Video Pandora

In a departure from what you might expect from an article forum, we would like to offer the opportunity for you to take a more interactive approach to learning the basics of The Skills. Anyone can try these exercises either in their personal or professional encounters, or both, and better yet, no one need know that they are participants in your learning!

Rather than simply tell you what you should be looking for in these exercises, we think it would be more fun for all involved if we held back a little and let you experience for yourself the most important building block of The Skills.

Modern presentation theory espouses a conversational approach to presenting, because that’s the way to maximize both comfort and trust between you and the audience. The conversational approach, a modern refinement of the humanist style first made popular in western cultures by president John F. Kennedy, is quite a bit different from the oratory style that most people associate with earlier great speakers such as Winston Churchill.

The foundation of the conversational approach is proper eye-contact, and the nature of that eye-contact is quite unlike the way 99% of presenters practice. In fact, once you know what to look for, you will discover that what first differentiates those who have The Skills from those who don’t is the way they engage their audiences with their eyes. Make no mistake, proper eye-contact is only one component of The Skills, but when you understand exactly how you must look at your audience to be a great speaker, the other components tend to fall into place.

When you nail down these (surprisingly straightforward) eye contact techniques, you can deliver to a group of 500 without ever feeling more anxiety than you would when discussing your job to friends around a lunch table. Most people find that hard to believe until they’ve actually received training in The Skills, but when you get it, it’s rather powerful stuff!

These exercises sound simple enough, but they do require a bit of vigilance on your part to have the desired effect. You must practice them at every opportunity for a week or so. At the end of that time you will know what you need to know to move on to the next level of acquiring The Skills, but only if you make a conscious effort to do what the exercises ask you to do every day.

Exercises:

1. Observe others’ eye contact. In every situation in which you interact with others, watch their eyes. Observe how long they maintain eye contact while they are speaking to you. Watch how they maintain eye contact while speaking to others. As often as you can, count the number of seconds they maintain continuous eye contact before switching to a new target and note this, preferably in a log of some sort.

2. In situations where someone is speaking to a group, again count the number of seconds the speaker maintains eye contact with each individual. Determine what the average amount of time is.

3. Be conscious of your own eye contact. When speaking with someone, do you stay focused on them? Do you look up, away, or down while speaking? Or do you maintain eye contact the entire time you are speaking with someone? How often do you move away from eye contact and then return? Do you look at other people for the same amount of time when talking to one as when you are talking to many?

If you’ve vigilant in your observations, you’ll probably be very surprised at the amount of time people hold continuous eye-contact when speaking. And yet it is this amount of time that sets the tone for what makes average speakers average and great ones great.

J. Douglas Jefferys brings twenty-five years of corporate training experience to his role as a principal of PublicSpeakingSkills.com [http://www.publicspeakingskills.com]. His firm changes presenters lives forever with their unique apporach to training presentation design and delivery skills. Discover how to design and deliver presentations that audiences actually listen to by visiting their website now. For a quick and entertaining video of Mr. Jefferys’ unique style and approach, check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whTwjG4ZIJg

As you devour this article, remember that the rest of it contains valuable information related to affiliate marketing news and in some way related to guide to affiliate marketing, management marketing, web hosting programs or eBook programs for your reading pleasure.

When it comes to high impact revenue generating ideas as part of your complete productive affiliate revenue generation campaign, please always keep in mind the importance of the more immediate incentive for an affiliate. If your affiliate can start seeing rather immediate results or benefits to being part of your network, chances are that affiliate work hard for you.

An aspect of marketing is driving traffic to your website to increase the possibility of sales. There are many different techniques on how this can be done. One technique is the use of search engine Optimizations or SEO wherein the design of a website is search engines friendly. Other techniques to increase traffic include article writing, social book marking and writing reviews.

An affiliate marketing program is a complicated sales-generation strategy whose success hinges on cooperation between you and your affiliate partners. Achieve cooperation and your quick affiliate marketing program will be more effective for the long term projects. Trust, respect for one another, and fairness in compensation will smoothen relations between all partners in a quick affiliate marketing program.

You should forget that if this article hasn’t provided you with exact affiliate marketing news information, you can use any of the main search engines on the Internet, like Ask com, to find the exact affiliate marketing news information you need.

A quality affiliate revenue program will provide statistics that are current and verifiable. Some revenue sharing sites rely almost exclusively on outdated data that will present them in the best light.

Creating an affiliate program directory in your website is also one good way to increase your affiliate revenue. List all affiliate programs in a directory list style and have it available to the Internet public for free.

Place your links strategically. You might be surprised by the number of affiliate marketers who do not know where to place their affiliate links. Do not fill your pages with links, just put enough on it to make it interesting topics. You might also include affiliate links at the side or bottom of your website.

It might interest you to know that lots of folks searching for affiliate marketing news also got information related to other advertising programs, start marketing blogs, and even affiliate marketing plans here with ease.

So here is chance to get your free tips on best affiliate markets and in addition to that get basic information on saving money visit http://advice4unow.com/affiliatemarketingnews

The NFC East is proving to be the best division in the NFL. It has the reigning Super Bowl Champs, the NY Giants. It has the team that a lot of people were saying is the favorite to win it this year in the Dallas Cowboys. Donavon McNabb and the Eagles are playing great ball, although they do have a 2-2 record. And how about those ‘Skins?

Let me explain why I am picking the Washington Redskins to win this division. First, I don’t think there is any way that the Giants will win the division. Sure they are undefeated. And they did beat Washington week 1. They blew out St. Louis in week 2. But they struggled at home against the Bengals. In my opinion, last year the stars aligned perfectly for them. They don’t have a shot to repeat that this season. Their defense is nothing special. Plaxico is already causing some trouble. Remember this is the same Eli Manning who threw 20 interceptions last year. Not exactly what you would normally expect from a Super Bowl contending team. In my eyes they are the third best team in their own division, at best.

Now let’s talk about the Eagles. McNabb is finally healthy and it is showing. He is playing at such a high level and it is fun to watch. He had been plagued by various injuries for the past three seasons and many thought that he was finished. There were the off-season reports of him being traded to his hometown Chicago Bears. But Reid decided to stick with him and the results so far have been great. His top receiver from last season, Kevin Cutis, will be back very soon too. That will only help Donovan and this offense. McNabb doesn’t seem to mind who he throws the ball to though, as long as they catch it. Donavan has grown fond of rookie DeSean Jackson. Jackson sure has been a very nice surprise. He looks to be the playmaker the Eagles have been looking for. He is a very dynamic speedster on the outside. All they need is a healthy Brian Westbrook, because this offense really does revolve around him. But I do get the feeling that injuries may continue to hold them back and they will lose some games that they shouldn’t. Just like they did last week against the Bears.

The Cowboys are the cream of the crop. This team is built to win now. They have their star quarterback, Tony Romo. There are so many weapons on this offense. There is outspoken T.O., the top tight end in the game in Jason Whitten and touchdown machine Marion Barber. They also have spark plug rookie Felix Jones who offers a great change of pace. I believe their were 13 Pro Bowlers on the Cowboys last season alone. That was more than the Patriots! Somehow, with so much talent on both sides of the ball this team can not win a big game when it matters. From Romo botching the hold in the playoffs in 2006 to getting knocked out by the Giants last year. I believe that this will haunt them again. The Redskins ran right at them last week and hit ‘em in the mouth. Other teams will try to follow that gameplan. Don’t get me wrong, the Cowboys are still one of the elite teams in the NFL but they will fold under pressure once again. Similar to the New York Mets in baseball.

So here we are with the Washington Redskins. They have improved immensely every week. Jason Campbell seems to be grasping Zorn’s new offense really well. He is scanning the field and making plays downfield to both Santana Moss and Randel El. Campbell is really looking comfortable in the pocket and is also now changing play at the line. Through four games he has yet to throw an interception. Chris Cooley is also proving to be as reliable as always. I think that he is the most underrated tight end’s in the NFL. He can really do it all and flies under the radar. Clinton Portis is playing like he is 23 years old again. I am not sure when the wheels will ever fall off for guy? Portis is in his 7th NFL season out of Miami and has been a true workhorse. As long as Portis remains this effective and continues to run hard, this offense will be more than fine. The passing game/play action passes all revolve around their efficient running game. The defense has also been solid. They have played four teams with good offenses, Giants, Cards, Saints and Cowboys, and has fared really well. I believe this is the year for the Skins to win this division. The defense will continue to play well and keep the team in games. And this offense will also keep getting better. Jim Zorn has the team going in the right direction. They play in Philly this week and then 3 very winnable games. Can anyone say 7-1?

http://www.footballisbetter.com/

Is paper trading the secret to safe stock market investment for beginners? New to the world of investing and a little worried about making an investment and losing money, maybe you need to look at paper trading. Paper trading is trading that does not involve any capital. It is simply trades that are made on paper only; this makes them a ideal learning tool, much like a study guide.

Paper trading is a way for you to learn how to make decisions and see the consequences of those decisions. You can do all this without every risking a penny of your investment account. Paper trading is fun and an adrenaline rush on its own due to its suspense and surprise. It is different then just reading the Wall Street Journal, because it gets you involved in the process and you get to see what your decisions would do for you. By working with paper trading you will be able to establish a track record, develop a sense of trading discipline, test your strategies, evaluate a new market, and build your confidence.

Due to the fact that paper trading is more of a hands on learning method which allows you to put the knowledge that you are gaining to work for you. It is a preferable option over spending money going to seminars or reading books to get educated in the trading and investing arena. Paper trading does have its disadvantages as well, much like everything. There are the pros and the cons. I don’t want you to go into this thinking that there isn’t a down side.

As with any other learning tool, this type of simulated trading has no way to speed up the process. You may be able to start with historical information but then that makes the process a little more generic and less beneficial to you. Naturally you can’t make money at paper trading. The whole point of you doing this is to not risk your capital. I wouldn’t go as far as to say there are no financial benefits, after all it keeps you from losing money, but you can’t make any either. So it doesn’t improve your financial situation.

The lack of financial risk then also becomes a disadvantage. You are less likely to take it seriously, after all it isn’t real. Think about playing a high stakes game of poker for monopoly money. Do you really care about the cards in your hand and how you are betting? I mean if a wrong decision or bad decision isn’t going to cost you anything then how do you learn the impact of that decision.

Whether or not paper trading makes sense depends on your motive and purpose. If you are new to investing and you goal is to get some experience in using different financial products the paper trading is helpful. If you are using paper trading to dip your feet in the water because you are to afraid to jump in, then paper trading will leave an air of disappointment for you. Because after all you’re hard work with the paper trades, when you have your hard earned cash to stake for your decisions your confidence will quickly run away. There isn’t yet a way to simulate loosing real money that will have the same impact on you as losing real money.

For lots more free information about Paper Trading check out the articles at http://www.stockinvestingforbeginner.com/sitemap.php

On September 19, the SEC suspended short selling for 799 financial companies to “protect the integrity and quality of the securities market and strengthen investor confidence”. Since then the Dow has lost 165 points. The ban ends tomorrow.

Eric Roseman says the legislation targets the wrong traders. Short sellers make the market more transparent. By blocking them, the SEC is violating the free market.

The ban has so far failed to stabilize the markets. Don’t be surprised if the government now moves to target other safe havens such as gold and offshore accounts. Eric recommends investors move quickly to secure their assets in European strongholds like Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

This from The Sovereign Society:

By targeting and banning short-sellers, the SEC is barking up the wrong tree and removing one of the last market-based sanctuaries in a dreadful year for financial assets.

This legislation won’t help the markets. In fact, it will ultimately create a new round of broad-based selling when the SEC finally lifts the bans.

This isn’t the first time a country has banned short selling.

Recently in June 2007, Pakistan banned short-selling practices. Now, just 15 months later, the market in Karachi is down by another third, so that obviously didn’t work.

England also banned short-selling in the 17th century following the collapse of the Dutch tulip mania. That effort also failed to calm the markets.

The SEC’s ban on financial stock short-selling is primarily why global stocks posted huge gains last Thursday and Friday. Short-sellers scrambled to cover their bearish bets or were forced to buy back the same stocks they were betting would continue declining.

This classic “short squeeze” won’t help alleviate market sentiment and points blame to the wrong segment of the market. If a company or sector should be valued at a lower multiple, then the government shouldn’t interfere in a free market. This response will only delay another day of reckoning as banks face mounting losses on traditional lending practices, including credit cards, auto loans, and other facets of lending.

We Short Because It Makes the System More Honest

Short-selling means you’re borrowing shares because you anticipate selling them in the future at a lower price. It allows you to be bearish on stocks that you don’t own. From a practical standpoint, short-selling also creates truth in an otherwise corrupt marketplace where some companies dodge accounting rules and fudge their books to hide losses.

The latest salvo fired at short-sellers this month targets the wrong group of traders. These short-sellers actually help to create liquidity in the markets and stem market bubbles.

Short-sellers try to honestly target aggressive accounting practices. And more often than not, these traders help create balance in an otherwise heavily manipulated market.

Short-sellers are also racking up the best returns in 2008 among diversified hedge fund strategies. By some accounts, short-sellers have gained more than 10% this year through August and they’re up 12.5% over the last 12 months. In September, estimates point to another 5% gain for this group, while traditional equity benchmarks have crashed by about a quarter.

One of the more respected short-selling specialist firms - Kynikos Associates in the United States - was one of the first firms to isolate questionable accounting at Enron. As I’m sure you heard, Enron CEOs were either prosecuted or heavily fined and will never be allowed to manage a public company again.

SEC Downgraded to Junk - Thanks to Chris Cox

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox has finally awakened from a deep sleep that lasted 13 months. Presidential candidate, John McCain, publicly denounced Cox last week claiming the first thing he would do if elected this fall is fire Chris Cox. I agree.

The SEC was literally asleep at the wheel until July. They were doing absolutely nothing to police aggressive accounting by financial company CEOs. And they did nothing to warn investors about suspicious accounting, aggressive sales practices involving mortgage-backed securities, or the bubble that inflated among mortgage offerings.

The other high-risk, dangerous securities, including collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), credit default swaps (CDSs), and other credit derivatives are not even regulated, let alone scrutinized by the SEC.

What was the SEC doing all this time as financial markets were hemorrhaging?

Instead of doing its job ensuring that U.S. capital markets are properly regulated, the SEC is now pointing fingers to short-sellers and blaming this highly skilled group of traders and analysts for the markets’ crash earlier last week.

Yet Cox, in a public statement earlier in his tenure claimed, “We need the shorts in the market for balance so we don’t have bubbles.”

Shorting Is American as Apple Pie

By banning short selling the government is effectively saying that it’s trying to determine where stock prices should settle. That’s not what a free market is about. This response damages the credibility of the free market system and ultimately suppresses the true value of an entity.

If the SEC and other governments can ban short-selling, then one has to wonder which segment of the market is next to face regulation or restrictions…

Is Gold Next?

In 1933, under Executive Order 6102, FDR confiscated gold ownership. Under extreme market circumstances governments can impose extraordinary measures that usually do not benefit the poor, unsuspecting investor.

The current financial crisis in the United States is the worst since the Great Depression and might warrant other measures that confiscate foreign currencies, precious metals, or other international assets and securities. Anything is possible.

As this crisis eventually fades or possibly gets worse, investors should use the offshore private bank account window before it closes. It’s still legal to move money to Europe. The best destinations for asset protection remain Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Austria.

Having some gold stored in these European countries is a powerful safe-haven strategy amid extreme economic circumstances. It will give you the high margin of safety you’ll need to protect yourself from the next financial debacle.

Eric serves as an editor and Investment Director for The Sovereign Society’s Commodity Trend Alert. Eric’s talents include blending a dozen or more alternative investment funds to produce consistent returns to traditional asset classes and making commodity based recommendations with huge upside and limited downside.

The moment when the bride tosses her bouquet is one of the shots by which you’ll be measured as a wedding photographer. Here are some techniques that will help you capture this moment.

Get the Best Angle
Set yourself up at the best angle well before the bride tosses the bouquet. This is usually a position that allows you to capture both the bride as she tosses the bouquet and the throng of girls lined up to catch the bouquet. Standing to the side is one option. Another option is standing close to the bride so that you can focus on her as she tosses the flowers and then quickly switch your focus to the girls as they grab for it. But you should also consider other more creative options. For instance, what if you shot low, from down on the floor? What if you stood on a chair and captured the toss from a higher perspective? Either way might give you a photo that sets you apart as a wedding photographer.

Lens Choice
I find that a zoom lens that includes a wide angle option offers the most potential for capturing the toss. With a wide angle, you can include both the bride as she makes the toss and the throng of girls as they compete to catch it. It also give you the option of zooming in closer if you want. However, remember not to stand too close to the bride while shooting wide, since wide angle lenses tend to distort perspective. Close-ups of people with wide angles make them look heavier than they really are — that is, it expands their faces.

Stage a Fake Toss
Ask your bride to fake the first toss. Tell her to go through all the motions of throwing it, but not to release it. This strategy increases your chances at capturing the moment. It also allows you to capture the laughter of the girls as they realize they’ve been tricked.

Motor Drive
Setting your camera on motor drive allows you to fire off multiple shots in a short amount of time. You should use a motor drive because it’s nearly impossible to capture the exact best moment by just shooting a couple shots. It all happens too fast. But by using a motor drive, you can shoot up to 20 shots. However, if you’re using a flash, you should also use a battery pack to make sure that your flash fires for every shot. Without the battery pack, your batteries would be good for maybe two shots. The rest of the shots would be lost while the batteries recycle.

Shoot the Crowd
Right after the bouquet is caught, turn around quickly to capture the expressions of the onlookers. These are often as interesting as the bride and the girls themselves — wonderful shots of surprise and laughter and anticipation, people with their hands over their open mouths, eyes wide.

Shooting the Girl Who Caught the Bouquet
After it’s all over, take the girl who caught the bouquet to the side for a shot of her. However, try not to shoot her just standing there. Tell the other girls to stand behind her and cheer. Or pose her with the guy who caught the garter during the groom’s garter toss.

Robert Crum is a wedding and portrait photographer based in Corvallis, Oregon. His Web site is http://robertcrumphoto.com

Most automated Forex robots stand no chance of going you gains but even the few that could help traders win fail to do so. If you are thinking of buying a forex robot then you should think very carefully…

Here are the two reasons that lead to equity wipe out.

1. Trusting a Back Tested Simulation to Repeat Itself

Look at any automated Forex robot sold heavily online and what do you see? - A track record that looks to good to be true and Guess what? - It is! It’s not a real one, it’s a simulation and you will see this written all over the track record.

This simply means the vendor has made up the track record having all the closing prices to hand and of course this is so easy a child could do it and produce huge gains. Surprise, surprise, you don’t get advance warning of the price in the real world and you have to trade not knowing what happened and this is the challenge of forex trading!

Forex traders however don’t stop to think that these track records are NO indication at all, of proof the system works in real time and then are surprised when their $100 robot, destroys their account and they end up with a wipe out.

Any Forex trading system which has a simulated track record should be avoided at all costs, as the odds are you will get wiped out by these so called expert Forex traders which are anything but.

2. Discipline Through Losing periods

There are a few systems around that can make great gains but traders still manage to lose with them - why?

Because they lack discipline and cannot keep executing their trading signals through periods of losses and losing is part of winning in forex trading.

Today, there is a big industry online that tells you draw down’s don’t occur, or can be 1 or 2 trades - but this is fantasy land not reality. Even the best trader’s face weeks of losses and you will to, this doesn’t mean you can’t win but you MUST stay on course until you hot profits again.

To stay on course with your Forex trading system you must take the trouble to learn how and why it works, so you have confidence in it, to follow it with discipline.

If you can’t follow a system with discipline - you don’t have one, it’s as simple as that.

Making Big Gains

Most automated Forex robots will wipe out your equity - but if you find an good one, it can lead you to triple digit long term gains but you have to learn to lose to win - do that and you can enjoy currency trading success.

FREE FOREX TRADING SYSTEM! + ESSENTIAL FOREX TRADING COURSE

For free 2 x trading Pdf’s and more on a great FREE Automated Forex Robot and an exclusive risk free Currency trading Course visit our website.

You just graduated college, started a new career, got married, had a child, bought a house, bought a boat, whatever the case may be budgets are used at every stage of life. Budgets are used as a planning tool to set financial goals. Budgets are used to plan for the future to be allocating the proper resources today. Setting up a budget is very uneasy and uncomplicated, there are even online tools that will do it all for you. The harder part of the equation is determining what percentage of your income goes where. There are general guidelines about personal budgets out there, but a budget can provide you with a much better comparative advantage if it is tailored directly to your finances. Personal budgets serve people to plan and see how much money they want and can spend on each sector of their life. It is up to the individual how much money they want to put where so budgets differ greatly. Some budgets can provide people with a mechanism to save up for something that they desperately want, and once they have achieved that goal their budgeting is done with. Others use budgets as a daily tool to regulate how much money they spend on each sector of their life so that their finances can be balanced with the adequate funding.

Whether people admit it or not, budgets are complied in the mind of the individual even if they do not put it on paper. Most people have an idea in their mind how much they want to spend on what but when unexpected occurrences arise they get confused and often make bad financial decision. This shows the importance of putting budgets down on paper or on the computer so you can see the ratios of where your money is being spent. Budgets also act as an indicator to see where you are over spending and overspending. You might have not been aware of it before but your entertainment budget is greater than your food budget, may you have a problem with this and maybe you do not, it is up to you. But budgets allow you to see this information and you can assess any way you want.

Personal budgets can give a person more freedom because they do not have to worry about any unexpected expenses from affecting their daily life. When setting up a budget it can be beneficial to over account for such items as food or utilities so that there are no surprises when the bills come around. Personal budgets not only act as a planning device but they also act as a regulating device. If you go over budget in one sector that means that you have to directly reduce funding in another. This means that you will never go over budget because you are manipulating your budget so that you do not. Your budgets can be flexible must you must be aware that providing to much variance can cause you to loose track of the general concept of budgets.

Jeff Nelson gives advice on money management. His advice helps you to eliminate your debt faster. To make online budgeting easy and set up your Budgets for each category you are targeting, visit http://www.mint.com

In the world of Forex, only one rule is unchangeable…

That is, only someone who knows the trend and the going-on of the foreign exchange market can have the benefits of having high return rates and income and have the chance to attain success in the lucrative market of Forex.

It is no surprise to find that a growing number of people these days are keen to participate in the world’s largest and most liquid financial market and a market which is essentially open for trading twenty-four hours a day. Many people have become very rich through trading in the forex market and it has allowed a lot of individuals to replace their day jobs and enjoy the comfort of working from home a few hours a week. It has also made quite a few millionaires!

If you enter the world of real time forex trading without the necessary knowledge and skill then you are almost guaranteed to lose money. However, if you take the time to learn what you are doing before you start trading with your own hard earned money then you will go a very long way towards minimizing your risks and maximizing your earnings potential.

Some have carefully studied the foreign exchange market over the years, had their forex tutorial and have planned their investments according to predicted changes. The shrewdest of investors have profited immensely, as they were able to learn the market, see disaster coming and knew exactly what to do in order to minimize their losses. Of course, learning all of these financial aspects would involve a solid Forex education.

Though Forex is a very lucrative market, where everybody can make forex money, all must bear in mind that it is not like a one day millionaire, where money will flow overnight. IF you want all things to be as fast as you can, you must think twice. Stop for a while and have Forex Training first before battling in the real world of forex.

Forex training will be your first step to success. Not only that, it will be your foundation in every trade you made and whenever you are lost, you can always count on your former knowledge about forex. Forex education brings the knowledge of professionals into your personal trading. Forex training helps you know where to enter a currency based on the direction it is taking and how to forecast that direction. Forex Training allows you to learn how to trade currencies with or without a coach. As you trade, your Forex training can truly help you become the master of your money.

Forex training sessions are designed to give new and experienced traders all the necessary tools to start buying and selling currencies in the Forex market. Forex training program would not only be for beginners who want to learn how to start day trading, but also for more experienced traders who already had some stock or futures trading experience. Forex training will help you succeed in your currency trading as you learn to trade the Forex like a pro.

Have you ever desired to learn more about Forex trade and forex finance but weren’t sure how to get started? Don’t worry because there is a lot of Forex Training available around. But you must choose carefully, your Forex Training and Education is your primary key to succeed in Forex. If you want to be sure of hat you are learning, take a look at BestForexTraining.com and you will see the how can you have the best forex education.

While Forex may not mean much to the average consumer, in actuality everything we know in commerce is affected by Forex. Only someone who understand the right forex education can benefit with the lucrative market of forex. So, don’t be left out!! MK Chin (MBA), a full time Forex Trader and Investor can give you the most effective forex tutorial on how to trade better with forex and achieve better return rates. Visit http://www.TheBestForexTraining.com and start forex training today.

FINANCES: CREDIT CARDS AND LOANS

1. Create a budget and be realistic about all your incomings and outgoings. Make sure you know exactly what money you have and when you will have it. This will help you plan for events such as birthdays or holidays when you may need a little extra cash saved up.

2. Make sure you are getting the best possible interest rate for your savings, opening an online savings account could receive a higher interest rate than a regular current account.

3. Missing your credit card minimum payment dates will hit you with a big charge, so set up a direct debit payment to make sure you never miss the date by accident.

4. Lots of credit cards now offer cashback or points on your purchases or gift vouchers when you first sign up, so make sure you shop around before choosing your credit card. However don’t just choose a card because of a one off benefit, you have to look at the overall package.

5. Don’t be scared to transfer to another credit card with an interest free promotional period as lots of credit cards offer this now. However make sure you transfer to a different one before the promotional period is over as you could be charged with a higher interest rate once it has ended.

6. Keep your credit history healthy- this will make it easier to transfer to different credit cards when you need to.

7. Don’t sign up to department store credit cards even if they do offer you 10% off your first purchase, they charge you a very high interest rate, high late payment charges and are too tempting to have in your wallet while you are out shopping!

8. Don’t get yourself into a mess with paying your mortgage. If you are struggling to pay your monthly payments, speak to your provider about taking a mortgage payment holiday which is better than simply defaulting on your payments.

9. If you have a little extra money, pay more on your credit cards or loans instead of spending it on a treat. If you can pay your debts off quicker, you will pay less interest.

10. If you have been stung in the past by large bank charges, try to reclaim them by writing to your bank. If you think your bank charges are significantly higher than other banks, think about transferring your account.

11. If you travel a lot, use a credit card which doesn’t charge you for using it abroad. Some credit cards charge 2.5% for using it in a foreign country, however there are some that do not charge this fee if you shop around.

12. If you are worried about your finances, get free help from your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau, they understand what troubles you may be facing and are trained to help you think of solutions.

13. Make sure you are claiming any benefits that you are entitled to such as Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit. The forms can take a while to fill out and it can be confusing about what you are entitled for but you can go to your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau to help with any queries.

SHOPPING

14. Do you shopping online, this will stop you having to pay for buses or parking and you are more likely to buy what you need when you are online.

15. Join Internet Cashback to earn cashback while you shop online and get access to discount codes which aren’t available in the shops. Earn cashback on a variety of products including your food shopping, clothes shopping, credit cards, insurances etc. Download the Cashback Detector and you will never miss out on cashback while shopping online again!

16. Don’t buy everything from the usual high street shops; use a price comparison website before you buy anything to make sure you are getting the best prices, which could point you to an online shop you have never heard of before with the cheapest products.

17. Try not to impulse shop! Don’t buy something as soon as you see it; give yourself time to think about it so you can see if you really need it. This will also give you chance to shop around for the best price.

18. When buying your groceries try the supermarket’s economy range. You’ll find most of it tastes the same but is half the price, so don’t be put off by the packaging. Supermarket economy ranges are also good for toiletries, medicines and cleaning products.

19. Have a spring clean and sell anything you don’t want or use anymore on Ebay- it is really quick and easy to sell on Ebay now.

20. Do your grocery shopping at night if you can, as supermarkets such as ASDA or Tesco often reduce the price of food like bread, milk or cakes at the end of the day to make sure they sell it.

21. Before you go shopping, make a list of what you need and then stick to it, if you don’t know what you need, you’ll be more likely to overspend.

22. Don’t buy your daily cup of coffee from expensive coffee shops because they are too expensive. A £2 cup of coffee every day will cost you approximately £60 over the whole month! Take a flask out instead!

23. Take a packed lunch to work instead of buying it everyday, it will work out much cheaper especially if you’ve managed to get your bread reduced for your sandwiches the night before.

24. Don’t buy ready made meals; they’re expensive and not very healthy. If you get yourself organised you can cook a meal from scratch in about 20 minutes. It’s healthier and much cheaper.

25. Only buy what you need to eat, buying too much food means it’ll go out of date fast and you lose money on it.

26. Use the leftovers from your evening meals for your lunch the next day, as long as you keep in the fridge it will still stay nice and means you won’t need to buy your dinner out.

27. Always look out for special offers, coupons and discounts. Bulk buy if there is a special offer on something you regularly use, for example a BOGOF on toothpaste however don’t just buy something because it is reduced!

28. Don’t feel you have to be the first person to get the latest products, for example a mobile phone could cost £300 when first launched but could drop to only £50 in the next year.

29. Plan your family and friend’s birthday and Christmas presents in advance by buying them during the sales. If you have enough storage, you could buy your Christmas presents for the following year in the January sales.

EVENING ENTERTAINMENT AND LEISURE

30. Stop eating out at restaurants at evenings and weekends so often. It’s easy to get lazy and head out for dinner but you’ve got to remember that your meal will cost a lot more in a restaurant than it will cooking for yourself.

31. If you do eat out at a restaurant, try to skip the starter and only have two courses which will save you money without ruining your evening. Also, try to resist the coffee at the end of the meal, you can get one at home for much less.

32. Find a restaurant where you can take your own bottle of wine! These are quite common and will mean you are not paying restaurant prices for your drinks.

33. Take it in turns for you and your friends to throw a dinner party. This is much cheaper than going to a restaurant and is often more fun especially if you have themed evenings.

34. If you are going out for the evening, don’t go too early and have a few drinks before you leave. You will spend much less money but will still have fun!

35. If you have an expensive gym membership and do not use it then cancel it as it is a complete waste of money. Try walking instead or using your local leisure centre which will be much cheaper than a gym membership.

36. If you pay to go to a slimming club, consider starting your own with your family, friends and neighbours instead. You will still get the same motivation but will save on the weekly cost.

37. Don’t pay full price for cinema tickets as most cinemas offer cheap weekend or daytime prices, and if you know someone with an Orange mobile phone you can get 2-for-1 tickets on Wednesday’s with their Orange Wednesday promotion.

38. During summer holidays most council’s have free or cheap events for families and children to take part in, so make sure you hunt around to make the most of what is offered.

39. Libraries are a great place to take the children on a rainy day and are great for adults too as many now stock not only books but CDs , DVDs and magazines.

40. Share the cost of events with your family and friends, for example if you love football then buy a season ticket with your friends and take it in turns to go to the matches. This way you might miss out on some matches but that’s better than missing out on all of them.

41. Try and find a market research group in your area which will pay you very well for telling researches what you think of specific products or ideas. These are enjoyable to do and you are provided with refreshments while you are there.

FASHION

42. Aim to build your wardrobe up with classic pieces that match. This way you will be able to interchange everything, so you won’t have to buy as many new pieces.

43. Go to the factory or clearance shops; they’re much cheaper and give you big brands at low prices and chances are, nobody will know where you bought them from!

44. Try to save your shopping trips until the sales are on. Although make sure you don’t buy things just because they are cheap if you don’t actually need them and take them back if they don’t fit as many shops do not open their fitting rooms during busy sale times.

45. Go to your local charity shop for cheap clothes! Remember, the majority of celebrities shop in charity stores because that’s where all the quirky stuff is so you will be in good company!

46. Don’t splash out on designer clothes for your children. Hand-me-downs and supermarket clothing ranges are a great way to dress your children cheaply and they probably won’t even notice the difference.

47. Learn how to sew and fix your clothes, not only will you be able to sew any holes or rips, you will also be able to customise your own clothes to make one off pieces.

48. Return clothes for a refund that you have bought and then realised you don’t like, don’t just let them sit in your wardrobe with the tags on.

49. Don’t avoid the cheaper shops such as Primark, they are great to stock up on your simple wardrobe necessities such as t-shirts and nightwear.

UTILITIES

50. Only buy home appliances that have been certified as energy efficient, they may cost more to start with but you’ll save more over time on running costs.

51. Replace your old light bulbs with energy efficient light bulbs as they last longer and save you money.

52. Lower your heating thermostat. If there are rooms that you don’t use in your home then turn off the radiator and close the door. If you live in a 2 storey house, you can turn the thermostat down even further upstairs because heat rises. By turning your heating thermostat down 10-20 you will be surprised at how much energy you will save per year.

53. Install more insulation in your attic, replace old curtain liners with new insulating curtain liners and seal any draughts. If you have a big enough budget, install double or even triple glazed windows, these are very efficient means of insulating your home, saving you money on heating costs. They also boost the value of a property significantly.

54. Turn off the lights if you aren’t in the room and make sure everyone in your house does the same. There’s no point in being charged for light that you don’t use. Simple as that!

55. Don’t leave electrical appliances on standby as they still consume electricity. Turn them off at the wall and you could save up to 10% off your electricity bills. According to reports, the UK government is bringing in legislation that will make it compulsory for all new appliances to not have a standby mode because of the huge waste this brings.

56. You can save a lot of money on your water bills very easily, always shower rather than bathing and spend as little time in the shower as possible.

57. If you have a big home with few occupants you could halve your annual water bill by installing a water meter.

58. Turn your washing machine down to 40. Unless your clothes are heavily soiled a wash on 30-40 will still bring them out sparkling clean!

59. Don’t be lazy by sticking with your current utility company, shop around and make sure you are getting the best deal; you can use utility comparison sites to help you see which company will be best for you and use Internet Cashback to earn up to 37.50 pounds for switching utility companies.

TRAVEL

60. Book flights early and save money. While many of the budget airlines will fly to a regional airport, it may actually cost less to fly into an airport closer to a city center (if you are going on a city break) as you won’t have to pay for a taxi to your accommodation.

61. Budget airlines such as Ryanair are now charging per bag checked into the hold in an effort to speed up their turn around times. If you can, pack what you need (minus scissors, liquids etc) into your hold baggage. This also means you don’t have to wait round to pick up your baggage at arrivals.

62. Book hotels online rather than walking in unannounced and being hit with the typically higher walk-in rate.

63. Buy your car rental online rather than arranging for it when you arrive. Car rental is a competitive market and there are plenty of money-saving offers available.

64. If you are planning a journey by train or bus then book early, look for offers and do not travel in peak times. If you buy your ticket on the day of travelling it will be significantly more money than if you book in advance.

65. If you are on a long train or plane journey, buy your refreshments before you board as drinks and snacks are always over priced once you are travelling.

66. There are lots of websites which will send you free samples or money off coupons so find the best one and keep checking it for the samples you want to receive. Shampoo and body lotion samples are great to take on weekends away!

COMMUNICATIONS

67. If you don’t use your landline phone often then change to a pay as you go mobile phone, it is silly paying for line rental if you don’t use it.

68. If you don’t use your internet broadband often then cancel it and make use of free wireless internet in most restaurants, cafes and bars. You simply take your laptop and connect to their wireless for free (although it might cost you a cup of coffee!). You can go to your library and use their computers for free and even have access to their printers and photocopiers for a small cost.

69. If you are on a monthly mobile phone contract, think about going pay as you go instead. You will have much more control over what you spend, and you’ll be surprised at how many people will call you instead of you calling them!

70. Send an email instead of phoning or texting people. Most customer services departments will answer emails now if you have a problem with a service such as your utility bill which means you won’t have to ring their premium rate customer services phone number. You can also send your family and friends emails instead of calling them and even send birthday cards by email to save on postage.

71. There are lots of websites which let you send text messages to mobile phones for free so you won’t use up your credit texting while you can get online and use a messenger service such as MSN Live to talk to your family and friends over the internet for free.

72. Get a Freeview digital box and cancel your SKY or cable TV package. Freeview has lots of free channels and you can now watch the majority of TV programmes on the internet, so you won’t be missing out on your favourite shows.

AROUND THE HOUSE

73. If you have a spare room, advertise for a lodger. There are lots of people who just want a room during the week while they are at work, so you would still get your privacy at weekends. If you live on your own a lodger can provide you with great company and will help pay towards your bills.

74. Don’t be wasteful with products such as toothpaste, body lotion or foundation. When you can’t get anymore out of the tube, cut it open and you will be able to use the bits you couldn’t get to.

75. Re-use old ice-cream tubs or take away packaging, you can use them for freezing food or taking your packed lunch into work.

76. If you have a pet, don’t go out buying expensive bedding from the pet shop, recycle the waste paper from your office or buy your own shredding machine at home and shred up your old newspapers.

77. Only fill the kettle with the amount of water you need, filling it up full wastes energy and takes longer to boil so you’ll have to wait longer for your drink!

78. When you use your washing machine, make sure it’s full every time, if you just have a few items to wash then hand wash them in the sink.

79. Instead of drying your clothes in the tumble dryer, hang them outside or in rainy weather hang them over a clotheshorse. This will also keep your clothes nicer for longer as tumble dryers tend to shrink your clothes!

80. Learn how to make your own cleaning products which are as effective as the products you buy in the shop and you can often use the ingredients you already have in your kitchen cupboards.

81. Grow your own fruit and vegetables in your garden or rent an allotment, especially if you give the vegetables to your pets. Seeds cost virtually nothing compared to the actual products themselves.

MOTORING

82. Downsizing your car could save you 100s of pounds each year in both fuel and road tax so if you are just making journeys to and from work you should seriously consider getting a smaller, more efficient car.

83. Don’t renew your car insurance without shopping around first. Use a price comparison site and you could save £100s every year by changing to a cheaper provider.

For a price comparison service go to CompareTheMarket.com.

84. If you travel to work on your own, try and start a car pool with colleagues who live in your area, not only will this save in petrol costs, it will also keep your car miles low.

85. Don’t jump in your car for all journeys, if you can, walk or cycle and you will save money and get fitter.

86. Start a school run with other parents in your area if you drive your children to school or consider walking them there instead if it is in a walking distance.

87. Don’t drive too fast, the RAC claim most car engines run far more efficiently at 60-70 miles an hour, compared to 80 mph or over.

88. Check your tyre pressure regularly; if your tyres are under inflated by 20% then you’ll use 10% more fuel.

89. Don’t pay to get your car cleaned as it is a waste of money, set aside 30 minutes each week to wash it yourself.

MISC

90. Instead of buying a daily paper, read the news online. Most newspapers have regularly updated websites which have all the news stories for free which could save you approximately 15 pounds per month.

91. If you smoke, try to stop or cut down. The NHS has lots of free services to help you do this and it will save you £100s each year.

92. Monitor how much alcohol you drink. If you are having a few glasses everyday, try to cut back and only have it for special occasions.

93. Don’t spend money you don’t have on gambling sites, especially ones online. It is easy to lose track on how much money you are spending and more often than not, you will lose this money. Try premium bonds instead if you want to try your luck as this way you will not lose your money.

94. It may be cheaper for you to pay for your prescriptions in advance with a pre-payment certificate if you pay for more than five prescription items in four months or 14 items in 12 months.

95. Buy generic medicines when you can, a 16 pack of Anadin costs approximately 2.99 pounds however a Sainsbury branded pack will only cost approximately 33p.

96. Cut and colour your own hair, or get your friends to help you. There are lots of great DIY colour kits out there to give you a new look for under 5 pounds and a pair of clippers won’t set you back much. Be careful though!

97. Pretend it’s your birthday on a night out and you might get a free birthday cake or glass of Champaign.

98. Don’t lose all of your loose pennies, save them up in a jar and at the end of the year you will be surprised at how much money you have collected.

99. Make saving money fun! Saving money doesn’t have to make you miserable! You can still see your friends, buy yourself treats and go on holiday; you just have the added advantage of feeling proud of your finances instead of hiding away from them!

The author of this article is a keen blogger regarding cashback deals for retailers’ such as for ASDA and affiliate marketing programmes.