Children, Internet and Money

This morning I got an e-mail from my 10 year old nephew PeterJacob. Every now and again he sends me some internet project that he and his friends are experimenting with. It always fascinates me to see the things that they come up with and their courage to experiment and “put it out there”.

About a year ago, I got a mail from him letting me know about his best friend’s blog (I remind you that they are ten years old). His best friend loves baseball and set up a blog with trivia and current events and commentary. It was nice to see the kid’s initiative, but what even impressed me more was his use of Google Adwords advertising campaigns which is based on what the industry calls Pay Per Click (PPC). Google pays out to advertisers for each click that is generated from their website – an excellent way to generate passive income. I take off my hat the this little boy for his entrepreneurial spirit  (Lesson number one in this post).

The e-mail that I received today blew me away!

The subject line was: My Charity  - with a subject line like that I of course opened the mail immediately and this is what was written:

Hi Everyone!
My best friend Brandon has a sister named Arielle who recently created
a charity to cure pediatric cancer. Her charity is called, A Dollar
Campaign. Visit to her website at: adollarcampaign.org. Arielle's
charity that she confounded with her best friend only asks for one
dollar from everyone. If everyone donated one dollar- imagine!
Arielle's mission is to find the cure to pediatric cancer one dollar at
a time. Join her effort! If you can, please sign up for her free
newsletter and leave a comment!

I surfed around in Arielle’s site for a while. I read about Arielle and her partner. I looked at all the tabs and I was sorry that there was no electronic payment option, because I would have given my Dollar happily.

Neomi and I really, really, believe that “money” is not just about the money that you bring home or the amount written on your balance sheet. Money is a resource that you can and should use to enrich your life and the lives of others around you. (Lesson number two ).

Arielle found a great way to enrich her life and the lives of others around her.
How can you use your money to enrich your life?

Mindy

If you don’t take care of small problems, they turn into BIG PROBLEMS!

For all sorts of reasons, people put off taking care of problems: There’s no time to deal with the problem right away; it is not fun to take care of problems so we would rather ignore them (maybe if I ignore it, some miracle will happen and it will go away); I don’t have enough money to fix the problem right now… I could go on and on with more excuses.

Well, I want to let you know that if you do not take care of small problems while they are small (and it really doesn’t matter what exactly the problem is) IT WILL TURN INTO A BIG PROBLEM.

I want to share with you a small problem that I had, that for many reasons (some mentioned above) I didn’t take care of and it, and of course it turned into a BIG PROBLEM:

It started a couple of months ago (maybe even a year). I had a leak in my kitchen faucet. It was manageable. A little water here and there, but I could clean it up easily. Once a friend was over and even managed to tighten something which stopped the leak for some time, but as I should have expected, the leak returned after a while and I kept on looking for how to tighten it again, with no success. The leak made a bigger mess this time, but I was able to manage it by putting a small bucket under the sink - which I didn’t always remember to empty before it overflowed.

While all this was happening under the kitchen sink, the toilet in my master bedroom broke – the water continuously flowed into it. It didn’t really make a lot of noise and "I wasn’t really sure if there really was a problem", so I ignored it (and I am an avid conservationist). That is, I ignored it until the city sent me a letter saying that my water usage is unusually high.

Do you think that the universe was trying to tell me something?

For this I was also had a temporary solution - I turned off the faucet each time the toilet filled. This worked well until the faucet broke. The bathroom was out of order and we were reverted to the kids’ bathroom (much easier than calling a professional and dealing with the problem).

Now back to the kitchen sink.

Last week I saw water on the floor near the kitchen sink, thinking that I forgot to empty the bucket (which now I was emptying into the master bathroom toilet), I opened the cabinet door and saw that the bucket was relatively empty!!!!! I tested the flow of the water and found to my dismay that there was a leak in a different place.

THE UNIVERSE WAS SCREAMING and I was still looking for a Band-Aid. I tighten something and it stopped leaking.

Then, this past Friday, I was preparing Shabbat dinner and the kitchen sink started to leak in a place where no Band-Aid would work and I was forced to call my plumber (who I actually like and gives me great service).

After working for 3 hours on ALL the plumbing issues I had, Tzuriel explained what he did and how much it cost and also explained what he would have needed to do and how much it would have cost it I had taken care of the minor issues when they began – a savings of about 2 hours and 400 NIS! Not only did I lose time and energy (and piece of mind) taking care of all the leaks, I also lost money! (The shoe repairman goes barefoot).

 This story reminds me of how I used to take care of my overdraft and financial issues. Always cleaning up the mess and getting stressed out trying to find a Band-Aid that would last.

People! Fix any and all problems when they are small! Your plumbing problems, your marriage problems and your financial problems!!! Little problems generally have easy (and inexpensive) solutions. It is better to invest your time in finding the professional who will help you solve the problem is the best way possible instead of wasting your time grasping for Band-Aids.

What can you fix today?

Mindy

My Mother is a Financial Coach

I have to share this with you. It is one of those things that as a parent, you can sit back is your chair with a sigh and a big smile on your face and say "Wow, they actually hear me and it makes a difference."

That was exactly the feeling that I had!

This is the story:

Both of my kids were going on their yearly school overnight at the same time. And hand in hand with overnights are snacks. I highly recommend not fighting this one. We generally don't have "popular" snacks at home. I try as much as possible to prepare regular meals and keep healthy snacks in the cupboard, so I sent the kids to the local grocer to buy some.

As much as I say "don't fight the popular snacks" in this instance, I also don't think that you (or the kids) should exaggerate. I only had a 100 shekel bill in my wallet so I gave it to them and told them that I wanted them to spend only 50 Shekels – 25 Shekels each. I didn't want them to be too pressured about the cost so I also told them that they don't have to be exact, its OK if the go over the 50 shekel limit a little but to try to stay as close as possible to the goal.

The kids came back from the grocer about a half hour later with a big bag and big smiles on their faces :-) :-). Wanting to share in their pleasure, I asked to see their treasure. (Ha, ha, it rhythms)

They poured out all the goodies onto the coach and started to explain: "We both got one of these", "I got this and he got that – they are about the same price", "We bought a bag of mixed chocolate and a box of Oreo Cookies so we can share", "We checked all the prices – some things were really expensive so we decided to get other things instead", and so the explanation went one.

Then my daughter saw the receipt lying on the coach and picked it up. With a huge smile on her face she said, "Mommy! All this cost us only 59 Shekels! We knew exactly how to shop and get the most out of our money. After all, my mother is a Financial Coach!"

All I could do at that point was eat them up – the kids that it !!!!!!! The best snacks that I ever had :-)

Bless the Money that you Spend

Did you ever receive a birthday card from a loved one with money in it and a short note wishing you good health and happiness?

Do you often frequent stores that give you small gifts when you make purchases of one kind or another?

Whether done consciously or unconsciously by the givers of these gifts, their acts of associating money with good wishes and gifts are the ABC’s of the attracting prosperity; these are the ABC’s of the Law of Prosperity.

The money and good wishes that you received with the birthday card, made you feel great and maybe you bought something with that money that added to your personal wealth (and happiness) and added to the vendor’s financial wealth. Or maybe you invested that money and the initial amount invested increased in value.

And

The store that you frequent because of its generosity is actually increasing its business because you and other like you want to return and make more purchases. We all like the warm feeling associated with receiving gifts and being appreciated.

Generally, when people think or pray for money and prosperity, they direct their thoughts on receiving money. We would like to suggest that you also focus your attention to the money that you spend as a way of creating prosperity; Bless rather than curse or resent the money you have to pay others; bless rather than curse or resent the recipients of that money.

This is not an easy task since our automatic, subconscious response is to resent our bills or the “hard earned” money we must give to others. How many times have you cursed the taxes authorities or your mortgage broker? If we stick to the theory of “what comes around goes around”, then if we send out thoughts of resentment, anger, jealousy and suspicion we will draw back to ourselves more of the same (resentment, anger jealousy and suspicion).

One of the ways that you can attract prosperity is to give respect to paying bills. Schedule a time to do it. Do it in a pleasant and confortable environment. Pay your bills with thanks and gratitude to all those who supplied you with goods and services. Every time you pay your mortgage, see it as a blessing on your home. Treat your taxes as a way of supporting and blessing all those who use the services that are created with that money.

Whatever you give or put out there, returns to you tenfold.

Why do all girls hang up on me?

This is a subject that I have wanted to address for a long time but because it is not directly related to money, I have been putting it off, but I can’t put it off any longer because I think about it all the time.

First a little background: My children are of the age where they have cell phones and their friends call them directly on their cell phones (the monthly expense of each phone is calculated and managed well within our budget – this is not the subject). Sometime when one of their phones ring and they are not in the area, I answer. When it is a boy who is calling, he is usually polite, says “hello” and asks to speak with one of my kids. When it’s a girl, she hangs up!

Why?! What is it in our cultural climate that causes the girls to hang up? I’m a girl. Was I like that?

Now, my kids are both male and female, so you can’t say that the girls are embarrassed to ask for the boys – this is not the case (and in addition, even though they usually are, they shouldn’t be).

Beside that fact that it is unpleasant to have someone hang up on you, I write about this because I am truly concerned. I really want these girls to grow up and dare to have challenging goals and be confident that they can achieve them. Not that this kind of automatic reaction dictates that they won’t, but…

I think that we should encourage confidence and assertiveness in our children – boys and girls alike.

I think that they should be ready for little and big “surprises” and know how to react quickly and confidently – boys and girls alike.

I see that even at a young age, the boys are already confident and assertive – they are already there - with no special effort. It’s the girls that need to work on it (and unfortunately it is work and not natural).

I wish that these girls were confident enough to know that they have a right to call their friends and that they were assertive enough to ask their rights.

A person’s rights come in all sizes and forms. The right to speak your mind or speak to someone (anyone) or ask for things that you want or learn things that you want or even manage your own money…

Girls ! Don’t hang up! Ask for what you want. The worse thing that could happen is that you get it J

Mindy

To stare temptation in the eye

How do we do it? How to we stare down temptation. This is not an easy feat and there is no easy solution.

This morning I went to a networking meeting with Biz Makes Biz. There were a lot of participants and there were quite a few who bought with them wonderful products for sale. The ones that most tempted me were the “thinking games” for children, the glass jewelry and the accessories for giving massages. There were other products there for sale, but thankfully, not all tempted me as the ones that I mentioned above.

Why did those three products temp me so much? Well, I will start with the thinking games. I love thinking games and my kids have a closet filled with them and believe it or not we do play with them. I was never one for pretend but offer me to play a board / thinking game – I am in and even though my children are not that young anymore, we find ourselves sitting down to play a game a couple of times a week.

The jewelry tempted me on a less emotional level but still I felt a strong need. My son is in the 6^th grade and the Bat Mitzvah celebrations have begun. The mode today is to give money. My son insists that we give money, but I would prefer to give a present. I think that a present is more personal and will have more meaning an use for the Bat Mitzvah girl. Money, at best, gets put in the bank for a later date and in many cases is used to pay for the extravagant production. Also when giving money there is a feeling of competition – “how much did you give” becomes the question of the day and sometime “how much did you get” is the second question. Not for me. I have been looking for a nice piece of Jewelry, which fits into our "Bat Mitzvah budget” and I think I have finally found something to fit the bill.

The other products that tempted me were the accessories for massages. The developer of these products demonstration one on me and it was great. With very little physical effort, I got a great massage!

I had a real problem. The temptation was great. All the more so because each item had a strong connection with my values – education, family and loving myself So what could I do to face the temptation?

First, take a step back and think! No purchase needs to be made immediately. Speak with the sales person, collect information on the product and the price, thank the sales person and then go sit with myself for a couple of minutes and ask myself if I really need the product? If the answer is yes then the next question I should ask myself is if I have the budget for it – was the planned for. If the answer is yes, then I can go for it! Easy, huh?

What should I do if the answer is NO? Meaning either I do not need it but really want it or I need it but it is not within my budget? Here, the answer is easy, too, but it requires discipline. I should start saving for it. It may require that I do a little shuffling of the budget for the next month or two (or three, depending). If I REALY want it then shuffling will be worth it.

There are 2 other possibilities: 1. I might realize that it is not really worth it and that I do not want it as much as I thought, or 2. I might find a substitute that meets my needs to the same (or better) extent and is more economical.

Well, what do you think that I did in the face of such temptation?

Mindy

How to decide on what to spend your hard earned money

Your buying options are endless and there are so many pushes and pulls! Industry spends so much on advertising, some direct and some subliminal, and there is NO way NOT to be influenced. And if you manage to maintain some level of discipline, you can’t guarantee that those in our family will. Ever heard of the children’s book "The Bernstein Bears Get the Gimme’s"? Well, I know that my little bears get the gimme’s all the time and it is not so easy or pleasant to be the one to say "no". More than that, maybe you do not want to be that kind of person. Maybe you want to be able to get yourself and your family whatever they want as long as it is within reason.

OK. So the first thing to do is to determine what is within reason and what your limits are. You can look for the answers in your monthly budget. How much disposable income is left over after all your fixed expenses are paid for? Also, you should include a category in your budget for purchases that you want to make "Just Because".

Once you determine how much you have to spend, you can then focus on priorities.

Deciding on priorities is easy: Determine if the item is NEEDED or WANTED. A NEEDED item is one that you can’t manage without and a WANTED item is one that is "Nice to Have" or "Just Because. Of course, the items that are NEEDED have a higher priority than those that are just nice to have.

Once you have determined that the item is NEEDED, then check if there is an alternative. An alternate can be a different item that has the same function or the same item by a different manufacturer or supplier. Always look for the best deals with the best quality for price ratio (a lot of times something cheap turns out to be quite expensive in the long run) – but don’t spend too much time exploring your options. Time is money, too.

If you determined that the item is "Nice to Have", then check how much money you budgeted in the "Nice to Have" category of your budget. If you have enough money then go for it, but remember that if you do buy it, you may not have enough money left over in that category to buy something else that is "Nice to Have". What are the opportunity costs for spending now? Is it worth it?

It may seem as if this is time consuming process, however it’s not. Mostly the matter is solved as soon as you ask yourself if the item is NEEDED or WANTED.

Happy spending!

Mindy

Why is the monthly budget so important?

Why do we need to be so detailed and log all our income and expenses? Isn’t it enough that we know how much we earn and control spending?

No, it is not enough. Knowing what we earn and controlling spending does not take into consideration future spending, periodic expenses, unexpected expenses (although there is no such thing as unexpected expenses since ALL expenses can be forecasted), future plans, goals and dreams. If we do not plan and manage a budget, but only control spending, once any of these future expenses come into play, we will not have enough disposable income to cover them and we may be forced to either give up on our plans or go into debt – psychologically, going into debt is much easier, also practically it is much easier because the bank can be very generous with its money since the payback is big.

Not fulfilling our plans and dreams is a much more difficult proposition. What? We’re not going to take that family vacation to Europe? What? Not trade in our 3 bedroom apartment for a beautiful house with a yard? What? Not drive around in a brand new Jeep or SUV? No way! Not after we have invested so much! So much time and money and sacrifice! No, we want something to show for all our hard work! We want all those around us to know that we have succeeded and that we are "movin on up".

When these emotions start welling up, it is very difficult to take a moment and think about the consequences: About the insidiousness of debt and it ever growing nature. True, we accomplish our plans but at what price? Not only are there the associated bank charges and interest, but now that we have debt, we have less disposable income to pay for the everyday things that we used to be able to manage just by "controlling spending".

If we have a budget, we know exactly what our current expenses are; we know for what future expenses we are saving and when the cash will be available. Trip to Europe – budgeted and the funds WILL be available next summer. New car - No problem. Every 5 years like clockwork. We will be prepared for those "unexpected expenses" like repairing or replacing your refrigerator or car or TV and we will be able to support ourselves when we retire. Knowledge is Power.

Planning and managing a budget gives us the ability to set priorities on our spending. Putting top priority things first (including future plans) and getting rid of the waste.

Our money is hard earned and limited so we must use it wisely.

We need to control our money and not have our money control us!

Mindy

The Insidiousness of Overdraft and Debt

It has been a long time since I wrote a post and I apologize for that. So much has been happening around the launch of our new course that I just couldn’t get my head around it. But now I am back and I want to share some thoughts with you about overdraft and debt.

They both are so sneaky! They seem as though they are your best friends, but really they are your worst enemy – almost like a drug – you become addicted – you just can’t get away from them, as much as you want to. The temptation is too strong, the feeling is too good!

We all want to buy new and pretty things. We all want the little (and big) pleasures in life and the easiest and fastest way to get them is by taking money from the bank – and the bank gives it to us so generously. “It is only temporary. “Soon I will be making or coming into more money and I will return ALL the money to the bank”. “I am already in debt so what’s a little more” we say to ourselves. The cycle is endless and the debt only gets bigger.

The pressure grows. We don’t make more money, or we do, but our expenses increase as well. We don’t come into the windfall that we expected, or we do, but it is not the amount that we expected or Big Brother has eaten up half.

The stress begins to get to us. Headaches, indigestion, blood pressure raises, can’t sleep well at night. More and more fights about money and priorities with you partner, you kids, your parents. There’s additional stress at work – now you’re stuck – like it or not, your continued salary is your goal and job satisfaction goes out the window.

As I go on, the situation sounds more and more like that of an addict. Scary! How did we get to this horrible place? How do we get out of it?!

The answer is as simple as it is hard – go cold turkey! Just like with drugs. You stop. No. It is not easy. Withdrawal is not easy, but it is the only way.

Stop spending more than you earn! Learn the proven rules of good money management, join a support group (Over Spenders Anonymous - :-)) and get a financial education!

Healthy Finances is your “Over Spenders Anonymous” you just need to be ready to make the change.

Withdrawal is not easy, but with the right tools and support, it can be done.

Mindy

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