New Goal This 2012

We keep on buying a lot of things but do you have a home which you can call your own?  A lot of people still end up renting a place instead of owning one because of not prioritizing purchasing a property.  I strongly believe that having your own place is one of the best things that can happen in your life.

This 2012 make it your New Year’s Resolution to save a portion of your pay every single month in order to make that down payment for your home sweet home.  They say that it is best to have a visual reminder of your goal in order for you to be more inspired and motivated. 

I suggest that you check on homeowner listings online.  There are a lot of great properties there which is bound to grab your attention.  This will surely tell you that it is time to stop spending on cars and other things.  There are colonial homes with nice yards, townhouses and condo units. 

Once you have spotted the house that you plan to buy in the future, print a picture and post it in your workstation.  You will find more meaning in your work since you know that each hour that you spend in your desk is meant to fulfill your dream.  You can also print a smaller image in your wallet, each time that you are about to spend on new mag wheels or upgrading the seats in your car; that small image will prevent you from spending your money on things that can wait.

The feeling of being able to rest in a peaceful and cozy home is just priceless and it is worth every penny that you will spend on it.  Do not even think twice this is the best decision that you ever made this year and a lot of people will surely agree to that.

Stop Shopping Start Paying

I think that all women naturally love shopping.  We have that Imelda Marcos inside of all of us that we need numerous pairs of shoes.  We do not get satisfied with 10.  Each time that there is a new pair, we just can’t help but hand over our credit cards.  While other women have undying passion for shoes, others have for bags, clothes or jewelry.

Paying credit card debt is not as fun as the shopping experience.  Most of the time we purchase things that we cannot afford to pay at the end.  This is a sad fact.  This ruins our credit score and most importantly, it ruins our budget.  Instead of having enough money to pay our monthly bills and to buy our basic needs and groceries; we do not have any spending power anymore.

I always believe that for every problem there is always a solution.  Since almost all of us are faced with credit card debts; it is about time that we face it instead of hiding from it.  The best way to counter this problem is to first stop using it for unnecessary purchases.  Unless, you have a husband who is earning 6 digit figures which can sustain the way you shop, I strongly suggest that you get a pair of scissors and cut your card.

The next thing that you need to do is to tell your bank that you are having a hard time paying the monthly amount that is due.  Arrangements can definitely done when it comes to the payments.  You can request not to pay for 2 months or so without penalties and pay again once you have the capability to do so.  Do not be ashamed to ask for help since you are not the only one doing so.  Every single day they are faced with thousands of customers with the same request and  they are used to handling this already.

No Room For Failure

How many of us can create great essays from scratch?  I would say not everyone has writing as their forte.  Most often this is a weakness of a lot of teens.  When asked to submit an essay the usual complain of teachers is that the essay is not coherent.

There is one type of essay that you cannot fail at all and that is your college admission essay, personal statement or college application letter.  There are no second chances on this one.  If you fail, you cannot just resubmit another one and hope for a better grade.

Writing an essay gives you the feeling as if you are lost in a forest.  Just like anyone who is lost you would need a map, compass or even a forest ranger to find your way out.  In this case you would need an outline, sample personal statements or a professional writer’s help.

There are a couple of things that you should remember when you are reading samples.  Those are just examples; you should never attempt to just copy their work.  College admissions officers are very keen in identifying plagiarized work.  Once you have an idea on what you need to write, use those examples as your inspiration only.

Do not trust any website online that offers writing services.  A lot of scams are found online and some do not deliver their work on time or worse they can just give you plagiarized work.  They could just copy paste personal statements.  An indication of this is not even communicating with you to ask the course that you want to take or to know your interests and extracurricular activities which will be relevant when it comes to writing your essay.

Help is out there when it comes to fulfilling these tasks just make sure that you are wise in making your decisions.

Misconceptions about the Sticky Mat

Maintaining a clean home is very tough given the amount of chores you need to accomplish on a daily basis.  The existence of pets and toddlers make it even tougher.  Seeing the carpet which you just vacuumed full of dirt just a few minutes after you cleaned it is just too frustrating.  It would mean getting the vacuum cleaner once again and running it through the dirty area. 

As they always say there is always a better way of doing things.  The existence of technology has made things simpler and easier for a lot of us.  Something as simple as a sticky mat can lessen the number of times that we need to take the vacuum cleaner from the cabinet.  This could lessen the number of times we need to mop the floor.

Just in case you haven’t heard of the sticky mat.  This is the mat that makes use of polyethylene film.  Dirt and debris are left in the mat.  Each time that a person sets foot in this mat all the dirt that goes with his shoes stays in this mat.

The usual concerns about this mat are that since it is sticky, people feel that there is glue like substance that is retained in the person’s shoe.  This is not true at all.  As much as the dirt sticks on the mat, nothing sticks on your footwear at all.

Another concern is that since all the dirt stays in the mat, this can be a breeding place for millions of bacteria and germs.  The growth of bacteria is one thing that this mat puts a stop on.  This is a guarantee that’s why this mat is mostly used in the health care and food industry.

Lastly, a lot of people think that this is expensive.  You get 4 mats each time that you order and it is very affordable.  Now, that should give you enough reasons to try this sticky solution.

Business Planning on a Budget

If you think that every single thing in this world costs a lot of money, you might be surprised that there are still a few things that can still fit in your budget.  A lot of business owners who are suffering from a financial crisis would usually not prioritize hiring extra help to get a business plan done since this is considered as an additional expense but on the other hand what you might think as unnecessary could be the tool to bring your business back on track.

How much do you pay a financial planner in your company?  You might even be spending more than what you should be taking out from your business.  On the average a financial planner is paid $20 per hour.  If that employee works with you for a month on a project it would cost you about $2,800 a month for his salary.

You have the option to minimize your expense and go for budget business plans.  Growthink is one of those companies which have been offering this type of service for more than a decade already.  Growthink is very proud of its track record or history of assisting more than half a million clients already.  Having such a wide client base can be very convincing at the same time intimidating to a potential client.  A big company might charge very high professional fees to get the job done.  On the contrary, one of the reasons why a lot of clients come up to them is their reasonable fees.

Their business plan services are approximately $1,000.  The best part of this is that you get to inquire first by calling their customer service hotline before jumping into making that decision.  Whether you need a plan to start up your business or you need a good growth strategy; they are the ones you need to go to and they will deliver.

For Safekeeping

Where did your file go?  How many times have you experienced losing the file that you have been working on for a long time?  Our computers go down from time to time.  There are computer errors experienced daily, viruses attacking our systems and inevitable circumstances which can lead to losing the most important files that we need.

It is extremely frustrating and depressing to lose the files that you’ve exerted all of your hard work and efforts.  It is not easy at all to start from scratch.  It is such a big waste of time and usually the end result is not as good as the first one since it will be done in haste.

This is just one situation that we have all encountered and this should cause all of us to get a remote online backup.  If your files are important to you, it is a must to have this.  If you can afford to lose your computer files anytime then go ahead and disregard this and regret the day that you neglected this when your computer crashes.

Most remote online backup services offer unlimited storage capacity not just for one PC but for multiple PC’s.  For just about $50, you get an annual remote online backup service with Carbonite to secure all the files in your PC.  Just in case you delete a file by mistake, recovery is so easy given the existence of Carbonite in your PC. 

If you think the process of creating a backup is difficult then you do not have to worry at all.  Everything is automatic.  You do not need to manually set up the software for the process to begin.  You don’t have to worry about forgetting to activate it since everything happens automatically.  Since it is a remote backup, you get remote access too.  Even if you are not in your personal computer you get to access the files that’s why it is all worth it.

Business Must Have: Toll Free Numbers

What’s the phone number of the restaurant which delivers the perfect rib eye steak?  Is that 1-800-65-STEAK?  What’s the phone number of the bakery wherein you may have rush order of beautiful birthday cakes…that is 1-888-456-CAKE, right? 

As you can see most businesses have the best toll free numbers, special numbers or vanity numbers because of the primary reason that it is easy to remember.  This is vital to every business since number recall is important for a business to thrive.  People call the number that first comes to their mind and that means more sales.   More customers would mean more income.

You would notice that every multimillion dollar company has their own toll free number like 1800-DIRECTV for satellite TV service or 1-800-MY – APPLE for inquiries on the latest MAC books or I phone 4s.  As a business owner, that alone should already convince you that it is a MUST to have a toll free number.

It doesn’t mean that if big companies have it, toll free numbers are expensive to maintain.  On the average, the monthly service ranges from $10 - $20.  There is a number of incoming minutes included in every package and when your company or business receives more calls than expected then an overage rate or per minute rate will be charged to you.

One of the most reasonable packages which I found is from eVoice.  At $29.95, you already have 1.000 minutes included in the package.  This is great value for your money.  Just in case you exceed 1,000 minutes, the per minute rate is just 3.9 cents.  The features are not just limited to having a phone number but you get the best features any business would need like auto attendant, conference calling, multiple extensions, call transfer, call routing, voicemail to text transcription and a whole lot more.