|
|
The
Editor's Desk - From Beneath the Clutter
Feature Article - Making the most of online searching
Guest Article - Got Debt?
Classified Ads
It's been a busy week for me, as it's birthday season! Add Easter coming up on top of that, and it's amazing how busy things can get. I hope those of you with older kids are enjoying their Spring Break. Takes a chunk out of your work time, doesn't it?
I've added a Freebies section in the Money Matters section of the website this week, as well as hints on finding affordable advertising. Speaking of which, I am now offering a very limited amount of advertising in this newsletter. Check out the details here.
Have you started a garden this year yet? Take a look at the Activity of the Month and join in!
Don't forget, you can contribute your articles or tips anytime for consideration. Just use the contact form.
How many results do you get when you search for something online? Too many? Too few? Totally irrelevant results? Maybe it’s time to learn how to use the search engines more effectively.
Now, this may not seem terribly relevant to being home with your family, but there are many useful tools out there if you only know how to find them. Online coupons, free or affordable advertising, ideas for family activities and crafts, and so forth.
The most basic search you can do is to simply type a word or phrase into the search engine, say online coupons for diapers. In Google, this comes up with 34,700 results, many of which are not relevant.
Now try putting the phrase into quotation marks: “online coupons for diapers.” Ugh. One listing right now, and it’s no good. Try moving the quotes around and leave out the for: “online coupons” diapers. Now we’re getting somewhere. Only 6,020 listings. But what about your preferred brand?
There are many operators you can use in your search. OR (use capitals) allows you to search for more than one phrase at a time, such as “online diaper coupons” OR “diaper coupons online”. 32 results for that one, and they’re looking better all the time.
Now, if you absolutely don’t want a particular brand, use the “–“ operator. This tells the search to not include results with a given keyword or phrase.
Suppose you know there are a lot of synonyms for a word. The tilde (”~”) includes synonyms in the search when you use Google.
Did you know Google lets you search by price? Include a price range and try it out when you want to buy something online. Just type the price in the format $x..x where the x’s represent dollar amounts. You can do this for any sort of number, not just dollars. It works for weights, years and so forth.
Just think what you can find online for your home or your home business when you know how to search effectively. Just remember to be as specific as possible to keep your search results clean.
Stephanie Foster is the owner of Home with the Kids, a resource that knows that there's more to staying home with your family than just business. From money saving tips to parenting and marriage tips, to work at home jobs and businesses, you can get information and support here. You can visit the site at http://www.homewiththekids.com.
Add to Your Social Bookmarks:
Del.icio.us
Furl
Reddit
Simpy
Spurl
Y! MyWeb - Netscape
Sharia Law SHOULD be used in Britain, says UK's top judge. in Let's Talk About the Issues - stephfoster, Sat 05-Jul-08 (1 Reply)
Happy 4th of July! in General Chatter - stephfoster, Sat 05-Jul-08 (2 Replies)
Google Has Enough Data To Pull You Out Of A Crowd in General Chatter - stephfoster, Sat 05-Jul-08 (2 Replies)
Snow Being Sold on Ebay in Let's Talk About the Issues - Knight, Sat 05-Jul-08 (5 Replies)
Hussein Executed in Let's Talk About the Issues - snowdog20, Sat 05-Jul-08 (3 Replies)
Financial hardship is a major source of stress. Two Effective FREE Strategies to Reduce Debt.
The Good News and the Bad News:
The dishwasher breaks; your car needs new brakes; the roof springs a leak; you're laid off from work: our basic needs sometimes exceed our income, which means we spend money not in our budget. The good news: credit cards can be lifesavers in these situations.
The bad news: a $3000 balance will take 39 years to pay back at an interest rate of 19.8% a year and you pay only the minimum balance each month. This means your original $3000 costs a total $13,000 including the interest! This is why credit card companies market their services so aggressively. Credit equals profit: for them. For emergencies, use your credit card but don't charge items you can live without if you carry a balance from month to month.
First Strategy: Get Interest Rates reduced! Transfer balances from high interest cards to low interest cards if you can. If you carry a balance and your interest rate is higher than 7% call customer service and ask to speak to a supervisor. This person will ask: "Why you want to speak to a supervisor?" You say: "Because I want an interest rate reduction." If they can; they will offer you a decrease immediately rather than bother their supervisor. If they refuse, don't give up: ask to be to transferred to a supervisor. Persist. One client took only 2.5 minutes to decrease his interest, on three cards, a total of 15 points, another client called once a week for six weeks before getting a reduction.
If you have maxxed out your cards because of an emergency, tell customer service what happened. They are human. You may get a more positive response [Don't be tempted to make up a story; they hear many tales of woe and it's easy to detect ones that are not true].
If you have maxxed out your cards because you are an impulsive spender: cut up your cards. Get counseling before it gets worse.
Second Strategy: Pay down High Interest Rates First. Got more than one credit card debt? I know clients who pay their credit card bills with equal dollar amounts on each card each month. That does not make financial sense.
Write down the your balance and interest rate for each card. Pay the minimum on every bill except for the bill with the highest interest rate. Pay as much as you can afford on this bill so you pay it down. When this one is paid off, start paying down the card with the next highest interest rate.
Remember to Persist: Once you have paid a bill down from maximum, call again for a reduction in interest even if they refused you a couple of months earlier. Also check if you can increase your credit on a lower rate card so you can then transfer debt from a higher interest rate card. If you don't understand this, go to your bank and ask the customer service person to explain it to you.
Five Easy Ways Enjoy Yourself and Save Money: Invite friends to your home instead of meeting in a restaurant. When they ask: "What can I bring?" say "How about an appetizer or dessert." Make a tasty, inexpensive main course like spaghetti with sauce and a salad: they bring the rest and everyone saves. Resist buying manufactured, packaged foods - manufacturing and packaging increase costs - plus most junk foods and candies are expensive and have little or no nutritional value. Reduce the amount you spend on cigarettes, alcohol [or recreational drugs]. You save money, calories and your brain! Reorganize your closets. Find and wear clothes you forgot you had. Resist buying new clothes, makeup, shoes or anything you don't really need. Rent videos & DVDs instead of paying $8 at the movies. Loan books from the library for free instead of buying paperbacks.
Three ways to generate money: Tell your pals your new years resolution is to pay off your credit cards and you will be their girl/guy Friday for [say] $20 an hour to help them [clean out their closets, garage, garden, attic]. My pal was laid off when I moved house, I still remember her Girl Friday help: it was worth every penny. Have a garage sale - invite your neighbors to have one on the same day and you will attract more traffic to your street. Take paperbacks to the office and sell them - sell children's videos they no longer watch or toys they've outgrown. Tell everyone you are recycling. It's true. You are recycling for money.
If you have other good suggestions for making extra money, please send them to www.Sylvia@SylviaMills.com and to the publication you are reading.
Sylvia Mills, Ph.D. is a psychologist, author and Professional Member of the National Speakers Association. She speaks regularly to Corporations "Dealing with Difficult People." "Handling Conflict Effectively." "Managing Stress in these Pressured Times." Meeting planners and readers can find additional articles and contact information at www.SylviaMills.com
New feature here. You may have to fill out a survey or give out personal information for your freebies, so decide if the offer looks worthwhile to you.
If you offer a freebie, let me know! I will consider it for inclusion here and in the freebie section of the website.
============================================================
The Internet Marketing Center's top rated Affiliate Program
is 100% free to join and gives you the ability to INSTANTLY
GENERATE AN ONGOING STREAM OF INCOME without any cost or
obligation on your part.
To start maximizing the profit-producing power of your web
site in the next 10 minutes, click here and take advantage of the arsenal of Internet marketing
tools they provide you with just for joining!
============================================================
Make bundles of Cash on Google P/T F/T
Let us tell you about people who are doing it and how you
can do it too. It's fast, easy and can be done from home
part or full time (no previous experience necessary).
Click here to start making money on Google.
Site Map - Press Room - Disclaimer - Disclosure
Copyright © 2003-2008 Stephanie Foster unless otherwise indicated