General

How What You Say Can Impact Your Finances

your words are very powerfulDid you know that what comes out of your mouth actually has a big impact on what happens in your life?  If you are going around saying you are poor, even if you are not poor, you will likely become poor or you will always feel poor just because that’s what you are saying.

Most of us say what we truly believe.  For the most part, if we don’t believe something we don’t say it, unless we are pathological liars.  But just what is my point?  Well, if you are someone who always says and thinks that they are poor, then that will become their reality even though it could have been easily avoided.

Now, there are truly poor people in the world.  But there are many other people in the world who never have been poor in their lives, who have never even experienced what being poor is like, but just the same, they think that they are poor.

Here is my challenge to those who find themselves often saying they are poor or that they cannot afford to buy this or that:  Stop saying that unless you really do want to be poor!

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Business

5 Ways To Cut Restaurant Startup Costs

tips for brand new restaurant ownersThere are a lot of people who dream of running their own business. Oh, but it’s one thing to dream, it’s another thing to make it a reality. And so, if you happen to be someone who has always wanted to have your own restaurant and you’re currently in the process of opening its doors, let us be the first ones to say “congratulations”. That is definitely an awesome achievement. And also a huge responsibility.

So while you’re running around getting all of the final things in place, we wanted to provide you with some ways that you can cut your startup costs. That way, you can spend your time enjoying your profits rather than worrying about incurring debt.

Have some energy-efficient items in your restaurant. Something that you definitely want to stay on top of is your energy bills and there are several ways to do that. For one thing, look for appliances that have an Energy Star label on them. Have automatic faucets and low-flow toilets installed inside of your bathrooms. And make sure to use LED lighting throughout the restaurant. These things combined can easily save you 30-40 percent annually on your energy costs.

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Gifts

An Easy Way To Christmas Shop For Less

christmas shopping online saves stress and is a lot of funI had a great time Christmas shopping this year.  I don’t really enjoy shopping in crowded malls, so this year I avoided the mall scene altogether.  I shopped on amazon.ca and found everything I was looking for, and at reasonable prices, too.

Here are some ways to make amazon.ca work for you:

 Take advantage of free shipping.   When I first started shopping, I found a few items I really liked but didn’t pay attention to the shipping fees.  When I proceeded to the checkout I realized that the items I chose did not qualify for free shipping.  Go figure!  I hadn’t noticed that the items I selected were not Amazon products, but instead, were sold by a private seller using the Amazon website. Those products do not qualify for free shipping.  So, after learning this the hard way, I decided to make a point of only looking at the products that are eligible for free shipping.  Amazon provides free shipping when you buy a minimum of $25 worth of products.  That’s a great deal!

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Family

What You Should Tell Your Kids About Family Finances

family finance tipsEveryone has their opinion on what you should and shouldn’t share with your children about your family’s financial situation.  Some say you should be really honest and if your family is struggling financially, then the kids should be made aware of it.  Others say that you shouldn’t tell your kids anything at all as it’s not their problem.

I would venture to say that neither approach is healthy.  If a child is in a family that is currently experiencing financial difficulties, it’s a good idea for them to be kept in the loop to a certain degree, but certainly not to the extent that they feel burdened and pressured to find a job to help support the family.

I can say this from experience.  When I was growing up, my mother was a single parent for most of my formative years.  We lived on an extremely tight budget, and while I was aware that things were tight, I was never led to believe that we were going to go hungry or become homeless.  My mother never told me that we were in trouble, even if we might have been.

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General

How To Determine The Right List Price For Your Home

how to decide on your list priceAlthough the real estate market is certainly more stable than it’s been over the past several years, it’s still pretty tough. So if you happen to be someone who is thinking about putting your house on the market, it’s going to require some savvy and know-how in order to get your house to move fast and for you to make a good profit. In the efforts to help you do both, one thing that you have to do is determine the right list price for your home.

If you’re not quite sure about what all of that entails, this is a great article for you to read because we actually have five things that we feel will assist you in coming to the right asking price for your home below:

Get your home appraised. You might think that your house is the best thing ever but when prospective buyers are walking through the rooms of your house, they are going to want to get more than your opinion. This is why it’s important to hire someone to come over and appraise your home. It will give you a factual estimate of what your house is actually worth.

Look at it from a “local” perspective. Even if you and someone you know have extremely similar houses, including the floor plans, if you both happen to live in different states you can’t really compare the value of the houses. That’s because each market varies from state to state. So as you’re looking to get a general idea of how the real estate market is doing in order to figure out what to charge for your own house, narrow it down to the areas where you live; that will offer you a more accurate assessment.

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