Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Spring Cleaning for Your Finances


Financial Spring Cleaning
by Shaunna Privratsky
Don't your finances deserve an annual cleaning?

The birds are chirping, the grass is greening up, and it's the time of year again for spring cleaning. Instead of reaching for the feather duster and the mop, why don't you give your finances a spring cleaning?

1. Taxing, not waxing. The tax deadline is approaching, so gather all your documents like W-2s and year-end tax statements. Now is a great time to check on your deductions.
Are you having too much taken out or not enough? If you have a child who turned 18, maybe you need to change your number of dependents.

2. Shine a light on your property taxes. Take a look at the annual statement for property taxes. You may be paying too much if your house was recently appraised at a much lower amount. It doesn't hurt to check, and this will help your mortgage payment go down if there is a discrepancy.

3. Dust off your insurance policies. At least once a year, go over all your insurance policies and look for deductions.
Check around, and let your current agent know you are. When I needed to add my teenaged daughter to our auto insurance, she initially quoted me a whopping $129 a month extra. After checking with all the major companies and getting lower quotes, I let her know, and mysteriously the price dropped down to $60 a month. "It must have been a computer glitch,"
she said.

You can get extra discounts when you combine all your policies with one company. Also, if you added any safety features to your home, or any energy efficient products, you also qualify for extra savings.

4. Watch out for speed bumps in the budget. Every year, an unexpected bill pops up. But are they really unexpected? Every six months the paper subscription rolls around. Every three months one of the cars needs an oil change. There is always a jump in the budget when planning a getaway. November rolls around and there's lots of extra food to buy, a gift list to fill, and extra postage for mailing. Sit down and make a list of these not-so-frequent bills, and this year you will be prepared.

5. De-clutter your debt repayment plan. If you have been making minimum payments only, you know you will be in debt for a long time. Make a concentrated effort to be debt free by adding extra to one bill until that is paid off. Then move the extra payment to the next bill in line, until you are living happily debt-free.

6. Energize your emergency fund. If you have been adding regularly to your savings, bump it up a bit, even if it's just an extra $10 a month. Every little bit counts, and the money will be there when you need it.

7. Scrutinize your savings for retirement. If you have an IRA, there is a nine-day window when you can make changes, whether moving it to a higher paying interest rate, cashing out a portion for approved reasons like buying a first home, education expenses if you are going back to school, or certain medical expenses. Make sure you are still getting the best return on your investment.

8. Streamline your routine. Make bill paying a breeze by automating your payments with online banking. Most banks still offer it for free. Just estimate how much the bill will be and make sure the money is in the account before the due date, which you can usually specify. For bills that fluctuate like energy bills and water, add a cushion to avoid overdrafts. It is easy to keep track of through your computer or phone, or checking with the company directly. No more lost checks in the mail or late payment fees.

Now that your finances are in order, reward yourself by planning your summer vacation. By scouting out deals early, you are getting a jumpstart on saving money and giving yourself something to look forward to. You'll be worry free when you spring clean your green.

Take the Next Step:
- For more on financial spring cleaning or doing a financial checkup at any time during the year, please visit <http://www.stretcher.com/menu/topic-d.htm#financecheck>

Time Flies - Enjoy your Time With Your Children!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Spring Cleaning for Your Finances


Financial Spring Cleaning
by Shaunna Privratsky
Don't your finances deserve an annual cleaning?

The birds are chirping, the grass is greening up, and it's the time of year again for spring cleaning. Instead of reaching for the feather duster and the mop, why don't you give your finances a spring cleaning?

1. Taxing, not waxing. The tax deadline is approaching, so gather all your documents like W-2s and year-end tax statements. Now is a great time to check on your deductions.
Are you having too much taken out or not enough? If you have a child who turned 18, maybe you need to change your number of dependents.

2. Shine a light on your property taxes. Take a look at the annual statement for property taxes. You may be paying too much if your house was recently appraised at a much lower amount. It doesn't hurt to check, and this will help your mortgage payment go down if there is a discrepancy.

3. Dust off your insurance policies. At least once a year, go over all your insurance policies and look for deductions.
Check around, and let your current agent know you are. When I needed to add my teenaged daughter to our auto insurance, she initially quoted me a whopping $129 a month extra. After checking with all the major companies and getting lower quotes, I let her know, and mysteriously the price dropped down to $60 a month. "It must have been a computer glitch,"
she said.

You can get extra discounts when you combine all your policies with one company. Also, if you added any safety features to your home, or any energy efficient products, you also qualify for extra savings.

4. Watch out for speed bumps in the budget. Every year, an unexpected bill pops up. But are they really unexpected? Every six months the paper subscription rolls around. Every three months one of the cars needs an oil change. There is always a jump in the budget when planning a getaway. November rolls around and there's lots of extra food to buy, a gift list to fill, and extra postage for mailing. Sit down and make a list of these not-so-frequent bills, and this year you will be prepared.

5. De-clutter your debt repayment plan. If you have been making minimum payments only, you know you will be in debt for a long time. Make a concentrated effort to be debt free by adding extra to one bill until that is paid off. Then move the extra payment to the next bill in line, until you are living happily debt-free.

6. Energize your emergency fund. If you have been adding regularly to your savings, bump it up a bit, even if it's just an extra $10 a month. Every little bit counts, and the money will be there when you need it.

7. Scrutinize your savings for retirement. If you have an IRA, there is a nine-day window when you can make changes, whether moving it to a higher paying interest rate, cashing out a portion for approved reasons like buying a first home, education expenses if you are going back to school, or certain medical expenses. Make sure you are still getting the best return on your investment.

8. Streamline your routine. Make bill paying a breeze by automating your payments with online banking. Most banks still offer it for free. Just estimate how much the bill will be and make sure the money is in the account before the due date, which you can usually specify. For bills that fluctuate like energy bills and water, add a cushion to avoid overdrafts. It is easy to keep track of through your computer or phone, or checking with the company directly. No more lost checks in the mail or late payment fees.

Now that your finances are in order, reward yourself by planning your summer vacation. By scouting out deals early, you are getting a jumpstart on saving money and giving yourself something to look forward to. You'll be worry free when you spring clean your green.

Take the Next Step:
- For more on financial spring cleaning or doing a financial checkup at any time during the year, please visit <http://www.stretcher.com/menu/topic-d.htm#financecheck>

Thursday, February 16, 2012

How to Handle Negative Feedback

We touched on this a few times last year but since we are asked at least 3 times a week by friends and colleagues, we figured why not....

You can't make everyone happy. Sometimes no matter how hard you try someone will always find something to complain about, be upset by, or just not like. You know this is true in your everyday personal life, so it stands to reason that your business will eventually, have to right a wrong, even if it isn't actually a wrong.

People are funny. Some know that you can't jump quick enough to make them happy, while others always feel slighted and have to let you and everyone know. And, since we are human, we all make the occasional mistake. So, whether the negative feedback is valid or not, the way you handle it should be consistent and could mean the difference between sinking or swimming.

Never feel that negativity is the end! Don't lose sleep over it! Don't shy away or delete the negative comment. Face it head on. Addressing your customer in a public forum is never the best way to handle a tense situation. Apologize quickly, than take the action private with a private message to the customer but a public message that you are sorry and that you have sent them a message and want to fix it.

This shows your customers and potential customers that you are considerate and want to diffuse a situation. Plus, your customers may feel the need to come to your defense which is always a good thing. Turns that negative situation right into a positive one.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Best Time To Ask For Referrals

Word of Mouth is the highest compliment your customers can give you.


The best time to ask is immediately after you have completed a service for them or delivered to them. If not in person, make a follow up call, and find out if they received what they were expecting. Ask them to write about your company whether that means on Facebook, Twitter or a paragraph for you to add to your website.

It doesn't hurt to ask, you may just get the quote you are looking for. 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Make Your Customer's Feel Extra Special

As someone who does a lot of ordering, I can tell you that the packages I remember where the ones that included a hand written note, or something extra like a lollipop.

Recently, I ordered some DVD's from a company called Yes Video. Yes Video takes your VHS tapes, photos, Video Camera Cassettes and puts them onto DVD for you.

My family was very excited to receive the package since some of them where baby videos that we had never viewed. The DVD's were amazing but before we even got to them there was a Thank You label attached to a package of popcorn! How classy is that!? We would definitely watch the movies as a family and popcorn was the perfect addition. We were all thrilled to get this bag of popcorn that we could have purchased in any store but there it was conveniently in my movie box!

I will remember this company for the next batch of movies I send out and have already told 5 people in three days how great their service is.

The moral of this story is, it doesn't have to cost a lot to make an impression and taking a few moments to add that little something makes all the difference to whether the customer will remember you and more importantly, pass on your company's information.

Monday, January 2, 2012

FREE???? Chili's Desert

Who doesn't love dessert? Personally I am always too full to eat it and end up taking it home. The New Red Velvet Molten Dessert from Chili's looks awesome.

For a free dessert use this coupon.

http://Chilis.fbmta.com/members/ViewMailing.aspx?MailingID=23622355025&_X=OdGu0hi2gQIY0&MemberID=23651031250