Budget travel has become a necessity for most people with the cost of gasoline and other consumer products on the rise. But when we start considering when, where, how and what type of vacation to undertake, we sometimes get caught up in the anticipation and excitement of the upcoming trip and let the more important financial side of things slip a little. After all, for most of us, taking a vacation may only happen once a year and for some, even more infrequently, so we tend to indulge and forget about our pocket book a little.There are many ways to save money, avoid unnecessary cost, ensure you take care of details end up a smart and perceptive traveler. Travel planning is easier that you might think and here are eight great budget travel tips for making your travel dollar go further!1. Cushion your budget – When considering a trip or planning budget travel, it is important to plan for the unexpected and consider the financial side of things early on. This ensures affordability, liquidity and having the resources to enjoy it to the fullest! Plan for the worst-case financial scenario and prepare for things to cost a little more than you expected. Allow up to 20% increase in cost to be on the safe side of things.2. Emergency money: Carrying some spare cash somewhere can also be a lifesaver. The rule of thumb seems to be around $50-$100 in small bills. This can be used for incidentals, ground-transportation like cab fare and/or your return home, tips and more.3. Set your priorities: Set some budget travel spending priorities and criteria in advance, like eating at a special restaurant or attending a concert, even if this means sacrificing a bit on lodgings or visa versa, depending on what is more important to you.4. Keep an eye on your credit cards: It is extremely easy these days to have access to your financial resources through ATM’s and credit cards. Just remember that it is just as easy to overspend because of it being so readily available. A little discipline will go a long way to protect your financial interest and help you stick to your travel budget.5. Maximize gas mileage and efficiency: If you’re planning a road trip, make sure that your car has been serviced at least a week before your trip. A well-maintained vehicle will go a long way to ensure carefree driving. If your budget allows, you may consider renting a vehicle to save wear and tear on your own. Small economy cars are better on gas and are much more comfortable than they used to be. Minivans and sport utility vehicles are practical only if you have to transport a large family with a lot of equipment or luggage.6. Gas fill-ups: For filling up your car en route, avoid pushing to the limit until the gas runs out. Gas will obviously be more expensive when filling up in remote locations. If you miscalculated and the light on the dashboard indicates that you are really in need, opt for filling just half a tank until you reach the next more densely or major populated destination, where gas might be a little cheaper.7. Pack-a-snack: Bring your own refreshments and snacks. Gas station prices on drinks and snack food are high. Avoid these during a pit stop, if you are counting your budget travel dollars. A cooler packed with lots of cool drinks, water and ice and/or a thermos of coffee or hot water for tea, some fruit, granola bars, or a sandwich, goes a long way to still the hunger and save you money by avoiding all high priced stops en route.8. Travel necessities: It is advisable to travel with basic necessities, like a cell phone and a first aid kit, since both can prove to be essential in emergencies. Most people have cell phones at their disposal, but in the event that you are not one of them, a prepaid cell phone may be the answer for your trip. The peace of mind it offers is worth the small investment. Cell phones can also save on hefty surcharges and higher long distance rates that hotels and resorts often charge.Budget travel requires close attention to all things financial before and during your trip. Planning a trip or vacation can be a little time consuming but following these travel tips will hopefully save you a lot of headaches as well as some unnecessary interest charges on your credit card balances later! You will thank yourself for your fiscal restraint and spending discipline, upfront planning, foresight and forward thinking!
Commercial Real Estate – Valuing The Cash Flow
Many investors don’t understand the power of commercial real estate. I too had reservations until I understood the power and safety commercial real estate can provide. Commercial real estate is similar to trucks. Trucks come in all sizes and all shapes – a Ford Ranger to an 18 wheeler. Commercial properties come in all sizes and shapes – a standalone building that houses a small restaurant to the Empire State Building. People read in the newspapers that commercial property prices are crashing. People notice the strip malls have a lot of vacancies and it scares them away. Let’s take a look at the power of commercial real estate and a quick note about market cycles. Commercial real estate is a business and is priced based on current cash flows. For simplicity sake, commercial property pricing is based on 10 x annual cash flow, not including debt service (loan). So a property that yields $10,000 in cash flow is worth $100,000. Regardless of the type of property, if you increase rents by 1% ($100) the value goes up a $1000. Decrease expenses by $100 and the value goes up $1000. So what? Let’s look at a simple apartment example.A small apartment complex (10 units) has an annual cash flow of $50,000 and is for sale for $500,000. It has a lot of long-term tenants paying below market rents. You put down 20% or $100,000 (there are ways to make it someone else’s money). We’ll assume it is a positive cash flow property even with the debt service (loan payments). First a storage area is made into a laundry facility that provides $5000 on annual basis. You just increased the value $50,000. Next rents are raised the first year to market rents. Raising rents $50 per unit increases cash flow $6000. You just increased the value $60,000. That means you have doubled your original $100,000 in the first year and you get to keep the $11,000 cash flow. There are many more ways to increase the cash flow including: separate utilities and have tenants pay utilities, decrease vacancy, work out a deal with dish network and get paid, reduce maintenance costs, and more. Just by raising the rent $10 a year increases cash flow $1200 a year and increases the value $12,000. In three to five years you’ll have cash flows of $70,000 to $100,000 (less debt service which remains constant) and you can sell the property for $700,000 to $1,000,000. Now you see the power of commercial real estate.Just like single family homes, not every property is a good deal. First you look for commercial properties in areas that have improving rents, increasing employment, and areas where the entire area is going through gentrification. Next you look for properties that have a value proposition – rents too low, poor management, ability to install laundry or some other measure to increase cash flow. You would be surprised how many buildings are poorly managed or have below market rents.I’ve used an apartment as the example; however this same model works for office buildings, mobile home parks, strip malls and more. All types of real estate (all types of investment) go through cycles. When the economy is booming for example, the vacancy in office buildings goes down significantly (prices go up). Of course the opposite is true during an economic downturn. During economic downturns more people move to apartments, mobile homes and need storage facilities. By observing these cycles one can move in and out of various positions to minimize risk and increase portfolio value.
Education With Personal Objectives
Most parents do not start their children’s primary education with goals in mind, with personal objectives. But, when general public education began to develop, there were objectives underlying its foundation. Many would suggest that Horace Mann was the founder of the modern public American education system. This statement by no means implies that he was the founder of all educational programs that existed during his primacy, and surely he did not contribute to institutions that preceded him. His focus was upon educating the greater public. Additionally, his strategies served the rapidly developing American Industrial Revolution. The Mann philosophies were implemented to a large degree for the purpose of assuring that our young citizens of European descent were sufficiently educated to both engage in necessary menial tasks, care for the equipment, and to manage the new manufacturing infrastructure developing across our young America.
The Mann-concept based educational system was sufficient to buoy our economy for the primary benefit of the Anglo population and provided a significant edge to this group in conjunction with Jim Crow laws that legislated separate and scarcely ever equal systems for people of all other colors. Additionally, because World Wars I, II, and subsequent major wars in Asia also decimated competitive industrial and knowledge assets, as well as trained labor forces in Europe and Asia through the mid-1970′s, America thrived. However, since then, America has suffered losses in superiority in manufacturing processes, technology, education delivery. Additionally, we never elected to develop a rich common culture by which to bond citizens. As such, the United States economic machine has surrendered much of its superiority to others internationally.
With nationalism scarcely an hors-d’oeuvre on their menu, in favor of profit, a host of large American companies have elected to take their manufacturing facilities to foreign countries for the benefit of lower employee wage costs, easier access to production materials, less critical environmental regulations, and lower tax burdens. Not only does this take money out of our country, but many thousands of jobs are lost to international populations annually. Sometimes companies simply contract for services to be performed abroad that could employ and feed thousands of Americans very handsomely. And, to add insult to injury, many American corporations that cannot transfer their work or facilities abroad lobby for and take advantage of legislation that allows foreign nationals to acquire jobs within the continental U.S. (e.g., H1B, and J1 visas). Don’t be fooled by employer outcries suggesting that the jobs cannot be otherwise filled with available citizens. The employers often pay foreign employee counterparts the legal minimum rate, even asking Americans to train them before the Americans are released from their positions.
What this means regarding education is that there is a growing disconnect between employers, and the U.S. educational system (from primary through advanced degrees), with a lesser assurance of the value of any diploma, certificate or degree in the marketplace. A self-serving, liberal arts education narcissist might suggest “We do not educate students to perform tasks. We leave that type of training to trade schools”. Colleges and universities, with their increasing ranges of majors and rising costs, are graduating only fifty percent of those who they admit, and most schools no longer align their curricular objectives with specific needs of the business sector. They no longer promote delivery of market-valuable degrees, rather sell the “opportunity” for students to develop themselves in robust, information based, experience rich environments. So, increasing numbers of students, if graduating from college at all, manage to do so with tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars of school loan debt, diverse experiences, but no job prospects or offers only in the customer service and sales sectors. The jobs attained are often of no relation to that which they studied.
Remember when Aunt Mary would pinch you on your little cheek and ask, “What do want to be when you grow up?” Everyone laughed as you answered in a manner that reflected your very limited exposure to the fact that people “did anything that matters” other than spending time with you. As seemingly unimportant as those scenarios may have appeared, we should be earnestly asking those questions of our children regularly, from an early age. We should provide them with as broad a range of productive options as we can identify in our research. We should enhance their 3R’s (reading, writing and arithmetic) skills as far as we are able (with assistance) as foundations as they also learn to code, play instruments, to compare, contrast, interpret, problem solve, learn to design and handle tools and machines, interact effectively with others, and demand more of the world around them as they grow. We should show them there are demonstrable numbers of cultures and species that share the planet, with diverse world surfaces, deep waters, vast skies, and uncharted space to consider. There are colors, sounds, aromas, textures, flavors, thoughts, and planes of existence beyond our senses. We should emphasize that we vigorously apply ourselves and learn today, tomorrow and the next day so that one day they will be able to select preferred options, not the detritus roles left by others, secondary systems and markets, leftovers for the inadequately prepared. With such perspectives and targets as these, our children will seek a higher level of achievement and experience education with personal objectives.
Intown Atlanta – Buyer’s Market
As real estate markets fluctuate around the country home buyers are seeking areas where the market is stable and favors the buying of homes. Occasionally they find an area that is hot for a few weeks but these spurts generally do not last very long. Sellers are likewise wondering if their area is going to pick up and see a shorter average listing time from open until sale. Intown Atlanta is a market to watch currently as there is quite a bit of action happening in this area. In fact Atlanta is showing definite signs of developing into a buyer’s market and there are some great deals to be had on beautiful homes.
Buyer’s markets are simply the best time possible to purchase a home. Atlanta’s current market is running somewhere around 5 available houses for each buyer that is out there so as you can well imagine there is some really attractive pricing happening here in order to garner the attention of buyers. So what can you do to get yourself ready for buying in a buyer’s market? The best thing to do is to be ready to react quickly. Homes can move pretty fast in a buyer’s market so you need to be ready to move at short notice. This will of course mean that your finances should be pre-arranged and pre-approved so that when the home you love comes available you can make a move on it.
The home buying climate is not the only attractive thing about Intown Atlanta, For years Atlanta has been one of the most lively southern cities and along with Miami, Dallas and Houston is a driving force in the “New South.” Atlanta is a growing city that is constantly adding new amenities and recreation facilities for the new residents that have flocked to this area over the past decade. Atlanta has dealt well with this influx in stride, providing excellent public services and employment opportunities with such notable companies as Coca-Cola, Home Depot, UPS and Cingular Wireless calling Atlanta home for their headquarters. Atlanta is a growing city with a lot to offer. With the current state of the real estate market it makes sense to check Atlanta out if you are seeking an area for a new home.
Fitness Tips For Bodybuilding and Weight Training
Increasing muscle strength and size are synonymous with weightlifting and bodybuilding. However, weightlifting and bodybuilding offer other fitness benefits as well. Aside from developing strength, you can also improve your stamina and endurance and decrease body fat. If you would want to start or just starting out with weight training, make sure to follow these essential tips to maximize your results.
1. Set reasonable goals. You’ll only be disappointed if you think you can achieve your desired results in a short time. Weight lifting takes time and effort. Devise a program that you can commit to for several weeks, based on how much time you can invest in training
2. Balance your program with cardio routines. Doing cardiovascular workouts will supplement your strength training as you develop stamina, endurance and even flexibility. Try to do 3 to 4 cardio exercise sessions per week, each lasting 30 minutes long.
3. Diversify your training. Author Bill Pearl of “Getting Stronger”, a bodybuilding and weight lifting book, underscores the importance of altering or changing routines regularly. Change your training every four to six weeks to work out different muscle groups and keep your training sessions fresh and enjoyable.
4. Wear the right attire. Injuries can be avoided by wearing proper gym attire. Just make sure you are comfortable with your clothes and shoes. Consider buying quality training apparel and gear.
5. Measure your results. Measuring your results helps in increasing your motivation and long-term commitment because the practice allows you to see your progress concretely. Consider keeping a workout log, measuring your body before and after a workout, and taking photos of yourself to keep track of your progress.
6. Mental Training. You might think that weight training and bodybuilding is purely physical, but your training would also involve a great deal of your mind as well. You would need self-discipline to stick with your program. You would also need determination and concentration to go through pain and difficulties. You would inevitably develop mental toughness as you push yourself to your physical limits.
You would need to invest effort and time to get your desired results out of bodybuilding and weight training. You can achieve your results faster by creating a solid training program, follow your training schedule and by applying fundamental fitness principles.
How to Optimise Your Videos for Search Engines
If you aren’t optimizing your videos to match what people are searching, your videos are likely to get lost and not reach their intended audience. Without reaching their intended audience, they serve no purpose.
So how do you ensure your videos get results?
With video search engine optimization, commonly referred to as video SEO.
To simplify what you need to do, think about your target audience. Consider their language, wants, and needs.
Use the following 12 valuable tips to get your video to reach the first page of Google and YouTube, but most importantly build visibility to a large niche audience that is interested in what you have to offer.
1. Content Quality
Ensure your videos are relevant, informative, and rich with content.
Videos demonstrating step-by-step processes or videos expressing opinions about topics can be quite useful. Videos should be fun, memorable, short, and leave the viewer wanting more. If using a video production company, choose one that understands the importance of these concepts and check out their existing video portfolio for videos that match these qualities.
2. Catchy Title
Capture the potential viewer’s attention with a catchy title that contains related key phrases that are relevant to your brand or service. Do some keyword research and find the words that your audience will most likely be searching, but keep the title interesting, not just filled with keywords.
3. Keyword Tags
Optimize your video with important key phrases or keywords. Refer back to your keyword research and think in terms of what your targeted audience might be searching for when looking to find your brand or service. Tag your video with these terms and consider naming the file of the video with these terms in mind.
4. Keyword Description
Optimize your video’s description with relevant keywords and include a keyword-rich description of your video to allow search engines to index it and rank it higher, and for users to better understand your video before viewing.
5. Link back to your website
Use video as a portal to other content on your website. Upload your videos to portals like YouTube and Vimeo, and consider providing links back to related content and other relevant videos on your site.
6. Provide Transcripts
Provide transcripts of your videos. If you want your video to rank well, you need to give the search engines something to index and rank. Surround your videos with on-page copy that can be indexed by search engines.
7. Short Length
Keep your video at 2 minutes or less. The average amount of time a user spends on a YouTube video is around 1 minute 30 seconds. If you have video content that is of longer than 5 minutes, consider breaking it up into smaller pieces and tagging each accordingly, to be more appealing to the viewer. Not only does this make for better viewing pleasure, multiple videos are also better for optimization efforts.
As YouTube is now paying close attention to viewership and engagement it is critical that viewers watch your video for as long as possible.
8. Video Sitemaps
Use Google Webmaster Tools for creating a video sitemap to make sure that the search engines can find your video content and index it accordingly. Use important keywords in the anchor text that links to your videos featured on your sitemap.
9. Branding
As video is a great way to generate brand awareness with prospects, take advantage of this opportunity to incorporate your brand and logos into your videos.
10. Embedding Options
Allow other users access to the coding that will allow them to embed your video on their website or blog. This can help gain valuable back links and shares that will boost your rankings in search engines.
11. Syndication
Submit your video to RSS feeds and syndicate your videos to drive exposure across various online platforms and to optimize your videos even more.
12. Share!
Get on your social networks, check your email contacts, write on your blog, and get the hype going. Share your video with everyone, because if you have content worth sharing, it will continue to be shared with an expanding audience, and in turn develop more exposure for your brand or service.
In summary, video optimization can be a great way for you to expose your brand to users who may otherwise not have been familiar with your brand, product, or services. It is a great way to engage, entertain, and promote!
The Wonderful World of Online Shopping
Online shopping is a very easy way to purchase products or different types of services via the internet. There are online catalogs and online shopping malls that allow you to sit in the comfort of your own home and shop for any goods that you need.
Benefits Of Shopping Online
1. You can browse several categories and find different items without having to leave the house
2. You can compare prices at many different online shopping malls
3. You can order as many items as you want to and not worry about carrying them to the car because they are shipped to you
4. The internet is available and open twenty four hours a day so you can shop whenever and for however long you please
5. There is no worry of standing in long lines and being in large crowds
Most online shops that are based in your country will have low shipping fees, but these fees will always apply. There may also be options for the type of shipping that can get your items to you within a day, up to two weeks.
The majority of online shopping sites follow the same pattern and guidelines. They are simple and easy steps, and help create a pleasant online shopping experience.
1. Select the category that you want to browse
2. Either choose a specific item within that category or select to view all
3. Once you find the product you want, you can add the item to your shopping cart
4. At the end you will be able to check out and continue shopping
Once all of your chosen items are in the shopping cart, there will be a total at the bottom with the amount of the sales tax. You will be allowed to remove things from your shopping cart as well as add more. Payment is usually done by debit or credit card with your information secured.
It is always a great idea to check for coupons that may be available at the online shopping malls. Make sure you check for the different prices of shipping and compare them with other places.
Online shopping is most popular around the holidays. If you do not want to be one in a crowd of people waiting in long lines, this is the most brilliant form of shopping. You can almost guarantee that prices online will be cheaper than the prices in the actual stores.
A lot of time, products are more commonly available online and not in the store. If this is the case, the online shopping mall will let you know that your certain product is only available for purchase online. Also, this shopping option allows you to save gas and time as well as the whole physical aspect of shopping!
Online shopping is fun for all ages, especially families with infants or small children, or families with elderly that cannot move around. You can shop at your convenience from within the comfort of your own home.
Royalty Universe is your convenient online shopping site that offers all information and assistance needed in the shopping process. Customers are able to give a feedback and email questions to the customer service.
Effective Resume that Works in Canada
WHAT SHOULD MY RESUME IDEALLY LOOK LIKE, FOR A JOB IN CANADA?A question that I am asked very frequently by New Immigrants, when I meet them for an Interview. I do advise them on this issue; however the following components need to be addressed. This MUST be done before one starts applying for employment in Canada.Generally a resume MUST HAVE the following: CONTACT DETAILS: This includes the name of the applicant, address, phone numbers and email address. Please drop the PHOTOGRAPH, as it is definitely not required. Furthermore, there is no need at all to mention your Age, Marital Status and your Residency, Country of Origin and religion. There are laws governing these issues in Canada and hence they may not be the basis, on which any individual may be discriminated against in terms of employment.Clarity of an Objective at the beginning of a resume can certainly help in inducing the Reader to continue reading. Eg -Looking for an opportunity in the area of Financial Analysis and Planning, within an Organization that is value driven and customer oriented ORLooking for a Supervisory position in Sales, within the Consumer Packaged Goods Industry. Here is an executive summary of the individuals experience and skills. Eg – Controllership experience of over 10 years in ManufacturingDesignated Accounting and Finance professional Excellent leadership and interpersonal skills Managed large groups of staff ranging from 5 – 15 Have been exposed to Public Company Reporting for over 5 years Proficient in the usage of computers and various softwares WORK EXPERIENCE: A Chronological submission of employers worked with in your work life, beginning with the Most Current one. Important components to note here are – the name of the employer, tenure of employment with month/year, title of position and brief of the company worked in. Then you may describe the role you performed. Eg. -General Manager Jan 200 – Aug 2006 A Manufacturing Organization with Revenues – $100 million and 2000 employees Role Description ACHIEVEMENTS: Do not misinterpret this as a role addition or activity performed. This is a specific mention of an Accomplishment, where you have done more than required and gone that extra mile. Eg -Managed to bring down the month end closing days from 5 to 3 OR Successfully implemented a Costing system that resulted in an annual savings of $2 million across the companyListing of your degrees, certifications and so on. Please list the most current one first with details like – Degree obtained, year of certification, Institution that certified you and location. Eg -CA – ICAO – 2004 B.Com – University of Waterloo – 2000 SOFTWARE SKILLS: This is a comprehensive listing of the various softwares that you are proficient in like SAP, Lawson, Great Plains, Excel, Access, and ACCPAC.PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS/VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES: This is not a must have for resumes, however cannot harm you in anyway. You may want to mention your involvement in a ROTARY CLUB for example, in addition to your association with CICA, ICAO, etc.Overall, a resume that has all or most of the above mentioned components stands a better chance of getting its owner an Interview than a resume that doesn’t.