Waiting times can make or break a client experience so you want to make sure you are using that time wisely! Strategically your clients should not have to wait more than 5-7 minutes before they see or speak to you.
Use your clients waiting time effectively by marketing your business or services using eye catching media. This could be in the form of commercials playing on monitors in your waiting area as well as brochures and magazines created to highlight your business. Replace those tabloids and fashion magazines with eye catching and interesting literature about your own business. Be sure that your environment is comfortable and inviting and addresses the needs of your clients. If it's a phone waiting time, make sure what they are listening to is an ear pleasing commercial about your business. By the time your client is ready to see you or speak to you they will have learned a lot about you, your business and most importantly how you can continue to be of service to them.

The bottom line is to not have your clients waiting too long to see you but make sure that when they do have to wait you have created an experience that will bring them back again and again.

Felicia Cook Jones
"The Money Lady"
http://www.cookconsultinggroup.co

Love Stone by Felicia G. Cook ISBN: 13-9781495996276 Ebook ISBN: 10-1495996271 $12.95; 273pp www.lovestonethebook.com www.createspace.com                 www.amazon.com www.ingramcontent.com

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Contact Information: Felicia G. Cook      866-529-6931     felicia.cook@onebox.com

Debut Author’s Delicate Balance of Truth and Fantasy Creates an Inspirational Love Story in Today’s World

This inspirational and moving novel takes the reader on a spiritual journey of discovering love after suffering loss. In a desperate search for a relatable modern day love story, inspired by authors, directors and screenwriters, such as Terry McMillan (Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got her Groove Back, Getting to Happy),   Malcolm Lee, (The Best Man, The Best Man Holiday) and Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, The Secret Life of Bees), Debut Author, Felicia G. Cook, has penned a very heartfelt and compelling tale of the vulnerability of opening one’s self up to love. A culmination of personal life experiences and sheer fantasy, Love Stone is the result of Cook’s desire to bring everyday love stories into the romance genre. “I wanted to write a realistic love story that anyone who has ever loved and lost could relate to. It is a heartfelt and compassionate story of finding love after loss.”

Lynette Parker, a recently divorced, working mother, is redefining and rebuilding her life after her divorce from her childhood sweetheart Jason. Refocusing her attention on her faith, her family and her finances, Lynette vows to never allow herself to love another man the way she loved Jason. Her new motto is “Stay Single and Stay Focused.” She soon finds out that God has something more in store for her. This moving and inspiring story will keep readers intrigued and engaged as the characters and events evolve into an undoubtedly familiar tale; one that anyone who has ever loved and lost can relate to.

Love Stone: A Story of Love after Loss by Felicia G. Cook, $12.95 273pp – ISBN-13-9781495996276

 www.ingramcontent.com        www.createspace.com          www.amazon.com

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Contact Information:     Felicia G Cook    866-529-6931              felicia.cook@onebox.com

  In the Morning

After Lynette hung up the phone she was furious. With whom, she wasn’t quite sure. Her mind and heart were racing, she was thinking to herself, “Oh my God!!! What the hell am I doing? Setting myself up for a broken heart? I should know better. I do know better. Here I am, opening myself up to this.   Now here I sit, in the same situation as before…wondering. I don’t like this shit at all. But I can only blame myself. I did this. Eyes wide open. I made a choice and now I am living with all of the consequences. Loneliness can make you do crazy things. It’s like the side effect of a powerful drug. I set myself up for this. I walked straight into it. God, I’m so disappointed in me. I swore that I would never allow myself to feel this way about anyone ever again. I’ve spent too many nights, lonely, crying and wondering where my husband was. But this time it’s even worse. I thought I could handle this; not let myself get too close, would treat it as a casual thing. I had never had a relationship like that before so I wanted to try it. This way I could protect my heart, Neal and I would remain friends but now we would be friends who had sex with each other. That’s what I went into this thinking. I knew his feelings were true and genuine and that he cared for me deeply, but I thought that we both could keep from falling in love with each other. We had been working together for a few years and became friends. My girlfriends told me that he had feelings for me, but I never saw it. I didn’t want to see it. Even when he came over to my house on his birthday and asked me for a picture of myself, I just didn’t see it, especially, when every time I moved closer to him he backed away. That night we talked, drank a few glasses of wine and genuinely enjoyed each others’ company…as friends. It was great. That evening as he was leaving I did want to hug and kiss him, though, more so to thank him for his company and conversation. At least that’s what I was telling myself. But I could see myself with him. Holding him, kissing him, making love to him and sending him on his way. Two weeks later, when he emailed me and called me at work telling me how he felt about me I was more confused than ever.” Lynette began to recall the events of the weekend. Maybe she wasn’t really living this. Maybe it was all just a bad dream. It was all too real though, she remembered every detail of that weekend, starting with that morning in the office.

***

Neal began to kiss Lynette all over her body. They made love again and this time she let herself go. Lynette made love to this man like she’d never made love before. She pretended Neal was hers and that they had been together forever. For Lynette, it did not feel like pretending. It felt so real, so natural. They made love over and over again all night long. The reality of their situation came at two in the morning when Neal woke Lynette to tell her that he had to get home. The two of them got dressed and Lynette followed him to the door. He kissed her as he left and she locked the door behind him. The guilty feelings started to return. Lynette thought to herself, “What have I just done? I feel so ashamed. I will tell Neal tomorrow that we can’t see each other anymore. Even though we felt so right, the situation is just so wrong.” Lynette knew she would not be able to handle it, having an affair. Being the other woman was not for her. She wasn’t going to be responsible for breaking up someone’s home regardless of how unhappy it might be.

Lynette climbed the stairs to her bedroom and crawled into bed. The spot where Neal had slept was still warm. She rolled over onto it, pulled the covers over her and pretended he was still there with her. She could still feel him inside of her. Her whole body was still tingling. It felt so wonderful. Lynette fell asleep thinking about how he made her feel. She would enjoy the thought of it for now but would call him later to break it off.

Lynette

Lynette had prayed that God would send her the person that she was meant to be with. She prayed in detail and even asked God to give her a sign. She remembered the very first night that she had prayed about it. Realizing that despite her vow to herself, to never love again, she was not meant to be alone. So she told God, that if He had someone out there for her, to please send her a sign so that she would recognize him. That night and for several nights afterward she dreamt about a man coming to her front door and he was wearing all blue. The man was coming to the house to fix or repair something. He wasn’t coming for Lynette specifically but he had a purpose to fulfill. Lynette didn’t realize that this dream was her sign. That this man coming to her front door wearing all blue was the man God had chosen for her.

***

Lynette’s alarm clock sounded at 5:30am as it did every day of the week. Being a single parent, she had a tight schedule and not a moment to waste. Usually, she got up every morning at 5:30 so that she could have at least a few minutes to herself. It was her time to pray, meditate, exercise and enjoy a hot cup of coffee. All of this before she had to wake the kids at 6:15 to get them ready for school.

But today was Saturday and she was in no shape to get out of bed this early in the morning. The night of love making had taken its toll on her. After all, it had been awhile and never had it been like last night. Although certain body parts were still wide awake and feeling good, the rest of Lynette’s body was exhausted. She was used to getting her eight hours of sleep but last night or rather this morning she had only gotten about three hours of sleep and was truly feeling it. Initially, when she first woke up, she didn’t know why her body felt so tired but as soon as she rolled over and smelled the cologne on the pillow it all started coming back to her. She grabbed the pillow where Neal had slept and squeezed it tight, inhaling all of the sweet aromas of last night. She lay there for a moment holding and inhaling and trying to feel Neal lying next to her. She closed her eyes and tried to recall all of the details of last night. It felt good and she wanted to stay under the covers and feel this way all day. As soon as she closed her eyes she began to drift off to sleep. She was suddenly startled awake by what could only be her common sense. She remembered that she was going to call Neal and break things off. Now was just not the time in her life to get into a relationship of any kind and one with Neal would be particularly difficult because of his “situation”.   Lynette rolled over, looked at the clock and saw that it was only 5:45 am; too early to call anyone especially on a Saturday morning. She lay there trying to think about what her conversation with Neal would be like. What was she going to say to him and how was she going to say it? Should she call him or should she meet him and break it off in person?

The thought of it all, coupled with only a few hours of sleep was too much for Lynette to handle and she drifted off to sleep.

At 11:15am Lynette woke up to this strange gurgling sound. It sounded like snoring. She knew that Neal wasn’t there and the kids were still at their aunt and uncle’s house.   She laid there on my pillow trying to listen to figure out what the sound was and where it was coming from and then realized that what woke her was the sound of her own snoring. She had to laugh, and then she began to pray.

“Lord that must’ve been some good sleep. So good I had to wake myself up. I thank You for it because You know I needed it. A long night of sinning will take it out of you. Lord, please forgive me for my moment of weakness.”

Every morning Lynette woke with prayer. She tried never to get out of bed without thanking God for waking her and that they had all made it through the night. On the wall beside her bed hung the full version of the Serenity Prayer. Lynette loved that prayer, it was her favorite. What she loved the most was both the simplicity and complicatedness of the words. Her favorite verse was the first verse, God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change the power to change the things that I can and the wisdom to know the difference. She especially liked the part about the wisdom to know the difference. For years during her marriage to Jason, she thought that the strength of her love for him would cure him of his addiction. When that didn’t work, she thought that Jason becoming a father would fix him. Still, when that didn’t work, she thought that maybe the death of Jason’s mother would be the thing that shocked him into sobriety. It would be years before she would learn to accept that overcoming addiction didn’t work that way. A person had to first acknowledge that they have a problem and they have to want to help themselves. It’s not enough for you to want if for them. It took Lynette years to realize that she could not heal Jason. It is why having the wisdom to know the difference was something that she often prayed for.

After finishing her morning prayer, she crawled out of bed and went into the kids’ room as she did every morning. For a quick second she had forgotten that they were spending the weekend at their aunt and uncle’s house. Breathing a sigh of relief, she caught a glance at the Mickey Mouse clock on the wall and was shocked to see it was it was almost 12 noon. She knew that her sister Marla must have called at least a few times. After the death of their sister Alicia, Marla and Lynette became even closer. They found security in each others’ company and were always there for each other. Lynette went back to her bedroom to check the phone and could see the message light blinking on the cordless phone. She checked the caller ID and saw that she had missed two calls from Marla, a call from Neal and a call from her grandmother. ”Lord, they probably think I’m in here dead. Let me call them back before they start heading over here.” Lynette didn’t bother checking the messages; instead she just started returning calls. She called Marla first.

“Girl, where have you been? I called your house and your cell and you didn’t pick up. We were just about to head over there to see what was going on. Where have you been?” Marla snapped.

Not wanting to reveal what happened last night, Lynette replied, “Girl, I couldn’t sleep. The house was just too quiet with the kids being gone. I didn’t fall asleep until almost three this morning and slept till after 11. Woke myself up I was snoring so hard.”

“You always did snore like a fat man.” Marla replied.

Lynette hated lying to her sister but she was not ready to discuss what happened with Neal last night and since she wasn’t going to be seeing him again anyway, there would be no need to tell her. No one would ever have to know. It would be her very own, dirty little secret.

Lynette and Marla gabbed on the phone for about an hour. Marla was telling her all about their plans for the weekend. Mark had taken the kids over to his aunt’s’ house for a visit and later Marla was going to take Camille to a little dress shop in Glendale that made custom dresses for little girls while Mark would take Cameron to the park.  Lynette told Marla her plans to treat herself to a day of pampering. First going to the spa and salon and then finishing up with a little shopping. “You deserve it Lil’ Sis. Don’t you buy anything for the kids this weekend!!! It’s all about you. I got them covered this weekend. Anyway, by the time Mark gets through shopping for them they won’t need anything until college.”   Marla laughed.

“I know that’s right. Anyway, girl, let me let you go so I don’t miss my appointment. You know how Sherri is when you’re late. Make you wait as some sort of punishment. She is a trip.”

“Girl, are you still letting that fool do your hair? Good luck and goodbye.”

They were still laughing as they hung up the phone. Lynette headed to her closet to pick out some jeans and a top when the phone on the vanity table rang.   It was Neal.

Reluctant to pick up the phone, she hesitated.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Lynette, its Neal, how are you this morning?”

“I know who this is. I’m fine.”

“What’s wrong, are you ok?”

“I’m fine Neal; I just overslept that’s all.”

“Yeah, me too. It was a long and beautiful night. I miss you Lady.”

The sound of Neal’s sweet words and even sweeter voice started to take Lynette back to last night. It was such a beautiful night; something that Lynette had never really experienced before. She began to remember how Neal had held and kissed her so softly over her entire body. The thought of it made Lynette tingle.

“Listen, can I see you tonight, I…”

Lynette interrupted, “Neal we have to talk. “I don’t know if I can do this, if we should be doing this. This just doesn’t feel right somehow.”

“Lynette, listen, let’s get together tonight so we can talk. Nothing will happen we can just talk. I promise.” Neal said.

“I don’t know Neal. Why don’t we give it a few days?”

“Lady, I can’t wait that long. Let’s just try and resolve this tonight, OK.”

“No, Neal. If I see you, I know I…, we might…”

“I feel the same way baby, but I know you are having some doubts and I want us to address them. My feelings for you are real and I don’t want to hurt you in anyway. If I could just see you and we sit down and talk, then I know we can work through this. OK, Lady?”

“Ok Neal, what time?”

“How about eight?”

“That’s fine, see you then.”

Truth be told, Lynette was excited about seeing Neal tonight but was afraid that her heart would take control of her head and they would wind up in bed together. She had feelings for this man and wanted to express them. The lovemaking the night before had been wonderful and as a woman she wanted Neal as much as he wanted her but she knew this was wrong. Neal was in some sort of a relationship and the ink on Lynette’s divorce was barely dry. She needed time to heal. At least that’s what everyone kept telling her.   The truth is she was over Jason long before they had divorced. They had been separated for a long time and Lynette used that time to pray for the strength and wisdom to move on. It was during that time that she began to have the dreams about the man in blue coming to her front door. Was Neal that man? Had God sent Neal to Lynette? As she showered and dressed for the day, Lynette could not stop thinking about what God had in store for her and if Neal was the man in blue from her dreams.

Where’s my refund?

Can the IRS take my tax refund?

I thought I paid that?

Every tax season, without fail, a client will come to me in a panic because instead of receiving that much anticipated refund, they have just received a letter notifying them that their refund has been reduced or taken all together.  It’s called an offset.  Let’s take a look at how offsets can happen and what we can do to avoid them in the future.

The Treasury Department issues refunds through its Bureau of Fiscal Services (BFS).  The BFS also has the authority to offset (reduce or seize) refunds through what’s called the Treasury Offset Program also referred to as TOP.   Essentially TOP maintains a database of payments we make and debts we owe to certain government agencies.  Those agencies include but are not limited to state child support agencies, the US Department of Education, State unemployment and revenue agencies.  These agencies are clients of TOP and TOP acts as a collection agency for them.  These agencies report our payments and outstanding debts to TOP and TOP maintains this information on their behalf.

There are four primary debt obligations that can cause your refund to be offset.

1. Delinquent child or parent support payments.
2. Federal agency debts (i.e. Federal Student Loans)
3. Delinquent state income tax obligations
4. Fraudulent Unemployment Compensation (benefits received thru fraud or contributions owed and not paid due to fraud)

When a taxpayer files a tax return, during that time between filing and receiving (or not receiving) your refund the Bureau of Fiscal Services (BFS) is running your Tax ID Number through the TOP’s database.  If there is a match instead of receiving your refund you will receive a notice of offset.  The notice will list your original refund amount, how much is being offset, what agency the offset is being credited to and the agency’s contact information.  If you feel that you do not owe the debt then you should call the agency listed on the offset notice first.  If you contact the IRS first they will simply refer you to the agency listed on the offset notice.

So how can we avoid having tax refund offsets?  Well there are several things we can do, most importantly staying on top of our financial obligations.  To help us accomplish this task we must be disciplined.  Instead of allowing the government to keep and hold so much of our money during the year, reduce your withholdings so that you receive more of your hard earned money throughout the year.  That way you can use these additional funds to stay on top of obligations such as child support, student loans and state taxes.

The Federal Student Loan program offers several options for deferring payments including hardship deferments.  Visit the following link for more information.  https://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/deferment-forbearance

When it comes to Unemployment Compensation all I can say is don’t be foolish.  If you are receiving benefits you are required to report when you become employed.  While your employer does have certain new hire reporting requirements it is your responsibility to report when you start working.  It takes time for the new hire reports to reach the various government agencies and in the meantime you may have received several weeks of benefits that you are no longer entitled to.  This constitutes fraud.  The Treasury Department will find out, Unemployment will find out and report the debt to TOP and you will be required to pay those benefits back.  Hopefully that’s all you’ll be required to do and not face prosecution.

I hope you found this information helpful.  If you have specific questions you can always reach me at 866-529-6931 or at felicia.cook@onebox.com.

Have a Blessed Day Everyone!

Sources:

www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc203.html

http://fiscal.treasury.gov/fsservices/gov/debtColl/dms/top/debt_top.htm

www.natp (Members Only Section)

A Demon’s Calling

As a minister’s wife, the lines between my personal life and my husband’s calling are often blurred.  In fact sometimes, I think there is no line.  One flows directly into the other, in and out, back and forth like ripples in the waters of dreams and nightmare.   The expectations are high.  Perfection is the standard they set for you, reflected in their eyes.  Expecting you to be everything they are not. Well members of the cloth and their families, have their demons too.  We have our struggles.  In fact we are probably more vulnerable to temptation and tribulations because of what we do.  I’m not complaining, after all I accepted the proposal from a man who accepted The Call.

One particular afternoon, several members of our congregation, including my husband, were traveling to visit another church.  Brother Joffey was at the wheel, beckoning for me and my children to join them.  With Brother Joffey on board it was sure to be another amusing trip.   Although we wanted to go, I didn’t like the kids missing school and I had a lot of work to do.    Before pulling off, I kissed my husband goodbye and saw the kids off on the school bus.  With that I headed to the parsonage which was actually a large loft apartment adjacent to the church.  As I headed to our apartment I decided to walk through the sanctuary.  Wednesday afternoon service was just beginning.  As I made my way up the side aisle a wave of nausea came over me and I began to sweat profusely.  I continued to walk, struggling more and more with every step.  Not realizing that people were watching I began removing my cardigan sweater opting to pull it over my head instead of engaging in what seemed at that time to be the longer more arduous process of unbuttoning each button.  As soon as I did that, the whispering began.  Heads leaning together with ooh’s and aah’s.    Didn’t they realize that I must be sick as I was using my sweater to wipe sweat from my neck and brow?  No one came to my aid.  Instead they just watched and whispered.

As I made it to the long dark narrow staircase that lead to our apartment, I noticed the front door was slightly ajar.  I must have left it open while rushing to get my husband and the kids off.  For a moment, I thought about doing a quick walk through to make sure no one was in the apartment but opted not to realizing that no one would have access to the stairway or apartment without a key.  Besides, all I could think of was taking a nice bath to cool down and cleanse myself of the now sticky sweat.  Our home was an old fashioned loft apartment.  Complete with glass doorknobs, small windows and a claw foot tub in the bathroom.  I opened the bathroom window, filled the tub with water, grabbed my Bible and climbed in.  Just as I began to relax, I realized I had forgotten my towel.  I knew that if I waited any longer the bathroom would be ice cold getting out of the tub with no towel and with that window open.  So, I climbed out of the tub, closed the window and went across the hall to the linen closet.  As I headed back to the bathroom, I noticed the door was closed.  When I tried to open it, there was someone or something blocking the door.  For a split second I thought that maybe my husband had forgotten his shaving kit or something but soon realized that it was not a member of my family that was behind that door.  I turned to run and the door opened and there was an ugly skeletal demon grabbing for me, trying to pull me back into that bathroom.  I grabbed the door knob, trying to shut the demon in but it was strong and was winning the battle with that door.  As the door opened wider and wider and I was being pulled inside, I realized the skeletal demon was that of a woman.  She had long dark hair that was dripping wet.  Her skeleton was dark, almost charred and had mucous like strings hanging from it.  I didn’t know who she was, where she had come from or why she was after me.  As we struggled I noticed that my body was much cooler than it was before and I was no longer sweating despite wrestling with this demon.  As I struggled with her, I racked my mind trying to figure out who she was and why was I her target.  I tried to see her face but there was nothing there, only a black hole and that long dripping hair.  Despite that she still seemed familiar.  Who was she, where had I seen her before?  I took another glance at where the face was supposed to be and at that long dripping hair and it was then that I realized who she was.  She was me.  In horror, I grabbed the doorknob with all my might and slammed the door shut.  In doing so, the demons arm, still attached to mine, snapped off.  Naked and wet, I ran down the stairs trying to get to the sanctuary for help.  As I got closer and closer to the bottom of the stairs, I realized that my husband and pastor were not there to help me.  In the pulpit were all of the associate ministers.  I was scared. I thought,  “They can’t help me.”  Despite my doubts I decided to scream out as loud as I could, that severed demon arm clutched in my hand, I raised my arms and screamed, “Please, help me!”  All of the ministers in the pulpit turned and stood as if to approach me.  It was at that very moment that I realized I was still in the tub and it had all been a dream.

I told you that sometimes the lines are blurred and we have our demons too.

I hope you enjoyed this short.

Felicia G. Cook Author

In the first newsletter we discussed spending traps.  Well it’s tax season and if you are receiving or anticipating receiving a tax refund then chances are you are already in a spending trap.  In fact you are in the biggest spending trap America has to offer; Refund Season!

What is Refund Season?  Well for tax professionals it’s actually Tax Season.  That time between January 15 and April 15 when American Tax Payers  meet with us to prepare their annual tax filings.  But for all too many of our clients it’s that time of year that they look forward to every year to help themselves get back on their financial feet.   Many clients receive large tax refunds every year.  For some it’s a forced savings.  They are not disciplined enough to save during the year so they allow their governments and municipalities to do it for them.    They struggle throughout the year trying to make ends meet and for them tax time is a blessing.    The reality is that it’s not.  Your paycheck can be a blessing to you every payday if you manage it properly, including the number of allowances you take on your W-4.  Instead of loaning thousands and thousands of dollars to your government interest free, get your money and use it to pay yourself everyday.

Let’s take a look at a W-4 withholding example. You remember that form don’t you?  You filled it out when you first started your job.  If you haven’t seen it in a while or don’t remember what’s on it then it’s time to visit your friendly payroll officer. I know, I know.  It’s that dingy little office all the way in the basement.  Well slap on your Fitbit and take the stairs.    It’s time to get back into good financial shape.  You might as well burn a few calories in the meantime.

So you’re in the payroll office, now what?  Your payroll officer most likely is not going to offer you advice on what to do in determining the number of allowances you should take, nor should they.  What they will do is go through the instructions provided with the form to make sure you understand how to complete it.  These instructions are important and can be very useful in helping you determine what’s best for you.  Take it home with you and read it over.  You can also visit IRS.gov for more information on W-4 calculations.  The IRS provides a W-4 withholding calculator.  This calculator can be used to determine your federal withholding for the current tax year.  In order to get started you will need to have the following three things handy; 1.  Your most recent pay stubs 2.  Your most recent tax return 3.  Estimated values for expenses such as education loan interest, charitable donations, alimony, etc. If you need help you can sit down with your tax preparer and run the calculator together.  Even if it’s not tax season most tax preparers are available to discuss tax issues throughout the year.

Ok, now let’s get to that W-4 form.  I have a client who is married and files a joint return with her husband who is currently unemployed.  Their standard deduction is $12,600, for Married Filing Jointly(MFJ).  Their standard deduction is always larger than their itemized deductions.  Based on an annual salary of just over $56,000, their tax liability for 2015 will be approximately $4500.  Currently on her W-4 she is carrying only one allowance.  As a result the federal government will deduct an additional $2411 from her paycheck during the course of the year. While this will result in a refund when she files her 2015 income taxes that $2411 that could have gone into investments, savings or to pay off credit card debt.  Instead this generous client chooses to loan it to the government interest free.  In order to correct the overpayment she should adjust her allowances based on her salary and filing status of Married Filing Jointly to three allowances.  This will get her refund closer to $75 meaning that she and her husband will keep more of their hard earned money during the year.

Now that you have this extra money in your paycheck what are you going to do with it? The answer to that question depends on your willingness and ability to become financially free.  If you want it then you are going to have to invest that money in your future.  Don’t be afraid of the word investing.  It simply means to empower with authority. Through investing (empowering) and not consuming (destroying) you are giving yourself authority over your financial future.

Doesn’t it feel good to know that you are in the driver’s seat?  You are in control.

In order to remain in control of your finances you must be disciplined in saving and spending.  Here are a few steps to help you stay on track and invest that extra money you are now receiving every payday.

Steps to Financial Freedom

 1.  Prepare a budget that includes the additional income from your paycheck.  Be sure to include all      sources of income and expenses in your budget. If your budget is not accurate  it won’t be useful.

 2.  Use a portion of the additional funds to pay down high interest rate credit cards or loans.

3. Use the balance of the funds to start saving and investing.  The most disciplined way to save is via payroll deduction.  You can have funds debited directly from your paycheck and placed into a savings or investment account.  Remember these funds are for saving and or investing and not for spending

 4.  Readjust your spending habits especially during the holiday season. Remember you won’t be receiving a large refund anymore to help you pay off that holiday debt.

 5. Stay focused on the ultimate goal of financial freedom.  Sure you’ll be tempted to spend but just remember that the more you spend the further away you will be from your goal.

Following these simple steps can really begin to change your life for the better.

Stay focused and remember that you are in control of your future. Give yourself the life you dream of.  The power is in your hands. I know you can do it.  Keep me posted!