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Welcome to the Whole-Hearted-Way newsletter. I hope you enjoy this information and the practical tips. Feel free to email me with any topics you would like to see covered or great resources you would like to share.

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Enjoy!
-Fern

Holiday Survival Tips

In the last issue we talked about the power of tax deferral in growing your portfolio quickly. Now that the holidays are upon us, we can easily get sucked into spending too much and put our savings plan on the back burner. Here are some ways to cope that I picked up from www.choosetosave.org and a few ideas of my own:

I like lists. By bringing a list to the store, it helps you focus and you don’t end up shopping impulsively or for unnecessary items.

Give the gift of experience. Let’s face it, we all have too much stuff. So give gift certificates to the movies, museums, theater, or even house-cleaning.

Our family does this one- draw names, and put a price limit on the amount. The result is everyone gets one nice gift.

Everyone knows that it pays to shop early but I hate shopping! So shop online or by catalogue. Most of the major retailers have safe sites that show items in fine detail. This makes it easier to comparison shop and you can even read independent reviews of the product. You can even get free or low cost shipping. I did a lot of online shopping while I was ill and now I am hooked- no crowds, parking hassles, etc. etc.

Pay off that credit card at the end of the month and if you do use plastic, by all means use the cards that rack up the most frequent flier miles or gas rebates.

Every charity sends out a solicitation at the end of the year and our mailbox is full of requests for a donation. But you can donate a lot more than cash. You can give mutual fund or stock shares and the fair market value is deducted on your tax return. I use MAC cosmetics gift tags where 100% of my purchase goes to help children with HIV. You can buy seasonal cards (UNICEF and Sierra Club have nice ones), gifts, and even clothing now where all or part of the purchase price goes to a non-profit organization. Check on the web to look up your favorite charity to see just how much of your donation goes to work for you. A well run charity should spend no more than 35% on admin and expenses.

"Beyond ending maintenance of a sense of self there is no other generosity." Milarepa

The next issue will focus on tolerations. What do you tolerate that keeps you from moving forward?

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December 2006-- this column is produced by Whole-Hearted-Way and the Financial Planning Association, the membership organization for the financial planning community, and is provided by Fern Alix LaRocca CFP® EA, a local member of the FPA.