Wednesday, January 6, 2016
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THE GAZETTE, EMPORIA, KANSAS
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Page 3
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R E A D E R S
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What is the nature of your New Year’s Resolution?
Voters took part
in an online poll
on The Emporia
Gazette’s webpage
regarding their
2016 New Year’s
Resolutions and
the results are
diagrammed here.
Kendra Johnson/Gazette
Marqueita Marisette, a trainer at Emporia Fitness, works with Kendra Spade on Tuesday.
Resolutions
From PAGE 1
of Emporia Fitness, recommends getting an accountability partner and tracking
your progress to ensure the
success of your resolutions
this year.
“I think having that accountability partner —
someone you can either text
or call and just keep on each
other to get to the gym or
meet up together and workout. With that, attend group
fitness classes. Here we have
a pretty wide variety of different classes, and same
thing there — you kind of
help keep each other accountable. It’s fun, and you
have an instructor kind of
helping you and leading you,
so that’s a really good start
for some people as well.”
“Set small goals and reward yourself with that. You
don’t want a big, lofty goal to
start off with, but just small
goals. Then reward yourself
— not with food obviously
— but maybe go buy a new
pair of shoes or a new pair of
workout pants or something
like that.
“You can journal to help
keep track of what you’re doing in the gym. Sometimes
seeing some visible improvements, whether it’s increasing in the weight you’re
doing on dumbbell curls or
just somehow seeing that
visible change can help. You
can journal nutrition as well,
using different kinds of apps
and stuff on your phone.
There’s so many different
things you can use your cell
phone for and technology
now. Journaling is great, and
with that aspect, the Fitbits
and stuff like that are really
popular, so sometimes those
can be motivating as well.”
Crumbliss recommended working out at least 30
minutes a day three to four
times a week and to stay
consistent with those workouts to see progress.
Tracy Edwards, of Ameriprise Financial Services,
offered the following tips
for managing money in the
new year:
“With all of life’s distractions, it’s easy to be careless with money,” Edwards
said. “Yet there’s a price
to pay for ignoring your
finances. The start of the
new year is an ideal time to
renew your commitment
to fiscal responsibility.
Here are some simple ways
to be more mindful of your
money and improve your
financial habits.”
Monitor your
accounts
It’s a modern miracle that
we can access our bank and
credit card accounts online
24/7. Checking your transactions and balances daily
on your smart phone, tablet or desktop computer
allows you to keep tabs on
spending, especially if you
don’t regularly balance a
checkbook. It’s also a good
way to spot fraud or mistakes. The sooner you see
something wrong, the faster
you can resolve the problem (or in the case of identity theft, limit the damage).
On the other hand, if you
allow too much time to pass
before identifying a banking error, you may be out of
luck. According to the Federal Trade Commission, you
have 60 days from the date a
problem or error was documented in a statement (online or in print) to contact
your financial institution.
Pay attention to
your daily financial
transactions
Despite the aid of automation, human beings still
make mistakes. It’s not unusual for a sale item to be
rung up at full price, or for
a store clerk to provide incorrect change. The distraction of cell phones and our
“hurry-up” culture doesn’t
help matters. With the number of cash, check, debit and
credit card transactions you
make every year, even losses of a dollar here or five
dollars there can add up to
a significant amount. You
can avoid common mistakes during routine financial transactions by being
more aware as your items
are scanned at the checkout register. Do the mental
math as the clerk hands you
your change. For good measure, check the receipt for
accuracy and, if there’s a
problem, quickly and kindly
point out the error so it can
be corrected.
Save your receipts
Your receipt is a record
of your transaction that
can help you monitor your
accounts. If there’s a dispute – for example, if an
ATM gives you the wrong
amount — your receipt may
be your only recourse for
resolving the discrepancy.
Most merchants require a
receipt in order to return or
exchange an item you pur-
Kendra Johnson/Gazette
Steve Huntsinger, a trainer at Emporia Fitness, talks with Vicki Jones as she trains
on a bike on Tuesday.
Holiday Resort’s mission:
“Hel