Fiscal Friday: Credit Karma

It'’s Fiscal Responsibility Friday! Today, I wanted to share a website that has been wonderful in supporting my quest to be fiscally responsible.

J told me about Credit Karma after seeing a feature on MSNBC about the site. Credit Karma is a website where you can monitor your credit score.  I usually check mine once every couple of months, but you can check it more frequently (once a month). Seeing my credit score is not the only benefit of this website. I also like seeing a summary of my/our credit cards and student loans. Even those credit cards that do not have a current balance are listed as long as they are still active accounts. 

**On a side note, writing out my debt (credit cards, school and at that time, my car loan) was one of the scariest things I have ever done. Seeing all your burden written out is very sobering.

Back to Credit Karma, since facing my debts head on, I like having a way that I can monitor my progress. The graph that represents the movement of my credit score is incredibly encouraging. Watching the total debt amount reduce is also a great motivator.

Here is a picture of my actual Credit Karma page (with the numbers blurred out as I’m not THAT brave yet!)

Please note that I am not a financial professional and this post is merely to share my personal experience with Credit Karma. This is not a sponsored post. I am just a happy user of the site!

Make sure to visit my friends Katie and Christina as they will be sharing their thoughts on fiscal responsibility. Join in the conversation by using the hashtag #fiscalresponsibility on Twitter!

Coach: A Positive Customer Service experience

I am so pleased to be able to share the positive customer service experience that I recently had with Coach. Note that this is not a sponsored post! I imagine the only way that Coach will know I wrote about this is if they google themselves.

Last Mother's Day, J gave me the below City Tote:

It was perfect for schlepping my stuff to work! 

While on a business trip, one of the handles detached from the bag. Since it was the beginning of my trip and I did not have a spare bag, I made do. Thanks to the staff at the Marriott, I used electrical tape to reattach the handle. It worked beautifully, albeit it was definitely unsightly.

Coach has a program where they will make repairs on any of their products. You do have to pay a $20 shipping and handling fee. You include a form, found here, where you detail the nature of your repair.

I kept forgetting to send my bag in. But finally, I sent it for repair about two weeks ago. 

Today, I received the following letter from Coach:

I really feel that sending me a new bag was an example of excellent customer service. The repair did not look especially complicated. However, I suspect that the residue from the electrical tape was hard to remove. Even though I'm the one who put the electrical tape on it, they still felt that it was the right thing to do to send me a new bag.

Coach may not be the hippest bag brand in blogland (ahem Kate Spade Beau bag, Celine, Prada etc). However, I have a new found respect for them and will continue to shop them in the future.

And by the way, J got an email that I have a delivered from Coach set for tomorrow!

The resolution I'll end up breaking

Inspired by C's post on getting real, I'm sharing the resolution that I know I'll end up breaking.

I wrote about judgment back in March 2013. I'm really trying not to judge, especially on social media. The two topics that I'm most judgmental on are spending habits and lemmings.  If someone wants to spend their money on numerous "Fill in the blank" brand, so be it. Someone else's debt isn't my debt. Truthfully, I'm probably jealous! If someone wants to kiss a big blogger's rear end, so be it! If they want to wear army pants and flip flops like Cady Heron, it doesn't hurt anyone.

But if I am honest with myself, I know I'll still do it. And hate myself right afterwards.

Fiscal Friday: The Look for Less!

For my first #fiscalresponsibility post for 2014, I decided to cover one of my favorite topics: finding the Look for Less. On an aside, did you ever watch "The Look for Less" on Style Network? I loved Elizabeth Hasselbeck on that show (much more so than her current roles). She would take runway styles and do inspired looks using items from the local mall.

I put together a Polyvore of two of my favorite "Look for Less" finds!

Look for Less: Shirtdress by natylite78 featuring a safari shirt dress

The Look for Less I by natylite78 featuring Joie

As I continue the journey of #fiscalresponsibility, I will continue to see more cost effective ways to wear the styles I like. Please share some of your favorite finds with me!

A Better Daughter

My dad turned 75 this past Sunday. Something about his birthday and recent circumstances have me reflecting on my role as a daughter. Being a daughter was the first role I ever had. Since then, I've become a sister, friend, wife, aunt, and mother. But daughter...that's where it all started.

I have not always been a "good" daughter. In fact, I'd say I spent a large percentage of the first 27 years of my life not being a good daughter. I broke curfew. I didn't listen to my parents. When I lived away from home, I didn't call when I said I would. In fact, there was one weekend in college where I partied the whole time and ignored an answering machine full of messages from my parents. I did not value the time I spent with my parents.

Then my dad got sick. Suddenly, all the time I thought I had to be a good daughter was slipping away.  I realized how lucky I was that I could see my parents whenever I wanted. That they were
 there to say "Hello, I love you." I found myself wanting to find things that would make them happy.  I realized that being present and engaged with them was what mattered most.

I know that our time is not forever. But at least I have it.

2013 Goals - How did I do?

On this last day of 2013, I wanted to check back on how I did on my 2013 goals. As you see, I posted three goals. Here is how I did!

(1) PHR exam - I did not complete this goal. I even bought some study guides. However learning a new job quickly took over as a 2013 professional goal. I'm recommitting to this goal for 2014. So much so that I listed it on my self-appraisal at work. Yikes. Nothing like telling your boss that lights a fire under you!

(2) Attend a fundraiser - Check! In March, we attended a fundraiser for the Second Harvest Food Bank.

(3) Be more intentional/acts of kindness - Check! I think this will always be a goal of mine. This was a continuation from 2012. Here are some of the things I did to meet this goal:

• Volunteered to edit and revamped several friends' resumes (Both IRL and Twitter friends)
• On being intentional with my time - I joined the Junior League of Jacksonville in August. I have really enjoyed learning about the organization, spending time with other women who have a spirit of giving back to the community and participating in various volunteer activities.
• Baking for my co-workers on their birthdays
• Helping out a busy friend by wrapping her family Christmas presents
• Participating in a Seven Project bible study - The food, possessions and media areas were big lessons in intentionality for me.
• Started blogging on fiscal responsibility, helping me to be more intentional about where our money goes
• Increased philanthropy, which I shared here

Still finalizing my 2014 goals. Nothing like a little procrastination to start the year!

Happy New Year!!

Planning for 2014

My Twitter timeline is currently filled with memories of 2013, wishes for a better 2014 and excitement over new planners. Planners really have evolved over the years. I remember when I was fresh out of college, I took a Franklin Covey Productivity class as part of my training at the consulting firm where I had my first grown up job. I wish I remembered more about the class, but some of the details that stuck with me included:

• Breaking down goals into practical implementation steps with measurable outcomes
• Prioritizing and coding tasks to note what could be delayed (marked with a -->), in-progress (IP) and completed (a checkmark)

We received a FC Daily planner as part of the class. In researching for this post, I was amazed to see that the pages still look the same!

Now, there are so many choices. From Erin Condren to Whitney English to Momgenda, there are various stylish ways to keep your life in order.

So which one do I use?

None.

I think these planners are so pretty and lovely. I really do! The main reasons I don't use them are: (1) I hate my handwriting and (2) I need a way to share my calendar with Jeff.

So we use Google calendar for now. Since joining Junior League, it has been especially important to have a way to share with Jeff as those JL events generally require him to be home with Jack. Some of the other events (JL and otherwise) may be ones where we both attend. I name the appointments using the following naming convention:

Nat - JL - Volunteer at Instrument Zoo

Nat/Jeff - JL - Whale of a Sale preview party

In the notes, I'll include where Jack will be (if not with Jeff).  If it is during the work week, I'll indicate if Jeff needs to pick up Jack from his Gammy or if I will prior to my meeting/appointment. I'll also set the reminders for both pop up and email. 

If anyone has any tips on smarter ways to use Google calendar, please let me know! Also if you use a paper planner, let me know which one!