About: Alyssa Avant
- Website
- http://lifefrommylaptop.com
- Bio
- I’m Alyssa, a 27 year old, wife and mom who juggles many roles. Some of these roles include speaker, writer, business owner, blogger, podcaster, friend, and I’m sure there are more.
Author's Posts
Organizing Your Bill Paying
June 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Bills, they are an inevitable part of our lives. We all have them; we all dread receiving and paying them, yet it is something that has to be done. The question is, how will you make sure that you pay all your bills and that they are paid on time?
Having a system for organizing and paying your bills can be just the ticket for saving yourself a lot of headache when the due dates for your bills rolls around. The thing with bills is that they tend to come in periodically over the period of a month, the due dates may be scattered throughout the month and unless you have a system in place, you may have a hard time keeping up with it all. Not only keeping up with where you put the physical paper bill itself, but also whether or not you’ve paid the bill or the due date for when the bill is to be paid may slip by you unnoticed.
Putting a bill paying system to work for you can be so rewarding. I know you’re wondering, “Just where do I begin”? The answer is by setting aside the time to create your “system”. You will need to gather your bills, track your due dates, establish a home for your bills, as well as determine a time when you will devote to the practice of “paying” your bills, whether you sit down and manually write out checks for them or you hop on your computer and set up an online bill payment.
First, you should gather all the bills that come in over the course of a month, and determine home or a place where you will keep them together in an effort to establish your system some form of organization.
There are many options when it comes to a home for your bills. You may want to go frugal and drop them into a large manila envelope as they come in, or you may want to go out a purchase a fancy, wooden bill organizer for your desktop. Either way, the important thing is that you place the bills into their home as soon as they arrive in the mail.
Secondly, you will want to sit down and make a list of when your bills are due. You might want to jot the due dates in your planner or on your calendar or just create a list of bills you will pay at the beginning of the month and those you’ll pay at the end if this makes it easier for you.
Once this is done you can determine the time that you will set aside each month to pay your bills, this may be twice monthly or just once depending on how your bills fall and your income comes in.
You can even create a home for this as well, gathering the supplies you will need. This again, may just be your computer if you’re able to pay your bills online or it might include your checkbook, envelopes, return address labels, and stamps for getting the bills into the mail.
In the end, you will appreciate that you have taken the time to create your bill system and to organize it in a manner that will work best for you. It may take some time to create the habit of putting your bills into their home, and to establish a schedule for paying them, but you will be glad that you put forth the effort, when you avoid late fees and have everything paid on time.
Alyssa Dees Avant is a Christian author, blogger, podcaster, speaker, and business owner, when she is not speaking to audiences of young girls and their mothers, she is writing as a freelance and ghostwriter. Whether she is sharing her passion with girls on the topics of beauty, modesty, and etiquette or with their moms on time management and organizing Alyssa has a true passion for helping others. Visit her on the web at http://beautybydesignonline.com or http://organizedlifebydesign.com
Teens and Peer Pressure
August 14, 2007 | 2 Comments
Peer pressure is something many teens struggle with as they head back to school. It might influence something simple such as what style of shoes that they choose to wear, but it can be more serious as well. Peer pressure has an influence on the lives of teens in many areas, from sexual practices to drinking. Choosing to not give in and rather to abstain from these activities is often difficult for them.
When a teen is attempting to make a decision regarding what to do in any given situation they like most humans, you would think would use logical reasoning and weight the pros and cons. You would also think that they would think of how their decision might influence others around them such as their parents and their peers, however this is not true. Teens on the other hand are very egocentric, or self-centered, with their thinking, they do not seem to care about how their decisions will influence others, and as a result only care about themselves, or that is how it seems.
Teens also think in a way which psychologists call “magical thinking” this is the “it will never happen to me” type thinking. Therefore, they do not think that anything bad can happen to them, therefore they succumb to peer pressure and as a result may make negative choices, such as choosing to drive too fast, or to drink a beer or two, or to go to far sexually with a person of the opposite sex. They do not think that the negative consequences can follow because in their minds, that “can never happen to them”. So, they do not even consider the consequences such as wrecking, harm to themselves or others, or pregnancy.
Parents often find it difficult to deal with teens and their skewed ways of thinking. It is often also difficult for parents to teach their teens the valuable art of saying no. However, at such an important time in a teen’s life their parents influence is so important to combat that influence of their peers. After all, it is still true that parents have the greatest influence on their teens over every other group of people in a teen’s life. Therefore, parents take your role seriously and look for ways to make saying “no” easier on your teen.
Alyssa Avant is a Christian author, speaker and founder of Beauty by Design Ministries, a ministry to girls and their moms. You can pick up your copy of her Special Report: Seven Easy Tips: Encouraging Your Daughter to Say “No”.
First Day of School
August 13, 2007 | 2 Comments
Ok Ladies, I know you can relate to me here. It was my baby’s first day of school. I’m calling him my baby, though he is now 3 and he is my firstborn, I also have a baby girl who is 5 months. He started preschool today and I thought I was going to be fine. I had decided I wanted him to be independent and brave, which he was. I didn’t even cry when he didn’t tell me goodbye really or give me a bye kiss or hug. It was picking him up and him crying that “those kids fighted with him” that got me upset. He didn’t seem to have liked his first day at all. I think it was more his being tired and worn out than really the fact that he didn’t like it, but those big droopy eyes and tears sure tugged at momma’s heart.
I want my child to be independent and brave because I was just the opposite, I was nervous, scared and hiding under my momma’s skirt tail. I didn’t get over this anytime soon either. I didn’t become outgoing and sociable until I was half grown, at the age of ohhh 14. I just didn’t want that for my son. He is already about a foot taller than everyone and very mature for his age. He usually gets along well with others and is quick to learn and pick up on something new. This is all things I’m proud of and things I hope his teacher will recognize in him soon.
How about you? How did you deal with your child’s first day of school, ever? Were you a brave momma or was your son or daughter more brave than you like mine? How about you… is your child taking after you, or being completely opposite like mine?
Alyssa Avant is a Christian author, speaker and founder of Beauty By Design Ministries, a ministry to girls of all ages and their moms. She is married and the mother of 2 children. She enjoys blogging, cooking, and scrapbooking when she gets a chance.
Introduction: Christian Mom Talk
August 6, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I thought I”d introduce myself as a new writer here at “Mommies Magazine”. I will be writing in this new column I have entitled “Christian Mom Talk”. I am a Christian wife, mom, author & speaker. I am also the founder of Beauty By Design Ministries, a ministry to girls of all ages and their moms. My newest endeavor besides doing some freelance writing is a podcast, Mom-Daughter Connection.
You can expect to hear everyday stories and encouragement from my life and experience being a wife, mom and ministry leader. I have two children, Baker who is 3 and Lily who is an infant. I work from home and love blogging, cooking and scrapbooking. I am also active in my local church. Looking forward to contributing to this magazine.
