Reviews and More

When I first entered the workforce full-time about 12 years ago, I thought I’d be one of those women who put a lot of time and energy into their career. I was big on networking, attending workshops, and participating in any other company-sponsored activities that would help me establish the contacts and credentials I’d need to secure future promotions and raises. I was really in my element, and couldn’t be happier.

But then when my son (unexpectedly) came along five years ago, everything changed. My career no longer seemed as important as it once was, so I walked away from it and never looked back. Yes, we would sorely miss the money, but being on hand to raise our child seemed infinitely more important, and I haven’t regretted my decision for a single moment.

Nevertheless, I still wanted to find a way to work from home in order to contribute to my family’s coffers and ease the newly added strain on our budget. I was smart enough to stay awy from envelope stuffing or data entry scams, and checked into paid blogging instead.

One of the latest entries into this industry is SocialSpark, a property of IZEA, Inc. SocialSpark provides mommy bloggers just like me with a fantastic opportunity to make a good monthly income without ever leaving home by simply posting about different products, services, and websites on my blogs. I do those things anyway, so I figured I might as well get paid for my efforts!

SocialSpark combines elements of social networking sites and traditional paid-to-blog programs to bring bloggers all-new ways to make money. I can take opportunities that I qualify for, I can directly contact advertisers to ask for inclusion in an opportunity that I don’t qualify for but feel would be a good fit with my blog, and I can easily network with other bloggers to share advice and pointers.

The program is still in Alpha testing for now, so it’s not currently open to new sign-ups. Be sure to keep checking back for updates, however, as I’m positive that this is something you’ll want to be involved in!

I’m one of those people who has the radio on all the time. When I’m blogging or doing other online tasks, I have my favorite stations on at low volume to serve as background noise. When I’m doing housework or cooking dinner, I crank the tunes up and rock out!

Recently, I’ve been hearing a lot about how much better HD digital radio is than typical analog broadcasts, so I finally looked into what would be required for an upgrade. It turns out that all I need to do is purchase an HD Radio Receiver, and then find out which local radio stations are broadcasting digitally. From there, I can enjoy the unparalleled sounds of HD radio for free, with no monthly subscription fees required.

Since I know nothing about HD radio receivers, I started reading through some information over at HDRadio.com. I found out that many low- to mid-range units are actually quite affordable, and still come with great features such as an iPod dock with iTunes Tagging. I would definitely want this tagging capability because it would allow me to instantly save a song’s information to my iPod, making it easier for me to locate and buy the song the next time I use iTunes.

Finding local radio stations that broadcast in high-def is a breeze, thanks to HDRadio.com. They have a comprehensive list for every state, so whether you’re looking for Seattle, Chicago, or New York High Definition Radio stations, you’ll have a bunch of options to choose from.

I’m sold on this whole idea of upgrading my radios, so I’m going to get an HD receiver for my home. I can’t wait!

We’re living in a fairly nice townhouse right now, but my husband and I both agree that this is just our starter home. We dream of being able to afford a single-family home one day, with a fenced-in backyard where our son can play with the dogs, practice baseball, or even camp out under the stars. We’re saving as much as possible every month because we want to purchase our dream home within the next five years or so.

While we’re saving, we love looking through different house plans online to see what kinds of choices are available to us. One of the better sites we’ve found is called HousePlansAndMore.com, where they have tons of beautiful plans to browse through. I love how convenient it is to view plans based on our own criteria, such as estimated cost, square footage, and number of bedrooms. This makes it very easy to isolate plans that fit our needs while ignoring the rest.

I also like being able to view specific styles, and think that their Colonial Home Plans are simply stunning. When we’re ready to build our home, I know this is the style we’re going to choose.

If you’re thinking about building a home in the near future, then I recommend visiting HousePlansAndMore.com for ideas to get you going. Whether you’re looking for elegant Victorian house plans or rustic log home plans, you’ll find everything you need right there on the site. Check it out today!

When my husband went on a business trip to Texas last year, his associates took him to a professional rodeo in Mesquite. Jerry had never been to a rodeo before, and was at first a bit skeptical about how the event would turn out. But he ended up having an absolute blast there, so now he’s trying to convince me to go with him next time.

After checking around for more information, I agreed — but on one condition: that we attend the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

There are a couple of reasons that I’m choosing the NFR over other competitions. First of all, it’s the premier rodeo event in the country, routinely drawing around 170,000 fans during its 10-day run. Plus, all of the top cowboys and cowgirls show up to compete in the NFR, since there are eight world championship titles at stake in addition to a boatload of prize money.

The second reason I want to attend the NFR is that it’s in Vegas! I’ve never been to Vegas before, but have been dying to go ever since I played my first hand of blackjack on an Indian reservation casino 15 years ago. If we go to the NFR, we’d be killing two birds with one stone. Perfect!

Anyway, I know that National Finals Rodeo tickets are hard to come by, but since the event isn’t until December, I’m hoping we have a shot at getting good seats. If we’re able to pull this vacation off, I’m sure we’ll have an amazing time!

I’ve been lucky enough to travel to many great countries all over the world, but one of my most memorable adventures happened right here at home.

When we were just out of college, my then-boyfriend and I thought it would be fun to drive down to New Orleans for a few days before starting our new jobs. We only had about $750 between us, which had to last until we got our first paychecks. The smart thing to do would have been to keep a few hundred of that money in the bank so we wouldn’t be tempted to spend everything — but I never said we were smart!

Anyway, the drive down to New Orleans was uneventful, and although we were dead tired when we arrived, there was no way we could go to bed without checking out the city for a bit. We hadn’t done much research about things to do in New Orleans, so we figured we’d just grab a drink at a bar on Bourbon St. or take in the French Quarter like most tourists. Instead, we headed straight for one of the local casinos.

We opted to play blackjack, and started losing almost immediately. Within an hour, we lost ALL of the money we brought with us, and since we didn’t have any credit cards, we were facing the embarrassing prospect of having to phone our parents to send some cash via Western Union.

When we got back to the car, we noticed that we had two dimes and a nickel in the change holder. My boyfriend looked at me, shrugged, grabbed the money, and started to walk back inside. I followed.

We got a quarter from the cashier, and put it in a video poker machine. We won a few more quarters. We played again, this time hitting a bigger hand that paid out $15.00. We then took that $15 back to the blackjack tables, and pushed our bankroll back up to $150. We called it quits right there, got a room at a cheap motel, and then drove back home the very next day — without bothering to do anything else in New Orleans!

Obviously, my past experience in New Orleans isn’t going to make it onto a list of the best family vacation ideas, but it was definitely a pretty wild time!

If you really want to learn about some fun things to do in the best vacation destinations across the U.S., then you should check out the Trusted Tours & Attractions website. There you can find activity ideas such as an Everglades adventure, sightseeing suggestions such as this Alcatraz tour, recommended restaurants, and even discount tickets to make your holiday a great one.

Better yet, you should sign up for the Trusted Travels eNewsletter to get this free monthly mailing delivered right to your inbox. It’s full of fantastic travel-related stories and tips, so it’s definitely a worthwhile read. Plus, if you sign up for the newsletter between now and March 31, 2008 you’ll be entered in a drawing to win an iPod Nano!

Sounds like a good deal to me!

I’m not very happy with my current Internet provider, so I’ve been looking to make a switch. I’m just tired of all the services glitches such as intermittent connections or spotty phone service. I can’t even tell you the number of times my home phone line has been out of order because of problems with our cable Internet.

Anyway, I was checking around today, and saw an awesome offer from Charter. Beginning on March 12, they’re going to hold an auction in which the top bidder will receive Charter High-Speed® Internet service for life! Bidding begins at just $10 with no upper limit, so it will be interesting to see how much this prize ultimately sells for.

In addition, Charter is currently holding a sweepstakes for a brand-new Nintendo Wii bundle, which includes a complete Wii gaming system as well as Wii Sports. I have this exact same system, and it’s definitely a lot of fun! Wii Sports includes Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Golf, and Boxing, so there’s something for everyone in the family.

You have to live in an area serviced by Charter in order to enter the sweepstakes, so if you do, then Click Here for a Chance to Win a Nintendo® Wii™!

Unfortunately, Charter isn’t in the Bloomingdale area, so I can’t participate in the Wii sweepstakes or the auction, but hopefully one of you can. Take a look today, and let me know if you end up winning the Wii or the high-speed service!

Identity theft is a major concern of mine because I do a lot of online shopping and banking. I’ve actually had my credit card number compromised a couple of times after making purchases on sites that weren’t as secure as they could have been, and it was no fun going through the dispute process with the card issuer.

After these bad experiences, I’m starting to think that a service like lifelock would be perfect for me. LifeLock is a company that provides identity theft protection for individuals, families, and children by setting up fraud alerts on their behalf. Once those alerts are in place, creditors and banks will be required to verify the identity of anyone who tries to get new credit cards or apply for a line of credit in the name of the person listed in the fraud alert.

Just think about all the things that routinely happen to victims of identity theft. Their credit cards get maxed out, their bank accounts get depleted, they encounter difficulties at work, they have trouble receiving earned entitlements, and they even get arrested for fraud (or worse). LifeLock can help prevent these problems from ever occurring by protecting your name and vital information from would-be thieves.

This service costs only $10 per month (or $110 for a year). I think the peace of mind that comes with being a LifeLock client would be well worth that price, so I’m definitely going to look into signing up.

If you’re worried about the adverse effects of identity theft, then you should check out LifeLock today. Don’t wait until it’s too late!

At about this time last year, my husband and I were busy trying to plan out our annual vacation. We were hoping to go to Australia, but had to scrap that notion once we discovered that the price of airfare and accommodation alone for our family of three would put us well beyond our modest budget.

However, we haven’t completely given up on making it Down Under someday. We want to see the Opera House in Sydney, climb the Harbor Bridge, head up to Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef, and then perhaps find a way to go out to Uluru in the Northern Territory. That would definitely be a dream holiday for all of us.

So every now and then I check around for cheap flights to Australia in the hopes of finding something that we can afford. More often than not, the best deals on tickets to Australia can be found at DialAFlight.com, a leading independent travel company.

Unfortunately for my family, DialAFlight is based in the UK, so all of their flights naturally originate from there. That doesn’t help us very much, but I’m sure it’s great for UK travelers!

In the meantime, I’ll keep looking for discount flights to Australia from the United States. After all, I’m bound to find something one of these years, right?

By now, everyone knows about the mortgage crisis here in the U.S. that has led to an alarming number of foreclosures across the country. The media has been painting a pretty bleak picture of the situation for months, so the story has been hard to avoid.

These types of problems aren’t limited to our shores, of course, which is why the services provided by companies such as Money Magic in the U.K. are so important for consumers. At the Money Magic website, you can get free quotes for Mortgages simply by entering entering some basic information about yourself and talking to an independent financial advisor on the phone.

Money Magic has developed a reputation for providing great rates to borrowers — without the hassle of a credit check or any of the other red tape typically associated with the loan process. Their website also features a lot of free financial advice that can help you get your personal money matters in order, so it’s definitely worth checking out.

It sounds to me as though Money Magic provides a very valuable service to families and individuals in need of mortgage assistance or general financial advice. It’s too bad they don’t operate here in the U.S., as I know plenty of people who need this type of help!

I read a lot of celebrity gossip sites to keep up with the latest Hollywood happenings. It amazes me how often some of these big stars get busted for speeding — and how often they manage to get out of their tickets based on various technicalities. I won’t go so far as to say that their celebrity status has anything to do with it, but I do sometimes wonder….

At any rate, thanks to the Original Ticket Busters over at TicketBust.com, even regular folks can learn how to fight a speeding ticket and come out on top.

Ticket Busters consists of a group of consultants who know California traffic laws inside and out. As a result, they GUARANTEE that if you use their service, your ticket will be dismissed or reduced by completely ethical methods. In the off chance that it isn’t, you will get a refund of your TicketBust.com service fee.

That sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

I’ve got a friend named Chris who lives in Los Angeles, and he’s the type of driver who can’t resist putting the pedal to the metal every once in a while. I’m going to tell him about TicketBust.com and make sure he bookmarks the site. He’ll probably end up needing their help sooner or later!

Getting credit while in college is often an important step towards financial independence. No, I’m not talking about taking classes in order to graduate, though of course that’s the ultimate goal in attending school. I’m talking about obtaining a credit card in order to start establishing a credit history. A good credit history will make it easier to buy a car, lease an apartment, and make other necessary purchases as you settle into independence and post-university life.

For better or worse, Credit Cards For College Students are relatively easy to get these days. I’m not going to delve into fiscal responsibility in this post and tell you how to use your credit card wisely. Instead, I’ll just advise you to do some credit card comparisons before you sign up for any one particular card to ensure that you’re getting fair terms and a reasonable interest rate.

CreditCardSearchEngine.com is a good website to go to for these types of comparisons. The data are laid out in a nice table so you can quickly see which features certain cards offer. This makes it easier to find the right card for your needs — an important first step towards establishing your credit rating.

I’ve been an active international traveler ever since I first got my passport 10 years ago. In that time, I’ve visited many diverse destinations, including capital cities in Europe, exotic islands in the South Pacific, and ancient historical sites in Asia. Of course, I’ve done my fair share of domestic traveling as well, and have been to all but 12 of our great states. Out of all the vacations I’ve ever taken in my life, I’d say my trip to Key West seven years ago is my most memorable one.

What makes Key West rank so high on my list? It’s not because of the Ernest Hemingway house or Sloppy Joe’s bar, even though those places were the main reasons I wanted to go to Key West in the first place. It’s not because I got to stand at the Southernmost Point of the U.S. and gaze out towards Cuba, a mere 90 miles away. It’s not even because I went parasailing and jetskiing for the first time in my life.

No; the reason I love Key West is that it’s where my husband proposed to me! It happened on the beach during a brilliant sunset, and I’ll never, ever forget it.

The first time I went to Key West, we were only able to stay for two days, which wasn’t long enough for us to do everything we wanted. So I would definitely like to go back there in the near future — this time making all our arrangements through a tour company like Trusted Tours and Attractions.

Trusted Tours and Attractions offer discount pricing on tickets to the most popular sightseeing tours, attractions, and museums in Key West and other top destinations throughout the country. By booking through them, we’d not only save money, but would also have a solid itinerary packed with fun activities.

I visited their website earlier today and saw that Trusted Tours and Attractions is currently holding a cool promotion. If you sign up for the Trusted Travel eNewsletter between now and the end of the month, you’ll automatically be entered in a drawing to win a free iPod Nano! I read through some of the archived issues of the newsletter, and found them to be chock-full of useful information, so I think it would definitely be worthwhile to sign up.

And now that I’ve been talking about Key West so much, I find that I have a sudden urge to go look through my photo album from that trip!

My best friend’s husband works in sales, and he always says that one of the most frustrating aspects of his job is wasting his time on people who have no real interest in the products he’s pushing. His company might have gotten the prospects’ names from a recycled mailing list or sign-up sheet for a completely different product or service, and figured that it wouldn’t hurt to call about their products as well.

Obviously, no one is going to close very many deals that way. Instead, it’s much more productive to work off a targeted mailing list from a marketing leader like Martin Worldwide. For example, if you want to pitch your company’s refinancing services to homeowners, then a mortgage mailing list containing names of people who are genuinely interested in the service will take you a lot farther than a generic list. The prospects will actually listen to what you have to say, your conversion rate will improve, and you won’t feel like you’re wasting your time.

Martin Worldwide offers a variety of targeted lists, so you’re sure to find something that fits your needs. Check out their site today, and see how much your productivity increases once you have the right tools for the job!

These days, it’s easier than ever to operate an online store. Ecommerce is a huge industry with incredible growth potential, so if you’ve got something to sell, there’s no reason to keep waiting on the sidelines any longer.

Before you get started, however, there are a number of important decisions you need to make, such as what kind of ecommerce software you’re going to use to power your site. There are lots of different options available to you, but I recommend checking out AshopCommerce.com, as they provide one of the most comprehensive, full-featured, and affordable software packages around.

When you buy ecommerce software from AshopCommerce.com, you get much more than just basic shopping cart capabilities. You actually get all the tools you need in order to set up and run a fully operational online store. From a single web-based admin panel, you’ll not only be able to handle checkout, payments, and shipping, but you’ll also be able to manage all other information related to your webstore, including homepage design, inventory, and even SEO.

All of these features, plus free upgrades and knowledgeable tech support, are available for a very affordable monthly fee, so there’s no reason to put off this purchase. Check out AshopCommerce.com today, and get your online store up and running in minutes!

My husband loves Westerns, so he has wanted to visit places like Durango (where parts of How the West Was Won, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and lots of other movies were filmed) and Cañon City (True Grit) for a long time now. These places are kind of off the beaten track, so I think it would be neat to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life for a while.

I was thinking of checking out a Colorado bed and breakfast directory to help get an idea of where to stay and what to do in those places. I don’t think we’d want to go to that area in winter, but it might be kind of cool to head out there for summer vacation. Maybe we could even take in the Grand Canyon as well!

I’ve never really been partial to Westerns myself, but if we’re going to visit these sites, then I definitely want to watch a couple of these films beforehand. I guess I’ll have to rent them the next time I’m at Blockbuster.

The Christmas shopping season is almost here, which means that it’s time for me to finalize my holiday budget. I try to take stock of my finances before Thanksgiving each year in order to get a better idea of how much I can comfortably spend on presents, cards, charitable donations, and travel. Of course, just because I have a budget in mind doesn’t mean I actually stick to it — which is why I’m looking for a new credit card as a backup resource.

I’m only interested in new cards that offer cash back or other rewards for each purchase, so I went to CreditCardSearchEngine.com to see what’s available out there. That site lists the Best Reward Credit Cards in a table for quick comparison, which makes it much easier for me to find what I need.

I discovered two promising rewards cards from that site and will apply for one (or both of them) in the coming weeks!

I have been banking with Washington Mutual for many years now, and am extremely pleased with the service I’ve been receiving. I made the switch to their free personal checking account after getting frustrated with all the limitations, rules, and fine print attached to the account I had with a different bank. I was in search of a straightforward account that gave me the freedom to do what I want, and Washington Mutual really delivers!

The best thing about my free checking account is the fact that there’s no minimum balance required. It doesn’t matter if I have $10,000 in there or just $10; I’ll never get a fee for failing to maintain some arbitrary minimum. Also, WaMu offers full-featured online banking services to all their customers, which means I can pay bills, transfer funds, or check my statement online without ever having to step foot inside a branch. And if I do want to go to my local branch and deal with a live teller, I won’t get charged extra for it.

How many other major financial institutions offer this many service — all for free? Needless to say, I’m sticking with WaMu for the long haul!

One of the things my husband and I have been working on for the last seven years or so is getting our finances in order. Back when we first got married, we had a lot of joint debt to contend with (school loans, credit cards), which made our dream of buying a home seem like a virtual impossibility. Add to this mountain of debt the fact that I already had a bad credit rating, and you can see that we had an uphill battle on our hands.

But we were eventually able to work things out through a combination of credit counseling, debt consolidation loans, and reformed spending habits. It was a painful experience, but we really did learn a lesson from it. Now, we’re very responsible with our money and will not be traveling down that road again anytime soon!

However, I know that some people might need more time or assistance in recovering from debt, which is why I want to let you know that there are services out there to help you maintain a comfortable standard of living while you pay down your bills. I’m talking about places such as BadCreditOffers.com, which is a website that serves as an online guide for people with bad credit ratings. With the help of this site, you can easily find the best bad credit offers around, thus saving you a lot of time and trouble.

What, exactly, is a bad credit offer? Well, it can be a home loan, personal loan, auto loan, or credit card from lenders that specialize in working with consumers saddled with bad credit ratings. BadCreditOffers.com routinely combs through these types of offers to highlight the ones with optimal features, such as ease of approval or competitive interest rates. All you have to do is read the offers, apply for the ones you’re interested in, and wait for a response. This service is completely free, making BadCreditOffers.com an invaluable resource to consumers.

The bottom line here is that you shouldn’t let bad credit prevent you from buying a home or a new car. Just because you’ve made financial mistakes in the past, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get a second chance. With BadCreditOffers.com, it’s easier than ever to find lenders that are willing to give you that second chance, so check out the site today!

I’ve been an avid international traveler for the past decade or so, and in that time, I’ve picked up a lot of tips and tricks that help make each vacation an adventure to remember. On my very first trip abroad 10 years ago, I barely knew what I was doing as I tried to make my way to all the top spots in Paris. On my last trip, I was whizzing around Seoul and the surrounding area like a seasoned pro even though I had never been to those destinations before. What had changed? Only the type of travel guide that I used to plan my trip.

When I first started traveling, I relied on guidebooks from famous names like Frommer’s, Lonely Planet, and Baedeker. The books were good enough when I didn’t know any better, but once I realized that my tastes and those of the professional travelers whose suggestions I was following simply didn’t mesh, I started seeking out alternatives. That’s when I used an online travel guide for the first time — and I haven’t gone back to print since then.

The biggest difference between a published guidebook and an online travel guide like the one found at RealTravel.com is that the online versions are usually posted by regular people just like me. That means they have similar budgets, similar sightseeing goals, and similar traveling concerns, thus making their words much more relevant to me than someone who gets paid to travel for a living.

Moreover, due to the sheer volume of input on online travel guide sites, I can make better-formed judgments about whether or not to pursue a particular activity. For example, a single travel book author might give a museum five stars and rate it a must-see, but 16 out of 20 people on a travel website might recommend skipping that same museum. Obviously I’d be more inclined to follow the majority opinion on that one!

Anyway, if you’ve never tried using an online trip planner like RealTravel.com for your vacations, I highly recommend doing so. I think you’ll like the results!

Now that we’re into October, it’s definitely time to start thinking about the holidays. With the economy slumping, a lot of people are probably wondering (and worrying) about how they’re going to finance all of the expenses that naturally go hand-in-hand with the season. From Thanksgiving dinners to airplane tickets for visiting out-of-state relatives to office parties and presents, the bills can pile up very quickly.

I know many of you might be tempted to use credit cards to finance your holiday spending. This is something that I would recommend only if you absolutely do not have cash readily available and only if you’re willing to take a couple of extra steps to get the most out of your credit.

First of all, I recommend that you compare credit cards to make sure that your current one offers the lowest interest rates and best terms. Chances are you can always find something better out there, so it’s critical to shop around. Many websites offer side-by-side comparison charts these days, which makes this step a lot easier.

And second, I suggest signing up for a card that offers 0% balance transfers or a similar no-interest promotion. What you can then do is use your current credit cards for holiday expenses, transfer the balance to your new card, and then enjoy 0% interest while you pay down the debt.

Just remember: it’s imperative that you read the fine print and know all of the terms and conditions for any credit card that you sign up for so you don’t get hit with unexpected finance charges. Most cards that offer 0% balance transfers do so only for a specified period, but as long as you pay off the balance within that time frame, you’ll be fine.

The holidays are stressful for a variety of reasons, but if you’re smart about making your credit work for you, then the financial aspect shouldn’t contribute to your headaches!