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The Battle of Your Bulges: Weight Loss Programs

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Whether you’re truly overweight like me, or you just think you need to lose a couple of pounds, you’ve probably been sucked into the diet phenomenon at some point in your life. After all, you’ve seen the TV commercials, maybe read some reviews, or even known people who’ve lost a bunch of weight with one of the many weight loss programs. Or maybe, like me, you’ve tried one, two…or ten of them in an attempt to improve your health and your look. So what’s wrong, if anything, that a not-so-small percentage of customers complain about failing with them? Can you actually succeed long term with any of them?

Losing weight can be difficult, but weight loss programs aim to make it easier, at a cost. I review 3 popular programs, and what it takes to lose long term.

Hey Mr. and Mrs. America, You’re Fat!

As a country, America seems to have a real weight problem, greater now than ever before. You may be or may not be actually fat, but you are still often feeling the pressure of losing a few pounds because of health or the ever-present social pressure we all live with to be thin and look “good”. As if you can’t really look good with a little meat on your bones! Continue reading

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Are You an Early Bird or a Night Owl? Why It Matters

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Good morning, good afternoon, and good night! That’s a baseball phrase you might have heard for strikes one, two, and three on a batter, making him out. But in real life, the difference between morning and night is even more important, at least when it comes to whether you’re an early bird or a night owl. Is it better to be a morning person? There’s a real debate about whether or not that is better when it comes to work, play, productivity, health, and more. Amazingly, there is lots of evidence on both sides of the issue. So with the jury still undecided, I’m going to weigh in on it and make my opinion known about these chronotypes.

If you're a morning person or a night owl, there are certain advantages and disadvantages. You need to tailor your lifestyle to your chronotype for success.

My Own Tendency

I have always been a morning person myself. I think it worked best for me and paid off at my workplace. Being in the office to get an early start and organize my day made everything flow much better. On days when I didn’t do that, I felt very much out of sorts and lagging. It is a common thing among early birds. Continue reading

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14 Ways to Save on Your Back to School Shopping (Plus Free College Checklist)

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I have been writing about back to school shopping for years now around this time of the summer and it is a subject that about a gazillion other bloggers chime in on too, so it must be a biggie! The challenge or chore of it all is a headache for some and a burden for others, but it doesn’t have to be that way if you choose to follow a bit of advice. Here is my very best effort at making the experience not only a money saving one, but as stress free and even as much fun as possible.

If you have kids, back to school shopping is a must. But spending a ton on it isn't. Here are 14 ways to stretch your dollar further for back to school.

If your child is in his or her middle school years, you are probably a real veteran at BTS shopping and perhaps you think you have this routine “knocked” and you’re all set. But, and it’s a pretty big but, every year there are new players and rules to consider so it can’t hurt to review all of it before you venture out to actually do it! Plus, if your child is off to college for the first time, it’s on a whole different level.
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The 10 Household Tools Everyone Needs to DIY

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Or “Never Use a Butter Knife as a Screwdriver!”

Everyone knows you can save money by doing it yourself (DIY) when it comes to maintenance and small (or even large) repairs. But in order to make this work, you need to make a minor investment…in household tools! There are a few basic tools that everyone needs to own, and that’s what today’s post is all about.

In order to do it yourself (DIY) and save money around the house, you need to make a small investment in these 10 household tools.

I grew up in a home where doing the little “odd jobs” were not a subject of interest by my dad despite the constant complaints by my mom. Everything from changing lightbulbs in that high up chandelier to tightening screws on the dining room chairs was a battle and my dad would use the excuse that he didn’t have the tools he needed so he couldn’t do it. Since I was the next in line to do those jobs, I tried in vain to handle them but the lack of knowledge and training combined with not having the basic tools doomed every project to failure. Continue reading

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Dealing with the Real Causes of Your Financial Stress

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Financial stress goes from wreaking havoc on your wallet to ruining your health if you’re not careful. Yes, your finances can cause so much stress that it can trigger long-term diseases and bust your budget even more. As with any problem, the first step is to know the enemy so you can fight it. So what is the real cause of your financial stress?

When you're suffering from financial stress, you may think you just need more money. But what you really need is a bit more involved than that.

You may think that simply the lack of money is the obvious answer as to why you spend so much time worrying and stressing. Surprisingly, that isn’t always so. Let me explain why. Continue reading

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Dating and the Single Person: How to Save Money

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Please note this post contains affiliate links which help to fund this blog at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

They say that money makes the world go ’round. They also say that love makes the world go ’round. Perhaps it’s a bit of both. When you’re single and in dating mode, sometimes it seems like you don’t have enough of either. But don’t despair…I made it through some rough single times, and I’ll bet you can, too. It’s just a matter of knowing how to manage your money, and your expectations, while dating.

When you're single and dating, it can be difficult to meet the right person, and even more difficult to save money while doing it.

Money can be a very contentious issue when you’re working on finding or being in a relationship, and it can also be one of the main causes for a relationship breakup too. It happens when there are real disparities that the parties have in their money attitudes. Ask people like me who have been through a divorce and you will probably get an earful about it.
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How to Be Eco-Friendly, Save the Earth, and Save Money Too

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Lately, there has been so much more talk about our environment, climate change, and what’s been happening with the EPA (or as some have been recently calling it the EDA – The Environmental Destruction Agency) that you can’t help but feeling worried, confused, and even desperate to do something to prevent disaster. I hope I am not too late for the party by bringing up a subject that has been around since my first eco-friendly Earth Day back in 1970, but yet I and millions of others can see that we still aren’t fully committed to protecting ourselves from our worst enemy…us.

We need to take care of our home, the Earth. Here are some tips on how to be eco-friendly, save money, and take care of the environment at the same time.

Here’s something that I came to realize late in life and it’s something to really think about when you think about conservation:

Do you realize that the water we have here on earth is exactly the same water that has been here since creation? No more and no less. The only difference is whether or not it’s “clean” water. The water that evaporates every day and returns to us as rain is the same water that you used to wash the car and flush your toilet. It’s finite, so you have to keep it clean and take care of it or we are doomed! Continue reading

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11 Financial Facts or Fictions, Can You Tell the Difference?

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Everyone has an opinion. That’s a fact and it makes navigating the world of personal finance very tricky. It can be hard to know what the facts actually are and who to trust and believe. In fact, if you connect with an “expert”, you may actually walk away even more confused than when you started trying to debunk some of the most common financial advice/opinions out there.

Financial facts can be easy to confuse with financial opinions. Check out these 11 financial situations and decide for yourself what's fact and fiction.

It’s been my opinion for a very long time now that the best advice you can get is from someone or some entity that has had actual experience in the very situation you find yourself in and has come through it successfully. But even if they had a failed result, you can still have a positive takeaway that can help you. Learning what not to do can be just as valuable as learning what to do.
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National Ice Cream Month: Here’s the Scoop!

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President Ronald Reagan proclaimed July as National Ice Cream Month back in 1984. Since then, it’s been our patriotic duty to indulge in cones, cups, and sundaes, whether for dessert or as an anytime treat to cool down in the summer heat. There is still time to indulge and you know what that means? Free ice cream…yum!

It's National Ice Cream Month, and I've got the scoop on where to go for your free ice cream treats and other deals all month long.

National Ice Cream Month is observed every year in July (National Ice Cream Day was on July 15, 2018). This fun celebration is enjoyed with a bowl, cup, or cone filled with your favorite flavor of ice cream. Seriously, does anyone out there not love ice cream? Continue reading

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And the 2018 Super Saving Tips Awards Go To…

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It’s baaaaaaaack! Well, it has been a full year since I awarded the Super Saving Tips first annual awards (given at the halfway mark of the year just to be a little bit different). These are the savings awards that I give to the businesses and products that save you the most money or offer the best deals that earn you the most in cash and rewards! Oh, you haven’t heard about them? Hmmm, that’s strange. As I said last year, it was in all the papers. 😉

In my second annual awards, check out my recommendations for best credit card in different categories, best banking offers, and more!

Oh, you don’t read the paper? Well, no problem with that. If you did happen to miss the news this year of these very prestigious awards then let me recap them right here for you now. It will save you some time and money. So, here are the “best of” winners for the last 12 months, in my opinion of course. Continue reading