Mushrooms in the dirt
Mushrooms by Ram
a wee little land
far far away in the dirt
where potatoes grow.
©claireaperez
Mist of spring
Mists of spring ’13
Where does my money go? @ the Lansing Community Library
Below are ten pieces of information I passed on at a Lansing Community Library program. It includes websites, information, and insights from my time as a Cornell Cooperative Extension Money Management educator and VITA Assistant Site Coordinator at AFCU.
1. Money management, like most things, is a behavior. For any new habit you wish to add into your life, write down answers to the following questions:
- What do I want to do?
- When will I do it?
- How will I do it?
Remember, change is hard and may come slow…For simple strategies to select from see the book: Small Steps to Health and Wealth.
2. Write down $MART goals? There is much written about these, in a nut shell, SMART means:
- $pecific,
- Measurable
- Attainable, Agree
- Review, Revise,
- Time Limited and Trade Offs.
(Different sources use different words but the concepts are the same.)
Here is a link to a free template: http://www.lsuagcenter.com/MCMS/RelatedFiles/%7B14132911-AD75-440E-B001-F7D813F36BC8%7D/2.2+SMART+Financial+Goals.pdf.
3. Track your expenses. Use a notebook, excel sheet, piece of paper, or calendar: knowledge and accountability are power. At the end of the month, compare what you spent to what you think you spend and/or look at one regular cost you might be able to change.
4. Write a spending plan. Use a notebook, excel sheet, free template on-line, calendar. Guesstimate the first month, compare your expenses to your plan before doing next months, where are the leaks? What is preventing you from reaching your goals?
5. Review you goals, are they realistic? Do you need to revise your goals? What changes can you make? Small changes add up…see Step Down to Change in the Small Steps to Health and Wealth book linked in number one above.
6. Use community resources: do you need to buy it or do you want to buy it? Is there a resource in the community where you can purchase it?
One place to call is 211 in Tompkins County, it is an information and referral line. Also the Tompkins Count Human Services Coalition provides a wealth of information on community resources.
7. Get insight…read books: Suze Orman, Small Steps to Health and Wealth (free online), financial websites:
http://www.clarkhoward.com/categories/personal-finance-credit/
8. What is your spending style, do you need to adjust it to reach your goals? There are many quizzes on-line and a particularly good resource: Money Habitudes at…http://www.moneyhabitudes.com/
9. Finally, do you check your credit report annually for accuracy?
It is free at annualcredit report.com, watch out for trickery. Do not enter any credit card information unless you know you want to pay for your FICO score and then check the site. In addition, avoid the links to free credit report.com, this is not a free site.
I was able to get my free credit report recently. I saved it as a pdf and can get access to it at anytime. Since each of the three providers must give you a credit report annually, some experts suggest checking one report every four months.
10. If is your path, only you can chart it out.
Holiday cards and snow
as I write this my very restless husband is signaling that he wants us to get into the car and go source out two barrels for him for his spring project, a coi pond. We are having a peaceful holiday season so far and I am grateful. I feel for those who are not because I have had many a sad holiday and, as I mentioned a few blogs ago, the holidays can be an exaggerated dagger in the heart that is sore.
Here are a few pictures from a peaceful week…
Holiday Spirit 8.9 miles from Cornell’s A Lot…Post 1
The Farm…a surreal picture as a storm rolled in
It is Christmas time and while the news is full of all our favorites, I am going to try to find some of mine. This is our little farmeete, surreal, almost heaven sent. I took a recording on my Kodak digital video camera and cut it into photos. It was a day when a storm was rolling in last year.
My husband woke up this week and said: Lucky are those who can plant a rosebush and see it flower. I have to give him credit, I think his hard work and passion paint a beautiful picture. And the nice thing about it is he always expresses gratitude to the people, many now in the heavens, who gave him this opportunity.
