I know that I’m not exactly the role model when it comes talking about abundance and creating wealth. I only know about being prudent and saving money. But, hey! you have Rhonda Byrne with her ‘Secret’ entourage of wise people and wealth amassment gurus to tell you how you can attract money among other things into your life. I am a skeptic and I don’t always buy the new age philosophies that is available in this great country. Over the years, I thought myself how to be a rationalist in thinking. But recently I am coming to think that there is something terribly wrong with us.
Last week, I heard my neighbor’s seven year old twins blissfully and rather ignorantly singing this:
“Recession bites, reality bites
Tighten your belts, Stop buying felts
Save every pence for all the hens.”
I wonder how they came up with this or what influenced them. But seriously,does it sound like a new-age nursery rhyme? Or does it sound more like what you hear and read about everyday. If this were to be a new nursery rhyme, then I would sue the school for breeding such negativity in all the young minds. I have a daughter and I don’t want her to begin to think that money is a hard thing to earn. Most importantly I don’t want her to lead a life of lack.
And a couple of days ago, I had taken my daughter, Faith, out for a little quickie shopping at Walmart and there I saw a mom like me constantly denying everything that her little girl was pointing to. It was then that I had an epiphany.And I was like, “Wait a minute, I do that too”.I have denied my baby even when I could afford what she wanted. We were saving everything for a rainy day (which hasn’t come so far) and had forgotten to live in the present. I don’t remember indulging in anything for more than an year now, which, in all honesty had left me craving for a lot of things. The funny thing is that I could afford a lot of things for which I crave.
The question in my mind was “Why do we do save, when saving is not making us happy?”
So, in the end what happened? We splurged a bit but felt really good. You can call it the upliftment of the spirit from the shackles of the damn recession, if you like.
This blog is not gonna be about how to save on this or that. Instead, this is an open ended one. How you take the thought forward, is entirely up to you.
PS. I am reading ‘The Secret’ and I think I have been cruelly wrong about the philosophies these kind. And as for those who have read ‘The Secret’, do you think that I should buy myself a lotto ticket? 
I’m an obsessive compulsive socializer and a party animal. During Greek days in school, I was known as Cindy the Entertainer (I love Cedric the Entertainer, by the way). In all modesty, I’ve hosted some spectacular parties that used to be the talk of the sorority (and the fraternity) for weeks. Some of my girlfriends say that my obsession with compulsive socializing is a disease and some of my aunts tell me that it is a genetic trait that I’ve inherited from my father.
Being a full time mom had me craving for some quality ‘all girl’ time. So I sent my husband and baby packing for a weekend and I threw a ‘ Sexy Lingerie Party’ for the girls that had our men begging for entry. It kept them wondering and wanting. Well, did they get it? But that is another story..
Any party is what I make it.
And I’m going to tell you how to party like a Rock Star when you are not.
Make your budget first!!
Be it $0 or $5 or $500, know your limit and stick to it. This is the most important thing that the host of the party should know. Always throw a party just about 1 week from the receipt of your paycheck because even if there are some binges on your party budget, you can still survive.
Make noise!!
Noise is good because it generates a lot of attention. And attention is damn good. It will turn a regular-Joe party into an A-List event. When you do it, make sure that you create noise like no-else has done before.. If you have an account in facebook, twitter or in myspace, create a event and invite friends to attend. If you are graphically good, then you can design and send your e-cards.
Food and drinks
Potluck affairs are always the best. You can ask some of your friends to bring in the alcohol.
You can ask some to bring the salad and the dessert, while others can bring in the main course meal. And, remember, when you cook, make sure that you cook only for half the population. Trust me on this one, there will always be excess of food on your table.
El Musica!!
This should be the last of your concerns. Download the music from the Internet to suit the theme of the party. Never waste money unnecessarily by buying the music dvd/cds. Keep the speakers to a minimum and don’t let the music wake your neighbors up. Or you could soundproof your home if you have the Benjamins and turn the bass up.
Space!!
If your guest list is small and so is your house, keep it in. If your guest list is big and so is your house, keep it in. If your guest list is big and your house is small, have it outside. If you have a garden, make use of it. You could also take the party up to the rooftop. As I said earlier, party is what you make it.
Games!!
Arrange for a lot of games. Adult games or childish games or whatever but we all love playing games, don’t we? Playing games helps your guests to interact and get comfortable with each other.
It would be an icebreaker for many of your guests.
People!!
Have the right people at the right parties. You can’t have a square peg in a round hole, can you? Its your call.
You!!
Always be yourself. Never try to be what you are not. Never try to do what doesn’t come naturally to you. Never neglect your guests. It is your responsibility to make them comfortable. Be generous in receiving help offered for arranging such parties. Keep smiling, keep laughing and party like a Rock Star without spending like one.
Here’s a situation. The month is coming to an end and you are eagerly awaiting your paycheck. This is when your boss walks in and says that all the company’s paychecks will be delayed for a week due to some God-only-knows reason. How would you react?
What the fish? Why the fish?
I know how that feels because I’ve been there and done that.
But, seriously, what would you do apart from cussing about the delay? Or, rather, what should you do?
A paycheck delay could mean disaster for many people. Many people live paycheck to paycheck. There are bills to be paid on time to avoid late payment charges and a you-are-in- deep- s**t situation. When I was single in the big city, I wasn’t in great control of my money and been in that situation many times. But I became more responsible after I got married and became a mom. I didn’t have a choice but to become more responsible. And that is how I came up with my 10 Cindimandments (read Cindy’s Commandments) that can used universally.
Here are some of the things that you could do, till that paycheck comes by. What I mean to say is here are the 10 Cindimandments that will deliver you from being flat broke.
Tell your landlord that your paycheck is going to be delayed and so will be the rent. Tell your bank, tell everyone if needed. Telling the truth might actually help than sneaking out of your house before the landlord wakes up from his beauty sleep.
Volunteer to do some extra work outside that might earn you some money. Mow your friend’s lawn, have a car-wash Saturday, work in a neighborhood grocery store for a couple of hours. Are you getting the drift? There are a million tiny ways to make some extra money during that tight week.
Don’t take your car out for a week. Ask your husband/wife/mom/dad/brother/friend/anyone to give you a lift. Of course do be so blatant and be up on their faces. Be polite is asking them and be ready to take no as answer too. Better still take the bus or the subway if your office is only a couple of blocks away from your home.
Think twice before buying anything. Stick only to the absolute essentials for that week.
Switch off everything that you can switch off before leaving your home. We take everything for granted these day, especially when we are quite aware about the global warming threat. Switch off your laptop, your TV, your DVD player, if nothing is inside your refrigerator, switch that off and before I forget, switch off that damn bathroom light. On a more serious note, you could end up saving a lot of money on electricity this way.
Curb that thought of pubbing with generous amount beer on Saturday nights. Just hold your horses till you get your money into your account. But if you must, try and go there only during the happy hours.
If you have a baby sitter, give her/him a week off. Invite your mom over to take care of the baby. But you have to be sure that your spouse is absolutely OK with having his/her mother-in-law in the house. Make sure that this doesn’t blow into a ‘Monster-in-law’ situation.
If you have children and you drive them to school every morning, you might want to consider car-pooling with other kids’ parents. However, I wouldn’t strongly recommend this because having someone driving your kids to school is a matter of trust. Do so, only if you are 110% sure that your kids are in safe and capable hands.
Stay positive. Keep smiling. And stop frowning because that is no way to live. 
It has been just 60 days since Mr.Barack Obama took charge as the new President and the nation seems already displeased with him. I don’t know if we are being restless by expecting a man to pull the country out of a financial crisis caused by years of financial mismanagement. Or did we get carried away by those ‘yes we can’, rhetoric and expected too much out of him.
The new president already seems to be dipping in popularity charts and NY Times even had a page 1 story on Mr.Obama’s increased grey hair in just 44 days of taking over as President.
Coming to the point, Mr.Obama’s Tuesday night press conference did not appear to cut much ice with the media and people waiting for a ‘change’. The NYT describes his address as “sounding like the teacher speaking in the stillness of a classroom where students are restlessly waiting for the ring of the bell.”
The outrage over the huge bonuses that AIG officials paid themselves was a moot point in the press conference. AIG is 80% owned by the government and received billions of dollars in federal bailout money, even as the executives paid themselves huge bonuses. When asked why he did not go public with his outrage on learning about the retention bonuses at AIG, the president has responded, “I like to know what I’m talking about, before I speak”.
Large business corporations made windfall gains when the economy was on a boom all these years and shared the bounty among themselves. Now when the economy is on a tailspin, they rush to the government with bailout pleas (sometimes in plush private jets).
Blogger Hazzard calls to scrap bailouts and let things fail, because “there are hundreds and hundreds of financial institutions out there that made good business decisions. It’s time that they got to reap the rewards of managing their business in a responsible way”. Now, isn’t that what free market economy is all about?
