Don’t give up now!  Just because you may have fallen down, get back up and start running again!   DETERMINATION, PERSISTANCE, AND ENDURANCE wins the race.  As the old saying goes, “The race does not belong to the swift, but to the one who endures to the end.”  This is your race. This is your year, but you have to press!

Samirian Hill, A.K.A. The MoneyWise Teacher, is the Founder and President of Budgetwise Financial Solutions, LLC, where they teach people to manage money wisely. She is a financial educator, blogger and contributing writer.  In her spare time, she enjoys golfing, reading and cooking.

Watch Christian Videos and Read the Online Bible at GodVine.com

Are You on Track for Your Financial Goals? is a post from: BudgetWise Financial Solutions

Next year’s gifts. We all know that after Christmas is the best time to snag next year’s Christmas decorations. How about picking up a few gifts as well? Think beyond Christmas. Do you have a wedding to attend next spring? How about birthday gifts for next year? This is a good time to save 50% or more on items that you will have to buy next year close to full price.

Deals, Deals and more Deals!  Retails stores mark down inventory agressively. Macy’s has new markdowns for the entire family. Don’t have the coupon? Thanks to technology, department stores are eager to assist you in getting the coupons via text. Text 62297 (MACYS) and type in the code CPN, you’ll have a coupon in seconds.  January is the best time to purchase coats.

Think outside of the box. During the holiday season you can find savings on virtually everything. Do you have a vacation planned for next year? Check out the airfare deals now.

Sorting it out.  Finally, there are always websites to help you gain an advantage.  Check out www.retailmenot.comor www.dealio.comfor more information on the best bargain by stores and online promo codes.  Dealio.com lets you find deals based on categories.

If you get in the habit of saving a portion of your holiday budget until after Christmas, you’ll benefit financially all year long.  This spending strategy will help your budget in the long run.

For more holiday cost cutting tips that you can implement in 2012, check out Susan Tompor, Financial Columnist, article in The Detroit Free Press: Quirky Ways to Cut Holiday Costs. Shameless plug: I have a small mention in the article.

After Christmas Sales – Spend Wisely is a post from: BudgetWise Financial Solutions

Getting the best deals extends way beyond the archaic process of scoring the thick newspaper on Thanksgiving Day after dinner or catching early releases of ads online a few days before. The tech savvy modern day shopper has elevated the experience to a whole new level. The must have tool is the Smartphone. With apps, websites, and Cyber Monday, you longer have to stand in long lines to get a good deal. You don’t even have to leave your couch.

Three apps that I consistently see mentioned are: RedLaser, ShopSavvy, and TheFind. These apps let you scan barcodes to see if you can find a product cheaper elsewhere, and in most cases, close by. Also you can receive coupons with these apps.

Looking for the best deals online and gearing up for Cyber Monday? Check out these five websites for promo codes and free shipping:

RetailMeNot.com
FatWallet.com
Gottadeal.com
TGIBlackFriday.com
Savings.com

Anytime you make a purchase online, make sure to check for a promo code first. I do not want to say never, but very close to never, should you ever pay for shipping online.

If you are a tech savvy shopper, you can avoid the mad rush. You may not get rock bottom basement prices, but with patience and persistence, you can stretch your money further and save your budget. As for me, since I am archaic, I’ll be waiting for the paper on Thursday to chart out my strategy by hand.

Be prepared! Download your free printable Black Friday Shopping list.

Is your holiday shopping style tech savvy modern or old school archaic? Let’s talk about it below.

Samirian Hill, a.k.a. The MoneyWise Teacher, is a financial educator, advocate, blogger, and contributing writer. She founded BudgetWise Financial Solutions, where they teach people to manage money wisely. In her spare time, she enjoys golfing, reading, and cooking.

Black Friday Apps, Deals, and Cyber Monday Steals is a post from: BudgetWise Financial Solutions

The unwritten meaning of Black Friday or the Day after Thanksgiving as it was originally called, was to officially kickoff the Christmas season. Now it has become the main event, overshawdowing Thanksgiving Day. Since retailers cannot make money off of Thanksgiving Day, they have turned it into “The Day Before Black Friday” or the day that gets in the way of the biggest shopping day of the year. As early as September I saw 2011 Black Friday ads. Pre Black Friday Sales are running now. When I look online, all I see is count downs to Black Friday 2011 (disclaimer for the Amazon Ad on site) or Christmas gift items. No mention of Thanksgiving Day.

The newest ploy by retailers is to skip Thanksgiving all together and turn it into a shopping day. Stores are opening up earlier and earlier. Do you remember when early bird was 6am to 8pm? Then it went to 5am. Now most stores open at 4am. This year, Target announced a midnight opening. Wal-Mart’s had to up the ante and unveiled that they will open their doors at 10pm. At the time I am typing this, Toys-R-Us unveiled doorbusters at 9pm Thanksgiving Day opening. You see where this is heading? These earlier Black Friday store hours: (1) make employees have to cut family time short and (2) cause door buster bargain hunters to have to get their Thanksgiving dinner to go.

Maybe because of the focus on Wall Street’s greed and the Occupy Wall Street movement, this newest tactic is being met with resistance by consumers and employees. In a recent New York Times article, “Thanksgiving as a Day to Shop Meets Rejections”, one faithful Black Friday shopper said that she may have to skip their family ritual all together. She is not going to forgo quality family time and dinner to stand in line. While a Target employee, Anthony Hardwick, has launched a petition against his employer, saying that “every employee deserves to break bread with their love ones”. Many consumers are emphatic with employees, stating employee exploitation and labor violations as reasons to boycott these earlier hours.

Be a wise shopper this holiday season. Don’t feed the sharks. If it is 12am this year, next year the time will be 9pm, then 7pm, then 5pm, until finally, they will open all day Thanksgiving. If one store does it, the others have to follow in an effort to get a share of the consumer dollars. Do not stand for this ploy to get you to depart with your money. Black Friday was a part of the Christmas holiday kickoff season and a tradition for many families, not the main event itself. Retailers make the bulk of their profits during Thanksgiving weekend and it sets the stage for the entire season. I am fine with that, but let’s not allow them to turn the entire holiday season into pure consumerism and commericalism. Let’s preserve the sanity of Thanksgiving family traditions.

Are you with me? If you are interested in signing Anthony Hardwick’s petition, you can go to change.org.

UPDATE: Over 100,000 have signed the petition. Huffington Post just posted a response from Target to the petition. Here is part of the statement:

Our understanding is that this team member also works full-time for another retailer. In early November, he informed his Target managers that he was scheduled to work at his other job on Black Friday and indicated that he needed the day off from Target. We honored that request.

Target does our best to work around the schedules of all of our team members, making every effort to accommodate their requests. Target will offer holiday pay to all hourly team members who work on Thanksgiving Day.

Sounds like Target made this about Anthony Hardwick. Do they get it? Did they just make a corporate social blunder? What do you think?

Samirian Hill, a.k.a. The MoneyWise Teacher, is a financial educator, advocate, blogger and contributing writer. She founded Budgetwise Financial Solutions, where they teach people to manage money wisely. As a reformed shopper, she spends her time golfing, reading and cooking.

Black Friday or Black Thursday? is a post from: BudgetWise Financial Solutions

Brand Camp U `11 Detroit was loaded with industry experts. Some of the speakers included Melinda Emerson host of smallbizchat# and author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months: A Month to Month Guide to a Business that Works; Josh Linkner, CEO and Managing Partner of Detroit Venture Partners and author of Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity; and Cali Lewis, CNN and Fox Tech correspondent and host of Geekbeat.tv. The conference focused on owning your identity, unleashing your creativity, and living your passion.

All of the speakers were impressive, but my take-a-way is from Melinda “The Small Biz Lady” Emerson. Melinda has been an entrepreneur for 13 years and started her business during the fastest growth spurt in Woman Business Ownership. Women owned business in the Unites States increased 20% from 2002 to 2007, compared to only 5.5% for men, during the same period (U.S Census Bureau). Melinda shared her financial wisdom on what is required to increase your chances of business success.

• Plan your launch for at least 12 months

• Know your numbers

This conference inspired me to continue on the passion plan. There is genius locked up in all of us. You were created for a purpose and no one can do what you were designed to do better than you. Is your passion still alive? What about your creativity? I hope you are still able to locate that dream within.

Whether it is starting a business or something else that gets your creative juices flowing, the first step to truly living your passion is to get your financial house in order. The tips Melinda shared will point you in the right direction. Take the necessary steps to manage your money wisely so that you can live the life that you were created to live.

Samirian – The MoneyWise Teacher

Are You Living Your Passion? is a post from: BudgetWise Financial Solutions

First things first: Make sure your existing financial obligations are up-to-date. These commitments should not be overlooked. Any late or missed payments will have an adverse impact on your credit that can hurt you later. Also, missing payments now will make it harder in January when the utility bills increase.

Plan Ahead: Budgeting is an important part of the gift-giving process. Set a ceiling on the amount that cannot be exceeded. If possible, stash the cash you will use for gifts throughout the year so that there you normal resources are not disrupted.

Keep close tabs as you shop: Whether shopping by internet, mail order, or store-to-store, keep a running tally of what you’re spending as you spend it with your gift list, budget, checkbook, and bank statements close at hand.

Watch your receipts, ATM receipts, and bank and credit card statements closely: The last thing you want to do is pay for mistakes or someone else’s charges. Stay vigilant: check your receipts, reconcile your statements, and Shred all documents containing personal information.

Review your credit report: If you have not checked your credit report lately, now is a good time to do so. You can obtain a free credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com

Take command of your credit during the holidays and don’t let holiday spending run amok. Keep these suggestions in mind the next time you pull out your wallet, and think twice before you let your debt take control of you.

Get your holiday planning started on the right track. Click here to download your FREE Christmas-Budget-Worksheet

Samirian, The MoneyWise Teacher

5 Tips To Prepare For Holiday Spending is a post from: BudgetWise Financial Solutions

I finally decided to read it and was pleasantly surprised. The Money Class is a teacher’s book and a master’s class. As a financial education teacher, and student of the industry, this is a textbook that you will want on your shelf as a reference. She unloads a wealth of information, with notes of wisdom.

The book is divided into 9 classes: The New American Dream, Stand In Your Own Truth, Family, Home, Career, Retirement Planning in your 20s/30s, Retirement Planning in your 40s/50s, Living in Retirement, and the Ultimate Lesson. The Money Class is an appropriate name; it is a textbook on personal finances for today’s reality She lays everything out clearly. The content is up to date and addresses today’s tough decisions like foreclosures, short sales, strategic defaults (walking away from an underwater mortgage), bankruptcy, and social security. I believe that you should be able to find yourself in the book somewhere.

What stood out most was Ms. Orman’s evolution. She is teaching and not telling. Instead of a bunch of hard fast industry rules, she presents the information in a way that puts the responsibility back on you to choose the right thing to do. It is not “one size fits all” cookie cutter advice, but acknowledges that everyone’s reality is different. I can sense the compassion that was birth out of the recession. I grew a bit tired of the buzz phrase, “stand in your truth”. But to her point, “There is no way to build sustainable dreams on a foundation of financial dishonesty”. Wise money management first begins with honesty.

Yes, the market crash of 2008 and the subsequent recession that followed ushered in an economic shift. We found out that the American Dream was a fantasy. What’s old is new again. It is back to the basics. The Money Class is timely and relevant for today. It can help you regroup, reset and move forward. Let go of the dream that no longer is and embrace YOUR new future. It’s the new normal.

Bonus: Suze Orman’s commentary on “the occupy wallstreet movement”at Huffingtonpost. “I Approve!”

The MoneyWise Teacher

The Money Class by Suze Orman – Book Review is a post from: BudgetWise Financial Solutions

As I write this post, I can feel what you are thinking… Oh no, not another budget post? People do not jump for joy when you are talking about BUDGETING. Talk about investing, making money online, or the newest shiny thing, then Woo Hoo! Budgeting, oomph?

So why another budgeting post? According to the 2011 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey, over 50% of Americans do not have a budget. This number has been consistent for the last three years. When I saw this statistic, I stopped dead in my pecks. Why not? What can I do differently to reach this group? How can I make a difference?

With hundreds of bloggers, financial services companies, and now mainstream media writing about personal finances and household budgeting, we know there is not a shortage of information. For this reason alone, I am going to eliminate, “I don’t know how” as a reason people don’t keep a budget. Unfortunately, that does not fly. So what’s the problem? Below are three reasons why people may not have a budget:

1. Not taking action. We are spoiled with the amount of information that is readily available at our fingertips. The results: information overload, not improved behavior or action. People may be overwhelmed with the many methods and tools available.

2. Entrenched negative behavior pattern or mindset. Budgeting is a discipline, not an App or software. Budgeting is a process, not just a tool. Finally, budgeting is a lifelong habit, not just a task. It takes time and patience to follow through. It may take 6-12 months before it starts to flow. Most people quit long before then. Yes, it can be difficult at first, but the rewards are great.

3. Don’t care. You can never count this group out. Obviously there will never be 100% of happy budgeters. However, with the amount of information available and focused attention over the past 3 years, it seems that the percentage would have improved slightly.

Although the word BUDGET conjures up a negative taste for some, it is more acceptable now. Budgeting does not mean frugality, nor does it mean constraint. Budgeting is learning how to keep a few extra dollars in your pockets by becoming a watchdog over your money.

I am not sure if I can make budgeting sexy, but I do aim to help to make it simple and uncomplicated.

What do you think?

Samirian
The MoneyWise Teacher

Budgets Are Not Sexy is a post from: BudgetWise Financial Solutions

• Do you– Find the best method which works for you. Keep trying methods until you find one that works for you. Modify a process until it feels comfortable. If you try to adapt a process that does not feel natural, you will stop using it after awhile.
• Follow through – Budgeting will be difficult at first. You are developing a new habit. It takes discipline. It may feel restrictive at first, but think of it like dieting. The early feeling of financial constraint will pay off later as the process gets easier and you gain control of your finances.
• Accountability– Get a partner to hold you accountable to sticking with your budget and watching your spending. Check in with this person daily, weekly, monthly, or as often as you need to until you gain consistency.
• Celebrate Success – Because the budgeting process can be challenging in the beginning, do not forget to reward yourself for milestones along the way. Find ways to make it fun.Budgeting superstars from the readers at DailyWorth.com share tips on what works for them. The end goal of budgeting is to gain control of your finances. The method you use to get there is unique to you. Have patience and keep trying until you find something that works.

FREE BUDGET TEMPLATE

Samirian Hill, A.K.A. The MoneyWise Teacher, is the President and Founder of BudgetWise Financial Solutions, where they teach people to manage money wisely through engaging, educational, and empowering workshops, seminars and individual consultations. Samirian enjoys golfing, cooking, and reading.

How to Budget Successfully is a post from: BudgetWise Financial Solutions

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