Full disclosure: I work part-time for Citizens Bank of Canada as I build up my coaching business (hello dental benefits, extended health, pension!). But I work for them ONLY because I’m nearly as passionate about Citizens Bank as I am about Your Money by Design. It’s a virtual bank based in Vancouver that is sincerely trying to do banking differently – ethics, member-driven, csr and on top of that, great rates.

Right now, if you open a savings account and drop $500 in it – and the interest rate is 3.8% right now – they give you $30 and me $30 as long as the money stays there at least 6 months. It’s a great way to start up a nest egg, or emergency fund, or holiday fund…. saving is always good! Open your Savings account, let them know I referred you and you get $30, and I’ll donate mine to the Downtown Eastside Music Academy (a music program for kids in tough financial circumstances).

And now for something completely different:  these Opus picture frames, mint condition, for $15 each.  Retail for $70.  Three frames available – buy them all for $30.  Thanks,  10onWednesday!

Hallelujah. The gst is probably dropping down to 5%. That’s a 1% raise for each of us. (thanks for the heads-up, mj!)

Maybe I can afford the new google-phone expected to be announced in the next couple weeks, and released in 2008. (oooo — could I betray the iphone like that??)

A number of us thrifty-types in the blogosphere have committed to eating at home and meal planning for the month of November. So far, participants include:

Wooly Woman

Vixen on a Budget

Laughing at Guilded Butterlies

and Barb B.

It’s not too late to jump in here with us (think how good you’ll be feeling for the holiday season) and as a bonus, I have a $25 gift certificate to Safeway/Choices for one person who sticks with their plan all November, and posts about it at least once a week either here or on Wooly Woman’s blog.

About 70% of my clients contact me initially because they are afraid of something about their money.

Many (!) are afraid they will not have ‘enough’ and will be a bag lady (or some similar fate).

Others are afraid that their debt will overtake them and drive them into the ground.

Some simply have a free-floating anxiety about money in general.  Are they financially ‘good enough’?

Again and again, my greatest joy is to see people stare down their respective money demons.  To watch them pull back the curtain and discover their financial-wizard-of-oz has occupied a disproportionate space in their heads.  And to equip them to tackle their respective demons head-on.

One woman was afraid her spouse would reject her if he knew how much debt she had.  He didn’t.  He was somewhat un-nerved, but it certainly wasn’t any kind of deal-breaker.

A male client, having experienced divorce and job loss, was convinced his home would be repossessed too.  It wasn’t – he sold it at a solid profit.

I’ve worked with numerous couples who were afraid their diverging financial ‘styles’ would tear them apart.  Instead, they learned to bring their respective strengths to the table to from a tight-knit economic unit.

 If you have fears, take heart.  Financially, as in other areas, it’s probably the case that The greatest thing to fear is fear itself.  If you need some moral support to dive in, e-mail me at contact at your money by design (dot the commercial kind).

“The Secret” (avail. at Abebooks.com“) and “manifesting money” is much talked about these days. Personally, I lean towards the conventional – developing our savvy, paying attention to how we handle money, and seizing opportunities. I also think being ‘poor’ (whatever that means) is no reflection of character, and certainly doesn’t mean a person simply hasn’t grasped any particular ‘secret’. I think of Jesus, Dorothy Day, Ghandi who knew life is about a lot more than your material life. Indeed, the monks in Burma have reminded us that life is more than life itself!

However – I’m also open to possibility and in that spirit and frankly, a large element of fun, I’ve joined in on Steve Pavlina’s “Million Dollar Experiment“. Here’s the gist. By spending time daily reflecting on:

In an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way, in its own perfect time, for the highest good of all, I intend $1,000,000 to come into my life and into the lives of everyone who holds this intention.

the goal is for each participant to manifest $1,000,000.00

OK, C’mon you skeptics (hmm. I’m one too. How will that skew my results?), you gotta admit, it’s fun and its cheaper than the lottery (which I never do).

-nancy

(ps. I’m a little less skeptical than previously thanks to one of my clients. A twenty-something, I saw her over the course of a year practice manifesting, meditating, and I saw the results, month after month. It was beyond the usual – almost freaky.)