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Decisions: How YOU Can Improve!

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

Decisions!

How do you make a decision?

Are you a worrier or do you make quick decisions?

Examples requiring a decision:

“I can’t decide about taking that new job.  The pay is better, but it’s a start-up, how do I know if they’ ll be in business next year?”

“I can’t make up my mind whether to rent or buy a home?  The prices are great, but it’s such a big decision!”

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

“Do I buy an LED or Plasma TV?  Every  time I buy something, it’s outdated by the next month!”

How we make a decision tells a lot about us as people.

  • Procrastinators-either can’t make or put off any decision-making.
  • Failures-people who seem to always make poor decisions.
  • Lucky-people who seem to always make good decisions.

Then there are the rest of us who’ve won some and lost some.  We just do the best we can.

 Are you impulsive?

“Let’s go to Vegas tonight and get married!”  (is being drunk impulsive???)

“Where do you want to go on our vacation honey, you know we leave tomorrow?”

Or are you a perfectionist?

The other extreme, the planner from hell who never does anything unless it’s perfect, therefore frequently is not doing anything?

“I decided what I want my wedding to look like when I was 14 and have been working on it ever since….”

“When are you getting married?”

“Ohh I have to get a boyfriend first!”

Or “I’ve been planning my trip to Europe for 2 years.  I will be spending 6 hrs at the Louvre on day 5 after doing the Chunnel  the evening of day 4!”

“Sounds great, when are you leaving?”

“Well, I’m not sure it’s the right time-you know, with the exchange rate and stuff….”

Improve your decision making:

We can spend hours researching social science literature trying to find a better way to make decisions, but I’d rather just tell you what has worked for me (or not).

First, though, we need to lay out the background. I’m not a type A detail guy. And I’ve made my share of bad decisions.

I’m a big picture person.  Science has shown us that too many choices get in the way. So, narrow your choices quickly to the top two or three.  Too many details  get in your way.

How do you do that?  Perform mental triage.  In medicine, triage is the winnowing process of treating the worst first.  The chest pain is evaluated before the headache.

That doesn’t mean you will always be right!  What happens if the headache patient has a seizure in the waiting room, and his brain tumor kills him before it’s identified? The chest pain patient you rushed into the exam room turns out just had indigestion from eating 3 hot dogs at the stadium and is fine with a little Maalox.

Yep, you screwed that one up, but over time, the odds favor the triage process for saving lives and you’ll make better decisions.

How do you improve your decision making skills?

Do a self-analysis and practice. Think about your “easy” decisions. What makes them easy?  What is your usual default method of decision making and how have the results been?

If you have been married 4 times, and the new guy you are lusting after looks just like the four you’ve dumped, maybe, just maybe, you need to slow down and try to figure out what makes YOU tick? What makes you chase losers?  There is a reason and maybe you need to figure it out before you get married again.

The same can be said if you make a decent living but are always broke.  Face up to the fact that your financial decision making is poor.  Quit blaming others, and look in the mirror.

Try these decision making tips:

  • Lists-Lists can be a big help.  Make a list of the benefits and risks of your top choices.
  • Sleep on it.  Give yourself a little time to allow your sub-conscious to have a say.  Don’t let this drag into procrastination.  Just don’t make “spur of the moment”  “knee-jerk” “snap judgments”.  There is a reason there are so many cliches here, ’cause this is such a common problem.  Walk by the shoe store, see a pair of little darlin’s, slap down the credit card, then regret it for the next 6 months paying minimum payments.
  • Mentors-Have a sounding board  on your team.  Make sure these are people successful in the area of concern.  Don’t ask your broke uncle for investment advice.  Don’t ask the parents of the juvenile delinquent for child-raising tips.  The process of talking through your problem and your choices with your mentor will help you see holes in your own logic.  If you are laughing at yourself halfway through your presentation….Can you say “breakthrough”?

Make sure your decision making process includes all  stakeholders. Get them on board early.  Marriages often fail because one spouse makes big decisions without the others input.

Gosh I’m glad I decided to write this, are you?

Reader questions:

What have been your big problems with your decision making processes?

What mistakes have you made and what did you learn from it?

How have you improved your decision making prowess as you’ve gotten older?

{photo credit: InaFrenzy c.c.}

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Frugal Groceries: Home-made Cinnamon Roll Edition!

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Holiday Grocery Bills

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Guest post by FDL, BSN

It’s the holidays.  Every year, from Thanksgiving through December, that’s my excuse/reason for  many things.  On this particular topic, groceries, it’s the reason I am blowing this part of my spending plan.

Here’s the bad:

  • I had extra mouths to feed the entire week of Thanksgiving.
  • I had to prepare a portion of the big Turkey day meal.
  • I had  extra dinner guests one evening in addition to my visiting family.
  • I make thousands (I might be exaggerating) baked goods for gifts.

The Ugly:

  • The never ending mess in my kitchen.

The Good:

  • Family and Friends-what it’s all about, huh!
  • I only had to do a portion of the Turkey Day meal-yeah for pitching in!
  • I went with seasonal items that were at great prices. Can you say Sweet Potato in how many versions?
  • Christmas Gifts and dessert-a twofer! A tremendous amount of our gift giving is in the form of home-baked goods, namely cinnamon rolls. Holiday dessert and gifts all at the same time!
  • Bulk Buying. Because I make the same baked goods every year, I stock up on the ingredients at bulk prices and sales.

How To Make Your Own Home-made Cinnamon Rolls:

Homemade Cinammon Roll!

The true confessions of an over-zealous cinnamon roll holiday baker.  Read it here….

Homemade goods are a better choice than gift cards and other mindless presents this time of year.  But baking can wreak havoc with my grocery bill if I don’t plan for it.

Since I’ve gone on about how wonderful they are, I’ll share my secret recipe:

Cinnamon Roll Recipe!

I start with freshly ground whole wheat dough that I use for bread making(that’s another post.)

I make a paste of melted butter, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla extract.  No, I don’t know the exact proportions-adjust till it looks right….

After I roll the dough into a rectangle, the size of which varies every time, I spread the cinnamon paste in a thin layer over the dough, roll it all up, jelly roll like, and cut into rounds.

I dip the rounds into melted butter, place in a pan, let rise awhile (twenty minutes or so-longer the cooler your room temp), then bake until done.  Top with a powdered sugar glaze.

For  gift giving, I send a separate container of the glaze.  It’s a mixture of powdered sugar, dry milk powder, vanilla and water I put in inexpensive plastic containers,bought by the dozens.

As you can tell, like most bakers, trial and error and making adjustments on the fly is common.

The directions: Re-heat then add the glaze.

For holiday giving, I freezer bag the c. rolls, and place in Christmas gift bags.

I used to leave them in a disposable aluminum pan, cover with plastic wrap, with a bow on top.  I discovered that cooled c. rolls in a freezer bag are easier to give and to store.

This fresh bread dough does not keep well for long at room temp.  Without preservatives, they need to be eaten or frozen.  I’ve been told some of the recipients count them out and divide them  to make sure they get their fair share….

They are best eaten while warm, fresh from the oven, while the kitchen is filled with the heavenly aroma they create-not that I ever snitch one, no way…..

My c. rolls are not especially healthy as they have loads of butter and sugar.  With the freshly ground, whole grain bread dough, I like to call them a ‘better choice’ for special occasions.

Increasing your spending on groceries is not a bad thing when you are decreasing your spending elsewhere to balance it out.  It’s the balancing that’s most important….

Happy Holidays, and if you’re in the neighborhood and smell the Cinnamon Rolls, stop by and say hey!

Reader Questions:

Do you have a favorite home-made item you give at Christmas?

 

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Shoplifting: Top Ten Holiday Favorites!

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

Shoplifting

Shoplifting has for years been the bane of store owners.  The loss of profits from those walking out without paying is a significant figure, over a hundred billion in  2011!

That figure doesn’t take into account the billions spent in loss prevention.  Think about it. Every shop you go into now has security staff, expensive tags and alarms, and those ubiquitous one eyed  bubbles on the ceiling watching you pick your nose or scratch your ____.

All to try to decrease the losses walking out the door.

Shoplifting!

With  crowds shopping during the holidays, it’s so much easier for shoplifters to be more successful.

What are the most common items stolen?

According to an article on Adweek.com the most common victims of the five finger discount:

  • Steaks: I guess the animal rights folks and vegans have a lot of work to do, as steaks seem to be a common target of thieves.
  • Top shelf liquor: What better to go with your fine steak than a single malt before dinner?
  • Electric tools: Not the sexual variety, just guys stealing drills and other tools.
  • Electronics: iPhones, iPads, and laptops seem to attract the most attention.  When someone offers you a 50 buck iPhone or you find a brand new $200  laptop on Craig’s List, think twice as you might be buying stolen goods.
  • Mach 4 Razors: at least thieves want to look good.  I would’ve pictured them as liking that 5 day stubble look.
  • Axe deodorant and body washes: Must be the commercials filled with sexual innuendo….
  • Designer clothes:  Smellin’ good and lookin’ good, what can I say?
  • Hot toys: Elmo dolls are a favorite this year.
  • Designer Perfumes: If you find Chanel #5 in your stocking this year, ask your relatives for a receipt…
  • Sneaks: Make your escape in a new pair of shoes so you can jump higher and run faster.  (Unless I have them on, then the secret powers don’t work.)

There’s a common theme here.  Thieves look for popular items they can easily sell or for the thrill of looking like a million bucks without spending it…

Because I’m just a curious guy, I wondered about local shoplifters. During these tough holiday times in my rural portion of the world are criminals swiping the same stuff?  So I used my Rolodex, (you don’t even know what that is do you?) and called local people I know in the retail business.

Rural Shoplifting Favorites

Convenience Store Chain: “Maybe they steal higher end cigarettes and beer this time of year…. More of both for sure!”

National Discount Store:  “Anything that’s not tied down, and we try to tie down as much as possible.”

National Grocery Store: “With so many on food stamps, we don’t have as much food loss as we used to, but personal hygiene items are a frequent target,  and they steal volume for resale, not just a few bottles/tubes for personal use!”

Regional Department Store: “We lose more in the area of popular gifts during the holidays.  We’ve definitely seen an increase every year in losses to theft.  Jewelry, perfumes, handbags and denim items are the most likely to be lifted in our stores.”

Outdoors Store: More of everything small this time of year.  We find lots of empty wrappers-from duck calls to fishing lures. We probably catch one in fifty!”

It seems that losses from theft go up and up, even with all the sophisticated efforts at security.  Those losses result in higher prices for all of us.

Reader Questions:

Will you turn in a shoplifter if you see one stuffing their pockets?

Have you ever purchased any cheap new  items and wondered?

{photo credit: kate* c.c.}

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Family Obligations: Hidden But Real!

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

Financial Implications of Family

Guest Post by FDL BSN

Over Thanksgiving dinner, did you look around at your friends and relatives and wonder what financial risks might be loitering there?

Did you collar Cousin Joe over the apple pie and quiz him on the amount of his life insurance  since starting that new business and now having 3 kids?

Did you slip your arm over new father Phil’s shoulders and discuss the potential disaster of not having a financial plan for his child’s future?

Holiday Dinner Table

Neither did I, but Kelly Green, in an article in the WSJ,  suggested maybe we should’ve.  I began reading this article thinking, “I got my stuff together, this info just doesn’t apply to me.”

After reading only a few sentences, I realized there are many situations where my extended families’ financial decisions could impact mine.  We can be affected significantly by the decisions and actions or inaction’s of those we love.

Avoidable Family Financial Problems

There were the obvious things discussed, usually avoidable, that could lead to problems:

  • Co-signing loans with relatives.
  • Agreeing to pay for educating relatives’ children.

Unavoidable Family Financial Problems:

There were also less obvious risks you might not have thought of (I hadn’t):

  • Long term care insurance for your aging parents.
  • As your children become parents, are you prepared to help out financially with grandchildren if something happened to your kids-the new parents?
  • Children of relatives you might feel responsible for who might turn to you to cover their college education or even living expenses should they lose a parent.
  • Look at your own risks-your toys or hobbies, anything not covered by your existing insurance, that could potentially leave you open to liability.

Family Finances: Why it hit home?

This article caught my eye because of a situation with my sister who was visiting over Thanksgiving.

Sis has cerebral palsy and has difficulty with her speech and hearing but has a job, her own apartment and rides city buses to work.  She wears her independence like armor.

Over the holiday, I discovered that the turtles at  USPS, for some reason, had not delivered mail to her new mail box in three weeks.  Sis’s  speech difficulties and diminished hearing make simple communications not simple at all-so unlike you and me, a phone call to straighten things out just wasn’t possible for her….

To make a long story short, she was extremely agitated over the fact that she could not pay her bills without getting her mail.

I was struck by the fact that we had run into a similar situation when she broke her leg last winter and came to live with me for four months.

After a fall on an icy city bus platform, she was overnight staying three hundred miles from her home and needing help paying her monthly bills.  She lives alone, no one but her had any idea what or where or who she owed money each month.  We worked out the difficulties last winter, and I knew we could again.

As I was reassuring her that we’d figure out this latest problem, a light bulb (I’m sure it was a CFL) went on.

No, I didn’t see Sis as a potential financial burden. She may need to live with me some day but she has health insurance with an affordable COBRA, and no major debts.

What she did need was a little assistance from a personal finance blog reader in the form of a spreadsheet detailing what she owed to whom monthly. PF bloggers talk about this stuff all the time.  Just basic PF skills.  I’ve got skills.

Here’s what I did:

One evening while she was visiting, I hung my patience medallion around my neck, chanted my relaxation mantra a thousand times, had Sis sit down beside me and made a list of who she paid, how, when and where.

I know that sounds simple, but believe me, independent people can be very challenging.  (It’s possible we have some of the same basic personality traits).

We then tackled and set up the internet versions of her bills and developed a database  with all the information she needed to get her bills paid without the stinking USPS, AT&T, Mediacom or any other corporate giant’s help, other than their website.  Passwords and mother’s maiden name and the name of the first family dog were standardized.

Yep, the little guy wins again.

I made each of us a hard copy and emailed her a copy for her to download into her computer-password protected of course..

We fist bumped, hoisted another (OK, she’s a teetotaler, but I made up for that), and both felt better.

Family Financial Obligations

When you are next sitting around the holiday table, quit remembering the time that your brother blew up your favorite doll, or tattled about you getting home late.

Instead, think about your families’ financial situation.  Not in the nosy, I’ve got my stuff together, nanny nanny boo boo, but in the “Hummm, what if something happened to brother Bill, single parent, and the only breadwinner in his family?”

What would you do if his three kids were all alone.  How would it affect your financial planning?

Planning is the key…After all, you’re reading personal finance blogs on the internet. You’ve got skills.

Use your wisdom to assist those around you.

Reader Questions:

Do you have family members whose financial problems you may  “inherit”?  How do you discuss these without getting everyone “wadded” up?

FDL, BSN is a public health nurse and frequent contributor to The Millionaire Nurse Blog.

{Photo credit: sebrenner c.c.}

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Charitable Giving: A Holiday Primer!

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

Giving: A great holiday tradition!

Guest post by FDL, BSN

My first trip to Walmart since the holiday season began and there it was:  the tripod, red bucket and bell ringer.  I had to smile as I drove slowly past, watching a mother with a toddler in tow stop to let the child drop some coins into the red container.  The Salvation Army bell ringer is as much a part of the holidays as wreaths on doorways.

The Salvation Army's Bucket and Bells!

I was delighted to read that the Salvation Army test-piloted ‘swipe buckets’ for credit and debit cards in 2010 in two cities, and is bringing them back to 30 cities for 2011.

The giving was up 30percent where the swipe buckets were introduced. Naturally, my little berg is not on the ‘swipe bucket list’ so I’ll have to donate with boring old cash, or drop a chicken in the bucket or something…  And I will.

The SA does plenty of good for the people I serve as a public health nurse and for many others in my community.

Not only does my local SA have a food pantry, they also have monetary funds available for special situations….. such as after a house fire.  I have tremendous regard for this organization and encourage others to remember them with their donations.

December is traditionally a time to give.

In fact, the Red Cross receives 20% of their yearly contributions in the period November to December.  Charitable giving seems to be up this year,  according to a recent Red Cross survey of over a thousand adults.

Why does charitable giving increase during the Holiday season?

A lot of folks offer their opinion on this subject.  Here’s mine:

  • Holiday spirit:  with the focus on giving, how could you not be reminded?  Seeing kids who won’t have a Christmas without your giving is a great motivator.
  • Income tax deductions:  it helps.  We all hate paying taxes, so it’s a win/win.
  • Personal deadlines.  It’s the end of the year,  we’ve been procrastinating, but now it’s time to do or die.

So, you decided to give to a charity, how do you decide who is worthy of your hard earned money or time?

What are the best charities?  There actually are large organizations that hold administrative costs down in order to give to the needy.  The federal government does not come to mind. To help you find these groups, there are websites that run the numbers and post the stats.  Charity Navigator has posted a list of the 10 best charities.  I was surprised who made the list and who didn’t:

  • MAP International
  • Direct Relief International
  • The Carter Center
  • The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International
  • PATH
  • Teach for America
  • Scholarship America
  • National Jewish Health
  • Susan G Komen for the Cure
  • Opportunity International

Charity Navigator lays out the facts and offers the methodology they used to derive their stats.  As they are asking for donations themselves, I guess they aren’t taking kick-backs.

Giving to groups you are familiar with  is another way, besides online research, to determine if a nonprofit is doing its job.  Serve on local boards, visit and volunteer.  Gifts of time can be as valuable and sometimes even more so than monetary gifts.

Charitable giving in any form is important to me.  In fact, one of my all time favorite poems has a passage that describes my feelings precisely.  The poem is Living, author unknown and the line reads:

To have enough to share- to know the joy of giving;

We’re not talking Bernie Madoff money here, whose financial crash sent several non-profits into demise.  Ours is just small stuff, but it’s our stuff.

Having enough to share is important to us, not knowing where our money goes, even one dollar, matters too.

For that reason, we try to keep our charitable gift giving mostly local.  We are able to have much more control over the use and final destination of our giving.

You may have your own passions and areas you love to support, and that’s what makes the world go round.

Just take a few minutes before writing your gifting checks and be sure the money will do what you want it to do.  Decide what you can cheerfully give, then give a little more.

Reader questions:

What is your favorite charity to give to this time of year?  How do you decide what to put towards your giving each year?  Do you budget it, or give as need and your pocketbook allows? What works best for you?  And are you teaching your kids the importance of giving?

Guest post by FDL, BSN.  (FDL is a public health nurse who loves to save and give away money.  She is a frequent contributor to The Millionaire Nurse Blog.)

{photo credit: Monica’s Dad c.c.}

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9 Money Saving Reasons To Garden!

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

Saving Money Growing Vegetables

Growing your own!

No, I’m not suggesting your new side business be  growing a certain cash crop…..

I’m talking about growing your own vegetables and fruits.

What are the downsides?

  • You need a lotta’ space.
  • Your cost benefit ratio says it just doesn’t pay off, with cheap fresh foods being readily available.

These are good arguments,  and certainly true to a point, but….They leave out several positives that can’t be easily measured in dollars and cents.

What are the hard to measure benefits of gardening?

Space saving garden, yes those are dresser drawers!

  • Your current hobbies can be expensive.  If you’re using spare time to grow food, you aren’t shopping, watching cable, playing golf, or burning gas on the road-all of which cost real money.
  • You know what’s in the end product.  You control fertilizer, pesticide use, and which plants or seeds you buy, so you know what you’re eating, a definite health benefit.
  • With patio gardening techniques you can get a surprising yield out of a small space, and community gardens are increasingly popular.
  • Hand therapy, as any hobby using your own hands is known,  is a recognized stress and anxiety treatment, saving you money on Prozac, alcohol, or expensive therapy sessions.
  • Gardening burns calories-saving you money on weight loss products and maybe even your gym costs. And no more tanning bed sessions.
  • You can sell your extra bounty at the local farmers markets and flea markets, or give them away instead of buying gifts for your friends.  I know I love receiving a bag of tomatoes rather than another tie.
  • Eating food you’ve grown just makes you feel good about yourself.
  • Keeps your kids active and helps them learn self-sufficiency-saving money on baby sitters.
  • You don’t have to spend as much at the “end of the world” stores popping up online.  You are already prepared to feed yourself when the world as we know it ends….

Just because the out of pocket costs of growin’ your own may not seem to be cost-effective, remember these side benefits that can’t be easily plugged into a spread-sheet.

Maybe that garden out back is not such a bad investment idea after all.

So put those needed gardening tools on your Christmas list, or start looking for used on Craig’s List.   Winter can be a good time to begin soil prep (unless it’s frozen.  If you live in North Dakota go have a beer and wait a few more long cold months…)

Don’t buy a $2,000 tiller or spend 5 grand on a gentleman’s tractor, till you’re sure you’ll stick with it.  Remember to start small.  When you are weeding your first garden that 10 x 10 ft plot may seem like 5 acres.

 

{photo credit: mazalatel c.c.}

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