Five Quick Tips for a Happier Holiday

1.  Plan your shopping in advance. Know what you want to buy, and for whom, before you leave for the mall. (See http://www.womenearning.com/newsletter-articles/ for the 8 step plan to avoiding a spending hangover in January.) Without a plan, how will you know when you are done?

2.  Don’t shop for longer than 90 minutes before you take a break and have some coffee or tea—and look over your list. (After 90 minutes of shopping, you go into a zombie-like zone where you buy based on emotion only. Malls know this and find ways of hiding the passage of time from you—like not having windows or clocks on the wall!)

3.  Tell your children how many gifts they can expect. Children do much better when they know what to expect. And space out the gift giving if you can. I save a present for my son to be opened on the last day of December. With so many grandparent gifts on Christmas day, this final gift is really appreciated.

4. Let go of making this the perfect holiday for everyone else. I think we expect too darn much from this poor holiday! Make sure YOU have something to look forward to—like a night to watch your favorite movies with a friend.

5.  Many people will likely welcome a suggestion not to exchange gifts, so make some calls tonight to ease people’s minds and pocketbooks. Remember, gifts are only supposed to be tokens of appreciation for those we love. You could simply tell someone how much you love them!

©2008 Mikelann Valterra and the Women’s Earning Institute

Upcoming Events and Recent Posts

CONQUERING UNDEREARNING 12 TELECLASS
The three month (12 teleclass) program on Conquering Underearning starts in January. It is a fabulous way to dig deep into your “issues” around money and earning. Many of you know my style—I am fairly direct and intense. I love looking at the deeper reasons we undersell ourselves as well as what we can do about it as women!!! Simply put, we must identify and process our issues and then start asking for more. I’ll help you do both. I’ve set this up to be fairly simple—you register and receive the 86 page workbook. Then call into class once a week or download the call once a week. First class is January 6th.

LOCAL BUSINESS SUPPORT GROUP
If you are self-employed and live in Seattle, I now have openings in my local Earn Your Worth business support groups. These groups are for self-employed women who want to work on small business issues (practical and emotional) in the company of other self-employed women. We meet once a month for three hours. Email me for info.

TWITTER?
I’ve gotten into Twitter and other social networking. Following me at www.twitter.com/mikelann (or Plurk, or Facebook) if you want a single shot “Conscious Money Tip” daily. (You know me—I’m all about earning your worth AND spending your money consciously!) All my wisdom in 148 characters. Now there is a challenge!

SELF-EMPLOYMENT BLOG
Speaking of self-employed, I’ve written some great blog posts recently-
Go to www.myselfemployedlife.com if you want to read about how I put together an income and spending plan for my own business. This is the best way to keep financial anxiety down.
Posts:
“Time to make a plan for 2009 income—and open up to prosperity”
“How much is 2009 going to cost me? Being proactive helps combat fear”