I was tagged by Joe from Simple Debt-Free Finance to write a meme on these seven things.

Here are the Meme rules:

1. Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
2. Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged.

7 Things You Never Knew You Didn’t Know About Me

Hmm. This could be difficult. I’ve been pretty open about everything from the 12 things I learned by 42 that I wish I knew at 22 to my worst decision ever to how my identity was stolen so coming up with seven more has made me think, especially after coming up with all the wild things I’ve survived.

But here goes:

1. I’ve written several songs but never published them. Two of them are quite good I’m told. I taught myself how to play the guitar after seeing all the girls swoon over the guitar players at a church camp when I was about 14.

2. I’m not that big of a sports fan (except for SEC Football), but I’m an avid reader of the business section of the newspaper and any business/investment/money book or magazine.

3. I love to be “hands on,” whether that involves cooking, gardening, working on an old car, or building a home.

4. I started the first soccer team at my high school back in 1983. Since then soccer has become one of their largest sports, but back then no one gave it a second thought. I had to handle scheduling games with other schools, transportation of the players, coaching, the whole shebang. I did this as a junior after being cut from the baseball team.

5. I spent a summer in Guatemala after winning a national missions essay scholarship contest. I spent time as a camp counselor near El Lago de Atitlan and then as a painter for a school in Chimaltenango. I was only 17 years old at the time and yes, there was a civil war going on.

6. I majored in finance at The University of Alabama but quit after three years and lost focus. Fifteen years later I went back to finish my college education, majoring in Human Resources Management at Baker College, and then concentrated on marketing for my MBA at The University of North Alabama. I’m still thinking of getting my PhD in Economics.

7. I love to snow ski more than just about any other activity there is. The problem is that the nearest “decent” ski resorts are about 800 miles to the east or 900 miles to the west. I’d move in a heartbeat if the right opportunity came along.

Okay, I spilled the beans on ME, now I’m tagging:

• My Supercharged Life
• Do You Dave Ramsey?
• Frugal and Thriving
• Positively Present
• Debt Free Adventure
• Hundred Goals
• Good Faithful Servant

Have fun!

Links to products or services may be affiliate links. See my disclosure policy on the site or on my About page.

One of the most UN-pleasant jobs I ever had was working as a debt collector. I wasn’t very good at it, actually, I was very bad at it. And I know why: I knew where these people were coming from! I understood their dilemmas and accepted their excuses. I didn’t last very long at that job, but I DID accumulate some valuable information on dealing with debt collectors.

Realize is that you DO have rights when working through debt collection.

These rights are spelled out in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You can take the time to read all the lawyer speak in the actual law, or you can read the Wikipedia entry which is a little more reader friendly. If you have any questions, be sure and check with a qualified attorney before you take any actions.

As distasteful as it may seem to deal with these people, you can make it worse! Protect your credit score, protect your checking account, and protect your reputation by making sure you DON’T do these:

1. DON’T avoid them. This will only make them more aggressive. It’s like running from an animal that is trained to pursue. Answer your phone calls and do what you’ll say you’ll do.

2. DON’T lie to them. Get caught lying and you can find yourself facing a lawsuit. Additionally, since you’re usually behind on payments anyway, lying will only foster their disrespect for you. You have the money they want. Tell them what you can do and when … then do it.

3. DON’T bury your head in the sand. The problem will only get worse if you ignore the situation. Face it head on. Remember, you are the one in charge, not them.

4. DON’T bounce any checks. This is akin to lying and is a quick way to get into legal trouble. Know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your check is good.

5. DON’T allow yourself to be intimidated. Eleanor Roosevelt once remarked, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Don’t let the collector bully you. You are a human being and you deserve to be treated with respect. Besides, YOU have the money. You’re in charge.

6. DON’T make a promise you cannot keep. You may be tempted to promise a payment based on an anticipated future event. But, if something goes wrong, you have egg on your face and the collector will accuse you of lying. Only spend money you have in your hands. Only promise money that you control. No promises based on an upcoming bonus, none based on someone paying you back on a personal loan, none based on anticipated overtime. Spend ONLY the money you have in your control.

7. DON’T give the collector access to your checking account. Never give the creditor your checking account number or allow them to draft money from your account. I know of situations where a collector would draft more than agreed upon, would draft more than once per month, or draft on the wrong day, causing other checks to bounce. By the time you file claims and dispute their actions, you could get behind in other bills and find yourself with a negative balance in your checking account. Not good. Only deal with a collector via checks.

8. DON’T fail to dispute a charge in a timely matter. If the collector has popped another charge on you, you must file the proper claim quickly. Don’t waste time and wait around! The statute of limitations could be very specific depending on your state and if you wait too long, you could lose your legal right to dispute the claim.

9. DON’T sell what you bought on credit if you still owe money on it. The creditor will have a much stronger case against you because equity (in a car, home, or business) can usually be better protected from forced bankruptcy or default judgment than cash. Additionally, it may appear that you were committing fraud by buying something on credit, not paying for it, and then selling it for cash.

10. DON’T settle your debt without receiving confirmation in writing. The creditor has your debt obligation in writing, you need to do the same thing if you work out a settlement. After you pay the settled debt, make sure you get confirmation in writing that the account is closed. Also, check your credit report a few months later to see that your credit report shows “closed” or “settled” or “paid as agreed.” I would recommend that you negotiate the settlement to include a “paid as agreed” entry on your report.

Always remember that you have the money they want. They only get it when you decide to send it to them. You’re in control but you should always make sure you avoid these 10 DON’TS.

[tags]collections, collector, collectors, credit, debt, fair, fraud, legal, loan, money, payment[/tags]

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Your time is the most important asset you have. Unfortunately, there is an infinite number of things to do and only a finite amount of minutes available to get them done. How do you make the most of every single minute? Effectively manage that precious resource!

1. Know where you spend you time by using a log to track where your time goes. Think of time as money and every minute as a dollar, then use your time log like your checkbook register. If you don’t know how you’re currently spending time, you’ll find it difficult to know what you should do to better utilize this precious resource. A time log will help you identify your time wasters and your time multipliers.

2. Use time multipliers to get more done. What is a time multiplier? Effective delegation of lower priority tasks is a time multiplier. Eliminating time wasting activities is a time multiplier. Screening phone calls can be a time multiplier. By practicing creative procrastination on anything that doesn’t propel you toward your goals, you can multiply the amount of time you have to achieve those goals.

3. Plan tomorrow’s activities tonight. By creating a game plan for the next day, you will become much more effective. Sometimes, just a simple prioritized To Do list will help keep you and your activities on track. Make sure that list IS prioritized, though. An un-prioritized list can be cause you to waste more time than no list at all if you only do those items that are easy or enjoyable.

4. Work on your most difficult or unpleasant task first. Brian Tracy’s book Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time is a great resource to read if you’re constantly finding that you put off your most unpleasant tasks. The book says that if the most difficult thing you had to do tomorrow morning was to eat a live frog, it would be best to do it early in the morning rather than sit and look at him all day long.

The only exception would be if you’ve identified your best working time as later in the day. Then schedule your most important tasks then, during your “prime time.” Work on these tasks at your daily energy peaks.

5. Handle each piece of paper or email once. In a physical setting, there is a cost associated every time a store or warehouse has to handle a piece of merchandise. Adapt that philosophy to your work life and deal with paperwork or email as few times as possible.

6. Finish what you start. When working on a key task, do not allow interruptions so you can get finished. When a chatty co-worker drops by to talk about something unimportant, say something like, “Bob, I’m under a bit of a time constraint. Is there any way I can get with you later today, say at 4:30?” Usually, Bob gets the message. And by 4:30, he’s thinking about getting out of the office anyway.

7. Constantly ask yourself: Is this the best, most valuable use of my time, right now? At work, your best use is usually determined by your boss or by the circumstances at hand. For an entrepreneur, the best use of your time is usually building your business or working on your own personal development. Remember that you are trading your minutes for dollars. Are you getting the best return for your investment by performing a certain activity?

The key to really effective time management is to use some type of system.

I’ve said it before, the BEST time management system is the one you actually use, whether it’s Franklin Covey, Day Runner, Day-Timer, or just a simple spiral notepad you keep in your shirt pocket or purse. Instead of resolving to be “more organized,” develop your own system to help you redeem your time.

If you have a system that works for you, by all means clue everyone in and share the wealth!

[tags]time management, procrastination[/tags]

Links to products or services may be affiliate links. See my disclosure policy on the site or on my About page.

I am a novice, trust me, but if I can do it, you can do it.

1. The first step is to decide your theme. Do you love NASCAR? Do you enjoy using your slow cooker? Do you have a passion for The University of Alabama’s football team? Your theme should be something that you are continually interested in, not just another passing fad. Shrimp has a shelf life, your blog should not, unless it is tied to something like the Winter Olympics or the United States Football League.
2. The next step is to decide if you will use a hosted service such as Blogger.com or WordPress.com, or if you will set up your own website. I chose to set up my own site because of the control it offered me, but your decision should be based on what best fits you and your technical know-how.
3. The third step, should you decide to set up a website, is to download the proper software to your computer and then up load it to your hosting provider’s server. This is where things get technical, but if you take it step by step, you’ll arrive! It took me about a week to understand how things worked and what I needed to do. I truly wanted to understand it all and didn’t ask any questions. Looking back, I wish I had asked for help, but hind-site is always 20/20. Wisdom nugget: ask for help sooner than later.
4. The fourth step is to begin writing content. That is where I am right now!

If you have any questions, post them here and I will answer them as soon as possible.

Links to products or services may be affiliate links. See my disclosure policy on the site or on my About page.