Sensible Ways to Save Money

You know how every New Year's Eve, you tell yourself that the following year, you are going to be more financially responsible? Well, there's a reason why that doesn't happen. It's because you haven't given yourself new ways in which to try to make it happen. And that's what we're here to do. To give you new ways to save money on everything you buy.

Here's the thing - you need more ways to save money. You can't open a personal-finance website on the Internet without looking at bunches of tips on how to save money. That's not what you need. You need something that doesn't confuse you with hundreds of tips. You want the rules condensed down to just four or five easily followable principles. For instance.

You want to never buy anything new. You can buy old. You don't want clothes new, furniture new, or cars new. You want something utilitarian. You want things that work. And old stuff does that very well. Lots of people, most people in fact, still fall far the "buy new" charm. What do they do with their old stuff? They sell it to winners like you.

Every manufacturer out there desperately wants you to believe that this year's model is way, way better and cooler than last year's model. And anyone who buys last year's model is not as cool. It wasn't easy for them to make you believe is, but they've been working away at this for decades. So now, when the latest iPad or iPhone comes out, the very model that three months ago, you thought you was the coolest thing in the world, feels outdated and so stuck in a time warp.

To understand how silly this is, you have to look at how poor people in poor countries getting by on $100 a month around the world, if they receive an iPad 1 for instance, or something just as wonderful, would go, "but it's not the latest, is it?".

It's when you see that kind of absolute slavishness to the "latest and greatest" that you see how absolutely meaningless this is. One of the best ways to save money is always to pick something two or three generations old. It doesn't matter at all that it's not as cool. Just one or two years ago, you would have been totally proud to own it. What's changed now?

This whole thing about keeping up with the neighbors has got to stop. You and your neighbors can be friends, and you can share stuff. Tobody needs a full-sized ladder one to a house, a barbecue grill, power tools - there's lots of stuff that people can just share across houses with their friends. Why not?

Cool Ways to Make Extra Money

Basically, there are two ways that you can get into better financial shape. If you're on a fixed salary, you can take the advice of the frugal crowd and cut down on every single thing you do to indulge yourself, or you could do the smart thing. You could look for ways to make extra money.

You don't have to go to the conventional ways of making extra money - a second job, starting a small business at home, tutoring children in math and so on. You don't have to that. While those are there are good ways, you could go off the wall, too. There are easier and less conventional ways to pocket a little pocket money.

For instance, did you realize that there's when people keep saying "There's an app for that!", that "that" includes making money as well? There are apps like GigWalk that want certain pictures of certain products on certain store shelves. There are apps that will pay you to review apps. There are all these things. Just search on Google for apps that help you make money. You'll find there are plenty.

It is a regular joke on various sitcoms that when you're down and out, the first thing you do is to find a place to make a donation of body fluids - blood or something less mentionable. For each visit, you could get between $35 and $100. While it is not really a pleasant thought, your body doesn't really miss it, and there is no reason we shouldn't go in and do it.

Remember seeing the Jim Carrey comedy Fun with Dick and Jane? It's about how a well-off couple suddenly find that the company employing them is an Enron-like entity. Suddenly, they have no job, their house is upside down and they have no prospects. The try all kinds of things to get by - among them, trying to be a Walmart greeter and trying to sign up for clinical trials.

The clinical trial thing could work really well. Each clinical trial that you qualify for, you could get paid a $1000 or even more. Just look up places like The Center for Information & Study on Clinical Research Participation. You will find information on where to find this.

And finally - one of the best ways to make extra money? Look for money you already have. That's right, there are all kinds of places where you could have money lying in wait for you that you  haven't been thinking of.

It could be tax refunds, unclaimed retirement money lying with former employers, the life insurance that you forgot about and so on. Millions of people in America have these that they don't take advantage of.

The Benefits of Having a Life Coach

Most people are skeptical about what a life coach does. They say that these so-called professionals are mere smooth-talkers and charlatans. They take advantage of gullible individuals by telling them things they already know, and make money out of that.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Life coaching is neither therapy nor coaching in the strictest sense of the word. Past mistakes are not addressed, and unlike the sports coach, the life coach does not direct the game you set for yourself. Instead, he draws out the dreams and aspirations you have and encourages you to fulfill them.

Life coaching evolved from traditional concepts of business and career coaching, which is why a considerable number of life coaches are entrepreneurs. Yes, they are professionals, whose only wish is to share their success, especially to those individuals who are currently facing difficult times and are thus distracted from meeting their goals.

These are the advantages of having a life coach:

1. Life coaches encourage you to sort out the things you want out of life and define them in concrete terms. Simply saying "I want to be happy" without specifically detailing what happiness means for you does not give a clear picture of what you want. Without this, you will not be able to set measurable goals nor create a plan of action for the purpose of attaining happiness.

2. Life coaches help you discover the bad habits, negative thoughts and self-defeating attitudes that are holding you back or delaying you from reaching your goal. Once they are brought to light, it will be easier for you to understand that you need to get rid of them in order to move forward in life.

3. Life coaches work with you in creating a plan of action for yourself. Once you realize the goals you want to achieve, and you've become aware of the bad habits that you need to avoid, setting a goal becomes less complicated and confusing.

4. Life coaches show you what your strengths are, and integrate those into the plan you set out for yourself. Instead of dwelling on the weaknesses and mistakes of the past, you are motivated to focus on what you can do now and how you can reach your full potential.

5. Life coaches help with time management. Because there is someone around to boost your spirits, you are able to reach your goal faster than when you were left to do it alone. And this is probably the best advantage to having a life coach!