Home with the Kids Newsletter August 31, 2004

The Editor's Desk - From Beneath the Clutter
Feature Article - What's Stopping You?
What's happening on the discussion boards?
Guest Article - Five Sure Fire Way to Secure Your Family's Financial Future
Free Offers
Classified Ads

The Editor's Desk - From Beneath the Clutter

What a week. My best guess is Microsoft's Service Pack 2 killed my computer, so I spent a couple days computerless, and hours backing it up once I found out how I could access my files. Thank goodness for Safe Mode! Can't burn a CD in Safe Mode, but those thumb-sized memory sticks work great. Plugged them into my transcription computer after and burned onto CDs. Really limited my losses due to that mess.

But I'm still missing a few things; I use Dreamweaver on this site, and haven't found my disc for that yet. So this newsletter is being done the old fashioned way - a text editor! Not my favorite, but it works.

If it's been a while since you backed up your computer, do so.

Not much response to the survey, and with the technical difficulties I really can't take action yet, so if you missed it last week, take the survey by clicking here. I extended it by a week, so feel free to participate.

The upshot of this is that this week both articles are by guest authors. I really prefer writing at least one article myself, but recovering from this mess has taken too much time. I should be back to normal next week.

Don't forget, you can contribute your articles or tips anytime for consideration. Just use the contact form.

Feature Article

What's Stopping You?

We're all familiar with the cycle:

We want new, but resist change.
We want satisfaction, but procrastinate.
We want control, but defer to circumstance.

So, what's stopping *you*?

A belief?
"I'm an incurable procrastinator, I'll probably be late to my own funeral." Beliefs like this dictate your thoughts, and your thoughts turn into action -- or in this case, *inaction*. Consciously turn those thoughts into something that can help you, not hinder you.

A habit?
While it seems too simple to actually have impact, success on any goal boils down to a good habit. If you eat well and exercise, you'll be successful with a healthy lifestyle. If you don't control your spending and put aside some for emergencies, you'll conversely end up with financial woes. Do you habits help you or hurt you?

Easier not to do?
This is probably the most common stopper. "Sure, I'd love to have my own business, but.". Change is not easy. No matter how small a change, you will feel uncomfortable at some points. We all know this, and sometimes it's just easier to live with the 'familiar unhappiness' than to push through the inevitable uncomfortable feelings. Anticipate the feelings, and be ready to push through the change until it becomes a part of you.

Fear?
What if I'm not happier? What if I fail? What if I make a mistake? While the buzz words are "fear of failure", often the more concrete reason is fear of looking silly or ignorant, or -- gasp! -- uncool. But without being able to accept failure, and possible even some ridicule while you learn, you are dooming yourself to the rut you are in. The same way a toddler has to fall over and over before he gets it right, you too will have to be willing to fall down, get up, and try and again.

So what can you do about these stoppers?

Minimize its impact in your life: Find, create, and set up the emotional, mental, or physical support you need.
Change it: Take a hard look at your daily habits. Are they contributing to what you want out of life? You can practice daily bad habits or daily good habits. It's truly your choice.
Neutralize it: Turn the negative message into a positive choice. "Maybe I am a procrastinator, but that's not something I'm born with like blue eyes. I can still control my brain, and make my choices on what I want, not on what a procrastinator might do."

Remember This: The *only* difference between you and the people who are getting what they want in their lives is that they kept trying, kept learning, kept asking and negotiating and exploring -- kept moving forward, one step at a time. Get Moving!

Kathy Gates is a Professional Life Coach in Scottsdale AZ. If you liked this article, you'll love her "Beat the Procrastination Blues" program. Get more information at her website Real Life Coach, http://www.reallifecoach.com/ and sign up for the free newsletter.

Add to Your Social Bookmarks: Del.icio.us Furl Reddit Simpy Spurl Y! MyWeb - Netscape

Free eBook written by WAHMs for WAHMs.

Is a home business for you?

What's happening on the forum?

We’re all slave to Utility Companies in Let's Talk About the Issues - stephfoster, Sun 20-Jul-08 (1 Reply)

Please help me to earn some extra income for my budget. in General Home Business - stephfoster, Sun 20-Jul-08 (1 Reply)

My daughter caught me off guard this morning in Parenting - stephfoster, Sun 20-Jul-08 (0 Replies)

Losing A Buddy in General Chatter - snowdog20, Sun 20-Jul-08 (4 Replies)

Got my 303rd find this morning! in General Chatter - stephfoster, Sun 20-Jul-08 (197 Replies)

Guest Article

Five Sure Fire Way to Secure Your Family's Financial Future

"You can be poor when you're young, but you can't be poor when you're old." That was the tag line used some years ago in a financial services television commercial.

Truer words were never spoken.

I was relatively poor when I was young. Just about everybody I knew was and it was kind of fun. We lived an almost communal lifestyle, sharing money, accommodation, food, beer, cigarettes and other essentials of post-pubescent life. Would it be as much fun if I had to do it again today? Could I do it again? Not on your life!

Now I'm anything but a financial genius but there are five basic principles that I've learned and used to secure our financial future. And while far from wealthy, I have every confidence that I will not have to live in a refrigerator box whenever I quit working and that my wife will be able to comfortably carry on in the event of my premature demise. (You should know I'm at an age where I think eighty-five is a premature death!)

Is building a secure financial future akin to rocket surgery? Absolutely not- you need to do five key things to get started:

Determine your short and long-term financial goals. Start by taking a comprehensive snapshot of your current situation-your assets, net income, debts and living expenses. Once you've done this you can start setting long and short-term financial goals. Decide what lifestyle you want to enjoy between now and when you retire; what retirement lifestyle do you expect to have and what sort of education do you expect to provide for your children.
After you've assessed where you are now and where you want to be in the future take steps to protect your ability to get there--and stay there once you've arrived. A major part of your family's financial program is to insure against major financial loss. There are simply no guarantees against serious illness, accidents or untimely death. So take the steps necessary to insure against loss of life, loss of income and loss of physical assets.
Pay yourself first. Save at least 10% of pre-tax income - more if possible. Pay down your mortgage as quickly as possible, especially in times of low interest. In the short term, you'll be better off reducing a mortgage that costs you 6% than earning around a taxable 1.5% (or less) in a savings account.
Maximize your RSP/401K contribution every year and make the contribution at the beginning rather than at the end of the year. Simply doing that will substantially increase the size of your retirement nest egg when you're ready to cash out.
Avoid credit traps. If you use credit cards, always pay any money owing before interest is due. Consider paying off your credit card immediately if you have money in a savings account-as with the mortgage, the interest earned on the savings is certain to be lower than what's charged by the credit card company. Avoid using credit cards for cash advances. Usually the interest charges are higher for these and the charges begin immediately. If you do carry a balance on your cards try to negotiate a lower rate with the credit card company. If you need money urgently, it's usually cheaper to negotiate a personal loan with your bank or credit union.
Finally, protect your family in the event of your death. Make a Will. If you die without leaving a Will in all likelihood the only thing you'll really leave your loved ones is a bloody mess-one that could take many years and a whole bunch of money to sort out.

Without a Will, the court/government will decide how your property and possessions will be divided. I would expect there are two chances of them acting in a way consistent with what your wishes might have been-slim and none!

Making a Will doesn't mean the Grim Reaper is about to pay you a visit. It simply means that your affairs will be sorted out in the ways you want and, as a result, you can go about your life with a peaceful mind because your loved ones are protected.

These five principles are only a starting point-a few suggestions that any financial management professional can improve and expand on. If I have one regret about how I've handled my financial affairs over time it is not enlisting enough professional help. When we were starting, the financial management business was neither as big nor as sophisticated as it is today. Who knows, with better help, I might be writing this from some warm Caribbean tax haven rather a cold Calgary office!

"Don't try this alone-use a trained professional," is absolutely the best advice I'm really qualified to give.

c) Dr. Tom Olson 2004, all rights reserved Permission to reprint article granted as long as this signature remains intact.
Dr. Tom Olson is the author of Don't Die With Your helmet On. Visit
http://www.Dontdiewithyourhelmeton.com for more information about Dr. Tom, the book and his work

Free Offers

New feature here. You may have to fill out a survey or give out personal information for your freebies, so decide if the offer looks worthwhile to you.

Blockbuster Online. The Movie Store At Your Door. Sign up now for a two-week-free trial! Choose from more than 25,000 titles including new releases with no extended viewing or late fees, no return dates, and free shipping both ways. Service includes 2 free in store rentals per month.

If you offer a freebie, let me know! I will consider it for inclusion here and in the freebie section of the website.

Want to find more free offers? Search here to see if there's a freebie for your needs.

Classified Ads

============================================================
The Internet Marketing Center's top rated Affiliate Program
is 100% free to join and gives you the ability to INSTANTLY
GENERATE AN ONGOING STREAM OF INCOME without any cost or
obligation on your part.

To start maximizing the profit-producing power of your web
site in the next 10 minutes, click here and take advantage of the arsenal of Internet marketing
tools they provide you with just for joining!
============================================================

Make bundles of Cash on Google P/T F/T
Let us tell you about people who are doing it and how you
can do it too… It's fast, easy and can be done from home
part or full time (no previous experience necessary).
Click here to start making money on Google.


	Web homewiththekids.com

Table of Contents