Bookkeeping by Doreen
Happy 2026! 🎉 (January 2026)
It is a new month, a new year and a new you, right? I say wrong! Let me clarify . . . Yes, it is a new month and a new year – on the Gregorian Calendar. Do not get me wrong here, this is the calendar we live our lives by. We schedule our appointments and our activities along with some fun vacations with this calendar. Our work weeks and pay cycles are based on the Gregorian Calendar, so clearly this calendar has its place, value and relevance. However, just because the new wall calendar still has 11 pages behind it does not necessarily mean that this is the time for big changes or resolutions.
By a show of hands, who has ever made a New Years Resolution? (Yes, I have made New Year’s Resolutions and yes, I have broken them!) Are these statements made from research into being happier in life? Something you are feeling dissatisfied with? Something someone else has suggested you ‘need to’ or ‘should’ do differently? Are you making resolutions now because ‘everyone’ is doing it? If you are reading this and nodding along to all of the above, may I suggest this: Stop doing that!
New Year, New You is not the focus, in my very humble opinion. Yes, the calendar page has turned, and the last digit of our year has advanced by one and yes, at some point during the next 12 months your age is going to also advance by one. Having acknowledged allllll of this, let me suggest this in lieu of resolutions:
Sit in stillness. Ask what is most important to know for you right now. Let it marinate. Let it brew. Let it simmer. Is now the time to make big changes? Is now the time to keep the status quo? Are you happy in general? Are you snuggling cozily into this winter season and just wanting to be quiet and still? Do you have motivation to make big or small but impactful changes at other times of the year? If yes, when in the past? Has this felt different (like a lifestyle change) or like a resolution which is expected to change your world dramatically?
I really feel that resolutions are designed to fail. The percentage of broken resolutions is off the charts! (23% broken in the first week, an average of 54% is broken by 1/31 and only 9% of resolutions are kept after 2/28 – sorry I had to bring in the stats and my inner-geek!) So, I ask – why set yourself up for failure?? So, in summary, let me challenge you all to throw those resolutions out the window! Instead, let’s lean into what we each want authentically. Sit with yourself and ask yourself what is most important right here, right now?? And take baby steps to make small but impactful change as it shows itself. This is how changes last.
Please, feel free to reach out to chat! I want to hear from you.
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Doreen M Letofsky | Your Bookkeeper with 💜
Can you believe December is actually here??
I cannot! My grandmother used to say the days can drag on but the years just fly by! I am here to say she was not wrong!
Welcome to the Holiday Season – the time of year that many of us scramble to buy those gifts and prepare enough food to feed a entire lacrosse team alongside our own family. We set early alarms or stay up way past our bedtime to wrap gifts, shop online, google new recipes and check our checking accounts and credit limits . . . Do you ever wonder why? I do and I got to thinking . . .
What if we could reduce the financial burden that the holidays can bring? What if we could stop throwing food that no one will ever eat in the garbage? What is we could give ourselves the gift of financial peace?
Let’s see what this might look like! I am sure that we all have felt the “pressure” to buy that hot toy or game or sweater for our children, siblings, parents and spouses. What if we just decided we are not going to that this year? What if we acknowledge the pressure of what the Jones’ are buying is not my problem and just decide not to create debt this year?
Make a plan! Who do you want to buy gifts for? Do you have a spending limit/person? Have you already acquired gifts for your kids or spouse? Do not forget about these! Set limits for yourself. Dare I say, create a “budget” for the holidays. And for the holidays for next year and pay yourself monthly so you have some cash for this moving forward. Keep an ongoing list of how much you have spent as you buy.
How about homemade gifts? Have everyone get together and brings ingredients for a cookie bake. Or bring fruit and make jams or jelly. It’s a great way to spend time together and create traditions. And everyone gets to take home the goodies.
Try experiences! You can invite everyone to an “date” with you instead of buying a gift. You can create or buy coupons and invite everyone to an experience with you. This can spread out your spending and create opportunities to spend time with each other doing something customized for each of your loved ones.
Getting help. You can work with a bookkeeper, accountant or financial planner to help you get organized by the end. It is a very worthy opportunity to put some key tools into motion to create a different plan for 2026. Being organized is always going to reduce stress and keeps on giving!
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Doreen M Letofsky | Your Bookkeeper with 💜
What is happening?
What is happening!
It is November, so I thought I would touch on elections here today.
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By all accounts, I am not here to support a political party, a specific politician or change your mind or opinions. I am just sharing some of what I have seen first hand and learned by talking to friends, colleagues and family members.
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Monumental changes are happening in this country and this past election is proving it. In Montgomery County, PA a record breaking turn out of voters has been reported in press release issued by Montgomery County on their website, montgomerycountypa.gov on November 5th. 307,840 of the 618,301 voters let their voices be heard! That is 49.78%, y'all! Of these votes, 90,757 of them were mailed in, which is also a record breaking turn out for a non-presidential election. In Bucks County, a neighboring county, the people who were up for election in local law enforcement (the Sheriff) and district court judges were all unseated by the opposing party! This is huge people!
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Several states are reporting that democrats have unseated their republican governor's for the first time since the 1960's! That is 60 years of dominance for these states, give or take!
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What I see as part of the cause of this huge shift? Young voters, women voters and minority voters. These groups of people are changing the percentages based on demographics now. I also have raised two young adults and we talk about political views and where they learn about current events as well as how they feel about the Presidents they have paid attention to in their lifetime and it looks like more new voters are registering democratic than republican.
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Why I think this is important to discuss here? Because the local only elections are putting the people who care most about you in Washington ultimately. These are the incoming influences determining tax code, tax brackets, how much of your medical costs can be deducted, whether or not you can get an extra deduction when you have children or credits for sending those kids to college.
We are all just one vote, but together we do make a difference!
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Doreen M Letofsky | Your Bookkeeper with 💜