Change Your Passwords

You password is pitifully obvious.  Well, to the 16 year old hacker kid that’s trying to steal your credit card number, it is.  Most likely, it’s some kind of combination of your kids’ names, your street name, your last name, or maybe…. ooh, tricky… your maiden name.  You may have even thrown in a number or two for good measure… your kids’ birthdays, your birthday, the last two digits of your social security number, your address.  Am I on to you?  Yeah, I thought so.  Which is precisely the problem.  Each year, over 10 million people are the victims of identity theft, with the numbers increasing every year.  Most of those victims spend between four and six months recovering from this crime, and afterwards still report negative information in their records. Many experts say it’s not a matter of IF someone will try to steal your identity, it’s a matter of WHEN.  It’s time to batten down the hatches.

Update Your Skin Care Regimen

Before we begin, boy, do I have to tell you: this no television, no Internet thing has increased my overall productivity in startling ways.  Thus far this evening, I’ve managed to go grocery shopping, clean my kitchen, cook a three course meal, wash the dishes, have a glass of wine, AND start this post (on paper, mind you), and it’s not even 8 o’clock.  AND I managed all of the above at a slower-than-normal pace.  It’s blowing my mind.  Clearly, the Amish are on to something.  ANYWAY, on to the topic at hand: skin care.  If you’re anything like us, you have a non-aggression pact with your skin.  You won’t mess with it, if it won’t mess with you.  This explains why you’ve been using the exact same skin care regime since you were 17.  It’s time, however, to start making some changes.

Have a Flicker and Glare Fast

You sit in front of a computer screen all day long . When you come home, you spend at least three hours in front of the television, and the rest of your time reading your e-mail, watching YouTube clips, and checking your blog stats (we do it, too).  You, my friend, have a serious Flicker and Glare Addiction.  You are drawn to screens of all kind, spending a staggering proportion of your life in front of them.  Yes, it’s true. Don’t fight me on this one.  Admitting you have a problem is the first step towards recovery.  Today’s Baby Step– temporarily fasting from all that flicker and glare– is the second. 

Invest Ten Minutes

Knowledge is power, particularly when it comes to money.  If you’re not keeping track, it’s easy to lose out on the higher interest rate savings accounts, the lower fee mutual funds, the better ways to make your money grow.  In fact, one of the very worst things you can do when it comes to financial planning is stick your money in one or two places and call it a day.  Why? Because both your life and the financial world change on a day-to-day basis.  Better opportunities come along.  Your needs change.  If you’re kicking back and sticking with the financial plan you made ten years ago, you may be losing out not only on better deals and greater financial stability, but quite possibly on thousands of dollars in savings.  Hence today’s Baby Step… investing ten minutes (just ten, nothing crazy) in learning something new about personal finance.  To make things even easier, we’re giving you options AND bringing the material to you.  Seriously?  Seriously.  We love you that much.

Go High Fructose Free

You don’t smoke.  You exercise…occasionally.  You only drink on the weekends.  The last dangerous drug that went into your body was a Motrin from a bottle that expired three years ago.  You use a tongue cleaner.  Sometimes, you even manage to take a multi-vitamin.  You are, in the grand scheme of things, a pretty health-conscious person.  We applaud you.  Unfortunately, there is another battle to be fought… another frontier to be conquered… another nutrition-related imperative to irritate you as you wander through the grocery store…. high fructose corn syrup.  Yes, yes, I  know you hoped we wouldn’t go there, but we did, and we have total faith in your ability to come along with us (kicking and screaming though you may be).  Off we go…

Express Gratitude

Somewhere between 563 and 483 B.C., Siddhartha Gautama– otherwise known as the Buddha– remarked, “Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” Just cultivating this sort of radical, all-encompassing sense of gratitude is a truly Herculean task, and one constantly at risk of being undermined by the legions of inconveniences and frustrations most of us experience on a daily basis.  Expressing it?  Well, that just takes it to a whole new level.  Fortunately for you, we’re making the radical expression of gratitude a one-day-only task, AND we’re assigning it on a Friday.  Isn’t our benevolence astounding?

Install a Carbon Monoxide Detector

Today, as temperatures drop across the country, and snow sets in throughout the east, danger lurks not only on icy roads, and frozen lakes, but also inside your home.  Each year, over 500 U.S. residents die from carbon monoxide poisoning, often on the coldest days of the year.  Another 15,000 experience the effects carbon monoxide exposure, suffering from dizziness, headaches, and nausea, among other things.  Future deaths and injuries can be prevented if people install carbon monoxide detectors in their homes.  Most can be purchased at your local hardwood store or Costco for less than $20.  It’s time to make the investment.

Know Thy Credit Score

If you’re anything like us, the very phrase “credit score” strikes fear in your heart.  If you’re anything like the general population, you probably have no idea what yours actually is.  In fact, if you’re like most people, you’re not even quite sure what your credit score even means.  So, you plod on, worried that your credit score might be low, worried that that one bill you forgot to pay a few years ago has forever tarnished your good name, worried that you’ve managed to overlook something in your finances.  You may be so worried, in fact, that you’ve managed to scare yourself into NOT actually CHECKING your credit score to see if there’s anything to worry about.  Well, we’re here to convince you today that: a) checking your credit score is neither difficult nor scary (in fact, it’s usually FREE and easy), and b) when it comes to credit scores, ignorance is most certainly NOT bliss.

Eat More Turmeric

Okay, okay, I know that you have three questions on your mind right now.  Number One: What, exactly, is turmeric?  Number Two: How is this stuff going to make me more perfect?  C: Is this some sort of hippie, crystal-worshipping, hemp extract-loving, new-fangled diety thing? Slow down, Larry King, all of these questions will be answered in good time, and all to your satisfaction!  For now, though, take a good look at the little jar of spice in the left-hand corner of this box.  It may be just the miracle-worker you’ve been looking for.  Now, on to those questions…

Google Yourself

Today’s Baby Step requires you to start off by googling yourself.  Yes, you heard me right.  Google yourself.   From the stands, I hear, “You want me to do WHAT? Really?  It just sounds… so… so… wrong.  I wouldn’t want to be caught dead doing THAT.” Well, suck it up, sister, and get thee onto Google.  Lord knows, everybody else is already there.  Your boss?  He’s googled you.  Your boyfriend?  He’s googled you.  Your boyfriend’s parents?  They’ve DEFINITELY googled you.  Every person you knew in high school? Yep, they, too, have been there and done that, so you might as well know what goods they have on you.  Now that you’re there, type your name into that little box, and hit search… What pops up?