Financial Fitness: It’s Not A Lost Cause
Our 6 week series on Holiday Spending concludes with a motivational discussion – financial fitness is completely doable, and you CAN get there. I also point out that many people think they have huge dreams, but when you ask them what they’d do with a winning lottery ticket, very often what they say they would buy is something they could achieve quite easily with a little planning.
Awkward Conversations: Holiday Spending, Part 5
You’re racing around shopping, getting things checked off a list and worrying if there’ll still be something left at the end of the list. You’re not alone. And yet, how to bring up the subject of money with your family. For many women, it’s a tough topic at the best of times: with the Holidays raging all around, this ain’t no best o’ times!
Part 2 of this conversation can be found on our sister blog, Can We Talk Money.
Preparing Your Finances For Year End
There are things you have to do by December 31, 2010 to still get the tax credit. Like, for example, the tax credit for eco-home improvements goes away at the end of this month. So, if you were ever going to put in thermal windows, NOW is the time!!
Frugal Gifting Could Still Make You Look Like A Big Spender!
Utilizing Frequent Flier miles, or Credit Card Bonus Points is a great way to give gifts OR experiences without dipping into your already thin Piggy Bank, or over extending your already bloated credit cards.
Using your imagination is the ultimate reward for both you and your “experience recipient”. Very often experiences are remembered LONG after any array of presents. Life is for building memories. See what parts of your holiday gift giving can be fulfilled this year with an experience, rather than a gift. Obviously, the experiences could cost money, or be purchased with bonus points OR be absolutely free.
- Think of something, an activity you already participate in which you can bring a guest, like a yoga class, a wine tasting, or a special women’s networking event.
- Think of a location you already visit, etc. Now invite your friend or sister to come along with you for a very special picnic in the park, consisting of home-made delicacies spread across a checkered blanket, on an upcoming date chosen by your recipient. Or go online for a great bicycle route, and invite a friend to share a special 2-hr bike ride.
- Or invite a bunch of friends over for a weekend football game where everyone brings a covered dish
- Think of giving a heart shaped box—who doesn’t have one or two of these hanging around—filled with little handwritten coupons; i.e., Good for One Back Rub, Good for One Evening Roasting Marshmallows in front of the Fire, Good for one Kitchen Cleaning, Good for 5 crisply Ironed Shirts, Good for One Foot Massage, Good for One Grocery Run, Good for One Baby-Sitting Evening you could give your friends with kids, Good for One Batch of Home Made Chocolate Chip Cookies, Good for One Home Cooked Meal for a person in a nursing home, Good for One Compliment on a Rough Day, Good for One Shoulder-to-Cry on – no words necessary.
In my area, the Optimum rewards program offers their customers free movies on Tuesdays at participating Clearview Cinemas. So, no one needs to know the movies are free, just give a Free Movie ticket.
And, by the way, a points-cards management system might just be https://www.points.com/
Let’s use our brains this holiday season so that our January is happy and joyous also!
Paying For Your Holiday Spending
Credit Cards
Should you get a new card for the holidays? It depends on your overall credit-worthiness, how much debt you’re carrying and when the last time was the you applied for a credit card. Every time you apply for a credit of any kind, it impacts your FICO score; negatively. (More on that in a future blog post.) You might be better off asking a current credit card for an increase in credit line, yet ask them if they will access your credit report, and thus also negatively ding your FICO.
Going for a new card?
Who are you – do you pay your balances off every month, or do you pay when you can? I ask this because being heavily advertised right now are the money back credit cards. They look like “found money”, but be careful. These cards work best for those of us who pay our monthly balance off every single month. If that’s not you, then you should be looking for cards with the lowest interest rate.
I recommend that you create a little matrix for yourself. Line up all of your credit cards and determine which cards will give you cash back and in which purchasing categories. Because what I’ve seen in my research is that some kinds Continue reading
