Don't Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle!

     What a year 2017 has been ! Mine has been up and down like a yo-yo but with victories being prevalent I’ve decided that this is life for now, not forever. If getting those victories means I have to deal with different problems for awhile then everything is working out for the better. Momentum might just get me a homer. Well, it’s easier to go with that rather than focus on bad stuff which will eventually just work itself out, anyway. My mother’s influence was always positive and she very seldom became unhinged over anything. Positive thinking and living is the better way. Also, Mom always said, “Whatever everyone else does- you do the right thing, anyway.”

     My greatest victory this year was defeating debt that looked impossible to surmount through 2015 and 2016. That is a big sigh of relief you just heard in the background. My rule of thumb has been never to get into more debt than you can pay off on any given month. It may sound strange to some but building credit is just as important as clearing the deck of finances. Having a good credit rating is akin to having those lines of credit with the bank. Those are good to have but generally a bit low especially for the needs of an average homeowner today. If you wanted to start a business, would you be able to finance it with the type of credit that is available to you?

     I have had clients tell me they have filed bankruptcies with a gleam in their eyes like they got away with something. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. Just wait until they desperately need a loan or have to do something drastic like mortgage their house because of an emergency! The perceived risk factor by the potential creditor may put you into such a high interest rate that it could put you in the red for the rest of your life. And that’s if you get such a break because bankruptcies are usually anathema to creditors. Any credit counselor will tell you that because it’s true.

     There is no worse feeling than knowing that you worked as hard as you could only to find that because you made bad financial decisions there is no way out of a rut. I can certainly testify to that because I have spent most of my life literally working on clients hand and foot! The only creditor who will esteem your hard work is yourself- i.e. do you give yourself credit? - and maybe a friend or two. So your financial decisions are crucial to your life and livelihood in the long term. You may win the PCH sweepstakes but if you make financial decisions based on those suppositions you could really get yourself in a bind. You may as well gamble with loaded dice in Vegas!

      Being realistic, prioritizing the needs from the wants and plain old budgeting will back up your hard-earned cash. Being thrifty, couponing and going for the discounts on your i-phone also help but if you put too much or too little on your credit card you’re missing out on the best way to get control of your finances in a very real way. Only multimillionaires and billionaires can spend money like there’s no tomorrow. All those making $12,000 or less per year better learn their math and how to budget especially if you’ve started to spend money in an adult fashion. Your future financial status depends on it.

The Castle Lady

Olaf's Frozen Adventure

Like everyone else that is a romantic I thoroughly enjoyed the first Frozen movie when it came out along with the wildly popular songs and even the merchandising of it- well, most of it anyway. I’ve never been one to go so far as to buy huge amounts of promotional products even if I really like a movie, group or T.V. sitcom, etc. Maybe it’s because the licensing companies always over-do it and everyone gets burnt out on anything that gets pitched to that degree and manner. Two weeks ago, while watching this new T.V. version, I suddenly realized I had my Olaf pajama pants on and my Frozen box of tissues beside me and was pasting Frozen stickers on a few of the Christmas cards I was addressing and started to laugh a little to myself. When the commercials came on I consulted my Frozen 2017 calendar while packaging patterns for Elsa’s and Anna’s outfits to send to my long-time friend in Russia- my Russian pen-pal, if you will.

    

I suddenly realized I’d overbought, perhaps, without even trying. These were items I had to buy anyway and it just seemed to me that it would be nice if they depicted my favorite characters from the movie. The Olaf pants are the warmest I’ve ever worn and we’ve been getting below 20 degree weather since the day before Christmas in Denver. Okay! The patterns were quite deliberate and so were the Frozen stickers but you have to remember that I’ve never carried on this way so you’ll have to cut me some slack if I have perhaps gone overboard.

     Let’s face it, Frozen Disney characters may be the most irresistible that they’ve ever created. Walt would definitely approve because he was a proven romantic. If you haven’t seen Olaf’s Frozen Adventure you missed out on something really special on T.V. that happens very rarely these days. The premiere of a Disney movie on T.V. rather than in the movie theaters first! I’d be willing to bet that Frozen may be the most watched since The Wonderful World of Disney first aired more than 50 years ago. Now there’s a program they need to bring back!

     At any rate, if they show it again before we go into the new year (they’ve shown it twice before Christmas!), please watch it with your kids or any you can pull off the street and get them to sit still long enough to watch it all the way through. This may be the best Disney has ever offered on T.V. and this particular Frozen installment was very heart-warming and just plain fun. The humor works for both children and adults and contains a great message for both, too. 

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The Castle Lady

It’s Just Another NBA Christmas !

    

I love the back-to-back games they have every year now on a regular T.V. network. This is the third year in a row now. It gives fans a chance to see what the potential championship runners for the year are up to and what’s what concerning the roulette wheel of trades and free agent changes. Kevin Durant’s move last year to the Golden State Warriors took everyone by surprise including myself but I’ve been aware of his talent as a player for quite some time. He’s actually a peer with LeBron but has chosen the humble road for quite some time. My how things can suddenly change! Humbleness cannot be faked, in my estimation, so my thoughts are that Durant needed a little more recognition and respect. Good for him. It doesn’t make him any less a hero but it makes him quite human- as we all are- and I nod my head in agreement. No one has ever earned MVP quite as much as he did last year and under the current circumstances I think he should receive the award again. Of course, that would be a contingent on whether the GSW make their way to the championships again. Judging from the last five games I think they can do it.

Stephen Curry has been curiously over-absent from quite a few games now and the camera spotted him in the audience about midway through Monday’s game (and very near the end) on ABC looking quite peaceful, happy and idle. Hmmm. As usual, all the Warriors were in their best form and won the game against their fiercest rivals, the Cavaliers. To be honest, when I watch these particular matches I’m torn because I like as many players on the Cavaliers team as GSW. There were a handful of rookies on both teams so it was particularly crucial to watch.

   

  Something I haven’t understood at all is the reaction that Kevin Durant is getting in his old hometown- OKC. What’s up with all the sass from former fans last year? It appears to me that Russell Westbrook is carrying a grudge but he should be quite happy with his line-up these days and they did win over the Houston Rockets by a five-point lead. When I saw that Carmelo Anthony had joined up with the Thunder earlier this season I went into shock because I know how much he persevered to join up with the Knicks years ago after being with our own Denver Nuggets for so many years. Conversation about him never stopped while he played for Denver but he also caught some flack by Nuggets fans when he signed on the dotted line for the Knicks. While watching that game on Christmas Day I noticed that his average shooting had gone down more than ten points since his Denver days. That made me sad because he was the holder of the highest shooting average in the NBA while he played here.

     Overall I liked most of what I watched and am looking forward to this season’s wrap up. I’ve learned to just enjoy the games because I truly don’t have favorites but I do appreciate a good, difficult basketball game full of three pointers, pass-arounds, ally oops and jump shots but very little dribbling. It’s too long of a road to Little Dribbling and wastes too much gas. Speaking of gas- whatever happened to Birdman? Oh, I almost forgot. thumbs up to Draymond Green for his sly-fast 3-pointer from downtown in the beginning of the last quarter on Christmas! 😜