Financial debt can certainly consume you in more ways that one. It can rob you of sleep, it can cause major anxiety, it can interfere in your marriage, and it can cause you a severe bout of depression. While some of these go hand in hand, there are a growing number of financial debt affects that can result in an unhealthy lifestyle.
With the worldwide failing economy, there has to be certain things we can do to alleviate some of that burden. Well, there are quite a few practical money saving tips that can economically benefit you and your family. Let's take a look at some of those things.
1) Drink Water: The beverage you drink on a daily basis should be water. Not only will this save you money, but consuming at least 8 full glasses of water each day is extremely healthy for you.
2) Eat Out Less: Stay at home and cook more often verses going out to eat. You can still have that scheduled Friday or Saturday night evening out, but otherwise stick to cooking at home more throughout the week and you will be surprised at how much you save in a year's time.
3) Ditch That Daily Morning Latte: You know that daily morning latte that you think you have to have on the way back home from taking the kids to school? Ditch that, you don't need it. Make your own at home and you'll save a bundle in just a month's time.
4) Dryer Vent Seal: Make for sure your clothes dryer has a dryer vent seal. This is an air leakage control device. We have one on ours and it's definitely a money saver.
5) Grocery Shopping Online: Try doing your grocery shopping online. Sometimes you are able to save a considerable amount of your hard-earned dollars by doing this. An added plus, you will save on gas and time as well.
6) Downsize To One Car Family: Downsize from a two car family to a one car family. Look at some car pooling options as well as re evaluating your family's transportation needs.
7) Homemade Gifts: When giving gifts, look into your creative side and make your gifts verses buying them. Maybe you love scrapbooking, or perhaps you like to crochet. Most people appreciate the homemade gifts better than the expensive store bought.
8) Your Children and Finances: Teach your children early on that money doesn't grow on trees, as the old saying goes. An allowance is a good thing for them to learn the process of earning money. Furthermore, instill in them the importance of saving.
9) Phone Bill, Internet, and Cable: If you haven't done so already, look into combining all 3 of these into one bill. You can save a bundle by dong this. I know Charter and AT &T has some good deals.
10) Combining Insurances Into One Bill: A lot of people have their medical, life, and home insurance all through one company. A lot of insurance companies offer this. It's worth checking into, as it can save you money.
11) Online Coupons: There is a wealth of information on the Internet, including coupons. Just type in the type of "printable coupons" you are looking for into Google.com and you will come up with a lot of sites to check out.
12) Timeshare Vacation Deals: We all get those calls don't we? Would you like a "free vacation?" Well, of course there is always a catch for these deals. You often have to sit in on an hour or hour and a half long sales presentation. A lot of people take advantage of this. This can save you a ton of money. Type "timeshare vacations" into Google.com and you'll find lots of options.
13) Saving Leftover Foods: After meals if you have quite a bit of leftovers, don't throw it out! Freeze it and make something different with it for another meal time. Also for small leftovers, save it for lunch for the next day.
14) Yard and Rummage Sales: If you have time for these, go to them! Often times, you can find some really good bargains. And there are some people that have clothing items for sale that have never been worn (with the tags still attached) at extremely low prices. These items may be just your size and what you've been looking for.
15) Walk Instead Of Drive: Whenever possible and when in walking distance, leave the car in the garage and walk to your destination. Not only will you save on fuel and wear and tear on your car, you will also get some needed exercise.
16) Saving Coins: Coins can add up quickly. At the end of each week, gather any extra coins that have accumulated in your car and your purse, and keep them in a piggy bank or a good size container. Every so often take those coins to the bank and either put the money in your checking account, savings account, or just get the cash for it. This is great for saving up for vacations or home improvement projects.
17) Enjoy Time At Home Instead Of Going Out: Have friends over or have a family night instead of going out. If your family enjoys these planned special nights, make it a weekly routine. You'd be surprised at how much you will save in a year's time doing this.
18) Store Credit Cards At Home: Instead of keeping your credit cards in your wallet or purse, store them at home in a safe place. This way, you will resist the urge to buy on impulse. Use them only for emergencies.
19) Set Your Bills On Automatic Bank Draft: Instead of writing out checks each month, save on both time and stamps and schedule your bills for automatic bank draft.
20) Save On Electric: When you're away from home or during the night, adjust your thermostat. Do this for both heating and cooling.
21) Online Freebies: There are tons of freebie websites. You may have to take a quick survey to get those items for free. It only takes a few minutes, take advantage of these sites and do the surveys. It is well worth it to save a few bucks.
Article Written By Tammy Embrich
Tammy is an Internet marketer, article marketer, and ghostwriter. You can find more grandparenting and parenting articles, tips, and personal experiences, as well as photos and recipes at Grandma's Home Blogger Place
Download our free toolbar
Download our free toolbar
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sign of the End Times - Man Selling Spaces in Underground Bunker
A San Diego man is selling spaces in a hidden bunker for people wanting to escape the coming doomsday 2012 catastrophes. It will cost you $50,000 per per person to save yourself and members of your family by joining Robert Vicino in the bunker, actually a huge complex he is building out of an old Cold War structure somewhere in the southern California desert.
The underground shelter will have supplies enough to accommodate 200 people for up to a year. It will be able to withstand almost any kind of natural or man-made disaster. Besides a blast-proof, 3,000-pound door, the bunker will be fenced off behind razor wire and other barriers.
The idea is that when disaster strikes, the people who've paid for a place in Vicino's hideout will meet at designated rendezvous points and be escorted in, possibly by helicopters. Inside, thanks to the $10 million Vicino is spending on the structure's refit, they will find such necessities as a decontamination room and such comforts as an exercise facility.
The California bunker is envisioned as just the first of several that will be built around the country.
Clearly, some people are taking the 2012 doomsday predictions seriously. And no wonder. Not only do ancient prophecies, from different cultures, all agree that something big is coming at us, but so does science, from seismology to astronomy.
Survival will be the key word from here on out. Your own survival might not depend on finding a bunker to crawl into, but it will require preparation -- and being alert to the signs of the times.
Want to learn more about what's coming for 2012?
Don't believe everything you hear about 2012 and what it will mean to you personally -- but don't dismiss it all, either. The truth is out there and can be known. See the 2012 Predictions site at http://www.2012alarm.com.
Download our free toolbar
The underground shelter will have supplies enough to accommodate 200 people for up to a year. It will be able to withstand almost any kind of natural or man-made disaster. Besides a blast-proof, 3,000-pound door, the bunker will be fenced off behind razor wire and other barriers.
The idea is that when disaster strikes, the people who've paid for a place in Vicino's hideout will meet at designated rendezvous points and be escorted in, possibly by helicopters. Inside, thanks to the $10 million Vicino is spending on the structure's refit, they will find such necessities as a decontamination room and such comforts as an exercise facility.
The California bunker is envisioned as just the first of several that will be built around the country.
Clearly, some people are taking the 2012 doomsday predictions seriously. And no wonder. Not only do ancient prophecies, from different cultures, all agree that something big is coming at us, but so does science, from seismology to astronomy.
Survival will be the key word from here on out. Your own survival might not depend on finding a bunker to crawl into, but it will require preparation -- and being alert to the signs of the times.
Want to learn more about what's coming for 2012?
Don't believe everything you hear about 2012 and what it will mean to you personally -- but don't dismiss it all, either. The truth is out there and can be known. See the 2012 Predictions site at http://www.2012alarm.com.
Download our free toolbar
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Micro Farming For Your Survival Garden
Micro farming is not a new concept. In fact, 15% of the world's food comes from micro farms. Essentially, they make the most of the land they own. There are instances where there are self sustaining micro farms in the city on land as small as 1/5th of an acre, and provide food for a family of four! Micro farmers make the most of the land they have by using natural ways to cultivate the land for higher yields and by finding natural ways to feed the soil the needed nutrients for the plants. The use of composting, crop rotation and companion planting are a large part of the success for these tiny farms.
Currently, with the exorbitant increase of food prices, many people are literally taking this problem into their own hands. People are planting survival gardens in their back yards to supplement their tighter budgets as well as become more self sustaining in the process.
Survival Garden Basics:
- Plan out crops that will be planted and find companion plants to plant along side of them. Companion planting is an organic farming technique. Essentially, certain plants, when planted in close proximity to another will give off nutrients of what each plant needs for fertilizer.
-Only plant heirloom or Non-GMO (non genetically modified) plant varieties. The reasoning for this is because after the plants have produced, the seeds can be collected for the next season's use.
-Research the nutritional content of the seeds to get the most nutrition from what you grow.
-Find seeds for the whole season. Planting a garden is not only for Spring and Summer. Finding plant varieties for the colder months will help keep food on the table and take less money out of the bank accounts.
-After collecting the seeds from the plant, store the seeds in a waterproof container or bag and store in a dark, cool place.
-When the plant is finished producing, collect the seeds and toss the non-yielding adult plants in the compost heap.
-Make the most of the already existing space. Use floating or raised beds for added gardening space. Use fencing as a support for vine growing plants.
-Find information out about rotating crops to further feed the soil. Some plants have a tendency to need higher amounts of nitrogen, thus stripping the soil of the nutrient in the process. When the next season comes around, find plants that do not need as much nitrogen and plant in that area.
Practice Makes Perfect:
Farming is one of the ways that made the United States so great. Generations have passed since the United States citizens were primarily farmers, and now it seems the time is upon us to re-educate ourselves on this topic. It is important to add that gardening mistakes are made, and some gardens do fail, but the more someone sticks with it, the better off they and the garden will be. And though it may be true that some of us will inevitably be the hand of death to the plants, it is better to make mistakes now, than when a survival garden is really needed. In all honesty, the gardening process is rather easy once a little research has been done and action has been taken.
Tess Pennington is the lead content contributor for http://www.readynutrition.com. Ready Nutrition is an educational resource for those wanting to learn more about home safety preparedness, learning how to cope in disaster situations, and for those wanting to learn how to be more self sustaining. Her career at the American Red Cross left her with years of experience in safety and disaster preparedness. Tess is establishing herself as one of the foremost authorities on safety development and disaster preparedness on the internet. She describes herself as a mixture of Martha Stewart and Les Stroud.
Tess Pennington's work today encompasses:
• Teaching disaster preparedness
• Informing readers about the importance of preparing for any given situation.
• Writing
• Speaking
• Media consultation
Tess lives in Texas with her husband and three rambunctious children.
Download our free toolbar
Currently, with the exorbitant increase of food prices, many people are literally taking this problem into their own hands. People are planting survival gardens in their back yards to supplement their tighter budgets as well as become more self sustaining in the process.
Survival Garden Basics:
- Plan out crops that will be planted and find companion plants to plant along side of them. Companion planting is an organic farming technique. Essentially, certain plants, when planted in close proximity to another will give off nutrients of what each plant needs for fertilizer.
-Only plant heirloom or Non-GMO (non genetically modified) plant varieties. The reasoning for this is because after the plants have produced, the seeds can be collected for the next season's use.
-Research the nutritional content of the seeds to get the most nutrition from what you grow.
-Find seeds for the whole season. Planting a garden is not only for Spring and Summer. Finding plant varieties for the colder months will help keep food on the table and take less money out of the bank accounts.
-After collecting the seeds from the plant, store the seeds in a waterproof container or bag and store in a dark, cool place.
-When the plant is finished producing, collect the seeds and toss the non-yielding adult plants in the compost heap.
-Make the most of the already existing space. Use floating or raised beds for added gardening space. Use fencing as a support for vine growing plants.
-Find information out about rotating crops to further feed the soil. Some plants have a tendency to need higher amounts of nitrogen, thus stripping the soil of the nutrient in the process. When the next season comes around, find plants that do not need as much nitrogen and plant in that area.
Practice Makes Perfect:
Farming is one of the ways that made the United States so great. Generations have passed since the United States citizens were primarily farmers, and now it seems the time is upon us to re-educate ourselves on this topic. It is important to add that gardening mistakes are made, and some gardens do fail, but the more someone sticks with it, the better off they and the garden will be. And though it may be true that some of us will inevitably be the hand of death to the plants, it is better to make mistakes now, than when a survival garden is really needed. In all honesty, the gardening process is rather easy once a little research has been done and action has been taken.
Tess Pennington is the lead content contributor for http://www.readynutrition.com. Ready Nutrition is an educational resource for those wanting to learn more about home safety preparedness, learning how to cope in disaster situations, and for those wanting to learn how to be more self sustaining. Her career at the American Red Cross left her with years of experience in safety and disaster preparedness. Tess is establishing herself as one of the foremost authorities on safety development and disaster preparedness on the internet. She describes herself as a mixture of Martha Stewart and Les Stroud.
Tess Pennington's work today encompasses:
• Teaching disaster preparedness
• Informing readers about the importance of preparing for any given situation.
• Writing
• Speaking
• Media consultation
Tess lives in Texas with her husband and three rambunctious children.
Download our free toolbar
Survival Books - A Treasure Trove of Unlimited Knowledge
For a survival researcher, it is baffling to see the large number of texts on display in library shelves, book stores, e-catalogs, and blogs, and choosing the right one usually becomes a nightmare. There are books on outdoor survival, emergency preparedness, disaster survival, and terrorist attack survival, as well as those covering the possibilities of nuclear, chemical and biological warfare. The average reader, therefore, is quite justified in questioning "Where do I start?" The answer, fortunately, is simpler than it looks. Since most survival books, and particularly those written in the last decade or two, target the average reader, the beginner can gain the knowledge he needs from a wide variety of books. The best approach usually is to select, as a starting point, one or two general books that cover almost all aspects of survival. Once you are familiar with the fundamentals, you can refine your field of study according to what you feel is your most urgently needed knowledge, or according to interests. I will present here a general selection of survival books, which should be a good place for you to start, and should help you identify the areas which you want top explore further.
The best book to start with is, I feel, "Ultimate Survival Skills - Secrets to Staying Alive, Anytime, Anywhere." The reason that it makes a good starting point is its approachability: it is written in easy-to-understand, everyday language, and the style is engaging so that it is a fun and informative read. The information given is new for beginners, so you learn a lot while avoiding information overload, and consequently, you can retain almost everything the author describes.
If you find it too brief for your liking, however, then Cody Lundin's "When All Hell Breaks Loose - Stuff you need to survive when disaster strikes" is an excellent alternate. It is more pertinent to our daily lives, as it focuses mostly on urban emergency situations and disasters. Therefore, even for those who do not intend to be part of an outdoor activity any time soon, this book contains useful information that might just help save their lives. Further, this book is extremely easy to read, as well as being enormously entertaining, and once again, easy to retain.
What do you do, however, once you are past the basics? Again, you certainly face an overwhelmingly large number of alternatives. John Wiseman's "SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in any Climate, On Land, or at Sea" is, I feel, a very strong candidate here. The key feature of the work is that it provides very detailed survival knowledge at the same time as being very approachable. If you are upset with the fact that books for advanced learners almost always use boring, tiring jargon and complex writing styles, then this book is a great option for you. The full color illustrations of poisonous and edible plants, animals and herbs are extremely helpful in an actual outdoor survival situation. This is also a good place to learn fire craft, hunting, shelter building and navigation skills.
Of course, if you simply want a carry along guide for a potentially life threatening situation, the US Army Survival Manual ought to serve you well. It deals with all types of survival skills in exhaustive detail, and you can find in it all the information that you could possibly need in the event of any disaster or emergency.
If you are a complete novice in the field of survival, you can read any one of these books for a start and then decide what particular aspect of survival you wish to research further. For more advanced learners, however, it is best to learn more about aspects that you do not already know about, just to ensure that you can hold your own in absolutely any kind of survival situation.
For even more survival books, tips, and advice, check out the #1 site on the net for survivalists at:
http://www.survivalskillsoutdoors.com
Download our free toolbar
The best book to start with is, I feel, "Ultimate Survival Skills - Secrets to Staying Alive, Anytime, Anywhere." The reason that it makes a good starting point is its approachability: it is written in easy-to-understand, everyday language, and the style is engaging so that it is a fun and informative read. The information given is new for beginners, so you learn a lot while avoiding information overload, and consequently, you can retain almost everything the author describes.
If you find it too brief for your liking, however, then Cody Lundin's "When All Hell Breaks Loose - Stuff you need to survive when disaster strikes" is an excellent alternate. It is more pertinent to our daily lives, as it focuses mostly on urban emergency situations and disasters. Therefore, even for those who do not intend to be part of an outdoor activity any time soon, this book contains useful information that might just help save their lives. Further, this book is extremely easy to read, as well as being enormously entertaining, and once again, easy to retain.
What do you do, however, once you are past the basics? Again, you certainly face an overwhelmingly large number of alternatives. John Wiseman's "SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in any Climate, On Land, or at Sea" is, I feel, a very strong candidate here. The key feature of the work is that it provides very detailed survival knowledge at the same time as being very approachable. If you are upset with the fact that books for advanced learners almost always use boring, tiring jargon and complex writing styles, then this book is a great option for you. The full color illustrations of poisonous and edible plants, animals and herbs are extremely helpful in an actual outdoor survival situation. This is also a good place to learn fire craft, hunting, shelter building and navigation skills.
Of course, if you simply want a carry along guide for a potentially life threatening situation, the US Army Survival Manual ought to serve you well. It deals with all types of survival skills in exhaustive detail, and you can find in it all the information that you could possibly need in the event of any disaster or emergency.
If you are a complete novice in the field of survival, you can read any one of these books for a start and then decide what particular aspect of survival you wish to research further. For more advanced learners, however, it is best to learn more about aspects that you do not already know about, just to ensure that you can hold your own in absolutely any kind of survival situation.
For even more survival books, tips, and advice, check out the #1 site on the net for survivalists at:
http://www.survivalskillsoutdoors.com
Download our free toolbar
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Get Creative With A Cheap Food!!
One of the best ways that I have found to be frugal at dinner time is to use Ramen Noodles!! I fix them many different ways and they are so cheap. At our local grocery store you can either get a six pack for 79 cents or sometimes they have them 10 for a $1.00!! The savings is great.
Here are some of my favorite ramen noodle cookbooks. You will be amazed when you see all that you can do with Ramen Noodles.
Here are some of my favorite ramen noodle cookbooks. You will be amazed when you see all that you can do with Ramen Noodles.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
