Success Moving to Another Country
Two months ago, I got the biggest shock of my life. My husband was being promoted and transferred. He made me try to guess where we were headed. It wasn't to New York city or to Dallas, the two main branches in North America. I nearly fainted when he told me that in less than two months we would be living in South Africa.
We went about the routines of moving. We packed day and night, and listed the house for sale. The hardest part for me was the fact that we needed to call a real estate agent in South Africa, explain what we wanted and trust them to buy us a house, sight unseen.
We did a little bit of research and talked to some of the families in the South African branch of my husband's company. The response was always the same: contact Pam Golding.
We called her company, Pam Golding International and explained the move and what type of property we were looking for. We wanted a large house so there would be plenty of room for our two children to play. It was also important for the children to have a large yard. We were assured that all our requirements would be met.
Within two days we got a phone call letting us know that we were officially property owners in South Africa.
So, last week, when we arrived in Kentworth and I saw my beautiful Victorian home for the first time, I was both shocked and amazed. Not only were all our requirements met, the home was beyond anything I could have pictured myself in. Finally meeting our realtor in person had another bonus - they had obtained inexpensive financing for us through Seeff Homeloans.
I absolutely love my new house and will spend the next few months turning it into a home for our family as we enculturate into this beautiful country.
Categories: Life, Real Estate Tags:
Finding The Best For You
Getting a product or service that is the best for you can be tough. You see, when you go to a store, they will sell you what is best for them - in most respects your needs will go out the window. This is an unfortunate result of most salespeople you will deal with for financial products - they usually get a commission for each sale they make.
But what if you are fed up with being a "victim" and you would rather be presented with products that suit your interests - not someone else's. Take control of you financial destiny and use the power of the Internet. Now this may sound a little silly, but tell me the last time your bank was willing to show you the best savings accounts from its' competitors - and I bet they never have.
Same goes with other financial products online. Compare credit cards, compare mortgages and even compare car insurance from the comfort of your home. What is really cool is that all the competitors are lined up wanting your business and are prepared with their best offers for you.
Do yourself a favor, and put yourself first for a change: go online to get the best deal for you.
Categories: Finance Tags:
Simplify Your Website Promotion
Promotion is a big part of running a website. Just like any other business, you want to try to get your name out there so other people visit your site. I just came across a valuable resource that helps you promote your websites with very little work.
There are some sites out there that are marketplaces where you can buy links from other websites to promote your own website. Most of these marketplaces are difficult as you have to purchase each link separately.
Simplify your website promotion.
There is a new text links marketplace in town: TNX.net. What they offer is an easier way to buy links to promote your site. Instead of buying each link individually, you can specify the number of links that you want to buy and the PR of the pages you want your link on and their software does the rest.
Their system functions on the point system, with the currency called TNX Points. The current value is very reasonable: as little as 1 TNX-Point can buy you a link for a month on a PR 0 page (the current price for this type of link would be $0.002). This should fit the budget of any website. If you don't really have an advertising budget you can also participate in their affiliate program and earn points from those people that sign up under you.
If this is something that would interest you, I know of a special that is on that gets you some free points (which would be some free advertising for you). Visit the following link to get free text link ads.
Categories: SEO, Webmastering Tags:
Looking for a Doctor Because You Moved
If any of you have ever moved from one town to another, you know how big of a frustration it can be. Not only do you have to pack up your stuff, change your address and drivers license, but you have to familiarize yourself with your new surroundings.
This can be a huge challenge especially if you have kids. I know when I take mine to the doctor I would rather take them to a pediatrician as opposed to a regular doctor. The reason being is that their primary care giver (in terms of a doctor) should be a specialist in their conditions, whereas a regular family doctor is not. They can sometimes pick out signs that a regular doctor would miss.
Some places that you can take a look for doctors is the yellow pages. You can look under family doctor for just a regular doctor, or look under pediatrics for a clinic that specializes in children. You can also ask friends or coworkers who they would suggest. Don't be afraid to arrange an "interview" with your potential candidates to see what experience they have as well as their qualifications. You can also see how you interact with them to see if they are a good match for your needs.
After you do find a doctor, don't be afraid to change practitioners should you not be satisfied with your service. If you are in this situation, I wish you the best of luck!
Categories: Health Tags:
An Interesting Read: Search for Weird News
I was talking to my wife today about her day at work and how her night shift went. She said that while she was reading the paper at the front desk, one of her guests at the hotel suggested that she go online and do a web search for weird news websites.
"Why?", she asked.
"Well, you'll find that strange news is a lot more exciting than the stuff in that newspaper you're reading."
So, when she came home we went to the computer and did a quick search for weird news headlines. What did we find?
Well, definitely some interesting stuff.
We spent the next hour or so looking at different sites and blogs that had some of these quirky news stories. In most cases it is the headline that grabs your attention. Some of the ones that we saw were:
"Earn a Degree on YouTube"
"26 Years without Washing"
"Snakes….I mean scorpions on planes…"
And there were others. This stuff you just don't find in newspapers and it is one step ahead of a paper: it is actually interesting. So, next time you are bored, make a quick search for weird news on your favorite search engine - and be prepared to be entertained.
Categories: Entertainment, News Tags:
Too Many Credit Card Options
Does it ever seem to you that there are too many options when it comes to credit cards? I don't know about you but it seems every few days, I get another one of those "pre-approved" credit card letters.
Being a little naive about the options available for credit cards, I took a trip to my computer (yes, about ten steps from my couch... some trip) to look online for somewhere I could compare credit cards.
I thought there were a lot of options before I looked online, but I really had no idea. There are basic cards, one's that you can get rewards (such as frequent flyer miles), and there are also cashback credit cards. With so many choices, I just don't really know which one to get.
Thankfully, I have a friend that is a financial advisor. I think I will go talk to him and get his advice. I just want to get something that is suitable for my needs and won't result in me paying a lot of interest.
Categories: Finance Tags:
Advertise your Business the Write Way
Now if you don't notice the play on words in my title here, read it again. Ok, now do you notice what I wrote?Â
Today I want to talk about an advertising method that we often take for granted: advertising pens. Why would I want to focus on this? To be honest, I just finished writing my grocery list with a pen that was advertising my local equipment rental store.
The real trick with this method is that these companies put their advertising right in front of your face everyday. It is almost like conditioning you to think of their product or service. A good example of this type of conditioning is macaroni and cheese. When I think of mac and cheese, the first brand that comes to life is Kraft.
Another benefit is that your customers will appreciate the gift. Sure, it doesn't cost much money, but in this case it is the thought that counts. Also, you are giving them something useful, that they can benefit from everyday.
So, next time you are thinking for someway to spread the word about your business, consider giving out pens. Not only are they cheap, but it is a great way to condition your customers to think of your brand when they need the product or service that you offer.
My Wife and Her Headaches
I am lucky that neither my wife or I have any serious health problems. Granted we are still young (under 30) but out of my friends that are married, usually one or the other has some health problems.
The only real problem we have is that my wife gets headaches every 28 days or so. I am sure you can figure out why (if you can't figure it out, go ask a woman what happens every 28 days) and we have been looking for a good headache treatment for her.
Regular Tylenol or Advil doesn't cut it. We have made an appointment with a specialist and are going to see them on next Wednesday. I hope they can help us figure it out.
Categories: Health Tags:
My Most Valuable Blogging Tool
In my quest to be a good blogger, I rely on many tools to help me write valuable blog posts that someone would like to read (by the way, thank you for reading). Some of these tools I use are software, books, the Internet (for doing research) and coffee to keep me awake. All these are useful, but I do have one tool I cannot do without: a pen.
Now, you might think it is a bit silly to suggest a pen would be my blogging tool of choice. Don't I need a computer to blog in the first place?
So, I do need a computer ok?
The reason I chose a pen to be the most valuable blogging tool, is that I usually have one with me to write down blogging ideas that come to mind. I write them down so I don't forget (I am getting older after all 
). Also, should I be at one of my children's activities and I am waiting for them to finish, I can write blog posts on paper while I am waiting.
I would not be able to get as much done blogging as I do without a pen. Not only does it allow me to maximize my time (I can write posts and ideas down wherever I go), but it is also convenient and I can take it anywhere. Another big plus is if I lose it it only costs less than a dollar to replace. Now only if laptops were that cheap...
Categories: Uncategorized Tags:
Looking at Other Investments
We seem to have a good grasp on our investments: we have RRSP's, some mutual funds and a savings bond or two. What is good about this is that if we run into any monetary problems, we have some money to fall back on.
What I don't like about our investment portfolio is that the return isn't that great. Sure the eight percent we earned last year is ok as far as mutual funds go, but really, we will never get rich this way.
So we have been looking at other ways to diversify our portfolio. First, we considered starting a business, but neither of us has the time to do it. Sure we have our online stuff, but we need something that will bring in even more money.
The idea came to us over dinner with one of my good friends Jason. He has been investing in real estate this past year with amazing results. In fact, he bought one condo to rent by our university, and the value of that has increased enough that he has bought another condo in another city.
Now, for those of you who have investment properties, I realize this is small compared to what some of you have in your portfolios. Really, it was what we needed to see - someone we knew that had made this type of investment before.
He referred us to a realtor that he uses and we are going to look at some potential investments this weekend. I am so excited, I can't wait. Only four more sleeps to go...
Categories: Investing, Real Estate Tags: