Investment Time - A Market Advantage

If you have a Roth IRA; IRA; 401K or any mutual fund investment you may have noticed in your most recent statement a 30%+ drop....yes I know it hurts soo bad:(

Looking at my statement I had to place a call to my Roth IRA provider - the lovely Fidelity - and with their 24/7 service I was able to get some guidance; in addition to research and recent conversations I had with trusted financial sources.

One thing I realized is that if you have the money this is the time to buy more shares of your investments funds. We must not look at it as dollars but as shares. Some funds are running low in the $5 - $7/share range. This made me recall the time I bought Bear Sterns at $5 a share when they were going through their stuff and when they were bought the stock rose to $10 and I made a few dollars.

If you are saving in these investment funds for retirement or major life purchases like a home, you have time so go ahead and purchase. Fellow blogger WellHeeled made a good point of this in her Shares, Not Dollars article.

The Initial Sip

During my holiday shopping I popped into the lovely Anthropologie (going straight to the sales section of course) and came across some very cute monogram mugs. At the time they were on sale for $3.95 but they are now backed to the regular price of $6.00. Still not bad.

My friends loved my mug so much I bought them each one - with their initials of course, so when they came over it was an initial tea party - get it?

So definitely go get your self a mug - it is the perfect comfy size for tea, coffee and even some morning oatmeal.

I always shop in the Anthropologie on 5th avenue and 16th street.

Free Suze Orman Book

Suze did it again, she is offering one of her books for free but of course it is in the form of a PDF.

The below image has the info go to Oprah.com for the free download. This is a great way to start planning your finances for the new year.

A $plendid Call To Make

It's the New Year and as creatures of habit we are setting plans for our '09 resolutions and goals.

Well after the ball dropped in Times Square and a day of rest I decided to open up my wallet and call all my credit cards to see if they will entertain a lower interest rate...

guess what????

THEY DID!!!

So as fashionistas and lifestyle trendsetters (and sometimes followers) add this to your savvy: Call you credit card companies and see what they will do for you - it can't make things worst but only better.

Good Luck!

AFM: Thakoon

In our next round of Affordable Fashion Mania, fashion designer Thakoon is front and center with his line of Target. The Thakoon for Target online store is open for business today and stocked with it's first round of looks. The collection is primed with the florals, prints and cardigan-like embellishments you would expect to see based on his Spring 2009 Ready-To-Wear Collection. Happy Shopping!!

Easy Cooking...For Holidays & Everyday

Like many of you who are juggling career, personal life, organization commitments, family, etc. it feels like there isn't time to do the basic things like cooking yourself a easy delicious healthy meal. Since talks of the economy stress that we all do out best to save money, one of the easiest and most effective ways to save money is to cut back on eating out.

No more dining out = more cooking at home; and to not end up microwaving frozen foods that means planning ahead of time. Well I decided this weekend to cook shrimp scampi because it is so easy and tasty to do. In my quest to find a simple to follow recipe I came across www.startcooking.com.

What a site! I can literally watch every episode in one sitting. It is the combination of the animated narrator, the bright and visually appealing videos and the overall simple presentation that makes it such a great cooking reference.

Definitely bookmark this site. The site even goes over basics such as the three essential cooking knives you need and how to fry an egg (yes I have heard some of you out there are still struggling with this).

I guess I can put off cooking classes for a while:)

Bon Appetit!