memories

Need to Sell Your House? Here's How to Let Go

Sarah Winfrey — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 08:00:12 +0000

When it's time to sell your home, whether due to financial necessity or another reason, it can be hard to let go. This is especially true if you have lived in a place for a long time and have a lot of memories tied to it. Maybe you brought your first child home there or it was the first house you bought with your significant other.

It's completely normal to feel sad about leaving a home that you have loved, particularly if you aren't leaving willingly. If you are selling because you need the money, because you're getting divorced, or because you have a new job in another location, this can make it even harder to let the old house go. Fortunately, there are ways to make the process easier on yourself. (See also: 5 Signs You're Ready to Sell Your House)

Focus on what you gain

Start by remembering what you stand to gain from selling your home. If you need the money, think about the debt you can pay off by selling the house. If you're struggling to pay the mortgage, consider what your life will be like without that stress every month. Consider the freedom you'll have, the better pay or office environment waiting at your new job, or the way you'll be better able to focus on other goals and values.

This may feel forced at the beginning, but make yourself list these things out. It will help to write them down where you can see them. Then, when you start to feel down about moving, look at your list and remember why you chose to sell in the first place. (See also: 8 Signs You're Paying Too Much for Your Mortgage)

Redefine "home"

You may find that your real home is wherever the people you love are. This may be your spouse, your parents, your kids, or friends who are like family. When you think of home in terms of people rather than in terms of a place, it can make it easier to leave a house that you have loved.

Neutralize the home early

Most realtors suggest making your home less personal so that it will appeal to potential buyers. This means removing family portraits, framed diplomas, and anything else personalized that screams you. While their intent is to make it easier for potential buyers to see themselves and their own things in your home, it can also help you let go, too.

Sure, it's hard to take your memories down off the wall. Once you're used to not seeing them there, though, you'll find yourself beginning to detach emotionally from the home. Slowly, you'll realize that you carry your memories within yourself — they don't require the house. If you're really struggling to let go of your home, it may be a good idea to do this earlier rather than later. That will give you more time to detach and will help you see your home as a product to be sold.

Say goodbye

Give yourself the time and space you need to say goodbye to your home in your own way. This will look different for everyone. You may want to throw one last big party at your house. On the other hand, you may want to kick everyone else out and spend time alone in each room, remembering the things that happened there and why you hold those memories so dear.

Some people find that it helps to go through some sort of goodbye ritual. They may want to burn sage in every room, or say a prayer or blessing. The important thing is that you find something you feel is right in helping you make peace with saying goodbye and moving forward.

Let yourself grieve

Grief is not a process you can complete overnight. Even if you effectively say goodbye to your house, you may find yourself thinking of it and feeling sad for a long time after your move. Instead of pushing these feelings away and telling yourself that they aren't helpful, let yourself feel them. You may experience more than sadness, as grief can take make forms; anger, confusion, frustration, and more. Acknowledge these feelings, recognize that you won't feel this way forever, and give yourself proper time to get over your loss.

It can be hard to leave a house you loved, but with time, your heart will heal and move on. Remember that one chapter closing means another is opening, so try to take an optimistic point of view in embracing the next adventure. You'll have a new place to call home, which means you get to make new memories there with the people you love. Eventually, you'll look back on your old home with a fondness that comes without sadness.

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This article is from Sarah Winfrey of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Create a Budget Based on the Best Money You've Ever Spent

Sarah Winfrey — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 10:00:06 +0000

Some people really struggle when it comes to building a budget. They feel it's too much of a chore to make and stick to one. After all, budgeting just shows you how much money you don't have to spend on the things you want, right?

I don't know if budgeting will ever be fun for everyone, but there are certainly ways to make it easier. Even if you hate budgeting, you might be able to talk yourself into making one based on the best money you ever spent. (See also: Stop Using These 5 Excuses Not to Budget)

What is the best money you've ever spent?

What is the most rewarding thing you've ever spent money on? When were you surprised by how much value you received when you thought it would be much less? When did you spend money on experiences or goods that you deeply value to this day? This is the best money you've ever spent.

You may know the answers to this question immediately, or it may take you a while to think back. If you're going to make this the basis for your budget, you need to take the time to have several meaningful answers.

What were you really buying?

Chances are, what you got out of your best purchases ever were beyond what people could see. Maybe some of the best money you ever spent was on a vacation with your family. But, as nice as Hawaii may have been, you weren't really buying the trip. You were buying special, one-on-one time with your loved ones.

Figuring out what you were really buying will help you shape your budget. Maybe the best money you ever spent was on travel, but you were really buying adventure, or new relationships, or a newfound confidence in yourself. This will help you pinpoint where you want to spend and where you want to save in your new budget. (See also: 4 Reasons You Should Splurge on Experiences, Not Things)

Would you want to spend that way again?

Sometimes, the best money you ever spent was the best because it bought an experience you can't have again. Maybe you don't need to go back to Morocco, or you hope you never have to invest in trauma counseling again. When you're building a budget, it's important to know if you want to repeat the exact experience or invest in different things for your future.

Building a budget

Once you've determined the best money you've ever spent and what you were really buying, it's time to build a new budget.

Focus on your values

Sure, you have to pay necessities, like the water bill, that may not fit in with any of your values. However, for any money that's not spent on essentials, see if there is a way to spend it or save it that lines up with something that is very important to you.

To find your values, look at what you were really buying when you spent your best money ever. These are clearly things that are important to you — things that you don't want to miss out on in life.

Even if you decided that you don't want to save to repeat a previous experience, look at what you got from that experience. Maybe investing in counseling taught you to prioritize yourself. There are other ways to do that, even if you don't need to see a therapist again. Set these things up in your budget so you can continue to live according to what is important to you.

Set up separate accounts

If you are saving toward particular goals, set up separate accounts for each one. Yeah, that means some more annoying paperwork, but it's not usually too hard. Seeing "Travel Money" or "Self Care $$$" every time you log in to your bank will help motivate you to keep saving. It will also make you think twice about using that money for something else. (See also: Reach Your Money Goals Faster With a Simple Naming Trick)

Keep pictures or trinkets to remind you of your goals

Now that your new goals line up with things you've done in the past, set out reminders of those things. If you want to travel, put up photos of past trips or display mementos where you'll see them regularly. All of this will help motivate you to stick to your budget so you can come back home with new memories. (See also: The Secret to Better Money Management May Be in Your Past)

Envision yourself at your goal

Since you've spent money well in the past, you know what it feels like to invest in something and have it pay off. Whenever you feel frustrated with your budget, or like you want to quit saving, take some time to go back to those feelings. Remember what it felt like to spend well and how satisfied you felt with yourself and your life when you did that.

Then, envision yourself reaching your financial goal and feeling that way again. Think about what it will be like to bask in the sun, or get off the plane in Maui, or wake up in your own home for the first time. Sitting with these feelings will remind you why you made this type of budget in the first place and help you move forward with it even when you're frustrated.

Budgeting doesn't have to be a chore done only out of drudgery. Set up a budget based on the best money you've ever spent, and you'll have a budget you're motivated to keep. (See also: How to Build Your Best Travel Budget)

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This article is from Sarah Winfrey of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The Secret to Better Money Management May Be in Your Past

Sarah Winfrey — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 09:30:10 +0000

It's easy to feel out of control with your money. It happens to the best of us. But whatever the reason you're feeling this way, it's important that you regain your footing and, maybe even more importantly, that you regain your feeling of control. After all, if you don't think you can fix the problem, you probably won't even try.

Your first line of defense is financial education. It will help you understand what actions you need to take to get back on track. But there's another tool that could boost your motivation to carry out those actions. A recent study by scientists at Creighton University shows that harnessing nostalgia can help you get in touch with your feelings, which you can use to regain control over your finances.

The power of nostalgia

The Creighton team carried out an experiment. Dr. Brad Klontz, along with his fellow researchers, divided study volunteers into two groups. One half attended a standard financial literacy presentation where they learned about saving money. The other half was told to bring an item (or a picture of an item) that they considered nostalgic.

The latter group was led through exercises to help them come up with positive feelings and memories tied to their objects or photos. They were asked to name these emotions, identify the values that went along with these emotions, and understand how these same values formed the basis for their future savings goals.

Over the next few weeks, the "financial literacy" group saved 22 percent more than they had saved before. That, in and of itself, is a significant number. But the "nostalgia" group saved 67 percent more — three times more than the control group. It would seem nostalgia and the emotions that go along with it have a lot of power when it comes to how we handle our money! The researchers theorized that the powerful emotions associated with the nostalgic object provided a deep, positive incentive for saving. Participants were able to make direct connections between saving money and the things they value most in life.

Harnessing nostalgia for yourself

If you are feeling out of control with your money, here are some steps you can take to engage your emotions via nostalgia and get back on track.

1. Find an item that has nostalgic value to you

This can be anything, as long as it is important to you. It can be an item from childhood, something passed down from a family member, something you found, or maybe something you purchased on vacation. If you don't have an item that fits the bill, go through old photographs until you find one that is especially meaningful.

2. Think about how you got that item and why it's important to you

Remember the moment you found or received the item (or took the photograph). Think about the people you were with or the poignancy of the moment. To the best of your ability, take the time to actually relive the moments in your life that have made this object or photo so important to you.

3. Name the feelings that go along with that item and your memories of it

Giving your feelings names can help them feel more concrete, rather than abstract and ethereal. When they are concrete, they are more useful to you as you continue this exercise. It is perfectly fine to have multiple feelings about your object. For instance, something your grandfather passed down to you may make you feel excited, because he chose you for this item, but also loving because of the relationship you had with him.

4. Identify the values that underlie these feelings

Once you pinpoint your feelings, you can identify the values that provide their foundation. If something came from a grandparent, it may be tapping into your value of close family ties. Something that reminds you of childhood could be important to you because you value wonder and joy and you haven't felt those things in a long time. An item from a trip could be important because it reminds you that you value excitement and adventure.

5. Connect these values to a financial game plan

When our finances are out of control, most of us know what we need to do to get them in line again. However, it's hard to find the motivation to do that when we feel hopeless and helpless in the face of financial stress. Connecting our values to the actions we know we need to take can help us find the motivation to actually tackle them.

Think about those values you identified. If you value the safety and security of a stable home, that can motivate you to do what is necessary to provide financial safety and security in your own home. If you value adventure, it can motivate you to make the changes necessary to get your money under control now, so you can afford more adventures later. If you value joy, spend some time thinking about how you will feel when you are out of your financial hole.

It's never too late to take control of your money. When you harness the power of nostalgia and emotion, you may find yourself making and sticking with financial decisions that you have struggled with before. This, in turn, will help you make even stronger decisions until your money is completely under your control again.

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This article is from Sarah Winfrey of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Stop Losing Your Stuff With These 6 Simple Tricks

Samantha Stauf — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 11:00:09 +0000

People who constantly lose stuff live in a cycle of frustration, lost time, and wasted money. Time that could be otherwise productive is dedicated to frantically seeking misplaced items. Money that could be saved or invested is instead used to replace missing items. It's frustrating and often embarrassing.

However, not all is lost. Absentmindedness is not an inescapable curse. You can decrease the frequency of losing things and increase the chances of finding them. Alleviate item loss with some simple tricks.

1. Increase Organization

The simplest, cheapest way to decrease the chances of losing items is to get more organized. Don't simply throw your keys, wallet, cards, or phones onto the nearest flat surface. Try to nail down an area to store each item. Always place the items there when you return home every day.

2. Don't Silence Your Cell Phone

Vibrate or silence should not be the default setting on your phone. Yes, you might need to silence your phone occasionally, but you should change the device to a setting that makes noise as often as you can. If you lose it, you can have a family member or friend call the phone.

If you live alone and you own a smartphone, you should download Skype or FaceTime. Both are free communication apps you can use to call the smartphone from your computer or tablet. Just make sure you set the communication app to notify you when it receives a call.

3. "Freeze It" Credit Card

Losing a credit card can be a huge hassle. You need to cancel the card and then wait about a week for a replacement card or pay a small fee for rush shipping.

It's a pain — especially if you're 75% sure you misplaced it somewhere around the house. You might find it if you spend a few hours looking, but every second you spend searching, someone might be gleefully embarking on a shopping spree. The end result is canceling cards that might not be lost.

If you switch to a credit card that has the ability to temporarily freeze, you could decrease the chance of fraud and prevent the need to prematurely cancel cards. That can be a huge boon for people who lose track of their cards constantly.

Right now the only company that offers that feature is Discover, but I anticipate in the next few years, more credit card and debit cards will begin to offer it as well. (See also: 10 Questions to Ask Before Accepting a Credit Card Offer)

4. iPod or Smartphone Wallet Case

If you can't (or won't) carry a wallet or purse around, you should look into purchasing an iPod or smartphone card storage device. The storage devices are either covers or attachments that stick to your phone.

This is a great option for people who can't always carry a wallet or purse, especially if they have a history of losing track of their credit or debit cards. The fact that the devices only cost around $5–$25 dollars makes it a fairly cheap solution.

5. Add Device Trackers

There are a variety of key, wallet, or phone finder devices. The devices typically offer the following functions:

An audio alarm to help individuals locate the item;
GPS tracker to find objects that are potentially out of audio range;
The ability to ring the phone, even if it's on silent;
Alerts when you are separated from an item;

The devices hook onto keyrings, slip into wallet pockets, or are adhesively attached to an object. It's definitely an investment, but it could prevent the loss of an expensive item.

6. Wear Clothing With Secure Pockets

Most women's pants either have ridiculously small pockets or no pockets at all. That can make carrying important objects from place to place difficult. And if you prefer not to carry a purse, it could mean that you need to either squash all of your objects into teeny, tiny pockets, or carry them. That can increase the chances of objects falling out of your pockets or placing objects down and forgetting to pick them up. (I've done both multiple times.)

Consider adding clothing into your wardrobe that includes larger and secure pockets (ones that zip, for example). This could be a jacket, cargo pants, or utility shirts with hidden pockets. And then there's always the fanny back.

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This article is from Samantha Stauf of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

4 Reasons You Should Splurge on Experiences, Not Things

Claire Millard — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 10:01:03 +0000

The 1980s might feel like ancient history, but whether or not you lived through the days of big hair, denim, and constantly winding your cassette tapes back with a ballpoint pen, the 1980s staple of excess was pretty much universal. And has been ever since. Accumulating stuff has never been hotter. Think Wall Street, and Gordon Gekko's motto, "Greed is good."

Excessive consumption seemed cool in the '80s, but so did mullet haircuts and shoulder pads. Like the mullet, this relentless consumerism should be consigned to history. Because we have evolved, and we now have a better understanding of what makes us happy, and why. (See also: 5 Ways to Stop Your Mindless Spending)

Don't chase stuff, chase experience. It'll make you happier. Here are four reasons why.

Money Doesn't Make You Happy

Song writers have long known that money can't buy you love, and also, that the best things in life are free. And while it's true that there are some ways in which money can positively influence our outlook and prospects, this only works up to a certain point.

The Easterlin Paradox is the classic research into the topic, named after a 1974 book chapter, penned by economist Richard Easterlin. Although the 40 years since then has provided plenty of time for other research to debate the merits of this theory, Easterlin surmised that money makes you happy only to a certain extent. Once basic needs are met, the impact of money on happiness diminishes, and ultimately, an excess of cash can cause stress, too.

Views on this idea will vary based on personal experience, and some subsequent research has heartily agreed with the original premise, while other researchers have set out to disprove the hypothesis. A 2010 research paper found that $75k is the magic number, after which, income does not directly correlate with happiness. Although we are schooled to equate material things with reaching success, these same items do not lead to emotional wellbeing. All the more reason to use any spare cash to buy experiences, not things.

Stuff Loses Its Appeal — Memories Do Not

In a 2014 journal article, wonderfully named, "We'll always have Paris," psychologists Thomas Gilovich and Amit Kumar explore the longer term impact on happiness from experiences compared to material purchases. Their research found firmly in favor of spending money on experience rather than things.

The scientific key to their research is "hedonic adaptation," meaning that we get used to things we have, and therefore the pleasure we associate with them fades away. If you buy a new tech gadget, for example, you might experience some initial high, but this can be eaten away as the product degrades, as your friends parade their newer versions, and as warranties or repairs add onto the initial cost. After a relatively short time, you're used to having your new toy. The novelty has worn off, and you no longer derive pleasure from it. Hedonic adaptation has set in.

On the other hand, that skydive, dream vacation, or meal out with friends lives forever in your memory — often getting better over time, rather than worse, aided by our natural inclination to remember things fondly with rose-tinted flashbacks.

Experience Is Social

A strong argument in favor of spending money on experiences rather than things is not about the experiences at all. It's about the people we share them with.

Experiences are often naturally social events, and they strengthen the bonds with others who make us happy. Also, experiences are better shared than the act of buying stuff. The tales that you share over the dinner table with friends in years to come are much more likely to be about the time Uncle John got sunburnt on vacation, rather than the awesome SUV you drove there in.

Material Success Can Be Transient

Even the very oldest of Millennials joined the workforce only a few years before the Great Recession rocked the world, and for those graduating after, life has been even tougher. It's hardly surprising that Millennials are driving the sharing/gig economy more than any other generation. Research shows that they will value access to, not ownership of material things, shifting the emphasis away from actual consumption.

Growing environmental awareness has its part to play in this shift, but having experienced the struggle of recession firsthand, Millennials are also conscious of the fact that material goods are transient and could be taken from you in an instant. Memories, on the other hand, can not be taken away — making spending on experiences, rather than things, the natural choice for this generation.

What do you think? Tell us in the comments.

This article is from Claire Millard of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

9 Ways to Lose the Clutter and Keep the Memories

Mikey Rox — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 18:00:08 +0000

I have a hard time parting with things that hold significant sentimental value. Yeah, they're just sitting around my house, collecting dust, but these things are part of my life, memories of good times, and I don't want to get rid of them. (See also: Toss It or Not? 5 Organizational Tricks From a Chronic Clutter Bug)

Luckily, in the age of technology and how-to articles, there are brilliant compromises to be made that ensure that you're preserving some of the touchstones of your existence without tripping on them all over the place.

Take a look at these nine clutter-free ways to preserve your memories, and see if you can't preserve who you are while getting rid of all that stuff.

1. Snap Photos With Stuff You're Tossing

For tangible items that you're sending into the afterlife, a great way to remember the good times you had with it is to take a photo with that item in it. Perhaps it's a favorite piece of clothing that you once cherished, board games that made many memorable nights, or musical instruments that helped cultivate your love of culture. Set up a nice photo up — perhaps a snapshot with friends with the discarded item as the centerpiece — so you can look back on it with fondness whenever you want.

2. Scan Pictures, Letters, and Cards Into Your Computer

Reduce that pile (or massive box, as they case may be) of beloved photos, letters, and cards that you've accumulated throughout your life by scanning them into your computer. You might find it hard to part with the original hardcopy documents, but try to remember that it's only paper that you're tossing out. By scanning these items, you're preserving the thought that went into them when they were originally given to you — and that's what counts. Plus, this way they can never be destroyed, whereas the original versions will eventually deteriorate over time and are at the mercy of fire, water, and other elements that can destroy them completely.

3. Transition to Digital Picture Frames to Eliminate Paper Photos

If you're anything like me, each of your single picture frames is home to about half a dozen photos. I keep the old photos in the frames when I update a picture by simply laying the replaced images behind the new one. While this method reduces the clutter I see, it only allows me to enjoy one of the photos opposed to all of them (even though rediscovering the old ones during the swapping process is a welcome surprise). Nowadays you can enjoy many photos without fussing with any paper by digitizing them and adding them to a digital frame. These frames rotate images automatically so you see multiple pics — and relive the memories — on a regular basis.

4. Transfers Old VHS Tapes and DVDs to Computer Files

My husband has a huge cabinet full of VHS tapes from his wrestling days that — mark my words — he will never do anything with until they're so old they've deteriorated beyond repair. I even bought him one of those VHS-to-DVD thingamajigs a few years ago that I recently sold on Amazon new, in-the-box. Hey, I tried. In any case, if you want to ensure that your old VHS tapes and DVDs stand the test of time, consider transferring them to computer files that you can save in your cloud. There are plenty of companies that specialize in this service, but you also can DIY it if you're fairly tech-savvy.

5. Repurpose Useless Little Things Into One Useful Big Thing

Before you donate all that extra clothing, think of ways you might be able to use the fabric to make something new — like a blanket, tablecloth, or shower curtain. For instance, you can turn a bunch of old T-shirts into a rad quilt if you've got sewing skills (or, ya know, send away for it if you don't). You may not think about it a lot, but many items in your closet — especially the really old, ratty stuff — hold a special place in your heart; repurposing these thrift-shop-ready beauties lets you keep them a bit longer without becoming a hoarder. (See also: 20 New Things You Can Make With Old Denim)

6. Turn a Special Moment Into a Beautiful Tattoo

One of my buddies gave me this idea, and I thought it was very interesting. Computers — and especially the cloud — help us preserve many of our tangible memories while cutting the clutter, but what about adding those memories to our own bodies? Thus, a tattoo is an awesome way to recognize an important event or time in your life. The result is a permanent reminder of that particular memory, and you're bound to be asked about it over and over again, allowing you to tell the story many times over.

7. Create Sentimental Artwork Out of Attic-Bound Items

I recently came across a Buzzfeed post that I thought was really cool. There were lots of great ideas in author Mike Spohr's 26 Incredibly Meaningful Gifts You Can Give Your Kids, but I thought the framed teddy bear was kind of genius. Expanding that concept a bit further then, you can basically take anything of sentimental value that's perhaps tucked away in a box and turn it into a treasured family heirloom that will serve as a reminder of a special time as well as a conversation piece. It goes without saying that it'll be super fun to go through the attic to see what resources you have to work with when creativity strikes you.

8. Start a Blog Dedicated to Your Memories and Treasures

Maybe I'm speaking for myself here, but I like to share many of my fond memories with, well, basically anyone who'll listen. I mean, who doesn't like to reminisce about the "good ol' days," right? I bet we're of a similar mindset, which makes starting a blog dedicated to your memories and treasures a decent idea. You can write about fun times that you've had, post pictures of moments you never want to forget, and then share them with the world so you can bring joy to it.

9. Keep Your Treasures in the Family by Passing Them on to Loved Ones

You know that old saying — one man's trash is another man's treasure? Absolutely true, and it provides a great opportunity for you to unload some of your cherished items that are perhaps taking up too much space on family and friends who want or need it. With this tactic, the clutter is out of your way, but the things and the memories they conjure are still part of your life, which makes this easy option the perfect compromise.

Have a few more clutter-free ways to preserve memories? Let me know in the comments below.

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This article is from Mikey Rox of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Maintaining Memories: How to Save Old Photographs

Jennifer Holder — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 10:24:41 +0000

At the beginning of this year, my grandfather passed away. While going through his things, my family discovered photographs — amazing photographs from my grandparents' younger years, specifically the time my grandfather spent in the Korean War.

There is some ripping and fading, but overall, they’re in surprisingly good shape. I mean, after all, my grandfather left them in an old department store box on the top shelf of his closet for close to 40 years. They should be all but decrepit.

And now that we’ve pulled them down, my biggest fear is that something might happen to them. So, I volunteered to make sure all of their special memories stay intact. In a way, this article was therapeutic for me. I had no idea just how much my grandfather loved my grandmother (she passed away in 1993 from a brain tumor — I was too young to really remember) until we discovered the photographic evidence of their love. And now I’m on a mission so that we never forget. (See also: 7 Easy Photoshop Fixes for Your Family Photos)

Preserving Paper Photographs

To start off my mission, I consulted the professionals. The first place I turned was the Library of Congress (LOC). After all, they’re in the business of preserving paper. From there, a quick Google search lead me to the Minnesota Historical Society (PDF) and the American Museum of Photography (AMOP). As they all had similar advice, I’m going to detail the highlights below.

Let’s start with environmental conditions. According to the LOC, the photos should be stored at 68°F and 30-40% relative humidity. Since we don’t all have wine fridges, let’s say that if you keep the photos in a cooler place in your house, like a closet in the dark, you should be good. Just make sure that your closet won’t spring a leak. The AMOP says to steer clear of basements, attics, and garages, as they are hard to keep temperature-regulated, and the humidity will make mold grow.

As for storage, pick archival-quality boxes (prices start at $14.99 at the Container Store). Make sure the paper is acid-free and not cardboard. Keep the negatives separate from the printed photographs. If you want to display your photos, stick with a copy and keep the originals in the appropriate conditions. The light can fade the color dye on photographs.

In the process of handling your photographs, use clean cotton gloves to keep fingerprints and perspiration off. This is especially important for negatives.

Digitizing the Photographs

There are two main ways to go about this: One, you can pay a company to digitize (and therefore scan and retouch) all of the photos, or two, you can do it yourself. Pretty simple right?

It gets a little more complicated than that. Having a company do it seems practical: You mail them your pictures, they upload them to their website where you can edit and print them, and they’ll mail back the pictures with DVDs. There are many websites dedicated to this very thing, such as iMemories, starting at $19.99.

But of course, my fear is that the images will get lost in the mail, lost at the company, or ruined somehow. There might be no need to fear — after all, iMemories was just included in Entrepreneur Magazine’s list of 100 Brilliant Ideas. Also, even after your memories are returned, you can pay $4.99/month for unlimited storage, so you never lose anything. You can also try out Memory Hub, which offers similar prices.

The other option is more time consuming, but actually might be more rewarding, if you’re willing to put in the effort.

If you go this route, the first step is buying the scanner. You can buy a high quality scanner for prices starting at $99. After scouring a few review sites, the best ones seem to be the Canon CanoScan, Epson Perfection, and HP Scanjet. Each scanner is different in terms of quality, so shop around to get exactly what you need. Also pay attention to the photo editing functions included with the scanner, such as dust and scratch removal — they can be an added bonus.

Now it’s time to scan. First, ensure the photo is free from dust before scanning — and more importantly, that the scanner is. Clean the scanner off with a drive cloth. Next, make sure your scanner is set for 300 DPI and save the photo as a TIFF for editing purposes. For more advice, PC World has an excellent article on photo scanning, detailing every step.

The last step is editing. If you don’t want to spend any money, Windows Live Gallery is good editing software for PCs, and iPhoto is good for Macs. The best option is Adobe Photoshop, but if you don’t know how to use it, it would be a waste of money. No matter what, you should also peruse the internet for some tips and tricks on how to digitally restore the photographs. PC World offers some good ones, and HP’s website is surprisingly useful (even if you decide to go with an Epson or Canon scanner).

From there, you can burn the pictures to DVDs or use a USB drive to spread the love to family and friends.

Sharing the Photographs

Despite this being 2012, when I say “share” I actually don’t mean Facebook, Flickr, and Picasa. I mean sharing the photographs in the printed form. Ironically, the internet can help with this.

From Shutterfly to Snapfish to Tiny Prints, there are plenty of options for pretty much the same outcome. Each site offers the chance to play around with backgrounds, placement, captions, and more. The price is similar as well, but make sure to check out the special deals before purchasing.

Now, if you choose to use an old fashioned photo album, don’t forget that it must be acid-free and magnet-free. Also, the pages should be made of polypropylene plastic (plastic number 5) and not PVC (the pages with the strong plastic odor). Make sure your photo albums are stored in the same place as the archival boxes, but still accessible for visitors.

And finally, don’t forget scrapbooking (something my mother still particularly enjoys) — it’s probably the best way to take a trip down memory lane while simultaneously keeping the lane in one piece.

How do you save your old family photos?

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This article is from Jennifer Holder of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

5 Tips for Remembering Names

Xin Lu — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:36:06 +0000

My husband has always said that I am great at remembering many details about the people we meet. One of the most important and basic things you should remember about someone new is his or her name. Here are some of my personal tips for remembering names; hopefully they will help you avoid an awkward "I know you from somewhere" moment. (See also: Remember Where You Parked Your Car and More: 35 Practical Uses of a Digital Camera)

Look for Distinguishing Features

When I meet someone, I always look for something unique in the way they look or act. The trick is to pick some feature that starts with the same letter as their name. For example, if someone has a very distinct mole and his name is Michael, then you can associate "mole" and "Michael" mentally. I have also memorized some people's names based on their left-handedness, the way they walked, or their accents. Try to find a feature that isn't easily changed.

Associate a Name With an Occupation

Usually people tell you what they do for a living. I find that it's often easier to remember occupations than names because there is always a story to that occupation. All you have to do is to weave a person's name into your mental image of that person's occupation. For example, if a person tells you that he or she is a nurse, imagine that you are at a hospital and that person has a nametag on with that name on it. You should be able store that image into your head and bring it up more easily later than just recalling a random name.

Repeat and Reintroduce

When you just meet someone new, try to say their name a few times while talking to them. Repetition always aids your memory, so introduce that person to some of your friends. You can also ask people to spell their names if you don't have nametags. If someone has an unusual name, it is especially helpful to get the pronunciation correct by repeating the name a few more times.

Associate Real Words With Names

Many names aren't real dictionary words, and that makes them harder to remember. If you see a person's name and associate it with a real word, somehow it is much easier to remember. For example, when I hear a name like Jaden, I think of the word "jade," and I associate the color green with that person. When I hear "Gladys," I think of gladiolas and associate that flower with the person's face.

Use Social Media

If you happen to like people you just met, you could friend them on Facebook or Twitter, where they will have pictures of themselves and links to their personal sites. At blogger meet-ups I have asked people for their Twitter handles and permission to friend them on Facebook or LinkedIn. When you have faces and names show up on your social media feed, then it is much easier to remember who they are when you see them in person. For the most part, I do prefer adding people who I have met in real life to my Facebook, and I find it to be a great tool to keep people's images and names fresh in my mind.

What are your tips for remembering names of new people in your life? What do you do when you can't remember someone's name in a social situation?

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This article is from Xin Lu of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

How to Save Your Family Memories With Cloud Computing

Amy Lu — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:00:07 +0000

When I had dinner with some friends recently, I told them about a trip I will be taking next year to attend a cousin's wedding. One friend made this observation: "Wow," she said, "everyone in your family is getting married." It was an exaggeration (not everyone is getting married), but her point was valid: many in my generation are coming into the family-making phase of our lives. We're getting married. We're having kids. You know what that means?

Pictures. And Videos. Lots of them.

I always liked the idea of scrapbooking to organize pictures, and making home videos to watch together when the extended family gathers for big events. But that limits the sharing to certain times of the year only, and only to the folks who can actually make it. Unfortunately, family who live across the country — or in different countries — will inevitably miss out on the memories. Sure, you can send physical copies, but that can get expensive, fast.

Oh, who am I kidding? In this day and age, most family photos and videos are distributed online. And with the help of cloud computing, your family can even create a scrapbook or newsletter together, so everyone can keep everyone else up to date on family goings-on.

You may ask, what is cloud computing, anyway? It's simply a fancy term for Internet-based computing, where applications, files, and resources are stored in distant servers away from your computer. You can access these resources on demand, from any computer. Any time you're using Flickr, Yahoo Mail, Google Docs, Office Live, or MobileMe, you are "on the cloud."

Here's the kicker: You can grant other people access to the applications, files, and resources that you use on the cloud, making collaboration on a family scrapbook or newsletter easy as pie. Usually, all it takes is signing up for whatever service you decide to use — and there are many to choose from. Here are just a few.

LetterPop

With almost 300 templates to choose from, LetterPop makes it easy to create newsletters perfect for any occasion, season, or theme. While you can't share your work on LetterPop with other users, you can make it a family project with your kids. Give the older ones a section to write their own blurbs and let the younger ones help you choose your favorite photos to share. You can upload image files from your computer, or drag-and-drop directly from Flickr. Since everything you need is stored on your LetterPop account, you can work on your newsletter anywhere, anytime.

Chattertree

Most of my family (the computer-using ones, at least) are on Facebook — but not all of them. So when someone shares wedding photos or baby videos, those who didn't want to deal with Facebook's ever-changing privacy issues also don't get to Oooh and Awww with the rest of us. Chattertree is a solution to this problem. In a way, Chattertree very much like Facebook: You can message people, set birthday alerts, share photos and videos. But unlike Facebook, you get to do video chats with up to six people (or families), and it's a private family network — so anyone concerned about embarrassing photos of you wearing a Snuggie on Christmas morning can rest easy knowing that none of my friends will accidentally stumble on it. Um, I mean 'none of your friends.' Hypothetically, of course.

Google Docs and Microsoft Office

LetterPop and Chattertree are helpful services to sign up for, and they're super easy to use, but you do have some resources that you and other members of your family are probably already familiar with: Google Docs and Microsoft Office.

When you sign up for Gmail — or any other Google service — you gain access to their entire suite of applications. With Google Documents, you can create a scrapbook using one of their templates — simply type in 'scrapbook' in the search field of Google's templates page, and choose one that you like. While the selection is somewhat limited right now, it's fairly easy to upload your own backgrounds and graphics for a personal touch. As with most of Google's other applications, you can share your work-in-progress with other people and let them edit the scrapbook to add their own memories and highlights.

On the newsletter front, Microsoft Office has your back. Just choose a newsletter template when you open a new document, and fill in text boxes and insert photos like you would with any Office template. Rearranging body text, photos, captions, and titles is easy — anyone who has worked with Office probably already knows how to do it. And with Windows Live SkyDrive, you can upload and save your newsletter in the cloud and work on it later. When you're done, simply email it out to the family, either directly in the message or as an attachment.

Thanks to Windows 7 and Windows Live for sponsoring this post about how technology makes parenting so much easier. Visit Windows to learn more about the power of the Cloud and what it can do for you.

This article is from Amy Lu of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

How much are memories worth?

Philip Brewer — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:45:20 +0000

I get a particular negative jolt when I review a credit card bill and find a charge for something that's already over and done--a meal already eaten, a vacation already taken, a tank of gas already burned up. I'm much happier paying a charge when I can pat the thing purchased and know that it'll be serving some useful purpose for years to come. Just recently, though, I've found that I'm beginning to have a little more appreciation for those purchases that are only memories before they're even paid for.

Try this thought experiment: Imagine that all your property were destroyed in some disaster, but that you got a large check--replacement value for everything that was lost. How much of your property do you replace with exact duplicates?

A lot of the most important stuff is irreplaceable: art work, antiques, mementos of things you've done. You'd replace it with an exact duplicate if you could--and might pay top-dollar to do so--but mostly they're just gone.

A lot of the rest of it is stuff that you wouldn't bother replacing: that pair of old glasses that you could wear if you broke your current pair, those shoes that match the dress that doesn't fit anymore, that pot that you used to cook everything in before you married someone with really good pots.

Most of the rest are just things you have to replace simply because you need something to serve the purpose: a bed, some chairs, a table. No need to duplicate what you had--maybe you'd be better served by a bigger desk and a smaller car (or vice versa).

For me, this thought experiment puts a different perspective on my preference for spending money on things that last.

Sure, I'm very pleased with the bicycle I bought in 1983 and that is still my main transportation vehicle when the weather is nice. Its cost-per-mile at this point is so low it's not worth calculating, and it's still in near-perfect condition--I fully expect it to go another 25 years. But it's an exception.

Stuff that will last is great, but I've tended to put too high of a premium on that category.

Some of our best expenditures turn out to have been our vacations. We've been to science fiction conventions in Toronto, Boston, and Glasgow. We've been to Esperanto conventions in Berlin and New York. We spent a warm February week lazing about in Key West and a cool July week hiking around the coast of Wales. We took a cruise to Mexico.

And it's not just vacations fall into this category: going to college, going to concerts and plays, watching movies or videos, hanging out with friends at the coffee shop or bar. These also are experiences that may cost some money, but that may well be worth far more than, for example, a really nice leather jacket that would last for years.

For us, expenses of this sort have turned out to have provided some of the best value for the money we've ever gotten. Further, in the little thought experiment up above--what would you replace if you lost everything--they wouldn't need to be replaced: they can't be lost.

There are many reasons to to frugal--it's light on your wallet and light on the planet--but the most important is that it maximizes your freedom.

One way it does that is by giving you more career options: The more frugal you are, the less pressed you are to choose the most remunerative career (and the less pressed you are to stick with a poor choice simply because change would be risky--the frugal person can bear risks that others can't).

I was always in tune with that particular advantage of a frugal lifestyle. It's the one that motivates me most strongly.

What I've come to realize just recently, though, is that another advantage of a frugal lifestyle is that frugal people are free to spend the money they haven't sunk into stuff on experiences instead.

There are plenty of things you can do cheap or for free. But don't let the fact that an experience doesn't leave you with a useful object make you feel bad about paying for it.

Material purchases are about what you have. Experiential purchases are about who you are. After all, when people ask you about yourself, you don't tell them about your stuff; you tell them about what you've done.

On a personal note, I wanted to mention that this post marks my six-month anniversary of writing for Wise Bread. More by coincidence than plan, this is also my 100th post. I can't begin to tell you how much fun I've had writing these pieces. It's high on my list of experiences worth remembering. The photo is of me on the bank of the river Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland, during WorldCon in 2005.

This article is from Philip Brewer of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: