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!

A Maya Angleou Poem from Ms. Mia

Today when I went to work in the office at my kids' school, I found a poem written by Maya Angelou on my desk. It was given to me from one of our dear and wise kindergarten teachers, Ms. Mia. Thank you Mia for this gift!

Maya Angelou's "What Every Woman Should Have"

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
Enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to ...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
Something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour ...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
A youth she's content to leave behind ...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
A past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age ...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra ...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
One friend who always makes her
laugh ... and one who lets her cry ...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
A good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her
family ...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
Eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honored ...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
A feeling of control over her destiny ...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ...
How to fall in love without losing herself ...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit a job, break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without ruining the friendship ...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
When to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY ...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ...
That she can't change the length of her calves,the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents ...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ...
that her childhood may not have been perfect..but it's over ...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ...
What she would and wouldn't do for love or more ...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ...
How to live alone... even if she doesn't like it ...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ...
whom she can trust, whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally ...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ...
Where to go...be it to her best friend's kitchen table...or a charming inn in the woods ... when her soul needs soothing ...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ...
What she can and can't accomplish in a day ... a month ... and a year ...

Nature by the Drop Blending Lab

Today Holly and I featured the essential oil of Lemon at our monthly blending lab. This is one of my favorite oils! I clean house with it. Just the other day I was removing the tape off window where I had painted the trim and the heat of the sunshine seemed to have "melted" the tape to the window in some areas. So I use two drops of oil on my hand and rubbed the area of he window where needed an d the razor I was using took right off! Yay! I also like to add a drop od essential oil of lemon to my water or tea (I only trust and ingest Young Living's essential oil of Lemon). There are many other uses for this oil. But this is what I do with it and love it! -- Blessing, Jules

March: Spiritual Book Club

I don’t’ think I have told you yet. Once a month I join four other lovely friends for a spiritual book club. We are on our third book now. We came together nearly a year ago and started with Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth, Awaken to Your Life’s Purpose. I couldn’t put the book down and reread it three times! I even have the book on CD and would listen to certain chapters over and over again like a reference book. You know what? I’ll write book review on a later day, so be in touch.

The second book we read I did not like very much. I was the only one out of the five of us they felt this way, I think..

Now we are reading The Anatomy of the Spirit, The Seven Stages of Power and Healing by Caroline Myss, PH.D. I love this one too! It is all about taking full responsibility for our health, emotional and physical. She teaches how to manage our energy. When I am done with this book, I’ll write a book review on this one too! Keep you posted!

Blessings,

Jules

"A Healthy Divorce is Better Than an Unhealthy Marriage"

I had the opportunity to see and visit a girl friend I had not spent any time with in the last year and a half or so due to our busy lives. My friend Cindy was invited to come to the auction dinner that my kids’ school hosted by a mutual friend. Cindy, dear Cindy – love her! She works with my x-husband at the hospital and so it was through him that we have become friends over the years. She was disappointed to hear that I am divorcing. My friend Cindy was just so stuck on the idea that divorce negatively effects the children; I don’t remember the exact word she used – but says that no matter what, divorce damages children. Then went on to say that unless a relationship is abusive people should stay married (if there are children) … and she commented that she thinks too much like Laura Schlessinger.

Well, I just listened to her. Of course she would not hear me when I said my relationship was abusive – emotionally it was abusive (on another day I will recommend some books to read if you think you are in an emotional abusive relationship). But if you know my X and me, you too would be in disbelief to hear this and brush it off with a “Ya right” under your breath. It was not my goal in that moment or anytime for that matter to convince my friend of anything. I was just happy to see her and hear what she has been up to in the last year and an half.

BUT my mind loves to talk to me and so it did in the wee hours of the night before falling asleep. I really must say something about this idea that divorce damaging children. In my case, my children are fine. With some divorces I bet children do suffer and the children pay dearly (my parents divorce was not easy for me). In another article on another day I can share why I think this happens. But for now I want to address the women (and men- but especially women) who really want to leave an unhealthy marriage to honor themselves.

Loyalty and Honor: family loyalty is conflicting with the idea of self loyalty. When does the woman put herself first?

My situation: For years 5 and half years I struggled with the idea of divorcing my husband. I went to counseling; we went to counseling together; in and out of counseling. During the course of those years I had seen three personal counselors and we had seen three together (I had seen six. He had seen three). I put the kids first, because I had been told by nearly every one that a divorce “hurts” the children. Many times I reflected upon my parents divorce and decide “they must” be right. I even agreed at one point to stay married to him until the kids left home after high school. But I tried everything! I honestly worked at saving y marriage for 5 and a half years – getting more tired as time went on with little on no return! To be blatant, my X did not work at our marriage at all in the later years. It was easier for him to tell me how messed up I was. Every single counselor told me (and some told him too) that he had some deep issues to work through because these issues kept him trapped in a place of fear and pain. All three of my personal counselors had asked me, “Why are you I still married to this man”? I was stunned every time … LOYALTY was the first thought that popped into my head; Loyalty to him first, then loyalty to my children next. I just had to stay married to be loyal and true to my word despite how unhealthy our marriage had become and how miserable we both were not to mention that is was rubbing off onto our children in many ways!

Well, thank God, I was on a mission to be healthy; too look within myself and find answers. And most of all; be an honorable roll model for my children. To be honest that is when the idea of “loyalty” took a shift. “How can I teach my children to be healthy functioning adults if I a not willing to so that for myself first”? My boundaries became stronger, my path became clearer over time, and learning to honor myself became a new way of thinking. And guess what my children understood why Mommy and Daddy were getting a divorce. On the night I told my children, they both interrupted me and told me, “It is like you and Daddy are walking down separate paths” …

My children are fine! The three of us are much happier and I am much healthier emotionally and physically! I am much clearer on where my loyalty and honor stands.

"By Letting Go It All Gets Done"

I don't find myself really needing to talk much about my divorce and the process it takes to get through mine, but today I am feeling differently about that; mainly because I had an Oprah type aha moment but upgraded it to a holy shit is this for real? moment … and I am not the swearing type.

Here is a brief and hopefully objective history of the latest “stage” my x-husband and I are working through to get this divorce final.

This is about health insurance and an employer provided benefit package designed to set aside additional money to help cover our additional health care costs which are not covered by the insurance policy like co-pays and such. Several months ago (back in April) my x-husband verbally told me that he would keep me on the insurance as long as we are still legally married (which I am being told he has to do anyway) and that he would continue to set aside money for the kids, including my share, into this benefit plan.

At the beginning of January, I checked the account for funds because it was time to take my kids to their annual eye exam and my son was requesting to visit my acupuncturist. I found no money in the account … I call my X … couple days pass, I email him … He calls back and tells me, “Oh I guess I did not get that paperwork in on time”. The paperwork to participate in this benefit plan was due the end of November 2008! It was January when he tells – after I ask. So the dialog begins … Me: “Your word was to continue to provide” … X: “I think you should pay, I can’t afford it now”. … Me: “This money has always been coming out of your pay checks; of course you can afford it”. … X: “No, you pay the co-pays. You have a job now and then we will talk about it”. … Blah, blah, blah. Believe me, I came up with at least four ways to solve this and make it a win-win for both of us. Basically it appears he has changed is mind and doesn’t want to provide this benefit for anybody anymore – BUT he also thinks he can use money to control me (very long 20-year story). Short conversations went on for about two weeks with no resolution, not even one step, towards any progress.

I wanted to get mad. I felt the old patterns of control and manipulation surfacing. I was wondering what was going through is head, why was he being so difficult, he gave me his word … The basic mind chatter … The basic crazy making. I have spent the last three weeks (and with no word from him) really mulling over what I really want in terms of a marriage settlement.

So this morning I was thinking about it again. I felt my energy draining. “STOP”, I say, “My energy belongs to me and his energy belongs to him”. … “I need to react differently otherwise everything that went wrong in our relationship remains the same”. I felt a wave come over me -- I really think there is a deep underlining feeling that he needs to fill a gap, my gap, my need for extra financial support until I am able to completely provide for myself and my kids. But I do make enough money and I am making a little more each month. I have to let go of this idea that I need “rescue money” and trust myself to make all the money I am capable of making – which is endless. I’d rather use my energy in positive ways to build my business and investments rather than use my energy chasing my X to provide when he simply is not interested. … I let this feeling go and invited the trust-in-myself to come in its place.

I firmly decided that I will rewrite the current marriage settlement that I wrote back in October. I change my mind on asking for spousal support and the benefit plan for additional health care costs. He does pay child support and that will remain the same. I will ask that he give additionally what he can and to give from his heart otherwise I just do not want the money. I simply will not give the energy it may take to get the additional money on a regular basis – in the end it is not worth it.

So here comes the moment … He had the kids today after school for a few hours. He dropped them off as usual, we exchanged hellos, thanks yous and good byes and he left. I had couple of chores to wrap up before I settled in with my kids for the night. I went to the garage and I hear my X calling my name. I met him halfway up the driveway and he handed me $35 and said “I am sure that the tooth fairy will be visiting tonight” (and our daughter did indeed lose a tooth later; right before bedtime). Not to let my X see, but my mouth dropped open and my eyes widened --- wow! I told him Thank you! What he did and what I felt was exactly what I was talking to myself about earlier in the day. He really gave that money from his heart. I am 100% sure that I let go of a hindering thought today and by me letting go, it gave him the space to do what he did – give us $35 from his heart. AND I did not have to say a word out loud to anybody!

“By letting it go it all gets done.

The world is won by those who let it go.

But when you try and try.

The world is beyond the winning.”

~ Lao Tzu

Good night,

Jules

Nature by the Drop Blending Lab

"Make something sensual for your special Valentine"!

I hosted a blend lab last night. For those of you who have not read about this yet, a dear friend, Holly and I came together over a year ago and began hosting what we call blending labs in my home. We invite everybody we know to come (and to bring friends) and learn to blend personal products with 100% organic chemical free bases and Young Living's essential oils.

Last night we featured the essential oil Jasmine: "Queen of the Night". Did you know that for centuries women have treasured Jasmine for its beautiful, seductive fragrance? Jasmine has been studied by university researchers for its uses to dramatically improve mental accuracy and concentration. The ladies who used Jasmine in their personal blends last night will be sure that their man will be paying attention!

Until next blending lab!
Jules

Women Want o Talk About Money!

It is really wonderful to see the woman I have come into contact with get so excited about the topic of money! If this is the first article you have read on my blog, then let me share this with you first before I continue.

I started a women's investment club in November 2004. The group has changed the lives of all its members in more ways than just learning how to invest, actually investing and even earning more money. Somehow the path that the club has taken us has enriched all areas of each of our lives.

The investment club just added five new members in January and we are now at capacity according to the club's bylaws. BUT word is getting out and more women are very interested in what we are doing. And I would love nothing more than to somehow reach these women who are interested. This is so exciting to me! When I first started the club, I asked all my friends if they would be interested in such a club and guess what? I was amazed at how many of my girls friends told me "No thank you, my husband takes care of our investments". Well, I was married then (Still am but am now going through a divorce now)and my husband was not interested in investments. I had always been interested, but nobody taught me, not high school, not my parents, not even college. Anyway, I had decided it was time to learn on my own and I wanted a comfortable environment to learn in so I created a women's investment club.

So now what I am doing is starting a FREE monthly journal that you can get through email. This journal will share all that I am learning and all that the investment club does. I am in the process of building a website that will offer so much more than the monthly journal. This is is how I will reach all of you who are interested in what I am doing and what my investment club is doing and MORE!

And stay in touch with me because I have more plans evolving that will knock your socks off. I can not sit still just thinking about them and the possibilities!

Enjoy the day!
Jules

Oh and to sign-up for the FREE monthly Journal, just look in the column on the right near the top!

"Join hundreds of other women who are moving in new directions!"

With the New Year ahead most of us make new resolutions and set new goals. I am certainly doing that! I love this feeling of reflecting on the past year and bringing it to a close. Then, I ambitiously make new plans for the coming year and set new goals. One of my projects is to create a FREE monthly Journal where you will find articles, tips, stories and more about women and how they manage finances, hold successful careers, nurture and raise healthy families, keep themselves healthy too, find time to socialize with friends, keep the fire in intimate relations and devote time to important causes in their communities -- "how we balance it all".

How to do YOU balance it all? I bet you are closer than you think, but if you are not sure, my FREE monthly Journal will show you how I am doing it and how others do it too! So join my community of women who want to focus on one or more of these areas in their lives during the New Year to come. Sign up for my FREE monthly Journal!

My other aim for the New Year is to share my expertise on budgeting (dry boring word - maybe you can help me come up with a new word) and teach workshops on streamlining household cash flow. I can see a demand for this with the changing economy. And I am writing a book somewhere in all of this too!

How about you? What’s important in your life? Which areas of your life will you be focused on in the new year ahead? I would love to know!!

Please participate in the poll on the right column of the blog page and share with me.

Warmly,
Jules

A Quote for Today: October Poem "A Taste of Mindfulness"

A Taste of Mindfulness

“Have you ever had the experience of stopping so completely,
of being in your body so completely,
of being in your life so completely,
that what you knew and what you didn’t know,
that what had been and what was yet to come,
and the way things are right now,
no longer held even the slightest hint of anxiety or discord,
a moment of complete presence beyond striving,
beyond mere acceptance,
beyond the desire to escape or fix anything or plunge ahead,
a moment of pure being,
no longer in time,
a moment of pure seeing,
pure feeling,
a moment in which life simply is,
and that is-ness grabs you by all your senses,
all your memories, by your very genes,
by your loves,
and welcomes you home,
that is a taste of mindfulness.”

Jon Kabet-zin

A Quote for Today: September

Today I share some of my favorite Oprah Winfrey quotes. Others may have said them too because some of these I have heard similar versions before, but Oprah is quoted as saying these and I resonate with them:

"I believe the every single event in life happens in a opportunity to choose love or fear".

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough".

"My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment".

Nature by the Drop Blending Lab

I scored on a mahogany table today off Craigslist! I needed a dining table because I hosted a Nature by the Drop blending lab tonight and did not have a dinning table.

Holly and I had two ladies come who knew a little about essential oils, but have not come to one of our labs yet. They each made a few items. My 7 year old daughter made herself a spritzer – she loves blending too!

I feel like I want to tell you more about these blending labs. We play an essential oil ice breaker to begin. Usually a new person has no idea what they want to make or what to expect from these labs. There are so many oils to choose from that it can be over whelming. So we purchased a deck of informative cards; each card features an essential oil and describes all the qualities of that particular oil. We each randomly choose a card and share what it says and then smell that oil. It is fun to see everyone light up when they discover they can really use the oil they chose for a particular purpose they happen to be working on lately.

A Quote for Today: August

"The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything;

they just make the best of everything they have".

~Unkown

My Mission for this Blog: Sharing my Path

So after these past several months, it has become clearer to me what I am doing here; writing entries for this blog. I really do want to share my day to day doings with those who are genuinely interested. I want to share my path of how I make changes in my life to get to where I want to be in all aspect of my life.

Here is a “catch-you-up” paragraph: A few years ago I had read the Power of Focus (written in 2000) by Les Hewitt, Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield. Later I took an online course taught by Les Hewitt. The course was based on the book. I really enjoyed the course, but I kept finding myself saying that his content really speaks more to business owners and to men in general. Basically as a woman who has an entrepreneurial spirit (I always have a project brewing) and a mom of two kids I felt he was not speaking to me and maybe others like me. Anyway, I took his advice and suggestions and tweaked them to fit me better.

Thus, I have six (6) areas in my life to focus on; to plan for, to goal set for, to nurture, to balance, and to simply enjoy. Those areas are: my spiritual life, family life, social life, my health, my financial life and my life style. At the time I took the online course I had written several essential goals for each area. I listed each goal in order of importance and took the top three to in each area to focus on. In another blog entry I will detail how that looks. It is time for me to do this exercise again!

Also I had written a personal purpose/mission statement; Les Hewitt called it a Life Purpose. I just reread what I had written (in 2005 - wow time flies). I’ll share that later too after I amend it.

Later I discovered that Les Hewitt and his wife Fran Hewitt wrote in 2003 The Power of Focus for Women. That is now on my current reading list of books to read.

A Quote for Today: July

This is written in the Hebrew Talmud...

"Be very careful if you make a woman cry, because God counts her tears. The woman came out of a man's rib. Not from his feet to be walked on. Not from his head to be superior, but from the side to be equal. Under the arm to be protected, and next to the heart to be loved."

Investment Club Meeting: May

I started a women's investment club four years ago. I had always wanted to learn about investing in the stock market and investing in real estate. So I decided to start a club. Three of my friends (after asking many) decided to join me and help start one.

The investment club meets once a month; the second Wednesday of each month. We are structured as a general partnership complete with by-laws. We do have club dues and currently invest in the stock market together with those funds.

Last night was our May meeting. We just started a journaling series (we do many activities around the theme of money besides investing) and I want to share with you the activity we did last night.

Last year, one of the club's members discovered a book called “The Energy of Money,” by Maria Nemeth. As a club we occasionally like to read books together. We have started to explore this book chapter by chapter together. Last night we each wrote and shared our "Money Biographies'. It was fascinating to write about and hear about the negativity around money that we each were exposed to while growing up. We each had positive ideas around money while growing up too. And our stories were so different from each others. Already I can see that the author, Maria Nemeth, is demonstrating that our ideas about money can be debilitating or empowering.

The club will work from chapter 2 at our August meeting.

Today I "Pray to God and Row to Shore"

Some days only appear to be bigger challenges than they really are.

Fact: Today I woke up with a little anxiety knocking at my door. I have $30.26 in my checking account and I do not have a job lined up. What am I going to do about that?

There are others facts about today that I am acknowledging and am grateful for: Today I have a roof over my head, food in the cupboards, PG and E is paid, my children and I are healthy and I am resourceful. And if I really think about it, I am even grateful that I have that $30.26!

But I still need to do something about it! So I choose acknowledge the anxiety, and tell it to go away. It does not serve a purpose today to have any anxiety.

I walked in my first half marathon (13.5 miles) in Sand Diego June 2007 with and organization called Team in Training. I was walking down the highway about 4 miles from the finish line when I looked up to read a huge banner hanging on an overpass. It read: "Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal". Wow! It struck me! Could life really be that simple? Do I focus my attention to the hot air, tired feet, the chitter-chatter in my head that wants to doubt, those around me who are struggling or those who are passing me? Or do I remember I have been trained by coaches, I have plenty of water, electrolytes and some carbs with me, I am in a rhythm at a comfortable pace, doing great and with every step I am closer to my goal? It was amazing to experience the two perspectives in an instant. It was a learning moment about perception and attitude. Obstacles are there if I look at them, pay attention to them, focus on them. And they really don't appear to be so important or intrusive if I focus on the goal and the good things around it.

Today all is well – really! I will “Pray to God and row to shore”. This means, I will go through my household belongings and have a garage sale to generate some cash. Meanwhile, I will go look for a job!

Purging and Sorting

I have never liked clutter, yet it has always seemed to build-up around me. I went through a bunch of our belongings. I took four loads to St. Vincent de Paul! I took some of the kids clothes and toys to a local re-sale shop. I found some items I think are worth selling on Ebay. I have sold things before on Ebay it is fairly easy. It is a hit or miss on getting a good price, but at least I don't have the clutter and the items are being enjoyed by others. And I will have some much needed cash in my pocket!

I signed up for a community garage sale I heard about from my friend Holly. The garage sale is set for Saturday, May 17.

Then there is Craigslist, what ever doesn't sell that I think is worth $5 or more I'll put on Craigslist.

No job yet. The job I really would like to have is a part-time office assistant position at my kids' school. But the HR committee told me that they filled the position last week.

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.

First Steps to Grasp the Changes Ahead

I am creating a new life. I am looking forward to it, yet it is change.

I am getting a divorce after 16 years of marriage. My husband moved out of our house about three weeks ago. We decided that he is going to take most of the furniture. I just don't want what we have accumulated over the years. He has moved out but most of his belongings are still here. My kids and I have to move out too. We rent and the house is going to be placed on the market. The kids and I have until the end of June to find a new place (and I may have some opportunities to be creative with that 'deadline'). Anyway, during this transition of dividing up the household, my main my goal now is to spend some time calculating how much money I will need to create each month to run my new household and set a budget in place.

I have my own checking account -- we have already closed all of our joint accounts a few months ago. The bank I bank at offers online banking and I love that feature, but I want to keep track of my money using a program. So another goal I am setting now is to set up my checkbook and track my spending on Quicken.

So that is where I will begin: #1 Set time aside to determine how much money my kids and I need each month to live #2 Set up my bank account information and budget plan on Quicken.