Balance Newsletter - November 2008

Welcome to Balance!

Hi there, and thanks for your support of the new balanceaustin.com!  We appreciate all of the great, candid feedback we’ve received from you, our loyal supporters.  As you can tell, the website has taken on a whole new look and feel, loaded with better content to help YOU create a better life of balance. 

By now, perhaps you have become a regular reader of our guest bloggers, including Kim Stewart from Majic 95.5, Allison Allen, founder of www.womenbloom.com, Sue Cullen, a life and career coach with www.suecullen.com, and Marny Lifshen, author of the book Some Assembly Required: A Networking Guide for Women.  If you get a chance to read up on their blogs, be sure and provide some feedback. They’re happy to interact with you!  

If you’ve been with us from the beginning, enjoy the new site.  If this is your first newsletter and you’re just becoming familiar with balanceaustin.com, we thank you for your interest and support – go ahead, tell a friend, and create some balance in your life!   www.balanceaustin.com.   

Surviving the Financial Hurricane

We are all experiencing it…the ups and downs of the recent stock market windfall.  Analysts across the tube are chanting “save, save, save…keep investing”!  But who really knows what to do, especially when fuel costs are high and credit card bills are piling up.  Sometimes there is such a thing as too much information.  Intimidation can play a huge factor in staying at a stand-still at a time like this.  It’s not that you don’t want to know…it just gets a bit complicated.  This month we’ve narrowed down a few sites that may be helpful in laying a path of easy-to-understand information. 

The Women’s Institute for Financial Education website is a great resource.  The site tackles many issues facing women of all socio-economic levels, married or single, with or without children. 

If you are looking for more personal financial advice and attention, Kenty, Yung, Ozias & Associates are local and have a reputation known for their personal service, financial expertise and more. 

November is National Diabetes Month

What exactly is diabetes?  Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, the hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles.  Because November is National Diabetes Month, we've done a bit of research on how you can help keep your family healthy. 

There are things you can do to help prevent Type 2 diabetes in your children.  Encourage active play, lots of exercise, and healthy meals. 

For kids who are overweight, here are some changes to try (if needed):

~Limit time for television and video games to less than 2 hours a day.

~Drink less regular sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks.  Encourage them to opt for water instead.

~Limit fast foods and eat smaller portion sizes.

If you or someone you know has recently been diagnosed with diabetes, The American Diabetes Association, (www.diabetes.org) has information for parents and kids along with a community message board. 

Locally, the Austin Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation site (www.jdrfaustin.org) has a variety of ways you can get involved from volunteering, research and advocacy programs. 

The Holiday Countdown – Are You Prepared?

Does the calendar really say November?!  It’s the happiest time of the year, time with family and friends, time to acknowledge all that we have to be thankful for and time to start planning for the holidays.  Often the coming of the holidays represents stress, pressure, expectations, guilt, disappointment, pain, loneliness, exhaustion... and the list goes on.  It is possible…your holiday season can be as simple or as elaborate as you choose to make it, and it can be a lot of fun if you plan accordingly.  Take a bit of time to plan and you will see a difference in how you and your family respond to the happiest time of the year! 

• Create a list of holiday rituals that are important to you.
• Seek your family's input on holiday decisions.  Ask family members what they liked and disliked about last year's holidays.
• Keeping time-consuming and irrelevant traditions or rituals "just because we've always done it that way" can increase stress.
• Mail your greeting cards, holiday letters, and packages early.
• Thoughtfully plan your gift-giving.  Saves you time and helps you stick to your budget.

Click here for more holiday organization tips…

Sunday Morning Balance Breakfast Hour

Sunday mornings at 8am on Majic 95.5 have become the home of the Sunday Morning Balance Breakfast music feature, and it continues to generate playlists from you, our loyal balance audience – thanks for sending them in!  In October, special thanks to Heather Thompson for programming the October 19th edition.  For your efforts Heather, we're going to send you a Balance recyclable grocery bag loaded with goodies!

If you have a playlist that sets your tone every Sunday morning, click here and submit five songs.  This is your chance to program a radio station, even if it’s only 15 minutes!  The next Sunday Morning Balance Breakfast Hour will be at 8am on November 16th on Majic 95.5.

Balance Favorites

Financial organization

Every month, it's the same feeling.  Dive into the vast amounts of bills, receipts, files and more, just to get our bills paid.  Make this the year you finally get organized.  The site www.seejanework.com has an array of items available to be both fashionable and functional to keep you and your family on track. 

Diabetes Nutritional Information

Whether you or someone you know has Type 1, Type 2 or gestational diabetes, dLife will customize a nutritional plan to best suit your needs. You can also choose from three different plans - weight loss, blood sugar management or meal planning.  Visit www.dlife.com for more information.

Holiday Organization Favorites
If we only had a dollar for every minute we spent looking for all that great wrapping paper we bought at last year’s post-holiday sales!  Well the Container Store has a solution.  This year pick up a holiday organization pack…it keeps tape, wrapping paper, scissors, bows and everything else you need to wrap that perfect present.  Visit www.containerstore.com for more information.

Featured Health Tip - Are You Paying Too Much for Health Insurance?

Often, finding balance in your life means finding a balanced budget. That’s why, if you think you’re paying too much for health insurance, you need to stop. Insurance carriers like Scott & White Health Plan offer comprehensive coverage at an affordable price. Compare your current plan with ours–or speak with a health insurance broker–to make sure you’re getting the best rates for the best service. Here are some additional tips to help keep your health care costs down:

1. Practice prevention. Keeping yourself healthy every day may significantly reduce the amount of money you need to spend on prescriptions, medical care and medical coverage. For example, rates are almost always lower for non-smokers, so quit! And regular checkups may help prevent major costs in the future. Also, participating in wellness programs may help you stay healthy, which could lower your health costs in the long run.

2. Check your medical bills. Doctors’ offices are busy places, and medical bills can sometimes carry mistakes. Make sure to check carefully to see that you received all the care for which you were billed. If not, contact the appropriate billing office to fix your information and billing.

3. Keep track of your medical expenses. Along with diligence in checking your bills comes diligence in keeping them organized and in one place. That way, when tax time comes around, you’ll be able to quickly see whether you can deduct some of your medical expenses. Generally speaking, if your medical expenses exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income, you may be eligible for tax deductions.

4. Get to know your health insurance. Your insurance may cover more than you think–particularly if you’re part of a comprehensive, quality plan like Scott & White Health Plan. Talk to your representative and read through your coverage carefully. You may not only receive benefits you didn’t know you had, but also discover you have coverage you don’t really need. Eliminating this excess coverage is another way to keep costs down.

To learn more, log on to the Health and Wellness section at www.balanceaustin.com,  brought to you by Scott & White Health Plan.

This Month’s Featured Podcast

Sharon Sneed is a native Austinite.  She grew up in northeast Austin as Sharon Meadows, and graduated from Reagan High School in 1971.  She then attended Texas A&M University, meeting her future husband and graduated with a B.S. in Zoology in 1974.  She and her new husband moved to the D.F.W. area where she attended graduate school at Texas Women's University, graduating in 1979 with a M.S. and Ph.D. in human nutrition and biochemistry.  She and David moved to the San Francisco area where she was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley.

In her varied career over the next ten years, she taught at three universities, managed to have three children and lived on the east coast and Japan.  When Sharon and David moved to Austin in 1986, they began a medical practice in SW Austin.  She participated in wellness counseling, did part-time teaching, raised three children, and did community volunteer work.  Sharon has written and co-authored many professional articles and 12 books for the public.

In 1999, Sharon switched focus to the science of skin care.  She feels that her science background prepared her well for this new area.  She is laser certified with many machines and other modes of skin care therapy.  She has recently co-authored a book with David Sneed on the synergy of different combination skin care therapies.

Click here to learn more about how she creates balance through her podcast. 

Balance Event's This Month

• November 8th Round Rock Premium Outlets 3pm-5pm
• November 13th Cool River Ladies Night 6:30pm-8:30pm
• November 15th Seton Baby Shower 10am-12noon
• November 15th STEP OUT TO FIGHT DIABETES at ZIlker Park  7:30am
• November 18th  Tiara Tuesday 5pm-7pm
• November 20th Cool River Ladies Night 6:30pm-8:30pm

For details on these events and other Mix 94.7 & Majic 95.5 Events visit the events pages at www.mix947.com and www.majic.com

Feedback

From everyone at balanceaustin.com, thank you for your support! Help us grow this community by providing feedback on how to improve the website content or if you have stories or tips to share. We hope you enjoy the new site.