Thank You!

It's nearly the end of the year, and I just wanted to say a big Thank You to the following bloggers who have sent traffic to me:

Mike's Money Making Mission - One of my favourite blogs online. A fellow Brit with a lot of experience of sales which he is applying to online money-making

The Money Blog - the blog of another Brit but he's in exile abroad

Earn Money Blogging This blogger has sadly stopped updating his blog, but still sends me traffic. Here's hoping he starts up again in the new year.

Hope everyone has a great New Year

Fiber Optic Cables

If you have a home office, or wish to have a lot of high-tech stuff in your house, you will need to lay fiber optic cables in the house. Fiber optic cables are similar to the copper cables that you usually have to transmit any sort of communications, however while copper cables use electronic pulses to transnit information, fiber-optic cables use light pulses. The advantage of fiber-optic cables is that they have a bigger bandwidth, can operate at higher speeds, cost less to maintain, and have greater resistance to electromagnetic noise from radios and other transmitters.

Progesterone

There are two female hormones, estrogen and progesterone. Some women in the industrialised world produce more estrogen than is required, leading to a condition called 'estrogen dominance', which is implicated in pre-menstrual syndrome and other conditions. One solution is to use a progesterone creme, which restores the balance between the two hormones. Always speak to your doctor before taking any medication or supplements.

Celebrities and Money

Part of the reason so many people have problems with their finances is that they take their cues about money from celebrities. The press is full of stories about the spending habits of celebrities such as Britney Spears, who according to the court filings of her ex-husband Kevin Federline spends

'an average of $16,000 a month on clothes. She spends about $4,758 on eating out, $10,250 on utility bills and $17,000 on automotive and other transportation costs. The clincher: She spends an average of $102,000 a month on "entertainment, gifts and vacation,"'

Though poor Britney is in a sad place right now, millions of people think they should try to copy her (on a smaller basis), using their credit cards.

There are plenty of celebrities who are savvy with money, but we never get to hear about them, because let's face it, no magazine is going to bother writing an article headlining "XYZ is good at budgeting" because they believe no one will bother to read it. Excess sells magazines, prudence does not.

It's also important for people to remember that celebrities often give the impression of spending more than they actually do. They live in the world of Freebies, where companies press their products on them free in the hopes that if their fans see them using a particular label, they too will buy something from this label - and this works a treat as fans do try to emulate their idols. These fans are being foolish. Unless a celebrity has spent hard cash on an item, they arn't really endorsing it. Consider what happens when you get a freebie trial shampoo sachet through the post - you try it out, because why not? It's free. But just because you are trying it out, you arn't endosing it. It's only when you part with real money to buy something that you are saying "I like this product". Same goes with celebrities. They wear borrowed clothes, borrowed jewellery, some of the homes featured in magazines arn't really theirs (they just hire the premises for the photo-shoots). It's all a false impression of consumption.

There are some celebrities who really do spend a fortune, like Britney. But these are the last people you should try to emulate. If your income is $10,000,000 and your expenditure is $999,999, then you have $1 left at the end of the year. Pretty much everyone in the western world can do better than that. Wealth isn't how much you earn, or how extravagantly you spend, but what you get to keep at the end of the day.

Custom Calenders

It's coming up to the New Year, which is when people buy calenders and where companies distribute calenders to their best customers. You can order a custom printed calendars, with four lines of your company imprint (logo plus address/phone number/email) from as low as $0.99 each. They have a variety of pictures you can choose for your calender from scenic views to moptivational calenders and humourous calenders.

Kontera

Kontera is a form of contextual ads, where you simply write your blog posts, and if one of their keywords is in your text, they turn it into a link where an ad is displayed if the reader hovers their mouse over the link.

They allow the publisher to control the number of links, the colour, placement and the type of ad that shows when the reader floats their mouse over the text.

You need to submit an application form to them (this is free) and they then decide whether to approve your blog. This is a pay per click program. You can paid by cheque in US dollars nce you have earned over $100.

According to this article, you can run Kontera alongside Adsense. However you can't run Kontera with any other in-text advertising program eg you can't put Kontera in a sponsored post.

Raymond Weil Watches

Raymond Weil are a luxury Swiss watchmaker. You can view all the raymond weil watches on the TimeZone website. Raymond Weil refuse to allow their watches to be sold online (probably because the idea of online shopping goes against the idea of bespoke luxury goods!), so you will have to buy the old-fashioned way and phone up on a toll-free number and have a human fuss over your order in person!

Blogger Jobs

Say you are a blogger and would like to be hired to blog for others - perhaps for a company that has decided to add a blog to their website. Go to Blogger Jobs.

You can either post your resume with them, so that companies seeking bloggers will hire you, or you can look at their website for jobs, and apply for anything that sounds like something you want to do.

The jobs on there are varied - eg sports blogging, mens style and fashion etc. At present there is an advert looking for "mommy bloggers" to write for an online baby site.

Drug Rehabilitation

The Drug Rehabilitation network is a directory listing all drug rehabilitation programs, alcohol detox centres, and doctors, clinicians, therapists and councelors connected with these areas. They don't ask any of the sites they link to for money (i.e. they arn't an affiliate program). They also have a comprehensive list of articles on the subject, plus a forum where members can discuss the issues and ask questions.

Agloco is dead

In February 2007 I linked to a post by Kumiko Suzuki, entitled Agloco will not make money online ever.

She was right - Agloco appears to have died. John Chow reports that they have not renewed their SSL certificate and they have confirmed to him that they are over. I just feel very sorry for all the people who wasted time and money promoting it.

However please note that the site itself appears to be still active and still signing up people. Some believe this is because they are still building their mailing lists. Stay clear.

Custom Car Covers

If you store your vehicle outside, it is prone to getting dust on it, sun damage, not to mention plant-debris and moss. One solution is to use car covers. You can get them for pretty much any make of car and truck, and there are also covers available for motor-bikes. They usually come with five year warranties, and you can order them online.

Is it possible to dry clothes without a tumble-dryer?

It's easy in summer - you just stick them on a line outside and they come back bone dry and fresh-smelling from the disinfectant effect of the sun (the sun is the most powerful germicide in the world, thanks to the ultra-violet rays in the spectrum).

But what to do in the depths of winter, when it is cold and damp outside? Most people then use a tumble-dryer, but it not only takes a long time for it to dry clothes, but uses a huge amount of electricity. And it's a horror story when the silly thing develops problems.

You can dry clothes outside in the winter, but only during daylight hours, using the wind to dry them.

There are always the old-fashioned airing cupboards, which were usually in the same place as the immiersion water heater, which gave off heat.

You can also get a clothes-horse and place it in a small spare room with a radiator. Invest in a small de-humidifier (about £100) and place it in the same room. The de-humidifier is a must. Drying clothes indoors builds up moisture in the house.

Gemstone Jewelry

If you are still stuck for Christmas gifts you might wish to browse Apples of Gold (the name comes from the Book of Proverbs), which is a website that specialises in gemstone jewelry. You can get all manner of gemstones from them, from the usual diamonds and pearls, to the more unusual stones such as Citrine, pink sapphires and tanzanite (tanzanite is an exquisite blue stone that is only found in Tanzania). You can order online, they have free shipping and have a 45 day Money Back Guarantee.

Study Materials

If you are a student, one of the biggest expenses is study materials. However, the Open University has now put all their course materials online, and they can be accessed by anyone in the world. They used to charge a few hundred pounds for these materials, so this represents a big saving. This material is probably also useful for those doing their A levels, as first year university tends to recap what is studied at A level.

They have also set up discussion forums so that students can chat to one another about their subjects. It's free to register with them to post on the forums. To explore the Open University site, click here.

Magazine Subscriptions

If you are cudgeling your brains as to what to get people for Christmas, consider getting a magazine subscription as a gift. The Magazine Group are currently offering discounts on magazines. Some of the discounts are quite deep. The recommended retail price for a year's worth of Newsweek magazine is £140.40 but they are offering it for just £25.00. Esquire magazine has been discounted to £16.99 (originally £47.88) and Marie-Claire is going for £27.75 (originally £37.00).

Shvoong

Shvoong is another site where writers can earn money. It's free to join and works as follows:

You pick a newspaper, article website or book, and write an abstract or review of no more than 600 words. You then submit this abstract to Shvoong and earn royalties based on how popular your abstract is. You can submit abstracts in any language - they have a list of approved languages from Arabic and Bulgarian to Uzbek and Vietnamese.

Payment options vary by country, but for most countries you can be paid by Paypal.

To join Shvoong, click here.

Endowment Policies

In Britain in the 1980's, endowment policies were sold alongside interest-only mortgages, with the promise that the endowment policies would payout much more than the target sum and hence be better value than a traditional capital repayment mortgage. Unfortunately, many of these policies were mis-sold and throughout the 90's and this decade, insurers have been cutting bonuses, which make it unlikely that the policy will produce enough to pay off the original loan let alone pay out anything extra.

The regulator, the Financial Services Authority, has required insurers to send out warning letters to endowment policy holders, advising them that the policies may not pay out enough to pay off their mortgage, and setting out options, the best of which is to convert the mortgage to a capital repayment mortgage and to sell the endowment policy.

Selling Endowment Policies can be tricky however. If you try to get a surrender value from the issuing insurer, you will often find they impose a steep penalty on payout before maturity. The other option is to continue to pay into the policy till maturity (but this is expensive if you are have converted your mortgage to a capital repayment one, which will increase the payments compared to your original interest-only mortgage). Policy holders however do have the option of going to a broker to see if they can sell the policy on to investors who will purchase the policy from you and continue paying premiums to maturity. If you are in this situation, get a surrender value from the issuing insurer, and also a quote from a broker who offers to purchase the policy, and compare the values before making a decision.

Gather

Gather is another site where people write articles or upload photos and members comment on them and discuss things in a group.

This is not as serious a writing site as thisisby.us it's far more informal. It's free to join and members write about anything they feel like - politics, knitting, book reviews, anything at all.

The site allocates "Gather Points" for activity. They won't say how exactly the points are allocated, but you get points for writing articles, commenting and inviting members. Each point is worth about 2 cents, and they can be exchanged for books, CDs and various other things. If you reach 2500 points ($50) you can exchange for cash via PayPal.

The best thing about writing articles on Gather is that you can post links. This means that you can write articles linking to your blog and use the site to generate traffic. I've only just joined and will post further about my experiences.

To join Gather, click here

Condos

If you are looking for condos for sale, you may want to explore the Prodigy Network. They are an international company that specialise in selling condominiums and condo hotels. At present with the weak dollar, they are helping Brits and other Europeans to buy holiday condos in places like New York and Florida. You need to register on their website to use their services, and if you need assistance, you can contact them online via their Live Chat facility or phone them toll free and talk to one of their staff.

Making Money from Writing: Suite 101

Suite101.com is an online magazine that operates on the basis of freelance writers.

If you sign up as a writer with them, you must commit to producing 10 articles every three months, and grant them exclusive electronic rights for 1 year and shared rights thereafter. You need to supply them with examples of your work before they approve you. They want work that is grammatically-correct, accurate and original.

They have two levels of writer: the Contributing Writer (entry level), who is monitored by the editorial staff, and the Featured Writer (advanced) who is assigned to a specific topic.

Payment is based on revenue sharing of the advertising revenue of the site, and depends on how successful your articles are. In addition, once you have written 50 articles, you are entitled to a 10% bonus on writing thereafter, and the Featured Writers receive a 20% bonus. You can track your page views and earnings via the stats section once you log in.

Payment is by PayPal. To explore Suite101, click here.

Second Homes

Second homes have an attraction for many people. Often they choose to have their second home in a warmer climate, to act as a holiday home for instance. People also buy second homes to protect their families - a small place for their child to live in while at university, or a home near to where they live so that their elderly parents can be close enough to be helped by their families. If you go down this route, be sure you look at all the tax and investment implications when making your decision.

Making Money from Writing: How to Do Things

How to Do Things is another revenue sharing website. Basically writers contribute "How to" articles on any number of topics.

The site makes it's money from Google Adsense, and shares the revenue 50/50 with teh writer - the writer needs to input their own Google Adsense ID into the system. This method of earning is best for those who don't have their own blogs, and are looking for high traffic sites. If you've got your own blog and feel able to generate the traffic, you might be better off posting the articles to your own blog and earning the entire adsense money.

To explore How to Do Things, click here.

Platform Beds

A platform bed is a frame, usually wooden, but also metal, with slats on which you simply lay your mattress. BedinaBox, who specialise in memory foam mattresses (mattresses that adapt to the shape of your body), also supply a range of platform beds as these are the ideal beds to lay the memory foam mattresses on. Their beds and mattresses come with warranties and their prices are significantly lower than at retail bedding shops.

Online Supermarket Price Comparison Site (UK)

If you order your groceries online (UK customers), there is now an online supermarket price comparison site called mysupermarket.co.uk to help you get the best prices.

It is free to join and compares the prices for Tesco, Sainburys, Asda and Ocado (Ocado is owned by Waitrose).

Here's how it works: You type in your postcode, and then fill your trolley with what you want to buy. Their trolley checker will scan your choices and suggest swapping items for others that are either cheaper or healthier, and you can decide whether to accept or reject the suggestions. Once you have filled your trolley, they then calculate the cost of the trolley at each of the four online supermarket stores and present the four prices to you. You can then choose to send your trolley to the checkout of the supermarket of your choice and make the order and payment.

It's definitely easier than checking out each site individually (or going to each shop in person to check the prices, and should save you several ££s each week. To explore the site, click here.


You may find the following related article of interest:

Guide to Reward Cards

Weight loss aids

Among the many weight-loss aids on the market, the most recent is based around Hoodia, which is a South-African plant that suppresses appetite. There are now hundreds of versions out there, which is where the hoodia consumer review website comes in. They review and test the various supplements out there, and provide advice about the product (eg the only authentic Hoodia is that grown in South Africa, controlled and authenticated by the South African government, the Chinese versions are fake.)

Losing your Job (Being Made Redundant)

Being made Redundant can be a devastating experience. Apart from the fear of how you are going to cope financially without a job, there are also feelings of shock that it's happened to you and feelings of anger, humiliation and upset at being rejected like this. But what with globalisation, there is no such thing as a job for life and most people will experience it at least once in their lives.

The first thing to do is to know your rights. Under UK law, there are rules covering redundancy. Redundancy is defined as job loss due to company restructuring - essentially they are saying that your role isn't needed anymore, hence the word "redundant".

Under UK law, your company must give you at least 30 days notice, and compensate you with a tax-free redundancy payment. See the Department of Trade and Industry website for details of the minimum payments, but you are generally entitled to between 1 to 1.5 weeks pay (capped at £310 per week) for every year's service with the company. In practice most companies will be more generous than the statutory minimum payment.

Once you get your payment, don't blow the payment on a holiday thinking "you need it". The reason there is a statutory minimum redundancy payment is because redundancy usually tends to occur during downturns in the economy where new jobs are difficult to come by. Stick the money in a high-interest rate savings account and don't touch it for now.

Take all the help your company provides - some firms now have redundancy programs, where they provide help with CV writing, training and other support. The CV and training offers are particularly valuable. It's easy to get rusty about how to do job applications and CVs and how to do interviews. If you are in a trade union, consult them too - they will usually be able to advise you of your rights, tax issues, and training.

On your first day of unemployment, sign on immediately at your local unemployment dole office. Don't feel embarassed - you've already paid for the assistance by paying your National Insurance contributions. The Department of Social Security website should be able to tell you what you are entitled to get.

Next, sign up with all the temp agencies you can, and take any work that is going, no matter how low-paid (all of it will be above the dole amount due to the minimum wage). The idea is to get money in, so you don't use up all your savings. Temp work is often overlooked as an entry into firms, where you can network and find out internally whether there are any permanent jobs going. While temping, do everything you can to slash costs and reduce your outgoings.

Also register with the employment agencies that specialise in providing permanent work in your field and send them your cv. Do whatever you think will help you in getting a new job, including doing professional exams.

Hopefully you will find a new permanent job fairly quickly. Once you have the job offer in hand, now is the time to think of taking a week off before you start the new job. You've just been through a traumatic and stressful experience, and you probably need the break to recharge before you plunge into your new job.


Related post:

What happens to your mortgage when you become unemployed

Other useful articles:

How to earn some quick money:

Ways to raise money

Increase your income by earning online

Info on sites that offer bargains and discounts (so you can reduce outgoings)

- List of UK Bargain Sites

- List of US Bargain Sites

How to save money on petrol and driving costs:

- How to Increase Fuel Efficiency When You Drive

- Website that helps you find the cheapest petrol station in your area (UK)

- Speed Camera Database - Info on where speed cameras are based (UK)