The recession was a good thing… Could we have another one?

That is what I am hearing --- the recession was a good thing because it changed our financial habits and reminded us what our parents and grandparents when through in the 1930’s, 40’s, & 50’s. If you recall, things were tough back then and it has only been in the last 20 years that individuals began getting in more debt. Borrowing more and not paying cash for purchases is costing many Americans everyday, to the point that thirty to forty cents of every dollar they make is going towards personal debt. To help prove this point credit card usage was up 15.5B last month-July 2011, and one could speculate the majority of the spend could be allocated towards summer time family vacation. I call this mixed news because the economy will be stimulated but consumers are taking on more debt. I was surprised by the increase in credit card spend given the currently level of uncertainty. Perhaps Americans are getting fed up with the current path and forecasted direction the US is taking and taking it out on their credit card? Credit cards are only good for two things, making vacation reservations and impulse purchases.

This wake-up call did not come at no cost, we still have high unemployment, falling home prices, and home ownership at the lowest levels since the 1960’s. I find it difficult to list all negatives, but to include a few more: Currently at War, United States has an enormous amount of debt & bond rating downgraded by S&P, Gas prices are nearing $4.00 a gal., Major utilities (Gas, Electric, Sewage, Water) are increasing their rates, etc.
A CNNMoney.com survey found eight out of ten adults are beginning to save more, fully fund their emergency account and use more caution with their finances. Additionally, the survey touched on hard lessons learned of which thirty three percent have indicated they now prefer investments with a guaranteed return. Riskless.
Now after reading all this, just remember the Recession officially ended two years ago. We are not prepared for a double dip recession which many economist predict there is a thirty three to fifty percent change of it happening --- Flip a coin!

Love what you do... Have PASSION. And WIN!

How do you grow? How do you stay at the top of your game? Take these steps and apply to your career.

Where are the jobs?

For the past two years we have been hearing people ask, where are the jobs? I might be able to help shed some light & perhaps provide a more quantifiable approach to answering the question.

First of all, companies are having trouble setting productivity standards. We have seem a tremendous technological increase over the past two decades. During that Twenty year time frame, instead of asking an employee to do more, companies/ owners would just hire an additional FTE or PTE for the specific task. Today we have the resources and desire to set productivity standards. This can be accomplished relativity quickly and easily by either hiring someone to create a model for you, or just using current production standards as a base line.

Another item to consider is Outsourcing overseas. Outsourcing overseas by Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies is larger than you think. www.abovetopsecret.com reports that 40% of Fortune 500 companies outsource something. Call Centers provide the most proof that outsourcing overseas is profitable. The trend is for IT type functions to quickly follow.

These statistics are not hard for me to believe, because I work for a Fortune 500 company for 8 years, and my job was outsourced shortly after I was recruited to another employer.

The Budget Breakdown

Do you ever wonder if you are spending to much of your paycheck on one particular expense? If so, this might help. Given the economy downturn, I have been researching and evaluating what percentage of our household income is going towards each expense.

I first created a category for each expense. Those category's were: Mortgage to include taxes and insurance, Food to include groceries & dining out, Debt payments such as credit cards and student loans, Utilities like cell phone, home phone, internet, cable, water, trash collection, and sewer bills, Transportation to include car payments, auto insurance, and gas, Savings which only includes after tax transfers to your savings account, 529 plans if you have children, Entertainment & Club memberships, and Finally Misc Household Expenses.

Below is a good plan to follow when determining, if you should upgrade in house, buy that new car you been wanting, go out to dinner- again, or even look for savings opportunities on cell phone plan, auto insurance, etc.

Percentage of monthly income allocated to expenses.
30%- Mortgage - If you have a 2nd mortgage with a balance, refinance it so you only have one mortgage payment.
15% - Food - Make the grocery list, then clip the coupons
10% - Debt Payments - Focus on the debt with highest interest rate first.
13% - Utilities - Look at the service providers you are using and ask for discounts annually.
12% - Transportation - Put your Insurance out to bid annually. I recommend Farm Bureau's.
10% - Savings - Park the money and use on a rainy day. If it's not raining, play in the sun.
5% - Entertainment/ memberships - Ask for discounts & volunteer.
5% - Household Expenses - We all have these... repairs, doctor visit, etc.

Do not be discouraged if your finances don't fit exactly into this plan, just use this plan as a template to help shape your financial future.

Forgiveness and Acknowledgment Exercise

Here is a very powerful exercise that can be done at any time throughout the year. As a matter of fact, it should be most effectively done once a year at the same time of the year.

The exercise will take about 45 minutes. Bring a pad and a pen, find a place where you can be alone and undisturbed for that amount of time.

Begin with the Forgiveness portion of the exercise:

Step 1. Mentally turn your car around and drive back over the past year. Write down anything that occurred that you believe you need to forgive yourself for; anything that you wanted to get yourself to do and didn't, anything that you had some part in that didn't go as you had planned, any activities that you could have controlled and didn't. (For example; the diet you wanted to start and didn't, or started and didn't follow through on, the project you promised yourself you would complete, the course you wanted to take and didn't, etc.) Write these things down without prioritizing them or in any particular order.

Step 2. On each and every item on your list give yourself dispensation and forgive yourself. Realize that the year is over and there is not a thing you can do about it, other than choose to learn the lesson you were offered from the situation, and move on. The secret is to stop any of the residual negative energy from following you into the next year or next timeframe.

Step 3. While remembering that "Everything happens for a reason, if for no other reason than to learn lessons" look at each of these entries and ask yourself: What lesson was I offered through this situation? Did I learn the lesson? If not, What do I have to do to learn the lesson?

Part II The Acknowledgement portion

Step 1. Look back over the year and write down everything you would like to acknowledge yourself for. Everything you got yourself to begin, follow through on, complete. Everything you had a part in, that went the way you wanted it to. (The workout program you started, the marketing campaign you launched and followed up on throughout the year, the savings program you committed to and completed each week)
Once again, just write each item down without judging it or prioritizing it.

Step 2. Go back over each item and allow the acknowledgement to sink in. Really allow yourself to reach your arm around and pat yourself on the back for a job well done on each item.

Ironically, this acknowledgement part of the exercise is more difficult for the average person. We rarely stop our crazy lives and allow any acknowledgement to sink in. Yet, it is crucial to your self-esteem and self worth to acknowledge yourself for a job well done.

Once again, this exercise may not be easy to do, however I promise it will be extremely worthwhile and valuable.

-Author Unknown

Computer running slow?

Here is some helpful advise my brother sent me:

First, download Combofix at http://www.combofix.org. After installing, you will want to reboot your computer into SafeMode and run ComboFix. Be sure to follow their directive about stopping any anti-virus/anti-spyware software before you run ComboFix.

Next, download and run CCleaner at http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner.

Then, you will want to install, update, and run MS Security Essentials. You can download at http://microsoft.com/security_essentials.

Your computer should run must faster after following these steps. Don't forget to run CCleaner at least once a week.

Do you have unclaimed cash? I did.

Turned out I have unclaimed cash from the last place I lived.

Do you remember ever paying for something, like an auto insurance premium and then canceling your coverage before the plan ran out, or paying upfront PMI insurance, and then moving before PMI was dropped from your loan? It can happen to you too. Check out the below links and search for your name.

Links to unclaimed cash:

Ohio
http://www.com.ohio.gov/unfd/TreasureHunt.aspx

Kentucky
https://secure.kentucky.gov/treasury/unclaimedProperty/Default.aspx

Indiana
https://www.indianaunclaimed.com/apps/ag/ucp/index.html