Anna Matsunaga

From Anna Matsunaga http://activerain.com/momentum, and www.veritymom.com applicant

This is the blog I wrote for my application blog for a paid blogger/mom position with Verity Credit union. Please let me know what you think and go to www.veritymom.com to vote. This will be a position that gets lots of media and web presence and I would like to use it to help other moms and families, promote the credit union and also to enhance the image of Realtors in the community. Please read on.

Let's face it when you have a family, you always need to pinch pennies, but with recent changes in the economy in many areas ( likely yours) it's becoming even more important to make your money count.

This becomes especially important if it makes the difference between whether you can stay at home with yoru children or not or if you are working full time away from kids and home and want to be able to provide them with the best possible childcare. So how do we do it? Let's explore some ideas, of course no one blog could give you all the answers and if it could, well it would simply be too long for a busy mom to read.... so here goes.

Before you start to try to pinch pennies more than you already are, take inventory. You have a much better idea what would be a realistic goal and it helps you be encouraged as well since it is easier to measure your progress. Take a month or at least 2 weeks and keep track of where you spend pretty much all of the money that goes out of your household.

To do this get a large manilla envelope for your car, one for a desk or work area at home and a section of your purse where you put reciepts. Be sure to mark them with what they are for if it is not obvious at the time of purchase. Also check all of your accounts and find out what your balances are and also importantly what the charges are for maintaining them and whether or not they are interest bearing.

Doing this is like weighing at the beginning of a diet and keeping a food diary.

Once you have this done, just like with the diet you will immediately see some areas that are obvious as far as needing improvement. Start there and make a goal of 3 changes that will make a difference right away. Keep a notebook or log of your progress and your spending including when you are tempted the most to break with your goals also track your sucesses, even if it is as small as ordering water instead of coffee when you ate out or perhaps better yet planning ahead more so you did not have to eat out just to have dinner before 10pm. ( I've been there so I'm pretty sure you have too!)

Ok, you say this is not fun.

My answer is no pain no gain.

But because I want you to be successful here are some ideas to make it more fun.....

1. Pick a "budget diet" buddy. Find another mom who wants to slim down her spending and strengthen her family finances. Share your goals over tea or coffee ( at home if you want to save) and hold eachohter accountable. Call her if you feel the desire to splurge. Share ideas.

2. Find substitutes. You know how it's easier to stay with healty eating if you can substitute a healthier item for a less healthy item? Well...this principle works here too. Did your "money diet" journal show that you spend lots on expensive dinners? Could you and your husband go out for just dessert instead? (ok that would maybe ruin your ACTUAKL diet, so it could be just coffee or tea too, you really just wanted to go somewhere with no kids to talk right?)....point is with out a budget healthy substitute you will likely not be able to stick with your plan.

3. Do "cheat". Like the diet, if it is all deprivation then it will not work as if you do too much deprivation you will end up gorging ( splurging) and go off your diet entirely. Decide ahead of time a few small spending indulgences you will allow for you and your family.

4. Reward yourself. Set a goal. Once you reach it have a reward waiting. It could be something you can purchase or have saved for....however like with the diet it's best not to reward yourself with food ( in this case actually spending) It is better to reward yourself with something like an afternoon off. Having a friend over or something like that. However be sure it will motivate you, if that means spending that's ok, just be sure you've earned it first.

5. Make yourself accountable. When you tell others that you are going to ( you fill in the blank it could be lose weight, work out, or improve your familiy's bottom line) it helps because if you have the right kinds of friends they encourage you and because you want to save face. A conversation could go like this...." Hey Sally, this is Anna, I just wanted to touch bases with you to ask for your support......Well I have made a goal to improve our family finances and for part of that I am looking for ways to spend less, so for one I'd love any of your ideas, also would it be ok if when we go out we go to a Matinee and skip the popcorn and pop? ( hey that WILL help your actual diet!) This helps take the pressure off later when your friend calls and wants to do something that is costly, if they still do you can remind them of your goal and they will be much less likely to be offended.

6. Involve your family. Find out something the whole family wants, but does not have the money for. Start a jar and add money to it every time you DON"T spend on something that was really unneccessary, ask them to do the same. Explain the other benefits and sincerly and with out judgement listen to their ideas. People support what they help to create and what has a real and tangible benefit to them.

7. Look for painless ways to save. Take your bank for instance. Look for interest bearing checking and or savings. ( ie like the Cartwheel savings @ Verity Credit Union) Look at your credit cards, could you close one of the accounts so that you were paying one less annual fee, or better yet could you find one with out an annual fee? Also be sure you keep track of your accounts ( it's easier than ever with online banking) so that you do not lose money with overdraft fees.

8. Use the following things to help you when thinking of spending money.

a. Is it a purchase that can wait? If so wait a week or even a day. Often at that point you will find that you don't need it.

b. When you're weak think "this week" What does that mean? Ask yourself if you will use it this week or at least once a week. If the answer is no. Wait to buy it, again often you will find you did not need it. If you do, you will feel more sure of the purchase because you thought it out.

c. Always compare. Often if you compare products and services you will find that you can get the same thing for less.

When you use these ideas you will find that you are slimming down your budget and making for a beautiful and strong financial future for your family.

Want more actual recipes and exercizes that will help you accomplish this? Stay tuned to "Saturday Market" for more ideas.

Please see my application video on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izh_Q-BtGSA and go to www.veritymom.com to vote.

Anna Matsunaga, Verity Mom applicant and Realtor with Team Momentum of Keller Williams Realty. I would love to have your feed back...and your votes. Thanks in advance for your support!

P.S. Please also feel free to repost this blog!

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From Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum, Keller Williams Realty Tacoma 253 353-2662 www.teammomentumrealestate.com

This is one of my favorites, measurements are approximate. This is healthy and tasty...if you manage your diabetes using protein and "slow" or complex carbs this is for you. If you manage it with a low carb diet, likely too many carbs as beans are high carb. This is likely a great recipe if you have hypoglycemia and for anyone who wants to eat lots of veggies.

Ingredients for White Bean Chicken Chili-

1 lb or so organic chicken breast in small bite sized pieces

2-3 T olive oil.

2 cans of organic white beans ( do not drain)

1 can quartered artichoke hearts in water ( do not drain)

1 Shallot diced small

1 zucchini chopped up small ( med sized)

1 med sized yellow squash chopped up small

1.5 large fresh tomatoes chopped or 4 handfuls of cherry tomatoes quartered

6 or so small cloves of fresh garlic pressed

1/2 bunch celantro, chopped and divided ( see directions)

Jalapinos (optional)

1/2 red pepper chopped

1/2 orange pepper chopped

Seasonings

Paprika

Sea Salt or Braggs liquid aminos

chili powder

Cumin

Tumeric

Garlic powder

Onion powder

1 T lemon juice ( or juice from half a lemon)

Purified Water

Toppings-

Avacado

celantro

green onion

Shallots

grated cheese of your choice

Chips

Ok Sounds like lots of ingredients, but it is fast and easy to make!

Directions-

Heat a large stock pot over a med heat.

While it is heating cut up the chicken and add to a med sized bowl and add seasonings and mix around to cover. I use lots of paprika, a bit of sea salt, a generous amt of garlic powder, a little onion powder, a fair amount of cumin and a little tumeric and a the amount of chili powder depends on how much "heat" you like. Mix together well.

Add olive oil to pot ( be generous ) and then add the seasoned meat. Cook until none of it is pink in the middle.

Then add the canned ingredients with all the contents of the can. Let cook for a while while you chop up the veggies for this dish.

Chop Veggies-With the celantro be sure to wash well ( do that with all of them) and chopp up the stems really fine before you add the stems. Add the veggies as you go.

Turn burner down to simmer once you have all the veggies in. Allow to cook for an hour or more until it begins to thicken and flavors marry.

Taste and add sea salt or Bragg's liquid aminos to taste. Also if you like it spicy, this is the time to add Jalapinos, but add with care and be sure to taste as you do. If you use canned you can use some of the liquid from the can too. Also add some purified water to thin down so that you can cook a while longer with out it being too thick.

Add a bit more celantro.

Cook a little longer.

Serve- This is great just as is, or add fresh toppings to taste @ the table. (see toppings for ideas, but be sure to try other things if you like as well.

*****Notes Instead of shallots you can use onions, but they are higher carb. If you are not worried about carbs then also add a cup of frozen or fresh corn for color and flavor, also add 1/2 a med carrot grated. This also works vegetarian, just omit the chicken and increase the beans by a can or so and stir fry the zucchini and yellow squash instead of the meat in the seasonings. If you are limiting carbs do not serve with chips. If you don't care about carbs this is great with corn bread as a side.

Copy right- Anna Matsunaga

--Would love to hear how you like it! This freezes well and keeps well in the fridge. Do what we do, make a big pot of soup on the weekend and have "fast" food all week ready for sides, snacks and lunch!

Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum Realestate, Keller Williams Realty Tacoma. 253 353 2662 www.teammomentumrealestate.com

From Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum Keller Williams Realty 253 212 1252.

If you have children and need some fun and free summer activites to finish out the summer here is something free that you can go do with your kids 2 days a week almost everywhere.

Regal cinemas does 2 days a week of Free movies 2 mornings a week in the theater.

Our family has gone in the past and it's really fun. Sure we have often already seen it, but still it's fun to see it again in the theater setting. During a heat wave here in WA is was a GODsend since the theater is airconditioned and almost no one has air conditioning in their homes here in WA.

Be prepared to be there early so there are still seats and be prepared to share the theater with lots of other people and their kids.

To find the theater and times nearest to you to go to www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx

Have fun @ the movies this summer. ( and likely next to and so on they have been doing this since 1991!)

--Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum Keller Williams 253 212 1252

www.teammomentumrealestate.com

From Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum Keller Williams Realty 253 212 1252

www.teammomentumrealestate.com

I am a firm believer that regardless of what happens good or bad that there are valuable lessons to be learned from everything. Well our rental home that just vacated is a good example.

Our renter had been there just about 5 years. Good overall rental history, only late 3 times during the almost 5 years and always paid in the end. However there were issues towards the end. In the beginning there were two room mates, but one of them had a major stroke and ended up in a nursing home. From there with out our knowledge initally the remaining renter brought in a new room mate we did not get to screen.

Lots of things happened that violated the lease...smoking in the house, working on vehicles on the property, junk piling up on the property and no longer caring for the yard since the junk made it impossible. It's hard though as a land lord to boot a tenant that is a consistent payer and it can be very difficult to get some one out even when they have violated the lease....so we did not push. ( and maybe we should have) Hind sight is 20/20.

So now we are in the middle of getting the house ready for our next renter ( who wanted to move in as soon as these ones moved out, but the place is not ready so we are losing rent $!) I think it is extra hard for us with this house since we have emotional attachment to it. See it was our home for over 10 years. We redid the whole thing ourselves, took most of it to the dump a piece at time and redid it. New drywall, new lighting, new bath, new kitchen and new windows, new roof and so much more. We re-landscaped the whole yard One of our children was BORN in the house....

When we got in to the house after the renters left we found lots of things damaged, nicotine on the walls, ceilings everywhere. Of course we have to clean it up, but all of us are sick now from doing it.....there are literally TONS and TONS or garbage left on the property.

So how does something positive come from this?

Well, I think what I learned will help me avoid issues in the future for one. I also think there are some great lessons for my children in the whole thing.

**As we were spending the 2nd day in a row scrubbing nicotine off of the walls (mind you this house is under 800sf) my son says to me ( he is doing the ceilings and a lot of the walls too) " Mom this stuff is gross!" I agree with him of course, even though he is fussing a bit from the pain of repetitive motion..."If it does this to the inside of a HOUSE what does it do to the inside of a PERSON?" I am glad it got him thinking, smoking is a habit I hope anyone I love or even like a little bit can avoid. So one lesson my children are learning is how bad that smoking is.

**Later in the day on Sunday ( our 3rd day of working) my husband spots 2 young men walking down the road with a lawn mower on the way back from a run for more supplies and asks them if they are mowing lawns for people. They say yes and we hire them on the spot to mow the very over grown lawn. It is scorching hot out at this point but they come and get it done right away. One of them is older than the other, he tells us that he has 2 kids and one on the way, he is working along with his teen aged brother in law. We are impressed that they are willing to work and I must say that I am impressed that the older of the 2 is willing to go out and ask for work often reserved for kids in order to do what it takes to care for his family. ( I am guessing a job loss is in his recent past, he is clean cut and articulate) I think this is a good reminder, if you are in trouble, roll up your sleeves, go to work and don't be too proud. My son asks if that is something he can do for work when he is little older and I am glad it got him thinking. ( If you live in the Fern Hill area, let me know if you want their phone # to have them do work for you too)

**As we are working on the house I am reminded of the tender loving care my husband put into the house while we lived there. A real expression of his love for our family and I can't help but be reminded how much I appreciate him. I also am reminded of lots of time we spent there and many wonderful memories are coming back to me as I paint the trim through out the house. ( one of the jobs I can manage to do with my very very pregnant belly)

**It is nice to see our old neighbors more again. I get to observe one of the longest time residents with their kids and grand kids for a family gathering. ( I remember when they were still little kids!) I hope that our family does the same when our children are grown, all meeting together and spending time together and I remind myself that more than the money we make the connections with our spiritual life and family life are so much more valued.

** I also learn that we all really work well together as a team and that little tiny children can be hard workers ( Ok I knew that, but I had not ever seen a 3 year old put in a 10+ hour day and work pretty much the whole time.) Our youngest painted walls and doors, scrubbed hardwood floors, cleaned up paint drips on the floor, picked up half a yard of grass clippings and was our little runner who broght us things. She was so proud that when I took her with me to the office on Monday and people asked her what she did over the weekend, she missed mentioning the party she had and she told everyone " I worked on the rental house"

**I really love my family, when I see them all working together, Chlo'e working all day and helping with her sister with no complaint, Sam doing really hard work and doing it well, Joeleah well, doing things you would think she would need to be a few years older to do, I feel really blessed with my children. Watching my husband repair the place and making sure it is a nice place for the next family makes me feel very proud of him ( mind you he's been working 12-16 hour days on the house for 3 days in a row, and yesterday we worked until 1am after a full day of work for both of us!) I am proud to be part of a hard working family that does all they can to do the right thing.

I can't wait to have the house finished up so that it looks like it did when we left it!

^^^^From a Real Estate prospective, what would I do differently?

My lease would be even tighter and I would object as soon as I saw the lease being violated.

I would not assume the inside was being cared for, I would do an inspection @ least every 3 months.

I would get a higher deposite.

I would begin to advertise it for rent as soon as I saw issues with the current renters ( even if I really liked them like I did with the primary renter this time)

I won't stop making my houses nice before anyone moves in, I think I get a better renter that way and I want to provide good housing to any one living in one of my houses.

Lots of people are worried about renting to people with kids and dogs....I think that these folks likely make better and more stable renters in many cases since they need to provide a safe, clean and reliable place for their children and dog to live. I plan to continue to accept pets and of course will not have any objection to people living with their children @ the house either.

I am thankful the house is just one mile from us, I don't know how we would have managed if we were out of the area.--So....investing close to home is likely a good idea!

Do I want to continue being a land lord? Yes I do. Do I think our renter will do the right thing in paying for our costs on this above and beyond his deposite? Yes I do, he is over all a good person, just made a bad choice in room mates. I think he will make it right. ( keep you posted?) Why with all the hassle would I continue to rent our homes? Well it makes long term investment sense for one. For another, I like providing a service to the community by providing homes that are in nice condition in neighborhoods where I would feel safe with my kids being there.

--Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum, Keller Williams Realty, 253 212 1252 www. teammomentumrealestate.com

From the Desk of Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum,

Keller Williams Realty Tacoma 253 212 1252- www.teammomentumrealestate.com

Dear Clients and Friends:

For many it feels like even though Spring is finally here seasonally, Winter has just begun personally and Spring is a long way off. As I call and talk with my clients I find that many of your friends have experienced job layoffs and hour reductions, and you are worried about it happening to your family.

The Troubling News

I am also hearing that many are seeing increases in their interest paid and monthly payments on debt they are carrying, even though they've never missed a payment. I am hearing from those running their own businesses that things are slower in many cases. I will admit that my family's life has not been immune. My husband has a partial layoff currently which has cut his income by almost 30%, and I have been very busy, with delays in commissions as we wait for bank approvals on short sales.

The Good News

So, there's some good news if you, your friends or family members recognize that this is an opportune time to buy a house - and it is, since homes are SO much more affordable than even a year ago. There is an $8000.00 Tax CREDIT for buying a home if you have not owned one in the last 3 years! Other good news: if you are living in a home that you have outgrown, for whatever reason, there has never been a better time to move up. Sure, the home you are in is worth less, but the home you WANT is priced far lower too; in the end you save, since the move-up home has dropped more than the one you may be in!

Part of the Solution

Other good news is that many individuals and families are getting back to basics. They are spending more time together and less money on luxuries. As a whole, people are reevaluating their situations and many are starting their own businesses, adding other options for income to their lives and finding ways to happily do with less. When I am talking with all of you, even those of you in great difficulty are optimistic.

And Here's How I Can Help

It's touching; many of you are more worried about your friends and extended family than about yourselves. Which brings me to the fact that in talking with a number of you, I've discovered I have never shared with many of you some of the ways I can help. For the last 3 years I have come to specialize in Short Sales and Foreclosure Prevention Counseling. Did you know that when people get into trouble and get behind on or are unable to continue paying for their homes, over 75% of these folks never even talk to anyone about it? Most don't even know who to call. Now when you find you have a friend or family member (or work mate or neighbor) who is in trouble, you know you have a friend to whom you can introduce them, who will help them figure out their options and who has the resources they may need. Who do you know who might need my help?

Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum, Keller Williams Realty Tacoma, www.teammomentumrealestate.com

"No matter how long the Winter....Spring is sure to follow"- Proverb

Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum, Keller Williams Realty Tacoma www.teammomentumrealestate.com