Getting Organized After Christmas

So the presents have been opened, leftovers are in the fridge. You may be suffering from the post-Christmas blues. Here are a list of quick tips to get organized or get a handle on those Christmas bills. Feel free to post your tips in the comments section.

ORGANIZING DECORATIONS

• Index - As you pack your decorations, write a list of the box contents on a notecard and tape it to the box. You can also pack according to room or time of season you will be decorating.
• Toss - Get rid of anything that's broken, that you haven't used in years, or that you just don't have use for anymore.
• Ornaments - Shred that used wrapping paper and use it to cushion your ornaments. For those extra fragile ones, put one in a ziploc bag, seal most of the way, then blow the bag up and finish sealing - the bag creates a bubble barrier and prevents breaking.
• Christmas lights - Cut a piece of cardboard into an I shape about a foot long and wrap the lights around the middle. The I shape prevents your lights from sliding off. You can also tape extra light bulbs to the cardboard.

PAYING OFF CHRISTMAS DEBT

• Accept It - Often times we overspend at Christmas and it becomes a big stress burden. You need to add up all your debt, accept that you overspent then make a plan for payoff.
• Focus - Make paying off your debt a priority. Instead of buying more at those after-Christmas sales, put the money toward paying off your credit cards. Remember - you don't need 99% of that stuff!
• Figure it Out - Take time to calculate how long it will take you to pay off your debt and what your monthly payments will be. You should try to put as much toward your debt as possible.
• Eliminate unneeded expenses - Limit your Starbucks intake, movie rental, and eating out. Put the money you save toward paying off your debt. It may be a sacrifice, but it will allow you to get the stress of debt over quicker.
  

PLANNING FOR NEXT YEAR

• Christmas Cards - Update your address book from the cards you received this year, or others you will want to add to next year's list.
• Stock up for next year - Buy wrapping paper, cards, decorations, etc. on clearance and store it for next year. Some stores have Christmas items up to 70% off. Also, storage containers also tend to go on sale right after the holidays.
  
• Plan ahead - Make a draft list of people you always buy for and split up the shopping throughout the year. Mark in your planner the people you can buy for each month. It will definitely help out your budget and stress level at Christmastime next year. If you use a planner then put key dates for Christmas goals (ex. Sept. 1 - Complete gift list, Oct. 1 - Begin addressing cards, Nov. 30 - Complete shopping)
  
• Budget - Establish a budget for next Christmas. Make sure you include gifts, cards, shipping and postage, gift wrap, food, and holiday clothing. Set up a savings account and arrange for monthly direct deposit.

Homegirls on Budgeting

I am soo excited about the Homegirls event last night! There is not much that is better than a group of Jesus-loving women getting together with the purpose of growing together and encouraging one another in our quest for biblical womanhood. There were a lot of tips tossed out, so please comment to this blog with yours.

Now for a handful of links and resources:

• Budgeting 101 Tip Sheet (PDF - Get Adobe Reader)
• Personal Monthly Budget (Excel Spreadsheet)
• Family Monthly Budget (Excel Spreadsheet)
• Household Monthly Budget with Percentages (Excel 2007 Spreadsheet)

If you don't have Excel, you can download a FREE (yes completely free and legal) office software suite OpenOffice.org.


Here's the Percentage Guidelines for percent of household income (taken from Your Money Counts by Howard Dayton):

Category	Percent of Income ( After Giving* and Taxes)
Housing	25 - 38%
Food	10 - 15%
Transportation	10 - 15%
Insurance	3 - 7%
Debts	0 - 10%
Entertainment/Recreation	4 - 7%
Clothing	4 - 6%
Savings	5 - 10%
Medical/Dental	4 - 8%
School/Child Care	4 - 8%
Investments	0 - 15 %

*Giving is an essential part of being a Christian. Our money is not our own anyway, it is God's, so how would HE want you to spend what He has so graciously given you. The Old Testament mentions tithing 10% of our income, but we are called to sacrificially give (whether that be 10% or 20% or whatever). Giving should be something that you do wholeheartedly and to glorify Christ. Acts 25:35 says "It is more blessed to give than receive." God will will always provide for your needs, so do not be afraid to give sacrificially and see what God does with your gifting! (Be looking out for sermons at Crew as well as future blogs on this topic)


Web Resources:

• Dave Ramsey
• Dave Ramsey Budgeting Tools
• Crown Financial Ministries

Books:

1. Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey - ISBN:0785289089
2. Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey - ISBN: 0670032085
3. Your Money Counts by Howard Dayton - ISBN: 9780965111407

Some Encouragement and A Resource From JP

Hey guys. I wanted to piggyback on Kim's post and say how excited I am that there has been so much interest and participation in this ministry. I personally want to be able to encourage you guys from time to time with resources I think of. Things like articles, sermons I run across, or books that I think would be helpful. So check in regularly and participate in the comment section or your own posts.

To kick it off I'd like to recommend that you read other blogs on homebuilding. A great friend of ours that Sarah and I really respect is Gina Smith. She has a blog called "Working Title" (http://phil4beauty.blogspot.com/). You'll want to make it regular reading. Dig in!

Welcome to {{real women}}

Hey ladies! We are SOO excited to get our own blog online. The overall purpose of this blog is to get women excited and equipped on being keepers of the home. Feel free to comment with tips, resources, websites, etc. If you have a blog idea then let Sarah Perry or I (Kim Adkins) know and we will get you set up to blog away!

And for those of you who are confused as to what a blog is, check out this video: