The barbecue at the Walker’s house is this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Bring the kids and your appetites!

Here’s the map to the house:

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Matt and Emma Walker
1507 Grayson Drive

Feel free to call at 875-2178.

Key Points

• The average job in America is now 3.2 years in length.
• The key to power in our careers is to first look at ourselves.
• Plan your work around your life rather than planning your life around your work.

Homework

• Complete your Personal Inventory and Occupational Categories worksheets this week.
• Complete your Personal Mission Statement worksheet before next week’s class.

Reading Assignment

• Chapter 9: Cucumbers, Collectors & Credit Reports
• Chapter 22: The End… Or Just the Beginning?

Key Points

• If you can’t do the 100% down plan, get a payment of no more than 25% of your take home pay on a 15-year fixed rate loan, with at least 10% down.

Reading Assignment

• Chapter 6: Career Choice

The rapidly-approaching holiday season is a great opportunity to go overboard with spending. The stress of deciding what to give and the cost to give it can often turn the season of joy into a season of debt. But what if I told you that this year could not only be different, but better? If you want to spend less, but don’t know how to do it successfully, here are some ideas to help you stay well under budget while adding a creative twist to traditional holiday gift-giving.

Although you may not want to think about it while the leaves are turning, giving yourself time to plan, organize, and act in a paced and thoughtful manner is sure to leave you feeling in control of the holiday crunch, instead of at its mercy. What’s the key? Two words: start now.

Know your numbers
Be practical about what you might spend, and compare it to what you might save. First, make a list of people you plan to give gifts to this year. Then make two columns on a piece of paper. Title the left column Purchased Gifts and the right column Gift Alternatives. List up to five purchased items and five alternative gifts for each person. For example:

JANE
Purchased Gifts
microwave ($100)
set of drinking glasses ($25)
sweater ($40)
facial ($50)

Gift Alternatives
help re-plant the garden ($25 materials)
make gourmet dinner one night ($20)
a day of babysitting (no cost)
clean her house (no cost)
wash/wax her car (no cost)

Circle the most expensive and the least expensive item in each column for each person. Total the items. What you’re comparing is what you can expect to spend at the mall or, with a bit more effort and perhaps more thought, you can choose something from the right-hand column for very little or no expense.

10 Gift Alternatives
I’m not suggesting you never purchase another gift. But after applying a little thought and creativity, you’ll discover that often the best gift you can give is the time and effort you spend to improve someone’s comfort and joy. If you’re struggling with Gift Alternatives, look to any one of these 10 tried and true ideas:

• Give services. Anyone can always use some type of service. What to give? Listen for what they need: organize their office; babysit their kids; run their errands for them for a month; offer airport pick-up and drop-off. You get the idea.
• Inventory your own skills. Offer your skills as a gift. Do you play an instrument? Are you good golfer? Can you do basic plumbing? A friend of mine is a master scrapbooker who shares this skill each year with her grandmother, creating high-quality memory books while sharing a trip down memory lane.
• Take what’s there and make it better. Look around and see what could use a new look: paint a room in someone’s favorite color; refurbish a cherished table; frame your child’s art, making it a real showpiece rather than just pinning it to the refrigerator.
• Start a tradition. Friends of mine take a day to volunteer at a shelter then come together over a shared meal to talk about their experiences. Clean a part of a highway; make a connection with someone at a senior center; or be a foster parent to a humane society animal.
• Re-gift what you aren’t using. Say what you will about re-gifting, but the reality is if you’re not using it, it’s taking up space in your life and is waiting to be revived in someone else’s. Look around to see what you’re not using: your espresso maker, your foot massager still in the box, even sentimental items like old jewelry or embroidered cloth napkins that you’ll never use make great gifts for someone else.
• Think collectively. Decide as a family that you’ll forego giving material gifts and instead plan a family outing, mini-vacation, or volunteer activity together. Or pool the money you would have spent on gifts to long-distance relatives and instead bring relatives into your living room for the holidays.
• Give the practical. Gift cards or certificates, even for places that the person frequents, are fine in my book. I am always happy to go to my favorite places whose products I already like, knowing I have a little extra cash to spend there.
• Pool your resources. A modern day version of barn-raising, chip in your time, effort, know-how or even an affordable monetary amount with a few people to give something of better quality or value than you could do on your own.
• Shrink the distance. Long-distance grandparents listen up. Videotape yourself reading stories or singing songs. Send your video to your grandchildren, who will see you reading and singing to them by popping you into the VCR.
• Make it last. Plan and promise a monthly gift of service or skill once a month for a year. That way, they’ll be regularly reminded of your gift till the next holiday season.

Remember, time is more valuable than material goods. When you give of yourself, your time, and your talents, you can’t go wrong. Think of what would help simplify someone’s life. Think about the gift of support. That will be the gift that keeps on giving, long after the holiday lights and decorations have been taken down.

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Source: Creative Giving: Spend Less While Giving More
www.frugalfun.com

Now that you’re panicked, you might be thinking about draining your savings to buy gifts. Or maybe you’re going to get a credit card, just for Christmas purchases. You’ll pay it off in January or February, right?

Wrong.

If you’re feeling torn this year because you want to stay out of debt while still giving your loved ones gifts they’ll like, don’t worry. We’ve got some fantastic tips:

Make it special. Consider specialized gifts for your friends and family rather than a DVD, CD or gift card that can end up costing more and meaning less.

For kids only. If your extended family normally exchanges adult gifts as well as gifts for all the kids, consider just getting gifts for the kids this year. Or draw names for the adults and put a price limit of $20 or $30 on that gift.

Invaluable Coupons. Give your loved ones the gift of your time and service this year. Make a booklet with coupons for specific ways you can help them in the coming months.

Give to a charity. If the adults in your family can agree, choose a charity to which your entire family will give. Rather than giving gifts to each other, you’ll be touching the lives of people who are truly in need.

This season is about so much more than the latest gadgets, overpriced clothes and racking up gift cards. It’s about giving…but not just giving. Giving something that matters. And sometimes that something cannot be bought in a store. It’s intangible. Priceless.

This Christmas, why not take a little extra time to think about your family and friends and give them something that will inspire and enrich their lives for years to come.

—————
Source: Creative Giving
www.daveramsey.com

Key Points

• Learn the marketing method companies use to market products and services to you. Now you can be in control!
• Wait 24 hours before making a major purchase – larger than $200.
• Always talk to your spouse before making a major purchase.

Homework

• Finish the third column of your Financial Snapshot.
• Complete and bring your next month’s budget to class.

Reading Assignment

• Chapter 13: Buy Only Big, Big Bargains (Real Estate Bargains, Owner Financing Bonanza)

Key Points

• Independence in retirement is up to you. Don’t depend on Social Insecurity.
• Fund college education only after you are funding your retirement.
• If you don’t have a will, get one TODAY!

Things you should know about HSA’s:

• It is a major medical policy with a large deductible and a low premium.
• An excellent way to control your monthly premiums while saving for any future costs you may have.
• You can save up to about 70% on your premium as you are saving money that can be used tax-free on medical expenses.
• The amount saved in your HSA rolls over from year to year, allowing that savings to gain interest or investment earnings.
• You can take money out of this account tax- and penalty-free whenever needed for medical expenses. If it’s used for anything else, you pay taxes and a BIG penalty.
• This money must be used for medical, dental and vision care; however, dental and vision payments don’t count toward your deductible.

To find a Dave Ramsey Endorsed Local Provider (ELP), click here.

For more information about HSA’s, see the sites below:
HSA Basics HSA Insider
HSA Information HSA for America
HSA Option for Small Business About.com

Key Points

1. Make insurance coverage a priority to avoid a financial disaster.
2. Learn the types of insurance you really need and get them NOW!

Homework

1. Bring a calculator to class next week.
2. Complete the Insurance Coverage Recap sheet.

Reading Assignment

1. Chapter 12: Of Mice and Mutual Funds (begin with Funding Those Golden Rocking Chairs)

Key Points

• The best way to invest is to be OUT OF DEBT first.
• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – diversify.
• Only work with investment advisors who have the heart of a teacher.

Homework

• Complete column 2 of your Financial Snapshot

Reading Assignment

• Chapter 11: “KISS” Your Money (begin with Insurance)