MONEY SECRETS OF THE AMISH by Lorilee Craker

In a world so focused on consumerism and debt the basic things are labelled as “secrets”, when I think of the title “Money secrets of...” I can’t help but thinking “how sad that we now regard it as secrets”, definitely some years ago it would have been regarded as just simple common sense.

There is no “money secrets” in Lorilee Craker’s book, just some basic common sense that from time to time we should be reminded of. Nowadays we seem to have our priorities in the wrong place and in these economic times is now, more important than ever to have well set our priorities. In the Amish world this seems to be simplicity, family, and among “their secrets”, avoid debt, live with less, shop second hand, buy what you really need, be self-sufficient in whatever you can, trade for goods and services, save more and be as resourceful as you can. I have to say, that most of all the “tips and tricks” were already known and practised in my household, however the book left me completely inspired to continue the same lifestyle and even try a couple of new things.

The narrative style with nice touches of humour make this book a page turner. If you are on the frugal side of life and you value the simple and basic things in life this book will not disappoint you.

Mind your own Mortgage -Book Review

I have received Mind Your Own Mortgage: The Wise Homeowner's Guide to Choosing, Managing, and Paying Off Your Mortgage by Robert J. Bernabe from the publisher in a moment I was actually preparing myself to refinance, probably it was the best moment the book could have come as it was a real eye opener.

The book is divided in four sections: Get a grip on it, shop for it, manage it and finish it.

The first section it is an introduction of the book and explains in general how the mortgage market works. The second section goes deeply into explaining all the shopping process and everything involved in the total cost of a mortgage, provides charts and explains how to compare prices in the same way as you would if you were buying a gallon of gas. The third and forth part are shorter and deals with the payment of your mortgage.

The book is very informative and well written, although this is not an easy subject at least for me. The idea of having your own charts/ tables to compare different prices provided by the lenders was completely new to me as we always tend to listen to the sales pitch and make some sense of it. I doubt that the tables will be valid for the UK market or any other market outside the United States; however it is an interesting idea and inspires you to find a way to adapt it to your own market and situation.

In general the principles and basic rules still apply wherever you are: shop based on total cost versus payments, try to put money aside to “overpay” each month (reducing the length of your mortgage and saving thousands of dollars in the long run), live within your means.

OBSTACLES WELCOME by Ralph de la Vega -Book Review

Obstacles Welcome describes de life of a 10 year old Cuban immigrant, from his arrival to the United States through his development and further progression becoming the President and CEO of AT&T Mobility.

Through his life story, de la Vega gives lessons and advice on leadership. From this book you will learn the basic principles for personal and professional success and how goal setting, vision and determination will guide you through hard times of challenges to take you where you really want to be. De la Vega’s life doesn’t lack a good amount of hard times and challenges, probably more than most of us will have in our ordinary lives. However, early in his life he learns to embrace obstacles and use them as opportunities that will help him reach his goal. Early in the book, de la Vega shows one his best kept secrets to which he attributes his success in business; you will have to face too many challenges and obstacles in life and THERE is where the real opportunities that will change your life are, use them and learn from them, they will become your stepping stones.

I found Obstacles Welcome a really motivational and inspirational read from someone who “walked the walk” and can now talk about it.

"Babies", The Movie

I have just seen such a nice trailer, that I am definitely excited about watching the film. It follows the 1st year of the lives of four different babies born in four different places in the earth, (Tokyo, San Francisco, Namibia and Mongolia). It looks really interesting.

http://movies.yahoo.com/premieres/16828233/standardformat

Mosey Jones at the Baby Show

Do you still have your entrepreneurial side awake and kicking inside you after changing all the nappies, doing the washing up and juggling husband, kids and house at the end of the day? Then you would love to know that Mosey Jones is one of the guest speakers at the Baby Show.

Mosey Jones is a writer and journalist, expert in business and parenting and all the things in between. She is also the author of The Mumpreneur Diaries a book that you can hardly put down once you get engaged in the reading.

The Mumpreneur Diaries: Business, Babies or Bust - One Mother of a Year follows Mosey’s life as she juggles house, kids and her attempt of becoming a mumpreneur during her months of maternity leave. A life that some of us will actually identify with.

This is a really nice opportunity to hear directly from another mum that “has been there and done it”, if you feel inspired you might then check the book. It’s unmissable.

The Baby Show is back

The next Baby Show is getting close; from May 15 to May 17, 2009 it will take place in NEC in Birmingham.

As usual it will be packed with all sorts of information from experts on pregnancy, birth, babies and toddlers. Full of all those necessaries must-haves that all parents are looking for and for a fraction of the price that you will usually find in a retail shop.

If you are looking for the latest sling for your newborn baby, toys for your running toddler, bottles, prams... you name it, you will find it here.

For a break in your day you also have the BabyCentre Cravings Cafe where you can relax while indulging in any craving you might have whether you are pregnant or not. This is an ideal opportunity to join all the family for a day out exploring the different stands and choices of information.

The opening times:
Friday 15 - Sunday 17 May 9.30am - 5.00pm each day.

Tickets from £11.00 in advance or £13.95 on the door, kids (0-10 years) go free.
For further information or if you would like to book online visit www.thebabyshow.co.uk

Getting paid while blogging

I have run lately across numerous banner ads for Today.com so I finally took the plunge and signed up, although I got a few blogs I decided to take a new one on a subject that I feel passionate about so therefore it wouldn’t take me that much effort to update daily (that is what I am aiming for). Today.com is a well known blogging network, where you get the opportunity to blog for cash and now they are recruiting new bloggers.

If you enjoy writing or you have a hobby and spare fifteen minutes a day, this might be a good opportunity for you. This blogging network pays $1 per each post that contains at least 100 words (what you have been reading in this post is already more than 100 words). So if you post once a day you get paid $30-31 a month. It doesn’t sound like too much but so far this is the only network that I have found paying to write about ANYTHING you want. Choose a subject and blog as usual. Publish and get paid. Is that simple!

At Today.com you get paid:
-By post: $1 per each post that contains at least 100 words.
-By visitors: $2 per 1000 unique visits.

But if you want you can still make extra money in different ways:
-Referring bloggers: You get paid $5 for introducing a friend to blog for cash at Today.com.
-Bonuses of $250 are paid each month to the top promoters.
-Promote affiliate products and earn revenue from the sales.
-Sell advertisement spots on your site (by placing a link or writing a post) and share part of the revenue.

Some of their members report getting hundreds of dollars of monthly income.

Blogging at Today.com seems to be all advantages. To create an account is very easy. Apply following the link provided below (or click on the banner at the top); you will have to choose the name of the blog and the subject. Today.com will host the blog free.

It might take some days (or even weeks) for the blog to be approved as they seem to have too many applications; however mine came in a couple of days. When you receive your approval; they will send you the link to activate your account. Once activated you are done, the only thing left is start blogging!

When you start your blog they pay $2 per 1000 unique visits to your site, however once you published 30 posts over 30 individual days your blog will be promoted and you will get paid $1 per each post with at least 100 words minimum content.

At the end of the day, it doesn't seem too bad for a couple of paragraphs.
Get paid to BLOG at Today.com

Lentil burguers

Did you know that lentils are among the five healthiest foods. They are absolutely packed with iron. I just found a recipe in youtube super-yummy that I wanted to share for those with kids. Sometimes is so difficult to convince them to eat healthier choices. However, all kids love a good burguer. Well, this is the healthier alternative

What is the matter with “Twilight”?

I find myself being some kind of “weirdo” these days, when the normal thing is that everyone is going absolutely crazy for Twilight; Film, books, even shirts. I saw the film and I have to say that I really liked it, but not that I am overly “Crazy” about it.

You wouldn’t be from this planet if you didn’t hear about the love story between a human girl Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen, a vampire. This is today’s “Romeo and Juliet” although I haven’t seen the ending outcome of the four parts; I hope that is a more positive one.

I just had to rush to the post office today. My sister, who has previously seen the film ( three times already) just finished reading the first book, so she was absolutely desperate to get the other three as soon as possible and is quite difficult to get it where she is living now ( at least the original, English versions).

So much fuss about the film and the books and the amazing thing is that Stephenie Meyer (the author) is just a 30-year-old mom of three children from Arizona and TWILIGHT is her first novel. Well, definitely an awesome result!

If you have the chance you can check it out:

Cooking with your kids

The weather has been terrible today, so the option of staying at home looked more appetising than usual. Although we went out for a little while we spent most of the day inside. For those grey days we always find lots of fun things to try at home.

Most of the times, the simple act of cooking is a whole event on itself.
It never stops amazing me how much children enjoy cooking and being around the kitchen. Although supervision is a must, as long as you know they are safe it is ok, what is more if you let them get involved in the kitchen you will not have to stop fights and arguments because of them playing somewhere else.

From very little, even the smallest one, children love to be where you are and they naturally find the kitchen fascinating. I find that, when I am in the kitchen, this is one of the best places in the house to be. Everything is a learning experience the name of the vegetables, meats, how to cook them, the process, the organisation, the cleaning, they ask questions but they also experiment and while they experiment they learn. They learn about the basic things in life but sometimes the most important, they learn about organisation, for the kitchen to be a workable place everything needs to be in place and they are more than happy giving a hand washing, drying, organising, putting things away, from the smallest to the older ones.

What is more apart from all the skills that are learned, letting children in the kitchen with you has been proven to help fussy eaters, all children love to eat all that they help themselves to cook. Try it and you will find a new joy. You can also get hold of some books that will help you with some recipes easy for your kids to do, and tasks to keep them safe and busy.

The Okinawa, healthy over 100! Learn their secrets of longevity

Regarding health, this is probably one of the most exciting books I had the chance to read. The book is based on 25 years of research by Dr. Suzuki and Drs. Bradle and D. Craig Willcox. This astonishing book proves that the possibility to live over 100 healthy and free from our most common diseases is a real one not just a myth.

The people from Okinawa have been recognized as the world’s healthiest people. Okinawans live their active lives well over 100, while still exercising and working. Opposed to us, Okinawans don’t retire. Their bodies look 30 years healthier than their real age. Their secret seems to lay in a combination of different aspects, their diet, their exercise, their religious practices and their social traditions.

The research seems to prove that longevity is nothing to do with our genes. New generations of Okinawans travelling abroad and leaving their diets and healthy life style while adopting Western diets, suffer from the same diseases as their western counterparts.

Studies show that longevity doesn’t have to do with genes, but with a healthy diet and life style. As the title of the books goes… know how they do it and you can do it too.

The Okinawa Program: How the World's Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health--And How You Can Too takes you step by step through the process to change your life and adopt their healthy life style. With over more than 80 of their traditional recipes, pack with information from 25 years of research, the book will take you from where you are now to a healthier and alternative life style in four weeks. That is why it achieved The New York times Bestseller rank!

Keep Learning

Not too much of action today. As I keep learning as I go along I can’t always move forwards, instead it is something like "today I do, tomorrow I don’t". Some days I publish an article, I do research for another article or another website. Other days I just have to sit down and keep learning to be able to advance.

I have all sorts of books and reports about SEO and building your income online. And actually with children so small that they need you at every little step that they make this life is as hard as it can get. I am already knackered however I know that if I want to achieve something I can’t go to bed now, that thought only is what keeps me up every single night. Tomorrow at 6.00 am a new day starts whether I slept 4 hours or 6. As they say “if you want something, you’ve got something to give” however these days I read something like “Poor people work hard for their money, rich people make their money work hard for them” Does someone know the secret?

The Attachment Parenting Book

I just finished doing the research of a new article that will be published tomorrow. The article is about the different aspects of something I believe in; attachment parenting. For some of you that don’t know too much about attachment parenting I would recommend to read the book by Dr. Sears a pediatrician for nearly thirty years and a complete expert in attachment parenting, his advice is really respected and followed by millions around the world.

Dr. Sears supports a natural and intuitive way of parenting, attachment parenting doesn’t follow the traditional methods such as letting the baby cry to sleep and similar prescriptive patterns, it just follows a more natural approach trying to build a strong bond with your baby from birth and especially in those early years when the baby is more dependent. In this way, instead of spoiling your child, your child will grow in a more balanced way, becoming a more balanced and self-confident adult.

Attachment parenting supports practices like co-sleeping and breastfeeding, it follows a series of principles such as the practice of positive discipline versus traditional punishments and responsiveness to your baby’s needs with love and respect.

The Attachment Parenting Book provides also scientific research that explains how and why this approach works and it is more positive than the traditional one that has been followed in the western countries.

Learning and marketing

The end of another day! I promised myself I would write 2 posts today, apart from all the stuff I had to do. I have updated one website with one more article and it is still left to do some marketing for today.

I have been up and down all the day, and although I don’t believe caffeine is good for you I have been stopping myself from having too much tea, to keep me going. From 7 am in the morning I have been everywhere, gone to buy some books, gone to the post office, printing some photos, gone for shopping, cooking, washing clothes (by hand), gone to the library, done the house. Today I have dedicated every single minute I had spare to study a report I got hold of (not yet finished, by the way). I don’t consider myself an expert in Internet marketing and online business, however if I intend to leave on it, I have to learn as much as I can. So while I am active building websites, updating and doing marketing and stuff, I am also learning a lot about affiliate marketing, adsense, SEO, niche websites, keywords and everything that might have an effect on the results. Because although I am killing myself every single night until 1-2 am, it would be ridiculous to make things half way because of laziness or just pure ignorance.

So there you go, still here and now ready for some marketing, otherwise as we say...”no marketing, no visitors. No visitors, no business”

The business of being born- Ricky Lake's birth story

I just thought that anyone interested in natural parenting would be interested in this documentary.

This is a really interesting documentary. If you haven’t seen it before you shouldn’t miss it. Ricky Lake presents and is the direct protagonist of this documentary where you will see the recorded birth of her second son. The documentary talks about the business of the “birth industry” in America, the different options available and the experience of parents that have made different choices. You can check an interview with Ricky Lake about the documentary for the CW11 Channel.

The Secret to Online Success

I just recently had the chance to watch the film The Secret, although I had to struggle to see the complete movie (because of lack of time) I finally managed to finish it and I felt it was really worth it. From time to time I need some kind of positive input in my life and when you are alone all the day at home with the kids, the house chores, the shopping to do and your work online until late at night, you actually need something to pick you up, to put some motivation in your life, to renew a bit that worn out energy.

These days I am starting to think that the secret to online success might be lying in multiple streams of income and residual income (that means income that is still coming again and again for a work you have done before), at least this is what I am concentrating at lately. I keep updating my other sites and trying to find better niches. This is actually taking a lot of time in the day (or better to say “in the night” ) and then, all the marketing involved. I am wondering if I will ever get there.

Making a healthy marmalade

Here is also my recipe for a healthy sugar free orange marmalade. If you prefer you can substitute the orange by lemon. I have done both successfully with the same quantities. Just adjusting the sweetener. I like to use Splenda when I use sweetener in my recipes is the only one I have found that has the taste more similar to sugar, but doesn't affect your blood sugar levels. To me Splenda is the best alternative and it is not expensive.

Ingredients:
4 oranges
4 spoons of splenda
28gr. (1 ounce) of unflavoured gelatine
Water (as needed)

Preparation:
Wash the oranges thoroughly in water and dry them properly with a towel. Cut them in half and squeeze the juice out of each orange. Separate the skins from the pulp, seeds and rests of fruit and place all these bits in a little cloth bag or muslin bag (it is easy to make your own and keep it for cooking purposes). Cut the skin in very thin strips and put them in a pan together with the juice. Place also, the bag with the remaining bits of fruit, add more water until the orange skins are covered. Boil the water and leave the mixture simmering at low fire and covered until the skins are very soft. Remove everything leaving only the skins in the pot.

Place in a cup a bit of hot water and dissolve there the gelatine and the sweetener together. Pour the dissolved mixture on top of the skins and mix well (taste that the amount of sweetener is right). Place the marmalade in jars previously sterilised and close them tightly. Let them cool down before storing. Once cold place in the fridge or freezer.

And there you have it, your own jam and your own marmalade ready for breakfast. Without preservatives or any other artificial stuff. I feel proud that they are healthy as they don't have any sugar and inexpensive, as I usually get the cheapest fruit in the market.

Making your own jam

Sometimes when you go to the market late in the afternoon you might find good bargains of sellers that want to get rid of fruit. There is when I get lots of them for the whole week, even for longer. You can cook it and store it, pickle it or like me, make your own jams.

It is so easy, the good thing is that you know what goes on it, you know that has got plenty of fresh fruit and specially no sugar, at least I try to make the healthy version of it.

Of course, sugar is the one thing that preserves the jams so, sugar free jam wouldn't last as long as its sugary version, but still it will last a good 2 weeks in the fridge and a whole lot more in the freezer.

Here is my recipe, you will need:

3 cups of ripe strawberries
1/2 cup of concentrated apple juice
1 cup water
4 spoons of unflavoured gelatine (follow manufacturer’s instructions)
1 spoon of sweetener (optional)

Preparation:
Wash the fruit and blend it.
Boil the water in a pot, add the gelatine and move with a spoon until the gelatine is dissolved. Add the strawberries, the apple juice and the sweetener (taste before adding it and add accordingly). Leave everything at low fire for 2 minutes more. Remove and place in jars, close them tightly and allow them to cool down.

Apple juice is used usually instead of sugar, so you might find out that after using the apple juice you don't feel like using the sweetener. Or you might have really sweet teeth and find that you want actually more than is in the recipe. Well, that is the time to taste it.

End of the day

The end of another long day. I was really happy with myself yesterday, as I managed to finish another niche site. However, I feel as if things go really slowly like drop by drop.

Today, my day was completely full, I managed to write an article and take some time for marketing and networking, which I make the effort to do everyday, and that was all about it really.

It is 12 o clock in the night, and although usually at this time I am buzzing around, today I feel absolutely knackered. So I think that for once I am going to "switch off" early. As they say "Tomorrow will be another day".

Keep eating healthy in times of recession

Nowadays, every time you visit the supermarket the prices have soared in every single item. You just think “Goodness sake! I just bought this yesterday for 10p. less". However, there are still a lot of tricks you can use to still keep eating healthy and, most importantly, on budget.

1- Cook everything you can from scratch. You will save a lot instead of buying ready made meals.

2- Cook what you can by yourself. Here you can include, bread, check my recipe for easy bread, milk, check my recipe for oats milk, pizza (huge difference on price between the pizza from “wherever” to the pizza you can do with just few leftovers).

3- Go to the market at the end of the day. You will find the fruit and vegetables at knock down prices as the sellers are about to go. You can even start making your own jam of different fruits if you have bought too much (try apples, pears, not only strawberries)

4- Go to the supermarket at the end of the day. Better still “find what time your local supermarket makes the reductions”. At the end of the day products about to expire, fresh bread etc. get reduced as the supermarket will not be able to sell them on the next day. That doesn’t mean that they are off. I buy as much as I can and fill up the freezer as soon as I get home.

Well, these are just a few of my tips for times of recession, well, actually for all times. I love to be responsible with everything we got, save us much as I can and don’t waste anything, food included. I am a master of cooking with leftovers, proud to say: “In my house we never have leftovers”.

Feel free to share your own personal tips.