Don't take my wheels away!

It has been a year since I opened my office at home and sold my car. I can't believe how quickly time passes. A year ago when I decided to work full time from my home office, I also decided to sell my car. Believe me when I say that the decision to sell my car was much more difficult than the one to work from home!

I grew up in the suburbs of New York City, and like most of my friends had access to a car since I was 16 years old. I had always prided myself on being completely independent and totally spontaneous. So you can imagine the weight of my decision to trade in my wheels for a good pair of walking shoes and a bus ticket.

Over that last decade, maybe in conjunction with learning and practicing personal development, life coaching and financial coaching, I have become more and more "Green". I really believe that we all need to take responsibility and protect the environment for the generations to come. It is also clear to me that by saving the environment and reducing waste I save money and in fact raise my quality of life.

So being the ideologue that I am I finally made the ultimate statement (in my opinion) in saving the environment and guess what! It's not so bad! And it didn't take too long to get used to it either. The hardest thing was arranging rides for my kids to and from afternoon classes and introducing them to the public transportation system. I am still independent and spontaneous although it might take me a little longer to get to where I want to go.

Guess what else! I have saved a lot of money. Cars are expensive to maintain. Let's compare:

WOW! I spend less on all my transportation expenses than I used to spend just on gas!

I save about 830 Shekels a month, 9,960 Shekels a year.

I admit that it is a very difficult decision to make, but it is well worth the consideration. If being without wheels is totally out of the question for you, could you consider sharing one car in the family?

Mindy

Becoming Financially Fit

Today we received a comment from one of our readers stating that our tips are focused on people who have money and not on those who are struggling financially.

Wow!!! We were so moved by this comment and we thank her so much for sharing her impressions with us.

I especially was moved by her comments because I understand her really well! I am a mother of two, and I used to really struggle to make ends meet. I had an overdraft that some how kept getting bigger and bigger even though I spent the bear minimum.

We also thank her because it gives us an opportunity to clarify: Our tips are designed for people who understand that they need to manage their money and not let their money manage them! We know that it sounds impossible when you feel that you can't breathe financially, but believe me, I am living proof that once you take control of your money, you will have money to take control of.

Our tips are for people who want to STOP struggling financially. They are for people who are in the processes of financial recovery and are looking clear and practical solutions to everyday financial concerns.

We want to take this opportunity to outline again our 4 step process for turning around your personal finances and we think that it will help put our tips in perspective:

1^st – Decide to build and live within a monthly budget. This means that your expenses must be less than or at least equal to your income. If you do not already live this way, the thought of it can be daunting, but know that it can be done!

2^nd – Make it a priority to pay off all debt. Make sure that there is a category in your monthly budget dedicated to this. The monthly return should be as large as possible and do not reduce the amount until ALL your debt is completely paid back. This may take time, but it can be done!

3^rd – Identify monies and other assets that are not "working" for you. If the return on your savings or other assets is less than the cost of your debt then you may consider using them to pay back your debt. Sounds crazy, but when all your debt is paid off, you can start to invest the money that was dedicated to paying back your debt and move on to step 4.of the process.

4^th – Increase you income with special attention on passive income. This is the best part of the process. If you continue to live within your budget and always say NO to credit and debt, then this definitely can be done!! And remember, once your income increases, your expenses can increase, too.

The goal of our methodology and tips is to bring you first to a place where you CAN buy yourself clothes and then on to a place where you can financially make your dreams come true!!

I did it and so can you !!!!

Mindy

Back to school

Over the last month, children in many countries all over the globe have been returning to school after their summer holidays.

Small children, who are starting nursery school or kindergarten, are excited and a little scared about their formal separation from their parents and care givers. Children a little older are also excited and a little scared about starting first grade. It is hard to tell who is more excited, the children or their parents? As the children grow older, they are less excited and maybe even not so happy to be returning to school after the long holiday. However, the parents are very excited and happy to have their children go back to school and to return to the familiar routine.

The summer holiday is very long, very exhausting and very expensive! Baby sitters, camp, daily activities to occupy the kids' time (anything to reduce the hours spent in front of the television and computer) and in many cases a family vacation. The summer holiday is a big burden on the family budget and it seems as though the never ending expenses get bigger from year to year. The end of the summer and the return to school is also associated with rather large expenses; new school bags, books, supplies, new clothes and shoes. And the list goes on and on and on!!

Surely, whoever does not plan for all these expenses can find themselves in a financial nightmare! So how can you plan?

We recommend that you identify and tally all the "special" expenses that you had during the summer holiday and for getting the kids ready for the new school year. In as much as every year we are surprised by these expenses, they are generally the same expenses from year to year with minor adjustment that can be calculated ahead of time. Once you have the total value of all these "special" expenses, divide the total by 10 to give you amount of money you need to put away every month for the next 10 months to be able to finance next summers expenses. This becomes a new category in your monthly budget! Next year, and the years after, divide the total by 12 and start putting the money away already in July.

We wish you a successful and enjoyable school year!

Share with us your tips for saving during the summer vacation and back to school season.

Neomi

Did you know that your body is made up of 70% water?

Drink Water from the faucet – Bottled water is not healthier than tap water but it is much more expensive. Not only that; manufacturers that bottle spring water are drying up those natural resources and the bottling process, plastics bottles and transportation of bottled water are also not good for the environment.

Drink a lot of water – Your body is made up of 70% water (just like the planet Earth) and in the summer you lose a lot of water due to extra sweating. It is important to replenish your body with all the water that it loss in order to maintain the 70% level and not dehydrate. In the summer months when you are outside a lot it is really easy to dehydrate. Even if you are at the beach or by the pool and you do not really feel the heat. Therefore it is very important to remember to drink a lot of water, even in places where it is cool.

Drink only water – Many people already know that it is important to drink a lot and they do - but they drink a lot of coffee or tea or soft drinks. Even though all these drinks are based on water the other ingredients in the drink can often times do damage to you health. Did you know that coffee is dehydrating?

Try not to drink sweet drinks – The big soft drink companies invest millions to entice you to drink their sweet and delicious soft drinks. These soft drinks may be tasty, but are they good for you? They are loaded with fattening calories. It is also reasonable to assume that they also have a lot of artificial flavors, colors and preservatives. Stick to tap water, it is all natural and relatively free.

How do you know that you have drunken enough? It is recommended to drink about 8 cups (1.6 liters) of water a day. Prepare a 1.5 – 2 liter bottle or pitcher of water every day and drink from it throughout the day, with the goal of finishing it by the end of the day. Check yourself and let us know if you manage to finish the bottle/pitcher by the end of the day. Prepare a separate bottle/pitcher for every individual in the household.

Water with a twist – If you find it difficult to drink water because you have become used to the taste of sweetened (including artificially sweetened) drinks, add a twist to give it some extra flavor. Add lemon slices or lemon verbena leaves or mint leaves in the warm months since they have a cooling effect. Add ginger, sage or rosemary leaves in the winter since they have a warming effect.

To your health, your well being and of course your pocket.

Neomi

How to Finance Dental Care

Another friend just old me about the horrible dental work that she needs to get done.

Not only is it not pleasant, to say the least, to sit in the dentist's chair and have your teeth pulled, root canal done or go through the process of getting implants, but the costs are extraordinary! Dental work is a very big concern and financial outlay. So much so that a simple Google search of "cost of dental procedures" brings up a lot of websites dealing with this subject and I even found a dental procedure calculator.

Of the websites that I found, the following are very interesting. What do you think?

http://downloads.pennnet.com/web_dl/1281.pdf

http://www.dentalfearcentral.org/dental_plans.html

What is really interesting is that most dental work can be prevented if you take good care of your teeth to being with.

I am really lucky! My mother had us go to the dentist every 6 months for a periodic check and cleaning and my sisters and I all had braces. I guess that you can say that my mother had high awareness to the importance of dental hygiene. I am not sure if it came out of financial concerns or aesthetic concerns but, no matter the reason, we were at Dr. Fried's every 6 months like clock work.

I follow in my mother's footsteps and my kids and I go for a check up and a cleaning every 6 months. The check up is free and the cost for the cleaning is nominal. I am happy to say that my daughter and I have required very little dental work. My daughter had braced but does not have a cavity in her mouth and I, with very few cavities, have only had to replace a filling or two in the last decade.

My son, has not been as lucky. He is 11 years old and only a few baby teeth have fallen and the rest are holding strong. The dentist and orthodontist (and after seeing the x-ray) decided to pull 4 of his baby teeth to make room for his grown up teeth which are full grown and searching for a way to break out. My son, of course, complained and didn't like that four teeth had to be pulled, but all in all he was very brave and did what he had to do.

If we have not taken care now, his grown-up teeth would have found their way out somehow, and could have damaged the nerves as well as the rest of his mouth (a dentist can better explain the ramification). If it has gotten to that, my son would have needed dental surgery and most likely with general anesthesia. And the costs and the discomfort would have been extraordinary. By the way, it cost us in total 880 NIS (about $220) to have all 4 teeth pulled.

In short, brush your teeth when you wake up and before you go to sleep, floss every evening (this is something that I have to work on) and visit you dentist for a periodic check and cleaning every 6 months.

Mindy

Go to the Opera for free

In my parents' home, we loved to listen to all types of music: Cantillation, Rock, Folk Music as well as Opera. Then, my parents bought records. The older ones played for a few minutes and the newer ones played for a lot longer. I loved to listen to the melodies, the vocals, the music and the words.

Until today, I love Opera, but …. Gong to the opera is an expensive endeavor. So most of the time I settle for listening to opera that was recorded: records, tapes, CD's and today you can even get Opera on DVD in which you not only listen but you can see the performance as well – arousing more senses.

However, there is nothing like a live performance!
From time to time, I hear about an "Opera for the People" program for FREE, in a park or other central place, which some municipality arranges. This week there was a performance of Georges Bizet's Carmen in Tel Aviv's Ganei Yehoshua (Park Hayarkon).
At first I get really excited but on second thought I get doubts: It's FREE, but there will be a big crowd (I am not the only one who likes Opera), and traffic, with pushing and shoving; there probably wont be enough chairs, so we'll have to sit on the grass far from the stage; and what about food? There are usually food stands at these events, but there are huge lines and the food is both expensive and far from nutritious!

I am lucky that in the end, I can't resist the temptation and start planning for the outing! I plan as if I am going to a picnic. What fun! I make healthy sandwiches like we like, bring a couple of bottles of water, I wash and cut fresh fruit and vegetables for the way, and of coarse, bring the picnic blanket! When you plan well, everything flows exactly, like a Swiss clock: the traffic was light (when is there no traffic?), we found parking rather close, and we even found empty chairs with a great view of the stage!

Wow! Did we enjoy!!!!

What kind of entertainment do you enjoy for FREE?

Some thoughts about summer, heat and the environment

Wow! The summer is here with a vengeance. It is HOT!

The official first day of summer is June 21, the longest day of the year in terms of day light hours and the season ends on September 21, which has equal daytime and nighttime hours – the equinox. But unofficially, the heat of summer bears down on us already in the beginning of spring and becomes part of our life well into the fall.

In Israel, even the winter mocks us! With its teasing rains, which are never enough to meet the basic water needs of the country, and temperate weather. I remember so many winter days filled with warm sunshine even requiring some A/C in the car to filter the hot air.

I remember as a child, we had some really creative ideas for cooling off in the summer months: Wash the floors and not dry them or air dry the washed clothes in the living room. These things really helped cool off the air in the room and relieve us somewhat from the oppressive heat. We would also open the windows and doors from various directions to create a cross breeze. And of course, at every opportunity, we were off to the beach or a pool. There is nothing more refreshing than that first immersion into the cold water.

Today, there is another solution for dealing with the oppressive summer heat: The Air Conditioning. We close up the house completely, even the blinds, and turn on the A/C. When we leave home, it is to the air conditioned car and then on to the air conditioned office or bank or mall. And when the kids are off from school, they also are chauffeured around from one air conditioned site to another - malls and movie theaters.

The air conditioning is on full blast and the temperature is colder than in winter! When ever I leave home, I have to take with me a scarf or light sweater so I will not freeze and catch cold. I ask myself "Are these Antarctic temperatures necessary"? "Who is it benefiting"?

Using the A/C at full capacity costs a lot of money and also has a pretty big carbon footprint. Which effects global warming; which is melting the glaciers; which is raising the sea level: And more and more. Often, I find myself wondering what kind of world I am leaving for my children and my children's children.

I am always thinking about my children and how to ease their burden. In doing so, when they were young, in order make them comfortable on hot summer days, I would turn on the air conditioning to make the house nice and cold. Now my children are grown up and I do not know if we will continue to be able to cool off the world or if there will be enough water to drink or even if there will be a beautiful refreshing beach to run away to!

How can we stop this craziness?

Maybe we all need to be a little more aware, and not just in theory, but really be aware of the harm that we cause our world. Maybe there is still a chance to stop this craziness and maybe even improve the situation.

Share with us your comments and ideas on how we can protect the environment; for us and for the generations to follow.

Neomi

Thoughts about the telephone

Once, when I was a small girl, I had no idea about a thing called the telephone. In the small town where I grew up, there were no telephones. And people managed.

When I grew up a little, I heard about the sophisticated talking machine called the telephone. Already there were a few privileged people in my neighborhood who had one at home. I wasn't one of them, but I managed.

When I had a home of my own, I decided that I also wanted to have a telephone. I ordered one and waited two years until it was installed, and I managed.

Later on, when my children were growing up and they also wanted to use the telephone – a lot. I ordered an additional line so there would be no fights over whom and how long anyone was on the phone, and we all managed.

Years passed by and cell phones started to pop up in the market. I didn't understand why someone would want to have one – what was so important about a cell phone? I didn't buy one and I managed.

After all the kids left home, my oldest son bought me a present – a cell phone. For what?! I didn't need one. I managed all these years without one! Most of the time the cell phone stayed at home and I managed without it

A little time passed, and I decided to take the cell phone with me when I went out, thinking that maybe it could be useful. Maybe something important would come up and I would need to let people know about it and somehow manage.

Another couple of years passed (and believe me, they pass quickly). Today I do not leave the house without my cell phone. It is ALWAYS with me, at home, when traveling, at work. If I do not answer a call immediately, people worry – Where were you? What happened? Why didn't you answer? Didn't you want to speak with me?

How will I ever manage?

And now, when I receive my cell phone bill at the end of the month, I do not manage!!!

Neomi

My Average Workday

Let's talk a little about what my average workday used to look like:

* Wake up late, get the kids and myself ready for the day and drop off at school at the last minute.
* Since I was generally late and had no time to look for parking on the street, I would park in the parking lot closest to my office.
* Stop by the coffee shop for a good cup of coffee and a muffin.
* Work myself silly until lunch time.
* Go out to lunch with some colleagues for some schmoozing and recharging of the batteries.
* Back to work – fairly tired from the big lunch, but effective none-the-less.
* Mid-afternoon break which included a snack at the kiosk and sometimes even a coffee at the coffee shop on the corner.
* A little bit more work before going home.
* Pick up the kids from Aftercare and stop for some ice cream to cool us off.
* Early evenings spent with lots of kids around, either at home or in the park. If there were lots of kids at home, we would finish off the evening with a delivery of pizza, send all kids home, shower, pj's and off to bed – ALL OF US!

WOW! I am impressed with this quick look from the side. Pretty busy days. No wonder I sleep so well. I am impressed from all the activity but not so impressed by the amount of money that would slip through my fingers.

Let's make a quick calculation:

Parking Lot - 50
Coffee and muffin - 12
Lunch (we had lunch coupons) - 15
Afternoon snack - 8
Afternoon coffee - 10
Ice cream – 18
Pizza delivery – 69

Total: 182 Shekels (about $45) - UNBELIEVABLE!

Let's say that I take away the 3 items that I didn't buy every day – afternoon coffee, ice cream and pizza – the total is still 85 shekels! 85 shekels a day on things I really didn't need.

I work about 264 days a year – that would come out to 22,440 shekels a year! Today, I can think of a lot of better things to do with that kind of money. Things like paying off debt or investing to create passive income.

I have changed my ways and have almost completely eliminated frivolous spending while still being able to "buy on demand" or "splurge" just because. The only difference is that now I have the money to do so!

Check out your daily routine and see how much money and on what you spend routinely and ask yourself if there are better ways to spend it.

Mindy

Virtual Money

Many, many years ago, money consisted of coins made from gold or silver, and their value was determined according to their weight.

With the years, people became more advanced technologically and it became inconvenient to walk around with these heavy coins in our pockets, so paper money was developed. The paper itself had very little real value but the paper money's purchasing value was determined by what was printed on it and until recently, the gold bullion that was kept in the government vaults supporting it. The technology for printing money has advanced with the times in order to protect the integrity (and thus value) of the money that is printed. Money related technology continues to advance. You can't stop technology!

Today, very few people actually go with money in their pockets or wallets. Paper money has been replaced with a little piece of plastic – the credit card – very easy to carry around and too easy to use. Our money is in the bank and we pay against the money that we (or our employer) deposited and the credit line that we managed to build. Money has become a virtual concept – no one sees it or touches it – even the banks keep limited amounts at hand.

We buy food and clothing with the credit card. We pay our bills with the credit card. We even take loans from the credit card.

What fun! How easy!

Really?

It seems to me that our financial problems stem exactly from today's virtual nature of money.

In those days long gone when we were paid in cash – coins or printed tender, we knew exactly how much money we had and we could only spend what we had. No more money, no more purchases.

What happens today? Most people are not really aware of how much money they spend because no accounting really needs to be made. All payments can be made with a credit cards! Can we really know how much we spend in the day? A week? A month? A year?

And then, unexpectedly, the credit card doesn't work. The computer did not authorize the purchase. We passed our limit. We didn't pay attention. But even though our money is virtual, it still has a limit.

So what do we do? We whip out another credit cards from our pocket or run to the bank begging for more credit!

How do we get out of this virtual money trap?

Neomi

Going to the Tax Authority

I had to go to the Tax Authority. Not a very enjoyable proposition, but nonetheless I had to go. While planning my "outing" I checked the Tax Authority's website for office hours so that I wouldn't waste my time. I noticed in the website that the address was incorrect and laughed to myself that these huge bureaucratic organizations are really inefficient.

Well, I went towards the end of office hours hoping that there wouldn't be a line. Right across the street from the main entrance, there was a parking lot that cost 20 shekels – not bad. However, I continued another 300 meters to a free public parking lot (SAVED 20 SHEKELS) and walked the 2 minutes to the main entrance.

Talk about being inefficient!!! I got to the main entrance and the guard brought my attention to the hand written sign on the door stating that the Tax Authority moved. Guess what! They moved to the same address that I saw on their website.

I walked back to the car, saw that I could still make it so I drove to their new (which were actually their old, renovated) offices. Across the street from the main entrance, I saw a parking lot that charged 15 Shekels – pretty cheap. However, I drove another 200 meters and found free curbside parking (SAVED ANOTHER 15 SHEKELS).

The renovated offices of the Tax Authority are pretty nice and easy to navigate. I got to the office that I needed and guess what! It was closed. This part of the Tax Authority in closed in the afternoons. "Come back tomorrow morning" a very nice clerk suggested.

That is exactly what I did. I arrived at the Tax Authority early the next morning and even parked in the same parking spot (SAVED ANOTHER 15 SHEKELS). To my surprise, there was no line at the offices that I needed to visit. I finished within 2 minutes and was told to continue on to another office. Also there, there was no line.

WOW! I finished with my dealings with the Tax Authority within 15 minutes (well maybe it was a couple of hours if I combine the total time invested during those 2 days) and everyone was really nice and helpful.

In addition, I didn't have to pay the Tax Authority a cent!!

Mindy

Conserving Water

My children and I are really concerned about the environment and, living in Israel, we are especially concerned about water. Israel has no water sources and very little rain, so every year we see our very important "water hole" the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) drying up. However, the need to conserve is not unique to Israel. Maintaining fresh drinking water is a global concern.

As part of our efforts to conserve water - which also saves us money - we sat down and made a list of things that we can do at home. We had a lot of fun brainstorming really silly ideas and I was really impressed with the kids' enthusiasm. I want to share with you our final list of 6 with you:

1. When drinking water, pour a 1/2 cup at a time.

2. When taking a shower, shut off the water while soaping your body and shampooing your hair.

3. Do the laundry only when the washing machine has a full load (the same rule holds true for the dishwasher).

4. Use the same cup to drink all day.

5. Leave a tub in the kitchen sink to collect the water that we use to wash various things (including our hands) and use the water in the tub to rinse the dishes that we put in the dishwasher (The dishwasher can then be programmed to a conservation/economy wash).

6. Collect run off water from the shower and use it to wash the floors and water the plants.

Are these conservation methods suitable for you and your household? Share with us your ideas for conserving water.

Mindy