Part of eliminating your debts is taking responsibility for your finances. It is your name that is on your accounts and the bottom line is, it is you that the lender will call if your credit cared payment is not made on time. So just how much attention do you pay to that credit card statement when it comes in the mail each month?
Letus start with your checkbook. Is it balanced? Do you know how much money is in it? Or do you always keep enough money in it that you know none of your checks are going to be returned. I guess that is better than not having enough in it when the checks come in. But, what happens if somebody is automatically deducting a monthly charge from your account and you are not aware of it. The charge may be small enough that you are not noticing it in your balance.
If you do not balance your checkbook and do not pay much attention to your bank statement, how long is it going to take you to discover this amount is being charged to your account every month? It could take you a while. It is your checking account. Take responsibility for it and know what is going on with it. It could save you a lot of problems and money in the end.
Now let us talk about credit card statements. I worked in the credit card industry for quite a while and I can not count the times somebody called me and wanted a late fee removed, because they did not know they had been charged for something and did not pay their bill as a result. If a credit card company goes to the trouble to send you correspondence, you better look at it. If these people had been reconciling their statements they would have noticed that they had been charged for something they had not authorized.
Then the other one I heard a lot was that their spouse takes care of the bills. Well that may be true but if the account is in your name it is still going on your credit record, no matter who takes care of paying your bills. My personal feeling is if you went to the trouble to open the account, you should take responsibility for it and something tells me the financial industry feels the same way. Taking responsibility for your finances will keep them under control and you from having problems in the future.
What does that have to do with power? A lot, because many people handle their half of communication exchanges in a way that erodes their power. Here are some examples of how you can reclaim your power through more responsible communication.
E-mail
Who's in charge here: you or the technology? Are you jumping to attention every time your computer beeps to tell you you have mail? That eats into your time in little chunks every day. Then you don't have enough time to do your job properly, and you feel stressed and victimized.
The answer? Set a series of times throughout the day, according to your workload and schedule, to read and respond to e-mail. Turn off the audio reminder so that you won't be tempted to abandon your schedule. If anyone needs to get in touch with you more urgently, they'll call you.
Are you on other people's automated distribution lists? I'm not talking about spam from around the Internet, but just people in your organization who seem to want to copy everyone they know about their every waking thought. Get off those lists! Approach the people and ask them to remove your name, and to copy you only on appropriate messages.
Take responsibility for managing your e-mail.
Voicemail
Do people expect you to respond immediately to voicemail messages, instead of getting on with the work you need to do? Maybe your greeting is at fault.
If you have planned to work on a major project for two hours, reflect that in your voicemail greeting. "I will be unavailable from 10 a.m. until noon today. Please leave a message and I will return your call as soon after that as possible." If your phone rings during that time, don't pick it up. They'll hear the message, and if they leave their name and number they will know when to expect to hear back from you. Of course you must also respect their time by calling back when you said you would.
You don't have to give people a play-by-play description of your schedule for the day, but do let them know when you will get back to them.
Take responsibility for managing your telephone response schedule.
Difficult co-workers
Unfortunately, verbal bullying is all too common in today's workplace. Some people are accustomed to getting their own way simply by interrupting and talking louder than anyone else at meetings, in other people's offices or even in casual hallway conversations. Don't let them away with it. Store in your mind a few verbal responses to use as needed. Here are a few to start you off:
? Perhaps you don't realize you are shouting, but you are. I'm willing to talk about this, but only in a civilized manner.
? Please don't interrupt me when I am making a point. When I finish what I was saying, I'd be happy to hear your point of view.
? Did you mean that comment to be insulting?
You can add your own, and use words that come naturally to you. Many bullies will back off when they realize their tactics are not having the desired effect.
Take responsibility for managing conversations with others.
Communication is always a two-way street. You can't control the other person's part, but you can certainly take responsibility for your own. Try it, and just see how empowered you feel.
Both Marjorie Salada & Helen Wilkie are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Marjorie Salada has sinced written about articles on various topics from Gastric Bypass, Asthma and Credit Cards. Marjorie Salada is the owner of , a website that contains information on debt consolidation, debt settlement, debt counseling and how to manage cre. Marjorie Salada's top article generates over 110000 views. to your Favourites.
Helen Wilkie has sinced written about articles on various topics from Writing, self improvement and motivation and Finances. Helen Wilkie is a professional speaker and author, specializing in workplace communication. Subscribe to her free monthly e-zine, "Communi-keys" at