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How to Save Money at Christmas

Do you know how to save money at Christmas and still have fun? Sounds
impossible but it can be done.

Everyone assumes that in order to enjoy the festive season one has to
throw money at it when in fact the opposite can be true.

Research has shown that most people's fondest and most lasting memories
of the festive season revolve around the smells and sounds of Christmas
and not the expensive gifts that they had received.

Do not get carried away and be miserly but just use some common sense and
you will be surprised at how much you can save and still have a good time.

Here are some useful money saving tips on how to enjoy Christmas without
spending a fortune:

Presents:

Why buy an expensive present for a child when all they will play with is
the cardboard box that it came in?

An alternative could be to buy a board game that the entire family can
enjoy rather than lots of individual gifts which will quickly be ignored.
The other advantage of a board game is that it can be played throughout
the child's early years thereby saving the need to buy even more toys in
future. It is better to choose a tried and tested board game rather than
the latest trendy one as they are more likely to retain their appeal.

If you cannot afford to buy board games, look to play party games. Go to
your local library and take out a book on party games, write down some of
your favourite games and play those. A simple mime game can keep the
children entertained for hours.

Crackers:

Why buy a box of expensive crackers when you can have just as much fun
with a box costing a lot less? The contents are basically the same so why
spend more?

Christmas tree:

Why buy a fresh tree which will cost more and have the inherent problem
of how to clear up the fallen needles when you can buy a plastic tree for
much less? Apart from not having to worry about the clearing up of
needles the plastic tree has the added benefit of being re-useable making
it a very economical proposition.

Decorations:

Why buy expensive baubles to decorate the Christmas tree when home made
decorations can be just as effective without incurring the cost.

Involve the children. It is their Christmas, after all! Get them to
paint, colour, cut, design and make their own decorations for the tree.

They can also be shown how to make a variety of decorations for the house
including decorative seasonal paper banners, place setting tags, paper
candles and paper lanterns.

By involving the children you will give them a sense of achievement and a
certain amount of pride in what they have accomplished. That has to be
more meaningful than just buying some costly decoration and placing it on
the tree?

Food:

Why buy an expensive turkey when a chicken can be just as tasty and less
costly? It will also take less time to cook thereby saving on the
electricity bill.

Shopping:

When you do your Christmas shopping try not to be influenced by all the
clever marketing ploys used to get you to spend more money. Still look
for the bargains and continue to shop wisely. Select items that are on
special offer. Select items that offer "Buy one - Get one free".

Planning:

With a bit of planning you will be surprised at how much you can save.
Here is a useful shopping tip that will save you at least 50% on the cost
of all Christmas decorations, Christmas cards, Christmas crackers and
wrapping paper. Wait until just after Christmas when the supermarkets
begin to hold their after Christmas sales.

You can then buy all the cards, crackers, candles, baubles, wrapping
paper and other decorations at very low prices. They can then be used for
the following year.

If you follow the above advice you will save money. The money you save
can go towards paying for a summer holiday.

You may freely reprint this article provided the author's biography
remains intact:

About the Author

John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help UK homeowners
find the best available loans via the directonlineloans.co.uk website.

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How To Save Money By Making Your Own Sign

In the sign industry we commonly refer to the material that the sign is
made out of as the substrate. Examples include, wood, vinyl banners,
aluminum, coroplast, etc. But what many customers do not realize is that
they can purchase vinyl lettering or vinyl decals and apply them directly
to typical substrates themselves. Translation - saving money by buying
blank substrates inexpensively at local hardware stores such as Home
Depot and Lowes and avoiding the prices sign companies need to charge to
apply the material. Although you do pay tax by buying locally on the
substrate, you can save tax on the vinyl by ordering over the internet.

What are vinyl letters and/or vinyl decals? They are letters (or images)
that come prespaced according to customer specifications as words,
phrases, or sentences on pre masking tape. The lettering is self adhesive
and by removing the paper backing, they can be applied directly to almost
any substrate, car, boat, truck, windows, snowmobiles, jet skis, vans,
store fronts, etc. Make sure the surface is extremely clean and free of
dust or lint. Once the lettering or decal has been aligned, simply rub
over the masking covering the vinyl and then remove it. The result will
be perfectly spaced lettering or a decal designed as ordered with a
professional look. Most sign companies will allow you to purchase
multiple lines of vinyl lettering with the spacing between the lines
defined by you. You can also usually obtain a combination of vinyl
lettering and images on one decal.

Another tack you may wish to consider is to have the entire sign printed
on vinyl made to fit the substrate you prepurchased (with a small bleed
of additional vinyl to wrap around the sides). We must caution you that
this is a bit more tricky to apply than vinyl lettering, but problems can
be overcome with care and some suggestions. When applying the vinyl to
the substrate, remove the paper backing about two inches at a time,
align, and then press or roll it on the surface. We recommend a roller
for the application (roller applicator). Once the first part is properly
aligned and applied, remove another two inches of the backing and proceed
in this manner with the rest of the sign. Another trick is to moisten the
substrate so you can move the vinyl if you accidentally align it
improperly when first applied. The water prevents it from adhering
permanently for a few seconds.

When you apply vinyl, it is inevitable that you will run into the
"bubble" problem. Tiny bubbles of captured air will form under the vinyl.
Usually these can be worked out with the roller but in some
circumstances, they will remain. A blow dryer (not too hot) can be used
to heat the vinyl up so that the air can be rolled out easier. Under some
circumstances if the bubble is large, the vinyl can be heated and the
bubble punctured with a pin (careful here - only a tiny hole is needed).
Be careful not to heat the vinyl too much because it can permanently
deform it.

Recently, a new product has been introduced which enables the vinyl to be
adjusted if it is pressed on but incorrectly aligned. The adhesive does
not seal permanently for a few hours after it is applied. The material is
a bit more expensive but well worth it if you are inexperienced. Don't
feel bad. I know many sign companies that are now going to the easy stick
vinyl to avoid large overhead costs caused by mistakes with the old
permanent seal vinyl.

Tony Nagy
designasign.biz/preprinted-signs.html

About The Author

Tony Nagy
designasign.biz
info@designasign.biz

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How to save money by spending wisely

Why is it that the older and richer people become, the more conservative
they are with their money? Have you ever done or know someone who has
made an investment that promised a 10% interest or profit per month?
Everyone wants to make above average profits. It is amazing how many
people will send their very hard earned money across the world to Nigeria
or to Boca Rattan, Florida on the promise of a telephone acquaintance to
make them much richer. People give their money to complete strangers in
hopes of making more money.

All good investment advisers will tell their clients “If a deal is too
good to be true, it probably is.” Professionals only make very high
returns in areas they personally know very well. This, for them, is a
business investment, not a passive investment like stocks, bonds or
mutual funds. Real estate and business investments are considered active
investments. People who are employed by others do not usually make active
investments, because they just do not have the time to watch a business
investment, where big profits are always possible (as well as big losses.)

People with small amounts of money come to me all the time and ask: “What
can I do with $1,000 that will give me a big return?” Here is the answer.
When I was a 21-year-old lad working for my father, I had money in the
bank, I owed securities (stocks) and my income was a fixed salary. I saw
many opportunities to make money all around me, in the business. My
father, like so many employers, wasn’t interested. Besides I was trying
to figure out how I could make money for me.

At the time, 1971, we had high inflation and prices were going up on many
things. My father used metal rings to seal containers, nuts and bolts,
paint, and other industrial supplies. I watched prices starting to go up
and it appeared that they might even double on finished products that
were made from steel. Since the company used these products all the time,
buying bigger orders meant buying much more then you needed and having to
store it so it didn’t get stolen. I used to buy 2 years supply of bolts
at a time. Knowing the price was going up, I bought a 4-year supply.
Rings took a lot of space so we would buy 3 months at a time. The problem
with new rings, being bought and laying around, in storage, was that the
workers, taking the easy way out, would take new rings out of the
warehouse, instead of cleaning the old rings, which saved the company a
lot of money.

My father didn’t want to have a years worth of rings around, even though
we both knew the price was going to continue going up. We came up with an
idea. I would buy, with my own money, the extra inventory, the amount
above the companies normal order size. My investment inventory would be
stored in a separate locked area in the warehouse. When the company
needed more rings or bolts, it would buy them from me at the then current
market price. I made $1,500 on my $5,000 investment in just six months.
That was a 30%, no risk profit in just half a year. Now I was hot.

When I got married, and I used more toilet paper and toothpaste than I
did before, I decided that I should repeat the process that I learned as
a boy. When I was a boy toilet paper was 10 cents a role. If you do not
know what it is now, take a look. I bought 5 cases of toilet paper and
put it in the garage. I knew that paper prices were going up. I not only
got the increase in price, I got close out quantity discounts by the
case. Do you know that dog and cat food by the case is 10% off? Then if
you wait for when Friskies has a sale or close out, then buy large cases;
you cannot believe what you will save. If you can get a distributor or
wholesaler to sell direct to you, another 20-33% is possible. You might
check the price at Costco. It may be cheaper than what the wholesaler
will sell it to you for.

You only buy items that you know you will use yourself, personally. You
are not buying for resale. You are buying a two-year supply of things you
know you will use, for sure. Toilet paper is one of them. (Make sure you
try the brand out, to see that you will like it.) Smart and Final has
many things in bulk. Compare prices at Costco, Smart and Final, the
99-cent store, and if you can find the distributor that the 99-cent store
buys from in Downtown LA, you will really be buying cheap.

First step. Make a list of everything you buy on a regular bases. List
non-food items, bathroom items and dry or canned food items. Do not buy
food the rats can get into. Grains must be in steel drum with bags. You
will be shocked at how much 20 lbs of rice will cost you compared to a
one pound bag, about a quarter of the cost or less. Do not buy clothing,
because of change of styles and weight. You can buy men’s socks and
underclothing when you see a real close out at 80% off. Men wear the same
style all their lives and their weight tends to be constant. Do not do
this for children or woman. Things change too fast.

Second step. Price shop so you will know what are the good prices and bad
prices. Do not buy yet, just price shop.

Third Step. Decide how much inventory you want to have, how much money do
you have to spend and how long it will take you to use it all up. Where
are you going to put it so that it will be safe and dry? Not a public
storage place, please. The rent will eat up your volume buying profits,
real fast.

Fourth Step. Look for close outs so you can buy cheaper than the best
price you planned on and then have fun buying.

Hidden Bonus: There are also non-profit advantages to this program that
you should be aware of. In case of an economic depression you have food.
That means if you loose your job, you still eat. Your unemployment check
can then go towards the rent, gas in the car, car payments, and fresh
food. You will already have most of the toilet items and other things you
will need, until you get a job.

In case of a natural disaster or a teamster strike you will have your
well-stocked private supermarket with those needed items. The IRS closed
down Howard Ruff, a newsletter writer in the 1970’s. They attached all of
his bank accounts, and locked the front door of his store. Howard had 12
children, no income and no money in his pocket. He did have big food
storage, which fed his family while he took a month to decide what his
next move was going to be. He was able to think his problem out without
panicking because his family was fed, and he could postpone his mortgage,
utilities and other bills for a few months, before he had big troubles.

So be smart. Invest in a food storage program. Only buy what you will
use, and do use. Buy in quantities that you will use up in 2 years. Do
not buy a 5-year supply of anything. Shop for the best price, and then
wait for a better deal than that. Then you have made a safe and
profitable investment, while at the same protecting your family from
emergencies.

About the Author

Willard Michlin is a real estate and financial distress consultant. He
can be contacted at his Ventura, California office by calling
805-529-9854 or by e-mail at kismetrei@earthlink.net. See other article
by Willard at kismetgroup

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How to Find Balance In Your Work At Home Career And Your Per

Work at home moms face challenges that are very unique. The decision to
work outside the home or stay with your children is difficult, with each
option having advantages and disadvantages. If you stay home you may lose
income and you will lose interaction with fellow employees, and if you
work outside the home you live with separation from your children and pay
caregiver expenses. Many women are choosing to work at home and finding
the right opportunity is the first step in finding success as a work at
home mom. You could use the knowledge and skills you have and become a
consultant, develop a career in design or writing, telecommute to a job,
or start a home-based business. The opportunities are endless. It can be
difficult for a work at home mom to balance home, family, and career.
Even if you are not a parent it is hard to find time for a personal life
when you operate a home-based business. It is very easy to become
consumed by your work when you work from home and it can be a challenge
to find time for yourself and your family. To successfully balance a home
and career you must create a work schedule. Decide what hours will be set
aside for work and try hard to stick to that time-frame. It very
beneficial to create a boundary between work and home. Setting a work
schedule will give you a routine to follow. To give yourself the
opportunity to socialize and meet new people, try geting involved with
community or other volunteer activities. If you do not get out of the
house regularly you may begin to resent your work and your family
obligations. During your workday, take short breaks to get up and move
around. A simple stretching routine or a short walk will do wonders for
your outlook. It will be necessary for you to deliberately schedule time
for personal activities such as reading, picnics, or exercise. By adding
these activities and free time to your schedule you will ensure that you
get some much needed "mommy" time and that your family spends quality
time together. You will find that if your leisure and family time suffer
too much, your relationships will suffer as well. Make time for the fun
things and times shared with children and family. If you implement these
ideas into your life as a work at home mom, you will be better able to
achieve balance between work and your home life.

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How to Find Car Insurance Discounts

Saving money wherever you can is important to us all. Car Insurance
should be no different. Do not assume that your insurance agent knows
everything about you and your car. At HometownQuotes we go out of our way
to find all the possible car insurance discounts that are available to
each customer.

Drivers should take advantage of all discounts that many providers offer,
that can significantly reduce the cost of car insurance. Understanding
discounts and how they can affect car insurance premiums can help smart
shoppers make better decisions about their coverage and possibly save
themselves some money in the process.

Read below to identify possible discounts that could help you save money
on car insurance this year. Other than discounts, there may be some other
ways for you to save on your insurance premiums. We will go over several
discounts that can help with your current situation.

First, there are discounts for Car Safety features. Certain states will
give you discounts for anti-lock breaks. Make sure you know if it is two
or four wheel anti-lock break vehicle. Automatic seatbelts and airbags
are frequently discounted on your insurance premiums. In most states, a
defensive driver class discount may apply. If the principal driver
usually 55 years old or older has completed an approved defensive driving
class a discount could apply. Keep in mind that most states will only
approve this class if it is voluntary meaning that it was not the result
of a violation or infraction.

Some insurers will give you a discount for having multiple cars. In some
cases, this will only apply if you have two or more drivers. If you have
a clean driving record, meaning you do not have any tickets, accidents or
suspensions in the last three years (some companies require five years)
then you could be eligible for a safe driver's discount.

Many insurance companies will reward you with staying with the same
insurance company for many years without any accidents reported. They
will offer you a renewal discount. It makes sense, you have carried
insurance with a company for several years, and have not had an accident,
your insurance company likes you and wants to reward and keep your
business. Some companies honor you with a discount if you had prior
limits on your previous policy. They discount you because they understand
you are a better risk.

Conversely, if you do decided to change insurers a proof of prior
insurance discount may apply. Most insurers request at least 6 months of
consecutive insurance from the previous insurer. If you are a full-time
student who meets certain grade requirements and are unmarried and
usually under 25 years of age (some states the age is 21) you could be
eligible for a good student discount. If you own a home, including
condominium, town home, or mobile home, which is used as a principal
residence, a discount could apply. Military personnel either currently
active or retired from any branch of the US military a discount could
apply. If your vehicle is equipped with an anti-theft device, a discount
could apply.

You could lower the cost of your car insurance in other ways as well.

For people who own older cars, it may not be necessary or cost-effective
to protect them with collision and comprehensive coverage. By comparing
the book value of your vehicle and the premium that the insurer has
offered, you may find that it cost as much for the insurance as it does
for the vehicle. If the car is worth less than $2,000, you will probably
spend more insuring it than it is worth. The whole idea of driving an
older car is to save money, so why not get what is coming to you.

In addition, keep in mind that the type of vehicle you buy could greatly
affect your premium. A flashy red sports car is usually going to cost
more to insure than a mid sized sedan. This is also true of vehicles that
are on the list of most stolen. There are many ways that policyholders
can save on their insurance. Knowing more about auto policies and
premiums can help consumers take advantage of less obvious discounts
while ensuring that they have the appropriate protection for their
vehicles. The last way to save is to assume more risk. If you chose
higher deductible on your Personal Injury Protection or Comprehensive and
collision coverage will lower your premium as well. The deductible is the
amount of money you have to pay before your insurance company begins
paying the rest.

Understanding how discounts affect your car insurance rates is important
to save you money.

About the Author

Matt McWilliams is the Vice-President of Customer Relations for
HometownQuotes , the industry leader in providing insurance quotes for
customers across the country. HometownQuotes was founded in 2003 by
insurance agents and has grown into one of the best-known ways for
shoppers to find affordable insurance online.
Matt is originally from North Carolina where he spent way too much time
playing golf.

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How To Generate Unique Business Ideas That Make Money?

Every money making opportunity that you see boils down to one common
thing: idea. As you know the best ideas pay. The most creative ideas pay.

The best thing about ideas is it's free and everybody has the capability
to think of ideas.

In order to be creative and innovative about ideas, you have to have
knowledge. Knowledge is important. You need to know thousands of things
to be creative.

Below are steps that you can take to come up with profitable innovative
ideas:

1) Read and study as many things as possible about your industry or
product. You need to investigate specific information of what you are
going to sell. For example, if you want to be involved in real estate,
you study everything about the subject matter in details. If you want to
start a business, you have to know what's going on in your industry, what
sells and at what price, etc.

2) Improve general knowledge. Don't limit yourself to only learn about
things in your own industry. Learn as many topics as possible from other
industries. It can be any topic. This enables you to think out of your
own industry.

3) Mix and match ideas from cross industry. Once you investigate and
research enough, your mind is the
storehouse of all the ideas you have studied. And this is the main source
to your creative ideas. All the knowledge you have learned so far is the
raw materials to produce new ideas.

4) Thinking of raw idea. After you have done your study, think hard about
the solutions you want to your problem. Then stop and relax. Get a cup of
coffee or go for a movie. Do something relaxing and let your subconscious
mind work for you. The idea or solution will come to you at a much
unexpected moment. For me, ideas always come to me before I sleep. My
mind will be bombarded with ideas that I can't stop.

5) Refine your raw idea until it's up to your satisfaction. You can
always do your own research on the raw idea by asking questions to target
market to test the feasibility of the idea and how to improve the idea
further.

Basically new idea is a combination of old ideas. You need to have enough
old ideas to come up with new ideas. That's why constant reading and
observation are important.

Sometimes when someone has launched a new product, you would say, "Hey! I
thought about that before. That's my idea." You might have had thought
about the idea but you didn't capitalize on it. Someone has done it
before you.

It's always good that you have an ideas book. Whenever you think of a
good idea, write it down. You can always work on it or improve it later.
Bring along the ideas book wherever you go. It doesn't need to be fancy.
It can be a normal pocket-sized spiral notebook.

With the method outlined above, I hope that you will be the next person
who makes fortunes with unprecedented ideas that people can never think
of.

About the Author

Abel Cheng offers small and medium enterprises exclusive global profits
insider tips in his free publication, Abel Cheng's Business Diary.
Officiate your subscription now at abelcheng /diary.html. And get free
personal email coaching.

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How to Get a Grip on Your Money

Most people have no idea where their money goes. They earn it and they
spend it.

That's fine if you want to live from week to week and are not concerned
about your financial future. However if you want to increase your wealth
and have more options, action needs to be taken by you otherwise you
could end up like most people further down the track, totally dependant
on a pension.

Karen's Story

Karen is the Marketing Manager for a well-known organisation. She's 39
yrs old, single and earns over $80k a year. She is paying off a mortgage
and that's all the debt she has.

Karen buys whatever she likes and says she has more than enough money for
her lifestyle…or so she thought. And that's a very important point -
Karen 'thought' she had plenty of money to splash around yet she had no
real idea of where it went.

She was at the stage where she wanted to achieve more in her life
including taking charge of her financial future.

One of the exercises I gave her to do was to sort all her financial
statements - visa card, bank accounts and any cash receipts and list her
income and expenditure under specific headings ie: loans, clothing,
utilities, food etc. Karen recorded everything that occurred for the past
6 months . She nearly fainted when she saw how much money she had wasted
and how much she was overspending! She was going backwards fast and only
realised it by doing this simple exercise.

In the past Karen hadn't put a high priority on her financial well-being
as it was just too hard. Being a marketing manager, her life was busy at
work and she had a hectic social life. She didn't want to bother doing
something that wasn't exciting like working on her financial future.
After all, she had a well-paid job, didn't she?

Karen has now come to her senses and knows her true financial situation.
If she lost her job, financially she couldn't afford to be off work for
more than a month. She realises that she is responsible for her future.

The area of wealth creation hadn't been of great interest to Karen in the
past. Now that she was undertaking coaching, she was serious to making a
change. Prior to writing down where her money was going, Karen was
completely closed to any suggestion to read more about how she can
accelerate her wealth (or lack of it), so I didn't pursue this with her.
Her attitude had now changed so she was ready and willing to move to the
next step.

The next move…I referred Karen to an organisation who would look at her
total financial picture and be able to recommend what she could do. The
reason I chose these people is because they take a holistic approach to
wealth creation. They look at every aspect and provide an on-going
education as well as a hand-holding service.

We met after her first session and Karen said she nearly had a heart
attack at the meeting. She realised how much money she had been giving
away to the tax office. Being on such a high income she was being taxed
47c for every dollar earned. She now realised that by making some small
changes she could keep this money and have investments that over time
would accelerate her financial situation dramatically.

She now had enough knowledge to make decisions and take actions that
could make her financially independent over the next few years. Karen
couldn't believe how simple it was!

Your Financial Future - Whose Responsibility?

Unfortunately you cannot leave your financial well-being in the hands of
anyone else except yourself.

Of course, you can seek advice from professionals in that field like
accountants and financial planners; however, it really is up to you to
lead the way …to be proactive!

Having attended many seminars, spoken to wealthy people and to the
financial professionals (many of whom aren't independently wealthy
themselves), and read many books on the topic of wealth creation, I have
found you cannot rely on any one person to delegate your financial
affairs to. You need to be proactive and take control of your own life.

How to Take Control of Your Financial Future

Get your finances in order first: You need to know what you spend, what
you earn, how much you owe and how much you own…Not in your head but in
writing. What you think your situation is and what is reality, will more
than likely be two totally different scenarios.

If you know where you are right now you can then seek out appropriate
solutions to your specific financial needs.

How to Get Started

Speak with your accountant on the best way to set up your recording
system.
Ask them how you can increase your wealth.
Ask your accountant and/or your financial advisor how they have created
their wealth. What do they invest in?
Talk to people who are wealthy. Ask them how they accumulated their
wealth.
Question everything.
Read books and attend seminars on wealth creation…the more informed you
are the easier it is to make sound decisions. We regularly advertise
these types of events in our Event Update: office-organiser
.au/weeklyupdate.html
Don't believe everything you hear, see and read, particularly if the
person advising you reaps financial benefit from you accepting their
advice.
Only listen to people who "have rungs on the ladder". Once you've have
done some research (and this can happen in a matter of days or weeks,
depending on your efforts) then:
Take action
Sure you'll make mistakes along the way, however that's the only way you
can progress. Learn from them and move on.

The Final Word
Looking after your financial well-being should be high on your
priorities. It's about having choices in your life. Do you really want to
work from dawn to dusk to support the lifestyle you and your family have
become accustomed to? Perhaps you don't get to enjoy the lifestyle
because you're too busy busting your guts at work.

Imagine what it would be like to work because you want to, not because
you have to?

If financial freedom is something you desire in the not too distant
future (and it doesn't happen overnight), you have to take action
sometime... like right now!

About the Author

Lorraine Pirihi, principal of The Office Organiser is Australia's
Personal Productivity Specialist. She is also a Business and Life Coach.

Take action today! Contact Lorraine to discuss how she can help you on
(613) 9532 5497 or email lorraine@office-organiser .au

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