The Savvy Life

While enjoying my second cup of coffee this morning, the events of the last few days are starting to settle in my brain.  I did three speeches in 24 hours on two separate topics - Living The Savvy Life and Savvy Shopping. 

After Tuesday night's Women Business Owners Think Tank event, I chatted with my friend Beth.  We talked about how a key aspect of Living The Savvy Life is having a wardrobe made only of clothes that look great on you and make you feel wonderful. 

She told me about a show she recently watched where a clothing expert said that everything in your wardrobe should make you feel like a 10.  If you have anything in your closet that makes you feel less than a 10, get rid of it.

I agree! In fact, it's usually the clothes that make us feel like 8's or less that end up hanging in our closet, unworn.  The money spent on those items goes wasted.

Of the clothes in your closet right now, how many of them are 10s?  If the answer is - not a lot, I strongly suggest you join me on Thursday, April 5th as I interview Dawn Stebbing of Image Evolution.  

Dawn is a certified image consultant and a very savvy woman!  She understands that many of us (myself included) weren't taught how to dress for our coloring and body shape.  Consequently, we end up with a closet full of clothes that make us feel less than 10s - much less than 10s.

The webinar is free, but you must register in advance for the event.  Details are listed below. 

Webinar - The Savvy Image Consultant

Date & Time  

Join me on April 5th as I interview certified image consultant Dawn Stebbing of Image Evolution.  Dawn's expertise is in helping clients discover their inner power and personal style so they can cultivate and harness their authentic beauty.  

During the interview we're going to talk about: 

• How working with an image consultant can actually save you money.
• How to take the "fear" out of fashion.
• If you truly want to dress for success, how do you begin and where do you focus.
• The power of style and its impact on your overall lifestyle.

Tomorrow morning I hit the road for a quick, but intensive trip to my hometown of Fresno.  I have three speaking engagements scheduled over a two day period.

On Tuesday afternoon I am the guest speaker at the Fresno County Women's Chamber of Commerce meeting and in the evening, I have the honor of speaking to the members of the Women Business Owners Think Tank. 

On Wednesday, I am headlining an event hosted by Ameriprise Financial where I'll be talking about the very fun topic of Savvy Shopping! The Ameriprise Event is open to the public and coffee and dessert will be served. 

Shopping and dessert - what's not to love!  If you're in the Fresno area and would like to attend Wednesday night's Savvy Shopping event, please join us!  The details are posted below: 

Date & Time

• Knowing where you stand financially on a daily basis so you can make intelligent spending decisions.

• Choosing to purchase only things you love and make you happy.

• When you do go out to eat it’s because you want to go to that particular restaurant, not because you are too tired to cook or don’t have any groceries in the house.

• Creating an environment in your home that is warm, comforting and expressive of who you are.

• Having a wardrobe made entirely of clothes that fit and look great on you.

• Enjoying your time off even more because you planned for it and know you can “afford it”.

• It’s the idea of caring for your items once they transition from cash to possession to ensure your investment in them goes as far as possible.

• You could start by tracking your spending on a daily basis.

• Commit to cooking at home at least three nights a week.

• Decide not to purchase any more clothes until you clean out your closet and see what you really need.

• Or you could start spending just five minutes a day clearing out the clutter in your home until it's gone.

Tomorrow night I'm teaching the third class in the five part Living The Savvy Life Series at the Unity Church of Palo Alto.  The focus of Tuesday night's session will be The Savvy Home.  

During the class we will go over how to affordably care for your home including: 

• How to declutter one step at a time.
• Easy to implement homekeeping habits and routines.
• How to budget for and manage home projects.
  

What does "cleaning house" have to do with Living The Savvy Life?  For starters, a well maintained home makes a positive impact on your finances:

• When the kitchen is clean and there are no dirty dishes in the sink, it's much more inviting to cook.
• When your home is clean, it's much more relaxing to be there so your desire to go out, and ultimately spend money, isn't as strong.
• Clutter is a manifestation of mispent money.  Getting rid of your existing clutter and creating habits to keep it from coming back can save you hundreds of dollars a month or more.

Putting habits and routines in place around homekeeping isn't just about saving money.  An issue I see across the U.S. is people working hard all through the week and then having to dedicate half of their weekend to doing chores.  The American worker no longer has a true weekend.  By creating easy-to-implement routines, chores get done in just 10 - 30 minutes a day allowing you to take back your weekend.

Like personal finance, most people were not taught how to keep house so the entire process feels overwhelming.  The Savvy Home saves you time, saves you money and helps turn your home into your own personal sanctuary. 

Last night Kevin and I attended a Meet the Author event in his home town of Benicia, California. 

We chatted with guests about what it means to live a Savvy Life and why we teach personal finance from a lifestyle perspective.  During the conversation, Kevin talked about the idea of customizing your bill due dates so that one paycheck doesn't become overwhelmed, creating a feast or famine cycle.

I told the story of how I recently helped a client who was getting wiped out by her bi-monthly water bill.  We made arrangements for her to split the bill in half and make payments every month instead of every other month.   Now, instead of getting walloped six times a year by a $275 bill, she steadily pays a much more manageable $137.50.

One of the guests had her own story which I asked if I could share.  Two years ago, like millions of others, she lost her job and had to figure out how to survive on 1/2 of what she and her husband previously earned.  When both their car registrations came due at the same time, they didn't know how they were going to make it.  She called the Department of Motor Vehicles and asked if the registration for one of the cars could be moved to another month.  Surprisingly, they said - yes.  Being willing to pick up the phone and ask for a due date to be moved made a potentially devastating experience manageable. 

I love attending Savvy events - I learn something new every time!  

There are certain brands I'm willing to pay more for because I know they work.  However, by timing my purchases and being willing to buy in bulk, I can almost always save even on pricier products.

For example, I will only purchase Tide laundry detergent.  For years we tried many different brands, but nothing worked as well - especially on Paul's uniforms.

In order to save money on laundry detergent, when I start getting low (not too low), I'll keep an eye out for sales.  I can almost always pick it up for at least 25% off the retail price - just by timing my purchase.  Also, because we buy the largest container we can find, we save even more over purchasing smaller containers. 

The other way we save on Tide is by recycling the scoop that comes in the box and using a tablespoon instead.  A large box of Tide will last us over a year and we do laundry almost every day.

The subject of timing sales and bulk buying came up this week while I was at Target.  I happened to see a 56 oz bottle of Dawn (another product I'm loyal to) on sale for $4.67.  The 9 oz bottle regularly sells for $1.50.  Buy purchasing the 56 oz bottle, I saved 50% over what I would normally pay.

In order to make my bulk purchase easy to use, I will just refill the 9 oz bottle I currently have and store the 56 oz bottle underneath the sink.

That's exactly what I do with the large bottle of Febreze (yet another product I'm loyal to) that I got on sale this summer.

One of the things I love about buying in bulk is that the purchases almost always last over a year so I save money, save time and the mental clutter of having to think about whether or not I have laundry soap at home on any given day. 

Saving time and saving money - two of my favorite things!