Put Your Credit Cards on Vacation - May Goal #3
(Scroll down for more info!)
Welcome to Cindy's Porch! Grab yourself a cup of tea and pull up a chair. Are you ready to discover the treasures that are available in your home, your neighborhood, and within your family that cost absolutely nothing? This is where we learn to "DO instead of BUY". Where we "SHOP at home FIRST" and discover that "procrastination" can be our best friend when it comes to BUYing more stuff.
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"DO" away with debt in 2008! Are old debts keeping you and your family living in the financial past? Does day-to-day living clean out the checking account? Have you been waiting until "later" to begin setting aside money for your financial future? "Later" has arrived. Welcome to Cindy's Porch! Remember, we are NOT financial experts. We are simply people like you who have learned how to manage our money and make it work for us. No "get rich quick" schemes here. These are life-long money skills that we use every day. Keep reading...
"DO" away with debt (and create some savings) in 2008!
If 2008 is the year that you'd like to get a bit more control of your finances, your home, and the things you DO, then you are at the right place. Welcome to Cindy's Porch.
  What are your financial dreams? Your financial goals? Do you have a pile of credit card debts that you would like to get rid of? Perhaps a student loan from many years ago? Does the monthly balance of paychecks and paying bills leave you frustrated and wondering, "where did all the money go"? Would you love to go on a vacation or renovate your home without adding thousands of dollars to your credit card debt? Does the thought of retirement funds, investments, and saving for the future seem like an impossibility from where you are sitting? Been there, done that.
"We're not doing without. We're DOing within!"
This year we are going to DO something a little different at Cindy's Porch. Each month, we'll have FOUR new goals to help us down the path of financial success and personal DOing. Our emails and our website will direct you towards the information to tackle each goal. And we're going to have fun DOing this together. At the beginning of 2009, you will be able to say, "I DID it in 2008!"
Are you ready to start?
 Goal #1 for May, 2008
This month we're going to DO it!
How Low Can You Go - Round 2!! We're continuing April's challenge right into May. So if you missed it the first time, This is a challenge to see how LITTLE we can spend during the entire
month of April. We are going to give our credit cards a holiday and
our savings accounts a bit of breather space (The retailers are not going to like
us LOL). This month we are going to focus on OUR economy instead of THEIR
economy.
Goal #2 for May, 2008
This wouldn't be Cindy's Porch if we didn't have a goal that helped us keep more cash in our stash when tackling the food that we eat!
Yikes! The prices of food in the grocery stores are climbing - $10.00 for a bag of flour? Eeks - I better make sure I use up the flour I have already paid for!
What's in Your Pantry? Food may be expensive right now, but if you are in the habit of simply stashing it, instead of eating it, then it can go to waste - and that would be a WASTE! This month, we're putting on our toques and mitts and diving into the freezer. Then we are reorganzing the pantry and cold room. Also we're going to tackle the fridge. We're DOing a food inventory. You have paid for this food, you may as well use it up. You are going to be sooooo amazed by how meals you already have in your home!
Goal #3 for May, 2008
Last month, I put my credit cards on vacation - not a single purchase was made on my credit card except for two fills of gas for our van. And I am DOing it again this month. Honestly, I don't miss that credit card sitting in my wallet. There hasn't been a single item that I would have wanted to purchase that I couldn't pay for using simple cash (and then I thought twice when I was actually laying the cash out on the table LOL). Our society is so used to having that "credit" available to us at all times - my credit is going on vacation. It is much more satisfying to actually OWN what I purchase instead of OWE for what I purchase!
Give it a whirl, you have nothing to lose, except perhaps a few shopping mistakes and a pile of new debt!
Goal #4 for May, 2008
School's almost out! Every May, our family dives into our kids' bedrooms - deep diving!! Scary! The goal is to rediscover all the summer clothes, toys, and activities - and put away the winter clothes, toys, and activities. Along the way, we discover missing library books, old artwork (which we pack up in an envelop and send to distant grandparents), papers, old assignments, etc (to recycle), and generally get into all the cracks and crannies in their bedroom. The kids aren't always too thrilled, but we make a day of it and celebrate with home-made banana splits when we are done.
- The Kids Clean Bedroom Challenge: This is a game that my kids and I came up with a few years ago - every card your child completes, gets them closer to finishing their room (and they don't even reallize they are cleaning LOL).
Spring Cleaning With Attitude!
I love Spring. I love the tulips, the return of the robins, the blue skies, the fresh smell in the air, and the fact that I don't have to wear a toque and parka anymore when I go on my evening walks. When I look out my window, I see that nature is quickly washing away all the dull greys of winter and replacing them with the bright colors of spring. Absolutely beautiful!
I wish that nature would automatically do the same thing inside my home LOL! Unfortunately, she is too busy outside and does not make house calls. So we prepare for spring on our own.
- Cindy's Porch Spring Cleaning Challenge: Thank-you to our reader who asked that this be posted on the home page - here it is! Our Room by Room, spot by spot Spring Cleaning Challenge. Please keep in mind - the challenges are NOT meant to be done in ONE day. YIKES!
Are You New to Cindy's Porch?
 Cindy's Porch is a busy place. To get you started, we've posted links to our most popular pages. Enjoy!
- The Three Rules of NOT Buying: Does money seem to flow from your home faster than you can keep track of it? Do you hit the end of the month and wonder "where did it all go"? You are not alone. Today, it is so easy to spend money and buy more stuff that we don't even remember doing it. It is similar to driving. You know you made it to school or to work safe and sound, but you do not remember which lights you had to stop at, how many times you had to pass a car, or if you stopped for a pedestrian. We are on auto-pilot. Dangerous when driving, dangerous when shopping.
- Rediscover Your Money: The future is yours in 2008! We've got three simple steps to get you started on your journey to "Rediscover Your Money. Before you know it, your purse and wallet will be overhauled, you'll be tracking your spending, and you'll even have a spot in your home to "manage" your money (and it won't cost a dime). As your journey continues, you'll be taking a hard look at where your finances are today. How much do you OWN and how much do you OWE? Then we blow the dust off your savings account (YIKES). Remember what it was like when you opened your first savings account? We are going to recapture that magic. Credit card debt holding you back? Check out the "Three Magic Words" for avoiding new debt. Then read about how to tackle your current debt ONE CHUNK MORE at a time.
- Rediscover Your Home: Loving the Home You Live In! When you are unhappy with your home or stressed by a mess that never seems to go away, the temptation to BUY something to make things better or make things “look” better can become very strong. Some of us will even use a trip to the store or the mall as an excuse to escape this mess and this stress (been there, done that). Then the retailers, advertisers, and marketers begin to whisper their clever messages of BUY BUY BUY! Blech! Check out the "NOT ME FIVE," those 5 little things that can mess up a home in no time flat ("not me" is the person who messed it LOL). Dusting, vacuuming, and washing only takes minutes when the NOT ME FIVE are gone. We've also got tips for "deep cleaning" including the "guy's version" (put your hard hats on, we are going in), and "spring-cleaning" (regardless of what time of year it is). Enjoy!
Treasures in the Kitchen: Do you know what's lurking in your fridge, freezer and pantry? With our easy to use printout sheets and meal planning calendar you can SHOP at home FIRST for supper and save money at the same time! We've also added in steps for tackling the fridge (YIKES), and tips for solving the lunch time blues. Enjoy! Updated with This Month's Meal Planning Calendar sheet!
Take care of you and thanks for dropping in,
Cindy
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Friday, May 16, 2008
The solution does not always have to come out of your pocketbook.
Something New
for 2008!!
Cindy's DO-log
(Our daily adventures in DOing and Finances)
Where "Walking in Wonder" meets "DOing in amaZement"!
School's almost out...
Kids Rooms (YIKES)
Beating the Credit Card Crunch!
Summer fun is just around the corner
Into the garden!
and more...
"DO" away with debt in 2008!"
Extra Extra!
Read all about it!!
Cindy's Porch is now in the Google, MSN, and Yahoo! search engines. Just do a search for "cindy's porch" and there we are. Wahoo!
Walking in Wonder with Cindy's Porch
Walking is one of my family's favorite DO's instead of BUY's. It doesn't cost a thing. Anytime we feel the need for fresh air, some exercise, or a break from work, we just head out for a walk. You never know what wonderful things exist in your neighborhood unless you take the time to explore.
Click on the photo to enjoy a new "Walking in Wonder" discovery everyday (except weekends - that's family time!)
"Walk in wonder. Enjoy the peace, enjoy the freedom, enjoy the scenery. Enjoy."
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