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here is something so hopeful about the words “Happy New Year.” I love giving that greeting to everyone I meet at the start of each year. I love buying new calendars. I love the feeling of turning over a new leaf, getting a second chance. I guess that’s why so many of us love making New Year’s Resolutions. Of course, we always pledge to ourselves that this is the year we’ll really keep them. A new year, after all, is full of possibilities, and maybe this will be the year that we do lose those extra pounds, save that extra money, pay down our debts, remember to be kinder and gentler to friends and strangers, find our dream job, the perfect boyfriend, decide that men aren’t the answer . . . .
My resolutions this year include at least four of the above, and as I write this in the first week of the first month of the year, they all still have legs. They haven’t yet evaporated like the dew that clings to morning grass, or vanished into thin air, as most good intentions do when they come face to face with the crush of daily life.
I remind myself that the word “resolution” stems from the word “resolve,” which means “marked by firm determination.” So maybe that’s all it takes. One woman whom we profile in this issue had sufficient resolve to succeed at two of the resolutions women commonly make every New Year: she lost weight and reduced her debt—big time. Not only did Linda Lindsey pay off a $25,000 credit-card balance, she lost an amazing 140 pounds. ”What I thought was the source of all happiness turned out to be nothing more than a bunch of receipts,” she says. In “My Cash Diet,” Linda shares nine tips to help you tighten your financial belt.
If she can do it, so can you. Let’s make this the year that we do keep our New Year’s Resolutions to reduce our debts and save more money. At the magazine, we resolve to give you the tools to keep focused on that goal throughout the coming year.
To jump-start your resolve, in this issue, besides Linda’s story, we offer “A Month Without Flowers”—a “First Glimpse” at a novel in progress by Laurie M. Lesser, about a woman who’s trying to go a month without splurging on her favorite things in order to bring her spending under control. Why not activate your savings resolve by trying to go just one month without splurging on your favorite obsession—whatever that is—and see the difference it makes to your bottom line?
If that doesn’t work, try the scare tactics offered in Elizabeth Lewin’s “Female Finance” column: “10 Years to Retirement and Nothing Saved? Don’t Worry—But Hurry: Here’s What to Do to Avoid Becoming a ‘Bag Lady’.” Speaking of retirement, what’s up with those mutual funds, where so many of us have our retirement savings stashed? Investigations into improper trading activities, which benefit the large investor or brokerage firm at the expense of the rest of us, have gotten so heated that The Wall Street Journal has published a “Mutual Funds Scandal Scorecard” online at www.wsj.com. Find out what you should do about the scandal in “Mutual Admiration Society—Not!” also by Elizabeth.
If one of your resolutions was to figure out how to make money doing something you love, read “Color Her Successful,” an interview with award-winning collage artist Phoebe Beasley, by Allison Acken. Beasley’s works have been featured in Oprah Winfrey’s production of “The Women of Brewster Place,” and she’s the only artist to have been awarded two Presidential Seals, among her many accolades and honors. But before she became an artist by profession, she was an account manager at an L.A. radio station. A firm believer in multiple income streams, she offers advice on how to make the switch from your Day Job to your Dream Job.
If you’ve found your dream mate and are planning a wedding this year, read “The Frugal Bride” for smart ways to keep costs down. “I have attended weddings in cathedrals and on docks . . .and in each case, the only thing that mattered was that the couple was getting married,” says author Sharon Sorokin James, who also contributed a couple of terrific recipes for “What to Do with Your Leftover Bubbly.”
There’s so much more great advice in our departments and columns to help you save money and manage your career. But one of my favorite pieces in this issue is the hilarious reminiscence about the bargains and bonding our “Funny Business” columnist, Jane Resnick, found when shopping with her mother in the communal dressing rooms of Loehmann’s—“the birthplace of discount.” “Who knew breasts came in so many shapes? In my years of shopping at Loehmann’s, I saw more women near-naked than a gynecologist. And true sisterhood blossomed in front of those mirrors,” she writes.
Here’s a toast to the MAKING BREAD sisterhood. May our dough rise and our debts fall this year. Happy 2004! __________________________________
Gail Harlow is the Founding Editor of MAKING BREAD. Send your comments, questions and suggestions to gail@makingbreadmagazine.com. __________________________________
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