Many tourist attractions offer special pricing and benefits for those families wanting to spend the holidays away from home, they offer a comforting alternative with a lot less clean up. Thanksgiving can be a treat in the rocky mountains of Colorado or the quaint hills of Tennessee.

Many restaurants offer catering for your dinner. This way, the cooks can spend that time relaxing by the fireplace or spending that well-deserved time off with family instead of slaving at the stove. Alternatively, if you’re a person that enjoys cooking for the Thanksgiving, then there are comfortable cabins or hotels with kitchenettes available so that the cook can still prepare that delicious Thanksgiving Turkey or ham.

If you have small children what better way to spend Christmas than at a resort like Disney World or at a ski resort. Your children can enjoy having Mickey Mouse tuck them in at night.

If Disney isn’t your thing, don’t despair, many other places offer neat things such as Elf Tuck in service for your children at night and pictures with Santa Clause during the daytime. The holiday rates are usually lower during this season so you can better afford to travel during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

You might want to consider contacting your travel agent to check for special pricing for the season. They could help you plan your entire trip from the moment you leave the airport to the moment you return home. If you’re a do-it-yourself type of person, then the Internet is a great place to begin your search for a holiday travel destination.

Although the holidays are usually associated with the colder weather, getting the Christmas chills isn’t for everyone. If you and your loved ones aren’t much on the cold weather during Christmas Holidays, you might want to travel to the islands of Hawaii or to Florida so you can enjoy the warmer climate and take-in some Christmas traditions from other parts of the country.

Light up the Yule Log on the beach this year. Have fun decorating a palm tree for Christmas. If you’re reading to really spread your wings for the holidays, talk to your travel agent about traveling abroad! There are all sorts of different ways to celebrate a traditional holiday away from your home. You might even find some new traditions to bring back with you and make them a part of your own.

On the other hand, maybe you all went out for dinner and then sang Christmas carols to those in the hospital. No matter what you did as a child, you likely look back on the memories with a smile on your face.

As you grow however and have a family of your own, you may start longing to start some holiday and Christmas traditions yourself. Sure, you may want to keep some that you grew up participating in, but there also may be some of your childhood family traditions that you would rather skip right over. The great thing about having a family of your own is that you can create your own family traditions for the holidays. It doesn’t matter if you have kids or not. Everyone can benefit!

The reason holiday traditions are so important for a family is because they build strong bonds. The holidays are times when stress is at all-time peaks. The truth is that most families are rushing from store to store trying to purchase things and getting stressed out the whole time. Then everyone comes home exhausted and cranky. This can be difficult to deal with. Instead of making this Christmas all about gifts, why not make it about being together and bonding.

The best way to start family holiday traditions is to gather everyone in the house and have a meeting. Ask everyone to suggest one thing the whole family can do together. Your children might want to help make cookies or your spouse might want to snuggle on the couch for a holiday movie.

No matter what they suggest, try them! If everyone has a great time, you can remember to do the same thing each year, therefore creating a family tradition. Of course, if one activity doesn’t quite pan out as planned, you can always choose to drop that one and find another. That is how the process goes.

As you repeat your new family holiday and Christmas traditions each year, you will be establishing a family routine that only your family takes part in. It creates a strong bond within your family and will create memories that will last forever! So, be sure to take the time this year to plan some new holiday traditions for you and your family to try. It can be a lot of fun and help you relax and laugh during the holidays. Remember, even if it is just you and your spouse, you can create family traditions that you might share with your future children one day!

Holiday Depression, better known as “the holiday blues,” is real and it affects quite a number of people every year. The symptoms are wide and varied and can be brought on by the stress, fatigue and the tension that often occur during the holiday season.

“I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “I’ll Have a Blue Christmas” and other songs filled with sadness at not being with family and friends during the holiday season do not touch the depth of despair that can take place, especially during December, a month that seems to be filled with a lot of hustle and bustle as well as “joy of the season.”

There are several obvious reasons for “the holiday blues” or “holiday depression syndrome,” such as being without family or friends, being with family that you have difficulty with, insecurity and anxiety about the future and finances, feelings of inadequacy, sadness over not having met goals you wished to obtain, as well as over committing your time.

How can you help alleviate the holiday blues and depression that plagues many people during this time of year?

First, it’s important to understand that you are not alone in the way you feel. Statistically, millions of people every year feel exactly the way you do. Some people may even be to the point of uncontrollable weeping and a feeling of severe loneliness.

These may even be the same people surrounding you with huge smiles on their faces in public or the ones who seem to have everything, including what appears to be a great family.

The next step to help ease the holiday blues symptoms is to avoid instant gratification of any kind. Instant gratification is like sugar is to a diabetic. It will bring you up quickly and then drop you down even faster with devastating, maybe even disastrous, results.

Take your vitamins. Go to your local health food store to find out what will work best for you. B vitamins are great for stress relief, as is Theanine, which is an amino acid and can be found in green tea. Both can act as calming agents. Do not take any supplements without the express advice and approval of your doctor.

Whatever you do, forget about comparing the past with the present. What do I mean by that? I am talking about spending time remembering the way things used to be during happier times and how bad they appear to be today.

The more you focus on the negative, the more negative you will feel. Try to find something positive to focus on every day and write it down. Keep a list and make a copy to post on the mirror in your bathroom, on the refrigerator door and in your car to name a few places. Read the list aloud to yourself several times a day.

Focusing on the positive things, even if there are only one or two things you can come up with, such as you have a pleasant smile, nice hands or you have a car to drive and a roof over your head, will help you retrain your brain chemicals to flow in a more positive and happy light.

Keep your activities and expectations realistic. Don’t overbook yourself. If you have nothing to do, get involved, but pace yourself! Many activities can help you with the “holiday blues syndrome.”

Let me name a few:

Become involved in a local charity group or outreach program. There is Make-A-Wish, The Salvation Army, Jaycees, The Red Cross and many soup kitchens around your area. You can check my website: Christmas With Love for a more extensive list of organizations you can provide your services to. Helping others will help you feel better about yourself and change your outlook on life. Make this a permanent habit and reap rewards in your emotional state forever.

Exercise. Exercise has been proven to release natural hormones called endorphins into the human body. Endorphins help to make people happier. You will also reap the benefits of becoming healthier with the added advantage of extra energy that is always a bonus. Why not make this a permanent part of your daily routine?

Join a social club or group. Why be alone when you don’t have to be? Use the Internet to find clubs in your area. I list many ideas in my book, Winning Points With The Love in Your Life One Touchdown at a Time: How to Score for Men and Women, but here are a few search terms to get you started. Outdoor club, dinner club, ballet club, book club, board game club, water-ski club and snow club, etc.

There is another reason why so many people may get the holiday blues around this time of year and that can be a direct result of the sun. There is a disorder called Seasonal Affective Disorder or S.A.D. This is the consequence of less available hours of sunlight as the days become shorter during the winter months. Check with your doctor to see if phototherapy is something that may help you.

One final note: It is always best, if you can afford it, to seek out qualified, professional help. A good professional can help determine if your depression is only a temporary symptom due to holiday stressors or a deeper issue that may require medication.

If you can’t afford a professional and you do not have insurance, confide in a close and trustworthy friend until you can find help that comes without cost. The most important thing to do is to recognize that you aren’t happy and become proactive in your treatment and changing your life.

Nothing will change if you sit alone in your room. Do you remember the song from “Santa Claus is Coming To Town?” “Put one foot in front of the other and soon you’ll be walking out the door.” That’s exactly what you need to do in order to succeed in losing the holiday blues and putting a smile back on your face and back into your heart.

The truth is that the average family must make an effort to stay home and find things that are fun to do at home. When you do stay in more, you will realize your family is happier and not nearly as stressed out! Use these tips to help spur your memory and figure out exactly what you can do this Christmas season.

Family Traditions

One of the easiest ways to have fun at home during the holidays is to participate in family traditions. Many families have certain activities they do each holiday season. Some will help decorate the house with holiday décor together. Others will choose to hunt for a live Christmas tree together. No matter what you do as a family, you can guarantee that spending time together and in your home will make you feel great this holiday season. If you don’t have any specific family traditions yet, you can always make this season the one where you create some great ones. There are no rules on this front, so just be creative and have fun!

Music

Another way you can have fun at home during the holidays is by getting in the holiday mood. One of the best ways to get into the holiday mood is by playing music. Playing holiday music in your home may sound a little ridiculous to you. However, the sound of the holiday music can bring out the bonding in everyone. You can play board games with your family while listening to holiday music and eating holiday cookies. Your kids will love it!

Parties

If you love to entertain, having a party is also a great way to have fun at home. You can throw a big bash, or only have a few friends over for appetizers and eggnog. Having a holiday party is perfect because your home is likely already decorated. So, all you need to do is pick up a few food choices and make some phone calls. Of course, if you want, you can always just create a small holiday party for your children and your spouse. You can sip eggnog by the tree and sit on the floor reading stories all night. Anything you can do to help your family develop great holiday memories is a good thing.

So make an effort to stay home more this holiday season. Find things that make your family happy and try them. You just might find that you would rather stay home than go out!

How do you influence someone to want to buy your product without being a pushy, obnoxious salesperson? By making it about the consumer and not about you. You may have heard that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. While that may be true in some cases, the squeaky wheel is also damaging their future relationship with that customer.

Consumers don’t like to be bullied. If you want to influence them, you must capture them with emotion. Here is an example (The following book and title are fictional. I made them up for this article. Any resemblance to another book or title is strictly coincidence.):
On The Edge is a great mystery novel filled with horror, who done it and suspense. This book is a great gift and stocking stuffer for those in your family who enjoy a good intrigue. Don’t miss the holiday sale special. Buy today and receive…

Here is the same type of ad, but personalized.

Do you or someone you know love suspense and intrigue? Do you miss reading the old time mystery thrillers? On The Edge will bring you back to the time when you couldn’t put a book down and would read it under the covers with a flashlight.

Do you see the difference? One ad, while perfectly acceptable, is just an ad that talks about the book. The next ad makes the book about the consumer and draws them into a more emotional state, which can have a powerful effect on their purchase.

It’s been proven that people buy more with emotion than logic. If you help your customer feel your product or service will benefit them and with it they will experience pleasure and success, you’ve hit a home run. The only way to do that is to make it about them and help them feel how it will benefit them.

Once you have done that, you must have a product or service that really delivers or you will lose the customer loyalty that will bring them back again as well as getting referrals.

Do you have a favorite store, brand, or restaurant? Think about why it is your favorite and what brings you back to it repeatedly even if you see a similar product, brand or restaurant that may cost less money. Once you have truly thought about what compels you to go back, use the same words and thoughts that come to your mind to help sell your product.

Another way to help influence a buyer is to have recommendations and endorsements for your product. People love to read how your product helped someone. This is called a social endorsement. How do you get a social endorsement?

Anytime someone shares a story about what you or your product has done for him or her, ask if you can use his or her information as a quote. Let them know you will put their website or company information up as a cross promotion.

The last two powerful ways to influence people and draw them to your product or service are to share your personal story and to ask questions. Sharing your story will explain on a realistic and emotional level why you are qualified to help them and what makes you an expert in your field.

Asking questions about your customer will show them you are interested in them, and it will help them see that you understand their needs. These two strategies will attract people to you and help promote customer loyalty.

The most important thing to remember is understanding your target customer and their needs. Offer them a service that says you understand where they are at and that you are there to help them.

If holidays usually get you down and you’re really dreading the hustle and bustle of preparation rather than investing time with family and friends, then perhaps you should try some new traditions this year. Instead of one person slaving over the Thanksgiving Turkey all day, make the turkey preparation a family event. It can make a dreaded task become one of your favorite holiday traditions. Assign each family member a responsibility for the turkey.

For Instance, have an older child monitor the turkey thermometer. They’ll most likely take the responsibility seriously and be busy little bees eagerly awaiting the turkey to be ready to eat. When it’s a family event, you’re making lasting memories so don’t hold back.

Why not assign another child the responsibility of setting the Thanksgiving or Christmas table or making Thanksgiving or Christmas crafts such as homemade table settings. This, too, can give them a vested interest in the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. With Christmas around the corner, there are several new projects you can try and hopefully have fun and start some new traditions as well, or enhance your current traditions. (To find out more about projects, recipes and Christmas Carols, http://www.christmaswithlove.com will give you everything you need).

Try doing making some homemade ornaments to spread holiday cheer. Not only will it decorate your home for the holidays, it makes fabulous, personalized gifts for loved ones. Light up the Yule Log and make them by the warmth of the fire. In addition, what a wonderful place to have your holiday photos taken for those Christmas cards?

Christmas is often the busiest times of year; however, it’s one of the best times to make memories. Why not create memories for others not as fortunate as you and your loved ones by participating in a time old tradition, Christmas Caroling. Many shut-ins and elderly people can’t travel for the holidays and enjoy having others visit and spreading the Christmas cheer.

With the Internet at your fingertips, it’s not difficult to find many holiday activities to participate in this holiday season. Spice up your meals with new recipes, new ways to decorate your home, learn how to make homemade wrapping paper to add your or your child’s personal touch. The holidays are an opportunity to make memories new and old and to enjoy your loved ones. It’s the time to celebrate each other and yourself. Holiday’s are busy, but they don’t have to be a mindless terror. With a little organization and a lot of family fun, you can put the joy back into the holiday season.

Yet every year time seems to slip away and suddenly the holidays arrive. You end up racing to the stores, panic-stricken, trying to find candy in the empty racks or a beautiful turkey for the dinner table that is now triple the price because the only store that has any left is the high-end market down the street.

Even worse, when you need to find that ideal last-minute gift for your loved ones, it is no longer available in the color or size needed and all the toys requested from Santa are sold out with no re-stocks in the near future. You end up paying far too much money for something that will most likely be returned or never used.

Now imagine an entirely different scenario. Imagine arriving Christmas morning stress free, able to sit back and enjoy a calm holiday with your family because you still have cash in the bank and time on your hands.

How can you beat holiday stress, save big bucks and arrive stress free for Christmas? Start today. The time to put a plan into action is now. Black Friday has arrived and there is no better time to start cashing in on huge bargains than right now. You can buy all your gifts and foods (ones that can be frozen) now and save large amounts of money. If you sign up for the customer loyalty programs, you may even be able to get brand name gifts for no more than sales tax only as I did last year.

Many huge sales take place the day after Thanksgiving. Most stores have huge discounts on name brand clothing, toys and jewelry to name just a few categories. Example: Last year a diamond bracelet valued at $5,000 was on sale for $199.00 but only the day after Thanksgiving and only during the early bird special. That’s typical of the type of sales you can expect if you do your research.

Check out the stock in the store now if you’re already there and make a list of what you would like to buy on sale the day after Thanksgiving so you are prepared to head straight to the departments needed. Making a road map of what department you want to hit first will help you avoid wandering aimlessly and missing the items you’ve placed on your list. If you think of it as a game show or competition, you’ll be more inspired.

How many times have you said to yourself: This year I will get Christmas cards out. Before you know it December is nearly over and Christmas is days away. You haven’t purchased the Christmas cards let alone put a stamp on one and you are too busy with everything else to do it. You beat yourself up, frustrated that yet again you are too late and time has run out. To avoid this frustrating cycle, start now when you aren’t as busy as you will be later on in the season.

Do one envelope a day or two or three a week and by Christmas, you will have reached your goal. If you don’t have Christmas cards left over from last year, do a Christmas letter instead to save time and money. Then after Christmas buy the cards for next year at 75% off so you’ll have the cards ready to go for next year.

Whatever you do, don’t overbook yourself. The holidays are not a contest and no one remembers who did the most last year. To avoid the stress of overbooking, make a wall calendar and put up the events that are most important to you and then prioritize. If you see it on a large scale in front of you, it will look like a map and help you make better choices for your time.

Take a bubble bath after a long day, with candles lit. If you have children, have your partner watch them so you can sit back and relax. Make sure to get some “me” time. Whatever you do, try to avoid diets during the holiday season. They will only add to your frustration and drain you of much needed energy. Instead, eat a healthy, well balanced diet and exercise. The exercise will give you the endorphins needed to keep the joy and celebration during the Christmas holidays.

There are many more stress busting ideas and ways to save money that you can come up with on your own. These are just a few to get you started. The main goal is to start now and be ready when the time comes so you won’t be shopping when you’re stressed out and frustrated. Make the time now and you’ll be enjoying the holidays as you did when you were a kid.

Yet every year time seems to slip away and suddenly the holidays arrive. You end up racing to the stores, panic-stricken, trying to find candy in the empty racks or a beautiful turkey for the dinner table that is now triple the price because the only store that has any left is the high-end market down the street.

Even worse, when you need to find that ideal last-minute gift for your loved ones, it is no longer available in the color or size needed and all the toys requested from Santa are sold out with no re-stocks in the near future. You end up paying far too much money for something that will most likely be returned or never used.

How can you beat pre-holiday stress and save big bucks at the same time? Start today. The time to put a plan into action is now. Halloween is nearly here and there are big savings in the candy isle already featuring Halloween candy. Buy the candy now, wrap it in a brown paper bag and hide it in your freezer so no one knows it’s there but you. If you are a candy nut like me, buy a bit for yourself so you won’t be tempted to snarf it.

Now is also the time to plan for Thanksgiving and Christmas. While the meat is not on sale yet, you can call your local market and ask the store manager when their holiday meats will go on sale. Most store managers will give you an approximate date for when the meat you desire will go on sale at their store. Mark that date on your calendar.

How many times have you said to yourself: This year I will get Christmas cards out. Before you know it December is nearly over and Christmas is days away. You haven’t purchased the Christmas cards let alone put a stamp on one and you are too busy with everything else to do it. You beat yourself up, frustrated that yet again, you are too late and time has run out. To avoid this frustrating cycle, start now when you aren’t as busy as you will be later on in the season.

Do one envelope a day or two or three a week and by Christmas, you will have reached your goal. If you don’t have Christmas cards left over from last year, do a Christmas letter instead to save time and money. Then after Christmas buy the cards for next year at 75% off so you’ll have the cards ready to go for next year.

Now is also the time to shop for Christmas gifts. Many huge sales take place during Back to School Days and the day after Thanksgiving. Most stores have huge discounts on name brand clothing, toys and jewelry to name just a few categories.

Example: Last year a diamond bracelet valued at $5,000 was on sale for $199.00 but only the day after Thanksgiving and only during the early bird special. That’s typical of the type of sales you can expect if you do your research.

Check out the stock in the store now if you’re already there and make a list of what you would like to buy on sale the day after Thanksgiving so you are prepared to head straight to the departments needed. Making a road map of what department you want to hit first, will help you avoid wandering aimlessly and missing the items you’ve placed on your list. If you think of it as a game show or competition, you’ll be more inspired.

There are many more stress busting ideas and ways to save money that you can come up with on your own. These are just a few to get you started. The main goal is to start now and be ready when the time comes so you won’t be shopping when you’re stressed out and frustrated. Make the time now and you’ll be enjoying the holidays as you did when you were a kid.

Every year stress is a main ingredient during the holidays. With Halloween around the corner and Thanksgiving and Christmas not far off, most of us think say the same thing to ourselves: This is the year I will shop early so I can avoid last minute shopping. I will begin the holiday season fully relaxed and enjoy it!

Yet every year time seems to slip away and suddenly the holidays arrive. You end up racing to the stores, panic-stricken, trying to find candy in the empty racks or a beautiful turkey for the dinner table that is now triple the price because the only store that has any left is the high-end market down the street.

Even worse, when you need to find that ideal last-minute gift for your loved ones, it is no longer available in the color or size needed and all the toys requested from Santa are sold out with no re-stocks in the near future. You end up paying far too much money for something that will most likely be returned or never used.

How can you beat pre-holiday stress and save big bucks at the same time?  Start today. The time to put a plan into action is now. Halloween is nearly here and there are big savings in the candy isle already featuring Halloween candy. Buy the candy now, wrap it in a brown paper bag and hide it in your freezer so no one knows it’s there but you. If you are a candy nut like me, buy a bit for yourself so you won’t be tempted to snarf it.

Now is also the time to plan for Thanksgiving and Christmas. While the meat is not on sale yet, you can call your local market and ask the store manager when their holiday meats will go on sale. Most store managers will give you an approximate date for when the meat you desire will go on sale at their store. Mark that date on your calendar.

How many times have you said to yourself: This year I will get Christmas cards out. Before you know it December is nearly over and Christmas is days away. You haven’t purchased the Christmas cards let alone put a stamp on one and you are too busy with everything else to do it. You beat yourself up, frustrated that yet again, you are too late and time has run out. To avoid this frustrating cycle, start now when you aren’t as busy as you will be later on in the season.

Do one envelope a day or two or three a week and by Christmas, you will have reached your goal. If you don’t have Christmas cards left over from last year, do a Christmas letter instead to save time and money. Then after Christmas buy the cards for next year at 75% off so you’ll have the cards ready to go for next year.

Now is also the time to shop for Christmas gifts. Many huge sales take place during Back to School Days and the day after Thanksgiving. Most stores have huge discounts on name brand clothing, toys and jewelry to name just a few categories.

Example: Last year a diamond bracelet valued at $5,000 was on sale for $199.00 but only the day after Thanksgiving and only during the early bird special. That’s typical of the type of sales you can expect if you do your research.

Check out the stock in the store now if you’re already there and make a list of what you would like to buy on sale the day after Thanksgiving so you are prepared to head straight to the departments needed. Making a road map of what department you want to hit first, will help you avoid wandering aimlessly and missing the items you’ve placed on your list. If you think of it as a game show or competition, you’ll be more inspired.

There are many more stress busting ideas and ways to save money that you can come up with on your own. These are just a few to get you started. The main goal is to start now and be ready when the time comes so you won’t be shopping when you’re stressed out and frustrated. Make the time now and you’ll be enjoying the holidays as you did when you were a kid.

We have all felt the pressure and stress that comes from trying to buy holiday presents for everyone at the last moment, the strain that it puts on our finances, and we all resolve not to fall into the same trap next year. And yet, year after year, many of us find ourselves repeating the same situation. Now is the time to start making plans so that you can enjoy shopping and be stress free during the holidays.

The best way to plan you shopping to be stress free during the holidays is to start buying some presents now. While this can be difficult to do for children, whose desires seem to change more often than the weather, it is possible to pick up presents for adult friends and family members. By getting the jump on some of these Christmas purchases, you can enjoy holiday shopping and be stress free during the holidays this year. Save those last minute purchases for those small children whose wish list continues to change. Not only will this save you time during the holidays, it will also lessen the strain on your pocket book since the cost of holiday shopping is spread out over several months instead of a few weeks.

You can enjoy shopping and be stress free during the holidays more if you consider doing some of your Christmas shopping online. Not only can you often find deals online that are significantly cheaper than anything that you could find locally, but you also avoid the hassle that comes from fighting off the holiday shopping crowd. Of course, doing your Christmas shopping online requires some planning since you need to make your purchases at an early enough date to ensure that they will have been delivered by the time the holidays roll around. Many of the bigger online vendors publish dates that represent the last day that you can buy from their store and expect delivery by the holidays.

Another way to enjoy shopping and be stress free during the holidays is to set up a Christmas fund. This can be a separate bank account or just funding in your primary account that you do not touch. Adding some money to this account every pay period during the year will help out with the financial crunch brought on by the holidays. The memories of the holiday season provides joy all throughout the year, so it make sense to spread the cost out throughout the year as well.

To further your career or business, it is imperative that you market in ways that are new and unique in order to catch someone’s eye and get ahead of your competition.  The first step into the guerilla marketing zone is to think outside the box.  What does that mean?  Don’t do what everyone else is doing.  Here area few ideas to get you started:

• The use of podcasts has become very popular in the past years, so why not use them to broadcast your business, book or product, helping to expose it to a lot of people who may have never seen it before.  Make sure that you plug your website and where they can purchase your products.
• Check out your library system!  Why not go to your local library and see if can do a free speaking engagement there in exchange for a percentage of your sales of product after your show.  Libraries are in dire need of funds.  Additionally that will help you align yourself as an expert in your field for future marketing purposes.
• A very easy and free way (free is for me!) to get your name out there and seen is to write reviews on every product your own, have used, read or CDs you have listened to.  Then post the reviews on places like amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Amazon and Barnes and Noble will no longer let you put a two or three line sentence / bio at the end of each review that has any personal information so don’t go there.  Recently they changed their policy and will take down all of your reviews should you do this and they find them.  However, you can post your URL in the Real Names attributes.  When you post your reviews, put your vanity email address inside your “real name.” While those sites won’t allow you to post your URL, if your URL is part of your “real name,” they don’t say a word.  Check out amazon.com and look for one of my reviews.  This is what you will see:  “Jaci Rae raeofhope@jacirae.com.” (Don’t use a real email address or you will end up with a lot of spam.  That is my website, but the email address if fake.)  Why is this an important step?  Because people will read your reviews and you get your name out there.  Most consumers are Internet savvy and if they are interested in you, will check you out.
• Junk snail mail.  Why not use it to your advantage?  When you receive junk snail mail, many times inside with their ads they have kindly sent a pre-paid envelope.  Why not put your brochure, business card or a letter inside announcing your product with a note that says something like, “Since you were kind enough to send me your information, I am returning the favor.”  Also, inside of all the bills you have to pay do the same.  I have gotten business doing this. 

With a few ideas of your own and a little leg work you will be surprised at what your efforts will yield. A very important part of the guerilla marketing process is the business side.  The trick is that if you want different results and what you have been trying in the past always turns out the same, then you must do something different!  Guerrilla marketing is what you need to do differently.  Go after your audience with fervor and diligence, but think outside the box to get the results you desire and the exposure for your product that you need.

Starting a business in a tough economy is hard, but a great captain does not set sail on a rocky sea without a carefully plotted course. Start plotting your course by setting up a goal chart, listing a timeline of when you want to obtain the goals. Leave a page or two after each goal to list the strategies you used to obtain the goals. Once you obtain a goal, check it off the list, but be sure to keep the strategy list so you will know what worked.

The chart will enable you to visualize your goals as well as see those goals that have not yet been obtained. The ones that haven’t been obtained can then be re-looked at to see what your strategy was, the parts that worked and those that didn’t and then reset your strategy to ensure you achieve those goals as well. 

If you haven’t already done so, you need to come up with a business name, something that pertains to who you are and what you represent, or something special in your heart. This is known as “branding.” It’s what will catch people’s eye. The honest truth is that your image and your name sell you as much if not more than your music will, at least initially. 

If your prospective audience can’t get past your image and your name doesn’t strike a chord, they will never get to your music because a CD does not start playing until it’s in a player. I was lucky enough to be branded by the media. One was, “The Rae of Hope TM” (obviously because of my second name) and the other is “Racy Jaci.” Lest anyone take that one out of context, it was because I am seen as quick-witted with a wicked sense of humor. So now, when people who are even slightly familiar with me hear any of those phrases, I instantly pop into their head.

Next, create a logo. If you are not creative in the field of design, try to get a friend who is an artist to create a logo for you for the price of a dinner. Otherwise, you will have to hire a graphic artist, and that can be expensive. You can go to your local college and check out the art department. Talk to the head of the department to find out who he recommends. 

A very important step on the business side is to file for a seller’s permit (and in some communities, if you are setting up a business in your home, you will need to file a home business license in order to avoid some stiff fines and penalties. Check with your local chamber of commerce to find out what applies to you. For a seller’s permit, you will need to go to your local government office and ask what the requirements are. Ït’s usually a $10-$30 fee to file it and there is a lot less paperwork you need to figure out.

Some cities may require you to file a “Fictitious Business License” in your local newspaper and run the ad for six weeks. Your local government office may be able to provide a list of newspapers, and give you an idea of how much the newspapers charge for this service. They will also be able to tell you if there is anything additional you need to do or provide.

Once you start making a lot of money, you might want to consider becoming incorporated. If you want to go through all the hassle of trying to get the forms, fill them out correctly, and research all the legal jargon yourself, you will save money for attorney fees. My advice is, suck it up and pay the legal fees. Find someone who specializes in this field to incorporate you. This will help insure that there are few or no mistakes. You don’t want to put your company at risk.

If you decide to become incorporated and use a lawyer, the fees can range from $90.00-$500.00 per hour, so choose wisely. The total cost for us to incorporate was $900, but that was three years ago.

Get recommendations from others who have done this, or go to your local Chamber of Commerce and ask for recommendations. Before you go to a lawyer, you will need to research the business name you have chosen to see if it has already been taken.

To do this, find your local library and ask them if they have databases that allow you to search business names that are already in use. They should be able to guide you through the research process. It takes about 10 minutes, and there are five databases that I know of that search the U.S. and Canada for fictitious business names, Dunn and Bradstreet being one of these searchable databases.

Another option to become incorporate is to file on the internet.  I recently did this with my latest company.  Check out this websites to help you:

http://www.incorporatetime.com/Fee.htm

Being incorporated has its advantages and disadvantages. That’s why you may only want to become incorporated once you are making a substantial income, or if you have legal reasons to do so.

Being incorporated insures that the name of your company is yours, and no one else has the legal right to use it in your state. However, incorporating will also cost you additional tax money. But there are tax shelter advantages to becoming incorporated as well. You will need to consult a good accountant who can best advise you of what would be beneficial for you as well as the ramifications of your final decision.

If you are going to incorporate, your lawyer should be able to advise you as to which kind of corporation would be best for you if you decide to go this route. Make sure you ask him/her about an “S” corporation or an L.L.C. If he/she thinks an “S” corporation or an L.L.C. would be beneficial for you, you will have to go to an accountant who specializes in entertainment taxes. If you are wondering what the difference between a corporation, an “S” corp or an L.L.C. are, you can research that on the web. Unless you are a huge company, I would not suggest going the incorporated route, I think an “S” corp or an L.L.C. are the best option for a small company. Here are the differences between an “S” corp and an L.L.C.

This is a general explanation. To get a more detailed explanation please check the Internet, your local Library, the IRS or the BBB. 

An “S” corporation grants a special tax label, which must be applied for and granted by the IRS (an EIN number is part of the process). This allows the income of an “S” corp. to be taxed differently.

In a corporation, money is double taxed.  It’s taxed when it comes in the door and then again when it’s paid as income. An “S” corporation avoids double taxation, meaning that the money is only taxed one time and it allows certain deductions to be passed through the “S” corporation and onto the individual tax returns of the owners. 

An L.L.C. (limited liability corporation) provides protection from personal liability. Additionally, an LLC provides certain tax benefits, pretty much the same as an “S” corp.  However, with an L.L.C., you can have as many “members” (owners) as you want.

It is very important to use attorneys and accountants who specialize in entertainment and tax law. You don’t want to pay an attorney or an accountant to go through school to learn the laws pertaining to your field before they even touch your files unless you can afford it. (But even if you can afford to pay for their schooling, do you really want to?)

A disadvantage of being incorporated is that you WILL need an accountant (unless you are a whiz at tax laws – and a bit of advice, a good accountant can get money back from the government for you even if you haven’t paid a single dime in taxes that year. How? Well, I am not an accountant, but I recently saw that happen with a friend and I thought their accountant was shifty. So for their protection, I went to a friend of mine who is a CPA who does corporate taxes and he said it is a fact. I am going to my friend’s accountant next year! ). 

Why will you need an accountant? Because there are different forms you must fill out on a quarterly basis. If you do become incorporated, you can no longer have your business finances and your personal finances in one account. You will need a separate business checking and savings account.

Additionally, you can no longer take deductions for your business against your personal taxes. Those deductions will now be put only against any business income the company has. Any money that comes in for your business is the businesses, not yours. Anything withdrawn other than salary (which is preset) must be documented and of course must be legitimate. The good part is that the company can own everything and then you are at a real tax advantage. For the details of how to do that, you Will need a great tax attorney or accountant who can wade you through those waters.

If insuring that your name is not used by anyone else is your main motivation, incorporating may not be the best thing for you. The same result can be achieved by trade marking your name, which currently costs $350.00 if you file it yourself. (The least expensive lawyer I found when researching this part for the book, was $500.00 to file the trademark application for someone.) Back to what you must do once you set up a business. Expenses for the company paid for out of your pocket must be put in an itemized expense report, and backed by receipts (save those receipts, even for small $1.00 items!), in order for you to get reimbursed.

If you are not incorporated, it would still be advisable to open a separate business checking and savings account. It’s more professional. Try to find a credit union that accepts business accounts. They are much much cheaper. A business account from a regular chain bank will cost you so much per month, usually $10.00-20.00, plus so much per check and so much more per check after you’ve written x-amount of checks.

There are many credit unions that charge one flat fee and that’s it. The least expensive I have seen is $4.00 per month with no per-check fees or hidden costs. Additionally, credit unions typically have higher interest rates for both checking and savings accounts, not to mention that credit unions generally use their money to help the community, so you would be a philanthropist to boot! At any rate, get the most from your money while it sits in the bank.

As far as accounting goes, you need to document everything so your accountant can write it off your corporate taxes at the end of the year, or quarterly if you must file that way. Save those receipts! Take care to chart the mileage on your car. Document the day, time, and mileage start/end, where you went, and why. This is often an overlooked deduction that can be quite substantial.

Log every give away, and how much each give away cost you (wholesale, not retail), postage, meals that have to do with business, office supplies, travel expenses, clothes (deductible only if you only use them for business), fees for weight loss is now a legal deduction, phone calls, etc. It is best to get a separate phone line for your business. It will be clear-cut for accounting purposes, but also the IRS will like it better.

Tell the phone company you want an extra regular line, or they will charge you up the wazoo for a business line. It’s better to over-document than to under-document. Your accountant can not write off what is not documented. A good accountant who is familiar with entertainment taxes will be able to easily ascertain which of your expenses are deductible and which are not. At the end of the year, they will tell you, if you ask, what you should continue to document. The rest you will have to learn in business courses, by word of mouth, and through experience.

When setting up your business you will need a little bit of cash to get started. Here are a few of the items you will need in order to set up your home office.

Printer
Computer
Desk
Chair
Paper
Pens
Stapler
Calculator (optional as most computers have one inside their operating system.)
Staples
White out
Scissors
Telephone
Internet Access
Applicable Software and Word Processing Programs
Fax or faxing software
Accounting Software
Envelopes

Additional Resources

SCORE is a team of successful business owners, both past and present, who volunteer their time to help others succeed in business. Their services are free, you only need to make an appointment. http://www.score.org/

I have been right where you are, trying to lose weight, reach my goal weight and then keep it off. I have spent my life going up and down with yo-yo dieting and at times doing double duty with 5 hours a day of exercise, while my mom sat down with a pound of her favorite candy and lost weight without any exercise.

Losing weight is hard. It’s much easier to pack on the pounds than to take them off. I have been on the starvation diet, the low carbohydrate diet, the cabbage soup diet, nothing but chicken diet and every other diet and form of exercise that I found.

I always managed to take some of the weight off, but not all of it. Additionally, once I was beginning to feel good about myself, I became subconsciously uncomfortable with my new found slim line and packed the pounds back on again but with more added weight than before.

I finally decided I was going to look inward and make decisions. I realized that it wasn’t my fear of failure; it was my fear success that was actually holding me back.

There is always some ‘latest miracle magic’ diet pill or fad diet for weight loss and miraculous cures for appetite. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry. What is the answer? The answer is actually within you and it has been all the time.

The real winning strategy is all about decisions. It’s a decision I had to make for myself. These tips and strategies have helped me and now others change my attitudes and beliefs about food, myself and the world around me that always said I was fat.

It’s not about losing weight; it’s about gaining your life and health back for you, your family and your children if you have them. You have to decide (D.E.C.I.D.E) to make a change and refresh that decision daily in your actions, reactions, subconscious and conscious mind.

It’s a lifestyle change, not a practice in deprivation. What happens when a child really wants to touch the burning hot flame, even after you’ve told them ‘no’ a million times? They still have the urge to touch the flame. You have to give yourself permission to eat and the cravings will begin to subside.

It’s time to eat to live instead of living to eat. The following is my Top 7 List for successful weight loss and keeping it off or my (D.E.C.I.D.E) strategy.

*Always check with your doctor of course before you change your eating and exercise routines.

Tip 1. D - Decide to eat to live instead of living to eat and make exercise a regular part of your routine. Mark a spot in your daily calendar for a time to hit the gym, hit the weights, hit the pool, hit the hiking trail or hit the mat. Whatever you enjoy most hit it and hit your subconscious appetite with permission to eat the foods you love in smaller portions.

Tip 2. E – Educate yourself on your body and how it works with foods. Why don’t diets work? Because deprivation makes you want it more.

Tip 3. C – Calories. It’s all about calories. The only diet that actual works is, to burn off more calories than you take in. Never starve yourself or you will put your body into famine mode, which is built into your historical chemistry. One day my doctor said to me, when I was in my dieting yo-yo mode and 10-lbs shy of my goal weight, that people like me were meant to survive famines, where someone like her would die in a famine! I laughed my head off. Really, when is the last time I had seen a famine? Never! The trick to eating is to eat only what you want, in small portions, exactly when you want it and not on impulse (meaning you saw it then you wanted it). If after thinking carefully about the food you are craving and deciding that it wasn’t about seeing it and wanting it you still can’t live without it, eat one, not the whole bunch. Give yourself permission to eat it and eventually you won’t want it as much. Food is not an enemy.

Tip 4. I - Intermittent training, also known as “IT,” helps to burn calories. IT is short intervals of exercise that has more speed behind it (either aerobic or anaerobic) with short intervals of rest in-between. You need to consult your doctor and a fitness instructor to find out what is best for you.

Tip 5. D - Dedicate yourself to your commitment to living each day and bring a friend along for the ride. Nothing spells success like a friend in fat.

Tip 6. E - Eradicate the saboteurs in your life. The sad truth is that many family, friends and co-workers want you to succeed, but are more comfortable subconsciously with the way you are than the way you want to be.

Let those around you know that you need their help to succeed. Ask them to kindly not offer any extra cakes, cookies and ice cream purchased as a special treat just for you. After that it will be about willpower and making a decision not to eat all the extra goodies, only those you have decided you wanted based on your hunger not on your sight. One goodie won’t hurt. However, the entire gallon ice cream or package of cookies will.

That finishes the D.E.C.I.D.E but there is one last tip

Tip 7- Last but not least, celebrate yourself. Don’t celebrate with food, but with family, friends and fun. Take a walk in the mountains or down Main Street instead of going to your favorite restaurant.

Medical insurance costs are skyrocketing and many places of employment no longer supply medical insurance without a major dip into your pocketbook. The impact of under-insured or uninsured Americans and senior citizens are taking a toll on households across U.S.

I have been without insurance. At one time I had to purchase medicine with a price tag of over $1,900 a month. Because of that time, I was inspired to find out what I could do to help defray the cost of the medicine.

What I discovered is one of the best kept secrets in the medical industry. The secret is that pharmaceutical companies and major pharmaceutical company sponsors provide free prescription medicines to individuals and families that qualify.

For those individuals and families who can’t afford the cost of or the co-payment their prescription medications require, help has been around for years. The first step is to find out who manufactures the prescriptions you are taking.

Once you know the manufacturer, go to their website and download their application or apply online for their program. Some of the pharmaceutical websites and pharmaceutical company sponsors have websites that have the program information easily available.

Other websites you will have to search to find the program. Once you either fill out their application online or downloaded the application, you will in most cases need to get a signed consent form from your doctor to fax or send to the company. Every program has different rules and procedures.

Please take advantage of this opportunity to help you, your family and friend defray a bit of the medical costs from your budget.

As long as I can remember, I was told not to eat past 7 PM, so perhaps that is what stimulated the subconscious desire that stimulates my hunger pangs and munchie madness by 8 PM.

No matter what I have done to curb what I call the Midnight Munchies, I always lose the battle and pack on the pounds without losing the weight I wanted.

The other day it occurred to me that since I was already eating past 7 PM consistently, why not eat my dinner at 8 PM instead. That way I wouldn’t eat dinner and eat junk late in the evening.

That solved a small part of the problem, but why was my desire to eat more food consistent at night? It didn’t make sense to me. During the day I usually had to force myself to eat. I wasn’t hungry, didn’t want it, and forgot to eat. But then I was tired.

So why wasn’t I hungry during the day? The answer was, because I was so busy during the day, I was distracted! I had so much going on that I didn’t want to eat. So I started to exercise at night to keep myself busy and avoid the television, which always gave me the munchies.

However, the draw back to exercising later at night was that I couldn’t fall asleep. With so much adrenaline and endorphins running through my body, I was wide awake. What was the solution?

If I ate at night, I packed the pounds on. If I exercised at night, I couldn’t sleep, would be exhausted the next day, which would trigger my junk food junkie munchies in a huge way and I would eat more.

Here are the steps I have taken to shed those unwanted extra pounds (it works for those who have families as well. Simply eat a little bit of food with your family and the rest of the lighter portion of the meal when you get the munchies at night!)

For me I have found that meat, however much I don’t like it, curbs my appetite. But I don’t want a big lump of meat sitting in my tummy all night long. So I have switched around my meals and helped to curb my appetite all day long. *

1. Breakfast: Chicken breast, a piece of high fiber and protein bread with ½ pat of butter melted on it and a glass of orange juice. (Lots of pulp is the best. That helps fill you as well as gives you extra fiber.)
2. Snack: Three bean salad, artichoke hearts, fresh veggies or something along those lines.
3. Lunch: Some type of high fiber pasta with tomatoes, basil, artichoke hearts or some type of protein and yogurt. Sometimes I have homemade chili or soup. That is really satisfying.
4. Snack: Same as the mid morning snack or go out for a really good fat-free frozen yogurt. Honey Farms makes the best.
5. Dinner with the family or just you. Don’t eat a lot, but eat the heavier portion of the meal during dinner time. Meat, potatoes, whatever is on the menu. Leave a salad or the lighter portion of the meal for later.
6. 8 PM, munchie cravings hit big time for me, so it’s time to pull out the food put aside from earlier on and eat it now.
7. If you find you still have the munchies at around 9 or 10 PM, pop popcorn in olive oil and use fat free spray butter, heated in the microwave, on the popcorn (see recipe below).

If eating the rest of your dinner later at night bothers you, eat your meal as you regularly would but try popping approximately three cups of popcorn (not microwave) in 1 tsp olive oil.

Then take the fat free I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray (only the Spray bottle is fat free. Don’t ask me why.) and put about 1 – 2 tsp into a bowl and pop it into the microwave. Put a little bit of salt into the butter after it’s heated and then put it onto the popcorn. This will stop your craving and not put many calories into your stomach.

This regular regime, will help aid you in your quest for a healthier life and a lighter you. Losing weight is hard, that is a fact, but you can lose it eating and leading a more active lifestyle.

*Always check with your doctor of course before you change your eating and exercise routines.

Traveling is a lot of fun and a great way to invest time with friends and family on vacation. To save money and time as well as plan a fun trip, please use the following tips.

Planning a trip “off season” can save you a lot of money on airfare, hotel and sight seeing. Lots of fun, not a lot of people and a lot less expensive. Last January we went to Florida, stayed at a five star resort and flew on a non-stop flight for less than $1,500 for two people, including Disney World and Epcot Center tickets. In addition to not spending much money for 7 days, lo and behold not a single line in Epcot or at Disney World. Amazing! To get on any of the rides at Disney World or see Epcot in its entirety was astonishing. No waiting at all.

We booked a trip to Australia and Tahiti for three weeks that cost half the price it did during the months of June through August. We stayed in four and five star hotels, traveled on a great airline, went to three different parts of Australia and had limousine service at some locations for less than $1,900 each. The locals weren’t tired of overwhelming tourists and there were no lines or sold out signs anywhere.

Another trip to Hawaii was the same as the Australia trip. Did you know that Hawaii could be less expensive if you book it from California? Let me explain. If you live on the East Coast, a trip to Hawaii for seven nights (airfare, car, hotel) will cost on average of $1,700 (providing you book it on off days and online) and you will spend upwards of eight hours or more on the plane, not including layovers.

However, that same trip, booked out of Los Angeles, California will cost you on average $986 (using the same dates and the same online provider, with an upgrade from a three star hotel to a five star hotel) and you will fly non-stop for five hours, sometimes more and then arrive in beautiful Hawaii.

Instead of booking the trip from the East Coast, why not purchase the trip as if you lived in California and then book a round trip ticket on an airline such as Jet Blue (great to fly on and free television the entire flight) for as little as $32 (yes I just saw it advertised, $16 each way from New York to Los Angeles) on up to $149 and then either wait a few hours in the airport at LAX or book an overnight hotel in Los Angeles and see the town.

This is a great way to break up a grueling flight. Either way, you will save approximately $1,600 for you and your travel partner (unless you are traveling alone, then your savings will be half.) Even if you stay in a five star hotel in Los Angeles or Bel Air and the hotel cost is $789 a night. You will still save nearly $900.00!

For European or Eastern travel, use the same principal. Find out the route a plane would take to go to Europe from where your airport is, then find out how much it would cost to book the trip from it’s last stop in the United States (or where you live). Add on the price of a round trip ticket from your airport to the last stop in your country., and often times you may find that it’s less expensive to book that way. Pay close attention to departure times to ensure that your plane will catch your connecting flight. That’s why I believe it’s best to stay overnight at a hotel in the city you will be leaving from and see the town before you leave for Europe, the East, Hawaii or any other destination.

There are also two types of airports. There are “hubs” and “line stations”. A “hub,” is a large station that usually feeds directly into other airports. A “line station” is a station that usually only feeds into limited “hub” stations, and other small “line-stations.” It is much less expensive to fly out of a “hub” station, because there are fewer connections.  You can save a lot of money by enlisting a friend to drive you to a further away Airport that is a “hub.” (Make sure it makes sense with gas prices of course. Usually your savings will be a few hundred dollars for reference.)

When traveling, try to choose package or all-inclusive deals that will give you a better rate on everything. If you can pack a small suitcase filled with non-perishable, foods (remember the baggage weight limit on the airline you chose) you will save time that you would have to sit in a restaurant for travel and money for travel as well.

Go to Costco or Sam’s Club and stock up on items that will help you save money on eating out. Definitely, use credit cards that give you cash back or bonus rewards and sign up for the frequent flyer miles for each place you stay, car rentals and airlines. They will add up. I have received many free flights and free trips using frequent flyer miles. Save money on travel by using youth hostels and if you are heading to Europe, be sure to purchase a Euro-Rail pass.

Here are a few great sites to help you get on your way to a great vacation and business travel:

http://www.travelocity.com
http://www.mobissimo.com/
http://farechase.yahoo.com/
http://www.kayak.com/
http://www.lowestfare.com
http://www.priceline.com/
http://www.hotwire.com
http://www.orbitz.com
http://www.expedia.com
http://www.cheaptickets.com/
http://www.cheapflights.com/
http://www.travelzoo.com
http://www.cheapseats.com/
http://www.cheaptrips.com/
http://www.faremax.com/

Large assortment of web only, unpublished deals for the traveler who wants to save money. 

http://www.onetravel.com
http://www.cheapoair.com
http://www.onetravel.com (check out their “Farebeater Ultra.”)

Here are a few extra useful tools to help you on your journey.

http://www.easycruise.com/ Helps find inexpensive cruise travel.
http://www.cruisecritic.com/ is a great place to find out about the different cruse lines.

Bon Voyage!

If you know someone who needs help or you are someone who needs help, there is assistance waiting for you.  Emergency food, clothing, blankets and household items and in some cases, small cash advances are available through the following helpful services.

Please do not take advantage of these organizations. If you are someone who can help, by volunteering your time if you don’t have extra money or goods to donate, please do so.

• Freecycle.com

To find a chapter near you: http://www.freecycle.com

• American Red Cross

To find a chapter near you: http://www.redcross.org/where/chapts.asp

• GreaterGood

To find a chapter near you: http://www.greatergood.org 

• Salvation Army

To find a chapter near you:  http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/ 

• The ONE Campaign Phone 202-552-4990

To find a chapter near you:  http://www.one.org/

• MercyCorps Phone 888-256-1900

To find a chapter near you:  http://www.mercycorps.org/contact.php

• Society of St. Vincent DePaul

To find a chapter near you: http://svdpusa.org/AbouttheSociety/NationalCouncilLocator/tabid/70/Default.aspx

• Food for Free Phone  617-868-2900

To find a chapter near you:  http://www.foodforfree.org/

• America’s Second Harvest Phone 800-771-2303

To find a chapter near you:  http://www.secondharvest.org/zip_code.jsp

• Gifts of Love Phone 860-676-2323
• Craigslist http://www.craigslist.com

Check for additional resources such as Resource Service Center’s, Food pantries, local churches, Thrift Shops, and the YMCA in your area by typing the keywords into Google. To find additional free goods, type keyphrases such as, “free household goods,” “free food,” etc.

Sometimes, eating out can be less expensive than eating in and a lot more fun (but be very careful, because in the long haul eating out on a consistent basis will cost you quite a bit of money and, a much larger waistline). In order to get the most value for your dining experience, buy coupon books from a school and help them make money while you save!

These coupon books are a dream value for saving money. Two for one dinners and entertainment. If you don’t know any kids who are selling them, you can also buy The Entertainment Coupon Book at http://www.entertainment.com. The $10 – $20 you pay for them will return back to you with only a few coupons.

Find a restaurant chain in your area that allows children to eat free during certain nights.  Take advantage of those deals. Bring their friends for more fun! Check out the early bird and lunch specials as well as happy hour for half-priced entrees and hours devours.

Another great tip: Try eating out during lunch. Eating at a restaurant during lunch can be a lot less expensive for the same items than during the dinner hour. Most restaurants use “lunch specials” to draw in customers during a normally slow lunch period.

Some of the finest restaurants have early bird specials that will cost you 2/3 less than ordering during prime time. Many restaurants offer salad or soup, an entrée that includes two vegetables, desert and soda, coffee or tea for one small price. Look for combination meals, rather than ordering al la carte.

A recent five star restaurant we ate in, Pittsburgh, PA offered an incredible deal. For $16, each member of our party had the best meal they had ever eaten. I had the most flavorful, tender steak (12 oz), a large salad (the size of a dinner plate and stacked high), water (although I had my choice of beverages), an incredible rice pilaf and a heaping portion of asparagus and fresh homemade (real) key lime pie all for $16.29 (not including tip of course).

While bringing home a doggy bag may not be your idea of a good taste, you are wasting a lot of money by throwing your meal away, when you could have a great meal the next day as well. If you are reticent about bringing home leftovers, why not ask the restaurant if they serve half portions for less money?

Many restaurants will have a marked down half meal that is not on the menu. If they don’t and you have a friend with you, why not split the meal and the ticket price? You will need to ask the restaurant if there is an extra charge to split a meal. If there is, you may not want to go this route. However, if there isn’t an extra charge, ask for an extra plate so you can split the meal up.

Enjoying a meal now and again at a restaurant with your family or just by yourself can be enjoyable when you learn to save money and pay yourself by doing so.

Having a fun day out with family, friends, your boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse does not have to be a costly affair. Many fun and fantastic date and outing ideas will cost you very little money if any. The following is just a list of a few ideas that will help you when everyone is stuck for an entertainment idea, or short on cash.

This list of fun ways that you can spend time that either cost very little money or none at all (there are expensive, but most are not). Some of these are seasonal or are conducive to areas that have a specific type of weather.

1. Go ice-skating on a pond (you will need ice skates).
2. If you own a motorcycle, take a ride around your neighborhood.
3. Barbeque (grill out).
4. Build a sand castle and barbeque at the beach.
5. Check out local farms in your area. Some of them may have free tours of their facilities and tutorials showing how they are run, which can be very interesting and a great time. If you have a candy factory in your neighborhood, they often give free tours and free samples too!
6. If you have a fireplace, curl up next to a fire and listen to music, dance by it or watch a movie. Make some popcorn and talk about past fun times and laugh. If you choose to dance by the fire, just move some of your furniture to accommodate you and have fun.
7. Dare to dream together about fun things you want to plan for the future. Think outside the box. There is an old saying: “I asked God for a quarter and a quarter is what I got. What I didn’t know was, I could have asked for a $1.00 and He would have given it to me instead.” So think outside that box!
8. Purchase some stale bread at the bakery or the store for $.75 (or free at some stores) and feed the ducks at your park if they allow it. While you’re there, why not go fishing?
9. Go out for a cappuccino or an ice cream.
10. Many theme parks have nightly firework shows. Why not pack a car picnic bag and go to the edge of the park, park your car where it’s safe and legal to do so and have a picnic under the fireworks?
11. Check out your local pet store and check out the animals. It’s like going to a free zoo.  Some cities also have free or very inexpensive zoos. Why not visit one?
12. Go to a chess cafe and learn the game or play if you know how. Some parks have chess games going on, and you can get into the action free.

Going Green is the cause celeb of the day, but if you really look at history, going green has been a cause for many people from the get go. The following are a eight tried and true methods to help you go green, which will not only save you money, but will help you help to save the environment for generations to come.

1. Make your own baby food. Cook veggies of any kind as well as meats and other healthy foods and process them in your food processor or blender until they are creamy and smooth. You will not only save money, but also save on the jars and packaging that are needed to package the baby food you purchase in the store. Additionally, the food will be much healthier for your child, because you know exactly what you have used and put into it.
2. Shop at rummage sales and go online to places like freecycle.com. This will help save the environment by reusing items that normally would end up in landfills as well as save your pocket book from spending a lot more money than you need too.
3.  Use cloth diapers instead of disposable ones as much as possible. Yes, they have an odor that stays around and yes, you have to wash them, but you will be saving money from the expense of buying disposable diapers as well as saving the environment because of the sheer volume of diapers that are put into landfills on a daily basis.
4.  If you own a company with a commercial printer, change to soy-based ink instead of using petroleum-based ink. Soy based ink is roughly the same price, but you will be saving the environment from toxins produced by ink and the cartridges used to carry the ink.
5.  Ride your bike to work, walk, take the bus or better yet, talk to your employer about setting up an incentive program for employees who commute to work together. The rising cost of gas as well as the toxins produced from the carbons is incentive enough to use any one of these methods.
6.  Replace old light bulbs with energy efficient light bulbs. You will save money on your electric bill and when the energy efficient light bulbs are on sale, you will be saving a lot of money on the purchase price as well. The environment is also helped by using less energy.
7.  Use an energy efficient space heater instead of your house heater. Move the space heater into whichever room you and your family are occupying at the time (be sure to unplug it when someone is not in the same room to monitor it). Why pay a lot of money to heat parts of the house you are not in. Save money on your electric bill and help save the environment by putting the green in your pocket instead of sending your green to the electric company.
8.  Use Energy Star appliances and file for the rebates, refunds and tax credits that are allowed when you purchase such appliances. You will again be putting the green in your pocket and saving electricity, which helps the environment.  

There are many more ideas you can come up with on your own. The point is to go green and save your green for a better future for your children, their children, and a better retirement when you start using your retirement fund that was bolstered by your money saving acumen.