Regardless of where you are in your life right now, you are no stranger to trouble.  I know I’m not.  It seems that not a week goes by where I’m not faced with some issue or a tough decision that must be made. 

You may not think so, but all of these things weigh heavily upon us.  Our minds, our health, our spirits and our attitudes are not all at their peak.

Well, I came across a very short, but inspiring story that I’d like to share with you today called The Trouble Tree.  You may read it below:

The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence.

On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

“Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied.” I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing’s for sure, troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again.”

He paused. “Funny thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick ‘em up, there ain’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”

~Author Anonymous

So for those of you out there with any type of trouble today, consider creating your own trouble tree.  Your family, friends and your own mind just might appreciate you for it.

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A Quick Announcement

Last week, I posted a giveaway for you the readers here at Personal Finance Notebook.   Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments.  Your words made me realize that although this community is very small, I have a good concept going here and I need to be extremely dedicated to improving and marketing it.  I have to remind myself that this is a work in progress.  Rome wasn’t built in a day. 

In the next few weeks, I’ll be implementing a few changes, updates and additions to the site.  Just a little side note, if you are signed up as an email update reader, please be on the lookout for a personal email from me in the near future. 

Also if you didn’t make a comment, but you read the articles posted here (maybe you were a little shy), thank you as well.  I know I say this all the time, but I really appreciate the time you take to read Personal Finance Notebook each week.  It can only go up from here!

Ok, Ok…enough with all the preliminaries, 0n to announcing the winner of the $25 Amazon gift card.  The winner is:  Eric Watermolen (commenter #3)  Congratulations, Eric!

Ghost Tree Image by John-Morgan

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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article about Standing Your Ground.  I discussed collectors and a few best practices when dealing with them.  At the end of the article, I made the following statement:

I encourage you though to find a way to resolve your debts so that you can build a solid financial house.  A house with holes in a few windows (the bad debts) doesn’t look too appealing. Does it?

Although I used broken windows as an analogy, it’s actually a theory first introduced by James Wilson and George Kelling.  A portion of the theory states:

Consider a building with a few broken windows.  If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows.  Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it’s occupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside.

Or consider a sidewalk.  Some litter accumulates.  Soon, more litter accumulates.  Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take-out restaurants there or breaking into cars.

The underlying meaning is that when a window is broken in the neighborhood, it should be fixed immediately.  This more than likely will deter further damage from those that are attracted to vandalize.  Cleaning up the sidewalk every day, prevents others from seeing the need add to the pile.

Now, as I consider it here, I think about broken windows in terms of the financial house most of us are striving to build.  We all have some type of structure we reside in whether it be a single family home, condo, an apartment, etc, right?  Well, when a window is broken, you have to make one of two choices:  fix it or ignore it.

To warn you of potential danger, I’ve created a short list of “windows” to be aware of and offer some encouragement of right action along the way.

• Credit Limits

When you’re trying to get your money train back on the right track, your credit limit is something you might want to keep under your radar.  Why?  There are two reasons: one – to avoid the trap of the “over the limit fee”, two – to help your credit scores.  A high balance greater than or equal to your maximum credit limit does not have a positive affect on your credit scores.  And how does it look to potential lenders?  Not good at all.  Though you may pay your bills on time every month, you’d be considered a high risk.  

• Credit Reports

Since we’ve looked at the credit limits being a broken window, let’s look at the larger picture of the full credit report.  It must be checked.  You have the right to obtain a free copy of your credit report once every twelve months from each major reporting agency: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion by way of www.annualcreditreport.com.  A good idea is to not request them all at once.  Spread the three requests out asking for one every four months checking for accuracy.

Xenophon says, “…but accuracy is everything.”  I couldn’t agree more.  Checking everything from the personal and public information, as well as the credit history.  If anything looks strange, you have a right to request an investigation.  Don’t let the litter accumulate.

• The Mail

This broken window will probably require some time a patience, but it’s repairable nonetheless.  You know that pile of bills you’ve got stuffed over in the corner? Yeah, that one.  It’s time to pull it all out and deal with it.  Yes, the time is now.  Believe me, it’s not going away. 

It’s easy to put it to the side and say, “I don’t have time for this right now.”  But if not now, when?  Small debts become collections, collections become judgments, judgments become garnishments.  A little extreme, but some collections may even lead to jail time (click here to see a recent newspaper article about that).

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The bottom line is this:  Being held hostage to unwanted guests is not going to be an option if you don’t repair your windows quickly.  As stated earlier, this is a short list of ideas (things we may ignore).  You could probably think of some examples from your own situation or someone you may know.  Feel free to write about it in the comments.

 Thank you so much for spending your time here with me today!

Image Cred gregoreosz

To get into your rightful place financially, you have to move past what has not only become comfortable, but what has become just a way of life.  When I say comfortable, I’m basically talking about life as usual. 

We have dreams of something bigger and better, but getting there sometimes seems too difficult.  What we normally do is keep the dream in our heads, but never move toward action.  We mostly use the One Day Theory.  You know…One Day I’m gonna have enough money to do whatever I want OR One Day I’m gonna own my own home.

You can probably rattle off a couple of your own One Day Theories – in fact, you’ve probably heard and said them many times over.  Truth is though, the One Day Theory is just another basic form of procrastination.

On a deeper level, procrastination overlaps with avoidance.  When a task initially seems too difficult to handle, we’ll put it off and put it off until it becomes a monster.  I don’t know what makes us think that the problem will go away.  It NEVER does. 

I know it seems easy to bury your head in the sand and ignore life along with your hopeful dreams.  The thing about that is, it’s suffocating.  You definitely can’t survive that way.  Survival of the fittest is taking responsibility quickly and creating the success you desire.

Do I suffer from the disease of procrastination?  Of course, I do.  All the time.  As I write this article, it is very late in the evening.  My initial thoughts were to shut the computer down and start fresh tomorrow.  But then I thought about how the delay would really throw me off schedule.  My right action was to do what’s needed now and feel good about what I accomplish later.

I remember reading a book a few years back by Brian Tracy called, Eat that Frog: 21 Great Ways to Get More Done in Less Time.  This book was key in transforming my thoughts about goal achievement and handling daily life.

My 4-Most Important Mantras from the book were:

1. Consider the consequences.  Take a moment to consider what the outcome will be if the task is put off until later.
2. Do the most difficult task first.  This statement is the entire basis of eating the frog.  Getting the difficult task out of the way first frees your mind for greater accomplishment.  It becomes a snowball of successful action.
3. Slice and dice the task.  Breaking down bigger projects into smaller manageable chunks = faster goal achievement.
4. Develop a sense of urgency.  A determination to stay focused until the project is completed.

He also says:

The key to reaching high levels of performance and productivity is for you to develop the lifelong habit of tackling your major task first thing each morning.  You must develop a routine of “eating your frog” before you do anything else and without taking too much time to think about it.

The thing is, I’m seeing many people achieve their dreams each day.  We all have our good and bad days.  The key though is to have more bad than good.  See if you constantly make two steps forward and only one step backwards, you’re doing your best to make greater strides in the right direction. 

So as you continue your day, consider something you have been avoiding – a work assignment, cleaning up your financial house, getting organized, any short or long term goal.  Be determined today to eat that frog.

How about you on the other side of the screen?  What’s stopping you? 

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I appreciate you reading today.  If you enjoyed it, don’t be selfish – share this article with a friend.   Have a wonderful and prosperous day!

Gotta Get Organized Image by Szlea

I got a call recently from a close friend who was a bit disturbed by a phone call she received.  See, over the last few years, she has been very diligent with staying debt free, paying her bills on time and keeping a close eye on her credit scores.

Life didn’t start off this way for her, but she has been able to accomplish so much by sticking to her plan.  Now, she is seeing the benefits of her hard work. 

Well, back to the story.  She received a phone call from a collection agency.  The collector started off with the preliminaries verifying name, previous addresses, etc.  Receiving these types of phone calls is out of the norm for her so she asked that he get straight to the point. 

He was trying to collect on a automatic deduction payment debt that she cancelled sometime last year.  The collection amount was about $89.00.  She politely informed him that she did not owe this debt and that there must be some miscommunication. 

At some point and time during the conversation, he even offered to settle the debt for $70.00.  Again, she declined and stated that she would call the original creditor.  The collector stated that she could do that, but to save herself some time and trouble she could just pay the debt…“That way, it won’t go on your credit.  It’s only $70.00”, he said.  Her response to him was…“I’ll just take my chances.”

She did not allow the collector to intimidate or coerce her into paying a bill she did not owe.   She immediately called the original creditor and got the matter cleared within a few minutes.   I love the fact that she showed the greater strength, as Abraham Lincoln said -

Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.

Don’t get me wrong;  I know that talking to most collectors is like talking to a rock.  They don’t hear you.  But what’s so important about this is that she had a leg to stand on .  My friend knew she didn’t owe the bill and had the records to back up her claim. 

As I see it, there are a few things she did right:

Spoke respectfully.  There’s no sense in getting agitated over an easily solvable matter. 

Kept good records.  The best thing to do this day and age is to leave some sort of paper trail.  This can be by way of written contracts, bank statements, cancelled checks, emails, etc.  When questions about payments arise, the proof is easily accessible.

Followed up immediately with the original creditor.  I know…it’s a pain in the rear, but allowing problems to linger only makes it worse later.

Asked for proof that the debt has been cleared.  This is very important.  Having a statement from the original creditor can be useful if this debt resurfaces in the future.

If this was a debt my friend really owed, this would have been a different story.  More on that later; but for now, if you owe a debt and are being contacted by a collector, here’s my advice:  Don’t allow yourself to be bullied.  Collectors do have rules and laws that they are held accountable to.  I encourage you though to find a way to resolve your debts so that you can build a solid financial house.  A house with holes in a few windows (the bad debts) doesn’t look too appealing.  Does it?

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As always, thank you so much for reading.  If you have a question or a tip of your own to share, feel free to do so in the comments.  Also, don’t forget to spread the word about PFN – new readers are always welcome.

Standing Tall Image by Orin Zebest

I’ll start today with a little history lesson.  See that picture to the left?  Well, that is a picture of the Philadelphia County Prison in Philadelphia, PA called…the debtor’s wing.  This wing and others like across the American colonies in the early 1800’s, held people that owed debts but were unable to pay.

It was a very simple process.  Creditors who were owed money would simply ask the sheriff to arrest those that owed and throw them in jail.  The only way the debtors could be released was to post bail or pay the debt.  Since most couldn’t do either, they remained in jail for months or even years depending on the size of the debt and their family’s ability to raise the money.  Some even died before being released because of disease that ran rampant in the close quarters of the jail.

In 1831, the United States government ended this practice with the introduction of the Act to Abolish Imprisonment for Debt.  Whew!

Now almost 180 years later, most of us spend our time creating our own debt prisons.  No, we don’t have to worry about going to jail (except for taxes or child support), but it’s a jail all the same.  As Jon Hanson said, “Working while carrying a load of debt is like a prison work-release program.  You are released each day to work, but the balance of your time is spent in a mental prison.”

Over the last several years, we have really seen the effects of debt.  The lives of normal families that were living the American Dream shattered due to the carelessness of creating debt instead of wealth.  As I see it, living in a constant state of want leads to us becoming a prisoner to our passions.

Work no longer becomes a privilege, it’s a necessity in order to survive.

Think about the feelings you had as a child…probably “free”.  Yes, the responsibility of provision was upon your parents, but there was a feeling that time was no option and your opportunities were limitless.  Becoming an adult was like being given a huge stack of blank paper that weighed about the size of an elephant.

We aim wanderously, happily spending money and using credit when we really shouldn’t.  Most of us don’t even realize what we’ve done until it’s too late.  Picture this…you sitting down on the floor “Indian style”.  Now, add up all the debts you currently owe (credit cards, personal, consumer, student loans, etc).  Imagine yourself being surrounded by this amount stacked in dollars.  If you stand, can you see the outside world easily?

See, those few moments of fun have a price tag attached.  That price tag then leads to frustration and unhappiness.  So before you make you next purchase, ask yourself… “Is this helping me to get closer to my goal?”  If not, make the decision to walk away.  Just turn and walk away.  You can do it!

If you’re in a debtor’s prison, what’s your sentence?  How long do you have before release?

Philadelphia County Prison Image by whitewall’s buick

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Thanks everyone for reading!  I really appreciate it.  Feel free to share your own experience with debt in the comments, if you’d like.  So until next time…

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Probably the worst part of personal finance is having to handle issues surrounding misrepresentation.  Misrepresentation, as I see it, is being presented information in an unsatisfactory or false manner.  Because some people are so slick and cunning, deceit can come in many different variations. 

There is no specific color, shape, size, or height of dishonest people, but I would like to give you some common actions to look for:

• Rushing you to sign paperwork.  Ever heard this? “Sign here, here, here and here..” 
• Hiding the terms.  Only focusing on payment and not the actual terms of the contract.
• Devaluing disclosures.  Not fully explaining your rights as a consumer if something goes wrong.
• Speaking in terminology you don’t understand.
• Dodging your important questions.

Not paying attention to these critical signs could definitely lead to you becoming their latest victim.  So, how can we have great shopping experiences and protect ourselves at the same time?

Be aware.  You know that old saying, “If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.”  Do your research and be prepared.  Alan Greenspan says it like this…“An informed borrower is simply less vulnerable to fraud and abuse.”

Ask questions.  Asking questions is a sign of strength, not weakness.  Many times we are embarrassed or afraid to ask for fear of how it will make us look.  But the truth is that we look far worse when we don’t. 

Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new.  – Og Mandino

Pay attention to your intuition.  You know that gut feeling that tells you something is not right.

To me, it’s kind of like having an “angel” in one ear and the “devil” in the other.  We want to make the right decision and listen to the right voice, but it’s difficult.  Especially when emotions are involved.

Start by creating your line in the sand moment.  If a salesperson at any time crosses that line…end the conversation.  I don’t care if it’s at the end of a long and outdrawn process.  Your feelings as the buyer must be heard.  It’s your time and your money.  Refuse to let anyone abuse it. 

This is so important.  Feeling empowered is helping people be courageous enough to walk away.  Think about it, walking away initially makes for a lot less pain later.  I’m not saying that you should be hard core, but just know that you should respect and be respected.

The key here is to have a watchful eye.  Don’t be too trusting.  Everyone does not have your best interest at heart.  Many times befriending you and making the sale is the only goal the salesperson has set out to achieve.  Once you’ve been conquered…it’s on to the next victim.

Remember, the goal is for you to come out at the end of the process knowing that you have made a great decision.  Don’t be afraid to say…“This is where I draw the line!”

So, how about you…have you dealt with salespeople that misrepresented products, terms, etc?  How did you deal with them?

This is where I draw the line Image by Eva Blue

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I appreciate you for taking the time to read this article today!  If you can relate, feel free to share your experience.  I’d love to hear from you!

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reflection: a thought occurring in consideration or meditation.

I’m not sure about you, sometimes I catch myself reflecting.  Not really on purpose, but a past memory will come when triggered by a certain outside circumstance.  I think about that memory and wonder, “How did I get from there to here?  Is this what I envisioned for my life?”

Some portions yes…other portions…not so much.  I’m definitely proud of many of my accomplishments, but of course you know that we are our own worst critics.  I don’t really see that as a bad attribute…it’s what pushes us to do and be more.  But there are some aspects of my life that I wish I would have handled differently.

I’ve talked about this before, but one of the main do-overs I’d like to have is financial.  There are so many mistakes I made and time I wasted early on in my adult life.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t look back with regret because I know that we all live and learn.  I actually chuckle because I see how far I’ve come and how my mentality has changed over the last few years.

Life a process of growing and gaining wisdom, but my concern is for those that never change.  I don’t have a definitive reason for why some never change.  Could it be that they don’t take precious time to sit back and think about their lives?  Living from day to day with no purpose or plan.

If you want to find out where you’re going, you have to think about where you’ve been.

I absolutely love this statement.  I’m not sure where I heard it, but it’s true in so many ways.  Thinking about where you’ve been keeps you from making the same mistakes over and over again.

I have a few questions and comments that maybe helpful to you during your own reflecting process. Now, since our conversation is money here, I’ll keep these questions mainly financial, but feel free to create your own.  Whether it be financial or with your general life.  I’m definitely going to create my own life and family questions.  Let’s start…

1.  Do I have more to learn?

I think so.  No matter how much you know, there is always more to learn.  It’s never to late and you’re never too young or old.  And there are teachers readily available.  In high school, I learned about The LBD System (Learn By Doing). You’re taught particular lessons by your own Experience, which is definitely a great teacher.  Don’t your bank accounts always give you feedback?  Are you listening?  The other teacher is Self-Education.  Be it reading books, taking courses or listening to the advice of the financial gurus, turn over a new leaf and expand your knowledge.

2.  Am I satisfied with my financial status right now?

Take a look in your financial mirror.  How are you really doing?  Could you be doing better?  Is your current system working?  If your status is in line with how you’ve envisioned your life to be, that’s great.  If not, maybe it’s time to make a change.

3.  What are my financial priorities?

What are you spending your money on?  Not sure?  One way to find out would be to take a look back at your bank and/or credit card statements.  What do you see?  What if you can’t tell because you mostly use cash?  Then it’s difficult to track the past, but get a notebook and start writing down every dollar you spend and what you spend it on.  These methods will give you a great view of your true priorities.  Do you like what you see?

4.  Am I paying attention to the details?

This question in sort of in line with #3.  Waking up and choosing what we value and where we spend our money consciously.

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So, now it’s up to you.  As you think about these questions, start and create your own plan.  What can you learn?  When will you start?  Write it down and put it up in your mirror.  You’re going to be amazed at how your life will be different when you reflect again.

What are your answers?  Or have you created your own questions?

Click here to view or share in the comments

Image by the consumerist

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I appreciate you for taking the time to read what I have to say!  Don’t forget to share this article with a friend.  I wish you much success!

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You can’t succeed by yourself.  It takes each other to build a society.  – Jim Rohn

It’s happened to me more times than I can remember.  When someone hears of my story, I may get a quick little note that goes something like this:  “I think it is very brave for you to put your story out there for people to learn from.”

My thought response is: “Hmm…brave?”  My actual response is to send a kind note that says “Thank you.  To whom much is given, much is required.  I see my experience as a gift and I have to do my part and share this gift with others.”

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t get an in-depth discussion about money management as a young adult.  And from what I see around me, read in the newspaper and hear on television; there are many others who didn’t get it either.

Ok, well let me make a little correction.  We get the general knowledge… “Make sure you put money away for a rainy day”, “Never spend your raise”, “Don’t get caught up in credit cards”,  “Don’t spend what you don’t have”, etc.

I tried to listen, but here’s how it worked out for me.

• “Make sure you put away money for a rainy day.” – Whenever I did, “something” always came up and I was never able to grow the rainy day fund.
• “Never spend your raise.” – By the time the raise came around, it was well needed and already well spent.  You’re not guilty of that, right?
• “Don’t get caught up in credit cards” and “Don’t spend what you don’t have.” – We kind of listened, but sometimes used the credit cards as our safety net.

I’m sure many of you can relate.

But I’ve seen much worse.  Homes being lost to foreclosure, cars being repossessed, credit cards maxed, etc.  Then there’s the borderline lifestyle…living paycheck to paycheck, little to no savings, sometimes having to rob Peter to pay Paul.  You know what I’m talking about… “I can’t wait until Friday for pay day.”

This is serious and I don’t believe we have to live this way.  My belief is this, let’s get educated and start more discussions about money.  Whether you know a little or whether you know a lot.  It’s time to break the silence.  Learn more and pass it on. 

Zig Ziglar once said, “Money isn’t the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the “gotta have it” scale.”  The fact is, we’ve got to have money to survive and the better we know how to manage it, the better the quality of life we can have.  How does that sound?

So,  back to this point of bravery.  Yes, I’m being very transparent, but I’m also sharing a story.  A story that I believe will touch the lives of many.  We help others overcome by way of our testimony.

Don’t carry the past as a burden.  Use it as a school. – Jim Rohn

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Let’s start the conversation.  If you agree, pass this message along to everyone you know.  Wouldn’t it be great to see not only ourselves, but our friends and loved ones financially successful.  If we don’t help ourselves and our loved ones, then who will? 

We’ll talk more about the development of a community here at PFN over the next few weeks.  But for now, it’s up to you to start talking and asking.  How do you see it?

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Talking and Listening,

Patrenia Donald-Spears, AFC

Image by PinkMoose

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Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate the time you spend here and I send you much love!

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A few years ago, I decided to set new goals.

It all started when I was introduced to the late Jim Rohn.  He was speaking at an engagement in New Orleans back in 2002.  I’d just become aware of his motivational style of speaking just a few months prior and knew it was a great opportunity to hear him LIVE!!!

My husband, my mom and I excitedly shuffled down to New Orleans for this event.  I was a Mortgage Loan Consultant at a local company here in Baton Rouge and getting motivated was considered a great reason to get a free pass.  Many of us took advantage of the opportunity to skip work and hear Jim Rohn share an inspiring message.

He shared so much and of course I took notes, but what I remember most though was this key point…“Have more than one source of income.” Not sure why this stuck out most.  Maybe it was because I was just starting to establish my career.  I started thinking, but finding ways to diversify my income at that time was difficult.  I worked full time, and was a wife and mother.  My little ones were only about 1 and 2 years old, so my hands were full.

Though my life was challenging, I often reflected on those words and wondered how I could find a way to make income diversification happen in my life.  My thoughts leaned more towards  turning my career experience into an additional source of income.

My answer came as I drew from my own life’s encounters.  I looked at the financial lives of many of my clients…then I took a look at my own financial life.  I didn’t like what I saw.

We were all kind of floating around in the same boat.  I didn’t have the credit issues that many of them faced, but we were all working basically just to pay the bills.  Juggling money, career, and family life.

After my husband and I found our own way to become more financially sufficient, it lead me to, what I believe, a moment where I knew what I had to do.  Help others to do the same.

Using the experience I gained from the mortgage industry and my own personal experience, I set a goal to become a Financial Counselor.  Today, I am thankful to say that I have finished my course.  As of April  14, 2010, I am official.  Patrenia D. Spears – Accredited Financial Counselor and Coach.  I cannot express how excited I am about this opportunity.

So, how does this affect you?   Well over the next few weeks, I will be hopefully putting together a starting process that will help me to those that really want to take control of their lives.  I will at that time probably offer a limited consulting service.  I haven’t really decided how this will be done, so please bear with me.

Just know this, I-WANT-TO-HELP you reach your goals!!!  My passion is serving and making a difference.  I want to help struggling families get on track, couples start their lives winning, young people start their lives prosperous, and everyone to increase their knowledge to build a strong financial house. The possibilities are endless.  I’m definitely open to any ideas while I’m working through this process.  So feel free to contact me here and let me know how I can help you.  I look forward to what’s in store!

If this message is not for you…that’s ok.  I’d still like to hear your recommendations.  I’ve enjoyed having you join me here over the last few months.

Sincerely,

Patrenia Donald-Spears, AFC

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Thank you so much for reading! Please feel free to share this article with your family and friends.  I wish you lots of financial success.  I send you much love!

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My life in 10 years photo by lululemon athlethica

Note: In the Ask Patrenia articles, I answer questions from readers sent to me by Email, Twitter or Facebook.  Feel free to ask your money questions.  I look forward to it.

It hits everyone of us at some point and time in our life.  The four letter word…FEAR!

I received a question here on the site a while back from a reader that I have grown to respect and admire not only for her inspiration, but her courage to motivate others.  Here’s what she said…

I’d love to read more about getting over your fear of money… that’s a personal issue for me. Like I know that tools exist to help me get on track… but just admitting how bad things are in order to get on that track is scary! I know I have to “feel the fear and do it anyway”…. but I swear that financial stuff seems the hardest area to improve sometimes. – Anilia, MotivatedSista

Firstly, I want to thank Anilia for this question and her bravery for stating that fear of money is a personal issue.  It is an issue for most of us, but we don’t want anyone to know that we are a little afraid of facing the money issues.  Truth is, just about every day, we have to resist the fear of “something”.  It may not be money, but it’s all just the same.  So, if you’re wrestling with fear, try one or more of these ideas.

Take Small Steps. Whenever we attempt to learn a new process, we tend to suffer from fear of the unknown.  We’re excited about a new endeavor.  We find lots of information about the subject.  Our information is from different sources, different people with different views.  So not only do we have too much information, but the information suggests different ideas.  What are our next actions?  Nothing.  The stress level has risen, we’re confused and it’s just seems easier to do nothing.  So just take it slow, learn and start practicing the new process.

Don’t Be Afraid To Make Mistakes. Denis Waitley once said that failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker.   I wholeheartedly agree, making mistakes is part of the learning process.  When a baby learns to walk, how many times do they fall?  When you learned how to ride a bike, how many times did you fall?

See Every Day As A New Start. Use yesterday as a reference, but don’t let the actions linger.  If any unintentional events occurred, don’t dwell on them.  Figure out what went wrong and make corrections to avoid the same problem in the future.

Consider Your Prior Victories. Make a list of other goals you were able to achieve.  Not necessarily financial goals, just life goals in general.  When doubt or fear enter into you mind, pull out your victory list and gain strength.

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Taking control of your money is not as intimidating as it seems.  It’s just a few daily disciplines practiced everyday.  We all know what they say about practice – practice makes perfect.  Ok, I’m not so sure about the “perfect” part, but it will be at least better.

So, stop thinking or be held back by fear and take some action!

Feel free to add your own tips.  How do you overcome fear?

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Freedom Not Fear Image by James Cronin