Budgeting
Articles
Bank This!
by Tammy Harrison
Our personal and business banking
adventures have been eventful, to say the
least. I was raised in banking, as my uncle
was (and still is) a banker. His daughter is
now in the banking business. I've heard the
good, the bad and the ugly that happens with
financial institutions.
Our business checking account was with a
trusted institution in south Texas. Through
mergers and buy-outs, it is now at a major
bank that is accessible in practically every
state in the union. The one thing I have
enjoyed is that our bank offered online
banking long before it was available to
smaller banks.
We happen to have our personal accounts
at the same bank. Again, we didn't choose
this bank, but they bought out the local
bank we started with when we moved here. The
ease of leaving well enough alone outweighed
the pain of moving all of our accounts.
But, nothing prepared me for a telephone
call I received late this summer.
"Hello, is this Tammy
Harrison?" the person on the other end
of the phone stated.
"Yes, it is," I responded
curtly - thinking it was yet another
telemarketer.
The caller identified herself as a teller
at the drive-thru of our bank. "You
drove through the bank on August 11th,"
she continued "and I gave you $500 cash
instead of the $200 you wrote your check
for."
"Excuse me?" I exclaimed
She went on to tell me how she did what
she truly didn't do.
Now, it's one thing to be accused of
something that you did - but it's a
completely different thing to be accused of
something you didn't do!
I told her that I had experienced
incorrect transactions at banks before, and
I never left the drive-thru without checking
out the receipts and money thoroughly. I
knew, without a doubt, that she did NOT give
me $300 more than I requested!
Without letting me finish my sentence,
she hastily said, "Let me have you talk
to our manager," and she put me on
hold.
The manager came onto the line and did
the exact same thing! Not so much as a
question as to whether I ran off with their
money, he immediately accused me of taking
more than I wrote my check for!
Once off the telephone, I found all of my
receipts and checks, and called my banker
uncle. I knew that there was no way I could
PROVE that they didn't give me more money
than I requested - at least not from a
consumer's standpoint. The only way to know
for sure is to look at the receipts at the
bank, from the day in question. I also knew
that one way that bank tellers are able to
skim money is to do exactly what they were
accusing me of. For instance, the teller's
drawer is short, so blame it on a customer
instead of on the one who is in charge of
that drawer! I was not going to stand for
being treated the way I had been treated,
and I was bound and determined to do
something about it! My uncle suggested I
document the conversations, names, dates,
etc. so that I would not forget anything.
Then he said the best thing to do was to
wait it all out, to see what the bank
decided.
About three weeks later, the teller
manager called me. She said "I thought
you'd like to know that the teller made an
error."
That was IT! No apology, no explanation,
NOTHING!
I am slowly moving our accounts to a few
different local institutions. It's an
arduous process, and it takes a lot of time
that I really don't have to give to it. But,
the flip-side of this is that I really don't
have the time to be treated like a criminal,
without due process.
When all is said and done, I urge you to
make sure that you are treating your
customers right. It is the ONLY way you will
have a successful home-based business.
(c) 2003 by Tammy Harrison. Tammy is
the mother of four and the Independent
Creative Representative for HBWM.com,
Inc. Click
here to contact Tammy.
Budget
Baby Steps
by Tammy Harrison
You are a two-income family, sharing and
spreading the wealth amongst yourselves. All
of a sudden, baby one comes along, and you
find your heart pulled in a different
direction than you ever imagined. Your
emotions run high, and you make a decision
that will change your life and the life of
your family forever -- you quit your job and
your checkbook has a heart attack!
I have heard from so many people that
they just aren't capable of living within a
budget. Why is that? Most likely, it is
because you never had to worry about
budgeting or because you were never taught
how to create and stick to a budget!
I like to recommend baby steps when
assisting people with their budget plans.
You don't just go from college graduate to
the CEO of a Fortune 500 company in a day,
and the same can be said for going from a
two-income family to a one-income family.
The reality in budgeting effectively runs
much deeper than just figuring out how to
live with less, as money matters enter into
your personal relationships as well. If you
are stressed out about money, you will not
be happy staying at home.
So, start small. For instance, instead of
looking at how much money you do not have to
spend each paycheck, look at how much you
need. We all have the same expenses that are
vital to living, such as mortgage or rent,
food, utilities, savings, etc. Those bills
should be paid first. Then you have the
disposable income, or what's left from your
pay to spend on needs or wants beyond the
necessities.
Say you are planning to buy summer
clothes for your children. Starting small
with your budget means not over-spending
when you go shopping. To do that, you must
know what you are looking for before you go
to the mall. First, decide what the kids
need. I have four kids, so I would need a
minimum of three outfits each for the kids.
Let's say I have $100 to spend on all of
their summer clothes. That would mean I can
only spend about $8.00 apiece on their
outfits. Is this realistic? Can I buy all
that I plan to buy on that amount? If you
cannot, then you need to find alternative
ways to outfit your kids, such as shopping
at thrift stores, visiting garage sales or
learning to sew. I believe, that with some
savvy shopping and planning, I would not
have any trouble getting the kids some nice
clothes within my means.
While making my list, I would go through
their clothes drawers, seeing what they have
that still fits and could be paired with a
new pair of shorts or a new shirt. I would
take all of their jeans that have holes in
the knees and cut them off for shorts. I
would look at their sweatshirts that may not
be viable for another winter and cut the
sleeves off, even turning a warm shirt into
a midriff shirt! Now, my list is pared down
to define exactly what they need!
Start your budget small. Know what you
need when you go to the store, and do not
let your emotions over something very
adorable sway. Once you learn how to manage
your money on such a small purchase, you
will then be able to use your new-found
skill on bigger items!
(c) 2003 by Tammy Harrison. Tammy is
the mother of four and the Independent
Creative Representative for HBWM.com,
Inc. Click
here to contact Tammy.
Create
Your Own Window Envelope Shades!
by Tammy Harrison
Items needed:
(1) Material for shade (see size
requirements below) - make sure you buy
something durable, somewhat heavy. I
purchased a cotton canvas material that
worked great.
(2) One 1" x 2" piece of wood, cut
to the width of your window, less 1/2"
(3) Thread for sewing or iron-on hemming
tape for no-sew version
(4) Rope or material for tie-backs
(5) Staple gun
(6) Hammer and nails or screws and
screwdriver
(7) 2 cup-holder hooks for the tie-backs
Directions:
(1) Cut your board first, then measure three
sides (the long side and the two short
ends)--you need the total of the three sides
to cut your material.
(2) You will need 4 pieces of
material--front and back #1 (this is what
you'll see in the room) and front and back
#2 (this is what you'll see from the outside
of the window). You can use the same
material or different colors and/or weights,
it's up to you. Cut your material so that it
is 1" wider than the board measurement
(remember, this would be the three-side
measurement).
(3) Putting right sides together (the
right side means the side you want to
see--so lay your material so that the two
nice sides are together), sew the two pieces
of #1 together by sewing the two sides and
the bottom, using a 1/2" seam
allowance. If you prefer the no-sew method,
put your right sides together and sandwich
the iron-on hemming tape on the edges of the
two sides and bottom and press together.
(4) Turn the shades inside out and press
at the seams, making sure to push the
corners out so they resemble corners and not
curves. Note: The top part of the shade
should be open and does not need to be sewn.
(5) Using the staple gun, staple the back
panel material of the shade to the wood at
the TOP of the wood (this is the part of the
wood that will be sandwiched between the
wood and the window casing at the top of
your window), making sure you measure twice
and staple once. The material must curve
around the two ends. You want the shade to
hang just above the window sill by about
1/8" to 1/4", so it may take
measuring and taping tentatively before you
put the staples into your material.
(6) Repeat with the front panel (stapling
over the back panel on the top of the wood),
stapling it so it hangs from the opposite
side of the wood.
(7) Nail or screw your wood to the top of
your window casing.
(8) For the tie-backs, you can cut them
to any size you desire. Decide where you
want the shades to be tied and screw your
cup-holders into the window casing,
measuring from the top-down and from the
bottom-up so they are even! Note: Be sure to
keep safety in mind for the length of your
tie-backs, if your shades are in children's
rooms.
(9) Attach your tie-backs to the
cup-holders.
(10) To open the shades, take the front
material and tie it with the tie-back rope
to the right of the window and take the back
material and tie it to the left!
Enjoy making and looking at your new
shades!
(c) 2003 by Tammy Harrison. Tammy is
the mother of four and the Independent
Creative Representative for HBWM.com,
Inc. Click
here to contact Tammy.
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