Archive for January 2015

How to Use Free Time Frugally

January 14, 2015 Frugality, Lifestyle No comments
free time

free timeHaving too much free time is rarely a problem for anyone I know, but if you are struggling to think of things to do in your free time that don?t cost an arm and a leg then you?ve come to the right place. Breaking my day up into different chunks of time helps me ensure that I don?t get bored from one task or burned out on another.

The downside of breaking up your day is that there might be odd little chunks of time between your more major activities. Here are just a few things you can do in your free time between activities.

 

Be Productive

There are lots of little productive tasks that can be completed in 5 minutes or less. The good thing about doing these tasks during your short breaks between larger activities is that it will save you from having to do them later. Things like cleaning out your inbox, checking your voicemails, or getting a head start on another project, are all great uses of your little chunks of free time throughout the day.

Another way to use free time to be productive is to pick up a side hustle of some kind. Becoming a freelance writer, walking dogs, babysitting, and doing yard work are all simple ideas to start making a little extra money on the side.

 

Or Not

Admittedly, I?m not always productive. Sometimes a girl just needs a break after all. 🙂 During the times when I?m feeling especially tired or burned out from being productive, I like to play games online or on my phone. Games that don?t require you to hit certain achievements before you can save and quit are my favorite since I never know how much time I?ll have to play throughout the day. Casino-style games are fun and aren?t usually on-going so they are easy to play whenever you have a free minute or two especially when you?re able to find free casino slot games no download no registration.

 

If you have larger periods of free time in the evenings or on the weekends, perhaps you can find a club or sports team to join. Lots of places around your community may have bulletin boards with postings of different clubs and community activities taking place. In my community, our public library does a great job of organizing information about all kinds of various community clubs and activities taking place. Our Chamber of Commerce also sends out an email to a subscriber list each Monday morning with a list of activities taking place that week and some bigger events later in the month too. It?s a great resource if I?m looking for something to do during a free evening or weekend.

 

No matter if you decide to be productive during your free time, or not, you should always aim to use your time frugally. There?s no sense using a lot of money out of your budget to entertain yourself when there are plenty of free and frugal activities to be found.

 

 

Photo courtesy of:?Intel Free Press

How to Prepare Your Child for College

January 12, 2015 Lifestyle 14 comments
prepare your child for college

7658261288_9673fa20eb_zThat little bundle of joy you brought home from the hospital what seems like yesterday will be headed off to college before you know it. Do you know how to prepare your child for college? What are some of the steps you should take to make sure your child is prepared to enter his first day of life as a grown up on a college campus? Today we’ll discuss a few things that you as a parent can do to make sure your child has what he or she needs to be prepared for their next phase of life.

Prepare Your Child for College Financially

We’ve all read the reports about how expensive college is these days, and how daunting the student loan burden is on young people. There are several things you can do to help prepare your child for the financial needs of college, even at a young age. Start by exploring college education fund options. Is a 529 right for your family, or are there other plans such as a prepaid tuition plan that may suit your child’s needs better? Educate yourself on the options available for college funding for your child, and start early, even if the amount you can put away right now is minimal.?Ultimately, much of this is all done so as to help them avoid debt?as much as possible to fund their education and down the line in later years.

Once your child starts high school, it’s a smart idea to start thinking about career paths and exploring potential scholarship and/or grant options. The different scholarships and grants available are based on a number of different variables, such as parents’ income and net worth, your child’s choice of major, your child’s grade average, and your child’s skills and interests.

The beginning of high school is also the time to let your child know how much, if anything, you as their parents will be able to contribute to their education expenses. And your contribution doesn’t necessarily need to come in the form of tuition payments either. You can offer to let them live at home for free, buy a rental property for them to live in during college, or offer to help teach them some side hustle options, they can use to earn money for college.

Preparing your child for college from a financial standpoint also means teaching them about how to budget, spend-track and use credit wisely.? The more you know, and your child knows, ?about the options available for helping your child fund his college degree, the better prepared your child will be to make it through college financially stable and responsible.

Prepare Your Child for College Academically

Starting in 7th grade, it’s a good idea to get your child to start thinking about what types of career subjects might interest them. This will allow you to work with them to pick classes that will work to enhance their knowledge about their career interest field and even possibly get some college credits out of the way by programs such as the PSEO program. It’s also a good time to instill in your child the importance of good grades, extra-curricular activities, and getting involved with charitable causes and leadership opportunities, all of which will enhance their college applications when it’s time to send them out.

If they feel like they would like to be in a field where they could help others, there are different careers they can pursue to achieve it. An?online bsw?for example, can help people who are at risk to social and economic injustices and discrimination.

Prepare Your Child for College Emotionally

College is a different ball game for most kids. The freedom they will have in college, especially if they’re going to school far away from home, will likely be much different than their life as it is at home. Therefore it’s? important that your child know what kinds of benefits, dangers and distractions there are in college life, so that they can be well prepared to handle those new and different obstacles and opportunities when they step foot on the college campus.

Prepare Your Child for College Practically

This means that you teach your child what it means to live on their own. Teach them how to do laundry, what the basic rules are for storing food, and what the basics of cooking healthy?are. Give them opportunities to learn these things at home so that they’re well-prepared for life as an independent adult.

Sending your child off to college brings on a mix of emotions, some difficult as you long for the days of playing in the sandbox and playing Barbies with your used-to-be little one, and some exciting as you eagerly watch your child go off to grow into the person they’re meant to be. The more preparation you do ahead of time, the happier and less stressful all of these changes will be.

 

Have you done anything yet to prepare your child for college? Was there anything you wish you would’ve known before you left for your college career? If you’re a recent graduate, what’s one thing you would change for your potential future children with regards to going to college?

 

 

Photo courtesy of College Degrees 360

How to Treat Skin Blemishes on a Budget

January 12, 2015 Lifestyle No comments
Skin blemishes

Skin blemishesSpend just a few minutes flipping through the latest fashion magazine and you will see countless advertisements touting cosmetics products that will help eliminate skin blemishes. Unfortunately, these creams, lotions, and ointments are usually very expensive. In addition to the prohibitive cost of most of these products, some of them do not even treat skin issues very effectively.

Skin blemishes can appear without a warning. They are dark spots or discoloration of the skin. Often times, they are caused by skin condition like acne or factors like hormonal imbalance, too much sun exposure, unhealthy lifestyle and of course, aging.

Thankfully, though, there a number of different ways to fight blemishes without having to bust your budget. The following list details several treatment options for those wanting to improve the look of their skin while also keeping more money in their pocket.

 

Prevent Blemishes with Healthy Lifestyle Choices

The cheapest and most comprehensive way to eliminate blemishes and clear up your skin is to live the healthiest lifestyle possible. There is ample evidence that suggests eating an organic diet and exercising regularly are one of the best preventative measures against the development of blemishes.

This would mean you have to eat right, exercise regularly, eliminate sugar-filled drinks, stop smoking and avoid too much alcohol. Once you start making changes and opting for a healthier lifestyle, you should hopefully see gradual improvement in both the look and texture of your skin.

Other causes of blemishes include stress, hormonal changes, or using different types of make-up. Although we cannot totally eliminate stress or prevent hormonal changes from happening, learning how to meditate and appreciating the beauty of life can help our mind and body relax. Living a healthy lifestyle will help balance out hormonal activity. Similarly, getting 8 hours of sleep each night reduces stress, which will keep the blemishes away.

Other Cheap Ways to Cure Blemishes

For those who are already suffering with embarrassing blemishes, the best thing to do is avoid the temptation of picking at the mark or pimple. Picking at a blemish causes skin damage, and might even cause scarring. Instead, experts recommend that you apply a mixture of sulphur and salicylic acid to the pimple. This cheap treatment option will eliminate the blemish without leaving a long-term scar.

There are also all-natural ways to treat skin blemishes, too.

Some people use apple cider vinegar as a natural treatment. Apple cider vinegar contains skin-scrubbing acidic properties that quickly reduce the size of pesky pimples. Apple cider vinegar also works well for ladies wanting to clean dirt out of their pores. Others use honey, lemon, mint leaf, or garlic.

 

Final Note

 

It is everyone?s desire to look young and beautiful. The good news is treating blemishes to achieve the beautiful skin you desire is possible. However, you don?t have to spend a fortune just so you can have a younger looking skin. What is important is to know what method or product works well with your type of skin.

 

 

Photo courtesy of: Alexandra Zakharova

An Average Day in the Shoes of a Banker

January 7, 2015 Money Management No comments
Banker

BankerIt is all very well to say that you?re pursuing a career in banking, finance or accounting. However, when you graduate or are at the brink of leaving?business school, things can get a little challenging. It can help to have a good understanding of the amount of work you will be actually doing and the nature of your role in the organization. Graduates often wonder whether they will be working hard day and night for an impressive paycheck or simply reading reports for most of the day.

Take a look at several happenings in a routine banker?s day to better comprehend what you will be doing when you step into the workforce.

Starting the Day As A Banker

Even before you head to work there are likely going to be emails to check, research to do and reports to hand in at times. Mornings start bright and early when you correspond via email to the senior managers whom you report to. Soon after you might need to head off to the office where you will have time to grab coffee or breakfast after which you will engage with other analysts. Possible discussions could include work complications and how to deal with them as you manage team members.

Keeping a check on production and updating the Directors and Vice Presidents could also potentially be a role you have. There will be tasks that include following the running of a business model and adding or altering impending acquisition goals.

Mid Morning

Conference calls that involve live deals in progress with senior bankers from the industry may be next. You’ll likely need to equip yourself with the knowledge needed to lead discussions over those deals. Projecting particular items to the clients and deciding on deadlines along with discussing potential issues bound to arise are all routine workings.

Afternoon

After a quick break for lunch, you will have to update presentations and reports that are due. Your associate can check them before distributing them to managers. Since your first year out of business school will have been as an associate, you will be accustomed to their way of thinking and foresee any issues they might have. However after a few years you will have the experience necessary to start looking at becoming an investment analyst?or some other similar role.

Early Evening

At every point in an average work day you will have to keep your seniors in the loop and co-ordinate with your co-workers and juniors about the progress on multiple clients and profiles. If everything looks like it is running smoothly, you’ll want to make sure to watch it through to completion.

The truth is that there will be days when work-life will be bustling with tasks to complete, presentations to make and reports to read. However, there are sure to be other days when there will be time for three hour lunch breaks or working on other tasks you find more enjoyable.? Life on the scene of banking in Singapore?is sure to be exciting at every point as you strive to make it big in the thoroughly rewarding field.

 

 

Photo courtesy of: Omar Barcena

3 Ways to Dispose of Your Clutter

January 5, 2015 Lifestyle 20 comments
clutter

2559363502_bc352d4ec1_zAlong with trying to get out of debt, I?m also trying to dispose of?clutter in my life and in my house. I really believe clutter and debt go hand in hand, after all both can be caused by excessive shopping for things you don?t really need. I?ve been on my journey to get rid of clutter and debt for just over a year now and in that time, I?ve tried a few different ways to get rid of my clutter with varying degrees of success. Here are three ways I?ve successfully?freed up some space in my house.

Trash Your Clutter

Putting things in the trash is the easiest way to get rid of them – plain and simple. It takes almost no effort to open the trashcan or dumpster and put things inside it. But I hate trashing things that could be of value to someone else, so I rarely trash my clutter unless it?s something broken, used up, or actually just trash.

Donate Your Clutter

I have an almost permanent spot in my house where the ?donate box? lives. As I identify clutter that I want to dispose of that isn?t worthy of being sold online but isn?t trash, I put it in my donate box. Then once the box is full, I put it in my trunk and take to it to the second hand store the next time I?m out and about. Donating your clutter is one of the easiest ways to get rid of it, but many people have trouble donating things they spent a pretty penny on.

Sell Your Clutter

There are several ways you can sell your clutter, including having a garage or yard sale and posting things online.

Having a garage or yard sale to get rid of clutter is actually a lot of work. You have to designate an area to collect your sale items, sort them, price them, haul them to the yard or garage, organize them, etc. I have had several garage sales in the past with varying success. The last one I had made just over $600, so I will definitely be having another one in the future even though I don?t really enjoy them at all.

Selling things online can also be a hassle. If you go the Ebay route, it?s really only worth the time invested to sell pricier items. It takes quite a bit of research and time to sell things on Ebay and make any kind of ?profit? back.

If you decide to sell your clutter via Craigslist or your local Facebook Buy/Sell/Trade group, be prepared to be annoyed. My area is too rural for Craigslist to work well for me, but I?ve heard good things about it from friends who live in more urban areas. I?ve actually had a lot of success with selling things on Facebook. But with selling on Facebook comes the hassle of trying to set up meeting times with prospective buyers and hoping they show up on time. I?m pretty busy, so for me this is the biggest hassle and turn-off for trying to sell my clutter on Facebook.

As I get rid of more and more clutter from my home, I?m hoping I won?t have to continue pursuing all these different avenues to get rid of it. For now though, I?m just glad there are several options available. 🙂

 

How do you dispose of your clutter? What’s one thing you always seem to collect but never really seem to use. What tricks do you have to sell your stuff that doesn’t take a whole lot of time. Do you think debt?and clutter go hand in hand?

 

 

Photo courtesy of: John Beagle

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