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Diets fail because they are too restrictive. Our bodies are not used to eating only one food group. The English poet William Cowper was onto something when he said that variety is the spice of life. It is unrealistic to believe that any human being can spend the rest of their life eating only chicken breast and tuna, or whatever your fad diet is telling you to eat.
Not only are diets too restrictive and unrealistic, they are also too inconvenient. Maybe if I had a personal chef living inside my South Beach mansion, I, too, would be able to stick with the South Beach diet. But what do you do when you didn’t pack lunch for work and you have 30 minutes to eat something before the next conference call or meeting? What do you do when you are on a diet but the rest of your family isn’t, and tonight is supposed to be pizza night? The diet industry is trying to make their products as convenient as possible, but how long can you survive on Protein bars and Slim Fast shakes?
Diets often fail because people stick with them for a while but then get frustrated because they do not see any results. Eating less food, logically, should lead to weight-loss, right? Too bad our bodies are not designed for logic, they are designed for survival. Just like a camel can store water in its hump and walk through the desert for weeks without dehydrating, our bodies store fat that is burned when we need energy. When you go on a strict diet that cuts your calorie intake, your body reacts to the change by slowing down your metabolism and storing more fat.
Professional weight lifters often have very low body fat percentages. If they had a lot of body fat, like the average person does, the judges wouldn’t be able to see their muscle definition. But professional weight lifters often consume twice or three times as many calories as regular people. If you put Mr. Universe on the hottest new trendy diet, he would not have enough energy to exercise and his metabolism would slow causing his body fat percentage to increase. And the judges would not like that at all.
Diets are not an effective way to lose weight and keep it off. Instead of putting yourself on a restrictive diet that will fail in a few months, you have to make permanent changes in your eating and exercise habits. Instead of having a fast food meal with a soda, try it with a glass of water. Instead of eating four slices of pizza you can try eating only two, and finishing your meal with an apple. These everyday decisions can make a big difference over the long term.
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Wow! Never thought I would be writing on eliminating stress…I’m certainly not an expert, except maybe that I used to carry a lot (of stress). That was then, before what I’m about to share with you. It began with getting more sleep, you wouldn’t believe what a change that made……that alone is a vicious circle, not enough sleep led to more stress which in turn led to less sleep. I started by dropping the later television shows, the ones I really liked. Well I didn’t drop them….I recorded them, made very easy by technology, and watched them when I wanted to. Then I made time to enjoy a quiet cup of tea, a little challenging if there’s kids around, but they’re supposed tobe in bed at eight right? Then off to bed by ten. It took me a while to get used to the earlier bedtime but it was well worth it, 0530 comes early and it feels a lot better when the alarm goes off and you’ve had seven hours sleep. Oh! BTW don’t eat a big meal before going to bed either..doesn’t make for a very good sleep.
The next obstacle to over-come was my tendency to become quite aggressive in traffic on the way to work. That took a lot of self-talk and reassurances that I will get there just the same without flipping off the other guy. Amazing the tunnel vision we develop behind the wheel and how upset we can get over minor infractions into what we perceive to be our space, never mind the desire to be ahead of the pack. So with the help of the dark cloud of rising gas prices, I slowed down…my 15 minute commute took me maybe 3 minutes longer, but I’m calmer and richer in the process.
Next on the list; my relationships with others. I used to be quite quick to judge or form an opinion. That led to many disagreements or just general discomfort in a conversation or business transaction. When I began listening, putting myself in the other person’s shoes, I started to genuinely like people more. This greatly reduced the anxiety that is sometimes present when there is a difference of opinion, or maybe just a general mis-understanding. Believe it or not most people want to get along with each other and most people don’t like stress.
The last two things that were important to me are diet and exercise. I had to force myself to go to the gym 3 times a week but felt great for my effort in a very short time. I know many people have equipment at home, but I found that getting out to a gym with no other distractions besides my music was very effective in my case. To round of the time spent working out I began to eat better and more regularly. these two things alone also had the added benefit of lowering my blood pressure by 10 pts. and improving my cholesterol levels. Good luck and I wish you success with de-stressing your life
By admin
It’s happened to me. About a year ago, someone got a hold of my bank card numbers. Fortunately, the crook made some international purchase which immediately clued me in and my bank was quick to settle the whole thing. But most people aren’t so lucky. Identity theft is a serious crime that’s growing each year. Victims of identity theft can spend months, or even years, trying to repair a ruined credit history, which can compromise your chances of getting a new job, a bank loan, insurance or even rental housing. Follow these steps to help keep your identity safe:
Protect Your Credit Card Number When Making Purchases
Check your receipts after making a purchase with your credit or debit card. In most cases, the printed receipt hides all but the last 4 digits of your credit card account number, but some terminals still print receipts that show all 16 digits of your account number and the expiration date. If you get one of these receipts, black out the numbers entirely before throwing it away – this is all the information a thief needs to make charges using your card. You’re also permitted by law to hide the first 12 digits of your account number on any copies of the receipt that the seller keeps.
It’s especially important to keep tabs on your receipts at restaurants. Think about it – you pay for your meal and then leave the signed receipt on your table for the waiter to pick up. But in a busy restaurant, it’s easy for a potential thief to “accidentally” bump your receipt off the table (or just steal it) and get your information. If the restaurant’s receipt shows all of your account information, black out the first 12 digits of your credit card number before leaving the restaurant.
Do You Really Need To Give Your Social Security Number?
Be very stringent about who you give your social security number to. You’ll probably need to share your number when you apply for credit or for a bank account, but sometimes a store or an organization will want to use it as an ID number, simply to identify you within their system. This is not only dangerous – it’s illegal. The law says that social security numbers aren’t to be used as ID numbers. If you’re ever unsure about giving out your social security number, ask if there’s an alternative – there is in most cases.
Destroy Documents That Contain Sensitive Personal Information
Buy a paper shredder and use it to destroy any documents that contain credit card numbers, social security numbers, phone numbers, your date of birth and any other personal information before throwing them away. Any credit card offers should also be shredded – thieves can fill out the applications and open a line of credit without you ever knowing. Don’t think that throwing out these documents is enough – identity thieves aren’t above going through the trash to find information that can help them get credit in your name.
If The Worst Happens
If you do become a victim of identity theft, take the following steps immediately:
* Contact your credit card companies to let them know what’s going on, close your accounts and ask to have new cards issued to you.
* Place a fraud alert on your file with any one of the three major credit bureaus. The other two will be notified automatically.
* File a police report. You may need it to show to creditors as proof of the crime.
* File a complaint with the FTC, which maintains a database of identity theft cases used by law enforcement agencies for their investigations.
It’s not fun to think about identity theft, but in this age of technology, you can’t afford not to. Identity thieves get smarter every day – just think of the recent rash of companies announcing that their client databases have been hacked into, exposing personal information. Some things are out of your control, but there are some simple precautions you can take to keep your personal information secured. Keeping your identity safe may be one of the most important things you do for your financial future.
By admin
The advantages of outsourcing are many, but do not often outweigh the disadvantages. Outsourcing as seen in the context of international business, is shipping your raw materials to other countries and having your garments, your shoes, your toys, whatever, made by foreign workers. This is done because it is cheaper to pay the shipping costs and to hire people who work for far less than what you would have to pay workers in your own country. In this case and for this purpose ‘you and our’ refers to the big conglomerates that control the manufacturing and the outsourcing. It is nothing personal, only a manner of making the subject clearer.
Most of our manufacturing, or at least too much of it is done in this way. What it does is take away the jobs from the people and put them on welfare. It is a situation that, as far as business practice is concerned has gone too far, but how can we turn back the clock and become the productive country we once were. I am, of course speaking of the United States although probably other countries have the same problem.
To me if it were not for that big word ‘if’ we would still be hiring our own workers and they would be working at living wages jobs and doing something beneficial each day that needed to be done. The economy would not be lopsided and octopus like in shape. In other words the business concerns would not have its arms stretched out in all directions raking in whatever everyone else produces. It might be well to ask ourselves what do we need with so much accumulations?
Then I think again and I see outsourcing to other countries in another light. Even if the workers in evolving countries are working at lower wages, they are working and they are not necessarily complaining so should we complain? We cannot compare our overly stuffed lives to those who go hungry every day. There, mothers are satisfied if they can feed their children, they are not concerned that they cannot buy them expensive footwear, or in the summertime, any shoes at all. It is good enough that they make them for us as long as we pay them money and they can feed their children.
I say we and yet, being only another big mouthed uncouth crude American, what do I know of how the rest of the world lives. I don’t, but I when I do see, I try to be fair and equitable and as fair as possibly I can. I understand that the world evolves with or without our input and the best we can do is to at least try and be helpful. With that in mind, and to get back to the thought of outsourcing, why not? It keeps us in contact with the rest of the world and that can never be a bad thing. (You and I both know that were we in charge the situation would not be in such shape. Right? Wrong. Let’s face it it would probably be worse.)
By admin
Life insurance may seem expensive. As long as everyone is alive and well the value of that costly life policy may be questioned. The money for those premiums may well be wasted. But in the event of an unexpected death, the high premiums suddenly become very worthwhile. There can be little doubt that the benefits of life insurance are worth the high premiums.
John and Myra were a happily married couple in their early thirties. They had a three year old son, a year old daughter and Myra was already expecting a third child. They had recently bought a new house and were building their lives. John’s career was beginning to take-off while Myra stayed at home to care for the family. Myra’s part-time work provided for a few extras and some luxuries and she planned to resume her career in law once the children were a little bigger.
Myra was at home preparing the evening meal when she heard the door bell ring. It rang again. Whoever was out there was quite persistent! It was the police. There had been an accident caused by a hit and run driver in the heavy rain. John has been killed.
Myra felt her plans for the future beginning to crumble. Why me, why John? Myra was devastated.
After the funeral it slowly began to dawned on Myra that she had no resources with which to carry on. Even the funeral costs would drain her limited resources. The mortgage repayments alone amount to more than her total income.
Myra has been dealt a double blow. The life insurance that was deemed too expensive just a few months ago would have kept the family on their feet. Now what?
In the long term Myra may be able to overcome this financial blow. In the short term, funds are required and she has nowhere to turn.
Life insurance may be compared to pouring money into an empty hole. But when tragedy strikes the cost is justified many times over.
Life insurance should be only a part of a balanced financial portfolio that includes investments and savings. If the cover recommended by the broker is beyond your means, then settle for less. As your investments grow, the need for life insurance diminishes.
Many life companies prefer to market whole-life or universal life policies that include an investment portion. These are the most profitable types of policy. They pay huge commissions to the broker at the expense of the investment. The premiums are high and the investment rarely performs.
The only type of life policy that you should ever take is a pure life or term insurance. These pay limited commission and the benefits are there to see. A fixed monthly premium will cover you for a fixed death benefit. Term insurance is not expensive for the young. While it does become more expensive as you grow older, it still provides good value for money and will provide a benefit in the event of your untimely death.
Your term insurance should be coupled with a separate investment and the discipline to maintain the investment. Once the term of the insurance has expired, your investment could be enough to cover a major loss. Your term insurance could also include a renewal option that allows renewal without additional medical evidence.
Life cover may be expensive, especially if you have opted for one of the investment type of policies. If you cannot afford the cover you need then you should consider settling for a little less. Some cover is always better than nothing. Before you question whether you can afford life cover, ask whether you can afford to be without it. Life insurance may seem expensive but when a loss occurs, the premiums are repaid over and over again.
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There is considerable uncertainty about what happens when you experience a loss. Most people, they just do not know how they will recover. The coverage on the contents of your home or business, describes the personal policy, you should receive your insurance settlement.
There is a standard verbiage in this policy. During the tasks, after a loss position, you will discover a number of statements that might surprise you, and you will be ready to face that. And because of that you need to be prepared on what you will face. One explanation is that they have no obligation to provide coverage if you do not meet their demands. Requirements can be performed by you or a representative (an inventory service provider, for example).
You must notify your agent or insurance company immediately. In the event of theft or loss you must also take immediate action report to the police department. If an investigation of your claim, you are expected to cooperate fully. You are required to draw up an inventory of the destroyed parts of the quantity, description, actual cash value and magnitude of your loss. Bills, receipts, the evaluation forms and other documents supporting your claim will be requested.
A signed, sworn proof of loss must be filed within 60 days after the request of the insurer. Proof of loss will show the time and cause of loss, other insurance that may cover the loss, the inventory of personal belongings. Insurance is varies in types. You need to check to make sure that you understand what is expected of you when you claim.
By admin
You are already familiar with Real Property Appraisers, they appraise real property, your house and land, crops in the ground, buildings which are not moveable. A personal property appraiser appraises nearly everything else. Your car, boat, grandma’s Haviland, Suzie’s Barbies, tools, equipment, jewelry, furs, antiques, the ‘41 Buick in the back storage building, crops after harvest, the landscape plantings that the real property guy forgot or didn’t notice, your furniture, tractors and bulldozers, horses and livestock. It’s all personal property, even your Rembrandt and your VanGogh, especially them.
Alone? Of course Not.
Personal Property Appraisers work together for you, I handle antiques and residential contents, horses and those pesky landscape plantings. Yes, that means trees and shrubs on which you spent lots of money and you should be able to add their value to the price of your home or office. You should be able to insure them. People steal trees. Yes, planted trees. Happened to a close neighbor a few years ago: New planting, forty young Locust Trees all planted, mulched, watered and in the morning…gone. Value, forty times $90.00 each, uninsured. Other personal property appraisers handle all the other “stuff” mentioned and much, much more.
So, you need an appraisal to insure stuff and you need an appraisal to claim against loss, damage or theft using your insurance. You need an appraisal and a rider on your insurance for sterling silver, fur coats, jewelry and antiques both house antiques and garage antiques. You need an appraisal for an estate when someone dies and leaves over a certain amount of value, you need an appraisal to donate something other than cash if the value is over a certain amount and you may want an appraisal to buy or sell something.
You need an appraiser if you wish to donate something other than green money. There are some pretty specific rules about that but it’s doable. Many things are acceptable as donations, even horses. It is possible to donate items to an organization which wishes to sell them but there are even more strict rules about that and it takes time.
An example for a personal restricted use appraisal: You want to buy something rather exotic…a helicopter. There’s a really cute little one for sale over at the local airfield but how much should you pay? Enter your friend the personal property appraiser. A call goes out to the helicopter guy who’s a mechanical and equipment appraiser with make, model, year, engine hours and pictures via email. The helicopter guy does some research and gets back. Down and dirty: It’s called a restricted use appraisal and it’s just for you to help you when you need a value to clarify your thinking. OK, helicopters are awfully exotic. Try this one: Your daughter has talked you into a horse, it’s always a daughter, sons want cars. Same process, only this time we go with her, have her try the horse, stop her if we think that the horse is beyond her or a poor choice in some other way. Maybe suggest some places for a suitable horse, a boarding stall and lessons on how to handle and ride that very large animal. Then we help establish what the selling price for that horse should be in the same restricted use format, FYI.
Grandma just moved to a nice little one floor condo where dinner is served in the “club house” every night and there’s always something happening. She’s tired of dusting that generational junk so she’s left it to you to handle. Relatives have come out of the wood work all saying that grandma or grandpa promised them the same thing. Grandma won’t say but she does say, “NO QUIBBLING!”. Now this is a little different, you don’t give…well, you don’t care what a single item in that house is worth but you want grandma to have as much money as possible because you like seeing her smile and play Bridge or Euchre or Texas Hold ‘em for all you care and have friends again instead of a big old empty house.
You have a liquidation problem. There’s a lot of that going around right now, liquidation, that is.
We can help with that, too. Most personal property appraisers also handle liquidations or auctions or some other form of dispersal of personal property. We will help you decide whether to sell the stuff locally or perhaps it would sell better in a regional auction house such as Cowan’s in Cincinnati, Ohio, Neal’s in New Orleans or Jackson’s in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. these are just three of many reliable regional auction houses in the Mid-West. There are others in other parts of the country and there are also reliable “country auctioneers” everywhere in the United States.
Now you have another problem, squabbling relatives. Grandma refers them all to YOU! there are many ways to handle this, auction houses are one, local well advertised liquidation sales, sometimes called “estate sales” are another If your choice is auction we help you get the stuff organized, packed and delivered, you pay us by the hour. If you choose a liquidation type sale we come in price and organize everything. The family comes in and makes it’s choices, bookeeping is done so that each member knows what each other member took. When the sale ends, the money is divided in such a way that all the family members come out about equally. It’s all about what grandma said, “no quibbling”. Whatever is left over goes to St.Vincent De Paul or your church or the reStore or the curb. Is it easy? No, it’s hard work but you don’t do it.
Haven’t hit your hot button yet? Well, I’m trying. I really want to tell you what you want to know. Lets see: Insurance, donation, estate tax liability, litigation support, asset valuation. How about collateral for a bank loan? You think you have something that might be enough, a heard of fancy cattle with a bull? A small airplane? A VanGogh? well, maybe not that but how about six John Marin water colors from early in his career or the cells from an early Disney movie with a letter from Old Walt Himself? The banker looks askance. You need a personal property appraiser, those things have value.
Do we do this out of the goodness of our hears? Of course not. Do you put in forty hours a week at your office out of the goodness of your heart, of course you don’t. We charge by the job or by the hour. Never do we charge by the amount of value we will bring to you, that’s unethical, a very big no, no. We take photos, make inventories, do research, help you to understand what kind of value you need. Remember sentimental value is zero.
Once more What would you like to know about personal property appraisal? How can we help you solve your value problems and the value problems of your clients. Don’t hesitate to phone or email, we can usually go most anyplace in Michigan.
By admin
Finally you’re ready to launch your online affiliate marketing business and enter the world of E-commerce. You’ve heard so much about marketing on the internet and how people can make money online from home. Starting an online business is very exciting but now that you’re ready to start marketing online what exactly should you do next?
Don’t panic since the field of affiliate marketing really requires you to do only 3 things to be successful.
Here’s a look at the 3 areas of preparation you’ll need to complete to start earning an income as an affiliate marketer.
Choose a Domain Name & Hosting
It is recommended although not necessary to have your own website or blog from which you can maintain an online presence. You will want to select a domain name that is relative to what it is you intend to market. This not only increases the professional image you want online for your business but it also prevent the visitor from being confused. If your domain name indicates something other than what it is you’re promoting you can easily lose visitors who may think it is not the site they’re looking for.
Make sure the hosting company you select is reputable and can easily be contacted 24/7. If your site goes down for whatever reason you are losing money the longer it remains offline so you want to be able to have the problem fixed quickly.
Build Your Site
As an affiliate it is not required that your site is elaborate in fact it is recommended that you keep it simple. You don’t want so much ‘glitz and glitter’ that your intended message is lost.
Make it clear to the visitor what it is you’re promoting, maybe elaborate on a few benefits but for the most part leave the hard selling to the main affiliate site.
Generate Traffic
Here is where you need to focus most of your effort. Select 2 or 3 traffic generation techniques you’re comfortable with then push as many visitors to your site as possible.
This is the single biggest advantage of affiliate marketing. You don’t have to do much selling therefore you can concentrate on learning how to drive traffic to your site.
Launching your online affiliate marketing business really only requires that you simply first establish your online presence with a website. After that you are ready to begin marketing on the internet by driving traffic to your site. Many assume that starting an online business is more complicated then that but as you’ve seen it is really fairly simple. This is one of the biggest reasons the field of affiliate marketing is so popular. By setting up a simple website you are in the position to start making money online from home provided you invest a little time generating traffic to your site. This entire process is extremely straight forward and actually requires nothing more other than a little effort from you. By following the 3 steps we reviewed above you will be ready to start marketing as an affiliate in absolutely no time at all.
By admin
Property and casualty insurance takes care of many risks to the individual or the business’s property, such as theft, damage, loss of money, furniture, machinery, records, even trademarks, brand names, and supplies. There are certain particular insurance policies available which cover natural disasters like earthquakes, fires, and floods which damage your residence or business.
Your property can get insurance for multiple or specific dangers. You will be asked to identify very specifically what was lost in the incident. An example being, your house burns down, you may make your claim under “fire disaster property insurance”, so long as you explicitly asked to have your house insured from fires. Other disasters very commonly covered: lightning, flood, explosion, earthquake, and theft. One should consider the potential dangers of their property and location to decide upon a sound property and casualty insurance option. If careful planning is not used, you may find unnecessary expenses for insurance you don’t really require.
If you acquire what are called “open perils”, these cover all the causes of damage and loss, which are not excluded by your policy. Unless the contract denies it, you should be able to obtain assistance from the “open peril” insurance for almost all instances. If you decide to refuse coverage for floods, obviously you won’t receive reimbursements for damages caused to your home or business by flooding. You will find these items on the list of exclusions to open perils: earthquake, war, nuclear incidents. Your property might be susceptible to such events, and you will be able to purchase specified property and casualty insurance for these open peril circumstances. People on the west coast may want to be conscious of earthquake dangers; people in the south may consider tornado dangers, while people in Hawaii may have the potential danger from volcanic activity.
The property insurance premiums may be lowered if one has a positive claim history. Costs of property and casualty insurance may be reduced if one takes smart and proper precautions to avoidable damages. Examples being, smoke alarms, security cameras or personnel, flame retardant furniture, flame resistant building materials.
Many businesses and companies will often choose to insure their properties with what is called a BOP or business owner insurance policy. Property and casualty insurance, and liability insurance get combined into a single policy, to create these business owner policies. Some of the BOPs offer added expense interruption insurance. There is an option for “added expense insurance,” this giving you money that covers short term moves after incidences covered by the policy. This type of insurance will cover moving costs due to something like a flood. Interruption insurance covers losses of profits in case of interruptions, like requirements to retrofit.
BOPs typically provide less coverage compared with traditional property and casualty insurance, albeit convenient. So this is why many businesses and home owners decide to opt for additional coverage, as every location and situation may require a different level of care and caution. Be smart.
