5 Ways to Feel Great in 2013!
We all have new goals and ideas to implement this year. The key is to succeed at them is to start out small. You’d be surprised how the “little” things motivate us to keep going or go stronger in our everyday lives. Here are a few ideas.
Exercise
Yes, exercise is good for you. There’s no way around it. In order to groove, you’ve got to move! Moving around helps stimulate your body and makes you feel more vibrant. It helps lift your mood and makes you feel energized. If you are more energetic then you can do more. It’s a positive cycle that helps you physically and mentally deal with the stressors in your daily lives. Try it! Start by moving to the beat of your favorite song for about 10 – 15 minutes a day, then do it twice a day. As your energy level increases, go ahead and do exercises like jumping jacks, a few pushups and crunches. Then you can move on to more complex exercise routines. Trust me; you will feel the difference in just a couple of days. Your body will thank you for it.
Drink Tea
Many folks I know say tea is for people who don’t feel well. It’s for people who have a cold or otherwise feel under the weather. Not true! On the contrary, tea is for people who want to prevent not feeling well. Chamomile tea for example helps soothe your nerves and enables you to sleep better. Peppermint tea is an antiseptic; it’s good to keep your stomach in check by stimulating bile which improves digestion. Lavender helps lift your mood and it smells great! My favorite, green tea is a fat burner. It lowers cholesterol and get this – it helps protect us against two of the nation’s top health issues affecting Americans- heart disease and diabetes. So yes, tea is good for you, so this year drink up!
Meditate
Ease your mind, calm your nerves, and reflect on your present day. Focus on your breath, sit up straight and inhale deeply. Think about your wishes for tomorrow and take things one day at a time. Oh, and one more thing- stop watching the news so much. All the negativity will certainly put you down. Meditating just a few minutes a day will help you feel more at peace with yourself and the world around you. Try it.
Do something fun
All work and no play is sure to make even the most stable person a grumpy old grouch. On a daily basis, make sure you sneak in your schedule something you love doing. Like playing video games? Go for it. Like dancing? Go ahead and shake that thing. Enjoy watching the Kardasians reality show, go ahead and knock yourself out, no one’s going to judge you. The point is that you need to do whatever lifts your mood – DAILY! Life can bring anyone down, whether it’s the daily routine of work or the grind of daily chores, you need an outlet in which you can have downtime to relax and be yourself. So go ahead, read those comic books you’ve been meaning to take a gander at. Enjoy!
Don’t stress it!
Listen, life is hard, we all know that. There are plenty of ups and downs in our journey through life. We all have them. How we each deal with this cycle of life is what makes the difference on how we perceive the world. If we stress everything, we’ll feel more of a wreck and more stressed out. That’s a bad cycle to be in. Break this cycle and as the common saying goes, life is short, don’t stress it. The great thing about life is that there is always a new day to follow a bad day. A new day brings hope of better things to come, so please don’t stress as much this year!
DMM Services
Do you need help with your home finances? Wouldn’t you like to have all your bills paid on time and your financial paperwork in order? Do you have a payment system set up? Through Ace the Journey Daily Money Management services, Ana will organize your financial life so you can focus on bonding with your loved ones or working on other important projects:
Ana provides Daily Money Management services for:
- Senior Citizens
- Clients with health problems and disabilities
- Busy moms
- Busy professionals
- Entrepreneurs
Ana can help you with:
- Organizing and keeping track of financial and medical insurance papers
- Assisting with check writing and maintaining a bank account
- Arrange for in-home care and medical appointments
- Bookkeeping
- Serving as a liaison between you and income tax professionals, lawyers and financial advisors
- Initiating and sticking to a budget plan
- Tracking income and expenses
- Financial file organization and record keeping
- Personal Financial Reports – balance sheet and net worth statements; cash flow reports
- Monitoring bank statements
- Bank Account Reconciliations
- Bill Payments
- Filing & tracking medical claims and expenses
- Organizing tax documents
- Providing information regarding community resources available to meet other needs.
Ana has 12 years experience preparing client portfolio reports, keeping track of transactions, preparing and mailing out disbursements and checks, balancing checkbooks, doing bookkeeping and preparing wire transfers. Previously she worked as a Mortgage Loan Signing Agent. She is a N.Y.S. Notary Public, Certified Professional Daily Money Manager and has an M.B.A. degree in Finance.
Ana looks forward to assisting you with your daily money management needs. As a proud member of the American Association of Daily Money Managers (AADMM), she is fully committed to the code of ethics established by the Association, as well as being fully committed to the professional integrity her clients deserve.
Call for an initial consultation to determine how your needs can best be met.
Tel: 347-447-9006
Happy New Year 2013!
This year will be great. Let’s move on to a new year full of optimism and appreciation for all the good things we have, for all our blessings. Many things happened last year, some good, others not so much, but the wonderful thing about life is that there is always a tomorrow. Tomorrow always brings promise, a promise of better things to come, of hope. So let’s appreciate what we learned last year, how we all grew as individuals and let’s keep in our hearts the dear people we lost. We should all carry in our hearts and minds the experiences that molded us and their existence here on earth, the wonderful light that the people we lost shed on us while they were here.
Now we all move on to a new year full of expectations and dreams for a better life. Let’s get on with it and be better and stronger than ever.
Cheers to a wonderful New Year 2013!
Ana
¡Feliz Año 2013!
Este año nuevo va a ser maravilloso. Vamos a iniciar un año nuevo con optimismo y vamos a apreciar a todas las cosas buenas que tenemos y a todas nuestras bendiciones. Muchas cosas pasaron el año pasado, algunas buenas y otras no tanto. Pero lo bonito de la vida es que siempre hay un mañana. El mañana siempre trae promesa, una promesa de mejores eventos porvenir, una promesa de esperanza. Por eso tenemos que apreciar lo que aprendimos el año pasado y como todos crecimos como individuos. Tenemos que mantener a las personas que algunos perdimos en nuestros corazones y las cosas que aprendimos de ellos en nuestras mentes. Su existencia en esta tierra nos arropó en su luz maravillosa.
Ahora es tiempo de empezar un año nuevo lleno de expectativas, de proyectos nuevos, de esperanzas renovadas y de nuevos sueños para una mejor vida. Vamos, vamos hacia este nuevo año con más fuerza, mejores que nunca.
¡Salud! A un Prospero Año 2013.
Ana
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year 2013!
Thank you for making this year great. In a week, I will write about ways to get organized and new year’s resolutions. How to stick to them and make your goals a reality. In the coming year I will have more expert interviews and great tips on making the most of your money.
Have a happy and healthy holiday season.
Felicidades!
How to Avoid Falling Into Financial Pitfalls During the Holidays
Interview with Cecilia K. Holden, Business Operations Manager for Guardian Capital Advisors, LLC
1. What are some great ways to plan financially for the holidays?
- Start by determining the maximum amount you are able to spend on all holiday expenses that fits reasonably within your financial budget. It is best to begin this process in January of each year so the added costs that come with the season are factored into your household annual budget. If you haven’t done so previously, start now and then take this into account in your 2013 budget forecasting.
- Project everything you need to purchase during the holiday season, including but not limited to:
o Presents;
o Host(ess) gifts for any parties you will be attending
o Clothing allowance for any new wardrobe items needed for parties you will attend
o Holiday decorations
o Entertaining you will be hosting or for which you will be sharing any expenses, including holiday meals
o Travel expenses for any trips you will take during the season
o Donations you will make or gifts you will purchase for needy families
- Make an itemized list for each heading in the categories listed above and allocate per item the amount you intend to spend on each. Confirm that the sum of all of these items does not exceed the total amount budgeted.
- To ensure your allocations are as close to actual as possible, look online for pricing prior to finalizing the list.
- Include a safety net in your budget to account for items that are unforeseen in the planning stages and possible increases due to inflation.
- Should the amount that you plan to spend exceed the total amount budgeted, look to see where you may be able to make cutbacks or save in ways that will still accomplish the overall end goals. If not, you will need to also include in your future monthly expenses any financing charges that will be incurred as a result of putting things on credit cards, layaway and similar payments.
- Before hitting the stores, shop online, scan ads in the newspaper and be on the lookout for coupons that come in the mail. This will provide you with baseline prices to work against before overpaying in the stores.
- When shopping online, weigh the cost of shipping against the cost of gas and time spent to shop at store fronts.
- Be sure to use the price match guarantee offered by many stores whenever possible. This may eliminate the need to go to the store with the lowest price.
- Remember that many stores offer discounts such as AAA, student, military and senior citizen – especially since it is unlikely for cashiers to remind you at the registers. Do not hesitate to ask them if they offer any such discounts when you check out. When it comes to your finances, it is better to be safe than sorry.
- To maximize your total annual budget, whenever possible, it is best to shop all year long in order to take advantage of the sales and end of season clearances. For example, if you know you will need new bows or tree lights next year, shop the day after Christmas in order to buy these items on clearance. Stock up on generic holiday-themed gifts at up to 90% off of the original price after Christmas – these will make great host and hostess gifts for next year.
2. What are some of the biggest mistakes people make during the holidays?
- Often people tend to overlook things that need to be on the list of items for which to budget. To avoid this, look at the time of year as a whole, and determine all of the things that factor into the season that are not in your typical monthly spending habits.
- When shopping, it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the holidays and pick up a few extra items along the way. When you make a list of items to purchase and the amounts allocated to each, it is critical that you stick to the list and the dollar amounts listed to avoid overspending.
- People spend $10 in gas driving to a store to save $5 on an item. Again, do not forget to use the price match guarantee if it allows you to shop closer and still get the better price.
- People get sucked in by the “Hoover maneuver” during the holiday season, and store clerks are rewarded to encourage you to pay more. It is incredibly easy to see an extra feature or a larger item and to take the attitude of “Oh well – what is an extra $50?” If you do this too often, before you know it, you are way over your allocated budget. Therefore, when looking at items on your list to purchase, do not even look at items that are not within the overall budgeted amount for that item unless you are willing to lower the allocated amount on a different item.
- It is easy to get store credit cards and save an extra 15 percent or so while shopping. Taking advantage of these discounts can be a great way to save money, as long as you take caution against what opening a new card will do to your credit score. Too much credit can ding you on your credit scores, thus costing you if you go to refinance your home or purchase a new vehicle, for example.
- It is easy to prolong the financial pains of paying now when you charge expenditures on a credit card. Do not forget that what you put on your credit card in December will be due in January. Otherwise, you will need to budget additionally for the interest charges that will be incurred if you are not able to pay the bill in full.
3. Can you save yourself if you are already getting into trouble or is it too late?
- If you find yourself getting deeper in the “red” during the holiday rush, do not give up. Oftentimes people will take the attitude of “Oh well – I am already in deep, so I may as well go all the way and forget my planned budget.” That attitude will make you your own worst enemy. Stop while you are ahead, and establish a payment plan to get you back on track for the rest of the year.
- Do not spend what you do not have. If someone is a close enough friend or relative to be considered gift worthy, they are also close enough to understand if you need to cut back this year. Be honest with yourself and with others, and do not spend money beyond your means!
