Can you guess what I am talking about?

Well it isn’t bingo…

Alright, I just wanted to take a moment to talk about crossword puzzles and their effects on my life.

You see, each and every day I do free online crossword puzzles.  Not only does this keep my spelling in tip top condition, but I also learn interesting facts as well.  So, it is a double dose of knowledge, and it only takes me a few minutes each day - I wish my exercise program was like that…

I also belong to a club that exchanges crossword puzzles back and forth - which makes them even more difficult.  I have been using a free crossword puzzle maker I found online to make the puzzles.  It is simple to use, only requiring my mouse and keyboard - that’s it.

So, if you haven’t caught the crossword fever - try them out.  It is definitely one of my favorite brain exercises that I use to keep my brain sharp - without spending a lot of time doing it.

Overwhelmed with debt?  Not to sound link an infomercial here, but I used to be in the same boat.  I had a long period of unemployment that resulted in me missing paying the bills and keeping up with my credit card payments.

I was receiving phone calls and mail from creditors demanding that I pay them back - thing is I didn’t have the money.  It was to the point where my options were running out fast - but I really didn’t want to go bankrupt.  I hear many "horror stories" about going bankrupt - and I really didn’t want that to be me.

It was at this time my friend James mentioned something to me - he suggested I get some credit and bill consolidation help.  I had never heard of this before so I looked online for companies that offered a debt negotiation program.

I talked to a few companies, but ended up with the one I thought would be the best.  I was able to take advantage of their credit card negotiation services and reduce my credit card balance and payments in half.  They were also able to do the same for my bills - and lump all my payments into a single, smaller payment.

It has been two years since I set that up, and I am proud to say that I just finished my last payment a month ago and I am now debt free.  What a relief.

If you are a business owner who started out with a small operation and have tried to make it grow, you may have run into some problems.  These could be little things like getting the correct amount of inventory from suppliers, or it could be larger things such as having the systems you need in place for your company to grow.

If you haven’t started down this path yet, you may be better off to invest in a franchise - they provide you with solutions to all these problems.  For example, if you were to have ten Starbucks franchises there are systems created for you to allow the stores to run on their own without your involvement - something that most smaller business can’t or don’t do.

How many different franchises are there?  Do a quick search online for "top franchise opportunities".  How many results did you get?  I bet there are quite a few.  I would suggest looking at ones that you might have interest in - for example, if you are not a very social person, a coffee shop may not be for you.

If you want to have very good returns on your investment, consider investing in one of the fastest growing franchises.  The reasoning for investing in ones that are growing rapidly is that usually the market for their services or niche is not saturated - typically there are quite a few good markets available to an investor.

Just be sure before you invest in a franchise to grow your business empire, talk to the people on your team like an accountant and your lawyer.  They will be able to advise you on what would be best in your situation.  That is what you pay them for, right?

I volunteer from time to time at the local dog shelter.  Even though I don’t have a dog of my own, I quite enjoy the company of dogs.  They are fun to play with, fun to take for walks and are some of my best friends.

Now, usually we have been feeding all the dogs store bought dog food, but there have been some concerns at our shelter on whether or not it is the best choice for our dogs.  We have had a number of dogs with allergies to the foods we give out, and have been looking at alternatives to traditional dog foods.

So, after some research we have started making our own homemade dog food.  The dogs love it, and we have had no problems with any sickness or allergies.  It is nice that we can control what goes into the dog food, so that we can keep the dogs as healthy as they can be.

We have also started to make homemade dog treats, and they have been well received.  So now, instead of baking cookies, I bake dog cookies instead.

I find cooking for the dogs rewarding.  You can actually tell that they appreciate the food your serve them, and they thank you with a wet kiss when they are done eating - that’s the best part.

I have been very busy lately with work and family life and I have had little time to myself.  Unfortunately, I have a wedding coming up that I have to write a couple of wedding speeches and I just don’t have the time to do it.  I have been getting a little stressed out about it and I just really need to find a solution - right now.

I was complaining about my dilemma at work one night and my co-worker came up with a good solution - I should just go search online for "instant wedding speeches and toasts" - it sure sounded like a great idea.

So, when I got home later that night, I went online and looked it up.  In fact, there were many companies that offered to write wedding toasts and speeches for a reasonable price.

I filled out the forms and made a payment - my wedding speeches will be delivered in a few short days.  In the meantime, I will have to find myself a tuxedo - something else to add to my list. 

Well, if you have bad credit, getting a personal loan can be a bad experience.  No matter what the reason was for your bad credit, it seems that you are treated different than those with good credit - and your options are not so rosy.

A bad credit personal loan is both good and bad.  Sure, it gives you the opportunity to build your credit score back up, but usually you pay higher interest.  So, be sure that you are buying something you need when you get the loan, not just a toy - or you may find yourself back in a bad credit situation.

If you own some assets, such as a house, a secured personal loan is another choice.  Usually these types of loans are easier to qualify for, and you can get a lower interest rate.  You just need to be careful to keep up your payments, or you can lose your asset that you put up as collateral.

Just be sure to talk to a professional before getting a loan if you have bad credit.  They will be able to find the best option for you and your situation.

We were trying to come up with a good present to give our children for Christmas this year.  Over the past few years we have made a conscious effort to give them less toys and instead give them life experiences.

Just last year we went on a cruise in the Bahamas - and they loved it.  In fact, they still talk about it to this day, even though it has been over a year since we were there.  I feel it is important to educate our children and make them get an idea of the world around them that they may not see everyday. 

So this year, we wanted to have the same success with the gift as last year.  One of our friends suggested that we could go to Disney World and Universal Studios.  They had gone last year and had a great time.

He suggested that we check out the Disney World forum to find some good places to visit - the site was a tourist guide of sorts. 

I checked out the forum and was amazed at the amount of useful information (to us) that there was on the site.  From the comments left on their site, we have decided that we should stay at one of the Disney World Resort Hotels - they are in the top ten hotels in the country.

So we are counting down the days until we give our children the gift.  I can’t wait to see the look on their faces - it is moments like these that make the money spent on the trip all worthwhile.

I have been considering starting a home business for the past few months, and I have finally decided to do it.  Now, I have set a room aside for my business, but I do not have any home office furniture.  I have decided to order my furniture online, so I am going to take a look.

Checking online, I realized one thing: there is a lot of different styles of furniture.  Perhaps my shopping trip won’t be as easy as I thought.  To keep myself focused, I made a list of the office furniture I would need to get started: I just need a desk and a chair.

For office desks, my choices are limited by the size of the room the desk will be in.  My room is kind of small, so I was going to get something simple.  I just want to throw out a thought for you out there with a computer - if you get a desk with a hutch, be sure that your monitor will fit.  Most desk hutches will fit up to a 22" or 24" widescreen monitor, but measure to make sure.  Another thing to mention, is if you have children, a glass top desk might not be the best choice either - it is easy to see fingerprints and when it it dirty - if you are like me, and don’t like to clean everyday, don’t buy it.  After looking at my options for about half an hour, I did find a nice wood desk with a hutch and added it to my shopping cart.

Next I needed to find a good office chair.  From my bad experiences with office chairs, I decided to skip out on the cheap ones.  I set my price range between $100 and $300 - I should be able to find something good at this price.  Out of all the options, the mesh office chairs looked the best - price wise they were in the middle of my budget, and from the reviews I read, they were the way to go.

After completing my order, I printed off my receipt.  The furniture is supposed to be delivered by next Wednesday - I will have something to do that night.  Last time I put a desk together it took about three hours.  Hopefully this time, it won’t take that long…

We have one problem as people in general: we only think about the short term.  We spend our money, pick up bad habits, and make choices that affect our future.  The problem comes down to we don’t think about the future until we are there - often with dire consequences.

Take for instance: our health.  When we are young we are usually healthy and take it for granted.  If you were to read some of the blogs I read, you would see that nearly three out of four people will need to pay for long term care at some point in their lives.

I can remember when my grandmother stayed in a nursing home and I saw some of the bills - it was not cheap.  Sadly, because no one prepares for these health expenses, a retirement nest egg can be used up pretty quick.  Thankfully in her case she had some long term care insurance - it paid all here expenses while she was in the nursing home.

So I urge you to stop a minute and think about your health in the future - planning now might save you some financial difficulties later on in life.

Now, there are not many things in this world that you really need.  Sure some things like clothing help because it is socially acceptable, but really there are two basic needs - food and shelter.  Now I would like to say that in this information age, there is another basic need - a mobile phone.

I know some of you are laughing right now, but I can’t think about what I would do if I didn’t have one - how could I make it through the day.  In fact, looking at my schedule, you could say that my Nokia 6300 and I are attached at the hip.

Starting from checking my messages in the morning, to playing music on my morning jog, it is there.  If I see a potentially good investment property, I use it to take pictures.  Checking the weather is a breeze with the built in FM radio.

Funny thing is it is with me every step of the way throughout each day - my life would be empty without it.