Household Notebook...

I have been promising the last two post to show you my Household Notebook (HN). Well today is finally the day!! I started keeping a HN several years ago at the advice of Flylady but it was too overwhelming...I spent more time taking care of the notebook than my actual house. However there were several parts of it I incorporated into my everyday...especially the Financial portion.

For todays post I cleaned out my current HN, updated the tabs and added a prettier cover. There are eight tabs in my binder and they are: Calendar, Contacts, Finance, Menus, Projects/Cleaning, Health & Fitness, Printables and Holiday. I will give you a brief explanation of each.

Calendar--Pretty straight forward. I used word to make up a 2-page 2011 calendar. There's never enough room to right for me and I included a column for notes down the right side.  The greatest part of making your own is YOU customize it to your needs.

Contacts--I still keep an address book. This tab is for numbers I keep for future reference...mostly professional type contacts. i.e. veterinarian, piano tuner, school numbers, etc...

Menus--I am a big advocate of menu planning. Wether its a few days, a week or an entire month. Whatever suits your lifestyle. Look in your freezer/pantry, check grocery ads and your calendar...this allows you to plan ahead and take advantage of sales. It's a great way to cut down your food bill and always have a hassle free sit down dinner with your family.

Projects--This is my dream section. I keep pictures from magazines of rooms/areas I would like to have and use some of the ideas. Also listed is my "to do" list of bigger projects.

Health & Fitness--Exercise routines, calorie counts, healthy foot advice are kept in this section.

Printables--To-do lists, shopping lists, menu planners...anything to help me stay organized with a plan. I print a master and make copies as needed.

Holiday--When you have ideas for someone for Christmas, record it in this section. Favorite holiday recipes, Christmas card lists and receipts all get kept here together.

Financial--I saved this section for last so I could explain a little more in depth. This method works for me. In Word I made monthly sheets containing a table that lists the date, creditor, amount owed, date paid and a note column. Bills are listed down by date due. For example, the mortgage is listed first because it's due the 1st of the month, below that comes my electric bill - it's due the 7th of each month...and so on. After I pay something and record how it was paid and a confirmation number if I paid it online I highlight the row. This allows me to see what is or isn't paid yet at a glance.

Hmmm...

As my kiddos like to say "I got nothing"!

Throughout the day I think about things I could and should blog about, but never seem to pull the whole thought together. Probably because I jump to the next topic in my brain.

I thought about posting a list of goals for 2011...but that seems to set me up for feeling like a failure when I don't achieve all the goals.

One goal I absolutely MUST achieve in the early part of 2011 is to become more technologically savvy. I am working on building a web-site through WordPress and feel totally lost. There seems to be this stigma (at least in my mind) that if I spend 4, 5 or 6 hours on the computer that I have wasted my day.

Anyhoo...I need to go do something more constructive than ramble here on my blog. If you would like to watch the evolution of my web-site the URL is http://www.mjbusinesssolutions.com/ and if you have any suggestions or tips on how to learn all this techno mumbo jumbo I am all ears.

Have a great day and as Peggy says...count your Blessings every single day!!!

Utility bills....

It's incredible how much we spend each month on the essentials, isn't it?! And there is always someone calling promising to save you a small fortune if you switch to their company. You could make it an extra part time job checking on price per kilowatt or amount per unit of natural gas we use...and drive yourselves crazy in the process. However I do try to do a utility check-up periodically.

Here are two examples:

I have been with AT&T forever!  When Ohio Bell and AT&T were two different companies I switched back and forth now and then but have been locked on with them for many many years now. My Internet goes through them too because it is the only affordable option where I live. I called them the other day for a review of my account and to see if I was getting the best price. The gal reviewed my plan, my actual usage and we discussed my needs and services I could do without. Bottom line...she put me on a new plan and I was able to get rid of voice mail (which I am not fond of) and add caller ID to my office line for $8 LESS a month. In my mind that was a good thing. And it only took about a 15 minute phone call.

Garbage pick-up...a dirty necessity! During the gas price hikes my garbage bill kept creeping up and up...you know the dreaded "fuel surcharge".  It had gotten to the point that I was paying $80 for three months of pick-up. I had noticed a new garbage service in the area and many neighbors were using them.  As a matter of fact, each week more yellow bins were showing up on the curb. So I called a friend to see if she liked them and she sang their praises. After getting their phone number and talking to a friendly lady in an office in the neighboring town I had switched my garbage pick-up for the price of $48 for 3 months. And as a side note...my next bill was only $43.20 for three months.

I will keep giving my thoughts on where and how to save but they will be sprinkled in from here on out. I am off to organize my recipe collection. A project I kinda sorta started back here...but am going all the way this time.  Of course I will share pictures and maybe a recipe or two. I don't like posting with no pictures.

Insurance...

Ahhh dreaded insurance! Isn't it curious how much insurance and taxes have in common? There are as many kinds of insurance as taxes and they are all necessary and we rarely "see" our benefit from paying them. Of course health insurance has been in the news constantly  recently and we all know we are required to have it...but it can be mind boggling trying to get the best deal. Auto insurance is also required, even if it is an "old jalopy(sp?)", of which I own.

This is a case when you really do need to "hire" a professional, they're FREE don't cha know. Take the time to sit down with insurance agents (and yes I mean more than one...remember they're FREE). They can look at your policies and compare apples to apples. The ads you see on TV, especially for health care, make it sound like you can get great health care of pennies. This is typically for ONLY hospitalization and normally have very high deductibles ($10,000) in some cases. And while this can be all you need, it would protect you from losing your home for example, in the case of an emergency. But before you sit down with an agent you need to know what is important to you, what you can live without and how much you can afford to spend. Some questions to think about; do you need a prescription card, is your doctor on the plan, what about co-pays for doctor visits and are the services you normally need "covered" under the plan?

The same is true of auto insurance. Auto and home insurance is one of those things that we sign up for and keep the same company for decades and in some cases, generations. If your parents had Allstate, chances are you do to, and so will your children. I had had the same insurance company for house and cars forever! I asked on different occasions, especially after adding my teenage daughter, if we were getting the best rate possible...my agent assured me we were. And he was right, but only for the companies he was 'able to quote for'. I term I now understand. Some agents are only contracted to offer for 2 or 3 companies while others can offer from almost any.

So here is my insurance story. It seemed like every time I turned around my car insurance went up. Finally got tired of it and made some phone calls, did some online quotes and went in and sat down with an agent. I had my declaration page showing exactly what coverage I currently had. An hour later I walked out with a policy that was identical with one big exception...is was $60 cheaper...A MONTH! That's $720 a year folks...that's Christmas! It was worth the time it took...hands down. Another little tidbit, let them take it out of your account automatically (especially if you have a real live human you can deal with face to face), a lot of time this equates to another discount.

I also had them review my homeowners insurance. And to their credit, they called me a week later and were unable to even match my policy. The reason I say 'to their credit', they were honest with me. Kudos to them!

My company...

Any of you who know me...know that I am NOT a good sales person. However, I'm trying here to sell myself. Here goes...

I have grown up loving numbers (I know strange, huh). I used to sit next to my Grandmother, who was/is a bookkeeper, and beg to total up her columns on her adding machine. After driving her crazy she would allow me this honor to shut me up...Thanks Gram. This was where my accounting journey began. I went on to earn my degree in Accounting and Management at ITT Technical and started working in accounts payable and payroll. Then financial administrator. Then to round it out...taxes. I started my own company, MJ Business Solutions, about 3 years ago. We offer full-charge bookkeeping, payroll, business start-up, account reconciliations and taxes. And we offer it at affordable prices for the average business owner.

Recently I had the opportunity to reconcile guardianship accounts for a local attorney. Now this is my idea of fun...it's like a puzzle/mystery reconciling all those accounts and getting them ready for the courts. (I told you strange!)

I am looking to expand MJ Business Solutions. If you have a need for accounting services or know someone who does, please contact my office at 330-427-1211. I look forward to discussing how we can help you in a free consultation.