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Advice Column Household Lifestyle

How to start the New Year off right?

January 8, 2018

Around the world, everyone is wondering how they will begin 2018. They will reflect on all of their past resolutions that never happened, the 2017 elections, constant media of natural disasters, child neglect, animal abuse and much more.

For me, I try to focus new goals, look on how I can reduce my anxiety in my own mind and home along with giving back to my community even more. Here are a few things that I do to start my new year that might help you turn things around and begin this 2018 with a bang.

  1. Create a vision board. I create a vision board. One side has all the things that I want to accomplish. I cut out words, pictures or ideas and place them on the goal side. Once I have completed those goals, I moved them to the other side of the board, Accomplished! Then, at the end of the year, I have something tangible to look at; something, visually, that says I did so much.
  2. Purge. Purging your home of all the clutter will definitely help in feeling better and relaxed to accomplishing those goals. If you haven’t worn it or used it in six months or longer, please feel free to donate or throw it away. Also, purging doesn’t have to be exclusive to your home. You can clean out those emails, junk mail boxes, unsubscribe to all those digital subscriptions that you haven’t or don’t have time to read and unfriend, unfollow or unlike anything that might not be in tuned to your new goals.
  3. Financial Goals. While I purge and clean my home, I create better systems to ensure that I pay my bills on time. I make sure that my credit report is up-to-date and doesn’t have any errors. I can request a free credit report yearly. Yes, I know that you can purchase a credit report through many online credit reporting agencies and have monthly monitoring but why pay $40 dollars for something that you can get for free! Additionally, I review my expenses. If I am paying for any subscriptions electronically that automatically renew, I update my renew dates and modify any auto renew settings to ensure that I don’t forget. Many companies look forward to you forgetting about what is being charged on your credit card. Lastly, life hiccups can hit us at any time. That is why it is so important to have some type of emergency fund, a retirement fund or long term savings plan. I save to maximize my IRA contributions, be ready for that unexpected emergency and that day that I can retire in a new home on the beach. The new trend should be being in the black not the red; Debt free is the new BMW.
  4. Take care of yourself. The one thing that I have noticed about myself is that when I don’t take time for me; I become extremely distracted and unmotivated to accomplish anything. I make sure to incorporate time in my schedule for getting a haircut or my nails done, talking to life coach, scheduling those yearly checkups with my physician, going to the gym and even having a date night with my husband.  All of these little moments are what keeps me from becoming overwhelmed, so do what you need to do to take care of yourself and start your new year on the right foot!

Let me know how you start your new year. Please feel free to email or comment below.

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Food & Drinks Household

Good Ol’ Sweet Tea

April 14, 2017

Who would love a glass of good ol’ sweet tea? Well, if you asked this question in the South, it would be a resounding YES! However in Massachusetts, they would look at you like you had two heads.

History of sweet tea goes as far back as the late 1700s. South Carolina was known for being the only state to produce the tea commercially. In the 1800s when ice boxes were common, the idea of creating different kinds of tea and tea punches were published in a variety of community cookbooks.

By the 20th century, tea being served cold was common place. Why?… It is hotter than hell in the South and during the American Prohibition, it was a good alternative to illegal alcohol. Many well-known cookbooks, like Southern Cooking by Henrietta Dull, set the standard on how it was to be made. All ladies of society had this book and did their best to follow her recipe to a tee.

One of the biggest don’ts in preparing tea was that milk was never to be served with it. Well, darn, if New Englanders can have medium, regular ice coffee, why can’t Southerners have medium iced tea with milk?

If you want to try my recipe for the two types of traditional teas, Ice Tea and Sweet Tea, the recipe is the same but the only difference between the two is SUGAR.

Traditional Ice Tea and Sweet Tea Recipe

  1. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil.
  2. Turn off heat, add 8 to 10 tea bags and let them steep for about 10 to 15 minutes. I prefer Lipton Black Tea bags.
  3. While still warm, pour the steeped tea in a gallon jug.
  4. If you want a traditional tea, no sugar required and go to Step 5. If you want sweet tea, place ½ cup of sugar and increase sugar slowly to get your desired taste. Usually 1 cup of sugar is sweet enough.
  5. Fill the rest of the gallon jug with cold water and refrigerate until nice and cold.
  6. Serve over ice, with or without lemon and enjoy.

Do you have a favorite tea recipe that was passed down to you? Please let me know and as always, thanks for stopping by.

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Advice Column Household

Ask Ms. Deborah – 5 Ways to Paying Bills on Time.

April 4, 2017

Dear Ms. Deborah,

I am in my 30s and make enough to live comfortably but there is one thing that I am not very good at, paying my bills on time. My wife and I get into huge arguments because it can and will affect our credit rating down the road when we want to buy a house. Can you provide me with some tips?

Sincerely,

Procrastinating Husband

Dear Procrastinating Husband,  

Bill paying is very important because it does increase your credit score and enables you to get better interest rates on future loans. So how can you start paying bills on time?  It starts with both you and your wife working as a team and creating that habit together.

My suggestions that may help you stay on top of your bills are as follows:

  1. Organize your bills. You can create a filing system that has 12 monthly folders and 31 numbered folders to help you organize the bills by the month and day they are due. For example, when you get your mail and it notes that the bill is due next month, May 15th, place it in the monthly folder marked May. At the end of April, I would suggest pulling the May monthly folder and taking all the bills due and now organizing them in the number folders on when the bill is due. Knowing that the bill is due on May 15th, I would place that bill to be paid by the 10th to ensure it arrives on time.
  2. Schedule a bill paying time. It is important to schedule a designated time as a couple to go over finances and pay bills. This ensures everyone is on the same page and can bring up any upcoming expenses or budget for something in the future like a home or dream vacation.
  3. Schedule automatic payments. This is a great way to ensure that those credit card bills and mortgage payments are paid on time. The only downfall is that you always must have enough in your account to cover those bills.
  4. Pay the bill when it comes in. Once the bill comes in, go directly to their mobile app or your banking website to schedule that payment or if you prefer mail, write that check and mail it off.
  5. Set up bill reminders via email or text. A lot of credit card companies and banks offers services to ensure their clients are successful in paying their bills on time. Enroll in those reminders and possibly save the planet by opting for paperless bill service.

Paying bills on time reduces stress and a happy wife is a happy life! I hope this helps. Thanks for stopping by.

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Household

Organizing Your Mail

April 4, 2017

The dreaded stack of mail that comes in our box can be overwhelming at times. With that said, here are few steps that I do that eliminates unwanted mail while organizing those few bills that do arrive the old fashion way, via the Postmaster.

  1. Open and sort mail immediately that day. I have categories to include recycle, shredding, bills and catalogs/magazines. Right of the bat, I throw any paper and junk mail that does not have my name printed in the recycling bin. Anything with my name printed is immediately shredded. I highly recommend buying a shredder that cross cuts into tiny squares. If you don’t want to buy a shredder, your local bank may schedule free shredding for their clients. Also, there are shredding companies that will shred your information and provide a certificate destruction for your peace of mind at low cost.
  2. Set up a Work Area. I have a designated area that I place all things that I need to work on. If I can’t immediately address the mail and sort it, I place it in my “Things to Do” file. I created a filing system that enables me to know what I have to do, what is pending and store those important documents for later review.
  3. Creating a Filing System. I have two files, Things to Do and Pending, that are located in a small plastic organizer under my desk. Then, I have a larger plastic banker box with other important files that I want to store and review at a later date. The categories that I chose are the actual vendor names and alphabetize them.
  4. Designate a Day and Time. I designate Friday’s for reviewing mail, paying bills, reconciling all accounts to include credit cards and filing those important documents for later review.  With identity thief being at its highest lately, I want to ensure that I know what is being charged on my accounts and making sure no one, including the bank, is crossing a boundary.
  5. Magazines and Catalogs galore! I create a separate pile to review later while sitting on the couch with my Meg. Once I receive a newer catalog or magazine, I immediately recycle the old one. I go through the magazine to see if I kept that one for a reason. For example, I liked an article, a clothing outfit idea or recipe. Now, I tear out that particular page and recycle the rest. Purging is the key for me. If you can get your favorite magazine or catalog online, you might want to consider canceling the subscription or calling the catalog company to ask for your name be removed from their list. I do this every chance I get and it has helped reduce paper in my world and possibly saved a couple of trees.
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