financial blog
I guess I am not alone in saying that the current state of the US economy has me feeling a little bit uneasy, not to mention the fact that my own economic state is not doing much better and being that I spent over $100.00 in gas over this past weekend, I am feeling a little incensed. I have been trying to figure out ways to save money any way I can. I have considered renting out the house that I just inherited from my mother to make a few extra dollars. Then I was thinking perhaps I should just rent out my house and move into my mother's house which is a little bit smaller and energy efficient. I have been trying to research information about real estate online and have found a few neat real estate blog sites, but one in particular that I found very insightful at realestatethoughts. There is all kinds of helpful information on this site. Everything from buying and selling to renting a property. This is a really neat site and you should check it out if you get a chance.
I have been also looking to get some sound financial advice and have been watching Suze Orman and just about any other financial adviser (not infomercial) that I can find to get some really good tips not only on saving money, but also on wise spending and investments. I am trying to compile a bunch of information about this kind of stuff as well and have done several online searches especially about finances and found another great blog this one was a financial blog. This blog at www.financialthoughts.com gave me some really great money saving tips. There are all kinds of tips on there about gasoline savings, plus information on how to save money, and good helpful tips for supplementing your income. I find it very helpful to find out what ideas other people have about saving money, and I truly think that now is a good time to use the information highway to share thoughts and ideas especially about money matters. Blogs are one of the greatest things available on the internet, since they allow us to state information the way we see it and to collaborate ideas all over the world. Be sure to take full advantage of all the resources available to you including the internet, and you will be glad you did.
Pittsburgh phone service
Moving to a new area it can difficult to set up your services from another state. We recently moved and since there was only one electric company and one choice for water and sewage those decisions were really made for me. I looked around for a package deal on my internet, phone and cable, but it seemed that every company that I contacted could only offer one or two of these service to the area we were moving to and so I got frustrated and just picked any companies that I could find to provide these services initially until I could actually get to town and do some research on my own.
After moving in we were invited to a block party/BBQ with the neighbors and it was a really nice event. We met a really nice group of people and judging by how many invitations Bill and received they seemed to like us just as much as we liked them. I got to talking to our next door neighbor Linda and I began telling her of my predicament with finding a bundle package for my services. I told her back home I had a nice package deal for my phone, internet and cable and I loved having all three in just one monthly bill. She informed me that before this development was built a few years ago, this area had been very rural and that is why there is limited availability for services to the area at this time. She said when they first moved in here several years ago, they had no choices, but now there are a few choices. She informed me however, that there was only one company that could offer me the type of package that I was looking for. That company was the Pittsburgh phone service. She said that their price was a little higher than what I was probably used to paying, however, she assured me that this was the best deal that was available for the area. I was grateful for the information. It is truly helpful when you move to a new area to get to know the neighbors, not only can you learn all the gossip of the area, but you can get some truly helpful information as well. Linda's information was very helpful and the next day I called and got my bundle package, just as I wanted.
corporate gifts
My brother and I used to always fight when we were younger about everything. We would fight over who had to do the dishes. We would fight over who got which colored socks for Christmas. We fought over who got the bigger portion of mashed potatoes at dinner while our parents attempted to mediate (sometimes it would end with both of us getting disciplined, which we deserved.) You could say that each day of our pre-teen years was a mini war in our home. I dont know how our parents put up with us, but thats for another day.
Anyways, one thing that never failed to bring us together is when we would go to the market or local super-bulk grocery store and get free samples. Our family would always drop by one of these stores on Sunday afternoons, often the busiest time, and spend hours there perusing the aisles, buying tons of food, and battling the crowds and lines. At first, these days were excruciatingly long, as both my brother and I were itching to go home and play video games. But when we discovered the free food sample stands peppered throughout the store, we formed an alliance to get as much free food as we could bite-sized cookies and Dixie cup juice samples breed strange bedfellows indeed.
My brother and I are one of the closest friends now, and I appreciate him for many things. One thing that still remains, however, is our love for free things. Thus, when he travels on business now, he always brings home bags of promotional products and corporate gifts. We attack these bags like a couple of giddy schoolchildren and divvy up the spoils among us. He attends so many conventions and meetings that he always has a stack of logo merchandise to give me.
His, and consequently my, favorite items are tradeshow giveaways, where he always gets the best promotional products. Ive never seen so many logo merchandise in the form of mugs, pens, key chains, shirts, and even stuffed dolls in my life, and I love all of them! These corporate gifts are handy and very appealing to us, not only because they are free, but because they are so useful around the house. With tradeshow giveaways and other logo merchandise, we can stock our closets and cupboards with cool items that youll see us using from our morning coffee to our night shirts. I love my brother, and we love free stuff!
party supplies
This past weekend went by in a blur. First, I had to get my car back from the impound lot to which it was towed because my younger brother accidentally left it parked in front of a hydrant overnight. After paying a hefty fee, I took my redeemed car and went to run errands to through a luau party for (guess who?) my brother. He recently got his teaching credential after a year of hard study and endless hours of teaching at the local elementary school. I guess I should forgive him for the car towing incident. After all, teachers should be appreciated for doing what is very important but often under appreciated.
Anyways, I was running around getting party supplies for the luau party, including plastic leis, tiki torches, streamers, utensils, and of course, lots and lots of food. But as I was roaming the aisles of the party supply store, I was struck with a brilliant idea: why not incorporate glow in the dark items for the luau party? With a huge, confident smile on my face, I started to grab bundles of glow sticks and glow necklaces and put them in my basket. I think these glow sticks and necklaces would look great in the dusk and dark during the party, and especially as the torches throw shadows over all the food and guests.
I rushed home, parked in front of our house (and not in front of a hydrant), and started to set up. The food and fake roasted pig (apple-in-mouth and all) was customary, and my cousin helped me stick the torches in the ground. But I was so excited to scatter glow sticks all over the buffet tables and on some of the lounge chairs. We then left a pile of glow sticks and glow necklaces for the guests to pick up as they entered our backyard and into this unique luau party. I even ventured to put a glow necklace on the roast pig!
The night was a huge success. Lots of people came and ate plenty of good, roasted, tasty food. Many were all over talking and having a good time. And to top it all off, all the glow sticks and necklaces added a festive touch to the whole environment. Many people commented on their novelty and it was so interesting to look out into the crowd and see a bunch of floating glow sticks and glow necklaces in the midst of leis and food.
buy antivirus software
This week for me is a big series of transitions all at once. I have handed in a project for my class which ends in the final exam on Wednesday. Then that same day I really need to go out and find myself a new computer for the fall semester since this one is not doing so well anymore. I am really tired of losing assignments midway through. I also have to begin packing on Thursday because I have to move out by Monday and my move in day is Saturday. So Saturday will be a huge day for me because I won't be able to do anything but move all day unless I want to pay an extra two hundred and fifty dollars per day that I am still in the house. As you can imagine I will be pretty busy this week and I still want to try and take time this Wednesday night and get my computer all ready to go for the fall since I don't want it to meet the fate that this one has so far.
In early June I fell pray to one of those chain emails that everyone gets but never opens. I go one that was really convincing and I clicked the link. When I did I was linked to a blank page but that must have been something more because within an hour I was noticing windows opening on my screen even though I wasn't doing it and I had pop up blockers on. Since then it has been working very slowly and sometimes my files just disappear and I can't ever find them again. I went out this morning to buy antivirus software for the new computer because I want to put it on right after I get it out of the box. I read an article on recovering from a virus attack the other day and it basically said that from the list of things that I have wrong with mine that I might as well get a new one because someone out there has control of my files and if I ever post financial information it will be lost. Now I am religiously looking for the prefect antivirus software programs on the web with plenty of success.
payday loans
Our government is in the process of passing a law to eliminate payday loans, and I am not really sure why. There is obviously a demand for this type of loan, and if it works for the companies and for their clients then who is our government to put a stop to them. Seriously, a lot of people are in a financial bind and they may need to borrow money from time to time. Our government has always had a monopoly on this industry because it owns all the financial institutions that a person could get money from. Plus everyone is not eligible for a loan at a bank. Some people whether because of a recent job switch, recent unemployment or a bad credit rating can not get approved for a regular loan. I just don't see where our government gets off squashing the competition like this. Isn't the whole purpose of living in a democracy, being able to have competition in business? Then why is it that our government is allowed to create a monopoly on this industry? When they really don't even offer loans to all in the same way that a payday loan place does.
I mean if you apply for a loan at a bank, they don't offer you no fax payday loans, or even free payday loans. They only accept real collateral for a loan or a good credit score or sometimes both. And at a bank you can't get a loan approved in less than an hour with minimal background checks, but at a cash advance place you can.
If you ask me I think that our government should worry about the bigger problems it has and not some payday loan business that is not hurting anyone but the government. Everyone else seems relatively happy with the arrangement. The payday loan industry is booming and many people can get some financial relief from it, even if only temporarily. As the saying go to each his own. Let these people do what they need to do to survive and you just worry about getting our troops back from Iraq...how about that Bush?
search engine optimization
Lately, I have really been thinking about going back to school and getting my degree. I have been taking a few classes here and there, but nothing serious. Now I am really interested in making some decent money and getting my life moving in the right direction. I want to have a career, not just a job. Anyway, I know that if I do this, I will not be able to work full time as I have been doing, and will need a way to make some decent money while I supplement my income with student loans. I want to borrow as little as possible, so I really need to find a part time job that pays like a full time one. I need flexible hours and scheduling to allow me to dedicate extra time to my studies when I need it. My mother is always clipping articles for me out of the paper and now every time she sees an ad for work at home, she cuts it out and sends it to me.
I have actually looked into a number of the ads that she has sent, and as much as I believe it is possible to work from home and make some good money, I think that many of the ads out there are scams. For instance, the one ad she sent me said do medical transcription from home. When I called the number, they were going to send me the information that I needed to get started for the low fee of $129.00. The I looked into secret shopping online, again at my mother's suggestion. I did find that some of the sites did not require payment and I signed up for them, but many wanted me to sign up for a membership, and I really just think that is silly. I mean why would I want to pay a $50 membership fee, to make $10.00 for a shop? Doesn't really make sense if you think about it. I finally decided to go online and do some research and I found some legitimate job offers for search engine optimization companies. They are looking for college students like me to type content for them in the off hours. You can work as much or as little as you want, and you can make pretty good money if you know how to type. I will be further investigating this option before school starts.
concert tickets
If you ever come into my room, youll see my tack board. And on my tack board, youll find rows and rows of ticket stubs neatly arranged from top to bottom. I keep all my ticket stubs from every type of show I go to music concerts, football games, baseball games, basketball games, musicals, and even a couple soccer games. These stubs from various concert tickets, sports tickets, and theatre tickets remind me of the dates, venues, and content of each event my friends and I have attended. Some of these tickets were part of larger season passes, like the football tickets, while others were bought from the ticket booth. Still others were given away free as part of a larger package to something else (I really love these last types of tickets.) Given these various ways of getting tickets, sometimes its hard to get started searching for tickets and finding the best deals. Some places only sell tickets for a limited seating area while others sell for the entire area but are set a really high price across the board.
Lets take concert tickets, for example. Concert tickets are usually sold per show and from more limited venues. They are usually straightforward, and you just have to find the right seat that balances price and proximity to your favorite artist. Sports tickets, however, can be tricky. Take my football tickets, for example. I bought season tickets to both my favorite NFL team and college team, and I got a ton of tickets for all their games. The downside, however, is that its very expensive. But if youre planning on going to many of the games anyways, this would be a really good deal. These season tickets become especially valuable if your team makes it to the playoffs, and each playoff ticket becomes more and more valuable. Youll find yourself rooting for your team to proceed further into the playoffs, not only for their wins, but also so that you can milk your season tickets longer.
Besides concert and sports tickets, theatre tickets are also very common. Whether these tickets are to a real theatre in which you watch a musical (in which case you can try to get last minute tickets to a show to grab a deal,) or are for a movie at your local theatre, these tickets are usually set in price. And I dont think they come in season passes for the most part.
promotional products
I plan on attending every career building event that school offers this semester. Dont get me wrong; Im no super-prepared student. Rather, I just like to get free stuff. One thing that career counselors dont mention about your job search is that employers like to give out tons of promotional products, like pens, mugs, t-shirts, and even USB flash drives. You can usually find them right next to their array of colorful, glossy pamphlets and informational books on the table. Often, the only hurdle to obtaining these materials is your own self-conscience at grabbing for free stuff. But once you get past this, you can boldly approach tables and shamelessly ask for the cool t-shirt that sports the companys logo all over it. Of course, I also approach legitimate employers to look for potential employment, but the promotional products of other employers can help break the monotony of job searching as well as give you a chance to add a couple coffee mugs to your kitchen cabinet.
I always wondered if giving out promotional products helped companies get their name out. I guess it does, since so many companies continue to do it. The effects of promotional products can be subtle. Every time a person uses the promotional mug, she may glance at the company name on the mug containing her precious cup of coffee, or she may grow more and more familiar with seeing the companys name in her hand as she washes the cup that contained her precious cup of coffee. In either case, she grows accustomed to the company name so that it grows familiar to her. And people always like to stick to familiar things when faced with a quick choice. So the next time she goes out to buy something in a hurry, or has to quickly recommend a brand or company to her friend, this company that so graciously gave her these promotional products will be first on her list.
Ok, so I dont know if I think all this as Im trolling through the career fair, looking for promotional products. But I do know that you dont want to grab every promotional product out there. Some of them you simply dont need, no matter how enticing or novel they may seem. You can only grab so many free t-shirts and oversized, plastic pens until you realize that sometimes its better to only take what you need and the leave the rest for others.
promotional items
Working in retail, you get to see a lot about what happens behind the scenes, and it has definitely had an effect on me and changed the way I do and think about certain things. For starters, I feel bad about coming into a store any less than 30 minutes before it closes and even then I feel the need to clean up after myself in the fitting room and even in the store in general. Working at a clothing store and having to stay later when people make messes makes you feel bad when you go to other stores. Our store in particular closes at 9 p.m. and people will come in at 8:55 and act like they don't know it is closing. It makes us so annoyed and we have to stay even later to clean up after those people. Or when I go in the fitting room now at other stores, I always clean up after myself and even sometimes put the clothes away on my own that I don't plan on buying. Being on the inside really helps you see things in a different light. Another big thing is promotional items. At our store occasionally we'll do a buy 50 dollars and you get a 25 dollar off savings card for a future date as a promotion. Recently we had it from like June 1st until June 10th and for every 50 dollars you spent you would get a 25 dollar savings card with your receipt that could be used between July 2nd and July 6th. Well guess what, that is a holiday weekend so almost no one came into the store to redeem their 25 dollar off savings card, and that was the point. The store knows that people go away for the fourth of July holiday weekend and so they get people to spend 50 dollars or even multiples of 50 dollars in order to get their cards (which so many customers are actually really excited about), and then they'll never come into redeem them. So while other stores that I shop at probably benefit a lot from my inside knowledge, like me cleaning up after myself, I know the tricks they are trying to pull and I definitely do not fall for them. I don't buy into the savings cards or save 10 percent by opening a credit card, because I've spit out that line too
online marketing
A friend of mine opened a website and asked me to take a look. He thought maybe he had done something wrong since he had his site up for about 3 months and still wasn't getting any traffic into his site. He had made a few sales and was happy that he had, but he really felt that this far into it his business should be starting to take off. I looked at the site and it was really impressive. Everything I clicked on worked really well, the pages were well designed, and it looked very professional. I told him that I really didn't see any reason why his site wasn't booming and told him that maybe he should consider consulting a professional to see what they thought. Well, he did just that and got a whole education on the internet world. A local guy suggested that he come in and see him so that he could show him exactly what he was missing, and so he did. For a $25 consultation fee this guy showed him that what he was truly missing was the online marketing aspect of his business. He said that search marketing was one of the best ways to get his website rolling and that for a small start up fee, he could do some of this for him. He showed my friend how other websites get themselves at the top of the searches on the big search engines, and said that the process isn't too difficult if you know how it works and what you are doing. He showed him sites that were showing in the top sites and then he showed him page rankings and keywords and how all those things factored in to how much traffic his site was getting. He said you can have the best site and best products in the world, but if no one can find you then you still can't have a successful business.
My friend went online and researched some of the things this guy was talking about and found out that all this stuff was true. He immediately called the guy back and signed on with him for 6 months to see if he could get his business moving. Sure enough he has only been signed on with this guy for a few weeks and he is already noticing the difference. He thanked me for sending him to seek help as he never would have uncovered the secrets to internet success on his own.
weight loss tips
I heard one time that the leading causes of death in some third world countries are things like malaria, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and typhoid all things that are easily preventable by modern medicine. Meanwhile, the leading causes of death in the United States and some other first world countries are things like heart disease and smoking-induced lung cancer things that are attributable to poor lifestyle choices. I guess the main point of all these statements is that people living in a land of abundant food and effective medicine need to still take care of their health.
Our society needs to counteract the barrage of advertisements that encourage mindless food consumption with proper health advice as well as good weight loss tips for those who want to get back on track. I appreciate those that offer good health advice and support healthier living and eating. But those who need to get back on a healthy track also need help. This is where good, sound, unbiased weight loss tips come in. Im not sure where to get these tips, but Im sure there are some sources out there that could help.
I think weight loss tips are a bit different from general advice for healthy living, although a lot of it probably overlaps. While healthy advice gives tips for those in many stages of life, weight loss tips are specifically targeted towards those that are already overweight to varying degrees and need help to get back on track. These tips probably incorporate advice for healthy living, but also include tips to help shed weight more quickly so you can get back on track and start living a balanced, healthy life.
One important but controversial branch of weight loss would be weight loss pills. Again, Im not too sure about these pills, but they may be helpful. However, as with any type of pill whose content you cant readily inspect, you need to take care in choosing among the vast array of weight loss pills offered. Some are natural while others are synthetic. Some claim to do too much, like burn all your fat while you can continue to indiscriminately eat any type of fatty food you want. Some offer no guarantees whatsoever. And some are merely supplements to your greater weight loss regime. In any case, I think its important to carefully weigh each of the types of weight loss pills. Its also important to carefully consider the many weight loss tips that are out there.
apache security
If there is one thing that I can take away from this last year of studying digital security systems, it is that most of us are really not very safe with ourselves online. I think that for most of us it doesn't seem like a very threatening place, the internet, when in reality, one misstep can land you in a mountain of problems and even massive debt if not watched closely. Though banks and other institutions like this watch out for us, the sheer time lost when your identity is stolen can ruin a life for someone in a poor economic situation. Most of the problems that we all dance along and move right past are actually web application vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers anywhere in the world. They prey on the amount of holes in IIS security and Apache security as we flit along buying things and handing information over to major corporations. All the while these people out there who want to make a buck off of us are just waiting for us to slip. When you get one of those random pages that won't let you leave, that is them. When you get those emails that ask you to click on the link to receive your prize, they are just waiting for the next victim to fall in to that hole and lose everything. Unfortunately though, most of the attacks and loss of information actually stem from a login page or a shopping cart where we feel fairly safe. It is here that a hacker will attach themselves to us and wait until we give out what they are looking for to someone we trust on the net.
It certainly sounds as if I am advocating paranoia when it comes to accessing the internet, but I really just think that people need to understand what they are doing. If everyone were to look at their uses of the internet as if it were a real place and not just a screen then they may survive a lot longer without being attacked by someone preying on their lack of personal security. There are plenty of ways to safeguard ourselves and it is up to each of us to be vigilant for our own safety.