BLOG Magazine

Five Simple Steps in Controlling Your Cash!

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:19:15 -0400

Five Simple Steps in Controlling Your Cash!:

Women often crack under pressure when it comes to keeping of with fashion trends and the modern day standard of beauty. But did you know that a woman of influence is a good steward over her finances?

Here is five simple steps to help you transform from the “consumer mindset” to the “steward mindset”

1. Organize

Many people spend a lot of time and money searching for things. When it comes to your finances, it is imperative that you are organized. You should develop a system in your home so that you can properly locate bills, receipts, coupons, vouchers, pay checks, etc. There use to be a time in our home where some bills would not get paid, or would be paid late simply because we could not find them. Now, we have a system in place that allows bills to be sorted as soon as they come into our home. You should invest a few dollars in some folders, labels and storage bins. This can literally save you hundreds of dollars in late fees and finance charges down the road. I heard an organizer say once, “File it. Don’t pile it.”

2. Go Paperless

Believe it or not, you will quickly learn that most of the things that you will ever need for your financial records can be found online. It’s quick and easy to sign up for paperless billing and statements, so you should do it today. This will cut down on the amount of paper coming into the home for you to manage.

3. Apps are our Friends

I use to lose receipts before I even walked away from the counter at a store. Last year, I downloaded a free app on my phone that allows me to take a picture of the receipt. Taking a couple extra minutes to take the picture and email it to yourself will save you a whole lot of headache when it is time for you to return that item that you realized you did not need. They also have apps for budgeting, payment reminders, tracking your spending, etc. Many of them are free, so check them out!

4. Where’s the Money?

Many people wonder where all of their money has gone. At the end of the month, they have more month than money left over. One of my favorite quotes is by Benjamin Franklin. He said, “Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.” That is so true. In order for us to find out where all of the “small leaks” are, we must track our spending. As silly as it may sound, the only way of knowing where every red penny of yours has gone is by using an app or keeping a detailed journal noting what you have spent your money on.

5. Decide What Your Family Financial Goals Are

We are a quarter of the way through 2012. While many of us have made some New Years’ Resolutions for our finances, many of us still have not. Choosing to get over the Winter Blues and sitting down and come up with your family’s financial goal for this year is a must. Zig Ziglar said it best “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” Take time to set up a debt repayment plan, a college savings plan for your children, or even a retirement plan for yourself. You should be conducting weekly or bi-weekly financial meetings in your home. Once you have established these goals and then start to take steps in the right direction to accomplish them!

Grow where you are planted

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:17:22 -0400

Grow where you are planted:

By: Tara L. Eastman

March 14th, 2012

On my way to work on a sunny, late-summer morning, I was sitting at a red light and saw something quite unusual growing in the front lawn of a city apartment building. People usually beautify their yards and homes with flowers, climbing vines and gnome sculptures – but not the town I live in. This home’s small front yard was filled with rows of corn! The stalks were at least six feet high and filled with growing ears of corn. As the reality of this front-yard bumper crop made its way into my view, I was reminded of the saying, “Bloom where you are planted!”

"Finding your passion isn’t just about careers and money. It’s about finding your authentic self. The..."

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:12:48 -0500

“Finding your passion isn’t just about careers and money. It’s about finding your authentic self. The one you’ve buried beneath other people’s needs”

- Kristin Hannah (via onlinecounsellingcollege)

Love is in the air!

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 23:29:02 -0500

Love is in the air!:

Check out the valentines day addition of BLOG!

Hey, beautiful woman

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:15:35 -0500

Hey, beautiful woman

“The King will reply: Truly I tell you, whatever you did for...

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 16:25:49 -0500

“The King will reply: Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40

Victory: A Legacy Given

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:30:42 -0500

By Tahnee Jones

I asked God, “How can I be a victor when I feel like the world’s most defeated victim?”

The Underdogs in a Real Love Story

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 19:36:39 -0500

Rejects in Front of Majesty

By Monica Leija

There is something heart gripping about the unfavored basketball team who dunks the winning shot or the football team deemed losers, who score the final touchdown…underdogs turned champions. Or how about the kid in school that everybody dismisses because he walks to the beat of his own drum. The outcast, who is now living large or the little girl that should have never made it out of the projects on her way to Harvard; I can’t help it, but underdog stories always captivate me. They always make me want to do a little stomp dance…it stirs in me pure excitement!

The shepherds back in Jesus’ day were the definition of walking outcasts. They were the underdogs. Shepherding was not a position of high esteem; as a matter of fact they were rejects.

God uses the least likely rather than the most likely.

The Five Love Launguages of Christmas

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 19:30:58 -0500

Show Your Love in New Ways This Christmas

By Keshia Smith

Not all of the gifts given to your loved ones this Christmas need to be wrapped and placed under a tree. In Gary Chapman’s book “The Five Love Languages,” Chapman points out five ways that people give and receive love. Figuring out a partner, friend or family members’ primary Love Language can help you make them feel extra special this holiday season.

The Five Love Languages are: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service and Physical Touch. A quick assessment test at www.5lovelanguages.com can show you what your primary love language is. Friends and family members may have a variety of different love languages.

Random Acts of Christmas Kindness

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 19:51:14 -0500

Keeping Christ in Christmas is the theme this month here at Blog Magazine and I want to share with you one of the things my family and I like to do during this time of year to remember that Jesus is the reason for this season.

I follow several crafty, homemaking, and DIY blogs and have read several posts about random acts of kindness, or RAK. I did not know what they were talking about at first, so I read all I could about it and thought it was a great idea and that my girls and I would try to do a few last year. We made cookies and cards and delivered them to our local fire department, taped coins to a vending machine where I work, made care packages for a few people at a nursing home and bought coffee for the person in line behind us at McDonalds.

Below is the list of our 25 acts of Christmas kindness that we came up with. We have just not decided which act to do on which day yet. You can follow ours or come up with your own:

Make cookies and cards and deliver them to our local fire department
Pay for the person behind us in the line at McDonalds
Tape quarters to the vending machine at my office and at church
Pay for the next two people behind us at the coffee bar at church
Make and deliver a warm meal to some homeless people downtown
Volunteer at a women’s shelter where my sister works
Make care packages for people in a local nursing home
Deliver hot cocoa to the bell ringers in front of the grocery store
Deliver cookies and donuts to our local police station
Make and deliver homemade gifts to our neighbors
Purchase gas cards and place them on random cars behind the door to their gas tank
Make homemade cards and treats for the sick and elderly at our church
Tape bus fare to bus stops in our neighborhood
Leave a present in our mailbox for our mail man/lady
Send a random person in the phone book a small gift
Take treats to the local animal shelter for the puppies and kittens
Tape popcorn to the Redbox by our house for the next person for movie night
Thank the Trash man with a card or gift
Return shopping carts inside the local retail store
Drop off teddy bear to police department for Operation: Teddy Bear
Make paper hearts that say “Random Act of Kindness- Have a great day!” and place them under the windshield wipers of parked cars
Smile and say Hello to everyone that we meet during the day
Give out free car wash vouchers to random people
Pass out candy canes with a RACK’ed card to everyone at Christmas Eve service
Give out hot cocoa and cinnamon rolls to workers at our local gas station on Christmas morning
What a simple reminder that we are here on earth to serve others and to spread God’s love to those around us. While our intention is to serve and bless others, we in turn become the ones who are blessed. It really is better to give than to receive

Photo

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 17:54:35 -0500

Additude of Gratitude

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 19:30:38 -0500

By Shannon N. Taylor

My only wish so long ago was to lead a normal life, free from fear, terror, and hunger. Free from embarrassment and harassment. Oh but God had so much more for me! Not only did He free me, but He also gave me life! A life that’s so full of love, peace, joy, laughter, and sweetness.

Being Thankful for New Beginnings

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:30:59 -0500

By: Taylor Duckett

I have always loved the month of November.

On November 6th, 2011 at approximately 8:30pm I got delivered from 18 years of baggage and demons and, was also healed instantaneously. After that happened, there was only one logical thing to do; rededicate my life to Christ. Before that time, I had been doing my own thing and it wasn’t working very well for me; I found that you reap what you sow, and my harvest was not a good one at all. I had never experienced deliverance before, because in the church that I grew up in, they talked about knowing Jesus as our deliverer, but they never demonstrated or walked in deliverance and inner healing. Initially I was completely grossed out because my deliverance involved a lot of tears and a lot of regurgitation but in retrospect, I’m glad that everything that was not of God began coming out of me.

Does the Media Influence Our Behavior?

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 18:55:09 -0500

Does the Media Influence Our Behavior?

#christ #god #blogmagazine #justsaynotocosmo...

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 18:48:43 -0500

#christ #god #blogmagazine #justsaynotocosmo #takingovermainstream

Raising a dark child in a white world

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:30:47 -0500

By Kairis Joy Colter Burt

There is an ongoing argument over the definition of race, what it means to be Black, and even about the right to be called African American. It’s a particularly hot topic now, in November of 2012. Election Day is on the minds of most here in the United States. As an American citizen, and as a mother, I spend lots of time thinking about the experiences of a white woman whose heart allowed her to give and raise a child who because of paternity and ancestry, has the distinction of being both black and American.

My ex-husband and I met in an odd way. He placed a ‘personal’ ad in our local paper and one of my work colleagues saw it. I don’t know many other people who have married a person from a personal add, or married an African American. The entire journey was unique, from courting over satellite telephone calls to a ship at sea in the middle of the ocean to me meeting an African American man via a personal ad.

Sex Trafficking: Shedding light on her tragic story

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:31:00 -0500

By Tameka Williamson

Keisha Head re-lived the most traumatic time of her life when the gift of choice resulted in the loss of her innocence as a ‘motherless’child. Everything she knew that was acceptable and normal was challenged the day she was exposed to the world of stripping for money, ultimately using her sexuality to make money… at the tender age of twelve.

An Identity Found in Chist

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 13:00:13 -0500

Kristen Haubold Discovers True Love and Sacrifice

By: Keshia Smith

When 21-year-old Kristen Haubold was 17, she fell in love with her best friend. It was the first time she had felt romantic feelings for anyone, and when she realized her friend felt the same she was ecstatic.

However, there were complications that made Haubold decide to keep her feelings secret from many friends and family. Her friend was also a woman. Haubold had grown up involved in an Evangelical Church, and she felt as if her family, some of her friends, and even her God would not approve of the love she had found.

Deferred Hope is not Hope-less

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 18:41:17 -0500

Danita Ogandaga

Growing up in our small hometown of Kinston, North Carolina, I was the kid of not one, but two spirit-filled preachers, so it was no random thing to see me walking through the house with hymnal in hand.

One of the songs that I used to sing was, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.” Thinking back to the days of singing these songs, I must admit that although I had seen the adults in my life endure many “issues of life,” I was sheltered and did not have the slightest clue at the time about what I was reading, but I knew that it was laced in a constant and consistent reminder that God loved me.

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The Universal Power of Words

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:20:48 -0500

Dawniel Patterson-Winningham

The power of words is amazing. So much so that we can transform our being, simply by claiming those things that lie seemingly beyond our reach. It starts by saying simply I AM! The picture that we paint of ourselves with these 2 words is what the world sees in us. No more and no less.