Money Talk Matters

Archive for July, 2011

You are in for a treat. Started out this morning sharing with my husband that I’d be interviewing Carmen Wong Ulrich on Bride Groom Money Talk on Blogtalk Radio and discussing the Real Cost of College and Bad Habits. We confirmed the time the interview would be happening. Since we were former college counselors for high school students, he was just as interested in this interview just like me. We had a lot of fun working with students during that time frame.

We also discussed if I had some meetings this day. I realized once he was gone that after the interview, I had a conference call lined up. True enough this was going to be a busy day. Talking about one of my favorite subjects money of course. Personal finances. This is one of those things that I could talk about all day because I know how important it is to get this area of your life under control.

One of the traps I think people fall into is saying and thinking, I am going to wait until I have more money in order to do a, b, c or d? Hmmm, finishing a, b, c or d never happens and then they miss out on different opportunities. I remember last year saying that once we had done a certain thing, we’d begin going to Whole Foods and getting healthier food. This year and actually within the last few months, I decided healthier eating was very important to me. Granted our children eat very healthy. It’s just time for the adults to get on the same bandwagon. So I set aside the funs and made sure this was going to occur. It is nice to be able to do the things that were on list of tasks or even household items.

Our money talk was spent more on the radio show. Talking about the cost of college and what you will get out of it, are you spending your money on a large party or purchasing a home. Brides and grooms you owe it to yourselves and each other to talk it out and have a game plan. When it comes to money and marriage, same thing. Talk about the money – no surprises is always helpful.

I must share this: decided to do something different for dinner. We would be having a dinner of nothing but fruit – watermelon, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and pineapples. The twins were quite excited. There I was making that trip to our grocery store to get the fresh fruit. I don’t mind going to the store for fresh fruit. It’s soooo worth it.

Money and Marriage Lesson for Today:

1) Don’t put off those things that are important to you because of a lack of money. Make some adjustments and have fun.

2) You cannot put a price tag on health! Preventative is always best.

This morning has started out similar to yesterday. Starting a little late and it is all good. This lets me know that I needed the rest. Believe me I have been going on sheer adrenalin for the last few months due to our IRS audit. WOOHOO that is over and we came through it “beautifully”. We were not stressed because I knew what I had placed on our returns was valid and I could prove everything we claimed. The majority of the time was really spent on locating the documents and getting everything in order which I shared before. Hubby believed and TRUSTED in me and what I said. That makes a big difference in a relationship when a husband and wife can work together.

What I thought was interesting was that I went from one project right to another. A wife is working it all out though because each time I learn more and more along the way! What about you? I know that today will be spent on some meal planning so I can shop later. Money has already been set aside. Once again the key is to “PLAN” for it. BIG caution do not go grocery shopping hungry. If you do, you will always spend more money than you had planned in addition to buying something you may only eat one time!

The twins will be thrilled because that means we will get what we need for Oatmeal pancakes. They also asked me about green beans, etc. I love that they want to eat healthy and LIKE it! Eating healthy is not bad as long as you choose the right meals that are appealing to the eyes and palate! Let’s face it you cannot put a price tag on health! Be honest with yourself.

We also know that finances being in disarray can affect health. People will run to the doctors to get a diagnosis when they know at the end of the day, it is the money that they are stressed about and they begin to develop all these “symptoms” which will not lead to a true diagnosis but a pseudo diagnosis. Stop today and begin taking control of your money instead of being controlled by your money.

Money and Marriage Lessons for Today:

1) You can’t put a price on health.

2) Finances being out of order affects health which can also cost more money.

3) Be honest with yourself and address the financial challenges in your life today.

Money and Marriage Encouragement for Today:

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. How about paying attention to your finances regularly can keep extraneous fees away!

This morning got up a little late and started hitting it on a project that has a quick deadline. Thought to myself must have needed the rest. When it comes to money and marriage, most days there’s always something you can talk about. Today it would be completing applications for this project that I am working on and one requiring quite a sizeable deposit. The good news is that the deposit doesn’t have to be made until close to decision time. Let me tell you, if I had to do it yesterday it would have been a deal breaker for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe in investing in my business. I like to do a thorough investigation of everything that I am doing and make sure I weighed all the costs and benefits. It is will serve you better to not be an impulse spender. You can usually weed out the needs from the wants this way. I also like making sure that any project I am working on is very sound and has potential to be huge! As long as I can make the difference for one person when it comes to money and marriage it is all good. It only takes one to change a family, neighborhood and then the world!

After I finished working on a couple of business items, I needed to go out and do some errands. Part of my thought was also focusing on lunch since I knew we had dinner plans. This week was not as good on the meal planning but will pick it back up on Wednesday. How many of you know you fall into the trap of picking up something quick and already made because you didn’t take the time to plan. Hmm, can also prove to be costly. So far this week, Monday was all about the frozen strawberry smoothies and french fries and I can already see that today has the potential for Chick-Fil-A. Needless to say no more fries for this week – Green beans, mashed potatoes, asparagus and other veggies will be on the menu.

When you don’t plan your finances the money tends to get away from you. Within a few days you may not even be able to recall how you spent the money! Tracking your spending is key to get where you want with your goals.

Money and Marriage Lessons for Today:

1) Business owners look at all applications and see what fees are due upfront so you don’t end up in a situation.

2) When you meal plan, be able to keep it up for several weeks. One or two slip ups is all it takes for some of us to get off course. You can JUMP back on it.

3) The lessons you are learning when it comes to money can also be lessons for your children when it comes to money (age appropriate of course).

Money and Marriage Encouragement for today:If you have set a rule and its to stringent, modify it and keep on going. Do not get into the trap of setting yourself up for financial failure – go FOR success. That will make a BIG difference in your life, family and marriage.

On Monday mornings, I always like to do a review of the accounts and update my ledgers after any weekend spending. Granted this past weekend was light on the spending until the unexpected car repairs, YET the great thing was that those repairs did not impact household budget. The car is driving good and me and the kids are safe in it!

After updating ledgers and semi-planning for the week, I already knew it was going to be busy I got the twins up. Oh yea.. oatmeal pancakes would be the breakfast request. So I prepared them for them. So yummy and healthy! Breakfast was over and the twins accompanied me to some meetings that morning.

The day prior, hubby and I spent more time talking about the business. I was presented with several business opportunities and we began weighing them out.. i.e. my investment, return on investment, length of time it would take to see a return. This day, I decided to do some research on other areas and came to a conclusion of how to handle a couple of things.

If you are business owner, do not be so excited that you do not weigh all the factors when it comes to your business. It could be the difference between business success and failure. I am REAL big on not being upside down in my business. I admit when option 1 was presented I was very excited because it would free me up in a certain area when it came to marketing. Upon further review, it would be really upside down – where’s the benefit to me! If it doesn’t benefit me, it doesn’t benefit the family.

Money and Marriage Lessons for Today

1) Maintaining your car is important. I love how my husband had checked out my vehicle and wanted to make sure it was safe for me and the kids.

2) Small things mean a lot. Don’t take even the smallest thing for granted.

3) For business owners, ensure you are looking at the entire picture. Being upside down in your business doesn’t benefit you or your family. Actually can cause a lot of stress and strain.

Money and Marriage Encouragement for Today:
The grass may always look greener on the other side BUT it still has to be mowed!

Up at the crack of dawn and cranking things out. Sending emails to follow up on two different interviews this upcoming week – one that I am conducting and another where I am being interviewed. Love love when I get to make progress early in the morning. I also sent out banners to several businesses that would be linking back to Bride and Groom Money Talk FAQ. Be your own cheerleader if no one else will!

Hubby reminded me that we needed to take my car in. So I said absolutely let’s get it in so they can check that tire. It was important for me to know that my tires were all in good working condition. Some of my busiest meeting days are Mondays. So we dropped it off and then we planned the rest of our day. He would be taking care of our yard, kids involved with that and I’d be in here writing and doing some of the household duties inside. Teamwork is soo powerful even when it comes to domestic duties.

Remember yesterday when we talked about the car – the tire should be changed and no cost because of the warranty. Keep that in mind. Hubby and the kids left to go to a store and get some weed killer and a couple of other things for the yard! That was cool because they’d get a chance to get out, walking around for a bit and I could keep pressing on with what I was doing.

After several hours, I called when it got close to 4 and asked if they had called him about my car. He said no! I knew they closed at 5 and I wanted to make sure I had my car back! He said we are close to home I’ll call them when I get there. As he pulled into the garage, the house phone was ringing and it was the Tire company about the car. The gentleman went on to explain to me that 2 tires had holes and needed to be replaced. There was a cost involved – I requested that the gentleman bottom line it for me $62.00 . Interesting when you are thinking $0. Then he went on about some other things that they found wrong. By this time, I had walked outside and gave the phone to my husband. Alright wives, how many of you know when it comes to cars and what’s wrong sometimes they are speaking a completely foreign language.

Whew! So I gave the phone to hubby and said listen to what he has to say. Hubby was listening and the man went on about the tires, then the battery, next was the air filter and something else. All I could hear was cha ching! Cha ching! Hubby got off the phone and said I told them to fix the tires. I can change your battery and air filter myself. I said okay. So I went back to work for quite a while and waited for them to finish up with the car.

Shortly after 5 the call came in and we went to get the car. We paid for the tires. Then hubby and I went to a local Autozone and got a battery ($122.00) for my car which ended up being less than the price we were quoted. He changed the battery when we got home. Later that evening I went out and gased the car up so I would be ready to go on Monday and not have to do that.

The day ended up costing close to $200 which I must say is a big difference from not expecting to pay anything. Would you be able to pay $200 unexpectedly or would this affect your household budget in a negative way? Would you and your mate begin arguing about the car not being maintained or would you be giving up something else in order to get the car fixed.

I always think about prioritizing. What’s important for the day to day. Each day can take care of itself. What do you think.

Money and Marriage Lessons for Today:

1) There are a lot of benefits to having a saving account or an emergency fund! One being it keeps you
from panicking when an unexpected financial situation happens.

2) When it comes to automobile repairs, weigh all of your options. Do your research and know what works for you and what doesn’t. For those that this is their only means of transportation to and from work, get the cars fixed!

3) For all money decisions, think big picture. What are the advantages and what are the disadvantages.

Money and Marriage Encouragement for today:

Hindsight is 20/20 -that is why it is very important to take your time when making all decisions whether they involve money or not. Do what is best for your family and the marriage.

Nothing like a Saturday morning to begin sleeping in. Well that was not on my body’s time clock. I got up and began writing emails to follow up on some specific actions. Once the kids were up, I cooked the delicious and very healthy oatmeal pancakes. The kids were very happy. Two days prior hubby and I had talked about taking my car to get an oil change AND he said I had a nail in one of my tires. It shouldn’t cost me anything because we had a road hazard warranty.

Because we got started late – we chose to wait until Sunday to do it. There I was with my first stack of documents and my task list. The twins were excited since they knew they’d be out playing with hubby while I was working. Keeping my eye on the prize is crucial at this time. Writing out text for brochures, following up on emails and preparing for the upcoming week with schooling our twins, interviews etc.

When your finances are in order it is AWESOME because you can focus on other things! When finances are in disarray many things begin to fall apart! What would you prefer? Focus or disarray? How much more would people accomplish if their finances were in order?

Money and Marriage Lesson for Today:

1) When your finances are in order, many things can be accomplished.

2) Once your finances are in order, do not get lazy and slack off. It only takes one time to disregard adding that entry regarding money spent and it begins to fall apart.

Money and Marriage Encouragement for today:Live the life you want to live with finances in order!

This would be a day when I began cleaning up emails, twitter accounts and FB accounts. The account has been quite buys as of late and I don’t want to mish those couples that could need my assistance. I spent part of my day working and the other half preparing for a busy weekend. The twins are always excited when Friday comes since they know they will have extra time on the weekend with hubby.

I started early before everyone got up. So when hubby came down to leave for work we took a little time to talk about Bride and Groom Money Talk FAQ. Business discussions are also very important when you are dealing with finances. Business finances can easily affect the household finances if the business is not generating income. Caution! Be sure to treat your business like a business and not a hobby.

We discussed the current projects that I would be working on all weekend in an effort to finish them before the deadline. I shared with my husband that I would need to talk things through with him on the projects and get his feedback. Therefore, we’d have to juggle our time with the kids so we could accomplish all the things that I needed to get done. He said okay.

This day was spent in planning mode more than anything. That’s the most that we discussed money that day.

Money and Marriage Lesson Today:

1) Treat your business like a business and not a hobby.

2) Try bouncing ideas off your spouse when it comes to business and watch what happen.

Money and Marriage Encouragement for Today

Do not become silent about money due to financial issues. Solutions begin to flow once people begin to talk.

What a fun conversation we had this morning as we prepared to get our day started. We started out talking about the Marriagechat on Twitter last night. What were the discussions, the interaction and was it well attended. I was sharing how the chat went with questions from why do couples not talk about money, to prenup, to do you go into debt for a child’s college education and more. My husband was all into this because we used to be independent career and college counselors for juniors and seniors in high school. He was all over that question. Did I say this and what about that? We talked about the prenup question because I used to be of the mindset that if you have a prenup you are preparing for divorce and that changed within the last couple of years. There are certain times when it should be in place and other times when it is not necessary.

Then we also went back and talked about the interview on Looking My Spouse radio and some of the questions that came up in the chatroom. We talked about the question was I upset when he was unemployed. So I discussed how after we got out of debt, we planned our household on one income in case anything were to happen. Also what a GREAT move that was.

We also talked about child support and whether or not there should be a joint account or separate accounts. Then I shared with him what TheGarterBrides said last night during the Twitter Chat about marrying a person with a child. Conversation this morning was loads of fun and we could have talked all morning long. With us having gone through a lot when it comes to finances in our own marriage, we do not hesitate to talk about different situations and how we would handle them.

One of the tasks I woke up with was writing back to Ronnie and Lamar Tyler the host of last night’s twitter chat and sharing with them more about college and the financial game. My mind was still racing from the chat and I wanted to make sure that I wrote everyone back that asked questions that I didn’t get to last night.

Money and Marriage Lessons for Today:

1) You can continue to learn about money and marriage no matter how long you’ve been married.

2) Talking is key for the success of money and marriage. It is an ongoing conversation.

3) There are times when I will stop and call my husband during the day to confirm information that we both know when it comes to money. He will remind me about something in addition to what I remember. Don’t forget that your husband should be a resource and/or a cheerleader for you AND vice versa.

Money and Marriage Encouragement for Today: Enjoy the process of learning more and more about each other when it comes to money and marriage. Like a fine wine it gets better with age when given the proper attention and care!

Let the fun begin. The twins and I would start out our day with some videos for school, I’d post a couple of tweets and somethings on Facebook and then we’d head out to some meetings. This morning as I was preparing for the meetings, I decided that my husband and I should give a couple of gift card to some of his vendors that assisted me with some documentation that I was looking for. As I was leaving my first meeting and heading to my second, I decided to take a detour and surprise my husband at his job. The kids and I walked in and he was completely surprised.

I shared with him what I had thought about and asked him what did he think about it. He agreed and we talked about where the gift cards should be from and amounts. As business owners, you need to show people you appreciate them. It’s beyond them being a vendor or customer… it is all about relationships. He told me that he would pick them up and deliver them on his lunch hour. My thoughts… Excellent!

The kids and I left and went on to our last meeting and then headed home. We had planned our lunch menu earlier that morning so I knew I’d stop at the store to get a couple of items and then we’d head home. Due to our getting so much rain each day, this day we were ready to get home and get things done because later we’d have to go out again. The kids would be going to karate class and I had to get back home for a Twitter chat on money and marriage.

Once again, I was quite excited about the events that would be happening later that evening. Again, another opportunity to share realistic information when it comes to money and marriage.

Money and Marriage Lessons for Today:

1) Show your customers and vendors that you appreciate them. It is beyond them being a number – it’s about relationships.

2) Talk with your spouse about doing something special for them so that you can be on the same page. Oh and let me add – they were all completely surprised by what we did!

Money and Marriage Encouragement for Today: Treat others the way you want to be treated in personal and professional arenas.

What a fun filled day this was. I knew that I had a lot on my plate today so would there be a discussion regarding money? But of course. I spent the morning releasing press releases and writing some as well prior to doing homeschooling with our twins. Prior to hubby leaving for work this morning, we discussed briefly what was on my plate today… i.e. research, working on some packages for book submissions and creating a survey.

Little did I know once he was at work, I would be flooded with emails to do some billing for his business. That was all good though I am very good at multi-tasking as are a lot of wives. Later that day I called prior to doing the billing to ensure I understood each of those emails and job counts. Also gave him an update on the business account so that if he needed to purchase supplies for printing jobs he would know what was available.

As business owners, it is always important to keep abreast of the financial aspect of what is happening with your business. This allows you to plan for marketing, instituting a referral policy or whatever you believe is necessary to grow your business. It is also important to include your spouse in your business. No that does not mean you have to include them 24-7 unless both of you are fully working it. Share what you are thinking though because they do derive benefits from your success.

Later in the day, we talked about my upcoming interview that night on Looking for My Spouse and how it was very important for people to know some signs to pay attention to when dating. I was quite excited because I knew this was going to be a very good interview.

Money and Marriage Lessons for Today:
1) Keep abreast of what is happening with your business financially.

2) Include your spouse when it comes to your business even if they are not working it with you.

Money and Marriage Encouragement for Today:
Two heads are often better than one when it comes to business and making decisions.