Cindy's Porch 10-Day Challenge Is On!
How little can you spend, and how much can you DO for 10-days?
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.
Click here to join our e-mail list for more tips, ideas, and encouragement (hosted by Yahoo! Groups). It doesn't cost a thing.
"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 July, 2008
Enjoy the Summer Harvest All Year Long!
Feast on the Summer Harvest! I returned home after one week away to discover my spinach, swiss chard, radichio lettuce, kholrabi, raspberries, red and black currents, and herbs had all grown several inches. Already, we can enjoy fresh spinach and lettuce. The red currents had to be picked right away. And that's just from our garden at the front. I also know that local farmers will have fresh strawberries, peppers, and more that we will purchase and either freeze or can for the winter. There is something satisfying about knowing where your food comes from!
- A Visit your local farmer's market
- What's NOT cooking in Cindy's Kitchen This Summer (I am definately cooking challenged LOL!)
- Coming up: Twenty things we pull from either our garden or with a little help from our local farmers (and no - we do not have a large property - our home is on a small lot in the middle of small city - so please don't think a huge garden is a necessity to enjoy a summer harvest!)
Goal #2 for July, 2008
Summer Fun - Without Breaking the Bank!
- A Whole Pile of Kid's Summer Activities School’s out and it won’t be long until we hear those dreaded words, “Mom, I’m bored.” Little do your kids know, but you are prepared. You’ve printed out this list of things for kids to do during the summer. Shhhh, don’t tell the kids, but some of these activities are going to help them remember some of the stuff they learned at school. Thank you to our readers who added their ideas - you are the greatest!
- Rediscover Summer Fun! This summer, take the time to enjoy those hazy, lazy days. With a little bit of planning and a little bit of creativity, you can find ways to turn the entire summer into a holiday, a vacation. And it doesn't matter whether you have to work full time, or part time, or you stay at home full time, the treasures of summer fun are out there waiting for you and your family to discover! (we even included some printable sheets for those "are we there yet" moments!)
Goal #3 for July, 2008
Drip, drip, drip! Can you hear those pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and bills dripping away from your finances? You are not alone. This month we're going to tackle our money drips and recapture them - one drip at a time.
Each week, during the month of July, we will send an email to our members with the task of plugging five new common household money drips. The challenge is to see how many you can find! It's like a drippy scavenger hunt LOL. Enjoy! Cindy
Goal #4 for July, 2008
Loving your Cash Central: I was in the bank the other day, and noticed one of the offices of the financial people who work there. She is one of their busiest employees. You have to book in advance to see her. She's helped my out many times during the years. And her office is as neat as a pin. There's a couple pictures of her kids, her computer, and whatever she is working on at the time. When she needs something, she can find it in an instant.
So why should the spot where we manage our money be any different. Think about it. How much money comes into your home during the year. Multiply that by 10 years! It adds up. And I think it deserved to be managed in a special spot. We use our dining room - converted into an office. I can find the bills, the forms, checks, banking info, investment info, etc pretty quick (there was this one time that an envelope with an entire years worth of business info was lost... BUT I did find it .... eventually... much to the relief of my husband LOL. Nonetheless, it is half way through the year. Do you have a cash central. Somplace where you can easily spend some time with your finances on a regular basis?
- Your money management spot: This is the month to set it up.
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
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
"A part of all you earn is yours to keep." - from The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason (1926)
Join Our E-mail List
Rediscover Your Money
Rediscover Your Home
(Updated for 2008!)
Treasures in the Kitchen
(Inventory sheets, meal plan,
clean fridge, and lunch tips)
Great Books
Great Links
About Cindy's Porch
Contact Us
Table of Contents
Something New
for 2008!!
Cindy's DO-log
(Our daily adventures in DOing and Finances)
Where "Walking in Wonder" meets "DOing in amaZement"!
- Summer Fun - without breaking the bank!
- Eat at home FIRST - Cool meals for hot days!
- Beating the Credit Card Crunch!
- Summer Harvest - into the freezer!
- Sprucing up around the home.
- 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."
