It is a little scary when your doctor tells you that you must stop the stress in your life. The fact that it is clearly taking a toll on your body should be a wake up call.

Anyone who knows me personally knows I am person who looks at my body as a temple. I have always love exercise (I know I am a freak), I try as hard as I can to eat right, I pretty much only drink water. So, I eat right and exercise…I should be healthy, right? I found out this week, not so much. I may look healthy to the average person, but to a doctor, they see the signs of stress taking over my body. I know for a fact I am far from alone.

You may be asking what does stress have to do with money? I am here to tell you a whole lot. Here are some examples you may be able to relate too: MORE

Do you ever find summer rolls around and your cash is gone?  Whether you have children or not, you will find that summer is just more expensive…period.  From little things like gasoline going up to bigger things like wanting to take a family vacation or the cost of putting your children in summer camp, it just costs more. 

Tip number three in my series is to: 

Establish a Separate Savings Account for Your Summer  – Rather than trying to scrounge up the money at the last minute, go to your bank and create a savings account just for your summer season.  You can earmark this money for anything summer related.  With online banking now, you can even change the name of the account to “Summer Savings”.  This will take some of the heat off you when many of your expenses have increased.  Take a percentage of your income every pay period and put it into that account.  You have to be consistent about it though.  If you establish the account and don’t put anything in there, it really isn’t going to do you any good, is it?  It doesn’t have to break the bank, start with just 1% of your take home pay.  You will be amazed at how your money grows throughout the year.

 Little steps like this can make an enormous difference and it is really not that hard to do.  Just think of all you will be able to do during the summer knowing you have it covered.

Yesterday I told you to take a vacation in order to survive the summer financially.  Hopefully you have discussed this with your family and have made the decision to go…somewhere.  Trust me I understand money can be a concern, so, today I have decided to give you some advice on how to go on vacation with a budget in place.

The first and most important thing you need to do is take a good look at your finances.  See where you can plug some holes to make it happen.  Once you do that, put a budget in place.  Recently my husband and I gave ourselves a $1,000 budget to go to San Diego for the weekend.  We are going this weekend for our 10^th wedding anniversary.  I will share with you later how it all goes. 

Here are some tips on how to get great travel deals.

Research Your Vacation Options – If money is a concern to begin with, I don’t want you to stress yourself out more with an expensive vacation.  Here you have a couple of options.  If you are a do-it-yourself kind of person, the internet is your best friend.  Surf the web to find the best deals around.  Depending on the economy, you will want to book your vacation way in advance, or the night before you leave.  With the economy in the state it is now, I have heard of a few people booking flights to Europe a few days before and getting screaming deals.  A friend of mine booked a weekend in San Francisco the day they left and were shocked at the enormous discount they were able to get because they were booking it on the spur of the moment. 

If you are more like me, you get a little overwhelmed researching all that information.  I am a big fan of travel agents.  If you find a good travel agent, you can call them with some ideas of where you want to go, when, for how long and give them your budget and you are set!  The best part is this service does not cost you a penny.  Travel agents do this for a living, so, they know the best places for the best prices.  It really is a win, win for everyone.

Have you ever noticed that things seem to cost more during the summer?  Not only that, but there are a lot more expenses.  Between extra daycare costs, summer camp, sports and vacations, you probably feel financially spent! 

Over the next couple of weeks I am going to outline ten steps to financial summer survival.  Today is step one:

Take a Vacation – I know that seems counterintuitive, because that takes money, right?  I am aware of the fact that it takes money.  However, I am one of the worst culprits when it comes to not taking a vacation.  I can always come up with some excuse as to why we cannot, usually related to the family budget.  See if you think my logic makes sense, if you take a vacation, you will be refreshed and relaxed…ready to take on the world when you come back.  You will be less likely to get sick or burned out.  So, now you are ready to conquer the universe.  With all that extra energy, you will perform better at work, impress your boss, maybe you will end up getting a promotion, which all leads to more money in the future.  I don’t know about you, but I like that way of thinking.  It is worth spending some money now to rejuvenate…it will pay for itself in the future.

So, take my advice and go on vacation, even if it is a little one.  Something is better than nothing.  Get creative; you don’t have to go to Hawaii to get away.  Check out hidden treasures in your own back yard.  Living in the Sacramento Valley, I have Lake Tahoe or San Francisco within two hours either way.  Not to mention the Napa Valley or any of the other beautiful vacation spots.  Check out your neck of the woods and see what you can find. 

The most important thing is that you relax.  Go!  Have some fun…

Many of you are probably saying, “Oh, yes, it is!”  Don’t get me wrong, I love money.  It’s great! 

Let’s give a mention to all the fantastic things you can do with money:

• It makes you feel good when you have lots of it.
• You can buy lots of cool stuff with it.
• People respect you more if you have it.
• You feel successful if you have plenty of it around.
• It gives you the ultimate freedom.

Who wouldn’t want lots of money around with all those great benefits?  So, let me just make it abundantly clear here, I am not saying money is bad in any way.  I want people to stop running their lives with it.  MORE

How do you feel when you pay the bills?  Are you excited at the prospect of checking off some items on your to do list?  Are you subconsciously thanking your creditors for allowing you the opportunity to use their money for the month?  Or, are you completely overwhelmed with the task?  Do you procrastinate until you can procrastinate no more?  Are you overwhelmed and exhausted by the time the process is over? 

If you are miserable when you pay your bills, my guess is, your money is managing you.  You will not have financial freedom as long as that is the case.  I remember when I would pay my bills and I felt like a bird taking a bath.  There was money and paper flying everywhere, not sure where it was going, but it sure was not staying in my bank account.  Since then, I have put in some steps that take that feeling away.  They are:

• Have a specific place you pay the bills
• Make sure you have all the items you will need to take care of everything in one sitting -  If you have to get up to get something, chances are you will find another project to take your attention and the bills will not get paid. 
• Clear the space - You do not want it messy, that just adds to the confusion. 
• Select a day and time each week to pay your bills – If you put it on your calendar, you are more likely to keep the time carved out for that particular task.  If you try to squeeze it in somewhere else, it is much less likely to happen.
• Create a checklist – This way, you make sure you take care of all the things you need to do at one time.  Things like paying bills is obvious.  However, something you might forget to do is transfer money to savings or donate to your favorite charity. 

Hopefully some of these tips can help you create serenity while paying your bills.  I know that sounds like a dream, but you hold the key to making it a reality.