1. Take a Few minutes Everyday to Chill Out

   Life comes quickly, it doesn’t mean you should have to live quicker.

2. Know Your Long Term Goals

   How are you going to enjoy yourself if you don’t know what you want to enjoy.

3. Work Toward Your Goals Everyday

   Tell your kids you love them before they go off for school. Tell your partner how much they mean to you when they get back from work. If you have a business make a goal to achieve a given number of customers every week.

   Achieving your long term goals doesn’t have to be an exhaustive ordeal. It is something you can do everyday.

4. Set Up a Price Alert

   You can use a price alert system to help you save time and money.

   With a price alert system you don’t have to continually sit around waiting for product prices to drop, but instead you get an email when they do. Also, because you are not stuck constantly checking prices it helps to combat excessive materialism . Here is one for amazon and here is one for flights. [for kayak.com you have to search for the flight and then the price alert button will appear just below the "change your search" button]

5. Today Stare at Something Beautiful

   Beauty can be found almost anywhere, it is just that we as people can become so self centered that we only look at ourselves. When we end up becoming infatuated with our own egos then we can become so engrossed in our own failures and successes that we forget to view the beauty that is right in front of our faces.
   

6. “Money is Like Manure, If You Don’t Quickly Spread it Around it Brings Death and Stenches to Everything It Touches.”

   Money is a resource that needs to be used. Invest some of your cash, save some of your cash, figure out what those necessities are and buy them.

7. Figure Out What You Need Then Look for Coupons

   Walmart, Amazon, Target, and a host of other companies use coupons to try drive sales. With the existence of Google and the easy at which we can find the latest coupons there is no reason we should be stuck paying full price all of the time. Just make sure you don’t use coupons to buy extras that you don’t need, only go for that which you would have bought anyway.

8. Live A Little! Go to An Art Gallery or Find the Latest Interesting Place to Visit

   Life is so much more enjoyable when we can go off and be creative. Pick some latent interest of your’s and go off and enjoy yourself!

9. Realize That the World is Malleable. Nations Come and Empires Fade Away. Don’t be Suprised if The Sky Falls from Time to Time

   We can’t control everything. Look at the great Chinese empires, the dominance of the Persians, or the glory of Rome. All of these great empires rose and fell. If you hear on the news about how the world as we know is ending don’t be surprised. Change is the normal course of action.

   People tend to get bent out of shape when major world events change some aspect of the modern system. It is much healthy to approach life with the perspective that change is guaranteed, the unknown is what type of change will occur.

10. Love Someone Today

Love is demonstrative, love is powerful, and yet love is subtle. Reguardless of the size of your chequing account you can make a pointed effort to love someone today. That extra kiss or unexpected $5 gift card to Starbucks can mean the world to someone. We don’t know if today will be our last, so we ought to live as though it were.



Juan

If this touched you or could help someone that is close to you I would really appreciate a stumble/tweet/link/facebook share.

Pic cred

[Remeber, life can get better. Look at this positive note from a Penn State Student.]

Tagged: around the house » common sense » coupon » personal finance » practical money advice » wisdom

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“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
(more…)

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Looking For Some Good Ways to Live More and Save More?

Below there are 7 different was to help you save a little bit extra for yourself and your family

1. Only go grocery shopping on a full stomach!

   (Remember if you shop while you [or perhaps your spouse who is right beside you] then there are sooo many frivolous snacks that will end up being bought.)

2. When you spend use it to the best of your advantage!

   The truth is that with the plethora of bank and credit card deals available today you can save a little just by making those daily purchases in a smarter way. Now credit cards and the such are not perfect for every person in every situation. It is still a good idea to see the options available to you.

   Best Reward Credit Cards

3. Make sure that you track expenses.

   If you don’t know where your money is going then how are you supposed to know how to stop it from going to the places that you don’t want it to go?

4. Make an effort to save money AND time.

   Sure, you could try and use 34.3 coupons every week but if you spend more time searching walmart for that 24th bottle of toothpaste to max out your savings than you do having that quality time without your loved one(s) then you might be short changing yourself in the big picture.

5. Make sure you track how you use your time!

   [If you can't save money without tracking it, then how could you save time without tracking it as well?]. Now, you don’t have to tracking your time usage exactly but you need to have a rough idea of what you are doing with your days.

6. Start to shop with a plan!

   For example, if you can start to plan what your wardrobe needs will be for the coming 6 months then whenever you see something that is really cute and a good deal you will be able to know if you should pay for it now [because you really will wear it soon] or if you should wait [because you really need to buy for the current or the next season, not 3 or 4 seasons down the road]. Remember, this isn’t saying that you should remove all creativity or become more ridged than Edward Scissor Hands; just that have a good view of your practical needs will help you to make better decisions.

7. Try and reduce those bank fees.

   With increased regulation banks are being forced to look for new ways to make money. Many times this ends coming down us consumers as increased fees and charges. You can always close an unused savings account or open a savings account with an internet bank that has much lower fees than your main bank. Another thing to look at are your credit cards fees. Are you paying extra for insurance protection with your credit for something that your normal insurance always covers? The truth is that many of the extra products that we buy related to financial products are not that necessary. Credit card companies love to show a good introductory teaser rate but then charge you alot in fees and hassle when you start to use the card.

8. If you have kids that need to be entertained try and do actives with recyclable materials.

   If you have young kids there is always a need for creative ways to pass the time. If you can figure out how to make games out of recyclable materials then you can some money [ie by not having to go out and buy as much paper] and the environment at the same time

9. Remember! at the end of the day money doesn’t buy happiness, money buys options!

   Maybe you are looking for ways to save money when really you are looking for greater flexibly in your life. If this is true then you might want to focus on how you can change your schedule around to do that which is most important to you [instead of just looking at ways to spend that next $1.43]

[If you are interesting in a few more ways to save check out our quick thoughts about how to enjoy fall without breaking the bank.]

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Planning the week and using all of your free time to best of your advantage can be a challenge; so here we have a few good cooking ideas to help you save a little time and money by having a clear and creative plan for all of that time spent feeding yourself and everyone.

Looking for the best Recipies?

Here is our favorite of the week, a good and clear explanation of how to make challah.
Challah and Rosh Hashannah

[This above picture is motivation to help you use this week to the uppermost ]

And here we have some good food related articles.

1. Golden Potstickers
2. And here is a good set of photos from Maine and some “dung po style porkbelly with baby eggplant and Szechuan chili dumplings.” [Now with a name like that who isn't at at least a little bit hungry? ]
3. Here we have a good staple, Oatmeal Rasin Cookies
4. For something a little bit more practical here we have some good
   Custom Labels for Homemade Goodies
5. If you are looking for something a little bit creative, why not check out these maple roasted figs; they may be a little unorthodox but they look really interesting .
6. On the more healthy side of things here we have a roasted eggplant, tomato, and bean salad. Now this may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it is very healthy.
7. Here we don’t have a recipie but more an interesting cultrual experience; some pictures of a cuban market.
8. If you are looking for a sort of intro to canning then here is a good review of a new book. It is called Canning for a New Generation.
9. Here we have some funky asian ideas on how to spice up a sandwich.
10. For a more meaty idea here we have a good recipe for Buffalo Chicken Chili.
11. Now this one isn’t specifically about food or saving money but I thought that it was quiet pretty and a good way to spice things up. Here we have some good pictures of landscapes in America.
12. Here we have a very important post. Eat Local Challenge has a good post about how just because there is some food being sold at a farmers market, it doesn’t mean that it was actually grown by that same local farmer. Read it here.
13. Here we have another good look at a cook book. This is a slight variation of a butternut squash from cookbook Plenty by Yotam Otteleghi.
14. Here T sippity sup has a good review of a cook book covering a number of recopies that are a review of some of america’s more standard dishes.
15. Time is always an important factor when it comes to cooking. Here we have a good look at a slow cooker lasagna that only has 5 ingredients.
16. If asain food is more your type of thing then here we have a great look at some rice with cilantro.

Looking for more around the house sort of ideas?

1. here we have a good look at how to make a fun craft that you can do with leftover coffee cups. This is a very good idea as it allows you to help out the environment a little bit more.

Understanding what we eat is very important. Just eating any type of product from any time of envrinoment will eventually injury ourselves and the earth. Here project food has a good look at eating responsibility.

On the light side of this pink of perfection gives us a little literary reflection on just how beautiful a calm and yet hectic Sunday can be.

*Picture cred

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Fall is a great time of the year. The weather starts to become a little bit more amiable [at least for those of us living closer to the equator]. There isn’t all of the hustle and bustle of summer as kids are in school and random vacations don’t eat up half of month. At the same time it can be a little difficult at times to really enjoy fall. With thanksgiving approach and Christmas not that far away it is easy to push back those extra activities till later. There is also the idea that perhaps we should live in a cardboard box and drive a skateboard to work to help save money for those Christmas presents that will need to be bought. Thankfully, there is another way

[I loved the thought this picture as father time, talking time through another season]

The Cooking Aspect!

What would a good season be without some good food?

I thought that here I would put some of the latest/greatest recipes that would make for a good afternoon activity + could help to bringing in the season without doing something ultra expensive.

1. Apple Cake (With Carmel Sauce)

   Now this may not be as simple as going to mcdonadles but it looks really delicious and if you were to have a little bit of this with a little coffee or tea it would make for a perfect afternoon .

2. Food from Eastern Europe Like These Cheese Blintzes Can be Absolutely Amazing

   Now these are basically crepes with some cheese filling and little bit of extra stuff thrown on top but I can promise you that Ukrainian food [ie perogies] is absolutely amazing and thus these are definitely worth a try.

The Personal Finance Aspect

With Christmas time coming it is time to start thinking about those gift ideas. The truth is that waiting until the last minute to buy gifts can be really stressful. It would be much easier to start a couple months before hand. This way you could start to think of some gift ideas and then see what is available in the stores. This will end up cutting down on the stress and time requirements that can become so overbearing around the holidays.

A Set of Gift Ideas [to help get those creative juices flowing ]

1. Funky Shaped Glass Covers Can Be a Great Thing

   These interesting glass covers can help to accent the form of the food that they are protecting. The other benefit is that in the case that food isn’t amazing atleast everyone might forget the flavor [or lack there of] and just remember the great Yum Yum Covers.

2. This Cowgirl Costume is a Great Idea for Friends with Kids

   There is always the need to have a higher energy activity to help make sure that the kids don’t end up tearing up the house. With a this outfit and a little creativity that goal can be accomplished.

Tip Number 3 [For Christmas Shopping]

Use an online price alert system! If there is a certain gift [or set of gifts] that you would like to buy you can set up a price alert system to send you an email when the price goes down to a certain level. Here is a site that works with amazon to do just that.

Until next time,
Juan

*Picture cred

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Here is a simple way to help reduce your heating and cooling costs.

What do you think, would it be a good use of half of a day to go through and seal some of your air ducts?

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