MoneyWiseWomen

Listen to Money Wise Women Get Smart Interviews -- FREE!

I've got some really exciting news about the Money Wise Women Get Smart Teleseminar Series that I just had to share it with you!

 

The Direct Selling Education Foundation is sponsoring next year's series. This means we are offering the Get Smart Series FREE! You can listen live or download the teleseminar and listen at your leisure. AND, there's more -- we're offering two monthly teleseminars focused on financial and business topics. Check out the great lineup of upcoming topics and speakers (see below). Visit www.moneywisewomengetsmart.com to sign up and listen to past interviews. I hope you'll share this with all the women in our life.

 

Warmly,

Marcia Brixey

We Must Invest in Our Women -- Especially in Hard Times

Today's Seattle Times (October 10, 2010) had an Op Ed about Investing in our women especially in hard times. The authors said "As community members, we too must invest in women. Whether you choose to act with your wallet, your time, or both, your action will make a difference. The critical role that women play in maintaining our families and community demands that we identify solutions that will foster not only an equitable recovery, but also innovative long-term solutions for women and girls -- and ultimately for all of us."

Step 4: To Dramatically Increase Your Productivity

Well it’s been a few weeks, how are you doing?   Like anything else in life, it can take some time to adjust your habits.  Dedicate time and commit to some changes to be more successful and productive.  So far, you have learned….

Step #1: FOCUS is more important than EFFICIENCY. 

Step #2:  Devote 30 minutes each week to assess the past week and plan the next.

Step #3: Created a "STOP DOING" list by eliminating the items that do not add value to your life or career.

Ready for Step #4; Get Help When You Need It.  There is a fantastic book called The Organizing Sourcebook by Kathy Waddill.  In that book she talks about the 9 Strategies for Simplifying your Life.    One of those strategies is Get Help When You Need It. Kathy says, “Just because something is on your To Do list, doesn’t mean you have to do it.” 

Step 3: To Dramatically Increase Your Productivity

So how are you doing?  It's week three and I hope you've made an effort to learn from our first two steps. Keep in mind it takes time to change a habit and change does not happen overnight. As a reminder, here are our first two steps:

Step #1: FOCUS is more important than EFFICIENCY. 

Step #2:  Devote 30 minutes each week to assess the past week and plan the next.

Don't Dread Tax Time

Many of us dread this time of year, but tax time doesn’t have to be that bad.  Hopefully, you’ve hired Savvy Solutions to organize your papers using our FreedomFiler.  That makes tax time a snap.  But if you haven’t hired us to organize your tax papers, (what are you waiting for) here are a few time and money saving tax tips to get you to thru. 

What Is An Action File And Why Should You Have One?

If 2008 is the year you are finally going to conquer your paper clutter, then “Action File” is the most important phrase you can add to your filing vocabulary!

Action File (ak’shun fahyl) n.  A set of files, kept on your desktop or other easily accessible location, for filing any piece of paper requiring action and maintained on a daily basis.  Commit it to memory. 

A set of action files will typically include the following:

• Files labeled for each month of the year
• Bills to pay
• Meetings (To Discuss)
• Data Entry Items
• Waiting for Reply
• Coupons/Offers
• Causal Reading

File categories can be customized to your personal needs.

Out with Old & In with the New

I love this time of year because it's out with the old and in with the new. Something comes over me -- I just kind of go crazy. I spend a couple of week clearing my clutter, getting my financial paperwork in order, cleaning my closets and so on. I usually start the week after Christmas and keep working on it until I'm done. You don't want to visit my house during this time because it's a huge mess. I get my shredder out and shred old receipts, bills and paperwork. I rearrange my financial records, business records and so on. I just bought four plastic bins for storage.

Are there any other women out there like me? I'd love to hear your tips for clearing your clutter and organizing your records.

Warmly,

Marcia

Love and Money- 4 Steps To Success

Some things just naturally go together: peanut butter and jelly, Fred and Ginger, toys and kids, but apparently not love and money.

According to a recent Allianz Investment Company study on Women & Investing, money is cited as the #1 issue couples most often fight about. And given the current statistics that about one half of all marriages end in divorce, this has some serious ramifications.

            

Eliminate Chaos in Your Financial Filing Cabinet

Most people assume they must keep their utility statements for 7 years - the number of years recommended to keep your tax returns.  Do you know how much paper that adds up to?

Utility statements such as those for your:  Water, Sewer, Electric, Gas, Cable TV, Direct TV, Phone, Cell Phone, DSL, etc... can all be eliminated after the bill is paid, unless of course there is a way that you can deduct any of these on a tax return for a home-based business and therefore you would need to save as supporting documentation for your tax return.

I am asked often:  "Do I need to shred these documents?"  These documents do not contain information such as your social security number - so unless you want to protect your Name and Address (which is public information), then you do not need to shred them.  It really is a matter of your personal comfort level.