Tag Archives: just so you know

Jul28

Making Big Purchases Possible Even If You Are In Debt

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Making Big Purchases Possible Even If You Are In Debt

In late 2017, Americans had an all-time high outstanding debt total of $13.1 trillion. Experts also estimate that “student loan balances soared by 146%” in the last 10 years, and that roughly 80% of Americans are in debt. If you are one of the millions of people who find themselves under a mountain of student loan, credit card, or personal loan debt, you’re not alone. As a result of the level of debt that most individuals carry, many are delaying the process of making big life purchases (e.g. homes, cars). However, there are many instances in which big purchases are not completely avoidable.

Need to make a big purchase while in debt? Explore three expert strategies to make your goals a reality:

Figure out where your money is going:

Having a large amount of debt doesn’t mean that you can’t make big purchases. Although you have to be more strategic in your approach, there is almost always a way to find the funds you need. The first (and most crucial) step that you should take, is to find out where your money is going. In other words, it’s time to create a budget (if you haven’t done so already). One study recently revealed that “only 41% of Americans use a budget.” While many people see a budget as something that is restrictive, it will actually show you how much money you have leftover after paying your bills. This enables you to know how much money you have to put aside toward your big purchase.

Make a savings plan (if possible):

The best strategy for making a big purchase while in debt is to not add more of it. Rather than applying for another credit card or loan right away, see what you can do to save up for the item that you need. Since you’ve already made a budget, you should know exactly how much you can set aside each week. If your finances and timing allow, create a savings goal and an estimated date for when you plan to reasonably reach that milestone. Depending on the urgency of the big purchase you’ll be making, see how long you can go without in order to avoid further debt.

Quickly clean up your credit if you will need financing:

Need to make a big purchase right away? Whether you have to find a replacement car or appliance, you may not be able to pay off all of your existing debt before going into more debt. What should you do if this is the case? Prior to making the purchase, do whatever you can to quickly clean up your credit. Experts recommend paying down your revolving credit balances as much as possible, looking for and disputing any errors on your credit report, and continuing to make all payments on time. Any boost to your credit score (and reduction of your current debt) will give you the best chance of getting approved for a new loan, and for receiving a low interest rate.

Although it can seem daunting, making a big purchase while in debt is possible. Utilizing the tips listed above will help you reduce the impact to your current financial situation, and assist you in achieving your goal.

Featured Image By: Unsplash

Jul27

How To Borrow Money For Home Improvements

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How To Borrow Money For Home Improvements

Giving your home a makeover can be incredibly expensive and, if you don’t have the cash in the bank, you might have to make do with it as it is. But, making improvements to your home is an investment, because it increases the value of the house and you’ll get that money back if you eventually decide to sell it. That’s why it’s not a bad idea to borrow money to make those changes around the house. However, you’ve got to be careful, because if you don’t borrow sensibly, you could end up in serious financial trouble. If you want to invest in your home and make some improvements, here’s how to safely borrow the money to do it:

Sort Your Credit:

Your credit score tells lenders how sensible you are with your money and they’ll use it to decide on the interest rate that they’re willing to offer you on a loan, if they’re willing to give you one at all. If you’ve got a poor credit score, you’re going to be paying a lot more to borrow money. That’s why you need to sort out your credit score before you try to find a loan to make home improvements.

Request a credit report and look over it carefully. Often, there are mistakes on there and you’ll be unfairly penalized. If you think that might be the case, you can dispute credit report mistakes and have them changed. Once you’ve got an accurate credit score, you can start taking steps to change it. Cut back on your spending and clear any debts that you’ve got. Then, you need to get a credit card and start making purchases, while making sure to pay it off immediately. This will show that you’re trustworthy and help you to start building your credit score again.

Personal Loans:

Getting a personal loan is one avenue for borrowing money. You can go to the bank and borrow the money from them. The amount that you’ll get and the interest rate will depend on your credit score so the first step is important. You’re not likely to get as much as if you borrow through other avenues, so you’ll have to make those improvements on a budget. Before you sign anything, shop around a bit and find the best deals. You should also be careful about the amount that you’re borrowing. Only agree to borrow an amount that you can comfortably pay back so that you don’t get into financial trouble.

Should you need money for emergency repairs like plumbing, structural, or electrical, you might not have time to explore the avenue mentioned above. If this is the case, looking into Same day loans could get you the money you need for the repair quickly. This is an excellent option if you are in a bind as the safety of you and your family in your home is the most important thing. And, should you let these issues fester, they will only become more expensive to repair.

Borrow Against The House:

Personal loans are fine, but you might be better off borrowing money against the house itself. The benefit of doing it that way, is that you’ll probably get more money and, because you’ve put the house up as collateral, the interest rate isn’t going to be as high as a personal loan. However, there is an element of risk involved. If you’re increasing your mortgage, then you’re more likely to default on the payments and risk losing your house. Just like with personal loans, make sure that you’re only borrowing what you can afford.

Follow these rules and you’ll be able to borrow the money to get all of the home improvements that you need done!

Featured Image By: Pxhere

Jun25

Five Ways To Learn When On The Go

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Five Ways To Learn When On The Go

Knowledge is power, as they say, yet judging by how people spend their time, you wouldn’t necessarily know it. We spend the best part of our first two decades on earth getting educated, and then, we simply stop. On the one hand, it’s understandable: we’ve learned the essentials during our formal schooling, and now it’s time to enjoy other things in life. But on the other, education is always worth pursuing. There’s much to know that they would never have taught you in school! But we know time is in short supply. That’s why we’ve put together some ways to learn while you’re on the move. On the commute, when you’re jogging – there’s always time to learn something new.

Put the Phone Down:

You’re sitting on the bus. You’re at a cafe, or the bar, waiting for your friend to arrive. Wherever you are, the temptation these days is to pull out your smartphone and start scrolling. But what are you missing out on when your mind is in a digital space? Education about the real world! There’s much to learn just by keeping our phones in our pocket and looking around every once and awhile. It’s a good chance to think big.

The Best Minds:

You might be a smart person, but you don’t know everything. As such, there’s much you can learn by listening to talks from some of the world’s best minds, past and present. There are plenty of inspirational talks on YouTube, which you can then convert to MP3 by using Convert Video. The next time you’re traveling from A to B, you’ll be able to fire up some inspiring words of wisdom and learn something new just as you’re going about your business.

Tune into the Radio:

It’s a good idea to learn about things which interest you, but it’s also good to learn about new things, too, things that you’ve never heard of before. Practically everything is interesting if you go deep into it enough! When you’re in your car, look at firing up talk radio, such as NPR. They usually talk about issues that you won’t hear about anywhere else, or things that you’ve never heard about before. In the process, you’ll be broadening your knowledge base, and may just pick up a new passion. Nice!

Carry a Book Around:

Are you always carrying a backpack or handbag around? Then keep a book in there. You’ll be surprised by just how many minutes of downtime you have during the day. These minutes present you with the chance to get your book out, get to reading, and learn something new. You’ll also significantly increase the number of books you read each year, too.

Strike up a Conversation:

Everyone’s smart in their own way. Next time you’re by yourself and have some downtime (or you’re on a plane), strike up a conversation with a stranger. They will always tell you something that you didn’t know before, and you can tell them something new, too. Plus, they might become a friend!

Continuing your education after school can be about street smarts, too. So try and learn something new the next time you’re on the move!

Featured Image By: Pexels

Jun22

Five Tips To Follow For Faster Cooking

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Five Tips To Follow For Faster Cooking

Cooking at home is always better than ordering take out or getting a pizza delivered for the third time this week. You can always find more taste and more nutrition when you cook the food at home. However, there are occasions when you need to make cooking easier so that you spend less time in the kitchen when you’re hosting a party or family dinner. Apart from using the best vegetables and other ingredients, you must use the best cooking methods that are not only safe for the food but also make your cooking effortless. You can use some great tips and blend them together with your knowledge and experience to make cooking easier and less time consuming. Remember, most of these are devised by the great chefs and are tried and tested by the homemakers. Here they go:

Plan your recipe:

One might say that this is the most important step, because the recipe that you choose is what will be on your dinner plate. Make sure you pick something that you feel capable of being able to make well – especially if guests are coming over. And, of course, plan the order you are cooking in too. Perhaps you will want to prepare delicious side dishes the day before so you can fully focus on the main dish when it comes time to cook. Breaking up the order can be especially helpful if you are trying your hand at new recipes because we all know how frazzling that can be!

Get your ingredients ready:

Very often, people feel the pressure when they do not plan their recipes. If you plan what to cook and how to cook, then it becomes easier for you to get the ingredients ready and within your reach. While planning a shopping list do some research too so that you are always satisfied with what you’re buying. Look up what the best peppers for salsa are, enter a search for Best Pancake Mix for your breakfast, and so on. This prior preparation keeps you ahead of your time as you start cooking right at the moment when you get the stove ready.

Set up appliances and ignite the stove:

After getting the ingredients out, you should get the appliances ready and ignite the stove. Make sure you have the best appliances right in front of you and you know how to use them so an unexpected fire doesn’t ruin your meal!

Use a pressure cooker and smoker:

It goes without saying that the use of pressure cookers can ease the task of cooking. Since boiling the ingredients is an important step of cooking, you can use these appliances to shorten your cooking time because they boil the food in a reduced manner. You should make sure to boil your veggies before you cook them. This preserves the nutrients and reduces the time for cooking, as well. Also, if you have a smoker, you can cook a number of recipes quickly. To learn more about smokers, visit review websites like Hvacify.Com.

Go for multitasking:

This is an efficient way to reduce the time for cooking. While you boil the ingredients in a cooker, you should do some other task on the oven so that you can finish another item off of your check list till your vegetables are ready. In a similar manner, you can prepare the spices for a particular dish till something else is being done on the stove.

Though these are some of the top tips that you can follow to make cooking faster, you can apply some more from your own experience. Also, the internet is loaded with a lot more innovative tips that you can always learn and apply to make cooking an enjoyable necessity.

Jun15

Saving Your Vehicle From The Elements This Summer

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Saving Your Vehicle From The Elements This Summer

Enjoying a long drive during the summer and being pampered by the warm weather is a great experience. But, there is something that one must keep in mind – that such weather poses a major hazard to a car’s exterior. To escape the negative effects of the elements altogether, a lot of precautions need to be taken. There are several tasks which one can do to help reduce the impairment done to a car’s paint due to weather conditions. Even though these are fairly simple steps to follow, completing them at all times can be a tricky task, as most people are forgetful and they tend to make silly errors in judgment. Here are some great tips to save your vehicle from the elements:

Parking in the shade:

Unless a car owner finds him or herself in a situation where there is no time to park at all, avoiding parking directly under the sun is possibly one of the biggest favors a car can get. There are essentially two benefits of parking a car under the shade. First, it helps in keeping the car cool. Secondly, it makes sure that the paint does not fade away so easily. These jobs may not seem so important, but these little incidents cause damage that adds up to cause a big problem in the future. So, rule number one is – never roast a car under the sunlight.

Using a car cover:

If the car owner regularly fails to find shaded locations to park the car, keeping a car cover in the trunk always is a must. These car covers can come in handy in many occasions, and will always provide your car with your own personally brought protection. Another excellent way to keep your car’s exterior looking its best is to invest in wraps for your car to further protect it from the elements. This is definitely worthwhile if you want to keep your car looking brand new no matter its age. It may be worth researching local paint protection film experts in your area, to see if there is anyone who can provide you with this service. A skilled technician will be able to assist with reducing the risk of chips and scratches to your paintwork.

One final option to protect your car and yourself from the elements is window tinting. Tinted windows offer heat rejection and UV protection and are a durable and long lasting solution. If this is something you are interested in, simply enter a search for “Car Window Tinting San Antonio” (or your local area). Be sure to read reviews carefully and seek recommendations from friends and family too.

Washing the car on a regular basis:

Washing cars on a consistent basis ensures that the exterior of the car is fresh for a long period of time. Such benefits only come to play when the car owner washes the car properly. After parking the car under shade, rinsing off all forms of accumulated dirt and grime is the first step. If getting the grime off after washing is proving to be too much trouble, using a clay bar to clean the sticky spots before rinsing the car for a second time is highly recommended. For convertibles, using a convertible top protectant is the ideal solution.

Once the car has been cleaned, with the use of a microfiber cloth, the car must be dried off completely, without missing any spots so that there are no water spots on the exterior.

Waxing:

Similar to washing, waxing a car regularly can help in reducing any type of damage done to the car paint. If a car is waxed regularly, the prevention of dirt and debris sticking to the vehicle becomes easier.

Saving a vehicle from the elements might be an annoying task but it is definitely achievable, and will keep your car looking better for longer.

Jun6

How To Organize Your Photography Portfolio

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How To Organize Your Photography Portfolio

Whether you are a professional photographer or an amateur snapper with ambition, it is sensible to have a portfolio of work that you can show clients, friends, and anyone else who shows an interest. These days, photography is mainly digital, so an online portfolio is the way to go, but even if you still develop your photographs the old-fashioned way, the same tips apply:

Quality Control:

The best thing about digital photography, is that you can take hundreds of photos in a very short time. The bad thing is, that you end up with thousands. Be honest: most of your photos are not worthy of a place in a portfolio. This is not to say that they are no good, but the whole point of creating a portfolio is that you are highlighting your very best work.

The first step in creating a portfolio is to curate your work. Go through your best shots and select the ones that you think are worthy of a place in your portfolio. Don’t just rely on your own judgment, as it will almost certainly be biased. Instead, ask a selection of people to choose their favorite shots based on artistic qualities and technical ability. The photos that make the grade should tick the right boxes for everyone.

Quality control isn’t just about your pictures itself but employing best practices at every shoot so you can continue to grow your portfolio. Come prepared to smile, be engaging, and have fun. Don’t forget backup equipment because nothing halts a photo shoot like technical problems. However, if you forget a spare film camera battery, it’s worth noting that many film cameras can still function, allowing you to take pictures even without a working light meter. Your clients have the potential to review you via word of mouth and online so you always want to put your best, most professional face forward.

Professional Portfolios:

If you are a professional photographer, or you have aspirations to become one, you need to organize your photos to fit your business model. For example, a Suffolk Wedding Photographer wouldn’t include images of edgy urban scenes, as clients are not going to be interested. Instead, he/she would make sure that there were plenty of wedding themed photos in the portfolio so potential clients know exactly what they are getting when they book the photographer.

Organize into Themes and Galleries:

Check out Virtualphotographystudio.Com to see how to organize your work into galleries. Themed galleries are very important, as they help clients and viewers find the images that they want to see.

Using our example of a wedding photographer, we might have separate galleries for couples’ shots, family portraits, and perhaps miscellaneous photos of kids, animals, and even wedding cakes. If you have several existing clients, you might choose to organize your work by the client rather than subject matter. This would be applicable to a fashion photographer. You could also organize by creative theme. For example, if you have a series of images of Tuscan villas or Canadian landscapes, add them in separate folders.

A portfolio needs to be easy to navigate. Use a main menu and sub-menus. The harder it is to find images, the more likely you are to lose a viewer.

Caption Images:

Images should be captioned with key details such as title, the year it was taken, etc. If you have an online portfolio, images also need an image tag so that search engines can identify what they are and include them in search results.

Choose the right portfolio design. There are many themes to choose from if you decide to create an online portfolio, so select the best one for your business model and impress the socks off of potential clients!

Featured Image By: Pexels

Jun5

“You Don’t Wash Your Hair?!”

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“You Don’t Wash Your Hair?!”

Hello!! So I have received many a request asking me to write about how I don’t wash my hair, so here it is. Bear in mind, that these are the results for my body. I can’t promise anything for anyone else, so please don’t get mad at me if a similar phenomenon doesn’t happen for your hair! Okay, with that disclaimer out of the way, here we go:

I began dyeing my hair when I was fifteen or so, and even at that age, I was a penny pincher. I would avoid washing my hair for as long as I could to keep the color looking fresh and sleek. But, it wasn’t until red became my staple color that I began thinking about what would happen if I just stopped washing my hair altogether.

Throughout my life, I never had problems with oily or greasy hair and never really experienced dandruff or dryness, either. My hair has always been very healthy, so it made the early stages of my no wash regime easy, because even after a week, my hair still remained nice and fresh. It was awesome.

I think that I was about seventeen when I began dyeing my hair red regularly, and it pissed me off when I would wash my hair and see the color literally washing down the drain. But, still, I was in high school and for fear of people thinking that I was weirder than I already was, I kept with my weekly washing routine. And, all of the while, my hair was just fine. No oil, no grease, no odor, nothing.

I maintained my week or so wash schedule for a while, but then, a new beauty revelation came out about four years ago – dry shampoo. So, you’re telling me, that there’s a product out there specifically made so that you don’t have to wash your hair?? Amazing!! For the next one or two months, dry shampoo became my best friend, and I worked my way up to just not washing my hair, period.

But, then, I noticed a few major character flaws with dry shampoo. It left my hair SO difficult so work with, it looked dusty, and I hated the baby powder smell. I also didn’t see the point in paying for it when my hair was doing fine without any products like that for years. So, I eliminated dry shampoo and washing in one foul swoop.

And, guess what? It was all okay. Even with using product in my hair daily and being a cigarette smoker, my hair has been so used to cleaning itself that it remains oil, grease, and odor free for an entire month. The only time that I get my hair wet now, is when I redye it monthly. And, even then, I only condition my hair because I am so anti shampoo.

I have literally been training my hair for this point in my life for seven years. And now, for a solid four of them, I haven’t been washing my hair at all. My hair is my crowning jewel and its vibrant red summarizes my personality and brand perfectly. And, with a wash free lifestyle, I get to keep my color looking freshly dyed until I need to touch up my roots. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Who else embraces a no wash lifestyle? Who is willing to try out something like that? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Featured Image By: Giphy

May20

Final Therapy Update

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Final Therapy Update

Helloooo! I hope that all of you are having a wonderful weekend so far. As you can tell by the title of this post, this will be my Final Therapy Update until I choose to go again. I was definitely on the fence about going to my appointment this week, and I ended up canceling it.

I just feel tired of going over the same things week in and week out, and I almost feel like being in therapy gave me an excuse to engage in risky behaviors like binge eating or drinking, because I could just talk about it at my next appointment. My therapy sessions were very helpful to a point, but I felt like the metaphorical wall had been hit, and none of the advice that I was getting was anything that I felt like I could utilize.

This is not to say that I didn’t like my therapist at all, because I really did. But, I also felt like she was trying to force a belief system on me that I was not comfortable with, and didn’t seem to have any other advice but that. Although I could totally research things on my own, I did expect to gain some new insights during therapy and, after a while, I just wasn’t any more.

If a mental rough patch comes up, I do plan on returning again so that I have a safe place to communicate my feelings. But, for now, I am taking my medication daily and seeing what I can do on my own to start improving things for myself.

Has there been a time when therapy has been helpful for you? What are some of your mental health struggles? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May18

Want To Enjoy The Remote Working Lifestyle?

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Want To Enjoy The Remote Working Lifestyle?

Today, the opportunity to work more flexibly, where we no longer need to commute to an office in order to make a living, can be viable for anyone. For as long as we have a decent internet connection, we can practically work (or study) anywhere in the world. Today, most people are valuing a much more valuable commodity than money, and that’s the ever depleting commodity of time. In particular, they want to squeeze as much out of life as possible and, in order to do that, they often have huge travel plans or at least aspirations, and to travel the world one needs the flexibility and finances that are made possible by remote working.

Indeed, today, “living the dream” is less about having a fancy car and a corner office, it’s more about having the freedom to do what you want, when you want, with who you want – rather than being chained to a job with colleagues you may or may  not get on with, being stuck in congested commutes and getting home knackered to the point you just flop and drop in front of the TV with your family (often, still catching up with work on your laptop).

The freedom of the remote working lifestyle means, quite literally, that the world is your oyster, and in these exciting times, many of us are looking for ways to tap into this lifestyle and the freelance economy.

Similarly, many people wanting to learn new skills are looking at ways of doing this that work around their life, rather than having to work their life around their studies. This is particularly pertinent for mature students who may have existing work or family commitments, and therefore can’t access the full time courses offered by many universities that require regular attendance.

Today, however, even prestigious universities like Exeter University will allow you to study advanced courses like a masters in education online. This means that you could, hypothetically, have your cake and eat it too – as many students finishing their undergraduate studies have the desire to travel the world and take a gap year; but studying online in this way means that you can literally have the best of both worlds.

In summary, the remote working lifestyle is clearly an attractive option, as it enables the time and freedom to enjoy life and ensure that you are living your life for yourself and your family, rather than having to try to squeeze your life in around the office. Today, many companies are offering people more flexible working hours and the ability to work remotely, as they see that in order to stay competitive within the job market, they need to offer the flexibility people have been craving for decades.

Featured Image By: Pixabay

May17

Is A Change Of Career In The Cards?

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Is A Change Of Career In The Cards?

Many of us go about in our working lives in careers that aren’t exactly suited to us. It could be because you were unaware of the options ahead of you, maybe you missed out on getting the qualifications you needed, or due to things like the recession. You simply might have had to take whatever work you could get your hands on at the time. Whatever the situation, it’s never too late to reconsider your options. While changing careers is a huge deal, it’s something that could dramatically change your life for the better.

Your career is a huge part of your life, when you spend eight plus hours a day at your workplace (and have a wage you rely on) a change isn’t something to take lightly. So, before you go ahead, make sure you really do want to make a change. Work out what your reasons are, and be sure that you won’t end up wanting to change again after building yourself up in your new job. In some cases, a complete switch of careers might be what’s needed, but in other cases progressing in your current role could be the way to go.

For example, if you’re already a nurse, studying something like an dnp nnp online will open you up to new and exciting job opportunities. If you think you have a flair for a different type of job, such as PR or Marketing, then you will need the help of a good recruitment agency. They can help you identify any transferable skills from your past job and to brush up your CV to make it more relevant to the work that you want to do. A good agency will also have loads of contacts ready and waiting for new recruits.

It goes without saying that you may have to take a knock to your salary at first. It is vital that you know the minimum amount you can earn without getting yourself into debt or becoming all work, no play because you cannot afford a social life. Work on a good budget and research the expected salaries in your chosen field and within your area. If you can’t make the two work, then you may need to reconsider your options. Don’t let it stop you, though. Be direct and honest with your salary expectations. Tell your agency, if you are using, the lowest you can go and then talk to any potential employers to see if they can accommodate you.

A simpler way of swapping careers could be to cut down your hours at work and take on a part time job. This could give you a boost on your CV and help you balance the finances during a full time change. Even taking a Saturday job in your new field in a volunteer capacity will be useful in changing paths and will show new employers that you are serious and committed.

Finally, don’t let age worry you. While there are lots of bright young things out there as competition, you actually have the edge on them when it comes to proven ability. Even if not through the same industry. You will have references and a more complex CV. Employers know what they’re looking for and they realize potential when presented with it. So be confident and show yourself in the best possible light!

Featured Image By: Pexels