Good Debt versus Bad Debt

Debt is part of our daily life. Each month we spend a lot of money paying off debt. Not all that is bad and if we want to get out of debt or improve our credit score we should understand what the difference between good and bad debt is.

Good debt is something which generates wealth in the long term and often the interest you pay is tax-deductible. Examples for good debt are mortgage debt, certain home equity loans and student loan. When you take a mortgage out when you purchase a home the value of your home will increase in the long term.  You could sell that home and you could get more money than what you paid for. Student loans are also good debt to since getting a degree will help you to get a higher paying job. Certain home equity loans are good debt too if you use it for home improvement or to pay off higher interest rate bad debt such as credit card debt.

Bad debt on the other hand doesn’t generate wealth and the interest you pay is not tax-deductible. Examples for bad debt are car loan, credit card debt and certain home equity loans. Car loan is bad debt since your car is losing value from the very first day. When you use your credit card to buy cloth, food or things like a computer or big screen TV you accumulate bad credit. If you don’t pay off your credit card in full you end up paying more and more on something which worth less and less. Certain home equity loans can be bad such if you spend the money on a vacation or buy something which will gradually lose its value.

If you want to improve your credit score work on your bad debt first and keep the debt to income ratio for unsecured debt under 15%. Try to resist applying store credit cards when they give you a discount at the first purchase. If you can’t pay off the balance you will end up paying over 20%. With good credit you can get credit cards whit under 10% interest so why get a store credit card. And remember if you can’t afford to buy something your credit card is not going to make you richer.

Foods That Slow Aging and Keep You Healthy

Aging is something you have to accept. There is nothing wrong to be over 40 in fact you could have the best time of your life if you keep your body healthy. Certain foods can make you look and feel young and help you to stay healthy. Of course you need some regular exercise too. Here is a list of foods that you should include in your diet every day.

• Certain vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, turnips and Brussels sprouts help the body in fighting toxins and cancer. They contain antioxidants and sulfur, which provide energy and keep your skin healthy. Eat them raw or lightly cooked.
• Nuts are high in calories but you don’t have to eat a whole lot to benefit from them. Nuts are rich in protein, fiber and important minerals such as potassium, iron, zinc and magnesium. They are good for your digestive and immune system and helpful in fight against cancer. Their high Omega-3 fatty acid content keeps your brain and body healthy. They are also good for a healthy skin. There are plenty of nuts to choose from such as almonds, pecans, cashews, walnuts, macadamias, pistachios, Brazil nuts and more.
• Whole Grains such as whole wheat, oats, brown rice, faro, barley and wheat berries are rich in fiber which keeps your digestive system healthy. They also make you feel full a good way to control your appetite. Including whole grains in your diet is a smart way to combat all types of illnesses, such heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke.
• The Omega-3 fatty acid from certain fish improves mood and mental capacities. These oils have antioxidants which can attack cells that cause the body to decay. Omega-3s can also fight inflammation in the body. Inflammation can cause many different health complications. Fish oil is also good for the skin preventing dryness and eczema. Salmon and tuna are the most popular with elevated level of Omega-3.
• Avocado is full of monounsaturated fat, which can reduce the bad cholesterol level in the body. It also has a lot of potassium, which fights fluid retention and high blood pressure and the risk of stroke. Avocado also has a high level of vitamin E, which prevents skin aging. Avocado is rich in folate, which can decrease the risk of heart attacks. Avocado with its antioxidants can help your body protect itself from free radicals.
• All black and blue berries, such as blackberries, black currants and black grapes contain antioxidants which protect the body against damage caused by free radicals and aging. Dark berries are also helpful in maintaining good balance, coordination and short term memory. In the pigment of these berries there are phytochemicals which are called flavonoids. Flavonoids have antioxidant, anti-allergic, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral activities. Red wine contains high levels of flavonoids.

What You Need to Know for Successful Investing

When you start investing you need to know that investing money on the stock market comes with certain risk. Before you invest you also have to figure out how much money you want to start with.

If you are new to investing it’s not a good idea not to invest all your money without learning about the basics. There are too many people start investing too much money without the knowing basics of investing. It’s better to start to invest with less money perhaps with a couple of hundred dollars while you master the investment terms. It’s also a good idea to keep an emergency fund and never touch it.

As I mentioned investing comes with risk. How much risk are you willing to take? Remember the money you invest is not insured, when you lose it its gone. Stocks are the riskiest investments. Mutual funds are a lot less risky since they are more diversified. Buying bonds are even much safer and you can still earn a lot more money than in a regular savings account. The higher the risk the more money you can make but also the more money you can lose.

You have to learn how much risk you can take also called risk tolerance. Starting with a little money and watching the stock market you will learn to get used to the market fluctuation without panicking.

Why do We Buy Things We Don’t Really Need?

It happens to me sometimes too that I end up buying something I don’t really need. I buy it and a week or too later I realize that it was a wasting of money. Obviously when this happens I don’t go through the right decision making process. So, why do we end up buying things which don’t really make us happier? In fact later on paying credit card bills could be frustrating and painful. Here are a couple of things I could think of:

• It could be the commercials that influence us and convince us that we absolutely need something. It seems that everyone else has it. If we don’t have it we are filled with the anxiety of the outcast.
• Our friends and family members have it. It seems that their life is so much happier. It’s embarrassing when they talk about it and we don’t have it.
• Our kids are asking for something they absolutely need mainly due to peer pressure.
• Sometimes we buy something we already have but we can’t find it or just simply lazy to look for it in the garage, in the basement or in the attic.
• Sometimes we buy something for a real good (cheap) price and we didn’t pay attention to the quality. Later on we end up buying the same thing but this time we get the better quality.
• It happens that we talk about something then I buy it and my wife comes home with the same thing.
• We buy things simply because we are distracted in a store and we forget about what we really wanted in the first place.
• Sometimes we get a good deal on a larger package and most of it will end up in the trash.
• Often we forget to cancel a subscription and we have to pay for that.
• We want to try out something for free but after the free trial period we forget to cancel it.

Before you buy something you don’t really need, remember you could save that money or better invest it.

What do Women Want from a Man?

It's not very hard to get a woman's attention if you know what women are looking for. There are many women out there who are looking for men. Often they don't find the right man because they don't have enough time to look around and men don't know how act.

When you want to get a woman's attention, you don't have to pretend that you are someone else. Sooner or later she will find out who you really are.

Women like independent men, someone who can make his own decisions. The man should be also confident. This confidence attracts women because it's easy to trust such a man.

A man should now how to support himself and his woman. He should be able to provide his woman with all those things she needs to bloom like a flower.

A man should notice every little detail on a woman, the way she dresses, her jewelry, Her makeup, her hair, her perfume. If you don't notice these, your mind is somewhere else. Your mind should be right with her to get connected.

The type of man women like should also be sensitive and able to express emotions. He should be able to have a nice conversation about various things. A good sense of humor is very helpful too, you have to be able to entertain your woman.

Is Fat Good or Bad?

When we think about weight loss and fats we are sort of confused. We hear many  times that in order to lose weight we have to cut fat completely out of our diet  or limit it to just a small amount. If we follow this we are going exclude healthy fats from our diet too.

We heard about bad fats, trans fats that we shouldn't eat in order to lose weight and stay healthy. Most of us don't have enough information about healthy fats, the good fats we should eat which are essential to our health. A lot of people believe that all fats are bad.

Yes, we need to eat fats to stay healthy. And we also need fats to lose weight which sounds contradictory. Here are some good reasons why we need fats:

• It's hard to believe but fat can help you to lose weigh. Fat is filling, fat will prevent you from overeating and will help you to feel satisfied.
• Essential fats will help you to reduce the risks of cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, fatigue and allergies due to their anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting properties.
• Omega-3 fats help you to reduce the chances of developing depression. Depression is a frequent trigger of overeating. Omega-3 fats have mood enhancing qualities.
• Believe it or not the brain is made up of 60% fat! Fat forms an essential part of your cell structure. Without them your cells will be unable to replenish and you will not be able to function at your peak capacity.
• Fats can influence your blood sugar balance. Balancing your blood sugar level will reduce your cravings and will also prevent mood swings.

As you can see, as long as you are eating the right fats you can still lose weight. You just need to know which fats are which. Some of the best sources to receive healthy fats are flex seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, walnuts, avocados, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and wild salmon.

Online Dating Profile Tips

If you want to attract people with your online dating profile you have to make it interesting and avoid the common mistakes most people make.

 In general in your profile you should be positive about yourself, write about things you like instead of things you don’t like. Just think about what you enjoyed in the past and the things you are interested in. Write about details without giving away personal information. You definitely don’t want to mention your address, phone number or email address in your profile. Once you find a match you can send this information later once you build up some trust. When you write about yourself don’t just copy a standard profile, make it unique, people are interested in your unique personality. Being specific can help you to prescreen those who are interested in your profile.

The second part of your profile is when you describe the ideal person you are looking for. Don’t try to look for Mr. Perfect. Think about what you are missing in life and how that other person could fulfill your dreams. Take some time to figure out what is more important to have quality time with someone.

Upload some pictures in your profile, recent ones. Pictures you look good and describe your personality. Most people look at the pictures first and if they find them interesting then start to read the rest of the profile.

Don’t make your profile too short, giving the impression that there is not much you can say about yourself. Don’t make it too long either, people can get bored reading it. If you don’t like your profile later on don’t be afraid to change it.

What is Considered a Good Credit Score?

It’s always good to know to what is your credit score. Once a year you can check it for free. It’s important to get this free report, it will help you to improve your credit score.

The credit score is a number between 300 and 850. The higher your credit scores the easier to get a loan or credit card with lower interest rate. This is because people with higher score pose less risk to lending institutions.

There are 5 major factors that influence your credit score:

• 35% - Paying bills on time, every time;
• 30% - Your Debt-to-Credit ratio, which means how much of the available credit you use;
• 15% - The length of time you have had credit;
• 10% - The length of time since you applied for credit;
• 10% - The types of credits you use;

As you can see it’s very important to pay your bills on time and keep your credit card balances low. These are the 2 most important factors when they calculate your credit score.

Finally the answer is 688-699 for good credit score and 700 and above considered excellent credit score. If your credit score is under 620, that’s considered bad.

Why a 32 Inch TV is Big Enough for Me

We waited for long time with this purchase. Most of our friends have at least a 40 inch TV, most of them LCD. I don’t spend a lot of time in front of the television and my wife who watches a lot of shows while playing Scrabble or other word games on the computer didn’t really care how big the screen was.

My kids have a game room setup in the basement where they can listen to loud music and play Xbox with surround sound or watch movies with their friends from Netflix on a HD TV. So they didn’t really care too much about what we have in the living room.

Finally we decided to replace the existing TV anyway. We wanted to put the new TV on an antique furniture. We wanted to get a something which looks elegant but still doesn’t dominate the room and looks good on that antique furniture.

We decided that we don’t need anything bigger than 32 inches. We didn’t want to have a TV with a room we wanted a room with a TV which belongs there.

After reading reviews we decided to get a 32 inch LG LED TV. We ended up getting one with Internet connectivity so we could watch Netflix. The kids also watch YouTube and there are Widgets to check the news and weather from Yahoo too.

We have a wireless connection via a wireless adapter which you have to buy separate. To setup the wireless connection was very simple by pressing a button on the wireless adapter.

Having Netflix is a great feature. Finally we can watch movies together again. I just watched “Last Chance Harvey” with my wife sipping on a glass of zinfandel and really enjoyed it (the zinfandel too).

The Hidden Source of Fat, Sugar – How to Control It

When you are trying to lose weight you have to carefully watch your diet. There some ingredients in your food you should avoid, like sodium, fats, cholesterol and very importantly sugar. If seems that sugar is a healthy food, because it has zero fat, provides your body with instant energy and makes food taste good. The truth is that sugar can make you fat.

Sugar is the main ingredient of many food products and drinks. Sugar is disguised as carbohydrates. Some of these products are rice, bread, pasta, milk and even beer. When you ear these foods your body will digest the sugar into your bloodstream in the form of glucose. One slice of bread has the same amount of glucose as 4 tablespoon sugar. The more sugar you eat the longer your body wants to store fat.

Researchers has found that by keeping your blood glucose level low will help decrease your risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. If you follow some simple tips you can decrease your health risk and you can lose some fat.

• Although granola bars are popular you should read the label and find the health bars with the least amount of sugar.
• Use vinaigrette on your salad. The acid in the vinegar helps to break down the glucose in your food. Vinegar can cut your glucose level by 23%. So put some extra pickles on your salad or sandwich.
• Eat caffeine friendly foods. Caffeine has been known to increase the rate your body burns up fat. So if you really need your favorite cup of coffee in the morning drink it, but skip the bagel and doughnuts and eat some eggs and fruits for breakfast.

How I Help My Kids to Relief Stress

We all have stress, adults and children. I can see it on my kids every day. There are different sources of stress for adults and children but there similar ways to relax regardless of your age.

I think children are too innocent to understand the sources of stress. As an adult I pretty much know where do they come from and I deal with it as soon as I can. For me listening to music, reading, writing, exercising, having a nice conversation is very relaxing.

When you observe your children you should really make a note what they like, such as music, movies, TV shows, and video games. I strongly believe that what they like reflects how they feel.

When I start to see that my kids listen to the kind of music and watch TV shows that I don’t care about I take them out for hiking.

Hiking is great, it’s very relaxing and in the same time you exercise. We often go back to the same place, a 15 minute ride from my house. It’s in a state park and it’s not too popular, we often see only a half a dozen people who are looking for the same thing we do, the beauty of nature.

We go to the same place but every time it’s a little bit different. The change of the seasons is breathtaking. We park at the top of the hill and climb down to a creek where we spend most of the time. My kids are throwing rocks or hopping from rock to rock to cross the creek.

I usually just sit there and watch them and take some pictures which I use as my screen saver when we get back.

What is the Difference between Saving and Investing?

When you save money you normally put your money in the bank and in return the bank pays you interest. The longer you keep your money there and the higher the interest rate the faster your money will grow. A savings account is a very safe place to keep your money. There is no risk involved.

With a savings account the problem is that the interest rate is so low, the highest rate I could find today is about 1.50%. With this interest rate your money won’t grow fast.

There are better ways to make your money grow faster. Investing in stocks is one of them. Your average return on investment could be easily around 12%. When you invest in stocks:

• You will own part of the company you invested in, unlike with a savings account ;
• You participate in the growth of the company, with a fast growing company your money can grow much faster than in a savings account;
• With investment there is always risk involved unlike with a savings account. Your money can grow but there is also a chance that you lose some money;

If you learn the basics about investment you will dramatically decrease the risk. For most people investing is not a way to get rich quick but to make your money grow over a long period of time.

How Many Credit Cards Should I Have

The number of credit cards you should have depends on how good are you at managing your credit. The more cards you have the more bills you have to pay and you have to make sure that you pay your bills on time.

It’s definitely good to have more than one credit card. If you have more than one credit card they should be different, MasterCard, VISA, American Express and Discover Card. One of your cards will be accepted no matter where you travel. Another reason to have more than one card is that if they close one of your accounts due to fraud you can still use your other cards. Some people use a separate card for groceries, another for gas and another one for online shopping. Department store cards make sense too if you want to take advantage of special discounts and special deals.

To keep your credit score high you have to keep an eye on your credit utilization which is your total credit card debt divided by your total credit limit. Keep this number under 30%. If your total credit limit is $10,000 then your balance shouldn’t be more than $3,000.

It’s better to have fewer credit cards with higher credit limit than more cards with lower credit limit. If you don’t use certain cards you should use them at least twice a year so your credit card company will see that you are using your card.

For most people having 5 credit cards is probably the best. If you have more cards and you want to close some of them leave your older accounts open since they influence your credit score more.

There is Something About Rain…

Rain has a personality and rain is moody, every time it's different especially in different seasons. Rain is different when it's dark and when it's bright out there. Rain is different when it' cold outside or when it's warm. Rain is different from inside of your living room and from outside.

It's early November, Thursday morning and it's raining. I'm driving early morning to work and it's still dark out there. The temperature is about 45 degrees but it feels much colder when it rains. I can't wait until my car warms up. I'm listening to my usual music station and the soft music, the familiar voices and even some commercials warm me up somewhat.

Rain is not just rain, there is nothing good about the one today. I love rain especially in the springtime it's so rejuvenating. In summertime it could be very refreshing on a hot day. It can be very relaxing to listen to the raindrops hitting the windowpane. But in the middle of autumn it's slightly depressing especially in the morning when it's still dark and cold.

The only good thing I can think about is a fresh, hot cup of coffee when I get to the office.

Learn How to Save Some Money

There is only one way to save money on a regular basis. You have to spend less than what you earn. If you regularly spend more than what you make than you probably don’t care about your financial health.

In order to make your financial situation healthier you will have to change your spending habits. It doesn’t matter how much you make. People with low income can save and people with high income can be in financial disaster.

Making money is not enough. If you don’t learn how to manage your money you can easily have financial problems. Most of the time people have money problems because they don’t know enough or they don’t want to deal with their financial reality.

First of all you have to find out how healthy your financial situation is. You have to sit down with all your bills and figure out where the money goes. This task is really easy if you have a financial program such as Quicken where you can download transactions and balance your accounts in a few minutes. You will able to predict your financial health in the future.

If you don’t like the picture you will have to make some changes item by item. Create a budget if you don’t have one and stick with it. Keep only what you need and learn how to spend less. If buying things makes you happy try to find other things which make you happy as well. Saving money is not necessarily painful if you are responsible about your financial health.

Little Things I Can't Stand

Every now and then I come across with little things I just can't stand. It seems sometimes that I'm the only one who notices these things. Here is a sample list of these annoying things:

• The window is left open when the heater or air conditioner is on; This is because I am paying the bills;
• The toilett paper roll is empty; I'm the one who always puts on the new one;
• Someone leaves the mouse on the mousepad and I have to charge it up before I can use the computer;
• There is an empty soda bottle in the fridge; 
• I hate those pop-up surveys after visiting a site for a few seconds, in facts I hate most of the surveys which take longer than a minute;
• When someone is jogging on the street when it's already dark, especially when there is a sidewalk;
• When someone calls the wrong number (my number) in the middle of the night;
• When someone in my family leaves a tissue in a pocket and it goes all over in the dryer;
• When they plow in my driveway and it turns into a big chunk of ice;
• When the TV is on and nobody is watching it;

Maybe another time I will add more to this list.

What are Fat Soluble Vitamins and Why do We Need Them?

Fat soluble vitamins, vitamins A, D, E and K dissolve in fat and absorbed from the small intestines. Fat soluble vitamins are stored in the liver and fatty tissues. These vitamins stored for a long period of time unlike water soluble vitamins such vitamins B-complex and C.

Taking too much fat soluble vitamins can pose a risk for toxicity. With a well-balanced diet you don’t need these vitamin supplements. Your body only needs a small amount of these vitamins.

Vitamin A

·         Helps to form skin and mucus membranes and keep them healthy, increase the resistance to infections, essential for night vision, promotes bones and tooth development and it may protect against cancer;

·         Good sources are dairy products, fish, liver and fruit and vegetables such as apricot, carrots, pumpkin, dark green leafy vegetables ;

Vitamin D

• Promotes hardening of bones and teeth, increases the absorption of calcium;
• Primary sources are milk and other dairy products, fish such as herring, salmon and sardines, cod liver oil; We also obtain vitamin D through our skin from sunlight;

Vitamin E

• Protects vitamins A and C and fatty acids, prevents damage to cell membranes, antioxidant;
• Good sources are vegetable oil, margarine, butter, green and leafy vegetables, wheat germ, whole grain products, nuts, egg yolk, liver;

Vitamin K

• Helps blood to clot;
• Good sources are dark green leafy vegetables, liver and also made by bacteria in the intestine;

Eating well-balanced diet will not lead to toxicity.

I Have to Clean Up My Filing Cabinet

I have to admit I’m a procrastinator sometimes and I like to hold on to things. Probably that’s why I’m running out of room in my filing cabinet. I should clean my filing cabinet at least every 2 or 3 month.

It’s already hard to open it and close it. I have no choice, I have to get rid of what I don’t really need. I sat down for a moment to figure out where to start. First of all I went to get an empty kitchen trash bag and my paper shredder.

I figured that the best way to do it is to start with the oldest records. I found out that I had records of my old computers I don’t even have anymore and cars I don’t own anymore. Once I started to see results it was getting easier and easier to proceed. I started to shred everything with information I didn’t just one to throw in the trash bag.

Than I started to go thru some credit card and bank statement. I decided to save only the last 3 statements and shred the rest. I did this with most of the other bills too. If I ever need an older one I can go online and check it there and download it if I really need. Then I was going through the medical records. I kept most of these records except the ones for regular visits.

I spent about an hour doing this and I felt much better afterwards. I promised to myself that I will do this more often.

Things Not to Do When Trying to Lose Weight

Starting a diet is not an easy decision. There are so many diets to choose from. Here is a list of things you shouldn't if you want to succeed in losing weight.

Don't choose the toughest diet you can find. Many people suddenly decide that they want to lose weight fast. They choose a very strict diet and they fail. Don't rush into a diet that may be too strict for you.

Don't lose touch with reality. Don't expect that those things will happen overnight. When you set your weight goal, start small and plan for long-term. Don't try to lose weight too fast, be realistic.

Don't go to the gym too often. It's a common mistake lot of people make. They start to go to the gym every day. This won't help you at all. Your body needs time to get used to the workout. Besides, a week of non-stop training could never offset ten or more years of couch potato lifestyle.

Don't get hard on calories. Cutting down on calories is part of all diets, but you have to be careful about it. If you cut down too many calories soon your body will start storing anything it possible can. This won't result in weight loss.

Don't skip meals. Some people think that skipping meals is a good way to lose weight. Dieting is about eating the right food and not starving yourself.

Don't check the bathroom scale everyday. Most of us want to see immediate results, but you shouldn't let this drive you to checking your weight everyday. The daily fluctuation of weight can be depressing and you will quit dieting.

Don't let emotions drive you. I you know you are used to reach out for ice-cream, snacks out of boredom, frustration or anger then you should deal with these issues. Your emotions shouldn't come between you and your diet.

Don't refuse to ask for help. If you need advice or help, don't hesitate to ask someone with more experience. Don't try to solve all problems by yourself. Join a weight loss forum where you can share your weight loss progress.

Don't deny yourself your favorite foods. Treats are great, they can help your willpower and determination. Eat what you really enjoy every once in a while. They will make no difference in the long run if they are not frequent