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Debt

Sunday, March 30, 2008 10:21 AM, Jen

This always happens to me. I am terrible when it comes to managing  money. I never seem to have enough to satisfy my wants, but the bills keep coming. I do not know why I keep buying new things when I do not have the money. The debt and overdue payments pill up before I can stop the madness. If only I could achieve some debt consolidation. My new job should help me to escape the vicious cycle which has me trapped. I am making twice as much as I use to be making before I was promoted to a managerial position. The key for now is to limit my spending to only the essentials. If I do not purchase anything more than I did with my older salary, I can become debt free in about a year. I have to be careful. Debt consolidation is a tricky business. In a moment of brain lapse, I can easily undue the positive corrections I have made. It takes weeks and months to recover from poor spending; however, it takes now time to dig a financial hole. I have decided to stay in the same rental. This should save me money because less of a percentage of my earning is going into housing if I stay here and make more. The car will be paid off in two months. The main thing I need to focus on is the amount of times I eat out or go to the bar. I use to go out and drink with friends at least twice a week. Now, I am limiting myself to twice a month until I can get out of the red. It is my fault I got here in the first place. It happens easier than I thought. A few bad ideas and a couple nights out and the money flow gets tight. A couple days ago, I cut up my credit cards. The bills can only get paid if I do not keep spending. The interest on them is unbelievable. For some purchases, I have spent almost twice as much on an item because of credit card interest. Once I get out of this mess, I do not want to go back

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vacation rentals

Sunday, March 30, 2008 10:20 AM, Jen

I am so excited I can barely stand it.  There are only two weeks left until Spring Break and I just can't wait until I leave.  I only have one midterm tomorrow and one paper due this friday. All next week all of my teachers are just doing lectures and notes.  If I find some people who are willing to give me the notes when I get back I will probably leave a little bit early.  I mean my plane for Jamaica doesn't even leave until saturday morning, I can still look up vacation rentals that are available early since my tickets can be traded.  Either way I will have such a great vacation.  I am not doing any of the touristy stuff because that is just not me.  The only parts of my vacation I have pre planned are the airfare and the vacation rental.  This is the way I do every vacation since I have been planning my own.  My parents were always really in to the tours and the resorts where you never leave the gates and they make sure you see the painted, polished picture of the the natives of whatever country you are in.  Nope, not for me.  I am all about researching the lay of the land and figuring out my moves when I get there.  I always feel like it cramps a vacation in to just another work day when you plan out every single moment of every single day you are on "vacation."  There are a few places in Jamaica I have found that I want to go, but I don't want to stress myself out by scheduling tours and booking taxi rides.  I want my vacation to be all about the flow.  The only anchors I of the whole trip are the airplanes and the vacation rental home which will be my sanctuary when I need to get out of the rain or dark.  I just can't believe how fast this semester has been going I mean I am almost done with my degree.  This is probably going to be one of my last vacations for quite a while since I start my new job right after school is over.

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weight loss

Sunday, March 30, 2008 10:18 AM, Jen

Holiday weight loss is always a concern for many people. With all the great food that is eaten during the end-of-year months, pounds are gained without folks really noticing it. Personally, I gain weight from eating so much dessert. Then, January rolls along, and weight loss is a common New Year's resolution - one that many cannot stick to. Losing weight is not easy, it takes a real commitment. But once you get your head around it, and fit it into your lifestyle, it does actually get easier. I have not decided which methods I am going to try yet, but I know I am looking advice to help me decide how to lose weight. Atkins, South Beach, they are all trends. I think just general healthy eating habits, lean red meats, lots of fruits vegetables. Also some tips I heard: waiting 10 minutes or more before eating dessert so your stomach can catch up to how full you really are and that if you are going to eat junk food, do it earlier in the day so you can work it off instead of sleeping on it. Also I have heard of scientific ways to help lose weight – like green tea's weight loss effects. I recently read an article on a new sugar that helps aid in weight loss. I believe in life long weight loss and about what people can accomplish on an everyday basis. Weight loss is not about a quick fix, it is about lifestyle change. I have to live this every day. It helps to network with others, either online or at the gym, and soak up their knowledge. I ask questions that matter and get responses from experts about weight loss and the methods that are right for you. When January comes around, and it becomes time or me to seriously look at the weight I have put on since the holiday season began, I will be looking to this website to answer all my weight loss questions and using it to get in shape. Not only for the new year, but for life.

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teenage angst

Sunday, March 30, 2008 10:18 AM, Jen

I was just surfing on Digg today and I noticed a pretty crazy story floating on the front page. There is a town in South Wales (UK) where there is been a whole string of teenage suicides – there has been 16 in total. It reminds me of the film Heathers with Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, where this deadly duo start murdering people at their High School and then claiming it is suicide.
Not saying this is murder at all, but I find it so strange that this could happen to so many people in just one town. It emerged that nine similar hangings had also occurred in the last two months in neighbouring valleys. They didn’t all involve young people, but it seems that people who live in this area of the world are feeling that their lives are particularly bleak.
I guess in America we have got our own problems with young people, especially with guns. Some of the High School shootings fill me with so much dread, I just hope nothing like that ever happens close to me. I spoke to my friend Nathan Billiton, who lives in the UK, and asked him about the story. He said he had seen it, and a lot of newspapers were running the story, although not everyone seemed to know what was happening. I think it is so incredible that people would want to take their life when it is nearly all ahead of them.

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Talent auditions

Friday, March 28, 2008 7:53 PM, Jen

Acting jobs are notoriously hard to land and even harder to maintain. I do not have much expertise in this area, but I have a general idea from what I had read and heard from other people. Usually, the first checkpoint on the road for these types of jobs is an audition of some sort. People with modeling jobs usually had previous experience with modeling that caught the eye of a scout or had come into the office of a recruiter to audition in a way their looks. People with acting jobs most likely had to go through acting auditions to land their parts, unless they were extremely well connected. Of course, once a person lands an acting job, she has her foot in the door for future opportunities. She probably does not have to go through other acting auditions to test her basic acting skills. However, she will have to undertake other types of auditions to land future roles. The most famous of these are probably film auditions. I still remember seeing scenes about film auditions in movies, where the potential actor or actress has to recite the lines from a certain scene of the movie they are auditioning for. The directors and casting agents basically see the same scene performed over and over by various potential actors. According to the movies, these scenes usually involve crying profusely or kissing passionately. Even if you are not an actor, have never held modeling jobs, or are not even interested in modeling or acting, you can still get your foot into the door of the entertainment world through open calls. In open calls, an agency or organization basically offers the audition process to any willing soul who believes they have the looks and talent to be the next star or model. Many famous actors today have been found through open casting calls, who otherwise would have never been discovered by traditional audition means or entertainment networking contacts. But then again, many more aspiring actors have been rejected, and perhaps rightly so, through open calls, thereby filtering out truly bad actors and models and sparing the public from more bad acting than is necessary.

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Acting auditions

Friday, March 28, 2008 7:49 PM, Jen

Remember the movie Home Alone with Macaulay Culkin? I remember after the success of that movie, everyone suddenly had acting jobs in their sights. Advertisements for acting auditions to be held at the local mall started to appear in newspapers and children with their parents were flocking to them hoping to be the next child star. Acting never appealed to me, but it immediately caught the eye of my friend, who quickly signed up for one of these auditions for teens. It was held at the local mall, and he had to stand in line for over two hours with other eager teens who were already dreaming of their movie trailers. I remember talking with him the day after the audition, and needless to say, he was less than thrilled. Aside from the long wait, he was hastily thrust a half page sheet containing some poorly written lines, which he had to recite in front of bored talent search agents. They seemed to be more interested in his appearance and stature rather than any acting abilities. He had his five minutes in the spotlight before being ushered out to make room for the next teen in line, left only with a vague promise that they would contact him if they were interested. Ever since then, he steered clear from any more auditions for teens or even any acting auditions in general. Rather, he turned his eye to modeling auditions. This turned out much better for him, since he was very photogenic and could really shine on print. Many of these auditions conducted an initial screening by reviewing pictures and bios submitted by applicants. The modeling auditions that he actually attended were much more attentive to each applicant, since they were already in their second and third rounds of cuts and more likely to be hired. Finally, he landed a modeling job with a major retail stores clothing department. He had his fifteen minutes of fame, showing off the latest style in jeans and denim jackets before he was left jobless again. Now, he holds a normal day job, nothing like the acting jobs or modeling jobs that he aspired to when he was younger. Perhaps the real motivator for these jobs are parents, who wish to live out their own desire for fame and accomplishment through their children. Look at how many parents submit their babies for baby modeling.

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Universities

Friday, March 28, 2008 3:01 PM, Jen

The other day I went down to the career services building in the business college. I went there because I am currently a secondary education major with a social studies certification. The problem with that is that there are too many people trying to study the same thing to the point where there aren't enough classes, professors, or even seats in all the social studies classrooms to fit us all. So what our school has done is they are trying to persuade some of us to explore other careers within education. So I decided that I would look in to this a bit more because I am really interested in the topic, but I don't have all of my soul set on becoming a social studies teacher. When I went to the center I was given a big long questionnaire to fill out that gave the profiler a good idea of what I am interested in and what types of things I may like to do for a living. When I finished filling out the forms the woman came and took the forms in to her office, leaving me in the waiting room for about fifteen more minutes. She came back out and said she had analyzed my answers and came up with a list of careers. We went in to her office and she brought up on her computer a series of career profiles for me to see the possible jobs and future opportunities that go along with each of the different major opportunities that she showed me. Ten she explain the types of classes I would be taking for each of the major I expressed some interest in. At the end of the day I had basically decided to change my major to a major called education leadership. Basically what I will be doing with a degree like this is setting up schools and working in between all levels of the school system. I would be the moderator between the school board and the faculty. I would be the school rep going to the state legislators for grant money. I would help in the process of grant writing. All of the things she laid out for me that day just seemed so intriguing that I have completely signed on.

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foodservice tea

Thursday, March 27, 2008 3:41 PM, Jen

Tea has become increasingly popular in recent years. I think it is probably all the new teas that they have out on the market. I mean these days you can green tea, herbal tea, and even oolong tea. All teas that seem to be really popular all seem to be to remedy or cure something. I mean there are teas to help you sleep, to keep you up, to balance your mood and your energy, to help you lose weight and so many more I would be hard pressed to name them all.

I am not a big tea person. My friend tried to give me some of her wholesale tea and it was really bad, since that time I rarely drink tea. I guess you can say it left a bad taste in my mouth. (lol) Anyway, it seems like everywhere you go there it is tea. Whenever you go anywhere there it is…tea.

I do really like some of the foodservice tea and foodservice iced tea that they have now. My mother introduced me to some of these when I was home on break and honestly the foodservice ice tea that she gave me was called Lime Oasis and it was great, but it truly didn't even taste like iced tea. I actually went online and ordered some for a friend, they were making her a little get well basket when she got sick. She is a real tea lover and said she really liked them. They were really different from any specialty teas I had ever had before.

I don't drink tea that much, but I do drink coffee every morning, and sometimes when I need to pull an all nighter. I am not a night person, so it takes a lot of coffee to get me through a night. I try not to have to do it too often, but usually I do it when a paper is due and I have put it off until the very last minute. The truth is I hate doing research papers, and I don't want to resort to buying them online, so I do my best to wait until the very last second to do them. Fortunately for me, this method works well. I am a good last minute paper person, at least I always get a good grade on them, although I am sure the my professors would take those grades away if they knew that I did them all in about 10 hours.

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Backgammon

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 3:16 PM, Jen

My first attempted match with my friend the backgammon buff never actually happened - he got wrapped up in explaining the history of the doubling cube to me - but he took a raincheck. Meanwhile, I had realized, in listening to him talk about backgammon, how miserably I was going to fail. I didn't expect to win by any means, but I didn't want to look like a complete fool in front of him. So I had about a week to improve my backgammon technique.

I started playing online backgammon with more frequency, but I wasn't really getting any better. The next step, I figured, was to read up on backgammon strategy. Here are some things that I found:

Backgammon is in some senses a hybrid game. It has a lot in common with "war games," like chess, but it's usually classified as a "race game" (and that's the category that Senet, one of the ancient cousins of backgammon, falls under). Games in the latter category tend to rely on the generation of random numbers - in backgammon, the random number generators are dice, of course - and, therefore, rely also relatively heavily on chance. Damn it, I thought. I'm not very good at games of chance.

But I also discovered that war games, too, often rely on dice, even though those games tend be thought of as more strategic than race games. Rolling the die brings in an element of chance to those war games, too, but it's more localized; the dice don't dictate where a player moves, but rather the outcome of a certain move the player might make, and that sort of thing. So in backgammon, which kind of chance is it? Localized, or overall?

Unfortunately, I don't think it's as straightforward as that - or at least, I wasn't really able to find an answer. Backgammon strategy doesn't seem to be as clearly defined as chess. The game has an extremely interesting history - apparently a lot of avid backgammon players in Great Britain hid their predilection for the game for a very long time, constructing game boards disguised as books and things of that nature, because the game was often outlawed and looked down on. In fact, I found precious little to help me with my game strategy. So I had to face my opponent, in the end, with essentially no technique. Needless to say, I was soundly beaten.

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Tuscany apartments

Friday, March 21, 2008 11:06 AM, Jen

The other day while I was at work I met the cool guy. I was so exhausted from the last night of studying. I had a huge midterm that day so I stayed up until three in the morning making sure I had the content down. Of course I feel like I did great on the exam, but the whole rest of the day I felt completely useless. As usual on days like this, I had to work at two and had absolutely no time to nap. Luckily for me I had so much to do at the shop that I couldn't sit down for a second. I had to spend most of the day dealing with new customers who wanted sort of hard to find albums, so I was on my feet a lot. I had to stock a bunch of boxes with new release Cd's that came in. It's always the busiest day I have all month when these shipments came in so it was perfectly timed for once. So I spent most of the day rushing between the boxes of new albums and the old racks for curious customers. My shift was set to end at closing time around six, or whenever all the people clear out after that. At six there were five people left in the shop and after the first four left the last guy came up to te counter where I was sitting. He asked me about a foreign album that we had by an Italian artist and we got to talking about Italy. He told me he is an exchange student from Sicily and that he actually grew up in an apartment in Tuscany. I told him about my love of wine and how I have always wanted to live in Tuscany villas where I grew my own grapes. He told me stories about picking grapes in Tuscany and about the lemon trees outside their Sicily villas. He told me about living in Sicily apartments for about an hour and I finally noticed the time. I tole him that some day when I am done with my degree that we should get some Sicily villas together. We exchanged numbers and really do plan on making this happen when I am done because he will be moving back in a couple of months.

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Dog beds

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 8:07 PM, Jen

This week I have been working really hard on my psychology research experience. We ave been doing some pretty simple, low level work with animal human responses. We just finished one experiment and now I am getting ready for the next one which will work a lot with some students in biology. I have to go out tomorrow and order some new dog beds and brand new toys for the experiment. I have to talk to my friend who works as a show dog trainer to find the perfect type of dog bed for our experiments. The dog toy excursion shouldn't be quite as intensive and I will just go out to the pet store and buy a big bulk load of assorted toys. We are testing different types of responses to animal conditioning of human biological facial features. I think it is pretty interesting stuff because we are trying to figure out eventually if people have the same type of responses to these same facial features or if dogs have a different brain system for deciphering their reactions to humans.

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Online universities

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 4:06 PM, Jen

Did you know that there a multitude of degree programs offered online, right from your home computer? That's right, in this modern day society in which we live in, you can earn an online MBA and never leave your home. You can apply online, submit your work online, listen to lectures online. It is amazing the way the home computer has really impacted our lives.

Online Universities are becoming all the rage. With the economy being so tight, many people are choosing to return to school. Older people and those with full time jobs and families will be most affected by this new innovative way to attend college and get a degree. Now instead of tying up valuable time sitting in classes, they can take a laptop with them to the ball field while their kids are practice. They can work on their coursework on their lunch break at work or at 3 in the morning when they can't sleep. They can just work on their day off, or put in a few hours each day. There is such incredible flexibility of schedule with these online universities, it is amazing how much you can accomplish in a short period of time. It really makes you wonder how we ever survived without computers doesn't it?

Well, I love the idea of being able to go to school online and take classes. Not only does it open up opportunities for schooling to people with busy schedules, but it also allows people with severe health problems to be able to attend school, complete coursework and keep their minds sharp. Especially like people with temperature disorders and sun allergies. People who have cancer and are undergoing treatments, and truly anyone who wants to better their life. Anyone can do online schooling. You must stay focused and pace yourself, so that you complete the work as needed, but if you are a hard worker and have some discipline, you can get this to work for you.

When you have a chance, take a look at all the online schooling opportunities that are out there. You will be amazed to find that there is just about every kind of course and degree available through online universities and it is very easy to get started. You can apply to admissions online and even apply for financial aid online. Put yourself on a career path today and be looking forward to a better future tomorrow.

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South Africa

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 3:09 PM, Jen

I am now only about two months away from the end of my second year of college. So far I have a had a ton of fun and I have really learned a lot. I will definitely be finishing my teaching degree at this school and I am really happy about that. This summer I am actually planning a trip to one of my planned destinations for teaching in the future. I wanted to become a teacher so that I could eventually teach in an area where they are desperate for teachers and really need people to fill the spots that have remained empty for a long time. I am taking my first trip out of the country and I am going to South Africa where I will not only be talking to schools and exploring the culture, I will also be looking at houses for sale. I don't know much about their school system so I am interested to know their own particular philosophies on education. I would really prefer to actually start a school of my own if I can get the funding together before I am finished with school, but if not I would probably work in one of their school for a bit till I could petition their local government and U.S. and international companies for their own funding. I would also be looking pretty hard at the South Africa real estate market because I don't want to move there and not know something about their private property rights and not understand if something goes wrong or I put my self in to a precarious situation without realizing the law. If all goes well in that department and I feel comfortable with their laws and neighborhoods, I will hopefully be looking in to South African property for sale about this time two years from now trying to set up my new life. All of this is so exciting. I can not imagine what I would have done had I not decided to go to college because I came from a small town with even smaller opportunities for anything exciting. I hope that all of my plans work out, but I am sure that whatever happens I will be happy with the opportunity I have been given.

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Debt consolidation

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 4:09 PM, Jen

When a person finds themselves in overwhelming debt, it is time to address the situation. One of the first courses of action would generally be debt consolidation. If you assemble all of your bills and are able to consolidate them into one monthly payment, it will enable you to pay them off faster and to eventually reach your goal of being debt-free. Bill consolidation, therefore, is often the beginning of the road to becoming free of debt.

To begin with, it is often a good idea to shop around for a credit card which is offering a good deal on an introductory interest rate for a specific period of time on transferred balances. Sometimes you can get an extremely low rate of interest on these cards which will enable you to pay off your debt faster and save a great deal of money in interest payments. You should go ahead and apply for this card and then begin your debt consolidation by transferring all existing balances. Of course, you must be sure that they will not take you over the credit limit given on this new card. Spending over your credit limit makes you subject to very high fees so you do not want to make this mistake. Shop around for a deal like this and you could save a great deal of money while reducing your debt load.

Once you have established this new credit source and transferred all previous debt, it is time to begin to make serious payments to reduce your balance. Instead of making minimum payments on each one of the accounts you had previously, you are able to make a lump sum payment to this new account. The lower interest rate will reduce your minimum payment and allow you the freedom to make more payments towards your total balance due. This will enable you to pay off your debt at a much faster pace. The secret here is to be certain that you are not running up additional debt elsewhere. It is often advised that you cut-up the cards you used previously so you will not be tempted to continue to purchase items you cannot afford. If you are doing this, you are making a big mistake and will be back in debt very quickly. Debt consolidation can only work if you use restraint and do not continue to use the accounts which you are currently paying off.

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Tattooed women

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 3:07 PM, Jen

I really love tattoos on women. Take that American Idol girl. She really shows off how attractive a nice looking tattoo can be. If you go to a tattoo online gallery, you can take a look at all the really attractive tattoo design layouts there are. I think it is really hot when a girl is sporting a nice tatt. That one on her arm is just awesome!

I like that tattoo. The colors are wild, but I think that she wears it really well. I mean it is classy looking. She doesn't look like a biker or anything like that. I know she is married but she is really hot. And she works in a tattoo parlor or did before she hit it big. I wonder if she will ever spend time in that tattoo parlor again. Her profile says that her and her hubby manage it. Do they manage it or own it? I am just not sure. I think it is a cool job though. I mean I would love to tattoo women's breasts and backs and legs and wherever else they wanted me to tattoo.

I think it would be an awesome job, especially since most of the women who have tattoos seem to be real hot. I don't know if that is cause ugly chicks don't like tattoos or if you have to be the exhibitionist type to go into a tattoo parlor and drop trou or what. I am not saying that no ugly people get tattooed, but most of the girls I see with them are hot.

I like a small tattoo on a woman. Nothing bigger than the size of their fist, otherwise, I am just thinking trailer park trash. Especially, if it is hidden and I don't see until we're in the bedroom. That is scary. If I see that I won't be calling you back.

A small tattoo on the breast, ass, or low back is really hot. I especially like roses, butterflies and hearts. I don't want to date a girl with a spider or snakes. I just think that a tattoo worn by a girl should be a bit more feminine and these designs just scream NASTY!!

Please ladies, don't tattoo DAD or a boyfriends name on your body. I don't want to be able to read you, just look at you! And nothing that looks like a chain link fence or barbed wire. This is just cheesy! Also, I can't stand unicorns or rainbows, these just look a little too gay!

Keep it classy ladies and the guys will swarm. I promise.

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Debt problems

Sunday, March 16, 2008 11:17 AM, John

Recently I found myself on the verge of bankruptcy. The credit card bills were coming in faster than I could pay them. I started falling behind on my payments and I got my credit reports from several agencies and it wasn't looking good. I was scared, and I didn't know what to do. I was avoiding answering the phone to avoid the debt collectors that were calling looking for payments.

Then, I was watching television and they were advertising for a debt consolidation program. I decided to call the number. No, I really didn't believe that they could help me, but I was desperate and didn't have anywhere else to turn so I tried it.

I was shocked. They were not only able to help me consolidate debt, but they helped me avoid bankruptcy. I know I probably should not have used my credit cards as much as I did, but being in school, it is hard to make ends meet, especially with only so much time available to actually work.

Well, I got my debt consolidated and my monthly payments reduced. They were even able to cut down my balances which had gone way up due to late charges and overbalance fees.

I can finally breathe again. And the best thing is that my phone is not ringing off the hook with bill collectors anymore. I am getting caught up and can actually afford some extras again. Only this time, I won't be paying for them with a credit card. I will be using my debit card or paying cash. I have learned my lesson and my credit reports are looking much better.

I may get one credit card to help rebuild my credit, but I will be very cautious about it, and will not be taking every card that is offered to me. This is dangerous. Once you hit 18 you have completely clean credit and these companies do whatever they can to get you hooked before you even have a solid income. Be careful!

And if you find that you are already in the hole and need some help getting out of it. Don't hesitate to contact a debt consolidation program and get yourself back on track today. Maybe one day you will actually have to worry about identity theft. After all, with bad credit no one will be stupid enough to steal your identity now.

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