Will Pizza and Wings End Your Resolution?

By January 21, 2014, most people have broken their new year’s resolution.  The problem with giving up on your new year’s resolution is the total abandonment that comes with giving up. 

“I can’t eat healthy, so let's go for pizza, wings and beer tonight. I can have ice cream for dessert.” 

 

“I did not exercise everyday for 30 minutes; I am just going to stop.  I can’t do it.”

“I had a can of soda with lunch yesterday.  What's the use I already broke my resolution I might as well buy the soda.  It’s on sale.”

 

“Argh! I bought a pair of boots!  I was not going to buy any shoes or clothing until June and then only what I needed.  I may as well see what is on sale at Kohl’s and Boscov’s.”

 

One missed step does not make a failed resolution.  It just means you need a different tactic.  Maybe exercising everyday is too much of a commitment when you have not exercised since August.  Try to do 15 minutes of exercise on Monday and Wednesday.  While we all know what eating healthy means, eating healthy is so vague.  Begin with not bringing any cookies into the house for the first month, the second month no chips and so on. 

 

 

When it comes to not spending money, I too have a problem with that.  I like the after Christmas and winter sales so I have avoided stores.  If I need something specific, I go into the store buy what I need and walk out.  I do not look around to see what else might be on sale.  It is helping. 

 

Goals accompany my New Year’s resolution.  In my case, if I give up on a resolution I still have goals.  While that may sound like cheating, I want to give myself opportunities to succeed.  An escape or an alternate to a resolution is another tip for sticking to your resolution. 

My New Year’s resolution is to finish all my unfinished projects.  I have tons of steam in the beginning of a project then I complete it to the point of “good enough” and I stop.  I am changing that behavior this year.  I am working on my projects one at a time and each one is on a schedule.  I have six unfinished projects.  I have almost completed the first project.  I am not allowed to start another project until I complete one.  I do have to wait for some material to come in the mail and then I will have it finished this month. 

 

I have two goals.  One I started at Thanksgiving by a random purchase of a book due to an email from Prevention magazine.  I have been so good avoiding buying anything from Prevention but this one addressed a need.  I have been told I will have diabetes like my parents,  grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc.  The book explained how to stop developing diabetes.  That is a perfect book for me.  I tried two of the switches they suggested and my blood sugar count has not been above 85.  One switch was a change from bleached flour to unbleached flour even in products you are buying like bread or pasta.  The other was a switch from eating 5 to 6 small meals a day to 3 meals a day and a good 12 hours between  dinner and breakfast.  Two switches, not expensive and easy to do.   After 2 weeks of making those two switches, my blood sugar went from as high as 137 to as low as 82.  I want to continue to keep the numbers in the 80’s.

 

The other goal is to run a full marathon.  I have run enough half marathons that it is time to run a full.  I am nervous and scared.  I am already training for something that will not take place until October.  I have no idea how long it will take me to complete a full marathon yet.  I will know further into my training.  I am committed to this goal.

 

 

New Year resolutions and goals are obtainable.  They may need to be altered and restarted but they are obtainable.  Hang in there.

 

Know Your Insurance

When I purchased my first house I did not have my house inspected; they did not do that back then.  It was a “buyer beware” type of atmosphere.  You could bring a friend along with you to look at the house.  Hopefully, your friend knew every aspect of home construction.  If you did not have a friend or family member that knew about building construction, you were left to trust your realtor who was trying to make a sale.

 
Times have changed.  There are companies that provide building inspections and a report about a building prior to purchase.  Based upon this inspection, that the buyer pays for, recommendations can be made to repair unseen imperfections.  Knowledge is very powerful when you buy a home or a building. 

 

Armed with no inspection, I purchased my first home.  My second critical error began with my realtor’s statement, “You need insurance.  I will find out who the buyer has and then have them rewrite it in your name.”  That sounded perfect to me.  I knew nothing about home buying, insurance, mortgages and the list of all that I did not know continued.  I was also overwhelmed with all I needed to do and the information that everyone wanted.  Having someone offer to take a task off my plate was wonderful.  Until…

I started working at DGK.  I looked at my homeowner’s insurance policy.  The very minimum you want for your home or any building is replacement cost and special form coverage.  Well, my home was not on replacement cost and it was not on special form.  Not only did I not know what insurance I had on my home I also did not have the proper kind needed.  That was an eye opening experience for me.

 

I bought my insurance on three criteria: it was easy, the price was acceptable and the bank accepted the insurance documents for closing.  Once I bought the insurance, I stayed where I was. I never bothered to learn ANYTHING about my insurance.  I did not ask questions; did I even know what to ask?

Does this insurance replace or repair my home in case of a claim? Does it cover my belongings in the same manner?  How much is my deductible?  What happens when I rent a vacation home at the beach; are any of my belongings covered at the beach house?  What exactly is liability insurance?  What happens if my sump pump does not work and the drains back up?  Do I get any discounts for insuring my automobile with you?  In my case, my car was insured with a different agent and neither asked or told me about a two or more policy discount. 

Luckily, I did not learn the hard way: through having a claim not covered.  I have been fortunate that I do not utilize my insurance and I hope that continues.  I practice risk control as much as possible.  I moved my car and home insurance to DGK and received a multi-policy discount.  In my case, I learned through work what I needed for coverage.  I obtained correct coverage and since I serve on Boards of nonprofit agencies, I have an umbrella policy too; no one asked me about that.  What I do now, along with my coworkers, is teach our clients about insurance coverage. 

Some insurance coverages are a huge “bang for your buck” like rental car coverage, scheduling your diamond engagement ring, increasing your liability on your home especially if you have a dog, adding back up of sewer and drains and many other coverages that are specific to your needs.  My advice, besides buying your insurance from DGK, is to ask questions, research your policy, call different insurance agents, and find a “fit” where you are happily informed.  The cheapest and easiest insurance could be a very costly mistake that is nowhere near an easy button.