November Newsletter 2023
No Stress Holiday Season
Ah the holidays, we love ’em. Well mostly, anyway.
We love the time with family and friends, but we don’t love the stress of holiday shopping, the commercial madness, and just how tense most folks seem to be.
So, for 2023, we are making a vow to de-stress this holiday season. That starts with a clean house, hopefully!!! We are here for your holiday cleaning, as usual, but wanted to provide other ways to de-stress and make this the best holiday season ever.
If this looks like you, then maybe join us on our journey!
For starters, see below for one of our favorite people to help you do just that. You can outsource a number of different things, including decor, gift-buying, and party planning to name a few. Read on for details.
Beyond that, Johns Hopkins put out a short list of tips to destress, and we also found a good list by mellowed.com which can be found here.
It’s easy to forget the meaning of the holidays when you feel like the person in the photo above. We hope your holiday season is exactly the opposite this year and leads you into a wonderful 2024.
Finally, we will be closed on Monday, December 25th for Christmas Day, and Monday, January 1st for the start of the new year and to give our folks a much-needed break or two.
We wish you all the best for a peaceful and stress-free holiday season!!!!
Tax Law Changes
Did you know there are seven tax brackets in the U.S. tax code?
The marginal rates — 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37% — remain unchanged from 2023.
This is done so cost of living increases don’t result in a bigger tax burden for taxpayers.
For example, in 2023, if you earned $89,450 you were at the top of the 12% bracket, with $190,750 at the top of the next bracket at 22%.
In 2024, those numbers change to $94,300 and $201,750, respectively.
The standard deduction has also been changed, with the single deduction going from $13,850 to $14,600, and the married joint-filing deduction from $27,700 to $29,200.
There are also changes to gift taxes, estate taxes, and HSA/FSA allowed amounts.
Nerd Wallet did a comprehensive piece on this and all the changes and it can be found here.
Home Design Trends 2024
What will be new in 2024 in terms of home design trends?
Well, we are glad you asked, because we have the scoop!!!
For starters, there will be a move away from minimalism.
From our friend Marina Dagenais at Designer Premier, “Home decor trends in 2024 will see a seismic shift away from minimalism.” “Colorful interiors are upstaging simple all-white interiors, grays, and black color schemes.”
“Thankfully, there are many ways to take the plunge and transform your home into a vibrant and unique space. These nine tips for incorporating color into your home interiors will prove minimalism isn’t the only way!”
Marina is always plugged into the latest design trends, and we found an article on Business Insider that backs up her predictions.
Finally, one of our favorite things (we don’t know why) is the Pantone Color of the Year. The winner?
Partners We Love
One of our favorite partners is Allison Welch of As You Wish.
Allison is the founder of As You Wish, a personal assistant, event planner, and concierge.
She and her wonderful team are available this holiday season to assist with just about anything you can imagine.
From personal shopping to party planning, the team at As You Wish are the consummate professionals.
From Allison directly: “If you are looking for more TIME this holiday season, our team of personal assistants can help with shopping, party planning, wrapping gifts, and all of your holiday decor”.
Having worked with Allison directly for years, we highly recommend her services.
She has many great testimonials and they can be found here.
To reach Allison and the As You Wish team, you can email them at [email protected], or by clicking here.
Here’s to a stress-free holiday season!!!
Is your Phone Secure?
Do you have an iPhone? If so, you should be aware of the latest security issue facing Apple’s flagship product.
It appears that following the recent update of IOS, iPhones can “trade” contact information with other iPhones.
The latest “feature” is called NameDrop and per Apple’s website: “With iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1, you can use NameDrop to quickly share contact information with a nearby iPhone or Apple Watch,”
The ease and quickness of sharing information from phones has police sounding security alarms, while others believe the message is not necessary.
We aren’t taking any chances.
The feature defaults to “on”, so to turn Apple’s NameDrop feature off, go to settings → general → AirDrop, then tap the green button next to “start sharing by bringing devices together.” The green section should turn gray when it is off.
Security issues aren’t just limited to iPhones either, they just have the most current and newsworthy issue.
Regardless of which phone you have, the end of the year is always a good time to check passwords and do security reviews on our devices.
A good checklist on how to proceed can be found here.
There are lots of creative scams out there that we should all be aware of. The folks at ZDNet came up with a list of the top 9 security risks for mobile devices and it can be found here.
When in doubt, don’t accept anything that pops up on your phone unless you are 100% certain you know the source.
Monthly Award Winners
Our monthly award winners for October were Maria Zapata, Mary Moreno, Guadalupe Coloco, Josefina Quinonez, and Yesica Censo.
In the Team Leader ranks, it was Natalia Olivas and Laura Varela.
As the year winds down, stay tuned for our “best of the best” winners for the entire year.
We are so proud of our winners, and of all the folks that are in and out of your homes each week.
We are also very appreciative to be a part of your lives and your homes. You provide the platform for our teams to perform, and for that we are grateful.
Please join me in congratulating our best performers for the month of October.
Queen Bee Corner
by Angela
As we move into the winter season,I am starting to receive client questions on how best to leave a holiday gift for the ladies who clean your homes.
To be clear, tipping is always absolutely optional. Denver Concierge employees are paid a generous wage, and unlike employees in the restaurant business, do not rely on tips to balance out their pay.
However, should a client wish to give a gift, the best way to go about it is to leave it with a small card bearing the Team Leader’s name. She will know who has been working in your house the most consistently throughout the year and can share accordingly.
An equally simple way is to leave the gift with the Team Leader to be taken to the office. The office staff will know how to distribute fairly and ensure that the ladies know who the gift is from.
In any case we thank you for inviting Denver Concierge into your homes over the past year and for your kindness of spirit toward our ladies. We especially thank your four-legged members for their consistently enthusiastic welcome each and every visit.
Happy Holidays!
Bee