Immediate ways to save money

1. Reuse the aluminum foil. Wash and dry flat.
2. Save the milk jug for other uses. 
3. Take extra napkins from fast food restaurants to use at home (But not for company. They get the good stuff).
4. Use smaller amounts of paper towels. Try 1 first, then get another.
5. Make your own liquid soap or laundry detergent. Recipe are online or write me for free recipes. 
6. Walk don't drive whenever possible.
7. Free live music is the cheapest way to great entertainment. Check out a local pub for bands and events!
8. Unplug everything. Put it all on power strips and pull one plug for all.
9. Open windows at night, and turn off AC. 
10. Don't keep pets. Use that $$ for vacation or pay off debt.
11. Invite friends over for low budget entertainment. Let them bring their favorites! More to share.
12. Cook in the crock pot. It's a no brainer.
13. If it's yellow (#1) let it mellow, if it's brown(#2) flush it down saving water.
14. Fill your car only when it's near empty to get the full value of your MPG gas consumption.
15. Keep your car clean to use less gas.
16. Camp instead of hotel stays.
17. Don't eat out.
18. Drink water at bars, drink alcohol at home.
19. Don't buy bread. Make bread in a bread machine.
20. Buy in bulk.
21. Decant your bulk dry goods and mark with dates of purchase.
22. Dye your own hair, but pay for hair cuts. You'll look like crap if you cut it yourself.
23. Buy staple clothing. Solid colors bring out your jewelry!  Jeans, button down shirts, blazers, 1 set of pearls, and 1 set of silver or gold jewelry. Classic! Mix n match.
24. Hand wash delicates right after you wear them, and line dry.
25. Line dry most all clothing outside or on hanger in laundry room and hang on racks. Clothes last longer. 
26. Only run the washer when you have a full load.
27. Freeze uneaten food for another meal or make soup from it.
28. Plan your menus and only but the ingredients you need.
29. Try the $6 wine in the liquor store. 
30. Have a side job just in case you loose the main one.
31. Save 10% of your earnings before you pay bills.
32. If you use credit, pay it off in large chunks.
33. Reuse as much as you can before tossing in the trash.
34. Make homemade gifts that are meaningful not just fashionable. 
35. Grow and cut your own flowers.
36. Grow a veggie patch. Try container gardening.
37. Take all metals that you would have thrown out to a recycling center. You may get $$.
38. Paint your own nails.
39. Use baby oil for skin moisture after shower, and makeup removal. Forget expensive creams.
40. Finally!  Visit with family for vacation and get closer to those who are so important to us all. Meaningful relationships are worth so much more than money, or things. If you don't have special people you can visit, volunteer. They'll appreciate you.       (C) suztheadvicelady  Suzanne Richards, 2014 all rights reserved. :)

Spending time

Dear Friends,


This past month my sisters were in from out of state. We were gathering to place our mothers remains in her final resting place. We created our own ceremony, ( thanks to my middle sister) hired a singer to sing hymns, bought some flowers, and placed our mother next to her husband in their plot here in NJ. It was an exceptional time. We rarely see each other because of the distance between our homes so this gave us reason to gather. I am pleased that it wasn't an expensive visit either. All in all we spent very little money celebrating birthday's, and celebrating life. What I noticed was that we enjoyed our time together more by cooking together at home, watching movies, playing games and talking. We ate one meal out and bought pizza another day. The rest of the time we went sight seeing, and chatted about old times. The food was spectacular and the time, precious. My sister and her family were able to stay at a family members summer condo, saving them $250 per night at a hotel and from squishing themselves into our tiny home. Her children went sight seeing with my children and really got to spend quality time together. Our eldest sister lives in PA so she was just here for the day, but we will see her at the family reunion. :))

Next we travel to see other family members whom we haven't seen in many years. We are staying at my aunt's house because it's so difficult to get a good hotel room that allows pets. Lucky for us to have generous family members. Everyone is contributing something to this reunion in order to share in the joy of giving and spending time with loved ones. My eldest cousin will pay his guitar along with my husband the bass player, I'm sending bouquets of flowers to decorate the tables with, my eldest sister and other members are bringing food. My other cousin is opening up her home for the reunion to take place at, and my aunt and uncle are providing sleeping quarters for as many people as possible. Together we can make it a great gathering without spending ridiculous amounts of money and still spend all our time together. The money we do spend will be spent with great joy in creating this time together.

All we need is each other. Reach out to family and pose the question "can we visit?" Put differences aside, respect opinions as just that, opinions. Create a good gathering, choose love and maintain closeness with family. Our lives are rich. We already have everything we need, but sometimes we just don't see it.




Peace,

Suz

Cost of Living

Dear Friends:

Over this past few weeks I have been sprucing up my home by painting and cleaning. I have posted all along mentioning my adventures and my discoveries. I have a good life. I have good solid assets. My house for one, a reliable car, good furniture and dependable appliances. I follow the belief that if I "take good care of my assets, my assets will take care of me" so to speak.  Investing in quality has proven that to me over time.  If I buy that needed item and know I will need it for years to come, then cost may not totally be a factor.  There are few really great things that are cheap. Sometimes its better to hire a professional to do the work and other times I can do the work.  Like painting or cleaning.
The things I do are in a certain order and done from start to finish before starting another project.  This saves me from wasting money on items that I think I might need and will never use, save me time and effort because there is a specific start and end, and it keeps me from feeling stressed out by the unfinished mess in my home.  I have great discipline when it comes to projects and time management.  Skills I learned when I owned my own business.  I do not like unfinished things like business with a person, big projects, and so on.  I personally find it appealing to see the completed job so I can then make changes or sit back and reap the rewards.

All the things we do to protect our assets and still the cost of living keeps going up yet somehow we still continue on living life and making our dollars stretch. With rising costs in, well, everything taking care of my home and saving for my future have become more of a challenge than before. Its funny I heard my parents saying this same things in the 70's and 80's.  Still I am surprised at the low wages being paid and rising cost of so many of our everyday necessities.  It seems that everyday I hear of companies eliminating jobs and squeezing the existing workers to do multiple jobs under one job title.
Well, because of constant uncertainty in my earnings level, I have learned how to "play the rules".  Not break the law or get government handouts. Just play the rules. To clarify I will attempt to journal what I buy, what is deductible and what I can make myself.  I can deduct certain things from my taxes like medicines as we all know but did you know it is not limited to medicine?  Medical expenses are not just doctor visits and RX, Its the miles traveled to get such medical attention, (medical milage) and the out of pocket expenses you incur as a result of the diagnosis, like bandages, alcohol and, medication not covered by insurance and so forth.  In the following posts, I will show you just how much you can save if you know how. This is what I am talking about.  I don't presume to know everything, but I have a clue and am I always open to learning more.

Keeping it simple.

Peace,
Suz

Tao words of wisdom I follow every day.

Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.

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Love and Light
Suzanne

What the hell am I doing?

I have just finished watching TV and having coffee on this Sunday morning and realized something.

I was thinking about some young people I know and was considering asking them "Where is your life going?" Then the little voice in my head said Where is your life going Suzanne? (no I so not have a mental disease) I am a Massage Therapist, Reiki Master, a Mother, and have a 44 year life experience in people. I come from a "normal" family with the typical problems. Addiction being one. Divorce another. Abuse both physical and verbal another. My own divorce was a product of my own awakening. So where is my life going?

My dream is to be a Life Coach. I am studying now and wish to go somewhere with it but after looking myself up on the web, I have found that I do not appear anywhere. I have Facebook, Google Blog Spot, Linked IN, and had various web sites for my Massage practice. But unless I really try, I can't be found.

So... Here is where I will change my life once again. I have not been blogging. I have not been telling people about my work. I have been contemplating what I want but have not really done any of the work. Here is my opinion.

Where is my life going? While having the ability to spit out some positive one liners on Facebook these words of wisdom go nowhere. I understand the value of my one line positive injections in to the world but do others really get anything from them? Here is the deal people. You are what you think you are. I think the only real purpose of me having suffered in life was to teach others what not to do. My mistakes are not new. Nor are they different or revealing. But perhaps I can help Someone with my growth.

I will be offering my helping words of wisdom on as many Internet mediums as I can so I can spread the word that people are not alone or unique. Our problems are universal and we can share how we deal with those problems. I have failed at numerous things. Jobs for instance. I have rang registers, swept floors, made pizza, answered phones, and tried unsuccessfully to please a myriad of people in the inter um. All with failure. Thank God I failed at them. I learned that I really did not want to do any of them and was unhappy all the while. However, if I hadn't been fired as many times as I have I would have blindly chugged along on the wrong path. Even in my Massage Career I have been pleasing people. I am a people pleaser by nature, but that is not where I am going with this. I in fact have always wanted to help other Women (because I am a woman) with their struggle in life to make a place for themselves in this world. We gals are the Mother's the Teacher's the nurturers, the feeders, the givers and the lovers of this world. Yet we question everything. Am I right and I wrong? Am I good enough? and so on. This is what drives me to write. I am not a good writer but regardless I will write anyway. Why? Because it is the only way to broadcast my opinions. Not everyone will agree with my opinions, but that's OK. I can help a few with them anyway.

So this is what I am doing. Telling you that you need not be a people pleaser. Only please yourself, please. You are beautiful enough. You are smart enough. You are strong enough. You are good enough. All of you. Stop trying. Start doing. No more reasoning and contemplating. Enough! Get up and start your life. I will be your cheerleader. I am here to cheer for you the under dog whoever and whomever you are. My seemingly rosy, useless one liners are here to propel you forward. Now they will be individual guides to changing your life for the better. Now I will be writing on as many blogs as I can find and link all of them to something and have my source for conducting change in my world. Yes kids, Mom will not shut up! HELLO! I'M HERE! They hate that. My kids. They are a true reflection of me. Both of them. Ah my reminder of how I came to be the woman I am. My children. Thank God for them!

Show me other ways of broadcasting my words of wisdom! Tell me where I can go to write. And if you feel so inclined, tell me what you think. I can take it.

Divorce Help for Women

When I got divorced I got screwed by my lawyer and by my ex. I vowed then that I would never let this happen to another woman again.

Just the other day I was talking to a client in my office when she was getting her Massage,(I never talk during a session but she wanted to chat) and she started to tell me of how her husband and she are separated and how he cut her off of all the money by changing the bank accounts without her knowing. She has to beg him for money leaving her with no way to retain a lawyer. Its been a year since the separation and she is still begging him for money after he cheated and moved out on her.

I asked her what bank they deal with and when I heard I remembered my ex used the same bank. He is the "Primary" name on the account and she is the secondary, Therefore, He has ALL the control over the account and took everything. We think that because its joint that both parties have rights but that is not true. Also the attorney she wants needs $10,000 to retain so she was waiting till she had the money. WRONG!

Ladies if you separate go directly to a lawyer. Talk to them and get advice. You never should put all your trust blindly in your spouse for many reasons. 1) He (or she) may die or have an accident, and you have no way of helping yourself with no access to the money you've both earned. 2)If you separate or divorce, you need to know where everything is. Otherwise you will have to hire a Forensic Accountant to find the assets. They cost a lot of money but are well worth it if you need them. 3) You are a unit. You are one of the unit so you must know ALL the details of your assets. 4) Your name must be on EVERYTHING! If he has it, you have your name on it.

Most things are "transfer on death" (TOD) and you will need access to everything should there be a problem. Ask questions, go on line, and talk to a professional. If you need counseling, Call me at (908) 692-2257 and I can help. You are worth it.