August 2007 Archives

There is no doubt about it. Retail has changed dramatically over the past several years and is in a constant cycle of change even today, creating the future of retail. While there have been major innovations and improvements in marketing and customer experience both in traditional retail stores and online, some of the most cutting edge advancements have been made in the back end logistics side with businesses getting more and more efficient allowing them to offer lower prices and provide a better service to their customers.

A visit to an Amazon warehouse is a real eye opener and provides a real view into the future of retail and fulfillment. Because it’s really all about the logistics you adopt and your point of sale equipment. Running any medium to large scale fulfillment center, common for many e-tailers requires a lot in terms of POS equipment and warehouse automation in order to stay competitive today. The majority of the market currently belongs to IBM POS equipment with other options available from Neoware, NCR and more.

All this equipment can obviously run up quite a price tag but there are ways to lower a business’s operational costs by purchasing used pos equipment. The important thing is to make sure that even though the equipment is used, it is fully refurbished and in good operational order. Visionpos.com provides such a service and can dramatically lower the cost of equipment without compromising on performance.

We spend a lot of space discussing the advantages of setting up a website here at Credit Card Diva and the importance of bringing your business to the twenty first century. But today I would like to discuss a single point that almost every internet novice fails to realize at the beginning.

Most people spend a lot of time and effort on the design on their site and its technological capabilities thinking that once they get their website perfected orders will start rolling in. But the problem is that as with all types of businesses, you can’t make a single sale without first having visitors to your store (or in this case website). You may have the most advanced website in the world but none of that is worth anything if your potential customers can’t find you.

It is important to invest early on in what’s called SEO which stands for Search Engine Optimization. The process of search engine optimization is to help your site rank higher for keywords that are relevant to your business in search engines such as Google. It is important for find an seo company with credentials that can show you actual results from their search engine optimization services and case studies from other clients.

You know, we kind of have come to expect certain types of businesses to go nationwide and are used to having large chains replace old mom and pop businesses. But some things still come as a surprise to me, no matter how much they make sense. Take the Sittercity Corporate Program for example. This terrific program takes babysitting services to a corporate scale. After all, we all know the problem. Just when we need a sitter most (and often last minute) we just can’t find one. Let alone one we can trust. That’s where Sittercity come in. They actually have a nationwide network of thousands of babysitters ready to take the call when they are required.

But Sittercity isn’t only targeting parents, they are targeting large corporations who realize how much they can save by providing care services when their employees need them so they don’t have to take off from work. After all, it is estimated that corporate America loses over $3 billion a year just from child care related issues which can easily be prevented with services like Sittercity.

At what age should youngsters be encouraged to use the computer? A tough question indeed, with the answer being just as difficult to pinpoint. Some parents push computers on their toddlers, while others hold off until school time. A user friendly way of introducing preschoolers to Internet games is through Mac Games and More (www.macgamesandmore.com), which offers mac games of every kind to adults and children alike. Whereas the parents will enjoy mac solitaire, kids will go for other types of mac games. Pre-K games, puzzles, and other attractions provide youngsters with entertaining mac games as well as serving to reinforce cognitive and manual skills.

There’s been a lot of talk about fantasy football lately and as the football season approaches it seems the hype just get’s stronger. While there are many “leagues” available which you can join to participate in this popular sport, there is one that really stands out. If you are looking for a “high stakes” game and want a real rush you must check out the fantasy football game at the American Fantasy Football League. With prizes of up to $100,000, it may be a fantasy game but this is definitely no child’s play…

Sometimes I miss the good old days when you were able to understand what a child was playing with simply by looking at the toy he is holding. After all, it was kind of a what you see is what you get time. Dolls were dolls and toy cars were toy cars but today with everything beeping and flashing and kids toys being more sophisticated than your computer at work I sometimes think our kids are missing out on their childhood.

Nowadays it seems that any game that doesn’t flash and make noises give adults a headache just don’t appeal to kids anymore. But technology doesn’t mean a toy can’t be a nice, educational and relaxing. In fact there’s a great site that even brings new life to the old paper doll game.

Yup, you got it - a virtual paper doll. Cartoon Doll Emporium now allows kids to play with virtual paper dolls with the characters they love from webkinz and more. The new feature appeals to kids as it speaks their digital language while making their parents happy seeing their kids enjoying a more relaxing game they can relate to.

There has been so much talk about colloidal silver lately, including on this blog. But with the chatter comes the confusion. Because it seems like the more I read about it the more question marks arise and the more I realize that I don't really understand what colloidal silver really is.

The base of the confusion is due to the fact that there is no consensus to what the term colloidal silver should include as there are various manufacturing processes each resulting in a slightly different product. These manufacturing processes include electrolytic silver, ground silver and the electrolysis of salt solutions.

While each manufacturer claims that his product is colloidal silver, some of the products have actually been proven as dangerous to use. The problem is that with certain manufacturing processes the component can become toxic compound.

While no one can really claim title for the term colloidal silver, scientists at CSL have created their own method of production resulting in a product they call Mesocolloids. The advantage of Mesocolloids is their small sized nanoparticales (called mesoparticals) which are smaller than most conventional particles and range from sub-nanometer to 10 nanometers in diameter. This is currently known as the purest type of colloidal silver which does not share the toxic properties of other manufacturing processes as it is an entirely different product (some would call the real colloidal silver) and is safe for use.

People tend to associate luxury traveling with staying at one of the large hotels, preferably carrying names like Hilton or Marriot while vacation rentals and villas are associated with students and travelers on a lower budget. The fact that the second type does tend to carry a lower price tag may be true but many would argue as to which is a more luxurious vacation.

Veteran travelers will tell you that while staying at a large hotel is always a safe bet and you know what you are getting, there really is no replace for the true luxury of a really good vacation rental (emphasis on the good as not all vacation villas are created equal). For instance it has become quite common for people looking for a luxurious way to travel Hawaii to prefer vacation rentals over staying at a hotel.

Not only do Hawaii beach front villas offer the most relaxing setting, you can also customize your stay for the type of vacation you are looking for. Places like hawaiianbeachrentals.com allow you to specify whether you are interested in a romantic vacation, whether you will be traveling with kids and specify any other requirements or expectations you may have to make sure your villa will be prepared in just the right way for your perfect vacation.

We all understand the value of helping other when we are capable of it and most of us have been educated from youth to donate money to charity when we can. People tend to look highly on the large donations made by ultra rich people and sometimes figure that what small sums of money they can spare can’t possibly make a difference. But the fact is that we all have a chance to make a difference and each of us has a part to do.

It is a well known concept that when we give charity we aren’t always helping others by filling their needs, we are also filling our own need to give to others. This is a need that stems from the bottom of our souls and in a way it is the less fortunate who are giving us a chance to perform this good deed.

That’s why many people sometimes feel bad when they don’t have cash to spare or the physical capabilities to help others. But there are so many channels today that you can donate through and many great organizations make it easier than ever to help you help others. Carangel.com has a unique model in which they accept car donations from people and then go about selling the cars and using the proceeds for charity. This is a great way to help others in a method that can sometimes be quite convenient for the donors who happen to have a car they don’t need and would like to get rid of. It is a huge win-win situation since the money goes to some great causes, donors can have the satisfaction knowing they managed to help others and the donation is tax deductible.

It has become quite a standard practice for any successful business to adopt some sort of CRM system in order to manage their schedule and their relationships with their customers. In today’s fast paced world it has almost become impossible to run a successful business without some sort of CRM system. But since this is a system that can have a huge impact on literally every aspect of your business it is important to choose the right one. Be cautioned, not every CRM system is created equal.

While there are various elements that are fairly standard to every CRM system and that are generally useful for every type of business, there are a number of systems that are tailored specifically for various business verticals. One of the leading choices for real estate agents is the Top Producer 7i system. The system is not only a top of the line CRM program with the most advanced features and simple user interface, but Top Producer has added specialized real estate agent software tools which make tracking and managing various properties a breeze.

One of the great things about the Top Producer system is that it has a web based interface which allows users to access their information from virtually any computer no matter where they are. This is especially useful for real estate agents who tend to take their work on the road with many on location meetings. You can find more information about all of Top Producer’s products at topproducer.com.

If you run a website and find that you need to outsource some of your graphic design or web development I have a great company to recommend. I’m surprised I haven’t heard of them before, but you should check out Dev3.ro Web design Services. On their site located at dev3.ro you can find samples of their portfolio of previous projects and with the first glance you can right away tell this is a very professional design company, not those cookie cutter site designers you normally find online. But what really caught my eye was the fact that even though their work rivals that of the largest firms and they take pride in Fortune 500 companies, they don’t set their prices too high. Be sure to take a look at their online price sheet, it is very reasonable. Obviously you would need to get an exact quote depending on the scope of your project but you can get a good ballpark figure from their price list which is very reasonable.

MySpace is all about personalization and adding your own little touch to the small piece of internet that you call your own. But while most people make due with adding pictures, videos and graphics some are now making their visitor’s visit more interesting by adding interactive content to their MySpace pages. A great option to enhancing you MySpace page is by using the quibblo.com which allows users to create MySpace surveys, quizzes and poll that can be easily embedded in any MySpace page.

It wasn’t called The Great Depression for nothing. The years 1930 to 1932 saw the worst stock market crash with investors seeing almost 86% of their funds get blown off into thin air. The decline went on for a staggering 813 days and recovery wasn’t complete until about the 1950’s.

The second worst took place between 1937-1938 when rumors of war and the Wall Street scandals fueled the plunge to about 50%. The “Panic of 1907” is recorded as the third worst stock market crash in history with losses recorded at 48%. The U.S. Treasury had to intervene and buy $36 million worth of government bonds to arrest the steady decline for 665 days.

There seem to be so many options available today for people looking to rent office space. So many websites have sprung up listing available properties and many projects promote themselves nowadays with media ads and the help of the internet. But it seems like the more options available to us the more confusing it can get since you don’t know who to trust and it is hard to assess one project over the other without advanced knowledge of the area.

That’s why I liked officespacecarolina.com so much. They don’t represent any individual property, rather, provide potential tenants with all the options available to them and provide them all the assistance and information they need for making the right decision. The company focuses on Charlotte NC Office Space and is free of charge for potential tenants (their income comes from a the landlord as a brokerage fee).

We discuss a lot of aspects of setting up a website for your business here at Credit Card Diva including managing your site and promoting it in search engines. In general we recommend dealing with what you do best (as in running your business) and leaving technical aspects to people who are more tech savvy. There is nothing wrong with delegating authority or outsourcing work if it can be done better by others as long as you have control over things and have the final word on how things are managed.

But there are some things that are important to know about and gain the proper knowledge even if you won’t be dealing with them on a daily basis. One of these issues is knowing basic information about your web host as well as the hosting requirements your site presents. While this is a purely technical issue that you may not normally “get your hands dirty” with, the fact is that your server is one of the most critical aspects of your site. Should a failure occur your whole site could be shut down which in most cases means your business is too. After all in business time is money and down time of a website can mean the lose of a lot of money.

Another factor to take notice of is your site’s performance. A slow site or one with frequent errors can easily scare away your site visitors having them abandon your site before making a purchase. A good place to brush up on your server knowledge is available online at webhostinginformation.net. As it’s name indicates the site focuses on all aspects of website hosting and provides all the information you need to make the right choices for your business and stay on top of things. One of the greatest features of the site is their online reviews of hosting companies. They feature reviews of hundreds of sites which are available in alphabetical order to easily look up a service you are considering.

You invest time and money in your site and try to make it as appealing as possible to your visitors but adding original and valuable content isn’t always easy. A good tip to add to the appeal of your site and keep visitors returning is to add one of the many great widgets available online. They can be very easy to install and the right one can add a lot of charm to your site. A cool widget that can go well with many sites is available at babynamesgarden.com. The simple interface widget provides a space for your site visitors to enter their first name and instantly get the meaning of their name based on the site’s extensive database. You can get code for the widget here. If you find of any cool widgets you think are interesting be sure to send them in. We would love to feature them on our blog.

It’s a fact: utility bills eat up a large portion of our regular budget – more than we ever care to really think about, so it’s not something we should take for granted. With oil prices on the rise and everything else naturally following the increase, it pays to start being more conscious about where you can save inside the house. Make it a habit to turn off all the lights before going to bed. Electric appliances like air conditioning units eat up the most energy inside the house. So go for alternative cooling or heating options such as having fans placed strategically around the house. During winter, wear appropriate clothes inside the house such as sweaters and pants so you won’t need to turn up the central heating unit as high.

The financial world can often be quite a cruel world. The problem is that it often seams like whoever needs the money isn’t capable of raising it and whoever doesn’t has no problem getting any loan they want. Loans tend to lock people in the old catch 22. They can’t apply for a personal loan since they have bad credit and won’t be approved. But they also can’t get their lives back together and stabilize themselves financially without seed capital. But while having bad credit can make it very difficult to get approved for a loan especially at traditional banking services, there are options that are available. Some smaller institutions who specialize in bad credit loans offer specialized solutions for people with bad credit and can really help people get out of the cycle of debt.

It’s a fact – time takes its toll on our bodies and we will never be able to look the way we did when we were 20 years old. Nor should we want to, we are older and our beauty shows through our age. But while our bodies are beginning to show signs of our age (you don’t have to be too old for this either), we don’t have to give in completely and with the great anti aging products available today we can hide the signs of age and let out our beauty through it.

But shopping for really good anti aging products is not as easy as it sounds. While the market is definitely saturated, the abundance of product don’t make purchasing the right ones easier. There are so many products available, all advertised with gorgeous (in many case 20 year old) women tempting us to try them. But the fact is that good advertising and fancy packaging don’t eliminate wrinkles, science does! That’s why you have to purchase products that you know are tested and proven efficient. It is also wise to stick with one brand to prevent duplication and get a more complete solution using their variety of products.

A great site is now available making it easy to purchase high quality scientifically proven anti aging products manufactured by Pro Skin Solutions under the ADRIC brand. Shopping directly at the company’s site is not only easy but also guarantees you get proven high quality ADRIC Advanced Anti Aging Skin Care products. While the site also caters to wholesalers, it is user friendly and is tailored with the individual shopper in mind. Some of the company’s leading products include their Copper Peptide Serum and a wonderful Vitamin C Serum.

The home security industry has going through a revolution lately. Things that used to be common only among the ultra rich such as video surveillance systems and remote monitoring of what’s going on in the house are now becoming more and more common. This is mainly due to advancements in technology which transformed what used to be an expensive and complicated system to install to an affordable household system. WiLife is now offering a unique Home Video Surveillance which is not only extremely easy to install but also goes way beyond what the old ultra expensive systems used to offer. You can actually monitor what’s going on in your house using the internet from virtually any computer no matter where you are. You can even set up your video enabled phone to display images from your house when you are on the road.

If you’re an accountant or someone in control of your company’s finances, chances are you’re not exactly everyone’s favorite co-worker. Financial executives are often unflatteringly referred to as “bean counters” – people who just look at bottom lines and slash costs and budgets anywhere and everywhere they can. How to prove you can be a good team player and still contribute to the company’s growth? Don’t let the bookkeeping get in the way of your real work. You are part of a business team, and your job is to ensure the company’s sustained growth. So take an active part in the discussions, be flexible and innovative in your approach to decision-making. Communicate the message that your job goes beyond the debits and credits.

I’ll be honest, there are some categories where I am simply clueless. A friend of mine asked me if I had any good ideas for good groomsmen gifts and I must say I came up at a blank. Ask me what to get a bride or a bridesmaid and I will give you a thousand ideas but groomsmen?

Don’t worry though, I didn’t send her away empty handed. We simply went online and discovered executivegiftshoppe.com. They have a page dedicated entirely for groomsmen gifts not only making choosing the gift easy but ordering it is a snap as well.

Todays financial term of the day is Abnormal Return. Abnormal Return describes the returns that are made by a particular security or portfolio based on a given time period and which is different from the expected rate of return. Abnormal returns can be either positive or negative depending on what kind of difference is posted in relation to the expected rate of return. For example if the earnings from a particular portfolio is more than the expected rate of return then it is a positive abnormal return. If the return is less than the expected rate of return then it is a negative abnormal return.

Check back daily for more financial terms of the day as well as other news and updates from the financial world.

We are now half way through the summer and if you are still planning on taking a vacation this summer, now’s the time to go. I know many people who enjoy winter travel for various reasons, some simply prefer the winter for job related reasons. But some destinations are simply much better enjoyed in the summer.

One of my favorite travel destinations is Amsterdam. I have been there in the winter once but can tell you that if you can afford to go during the summer – you should. Temperatures can reach painfully low levels during the winter months which can ruin your experience. Especially if you want to tour the city as the locals do – by bike.

Whenever you plan on going, be sure to check out eurobookings.com. They offer some great deals for budget hotels in Amsterdam. Also, what’s nice about their site is the fact that you don’t have to pay in advance like most sites and only pay after checkout as you would when booking with an agent.

Who says you need to be financially-savvy or particularly well-off to start thinking about saving? It can begin at home and you don’t need to have financial consultants in the picture even. Remember the family piggy bank when you were a kid? You can do a variation of it by keeping those loose change in a jar or some container. You would be surprised at how quickly those coins can add up and later on you can take them to the bank and add them to your savings deposit.

Also it would be a good habit to “pay yourself” every time you get your salary check. Commit to an amount you think you can save each time, for instance $100 every 2 weeks which you can keep in an account. At the end of the year, you would have enough for a major vacation splurge or to buy something you’ve always wanted.

I remember when I was young we took a trip to England and visited my grandmother who still lived there. She lived in a nursing home as she had suffered from Alzheimer and old age. I was only 11 at the time and have not seen my grandmother since I was 4 years old so I only had some vague memories of her. We wouldn’t speak over the phone and the only correspondence I had with her during those years were by greeting cards my parents would make me send her for the holidays. At the time I didn’t understand why we wouldn’t call her but I also never gave it much thought since I wasn’t aware it was an issue. It’s just the way it was.

But we were all excited about meeting her even if we didn’t all remember her (my sister was only 2 when we left). But our anticipation just made it harder when we got there. She didn’t know who we were. At my age and without understanding what her condition meant this was just devastating. My sister started crying and my parents tried to calm us down as they talked to my grandmother and showed her pictures of us and her from when we were younger. She actually did relate to the pictures and every now and then told us the same story over and over again.

Ever since that experience I have taken Alzheimer very personally. That’s why I am such a supporter of the Memory Walk. If you haven’t heard of the Memory Walk, it is an annual event that has taken place since 1989 and through these walks they have created awareness for Alzheimer and helped raise over $225 million to fight the disease. I hope to attend the Memory Walk this year and will be sponsoring other walkers too. I encourage you to do the same.

If you are like me you don’t buy anything without first comparing its price online. It’s not only the actual money you save, to me it is sometimes the principle of it. I just love knowing that I paid the absolute lowest price possible on my purchases and just hate it when I feel like I overpaid. But what I really hate is reaching the checkout page of a site I am shopping at and seeing a “coupon code” section. Well, obviously when I have the coupon to enter in I don’t hate it – I love it and always take advantage of it. But when I don’t have a coupon code (which happens a lot) I just feel stupid. It’s like the store saying “hey, some people are saving money on their purchases – just not you!”.

That’s why I like deallocker.com. They list thousands of free online coupons for hundreds of different sites. Since I started using them I check out every site at deallocker.com first to see if there are any coupon codes available. And in most cases there are. The reason that deallocker.com has so many coupon codes is the fact that they allow the site’s visitors to submit any coupon codes they are aware of adding to the ones already online. They also allow visitors to rate each coupon and report whether the coupon code worked for them or not. This keeps the coupon code list up to date and fresh and eliminates the frustrating situation where you try to use a code only to discover it expired.

I already saved over $200 on one of the Dell coupon codes listed on the site and am now even listing my own coupon codes which I received by email. I figured, if the site was helpful for me to save money – why not share my coupons to help others too?

Sharing recipes online has become extremely popular and you can now find millions of new and interesting recipes submitted by people from all over the world to try. It’s quite fun to test new recipes and can be even more fun to share yours with the world. If you enjoy cooking and showing off your stuff you will definitely like bigoven.com. Not only can you find over 160,000 recipes in their database but you can also win $100 by entering their food photography contest. Check them out today - BigOven 160,000+ Recipes.

Most stock markets would be silent around the days of Christmas, New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday and Labor Day. Of course, as each country would have its own Foundation or Independence day, those would be considered as holidays as well.

However, some markets follow some really unique holidays that do mark their own cultures. The bells in Japan’s stock market wouldn’t be ringing for Greenery Day in April 29, or for the day to mark Respect for the Aged every 16th of September. For China, the Army Day is a national holiday as well, and the start of the Midsummer’s Eve in Sweden means no trading activity for the day.

I hate my car. Okay, it’s not really my car. It’s the stupid insurance company’s replacement car they gave me after my beloved Toyota Camry was completely totaled. But this replacement car is already getting on my nerves and I can’t get a straight answer from my insurance agent as to when I’ll be getting the check that will enable me to get a new car. Of course it won’t be the same, since nothing can replace my old Camry (although getting a brand new Camry may come close). Especially since I think I will only be able to afford a used Toyota and won’t be able to go for a new 2008 model.

I am writing this post as an obituary for my beloved Toyota Camry who actually took its life to save mine. This really is true, since I almost lost my life in the accident and if it wasn’t for the car’s steal frame design I would have been crushed like a worm. When they separated our two cars, you were actually able to see the shape of the side bars through the dents in the door and the metal of the door actually warped around them. If they weren’t there, I doubt whether I would be either.

I had the SE model so the car was pretty comfortable. The seats were leather which I don’t think is standard for this finish level but I bought the car from someone who spent a lot of money in extras. He only drove it for six months before selling and it was practically new. I doubt I will be getting such a deal again and with what the insurance pays me I don’t even know what model I’ll be able to get. But there’s no point in even checking right now until I get things worked out with the insurance company first.

Setting up a website often requires services and work that you probably wouldn’t be doing yourself. Even if you are staffed for building and running your site on your own there are certain jobs that are typically outsourced especially if they are specifically related to the startup phase and not required on the long run.

It usually isn’t hard to find graphic artists who want to work on a freelance contract and there are many companies that offer such services. But what most people don’t always realize is that you can get the best help online. Instead of going with a local company that will charge you high prices for medium rate service, you can go online and find some very professional companies often at extremely low prices.

A good place to check out is Dev3 - Web Design Services. They have a very impressive portfolio of previous projects including Fortune 500 companies and their prices are much lower than the local standard. You can find some sample project prices on their services page online.

If you think your organization could improve on team work and proper collaboration among employees, you may want to consider executive coaching at the theforteinstitute.com. Their system, developed almost 30 years ago has helped numerous organizations streamline their operation and improve personal skills among staff for years. The key to their system is their proprietary set of surveys which help create a profile for each individual in your organization. Over the course of a few months, each member is monitored with follow up surveys and is guided into helping them fit in their place in the organization base upon the expectations of their surroundings taking into account their own personality and profile.

I can’t even count the number of posts we have written on proper budget management and properly managing debt so it doesn’t take over your life. But there are cases when you reach a point where your debt is too large that normal personal financial tips are no longer the solution. If you reach a point where you are dependant on credit cards simply to complete the month and are beginning to find that paying off even your minimum monthly payments for your cards and loans are a struggle you should consider a debt relief program.

The problem with dealing with creditors is that they tend to be more equipped with handling these kinds of situations and it is tough to match up forces with their legal departments. It is a wise idea to go with a credit consulting service who can represent you in front of your creditors. In many cases you will be able to lower your debt by 40%-60% and with a customized payment plan you can be completely out of debt within three years. The program isn’t always easy and requires some strong financial steps including credit card consolidation, living off a strict budget and eliminating the use of credit cards completely but failing to settle your debt can take a heavy toll which you may not be able to afford.

We have featured BackgammonMasters.com on our blog in the past and have been following the fast pace development of this company as they grew from a leading online backgammon operator to an online gaming giant now featuring several games and boasting a huge worldwide user base. The company has taken they young heavyweight champion Roman Greenberg under their wing and have been sponsoring him and helped build his career since he was a beginning unknown boxer through his current highly successful career.

It seems like the company takes great pride in this young boxer and have recently announced an upcoming fight which is considered to be a curtail fight for his career. Roman Greenberg will be facing Damon Reed at the South Town Exhibition Center in Sandy, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA on August 18. In the press release that announced the fight, Greenberg spokesperson Clive Bernath was quoted saying "Reed will provide Roman with the toughest test of his impressive unbeaten career so far."

Over the past few years, BackgammonMasters have become the leading destination for playing backgammon and other games online. The company’s website brings together thousands of players from around the world allowing them to compete against each other. The site also offers extensive information for backgammon players including official rules and advanced game strategy.

I’ll never get some people. Just the other day I was talking with someone I work with and she told me that she didn’t go on vacation this year because her bonus is coming in late this year and she can’t afford it yet. I asked her whether the bonus is a done deal and she said yes. But when I suggested she take a loan out, go on the trip and pay it off when she gets her bonus she wouldn’t even consider it claiming she doesn’t take loans.

When I asked her whether she ever defers payment on her credit card she said she does. Well, hello? That is a loan! But she just has this psychological fixation about not taking a loan. The truth is that she would actually save money by taking advantage of the homeowner loans banks are offering today since the interest rates on secured loans is much lower than what credit cards charge. But go tell her that…

If you are living in the Los Angeles area and happen to be in the market for a new car, I have an interesting suggestion of what you can do with your old car. Assuming you make it a point to donate money to charity once in a while and assuming you are planning on selling your old car why not go with a solution that can combine both and actually save you some trouble on the way. I’d like to introduce you to an organization called Car Angel. They can enable you to Donate Your Car In Los Angeles through their organization.

Once you donate your car, Car Angel will put it on the market for you and use the proceeds for one of their charitable causes. These causes include supporting orphans and helping at risk children through a number of programs they operate. Through these Los Angeles Car Donations, Car Angel has already managed to sponsor over 1500 orphans through world vision at one time. They also invest in producing Free DVDs for Kids.

Donating your car through Car Angel still qualifies you for a tax reduction based on the price your car brings for Car Angel. They will provide you with the necessary paperwork and go out of their way to make the process as simple as possible. They can even pick the car up for your location if required.

• Set aside the money the minute you get your salary. This forces you to live within your means, and guarantees that you do save every month, regardless of what happens. It’s best if the amount is automatically deducted from your payroll and put into a separate account. Talk to your bank.
• Leave credit cards at home. Even if you don’t carry cash, if you charge everything, then you spend (and with interest, too!). Until you’ve got the self control, avoid temptation altogether.
• Visualize. Post reminders of what you’re really saving for. If it’s the vacation to Paris, then stick a poster of the Eiffel tower on your office cubicle. If it’s a hefty retirement fund, then clip a picture of that house by the beach you want to spend the rest of your life in.

The holidays are still a few months away but hopefully you will remember this wonderful site when the time comes for you to have to decide about what presents to get for your loved ones. If you are like me this is never an easy decision and you are constantly trying to find the perfect gift that is both original and personable. Well, I’ve got a great idea for you to consider. Check out paintyourlife.com – they have a staff of professional portrait painters who can convert a picture that you email them into a real oil painting.

While looking at the site and their terrific samples I couldn’t help but think how it was long ago when people would hire an artist to draw their portraits. They probably would have to sit still for hours and I assume they required multiple sessions to have it done. It’s kind of funny to compare it to how easy it is today by simply allowing the portrait artist to paint from a photograph but the result is still the same.

This is a great gift for anniversaries as well and can be a beautiful way to display your wedding picture. The price is very reasonable too at only $99 for an oil paining and $69 for pencil sketches.

There are so many people who have built an entire business completely based on the eBay selling platform. It’s no wonder as the community on eBay can easily rival that of a small economy. In fact many online retailers have decided to completely abandon any other form of online presence such as their own website and conduct all their business via their eBay store.

As with every industry, the success of the eBay selling platform has brought many programmers and companies to offer proprietary eBay selling tools designed specifically for the unique needs of eBay sellers in mind. While there are great products out there that can really make a difference in your bottom line if you know how to take advantage of them, a new article titled “Don't pay for eBay selling tools!” claims that there are enough great free products available that there is no reason to pay for one. You can find the article online a The Auction Software Review website.

A drug addiction is not only one of the hardest things to get over in life, proper rehabilitation is one of the most critical things for a person’s future. It is the duty of one’s family and loved ones to make sure he receives the best addiction treatmen to fit his case. Since this is not something most of us are familiar with, 4rehabilitation.com has created a terrific resource to help family members find the right treatment for their loved ones. I hope you never need it, but it is good to know about.

Today's financial term of the day is Absolute advantage.

Absolute advantage is the capability of an individual, company, a region, or even a country to produce a particular good or service at a much lower cost per unit when compared to the cost it takes for another person or entity to produce that same good or service. Those who have an absolute advantage can usually produce a good or service using fewer inputs compared to another entity that produces the same good or service.

We have discussed the importance of finding the right treatment for our loved ones in their time of need when dealing with a drug addiction. But in some cases traditional treatment centers are not the best answer. Such is the case with teen rehab. Due to their unique circumstances a dedicated treatment center has been created at ECHO MALIBU entirely for teens.

There has been so much talk lately about the sub prime loan market and the recent crisis banks are going through due to over exposure to these loans seem to be covering every newsprint published lately. But while article after article talk about the heavy losses banks are taking and the impact of this crisis on the banking industry and financial sector very few bother to mention the other perhaps main victims of this story. These of course are the lenders themselves who have are now defaulting on their loans and many even facing foreclosure on their property.

It is sometimes hard to consider a debtor who defaults on payments as a victim but the fact is that many people have become victims to the over eager banking system simply looking to pump capital to the market at all costs. In many cases the cost being lending higher sums than people can afford to pay back.

One of the hardest parts of going through foreclosure is the fact that you are dealing with large financial institutions who arm themselves with the best lawyers and consultants while the entire process is foreign and scary to you. In fact, it is surprisingly hard to find information about foreclosure and ways to handle it online. The one exception is gottrouble.com who have created what is considered by many to be the definitive resource for information on foreclosure providing helpful tips and tactics to properly deal with the situation and minimize the damage it creates.

Companies are providing this option to their elderly employees, especially when faced with a need to cut costs or downsize. If you’re one of those offered the package it might look attractive at first glance, but think again.

Sure you’d get a huge lump sum of money upfront and if your company has a well-laid out early retirement program you might even get other benefits such as a health or life insurance. But try to assess the long-term effects over the short-term benefits before you take the offer.

If your present financial situation and lifestyle can let you and your family manage to go without your employment for a long period of time, then go ahead and enjoy that early retirement offer.

While the sub prime crisis is generally attributed to the private home sector where it stemmed from, the business sector is not immune to its after effects. Many businesses are finding it hard to get their lines of credit approved especially when they are unsecured. But ezunsecured.com offers businesses nationwide with easy to apply unsecured business loans that are approved in 1 to 3 days. They provide excellent service and are allowing many businesses to expand their business through unsecured credit lines or loans in an otherwise tight financial market.

I had mixed feelings when I graduated college. On the one hand, I finally completed my studies and reached the point I was working towards for years while on the other hand it was difficult leaving the system and environment I got so used to. But one thing I do remember and that’s waking up the next morning realizing I not only graduated with a degree but also with a whole lot of debt.

For about the first year or two I had quite a mess with my financials since I had some many loans over the years that I had to make several monthly payments. This was both confusing and expensive. That’s when I applied for a department of education student loan consolidation. I actually got lucky since I consolidated at a time with extremely low interest rates and managed to lock the rate in. But even today with rates at relatively reasonable levels, many graduates are option for an online student loan consolidation and in most cases are discovering they can save a lot of money.

It looks like once again the Martians have showed us that they know how to do things better than we do. In this case they have come up with a new personalized news service that is showing competing services just how the job is done. Okay, I have no actual proof that the people behind this great service are in fact from Mars but the name of the service (Thoof) kind of suggests that it is. You see, Thoof in Martian actually means news. You can easily see this by logging on to the Martian News Network (or Martian Thoof Network) at MTM.

For those of you who made it through my first paragraph of pure nonsense, good for you! I'm happy I have enough of a reputation for you to stick with me even when my imagination gets the best of me. In any case, the service I mentioned is in fact real and is quite amazing. You see unlike other aggregated news services, Thoof.com takes extra measures to make sure people get just what they want and they know what they are getting. You can easily find articles by categorized tags and any article that you find misleading (the title and description don't properly reflect the article's content) can be edited. Thoof also provides the participating websites with a "Thoof Badge" which displays a metric measuring the interest the website receives from Thoof readers. This is determined by the percentage of people who click on to the site's articles in relation to all users in that particular category. It's worth giving it a shot (even if its creators are mere humans…).

Nobody likes moving. Well, let me rephrase that. Many people like moving to a better place and upgrading their living accommodations but the process itself is almost always not a pleasant one. However, with the right planning and proper information you can do yourself a lot of good and save yourself most of the aggravation commonly related to moving. Obviously there is a lot involved with moving to an apartment and it’s only natural for people to miss out on things with all what’s going on.

A great resource is available online which can prove a real asset to anyone moving to an apartment and can be reached at www.apartmentguide.com. The site deals in all kind of apartments and deals in both high end luxury apartments as well as budget living units. In addition to providing one of the most advanced apartment search tools available online with over 6 million apartments listed in their searchable database, the site also provides helpful information for anyone in the process of moving.

They cover practically every aspect of moving including many topics ignored by most other sites. They even provide a complete guide for living with a roommate including help in finding one, “traditional conventions” with regard to roommates and more.

Directories used to be very popular and were considered the ABC’s of internet marketing since they provide both exposure and traffic to your site as well as relevant links which help search engine ranking. I use the past tense not because they are not popular today but simply because so many anonymous directories with no traffic or reputation have sprung up over the past few years and many marketers are hesitant to sign up to them.

However, most will recognize the alivedirectory.com name and probably have had their sites submitted their in the past. Well, alivedirectory.com is now offering a blog directory built using the same platform and structure of their famous web directory. The directory is still small and it’s a great time to get in and secure a prominent spot.

Today's Financial Term of the Day is "Back of the Napkin Business Model". Not so much a term as much as financial slant, Back of the Napkin Business Model is financial slang used to describe the representation of the fundamental parts of a business model without adding in its finer points. What is only included are the basic ideas as well as the success factors. The etymology of the term originates from the idea that a quick business outline can be easily drawn on the back of a paper napkin.

I would like to tell you about a very special place today. If you are a regular reader of our blog you know that we often feature various drug and alcohol rehab centers since we believe in spreading the word about these wonderful establishments that really can save people’s lives. But today I would like to tell you about Teen Rehab ECHO MALIBU. Unlike other rehab centers, ECHO MALIBU deals specifically with teens.

As difficult as it is to hear, there is no minimum age for drug and alcohol addictions and even our children who we try so hard to protect are not immune. The staff at ECHO MALIBU understands that they are dealing with a very special demographic and therefore try to help their patients via their unique empowerment philosophy by providing encouraging and positive feedback.

Purchasing a home is one of the largest purchases if not the largest most of us make in our lifetime and in most cases our home mortgage is the largest financial procedure we engage in throughout our lives. But what may be a life changing event for us is a daily event and part of the routine of the bankers with whom we take out our mortgage. This can sometimes lead to a situation where we don’t’ have all the information we require and don’t always get the assistance we should be getting from our bankers.

That’s where mortgage consulting companies like De Anza Capital come in. De Anza Capital is an Arizona mortgage consulting company which provides its clients with over twenty years of mortgage experience. The company offers mortgage packages for residential financing, construction loans, lot loans and commercial loans and does its best to help their clients find the right mortgage solution for their needs.

De Anza Capital works together with their clients to go over all their options and factor in current Arizona mortgage rates along with the various types of loans they could take. The outcome is a financial solution to match both the clients short term needs as well as ensuring his long term financial stability.

Off-peak buying or spending has always been touted by financial planners as a good way to beat the inflation and get more for your money, but few people do realize its benefits. Off-season purchasing not only promises better bargains for the consumers, but it is also the companies’ way of getting rid of inventory and paying extra overhead for keeping unnecessary merchandise.

So think way ahead of time for your purchases – instead of taking your regular summer vacation during June, think September when prices would have significantly dropped and fewer people would be going on their holidays. Buy your air conditioning in winter; shop for insulation and heating during spring.

Many consider it a fact that in today’s online economy if you are not online you simply don’t exist. But the truth is that being online is not enough, you need people to be able to find you too. Actually, “if you don’t appear on Google (or other search engines) you don’t exist” would be a more accurate fact.

But getting your site ranking for your keywords is not easy and requires what’s called Search Engine Optimization. This is quite a common practice today and you can hire a Search Engine Optimization Specialist to do the work for you. It is important to hire a company that can provide proven results and show previous experience.

Whether you are planning on taking a real estate test in your state, studying for a home inspection test or preparing for a number of others, there is now a new way to study. Simply go to compucram.com and download the specific software for your test (tailored to your state). The program provides thousands of questions and can be used in a review mode or simulated exam mode. Demos are available for free downloading for every product so you can test them out before purchasing.

Finding a good used car is often considered a difficult task and many people stay clear of the used car market simply because they are afraid they won’t find a good car and will have to deal with a lot of junk. But the fact is that there are always good cars available for sale in the used car market in fact there are many good cars available. The problem is that there are also a lot of lesser quality cars and using traditional means such as looking through local paper listings or going to car lots can be very time consuming and won’t always result in actually finding the car you want (even though it is probably available somewhere).

But finding the right car is extremely easy and efficient using the Used Cars search engine available at autoguide.com. The online used car search engine allows users to locate cars available for sale nationwide based on a number of criteria enabling them to find the right car for their purposes. The website allows users to filter the Used Cars based on the car’s make, year, price and even color. In addition, you can limit your search to certain geographic areas to make sure only to list cars that are within range of your means to inspect it and pick it up. Good used cars are available - It's just a matter of knowing where to look...

The Epay online payment system is now celebrating two years in operation and currently provides one of the most sophisticated payment solutions available both online and off. Similar to other payment systems, Epay allows merchants to receive money from their customers whether they are members of Epay or not while providing one of the widest range of options for customers to send money.

The system is also good for people looking to send money to their families abroad through a number of methods. One of the most interesting ways people are taking advantage of the system is by mailing their family members Epay debit cards linked to their account. This way, rather than wiring money to their family, their family members can simply withdraw funds from an ATM or use the card anywhere Visa is accepted.

What is a Mutual Fund? It is an investment tool that basically allows a group of investors to pool their money together to gain access to a larger portfolio of stocks, or bonds. A mutual fund is managed by a fund manager who takes charge of investing the money for all the shareholders, or those who invested in the mutual fund.

What is a Stock? A stock is a share of ownership in a publicly-listed company or a commercial enterprise and is the most common ownership investment in the financial market.

What is a Bond? A Bond fund, also known as a fixed income fund is a form of a lending investment tool where you get your returns on the principal plus interest over a predetermined amount of time.

I have a confession to make. I have a hot tub (which I love) and for something like the past two years we have been discussing how we should replace its cover. In fact when we first noticed its inside insulation was getting wet we agreed to take care of it within a few days but well over a year has passed and we keep saying we’ll do it “in a few days”. It seems we always have some excuse as not having the measurements or not knowing where to call.

But as luck would have it I was asked to review hottubworks.com. They provide top of the line hot tub covers. After going over the information on their site and reading about the quality of their spa cover I realized just what a piece of junk I have right now. In any case, it looks like they also make ordering very simple (no more excuses) and even help you get the right measurements. And in case their ever is a problem with theirs they offer a full “bumper to bumper” guarantee and even cover the return shipping cost. Sounds good, won’t you say?

The natural forces of the market are supposed to balance out competition allowing the lowest priced forces to affect the market and bring down the average. But in many cases this doesn’t happen simply because smaller and often lower priced companies don’t get the same exposure large ones do and don’t always get a chance to compete.

Topmovingcompanies.com tries to prevent this from happening in the moving business by providing an even playing ground for all movers to compete for the business of the users of the site. Visitors are encouraged to fill out a simple form and receive quotes from a number of movers allowing them to select the best offer.

I'm looking at my calendar and a I feel little sense of sadness as I realize the summer is almost over but then I remember the holiday season that follows and my spirits are lifted. The only thing I usually dread about the holidays is having to decide what to get anyone. I hope this doesn't make me sound bad. I do like getting gifts, it's just coming up with good ideas can be real hard (at least for me).

At least this year I have an idea which I think will work for most of the people I usually get gifts. I'm sure you've seen them around – digital picture frames. I figure they are a nice gift everyone would enjoy and even if someone has one, he can always put another one somewhere else.

I haven't started pricing them yet (even though I expect to buy about 15 of them!) since I know there will be some good sales as the holidays come closer. In any case, I always check couponchief.com for online coupons before actually purchasing anything. Just the other week I saved $40 with an Overstock.com coupon they listed and a while back also used a Best Buy coupon but I don't remember what it gave me.

A news piece published in the New York Times titled “Misgivings Spoil Plans of Start-Up” is in the center of a strong debate as to the editorial and professional standards of this prestigious newspaper. The article, uses the topic of a current IPO basically to bash businessman and philanthropist Armand Rousso over a well publicized and known criminal background. In a response on his blog, Armand Rousso attacks Saul Hansell, the author of the piece for basically stearing away from the Times’ high level technology and business coverage simply as a stage for slander (which is completely irrelevant to the item in focus). You can read the Armand Rousso response to NYT story by Saul Hansell on his blog at armandrousso-blog.com.