Repeat after me: I have all I need to make a change now.

Just five minutes before writing this post, I submitted an application to speak at Princeton Public Library. It’s for a subject I’ve never spoken about previously to an elite crowd. Should I be accepted, I have no idea what I would say. I don’t know what points to focus on, what visuals I would use, or how long it should be. I’m not ready. I’m not even close to ready, but I submitted my entry anyway. Some may say it’s because I’m delusional. Others may say it’s because I don’t respect the trade. But the truth is, I did it because I finally figured out the absolutely best time to start something new.

You can’t strike gold until you try to do it.

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Repeat after me: “If I want to be a millionaire I must help a million people.”

My life isn’t perfect and I’m far from being fiscally rich, but i’m pretty fortunate. That’s why I try to do what I can to help others, give back and be the reason for someone’s smile when I can. However, when I hear about large donations from people such as Akon giving electricity to 600 hundred people in Africa or Will & Jada Smith donating nearly $1,000,000 to the Lupus foundations, it’s easy to to feel like the little things I am capable of  doing doesn’t matter.  Even the smaller scale random acts such as buying groceries for the person in line behind you or making the payment on a lay-a-way item seems out of reach for people who are barely getting by but has a desire to help someone. And of course, volunteering with some organization is an option but that is difficult if you happen to be someone who has three jobs and work around the clock to make ends meet.  It can all be rather depressing thinking I can’t make an impact the way I would like.

I can’t be the only one thinking, “There’s gotta be a way for people like me who aren’t rich in time or money to help others and give someone else a reason to smile.”  It’s time we stop thinking that committing random acts of kindness are reserved for the wealthy. Of course, there are many other inexpensive ways to make people smile. Many of them won’t cost a thing at all. For those who are coming up short on the inexpensive kindness acts, I’ve decided to create a short list to get you going. Hope these inspire you to do good.

The perfect list for anyone who wants to do good, but has no budget. Anyone can join the random acts of kindness bandwagon.
Regardless of dollar amount, all random acts of kindness are priceless. The only requirement is a big heart.

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“My education cost a ton, but my resourcefulness is priceless. “

There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t say, “I wish I could pay off my student loans at warp speed. This ten year ish is for the birds.” I even wrote a post about paying off debt at warp speed.

Let’s face it, no matter how valuable our education may be to us, it doesn’t change the fact that it totally sucks having to pay it off. Because dealing with a lump sum of debt is crippling, it only makes sense to do everything you can think of to pay it off. It’s no secret that I’m constantly writing posts about tips and tricks I use to whittle away my student debt little by little. They range from using cash back sites like Ebates, Mypoints and Swagbucks to selling items on Zazzle. But no matter how simple, they all require just a tad bit of effort. None of them are truly fun or an effortless way to whittle the time away.

You’ve heard about saving, selling and earning cash back points to pay off student loans. But you’ve never heard about playing it away. No gambling required!

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Repeat After Me: Today I will make an impact. 

Despite the “2016 sucks” trend, I have to say that 2016 was definitely the best year of my life so far. Perhaps it’s because my little prince was born. Maybe it’s because I paid off two of my student loans. Or perhaps it’s because I traveled to three new locations last year. But I like to think it’s because I decided to forego making a resolution and continue to live by the ideal that I will be better than I was yesterday.

Now as great as 2016 was, I know that 2017 will definitely be the new greatest year of my life. Of course, it might be tough to top, but I’m certainly gonna try. From reflecting on the last year, I noticed that two particular themes were prevalent throughout the entire year that contributed to making it the best year yet: the birth of my prince, and commitment to be better than I was yesterday. I don’t think I’m having anymore children this year, so I’ll focus on the later.

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Repeat after me: It’s never too late to start over.

Thanksgiving is for remembering your blessings. Christmas is for children and miracles. New Years Eve is for reflection. Or as I like to put it –  Interrogation time. You see, I may be a blogger now, but I’m still a journalist at heart so I can’t pass up any chance I have to question any and everything I can think of. That’s why I’m a big fan of New Years Eve. It’s my chance to ask all those hard to answer questions. 

As you may recall from my post last year, I’m really not a fan of new years resolutions. Instead, I vow to be better than I was yesterday for the duration of the year. Regardless of making a resolution or not, reflecting on the year still proves to be a necessity. Yearly reflection or a year-end review allows you to see where you rise and fall as well as your biggest takeaways. Of course, saying going “reflect on the last year” is a lot easier said than done. It’s a rather broad task to sum up 365 days in jus a week. That’s why I created this list of must-ask questions to help summarize the year and guide you in the next one.

These 15 questions hold the key to growth in the new year.

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Let me tell you! Target really knows how to get on a bargain hunter’s good side! If you are looking for a new fun approach to saving or paying off debt, Target’s got the answer. Of course it took me a whole lot of shopping before I figured it out though.

See, I may be a bargain hunter obsessed with paying off debt, but I’m ashamed to say that Target is definitely no match to that. I’m a bit Target obsessed. Who could blame me? They’ve got the “One Spot” in front of the store, cute clothes, groceries, great beauty products and amazing home decor items that makes me feel like I’m an interior designer. And they do it all at fab prices! Needless to say, I definitely went a bit crazy this holiday season. (Of course, I used all my favorite sites and apps like Ibotta, Ebates, and Recieptpal for cash back though)

It wasn’t till last weekend that I was able to justify my Target shopping problem and it was all thanks to one of those crazy long lines at customer service. As I was waiting to exchange some items last week, I started reading any sign I could find to distract myself. There were signs about the exchange and return policy, signs advertising open jobs, and signs about online order pickup. But there was one sign I saw that I realized I never took advantage of : the shop with confidence price match guarantee. For those who aren’t familiar with it, Target will price match items sold for a cheaper price at their competitor stores.

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“There’s just not enough time in the day.” It’s a line I find myself stating on nearly a daily basis – maybe even more frequently since giving birth to Little Prince.

For several months, I’d go over everything I need to get done in the day and convince myself that I’ll tackle them only to find myself napping with baby by my side. And instead of lecturing myself for ignoring responsibilities, I told myself that I deserved it because I’m a new mom.

Didn’t finish cleaning the kitchen? It’s ok Terri. You’re a new mom. Continue reading

“If it doesn’t make you happy, its not worth doing.”

If you hadn’t noticed by now, I’m all about saving money, living richly and happily and paying down debt. Just about all the posts on this blog have to do with one of those topics – give or take a few about my love for zumba, pole dance and volunteering. What you won’t see, however, are posts dedicated to cutting back until nothing is left. Yes, learning to save is essential to gaining financial freedom but it isn’t essential to living a happy life. Yet, that doesn’t stop people from fawning over those blog posts in which the blogger pours out details of how they went extreme minimalist to achieve financial freedom. You know the posts I’m talking about.

They’re the ones in a which a stay-at-home mom proclaims her decision to ditch all forms of television and entertainment in favor of getting rid of medical bills.

Or the engaged couple who gave up their monthly date nights to rid themselves of student loans lighting fast.

What about the blog post in which the single mom who eliminated all free time to pick up extra jobs to work 80 hours a week for that extra cash to be applied to debt.

Or the one in which a family of three willingly sold their house to live in a cardboard box so they could pay off $100,00 of debt in two months.

That last one is a little extreme but, you get the picture. While I admire the determination of these bloggers who do all that was necessary to rid themselves of debt, I am certainly not envious.   It takes a very special person to make such huge sacrifices to make that kind of speedy headway with finances. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m not that special person. I thought I was at one time, but I’m not. You see, if I made that kind of sacrifice to pay off debt, I’d be miserable. Sure the weight of my student loans would be lifted of my shoulders, but I’d be unhappy, unbearable to be around and unmotivated. And I’ve found that since dealing with debt can be so unpleasant at times, the most important thing I can do for myself during the repayment journey is to remain as pleasant as possible throughout the process. It’s hard to stay motivated enough to make financial progress when you are miserable. Yet, it’s almost impossible to make progress without making some spending changes and sacrifices. I’m by no means an expert, but below are the things I did to find a balance between maintaining a happy life  and sacrificing enough to pay debt.

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“All you need is one love and one heart to make a difference”

I’m a bit late on this, but better late than never. If you’re looking for a way to help a cause consider this one. Help put a stop to suicide with the help of Instagram. From now until September 19th,  $1.00 will be donated to the Dr. Brandt Foundation for every image of a heart posted on Instagram with the hashtag #oneloveoneheart. The Dr. Brandt Foundation is taking a big step to fund research for suicide prevention.

Time to fill those Instagram profiles with lots of love and hearts. Ready, set, GO!