Stress Busting

Stress Free Holiday Shopping Tips You Can Use Now

planningCrush Debt With An Effective Financial Plan

Holiday spending is a notorious budget buster, but with Stress Free Holiday Shopping Tips You Can Use Now your fall and winter holidays can be affordable, satisfying and fun!

A Debt Free Holiday is a Stress Free Holiday

Holidays are stressful enough without the worry and regret of additional debt. Being in debt just plain sucks! Are you struggling with debt, and feel like you are getting deeper and deeper? Stop digging and start planning!

If you are dreaming about starting your own business but can’t afford to leave your day job, that’s another reason to stop the same spending pattern and start planning.

Cut the worry and guilt and avoid adding debt by starting your stress free holiday shopping now in the top three budget busting categories: travel, gifts and food.

It is all well and fine to tell yourself that this year you are going to be frugal, but let’s be real. Instead of giving out adorably boxed home-made cookies, are you likely to end  up in line at the mall in December with a big load of guilt and a smoking hot credit card in hand?

Plan your spending and shopping strategies now. Come the New Year, you can look back at a holiday season that did not leave you in more debt! You’ve got this!

Take Advantage of Tax Free Shopping

When football season is kicking off and every store is packed with back- to-school promotions. Keep an eye out for tax free shopping days in your region.

Each year, more and more states offer tax-free shopping days or weeks for consumer goods ranging from clothing to computers! It is perfectly legit to snag a few things off your holiday shopping list during the tax-free period.

The good news is, you do not have to have a third grader in tow to take advantage of the sales! Nor do you have to be a resident of the state. Take advantage of the sales and reduced taxes to score some planned for purchases for the coming holidays.

Start Now for Stress Free Shopping for Holiday Travel Deals

The United States Department of Transportation reports that the Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year’s holiday periods are among the busiest long-distance travel periods of the year. With higher demand comes higher pricing.

If you haven’t already, now is the time to start shopping for holiday travel tickets for you or for family members. Especially if you are planning to fly, shopping now is a very good plan. Not only will you be able to get better prices, you are more likely to get the flight you want before it fills up.

Don’t forget to look for hotel deals if you will not be bunking at Grandma’s or if the family is driving over a period of days. Remember a heated indoor pool is a great way to wear out kids who have been stuck in the back seat all day, especially if you can book that room at a reduced rate!

We Love Lay-Away for Holiday Gift Shopping

Thank goodness for the reappearance of the “Lay Away” plan at so many large retailers!  This old-fashioned payment method is a great way to avoid going into debt for holiday spending.

The revival of the Lay Away payment plan lets you buy your gifts now and divide up the payments between now and the holiday. You get to do your shopping early enough to avoid the rush and avoid any debt!

Since the gifts stay at the store until they are paid for, you don’t have to worry about hiding toys and bicycles from curious kids!

Most Law Away plans require 10 to 20% down with the remaining amount paid over a six to eight week period.

How it works: Say you have $300 worth of presents to lay-away. Most stores have a small lay-away fee of around $5. If you then put down 20% that would be $60 for a total to start of $65. You will then pay $30 each week for eight weeks.

Shop and lay-away now. You will have all your gifts paid off and ready to wrap the first half of December. Free and clear, with no January credit card hangover! How cool is that?

Rock Your Holiday Food Shopping

How many big meals and traditional recipes do you prepare every year? Are you expecting house guests in coming months? Do you tend to run to the store for your cooking and baking supplies a few days before the big event?

The grocery stores tend to offer attractive holiday specials or loss-leaders during the week or two before major holidays. Those bargains are designed get you in the store with the expectation that you will buy all the things you need while you are there. Yup,  even if the rest of the items on your list are not on sale.

Spread It Out

You don’t have to make yourself crazy trying to find rock-bottom prices on every item.

Control your spending and give yourself a little breathing room. Instead of stressing, plan your major holiday meals now! Include a complete “master list” of ingredients for all your special meals, treats and party foods.

Want a little extra help with planning holiday cooking? I really like the free meal planner sheets from the Organized Home site.

Look over your master list for items that may be safely stored for longer periods. Long shelf-life items are canned goods, frozen foods and baking supplies. Remember non-food items that run out faster during holidays. Stock up on toilet paper, napkins and paper plates!

Start now to pick up a few things from your list every time you go grocery shopping. You can spread the cost over several weeks. Bonus: You won’t be dragging it in the house and putting it all away at the same time. Win-Win!

Remember to mark the items off your Master List. Look at what you have accomplished!

Planning now for your holiday travel, gift giving and special meals will keep you out of debt and give you more time to enjoy your holidays.

Do you have some budget areas that are a problem? Would you like more tips for Stress Free Holiday Shopping? Leave your questions and comments below!


How To Boost Morning Productivity Before Bed

How to Boost Your Morning Productivity by Getting Ready the Before Bed Are you ready to rock your morning productivity? Are you taking Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning challenge? Or are you just looking to better organize your hectic mornings?

Here are easy tips to boost your morning productivity that you can start today!  Using just one or two of these hacks before bed each night will immediately help boost your morning productively.

Less Hassle Equals Morning Productivity

Think back to the last few mornings. What tripped you up? Mentally walk yourself through everything you did from the time you opened your eyes until you walked out the door.

What felt like an annoyance? What sidetracked you? What tasks or routines do you do every single day no matter what? Are there things you would like to do every morning if you have more time?

Consider your morning routine a project, an ongoing project, and let’s break it down step by step. Let’s start with an areas all folks have in their morning routine.

Personal Hygiene

Do you shower or shave or style your hair every morning? Where are your towels and shaving stuff and hair products?

Towel Short Cuts

Save time before your shower shower by laying out towels the night before. Do you normally take the time to go to the linen closet or paw through the basket of clean laundry? Do you have to walk to the utility room to grab clean towels from the dryer?

From now on, keep your towels folded within reach of the shower or hanging from a hook, within  easy reach when you step out.

You can permanently install decorative hooks or just slap on the easy and inexpensive stick-on hooks. The advantages of the stick-on hooks are ease of removal and not adding another project on your to-do list!

The added bonus of hooks is that you can just hang your clean towels instead folding and putting them away every laundry day. More time saved!

Corral Those Bath Products

The same type of arrangement can be used for your shower products, like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, facial scrubs. Are your bottles and jars already lined up on the bathtub ledge, or do you grab your stuff as you head it? Are you sharing ledge space with other members of the household?

A plastic basket from the dollar store is an easy way to keep your shower stuff handy and separate. You won’t have to move it out of the shower, either. Use an S-type type hook or carabiner to hang your basket from the shower curtain rod or shower caddy.

Shaving and Styling

If you have a drawer or cabinet next to the bathroom sink, arrange your morning shave or hairstyling gear within easy reach, cockpit style.

I have a tall cabinet next to my sink and mounted plastic coated wire baskets – the kind you can get for kitchen spices – on the inside of the door to holds my blow dryer and brushes. There is a place for hairspray and styling products. Use a hand mirror for checking the back of your hair? That can hang from stick-on hook inside the cabinet!

Heading Out With Morning Productivity

Every few seconds you can shave off your morning routine will add up by the time you head out the door.  For my morning commute, an extra ten minutes before I leave extends my drive by twenty minutes because of traffic!

Getting Dressed

One of the most productivity enhancing habits to develop is to lay your clothes the night before. Lay out the entire outfit, including socks, underwear, necktie, purse, jewelry and any other accessories.

Make sure you have inspected those clothes before you lay them out. You do not want to be ironing or trying to find a substitute shirt because of a stain or missing buttons.  That is another good reason to lay out your underclothes as well… you really don’t want to wear purple floral panties under those white pants, do you?

Time and Money

Improved morning productivity can shave some expenses off your budget, too. Would you avoid a stop at the local fast food for a breakfast sandwich or coffee if you had it together in the morning?

Have your travel mug and coffee station ready for the morning. Set out a spoon, napkin, and your coffee or tea of choice. If you use a single serving coffee machine, preset it to wake up and heat the water a few minutes before the time you normally prepare your morning cuppa. For me that is as soon as the alarm goes off and my feet hit the floor!

Get you breakfast and lunch ready in advance as well. It will save money and is one less stop on the way to work!

Boil and peel a bunch of eggs on the weekend and have them ready to go for weekday mornings. Ditto for preparing other cold stuff you will be taking with you like fruits and salads.

Leftovers for lunch are a really money-saver. Put portions of leftovers in a microwave safe container as you clear up from dinner. Ready to go!

Keep It Together

Have a designated spot or a plastic bin in your fridge for in the morning. It makes a huge difference in that last rush to get out the door to be able to simply grab your bin and transfer everything to your lunch bag.

Pack your lunch bag or briefcase with nonperishable items the night before.

Morning Productivity On The Road

Plan ahead for your morning commute. Have you downloaded that audio book you want to listen to? Do you have a travel cup washed and ready for coffee or ice water on the road? Do you need to allocate extra travel time to stop for gas?

Weather Considerations

Do you need to throw an umbrella or ice scraper in the car? In the winter will you need to plan time for scraping or defrosting. Remember to get your boots and gloves set out for the cold trudge out to start the car!

Morning Productivity for Your Kids

Do you have kids that need to be dropped at school or daycare  in the morning?

The same night-before routine will reduce the rush and frantic hunt for that left shoe and  permission slip in the morning, but with a bonus. You will be teaching your children how to think ahead, solve problems, and be productive people!

Now Or Later

There are only so many hours in a day, how are you going to spend them? The tasks described above all have to be done, sooner or later.

You get to choose when to do them. You get to choose to be ahead of the game, or rushed and stressed.

Try some or all of these hacks to increase your morning productivity. After a few mornings of having everything at your fingertips from your hairspray to your car keys, you will discover how pampered it feels to have everything at your disposal!

Would you like to see more productivity hacks? What are your tips and tricks for morning productivity? Please share your comments!



Be Ready for Surgery! Getting Your Docs in a Row

Geting your docs in a row before surgeryBe ready for surgery by getting your docs in a row! If there is surgery in the future for you or a family member, these tips for planning ahead will lessen your stress and make the process run smoother.

It’s time to “get your affairs in order”. Depending on your perspective, that can sound pretty dire … or may conjure visions of a wild weekend in Vegas!  A non-dramatic reality is that we all have administrative responsibilities to deal with in our everyday lives and planning for surgery adds to the list of forms and documents we have to deal with. Dealing with them in advance will make your life easier in the weeks before and after surgery.

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Essential Moving Tips to Send Stress Packing!

IMG_0031Packing up and moving is a big life stressor, even if you are happily moving to the home of your dreams! Roughly one in six people move each year, and most people move their residence more than once in a lifetime.

I’ve moved in and out of apartments, townhouses and single-family homes over the years, locally and long-distance and have helped loads of family and friends move. I learned how to make moving easier – or at least less hard!

My experience has taught me some sure-fire tips that will make your next move less of a hassle.

Keep Calm and Carry It With You

Want to save yourself a lot of stress? Set up a planner system that you can carry with you. A regular three-ring binder will work fine. You will need calendar pages, dividers, page protectors, and some pockets.

If you are already a planner person, you can hack an existing planner to fit in sections and pockets for your move. Resist the temptation to spend time decorating the planner sections. You don’t have time to make it Pinterest-worthy, you are getting ready to move!

Have a calendar page for each month between now and your move date.

You can print plain monthly calendar pages from word-processing applications like MS Word.

Working back from the move date, mark dates for canceling services like utilities, newspaper delivery and mail forwarding. Do you have to give notice to your current landlord? Schedule a final inspection? Settlement date for new house? Mark your calendar. Schedule reminders on your phone to check your moving calendar!

Set up a section for your physical move.

Start a supply list! Think of all the things you will need, including boxes, bubble-wrap, tape, and markers.

Make a contact sheet with the name and phone numbers of your mover, real estate agent, storage company, and the like.

  • Make notes of every conversation or meeting, with names and dates.
  • Use page protectors to hold your moving contract, storage rental agreement, and other important papers.

Include a utilities section in your planner.

Will you need to arrange for gas, electric, water, cable, and trash-pickup? What about lawn or pest-control services?

  • Start a separate page for each utility and service you will need at your new home. Include the company name, address and phone number, account number, deposit paid, and service start date.
  • Ask for the after-hours emergency number and put it in your planner!
  • Keep deposit receipts and business cards in a page protector or manila envelope that is hole-punched to fit in your planner.

Add an appliances and décor section to your planner.

This section is where you will keep the receipts, delivery information and manuals for new or existing appliances you will be taking to your new home like a stove, refrigerator or washer and dryer.

This is also where you will keep your records for carpet installation, interior and exterior painting, and flooring.

Will you be buying or arranging for garage door openers, lighting or a security system? This is the section for those records and phone numbers.

About Those Boxes

You will need a crazy number of boxes, so start early gathering and packing your boxes. If you are sure you have enough – get more!

Do you know of someone else who has recently moved? Ask them for their boxes!

If you or family members work in offices that use a lot of copy paper, ask for the empty boxes. Especially during the warmer months when lots of folks move, clean boxes are a hot commodity, so ask early!

Get to know your local shopping centers, and find out when they set their boxes out back.

Consider purchasing packing boxes from your local storage or truck rental company. It was worth it to me to buy wardrobe boxes so I could take clothes right out of my closets and hang them in the boxes.

I also bought special boxes for our television and mirrors.

I had been able to gather boxes from other sources, and still ended up buying several dozen packing boxes to save time.

Gently used packing boxes can be sold to recover part of your cost. By carefully collapsing the boxes as you unpack, you can sell them to someone else who is moving by word-of-mouth or a post on Craigslist.

Packing it All In

Have a good supply of packing tape, fat markers or labels, and colored stickers or labels. Assign a color to each room of your new home using your colored dot stickers or labels. Put a master list of assigned room colors in your planner.

Special Consideration: Our very first apartment was sweet, cheap and had bugs. When we moved out, I took steps to prevent any six-legged hitchhikers. Every box was taken out to the porch, thoroughly sprayed inside with bug killer, and left to dry before it was packed. Voila! No bugs at the new digs!

Before you pack each box, mark the contents on all four sides of the outside, or slap on labels. Also add a colored dot or label to each side to show the room it will belong in at your new digs.

Trust me, if you have 30 boxes in a stack you do not want to be moving them around in order to see the description of the box you need.

The Big Day

You already have your planner with you, right?

Keep a separate box or big plastic tub separate from the other moving boxes. This is to be hand-carried to your new abode with basic essentials you will need.

Pack this box with toilet paper, paper towels, light bulbs, trash bags, hand sanitizer, cleaner spray and wipes, rubber gloves, a small tool kit and a flashlight. Remember hand soap and shampoo.

Bring your phone and cord if you will have a land-line.

Think about bringing a shower curtain, rod and hooks if your new shower won’t have doors.

Disposable cups, plates, bowls and flatware, aluminum foil and zipper bags are handy, too.

Have another box or bag with clean sheets and blankets for the bed and a set of towels for each person who will be in the house the first night. Keep it in your car so it doesn’t get mixed in with the other boxes.

When the bed is carried into your house, set it up and make your bed first thing. Seriously. You won’t feel like it later after lugging a hundred boxes.

Home Sweet Home!

So there you are. After staggering into a hot shower you collapse on your clean, soft bed. Now you can fall into a peaceful sleep surrounded by piles of lovely, color coded packing boxes.

Are you planning a move this year? Do you have moving stories and tips to share? Please leave your comments below!