Sorting Your Finances As A Couple

 Budgeting as a couple can be a complicated process. It can be difficult to move from the mindset of only monitoring your financial aims, so, adding a partner into the mix can be a bit of a balancing act. 

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Without taking the time to talk about money or research things like DTSS Complete Freedom & Debt Discharge Membership Programs, you could be left stressed about your finances down the road. Long-term financial success requires commitment and budgeting together. 

Some of the things you can look at include: 

Starting With The Basics

Before you start to plan out your budget together, you need to talk about your financial habits, desires, and goals. Understanding where each other are and how you approach money provides you with the right footings to move forward positively. 

Look At The Household Needs

Once you have done the above, it’s time for you to look at the needs of the household. Look at expenses such as the rent/mortgage, utility bills, car payments, groceries, and debt payments. 

There is always going to be wiggle room on how much you do spend on these areas. You can save money by purchasing a less expensive car, reducing your grocery spend, or downsizing your home. But you need to remember these are a priority before luxury items. 

Create Long-Term Goals

You need to have goals to work on as a couple. These long-term goals need to be included in your financial plan. They can help you to see how long it will take you to buy a house, or when you could begin a family. When you have specific goals, it can make budgeting a whole lot easier. If you have a goal in mind, you can stop overspending on a regular basis. 

The Three Main Approaches 

Combine All The Finances

This means that everything from both of you goes into one big lump sum. All the expenditure and income goes into one place and is shared. Partners may a smaller account for some discretionary spending, however, the majority of it is shared. 

Separate All The Finances

Each person has their own account. The expenses are divided and they are assigned to each partner. They may be divided on a 50/50 approach or it may be based on their individual incomes. In some cases, if the one person owns the house the other pays them to rent. 

Hybrid Finances 

Some couples find that a hybrid approach is best. This is where the majority will have a joint account for all the household expenses and shared goals like a holiday or a house. Then each part of the couple contributes to the pot. They then keep the remainder of the money in their own bank account. Again, this may be that each person pays on the same amount or different based on their income. 

Don’t let finances as a couple, cause unnecessary stress in your partnership. When you start to look at combining your finances and living as a couple, you will be able to establish good financial habits from the start. 

Pieces of Advice for Performing Better at Work

 

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If you want to get and stay ahead in your career, it’s essential you work hard and consistently perform well. The good news is that there are ways to boost your results if you’re not happy with how you’re currently doing.

When you take into consideration the following pieces of advice and put your mind to it, there won’t be any stopping you or telling of how far you can go with your career. If you love your job and what you’re doing, it’ll likely be even easier for you to excel. Stick with it and soon enough you’ll be rewarded for your efforts.

Plan, Organize & Set Goals

One piece of advice for performing better at work and boosting productivity is to plan, organize, and set goals. Think about what it is you’re ultimately after and how you can get from one place to the next in a timely fashion. Being disorganized and uninformed will make your job harder, and others may think you’re not taking your role seriously. Write down your goals and speak with your boss to align your career aspirations with the company objectives. Without a clear path of where you’re heading, you risk getting stuck or comfortable where you are and failing to advance in your professional life.

Where Were You When World Trade Center Went Down?

*Originally posted on September 11, 2011

I was 30 years old. I had my first child, Joel, in June of 2001. We were on a pattern of waking up around 8:30 or 9 and then he would fall back to sleep soon after nursing on me while I watched "Live With Regis and Kelly."

So on September 11 we got up, got some breakfast and turned on the TV and prepared for a relaxing day at home. Oh, man, where was my TV show? Why was there news and stuff on? Wait, what blew up? Is that New York City?

We had just been to WTC in October of 2000 for our "New England Vacation" and have a couple of pix taken right there. We wanted to take our children back someday.

But now one of them was on fire. Why would a plane be flying so close to it? Some drunk pilot or something probably. Then BAM, there goes another plane into the other building.

What the hell is going on? I'm holding my new baby and watching hell on television. How will people above the fire get out? I am nowhere near this scene and yet I am traumatized. I can't wrap my head around why it is happening and what will happen to all those people on all those floors. What if my husband was working there then and I had to wonder forever how exactly he died? It would haunt me forever.

I called Aron at work to see if he knew about it. They were watching it on a TV at work.

Then we heard about the Pentagon and the other plane going down. WHAT IS GOING ON? I went outside to look into the sky and saw smoke ... are we going to be bombed next? Is this the end of time? It feels horrible.

My mom came over soon after because it was her day off work. My garage door was open and she walked on into my family room and made a joke right away to lighten the mood. She says, "I could've been Osama bin Laden coming into your house." We still say it sometimes because sometimes all you have left is to try to laugh so you don't go crazy wondering why things are the way they are.

I think that night we went to my dad's for something we already planned. My grandparents were there, and we just watched the news coverage. I think I was given trouble about Joel not sleeping in his own crib yet and all I could think was, "Who freaking cares right now? I'm sure as hell going to keep my kids as close to me as possible after something like this because it's a free-for-all in this country."

Where were you on 9/11?

Make Memories with Your Kids!!!!

 It is a Friday in September. 

Homeschooling during coronavirus is going better than most years and we have a rhythm going and I don't want to interrupt it. Just kidding. We are like 2 weeks in and already a little bit "behind."

It is kinda chilly. Maybe rain is coming.

It isn't my husband's Friday off, so he can't come with us, but it had to be THIS DAY ONLY (you know when your schedule is so full as a parent and there is NO OTHER DAY to do something?).

We already had the budget done and I forgot to put this as a line item (when we go to this place like once a year, we have to eat at a heavenly spot called Burrito King). What if we could not live without something from The General Store or The Nature Center Shop?

I am swamped with proofreading projects.

The Rona is rampant on the college campus, where we are heading to see Julia, who lived with us for five months this year.

My wonderful and talented husband had the big van torn up, working on the timing system, so the 6 of us will cram into the truck and drive an hour each way.

My daughter has a sleepover later today to be dropped off at, so also crammed in the truck with 6 decent-sized people would be a pillow, blanket and suitcase. Oh, and the plans changed as far as drop-off time turning into LATER, so I had to pivot.

It's the time of the Rona, and unexpected things happen, which sometimes make me nervous, but mostly make me surly. I don't like to be surly. For instance, we are going to avoid the Natural History Museum this time because of all the mask stuff (the potential for workers and volunteers to bark at us for having them below our nose or whatever). I'm not getting into a debate about masks with anyone, but just know that I do not want to kill anyone with my germy breath, but we are not pro-mask for various reasons that I will not go into here (although, hey, I do have a pretty good platform for a blog post on that someday). That is all.

I've done this a lot over the years, where I waffled on going somewhere, packing up all the diapers, snacks, juice pouches and sippie cups, keep a trash bag in the car at all times, stop by the side of the highway to nurse a baby or toddler. There were other things we needed to be doing, other things we wanted to be doing, but we did this thing anyway.

You know what? My kids are now 10, 12, 15, 17, and 19, and the things they talk about fondly are some of those very things I had to force myself out of the house to do.

Loading up a bunch of bikes and snacks and sunscreen and waters back at the end of March for eight people and taking two vehicles to drive 30-plus minutes to ride one of the most beautiful trails in the city was a pain. Especially since the entire world had our same idea because there was nowhere else to go but OUTSIDE back in the spring of 2020 so even finding parking at the parks was difficult. But we did it ... twice. And the kids still talk about it fondly. We will probably do it again next year.

So there are a bunch of reasons why I wanted to just cancel today. Just forget it. Let's try another day (although we'd been doing that for a year and it never worked out).

Be we are going anyway. Because there is never a PERFECT DAY. There is today. So just jump. Just go.

Come back for an update on our day!

2 Ways to Increase Your Deli's Business

 

In the world of deli ownership, one thing's for certain. It's essential that your deli is unique; that it's got something special setting it apart from competitors. How's your deli doing? If things aren't quite as busy or successful as you'd like, it's time for a professional tune-up. Keep reading for two ways you can increase your business and give your deli the "It" factor it needs to succeed. 

Start With the Menu

If it's been a while since you've last gone through your menu with a fine-toothed comb, now's the perfect time to do just that.

Is there something that you're known for, that customers are always asking for? If yes, you're on the right track. If you don't, consider polling your customers as they come in. Find out what's a hit, what's a miss. Honest feedback is invaluable to success. Don't be afraid to ask for it. 

In today's market, there is a huge demand for natural, organic or other healthy options. Does your menu hit those marks? The good news is, there's help available. You don't need to prepare everything in house, especially if you're running a larger deli catering to a wide-spread demographic of customers. Connecting with distributors such as Culinares Foods is a great way to increase the variety of your offerings while also ensuring consistency in quality.

Make It Interactive

When it comes to boosting your business, your customers hold the key to your success. Getting them involved is essential, whether it's through a contest over social media naming your newest sandwich creation, starting up a rewards program or by setting up an after-hours cooking class series. Whatever you can do to interact with your community will be beneficial, so don't hesitate to be bold.

Make it a priority to be as welcoming as possible. Training your staff (even the ones who won't interact much with customers) to be polite, hospitable and professional will go a long way. This will also ensure you've got a strong staffing model, providing everyone with the knowledge to cover for others without skipping a beat. And that means just one thing — excellent service that gets noticed by customers.

Your deli's success depends on your hard work and dedication to your business, the brand you're creating and to the customers who keep it going. Fine-tuning along the way is the key to keeping it all together.