The Truth About Debt

If you have been subscribing to Copia's Journal, you will remember that I started you off on steps to taking a closer look at your cash flow and creating a budget. One of the things you have to know is how much money is flowing in and how much money is flowing out. That seems simple enough. Yet, so many Americans are so far into debt that more is flowing out than there is coming in.

One of the things an investor learns is the true difference between good debt and bad debt. Very few people understand how to correctly use debt. I read so many published articles that incorrectly explain good debt (probably because the author has to justify their own debt).

It is very simple, good debt is debt that makes money for you, period. Any other debt is bad. As long as you are honest with yourself when accessing your debt you can decide what kind of debt to have, if any. Take the steps to learn to swing the pendulum and use debt to create cash flow and then buy the things you want to support the lifestyle you desire.
Believe me, it is sweet sensation when this paradigm shifts. Learn how to make money work for you instead of the other way around. Debt is really a good thing when it pays for itself and puts cash in your pocket.

Love, Jules

Personal Finance From the Inside Out

I am excited to announce that my 4-week intensive course: Personal Finance from the Inside Out is now available through teleconferencing!

Yes, that is right, you do not have to live in the Monterey Bay area to partake in this transformational money management course! Whahoo!

"Take charge NOW of your financial future in a fun, inspiring and creative way"!



Learn your money personality, Feng Shui and money, A new way to plan and budget, Goal setting, Stimulate your investment ideas, improve your relationship with money and MORE!

$250.00 for the full 4-week intensive and bring a sign a friend up for FREE!
Please email me after you have paid to complete registration
(my email address is on the receipt page)

Class will begin as soon as enough people pre-register.
I intend to begin on Monday, February 8 at 6:30 p.m. (PST)

Tell me your name below

Tell me your friend's name

Thank you for making the decision to join me! This investment is one to feel great about! It is my intention that you are among the 95% who will feel the shift to empowerment and take charge for your financial well-being!

New Habits Create a Plan for Finacial Well-Being

I just finished another group, teaching my class about personal finance from the inside out. I would like to share a success with you. Yes, it really does feel great to take charge of your money and strengthen your relationship with money.

So many of us don’t want to look at our spending habits but when you make that decision and you do it with a little guidance; taking a closer look can reveal so much! With solid tools, your life begins to take shape in a direction that your want it to go and you begin to feel empowered.

I am so proud of Wendy (I am proud of all the women who have gone though my class for unique reasons for each of them), but Wendy stands out only because she came to realize that she has been standing in her own way. She was the sole reason why she was not getting ahead financially and feeling behind every month. All it took was for her to take a closer look at her spending habits, create budget (I like to call it a financial plan), dream a little, shift some of her thoughts to thinking differently, and make a plan with tangible goals and viola Wendy is starting a business doing what she loves to do – she is like a race horse that just left the gate! GO Wendy!

Become the CEO of your own destiny!
Enjoy the day!
Jules

If you want more information about my class: Personal Finance From the Inside Out, please email me directly, Twitter me or find me on Facebook. You will find my email on my biography page

Personal Finance From the Inside Out

I finished teaching my beta three-week course today! I'll be asking my students if they are willing to write a review and then share what they said with you.

I am going to make a few changes and improvements based on the feedback from those ladies who took this first class from me. Thanks ladies for all of your constructive feedback and support!

I am offering two more (but for four-weeks this time) Personal Finance From the Inside Out courses on Thursday, March 19, 2009 at two different times.

Do you realize that more than 85% of the households in this country are run by women? Yet where did we learn to do this? Slowly over the last 40 years, men have turned this job over to the women!

This class is a lot of fun ... we take a closer look at the household income and expenses; Like my friend Ahnalisa says, "Cash in and cash out, it is like the breathe of the household". In this class, we take a look at our attitudes around money, ask our selves what financial freedom means to us. We take a look at how simple or not as difficult as it may seem to achieve financial freedom. We learn some simple guidelines for how to set up a budget and follow the budget. We learn some goal setting and list what needs to happen to obtain those goals. Journaling happens! W e take a Money Personality Test; get to know your personality around money. Learn to start thinking about how you can invest and empower yourself around money! ... and more!

If you live local in the Monterey Bay area and want to sign up, please email me directly at: jewleyd@comcast.net I will eventually teach this course over the internet, so keep in touch if you are interested!

Cheers,
Jules

Investment Club Meeting: January

Last night was my women's investment club meeting. Our new president did a fabulous job of running her first meeting. We had five new members join last night! That is very exciting! Everyone is so happy about that! We are beginning to plan our annual retreat which is planned for three days in March. We set some dates on the calender for stock study groups. We got a lot done in the three hours that we were together for the meeting.

You know what, if your are interested in learning how to start your own investment club, subscribe to my FREE monthly Journal! I will share how to to things like this in my publication!


Jules

A Quote for Today: January

"If you do not see great riches in your imagination,
you will never see them in your bank balance".
~Napoleon Hill

Would you like to find FREE Babysitting?

Have I mentioned yet that I am part of a wonderful community of 16 families who share in babysitting each others' children? Well, a year ago one of my friends asked me if I would like to join a babysitting Co-Op that she was starting. Many of us were doing the "Date Night Swap" deal where we were individually trying to find babysitters to get a day of shopping in, uninterrupted house cleaning done or even a DATE with our husbands every once in a while. If our kids ended up on a "play date" with our friends' kids, we always some how reciprocated with watching their children in return sometime in the near future. Well a real system was put into place when my friend, Shannon, decided to start our babysitting co-op. We meet as a group every two months to discuss business. We each take turns at being the secretary; who takes sit requests and finds families within our group to sit for us. It is all kept "official" with a point system. We all have very similar parenting styles which makes it very nice. It feels really good to have an adult watching my children! And when it is time for the "sitter" to go home it feels even better to leave that $8.00 (I have sometimes had to pay as much as $15.00) an hour in my pocket! And I must add the stronger bounds we have all made are simply wonderful!

You know what, if your are interested in learning how to start your own babysitting co-op, subscribe to my FREE monthly Journal! I will share how to do things like this in my publication!

Jules

IRS Debt -- What I Found Out

It is just becoming apparent to me just how many ties and strings (on many levels) there are to unwind when married people go separate ways. This part is beginning to really fascinate me. First of all I am honestly over much of the anger I was feeling that drove me to the decision to divorce my husband. I had made this decision back in September 2007 and told him then too. So I have been unweaving the emotional ties for several months now. I can really take a step back an make observation about the process without the emotional upheaval. I find this prospective interesting. Anyway, we do not have much in assets together, but we do have debt with the IRS. And now I am working on cutting my connection with him on this too. I am happy to pay the IRS my half, but not his. The IRS (so I hear) doesn't see a married couple at two people even after a divorce; if one doesn't pay they go after the x-spouse until the debt is paid in full.

Well, I made a phone call today and told the IRS agent on the phone my situation which is that I had set up a payment plan a few moths ago to pay off our IRS debt. My soon to be x-husband has not paid for his portion of the payment in a timely matter two months in a row and the payment plan is now cancelled. I proceeded to tell her additional personal information and asked how can I get my half separated from his half. Now here is the the most interesting part ... the first IRS agent I spoke with told me there was nothing I could do about this .. she simply said that we were married for those tax years owed and we owe them together. I hung up, yes frustrated ... and you know what I did. I got back on the phone and called the IRS up again. A different IRS agent came on the line. Now I must add that callers get placed on hold until the next available agent comes on the line. I had waited nearly 20 minutes for the first agent and about 15 for the second agent. I proceeded to tell my same story to the second IRS agent and she said that I might qualify for Innocent Spouse Relief and Separation of Liability and Equitable Relief and to fill out form 8857!

Wow! I am so glad I listen to my urge to call back ... something just told me to call back. And yes, I found the form online, filld it out and mailed it in. I'll keep you posted.

Organizing My Household Budget

I pulled out all of my bank statements and receipts all the way back to January 1, 2008 and over the course of three days entered everything into Quicken. I have version 2004. It was installed on my laptop when my laptop was purchased. I knew I needed to take an overview look at my out-going expenses. Remember, I am not employed at this time and I need to know how much money to earn to cover my living expenses: Cash flowing in and cash flowing out; it is like the breath of the household.

Okay, I have calculated that currently a comfortable life style for me and my kids requires earning at least $4,000.00 a month. I will get some child support, but at this point I do not know how much that will be. I do need to find another place to live. The house I am in now is a rental and the owners are putting it on the market. I'll be looking for a new place and decreasing my rent. I need to move by June 30, 2008.

Although my mother taught me all I know about budgeting and I feel I do it very well, I picked up a few books to read up on the latest and greatest in budgeting and financial planning. So over the course of the last six months or so I have been reading. I'll write reviews and tell you more about those books later. And I will also tell you now that I started a women's investment club four years ago ... and I will tell you more about that later too. The books I read were very helpful in planning my monthly household budget. I came up with seven (7) basic groups: 1) Income, 2)Must Have Essentials, 3) Important Essentials, 4) Amusements/Luxuries, 5) Savings, 6) Investments, and 7) Giving Back.

In summary, what this means is that after I entered all of my deposits and receipts, I took a look at my spending habits and determined which expenses are Must Have Essential; the absolute musts like rent, groceries, electricity, auto insurance and so forth. Then I determined what was an Important Essential; important enough to keep, but if I absolutely had to I could eliminate like the cell phone, education costs, gifts during the holidays and birthdays, recreational fees for my kids to play sports and things like that. Next, I determined the Amusements/Luxuries. These things are all about having fun which is very important, but in a crunch I can go without for several months like, dining out, going to plays, weekend outing, vacations, pedicures and so on ... Now you might really feel a pedicure is an Important Essential rather than an Amusement/Luxury or an automobile is an Important Essential rather than a Must Have Essential. Then you would determine what works best for you; what suits your personality and life style. The group called Savings is for saving for those big ticket items that I dream of having like a newer car or taking the kids to Hawaii. The group called Investments will be used for future investing. This is my path to financial freedom and I'll talk about that later. And last but not least is the group for giving back. I want to donate to causes and programs I believe in on a regular basis.

Please note that I am all for and have the mind set to generating more income rather than cutting back. But it is crucial to know where the money is coming from and where the money is going to in order to set goals and plans in place to generate more income.

In an upcoming article, I'll talk about how I divide up the income to feed each group I defined today and share a little about financial goals.