1. In the best real estate buyers market ever with no way to take advantage of it - OR-
2. Carrying a mortgage payment that we could no longer afford

Before we go any further let me make one thing clear - millions of people across America didn’t just wake up one day and each make the same bad financial decision to get into a mortgage they could not afford. I know that this is what some of you believe (and very strongly at that)  because it’s what the media tells you, it’s what your favorite talk radio guy tells you - but that don’t make it true people.

The fact of the matter is that you can have a low interest rate mortgage with a low monthly payment - but if you do not have  the same income that you did 3 years ago (or you have no income at all) no one and I mean absolutely nobody is going to help you when you’ve fallen 3 months behind, five months behind or even 6 months behind. The mortgage companies’ idea of  “a workout” is  often laughable; to you an dI it would make sense for them to look at your current income/debt and give you a payment that you could actually afford so that you and your neighbors can stay in their homes. But, nooooo, instead tey will attach the six months sans interest to your existing monthly payment and give you a payment that is basically double the amount that you couldn’t pay in the first place!

In some parallel universe this strategy makes total sense, unfortunately we do not live there, we are ere in tis universe where we end up losing tat home to foreclosure and then the bank sells your $100,000 home for $20,000. That’s right twenty thousand dollars! Now why couldn’t they just give you an affordable payment instead? If one of  you, my dear  readers , understands why this is please tell me so that I can explain it to my cousin who lost her home in just this way.

To add insult to injury, we also have companies who will take what little you have left in your savings account to assist you in getting a “loan modification” . I like to call this something for nothing, they take your money and promise you salvation, and you end up with the same deal that I mentioned earlier - that wonderful “workout” thing.

Well thank God for “The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America” and founder Bruce Marks who believe that neighborhood stabilization means getting people into home ownership and keeping existing homeowners in their homes.  NACA is a non-profit group that advocates for homeowners and would be homeowners. Their Home Save program can help you to get into an affordable mortgage situation if:

1. You live in your home
2. You only have one property in your name

To get help from NACA you must :

• Visit NACA.com and find a Workshop near you
• Fill out the forms on the NACA website and get an appointment with a counselor
• I suggest filling out the forms after you have attended a workshop as the workshop will teach you how to fill the forms out correctly
• Become a part of the solution. NACA is all about giving back, so don’t just take your new low mortgage payment and walk away. Volunteer to help out at workshops, help the advocacy effort by  advocating for economic justice to politicians at the  local , state, and national levels.

NACA is not a  government handout and no one gets something for nothing.  It is the kind of program this country desperately needs, so tell all of your friends and families - no one should lose their home when help is so close at hand.

I had a business partner who was doing great, recruiting new team members,  marketing  our products and services and just movng up in pin levels and income like crazy. Joe had lost his job back in ‘08 and was working to supplement his wife’s income. They had gotten behind on a few bills  and were living paycheck to paycheck.  So you can imagine why Joe threw himself into the business in a no holds barred way, and was experiencing success and getting checks in the mail. Then his wife got laid off and Joe felt so overwhelmed that he stopped working the business and eventually quit. When I asked him why he said that with all of the financial problems they had , he just couldn’t focus on the business at all.

This happens all of the time, some people call it quitting before the blessing, but I know better.  I know that what really happened is that Joe  suddenly  lost his ability to dream of a life after debt. That’s what debt will do to you, it throws up this wall between you and the things you used to dream about, the goals that you had previously set for yourself. Debt whispers insistentlyinto your ear that what you really really need to  do is forget all this six-figure income nonsense and go get a a real job  with a steady paycheck.  And, hey I’m not knocking jobs, after all  I have one of those too and I can honestly tell you (like I told Joe, but he was too far gone to get it) that  you will need a king sized salary (or more than one job)  to conquer debt in the short term and that’s why you should not quit working your business.

Anyway I’m not here to talk about jobs and debt really. What I wanted to ask you is “Do you still believe? Are you still dreaming?” If you close your eyes and all you can see is your pile of bills dwindling, then I gotta tell you that the answer is probably no.  Do me a favor, go lay down close your eyes for a bit of a bit and dream a big dream that involves cruises and traveling and designer clothes and big houses all paid for with cash. Visualize yourself driving a Lamborghini on the autobahn, having lunch in Dubai, or whatever trips your trigger.

I want you to do this a minimum of once a week, more often if you can. Take it a step further and start a dreamboard or two(just cut pictures and quites out of magazines that represent your dreams; paste them on a piece of posterboard and put it someplace that you can look at it everyday). Here is an example and here is another (I love examples more than instructions  don’t you?).

Soon you will see that there is life after debt if you persist and above all keep on dreaming. Come back and let me know if  this helped you…

What if you found a great product that you wanted to introduce to your family and friends , but realized that you couldn’t, because they would see you coming (and run the other way!)? Chances are that back when you started your first network marketing business, you initially pitched your family and friends on everything. So what have they done? They have tuned you out when it comes to network marketing opportunities and products.

It’s not your fault, most network marketing training initially focuses on the warm market, (even the top network marketing companies still teach this) what they don’t tell you is that this will place you in the NFL. And I don’t mean National Football League; NFL stands for No Friends Left when it comes to anything having to do with your business or products. This is not a place that you want to be; so how do you avoid it?

There is a better way to market to friends and family that will have them eagerly building your business for you. Kim Klaver wrote a great piece called Friends, Lies, and Network Marketing in which she offers twelve tips for keeping your friends and family in your corner and providing you with network marketing leads:

1. Don’t mislead your friends by introducing your product or business as if you were recommending a restaurant or movie.
2. Warn them up front that you’re selling what you’re going to talk about.
3. Don’t ask your friends to buy. Ask for a referral instead. [THIS IS HUGE!!!]
4. Don’t ask your friends to sell. Ask for a referral instead. [AGAIN,THIS IS MAJOR!!!]
5. Lead with your own hot button.[This goes back to the Law of attraction - you attract what you are. So those who are passionate about the same thin that you are passionate about will be drawn to you.]
6. Story replaces pitch. [Facts tell and stories sell - has anyone ever put you to sleep talking about their work? well don't be that person]
7. No promises, no problems.[If network marketing was easy, everyone would do it, so don't tell that lie to family and friends - these people love you, love them back.]
8. Enthusiasm sells. Hype and hounding don’t.
9. Recommend the smallest package,like a prudent advisor would.
10. Skip the therapy.They didn’t ask for it and won’t pay you for it.[As much as you want to save a friend who is deep in debt or a sister who is overweight, let it go if they don't see the vision. Spend time with like-minded folks who are going to get you to your multiple comma income]
11. Use multiple venues to tell your story. [Network marketing tip: do what fits your budget,don't spend more on advertising than you've made in your business]
12. Women: Stay in your comfort zone. Your natural ways are working in today’s skeptical marketplace.

You can find Kim’s manifesto at changethis.com.

My oldest child is 30, and I don’t think there has been one moment in his lifetime whe I wasn’t on a weight loss diet or doing some fitness routine or both. I remember back in cave man days when we didn’t have VCRs and one had to exercise with Jack Lalanne or do exercises from a book; I would wake up at 4 am to get a workout in (yes seriously, from a book!) before heading to work.

I had my two oldest while I was in the Marine Corps and in each case I had 4 - 6 weeks to get back into that uniform and in good enough shape to pass a PFT (physical fitness test). After the birth of my first I waited one week or whatever it was and headed home to Mommy with baby in tow. She would promptly put me on a diet  and I would get up every morning and run around Holy Cross Cemetery  (Beverly to Schenectady, over to Snyder and down to Brooklyn Ave and back to Avenue D) at least once. I remember  that about a year after my second child was born I weighed 128lbs, I was of course disgusted and went on the very restrictive Hamptons Diet and wore one of those rubber things around my waist under my uniforms (well my cammies anyway).

As you can probably guess,  I have been alternating between avoiding  food altogether and bingeing  on the foods I love. That is just tiresome and now that it’s fall I am ready for some good eats - creamy soups, halloween candy, Thanksgiving dinner, and all those Christmas cakes, cookies and candies. This year I am armed with a product called Cheat (read about it for yourself here) and a determination to not deny myself anything while I eat just enough to satisfy the craving.

Today I made one of my favorite desserts (it probably cost less than $3, that’s why I say “cheap”), you can fancy it up for family gatherings by adding sour cream to the cream cheese, and topping with fruit. I also considered putting caramel in the bottom before the filling, and maybe some on top after chilling:

CHEAP & EASY NO - BAKE FAT FREE CHEESECAKE

1 ready made graham cracker crust
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese
1/2 c. sugar
1 (8 oz.) Fat Free Whipped Topping

Blend cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Fold in Cool Whip. Again, blend until smooth. Pour mixture into ready made crust. Chill at least 2 hours.

As the recession deepens more and more people are beginning to feel the effects. Those who retired with a healthy pension or 401K are seeing those accounts dwindle. Creditors have no sympathy for the unemployed and the newly underemployed who in the recent past fearlessly accumulated debt that did not match what they had saved.  Are you afraid to answer the phone because you know that a creditor is on the other end of that line? Do you gaze fondly upon the things  in your home and worry that you may not be able to keep it all; that maybe you won’t even be able to keep your home? Do you worry about a government takeover of health care, the auto industry and the banks on one hand; while on the other hand you worry that you won’t qualify for unemployment or medicare for much longer?

If fear is the opposite of faith and is by it’s very nature a sin, then allow me to propose that those who feed us fear propaganda are inviting us to lose what little faith we have left and engage in a sin with them. All is not lost, because in the same way that we have learned the art of being Fear- full, so can we reverse that and learn to again be Faith-full.

When our debts outweigh our bank accounts and there is no relief in sight, we begin to cast around in our minds for the act that we committed which has brought this punishment down on our heads. This reflects the fear of punishment that has stayed with us from childhood, we have this idea that we will either be rewarded or punished for every act. And when we find ourselves standing on the verge of losing everything, we assume that our day of reckoning has come; that someone is tallying the good and bad that we’ve done and meting out punishment based on the balance.

In my teenage years I sang in the church choir, there is one line from one song that resonated so strongly, that several decades later it still sustains me:

“We’ve come this far by Faith, leaning on the Lord, trusting in his Holy Word…He’s never failed me yet”

What we forget is that God is the Giver and also the Forgiver, if we first forgive ourselves, so will we in turn be forgiven. Our fear of the future is based on our lack of belief in ourselves (confidence) and the healing power of God’s Love.  Darkness flees an empty room when we turn on the light. Faith is your light and if you turn on your Faith, you will find that all of your Fears have “dissolved into their native nothingness”.

“Fear not little flock for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”~ Luke 12:32

2. Speaking of sporadic fad dieting,  people who have trouble losing weight are sometimes the same people who cannot finish what they start.  So if you’re going to lose weight, then you have to stop being a quitter.

3. If you cannot exercise  (though honestly, unless you are bedridden, why can’t you move something?) then make sure that you are restricting enough calories to create weight loss ( a pound or two a week is best, so eliminate 3500 to 7000 calories per week and you will lose 1 t o2 pounds)

3. Drink filtered water - it  helps to wash away all the debris from the fat that you’re burning. If you drink coffee and tea balance it with the same or more in water.

4. Eat food that you like, and do not deprive yourself. When we  go on a restrictive diet, it creates a scarcity mentality which eventually leads us to that midnight binge on the floor in front of the refrigerator - kind of like the scene in “9.5 Weeks”  but not near as sexy.

5. Remember that a ho-hum diet and a ho-hum workout are going to give you zero results.  That means get off the treadmill (or whatever else you have been doing every day at the same speed and pace) and really pay attention to your diet (try a food log or one of the online calculators). Great progress requires big changes - so shake things up a lot!

6. Stop  preparing to get ready to be prepared to start your diet or workout plan - just do it already. There is no reason to binge the night or weekend before you start - not when there are products like Cheat - and there is no reason to plan your program for a time when you think life won’t happen.  Life is always happening - lunch meetings with dessert, business trips where the hotel has no gym, a project that disrupts your meals or makes you miss a workout. If you’re going to plan then plan to be flexible and prepared for the inevitable - travel with a workout DVD, keep protein bars or shakes at the office and so on.

As always I welcome your input. What’s your diet and weight loss plan?

The summer business season started well enough, how was I to know that things could slide so far and so fast? All the business development books talk about momentum in your business and how important that can be . In network marketing what’s really crucial is your pipeline, you have to keep filling your pipeline with personal contacts, leads, and highly qualified prospects.Ellie Drake once gave me a great visual of a pipeline as an actual pipe where prospects go in one end and wander around in there until the pipe gets so crowded that some of them pop out the other end as customers and business partners.

When the kids got out of school for the summer my pipeline was so full that I was enrolling people into my business and signing up customers like crazy. Then my dog died, no seriously my dog actually died. Stopped me cold and slowed my momentum. I tried to get back into my schedule, continue marketing, prospecting and training - but my head was not in the game. Taking on additional responsibilities at work and with my son’s Marching Band ate up a lot of my time - instead of prospecting for my business, I was prospecting businesses and churches for band donations. Instead of marketing in my downtime I was rolling out two large web projects at work.

I was not surprised to discover that I was not alone in my situation, summer time and it’s attendant family centered activities  takes a lot of us out of the game. We do our business in drips and drabs, but momentum is nonexistent and prospects wander lost through our pipelines.  At some point this summer I seem to have decided that

If I Can’t Be A Producer Then I’ll Be A Consumer

As you well know Dear Reader, I have always been obsessed with my weight. I recently saw a picture of myself in high school and I could see my hip bones I was so skinny - which came as a shock and surprise to me since I’ve always considered myself chunky. Anyway I digress,  so back in May I started doing the P90x workouts and really enjoyed that for a month or so, but life got in the way and my workouts joined my business momentum in the land of limbo (and I don’t mean Trinidad).

About a month ago a friend approached me with a weight loss product/opportunity. I was not that interested in the opportunity, but was interested in the product because it didn’t require me to chew on my nails twice a week, eliminate meals, or change much of anything about what I was already doing.  It’s actually four products (aptly titled Core4) - a pill to boost your metabolism, a lean protein shake, another pill to flush your system, and a powder that you sprinkle on your food which takes away 25% of calories that you ingest (it’s kind of like Alli without the nasty side effects). So far it’s working great, I’ve lost weight even though it’s birthday month in my house. They’ve got a cool Facebook type website that you can join for free, so check it out if you are as obsessed with your belly as I am.

So now that I am done illuminating the negative , my plan is to get back on track with my business and my life. Ameriplan has just (today) launched two great products  SecureNet & AccessSaver and a new binary compensation plan APFLEXPLUS , so I have plenty to offer!

And so do you, don’t let a temporary slump be your downfall. Even the best of us fall victim to the summer,winter,spring doldrums; but it doesn’t mean that we have to quit pursuing the dream of financial freedom. Your biggest client, your most profitable business associate, and your best customer are all waiting for you to contact them - so just do it!

Usually “identity theft” means that someone is using your name, Social Security number, or credit card information without your permission. It could also mean that they are using your driver license or medical records. There was a recent case where a man struggled for 35 years because someone he knew had taken his personal information. This person moved to another city, got a job, got sick and created medical records and doctor bills, and did not bother to pay his taxes – all in this man’s name!  The victim tried to get help , but it took THIRTY FIVE years before anyone listened to him, can you imagine?

According to the Federal Trade Commission the number of Americans who fall victim to identity theft each year is 9 million and growing! I have been a victim three times, twice someone began using my credit card while I was out of the country, and once I didn’t even know about until I received a notice from the government that the person had been caught. Fortunately, I was able to take care of my issues quickly and easily. The first time I was on a cruise for 7 days and the bank noticed the strange activity and called my home; the second time I was in Europe, when I got home and started working on my expense reports, I  noticed purchases that were definitely not mine. In both cases the cards were canceled immediately and new cards were issued. What was scary is how easy it was for someone to be me, and purchase items, gamble in online casinos etc.

Chances are that you, a close friend, or a relative have been victimized in the past. Due to the state of the economy, the instances of identity theft are actually on the rise. Crimes utilizing your identity range from using your name to acquire housing or purchase an iPhone and create a new AT&T account , to getting a new drivers license and clean driving record.   Identity Theft is not always about your credit card (not at first anyway), this is a fairly common misconception.  Identity theft more commonly occurs because:

1. The thief has lost their own drivers license (suspension, DUI, too many traffic violations) and uses yours to start over in  another state
2. The thief is unable to get an apartment because they have a bad rental history
3. The thief cannot get a new cell phone plan with their bad credit, so they use your name and information instead

Once the identity thief is comfortable using your information, it’s no stretch for them to really dig in and get a job, open credit accounts, get medical care, and basically create a shadow life to the one you are living. Scary isn’t it?   And what’s even more scary is that this could very well be someone that is known to you or to your friends or to your relatives. Someone who got close enough to get just  enough of your information to be dangerous.

Identity theft is not a joke and it’s not some crime that companies make up to get you to buy their ID protection  product. What’s even scarier is the impact identity theft can have on your life:

• You could lose out on a new job
• Your child may not be able to get a loan for college
• Your cars could be repossessed or you may be unable to purchase a car
• You could be arrested and jailed because of someone else’s mishandling of your identity

Have any identity theft horror stories? Feel free to share.

It’s almost official, Summer is over. You can try to hang on to her if you want but it’s not the same with the kids back in school and roads clogged with traffic. So here is my summer roundup, watched a lot of TV, read a couple of books, exercised - sometimes I did it all at the same time just to keep things interesting.  Swam in the pool next door once, got my tan for the summer (only swim once every summer, don’t ask me why).

For your reading pleasure and in no particular order, here are a few of my favorite things:

1. TNT - they know drama. Those guys on “Dark Blue ” are hotttt in a dark undercover kinda way.
2. Chester Himes - read a collection of his short stories, took me back to my youth. Especially loved “A Modern Fable” . A political tale which could have been written yesterday but was actually written 30 to 50 years ago.  It’s about a politician and a common man during the depression. The politician promises increased wages for WPA workers, the common man votes for him. The new senator gets in office and votes against a bill that would increase the wages of WPA workers because he just cannot see leaving that much debt for future genrations. The WPA program is abolished and the now unemployed and homeless common man gets a gun and visits the Senator…read it for yourself, Chester tells the story much better. I also liked “Prediction” it’s dark, and it’s not for the faint of heart.
3. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the story of a young girl growing up in Nigeria. Her father is religious & has some ideas about raising children that are  “different”.  A great read.
4. P90X - Someone gifted me with a copy of this and I absolutely love it.  The workouts are different enough to keep you interested an hard and intense enough to actually change your body. They just came out with Insanity and I’m thinking about it.  Check it all out here
5. Burn Notice - don’t you just love the way this is narrated? How he teaches budding operatives how to be full fledged operatives? I really like Sharon Gless as his Mom,  but then I like her as anyone’s Mom and am just happy to see her looking good and doing her thing.
6. Marching Band Camp - I am blessed with the exalted  position of “Hospitality Chair” for the Grayson High School MB. This means I got the chance to  spend two months convincing businesses and churches to donate food so that we could feed the little darlings for two weeks. Band kids are great, and I am lucky to be a band Mom.
7. Columbus OH -  traveled there on business and took  the hubby with me, we had not had a vacation alone in many, many years (not since Montego Bay in the late 90s). Downtown Columbus is beautiful, we stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn which is an old bank converted into a hotel. We ate at Jambo a cajun restaurant across the street from the hotel which had just opened - excellent.
8. The health care debate - well not really. But it took up so much of my summer I thought I’d mention it. I have watched in stunned disbelief  as people who have stood up for nothing in the past 10 years, began falling for everything that was thrown at them . Seriously folks - death panels?
9. Facebook - I have had the opportunity to reconnect with so many wonderful friends of my youth all thanks to FB;  gotta love it
10. The Cleaner - Benjamin Bratt sizzles as a recovering addict who talks to God and assists other addicts in cleaning up (ok he abducts them, handcuffs them to a bed, and makes em go cold turkey -  but they usually come around to seeing things his way).

I just started using the Core4 products from CNI, will talk about that in my Fall roundup, LOL. So what did you do this summer?

You could say something like “well if you were opening a video rental shop you would have to invest in a space, inventory, employees ” blah blah blah. I don’t like that response, the person you are talking to is not interested in a brick and mortar business, they are interested in earning an income or supplementing their current income – preferably from home.

The myth is that a job does not cost money, but the reality is that it absolutely does! In January of last year I had to fly to Russia to do some consulting work. While I was reimbursed for travel and food, there were some out of pocket costs that almost made the trip not worthwhile - a new coat, boots, several suits (cause I had been working from home and was a size off from the suits in my closet).  During the summer I did some consulting in Florida, different climate requiring different suits. In both cases I had to pay up front and get reimbursed later (after taxes). Additionally, once the gigs were over so was the cash flow – I worked long and I worked hard, but there is no residual income in a job.

So when faced with that question, go back to the reason (s) that person came to you looking for work at home and  explain to them he following costs that are incurred by those who have jobs :

1. If they have children then someone will have to take care of those children when they are at work; that’s money that is not being spent when they work from home
2. A job requires acceptable clothing, this is a cost that  is incurred before any wages are paid and is not reimbursable nor can it be claimed at tax time
3. Working outside the home means eating lunch outside the home – the average worker spends at least $5 per day on meals and beverages while at work (many workplaces now charge for coffee).
4. Transportation – whether they travel by bus, train, or automobile it will cost them money each week to get to and from work.
5. The cost of eating out more because no one is home to cook dinner.

The next time you are asked “Why should I pay to work at home?” by a prospect, present these facts to them, and add that many spouses who choose a job outside the home to “help out financially” are really only adding to the tax burden (more money coming in means more for your Uncle Sam) and the financial and emotional (you know how your little one cries when daddy goes to work? Well imagine what will happen when one of you hands him off to the folks at a day care center) costs of running the household. In “Lower Your Taxes Big Time” Sandy Botkin presents a financial breakdown which shows the money that is actually lost when both spouses work, and one of them doesn’t really make very much.

How do you handle this question? Leave a comment.