholiday with as much joy, and as little stress, as possible.

The holidays mean wonder, joy and a celebration of abundance, but it can also mean moments of frustration, anger and irritation at friends and family. Every year there is an unrealized expectation that the mere appearance of the holidays also brings with it a metamorphosis that those closest to us will transform into something else. Seriously, is it realistic to expect that our family will all become characters from a made-for-TV Christmas special just because we all decided to get together for the holidays? It is not. Yet these expectations remain, and whenever there are unrealized expectations, there is disappointment, leading to frustration and anger.

So how do we enjoy all of this togetherness time?

1. Keep the big picture. Who really cares of Aunt Thelma wants to contribute her horrible green beans for the Christmas feast? Smile, say thank you, and move on to something important.
2. Let go of other people’s problems. Their problems are not yours, much as they might try to share them. If you can’t solve their personal problems, then those are not your problems. You can listen, you can empathize, you can sympathize, but if you cannot solve them, then you need to give up the emotional anxiety associated with them. Move on. (I am a big fan of the Move On idea.)
3. Be the grown up. I recommend this a lot, especially when your partner, the person you love, drives you crazy. Be the mature person in the relationship. Be the first to try to see the other person’s perspectives, and try to find a reason for their behavior. It is more important to be together and appreciative than to be right. So overlook the stories that are not told t, the imperfect recall of an event, or a missed promise. Other people are going to complain, act out, and behave badly, ect. When they irritate you, they give you an option. You have a choice – either be the grown up and act accordingly, or not. I recommend the high road. Why? Fewer regrets later. And it makes the decisions easier. Or you can just smile and move on to something important.
4. Focus on the important. Great leaders differentiate between problems and inconveniences. Problems are real. Inconveniences may be unpleasant, but they are hardly life threatening. Many people blur the difference and forget to focus on the important. As a result, those little matters start to take over. By staying focused on the important, the little inconveniences will fall away.
5. Buy a goat. Nothing provides focus more than the knowledge that your $ 75 goat could save an entire family’s life. Think about the benefit you could provide for the price of a month’s worth of mocha lattes. It is a great way to celebrate your own abundance while helping out someone else. Go to www. Worldvision.org or www.heifer.org . And save a family.
6. Give Uncle Harold the goat.You know Uncle Harold, who hates everything he gets for any occasion? Even better. Buy a goat or a pig or 5 ducks (a bargain at just $30) in his name and send him the card. (That will teach him to criticize last year’s cookie basket!) Well, it may not teach him to think twice about complaining, but at leastsomebody will be grateful for your gift.
7. Take 5. Take just 5 minutes to go for a walk, and try to get the family to go with you. (I realize that could take 45 minutes.) Try to have activities that encourage healthy behavior, even if it is just for 5 minutes.
8. Clarify the expectations.Frustrations and unrealized expectations often occur because people don’t know what is expected. As my New York grandma used to say, “If they don’t know better, you tell them.” So open the dialogue early and let people discuss activities, meals, and presents. Generally, people at work do better when they know what is expected of them. Why do we think that our families might be different? Agree on a few guidelines and make sure everyone knows.
9. Communicate, communicate, and communicate. Holidays can be tough because sometimes one family’s tradition or rules merge with another’s morays. For example, one holiday meal was being cooked by an in-law, whose family’s ideas of meal promptness made the military pale by comparison. When he cooked for my family, whose idea of a mealtimes falls into the “when we all get to the table” he was upset and chagrined that some people showed up “late” not realizing that it is impossible to be “late” to a meal in my family. If something is important, let people know. If they don’t understand the importance that is your fault for failing to effectively communicate. The onus of the communication is on the communicator, so make sure that you take responsibility for the message you want received.
10. Breathe. Accept people for who they are and what they are not. Sometimes, despite all of our diplomacy, plans go awry, people get upset, and there is a lack of gratitude and appreciation. Honestly, it would be terrific if we all became that person our dogs think we are, but few people have the forgiving nature common to most dogs. But that doesn’t mean the effort is wasted. This year, let’s try practicing acceptance and forgiveness.

Let me know how it goes! I’d love to hear how your holidays go!

I love these cookies. Make sure you get seedless jam. Raspberry –Almond Thumbprint Shortbread (makes 7 dozen cookies)

2 cups (1 pound) butter
1 1/3 c sugar
1 tsp. almond extract
4 cups flour
1 cup seedless raspberry jam

Cream butter, add sugar and extract. Blend in flour.

Roll into 1 inch balls. Make a thumb indentation in each. Fill with ¼ tsp jam.

Bake 14-18 minutes on cookie sheet at 350 degrees until edges are light brown. Cool on cookie sheet one minute before removing to racks. Drizzle with glaze while cookies are still warm.

For glaze combine in a small bowl:
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tsp almond extract
6-8 tsp water

Note: I found this on a Land O’ Lakes butter box years ago.

Mary Kelly
www.ProductiveLeaders.com