Each of us have our own share of bad habits that we acquired during our life. Some we are aware of, others we don’t realize we’re doing. Just by observing my actions for couple of days I’ve observed quite a few bad habits that I’d like changed, and I’ve also seen them done by my friends. I imagine that quite a few of these bad habits might be yours as well.

Changing bad habits can be quite a pain, as you have to pay attention and recognize them as soon as they show up and give yourself a mental slap (don’t make it too hard), every time you’re about to make one.

Here are a few of the bad habits I’ve seen done in myself or my friends, and how you can change them.

1. Not being on time at meetings

I usually arrive 5 minutes early to a meeting. Having to wait for 10 minutes after the set time, or even half an hour as a lady friend of mine usually is late, wastes my time and makes me question how serious is that person. That’s especially worse if the person that requested the meeting is late. Know the time it takes you to arrive to a meeting, and leave 5 minutes early. You usually know some time in advance when a meeting will happen, so take care of your business and be on time.

2. Postponing paying the bills

This is a personal problem of mine, as I work from home and when I go out, the places where I need to pay my bills are usually out of my way. Further more, I forget to set money aside for them, so when the final term for payment is reached I usually spend a few days low on cash, as I pay them all in one go. Take your bills and set the money aside for them, and even if it’s out of your way, make a detour when you go shopping and pay them on time. You avoid the interest penalties this way.

3. Talking too much on the phone

Socializing is ok, but spending too much time on the phone doing it might not be, depending on your take on it. Set aside some time in the weekend to get together with your friends or relatives and spend some quality time together. Doing it over the phone is way too impersonal and it costs money to top it off.

4. Eating fast food at lunch

I don’t need to tell you that it’s not healthy, so why do it? Save money and your health, and pack a couple of sandwiches from home. Make them healthy and nutritious and eat those at lunch instead.

5. Getting out of bed late

Hitting the snooze when the alarm goes off or staying too much time in bed means spending the time preparing for work in a constant rush. Set yourself enough time to sleep as much as you need and get up once the alarm goes off. I know it can be hard, but there a few tricks you can use, like buying an alarm clock that is a nightmare to stop or keeping the clock at enough distance from the bed so you have to get up to stop it.

6. Taking work home with you

Organize your time better and avoid spending the time you got with your family on paperwork. It’s a really bad habit and one I’d recommend working on. Don’t slack off at work if you know you’ll have to do it at home instead. When you’re at work, do your job. When you’re home, spend time with your family and make the most of it. Your kids will leave for college soon enough so spend your time now with them and create some nice memories.

7. If you promise something, keep your word

If someone asks you to do something for them, analyze what they’re asking, see if you can do it, and learn to say no when you need to. Promising something and then not following through is not nice at all. When I depend on someone to do something for me, I expect that he does it if he promised so. When you promise something, set some time aside on your to-do list and do it as soon as you can. They’ll appreciate you more for keeping your word when so many don’t.

8. Procrastinating

Too many people have problems with this one, including myself. Procrastination deserves a post of its own, but for now there are a few things you can do about it. Sticking to your to-do list and learning to balance it and do what you write on it is a good first step.

9. Not having enough fun

One thing that bothers me about my fun activities, is that I do them only in the weekends. One big problem when you work at home is learning to be guilt free if you’re not working constantly. I usually feel guilty whenever I’m not on the computer working, feeling that I can do more. Doing something fun every day, even if it’s only for half an hour is something I want to do from now on.

10. Not paying attention and forgetting someone’s name

This one can also be a bit embarrassing and offending to the person you’re being introduced. Try to pay attention for a couple of seconds when you meet someone new and at least remember their name. If you forget it anyway, ask for a business card at the end of the meeting to avoid asking for their name again.

These are 10 of the bad habits I’ve seen in myself or some of my friends. What are your bad habits and how are you trying to change them?

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Once you finish paying a loan, my advice would be to avoid spending that extra money each month. You’re already used to spending a certain amount of money each month and making sure that your salary lasts. Put those money every month into a savings account or invest it.

If you’re having difficulties living without those money, then sure, spend some of it to make your life easier, but if you can afford setting money aside you should do it. It can really help out with the large expenses or you can invest them for your kids college fund or anything else. Buying the new iPhone, a new car or a new laptop will not be such a burden if you can just use those extra money.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

In the past days we looked at how you can save money in shops, on fuel, clothing and others. Today let’s see how we can cut down costs at home.

• Turn off your TV instead of leaving it on standby. It still uses up quite a bit of juice if you don’t.
• Use energy-saving light bulbs. They save both money and you get to do something to save the planet.
• When you leave a room, switch the lights off. When you watch TV same thing. When you leave the house, turn off the computer or your laptop, don’t just leave it on standby.
• Turn the thermostats down 5°C and avoid electric blankets as they consume quite a bit of energy.
• In the summer, at least when the weather isn’t that bad, open the windows and shut off the fans or the air conditioning.
• Don’t let those leftovers to go bad. Instead of cooking a new meal, heat up those leftovers.
• Don’t let the water running if you’re not using it.

Again, not huge money savers by themselves, but combined and done regularly it can save you quite a bit of cash.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Today’s money saving tip is about stashing away the small change that you get each day. Try to use bigger coins or paper money when you buy something, instead of fishing for small coins in your pocket to pay the exact price. Take the small change you get in return and put it in a special pocket. At the end of the day, put it in a special place, and forget about it.

Do that, and you’ll see that it quickly mounts to a nice sum. Once you have enough go to a supermarket with a CoinStar machine and change it. Actually this whole tip is based on CoinStar machines still being available in american supermarkets, since I’m not an american. I don’t recommend going to a bank and torturing the cashier by giving him a bucket of small change to count. I for one give the small change to my mother, since she’s always looking for small coins to pay in the market, and she gives me larger bills in return. This works well during Christmas when coins are nowhere to be found in stores from my country.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

The number one killer world-wide are heart diseases. According to the American Heart Association, 33 million American men have heart related diseases. Keeping a healthy diet and knowing what to eat can help you avoid that problem.

1. Garlic Bread, it’s not just against vampires

Garlic bread lowers your cholesterol, fights infections, and more then that, it may help dealing with the damage done by a heart attack or heart surgery. Researchers in India found out that animals that were fed garlic, had more heart protecting anti-oxidants in their blood.

2. A take-out a day keeps the heart doctor away

Ginger and turmeric, two spices found regularly in lots of indian and chinese foods, are rich in natural anti-inflammatory compounds.

3. Cranberry Juice, drink of the champions

According to a study, men that drank three 8 ounce glasses of cranberry juice daily, reduced the risk of a heart disease by 40%. That’s because it increased their HDL cholesterol levels by 10%. Buy 100% juice if possible.

4. Pick French Wine over German ones

French wine has up to four times more artery-protecting enzymes then their German counterparts. Or at least that’s what the Journal of the American College of Cardiology says.

5. Oatmeal Cookies

According to a study, men with high cholesterol that ate oat-bran cookies every day for 8 weeks, dropped their cholesterol level by 20%.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Ever noticed how you usually spend more then you anticipated when you go shopping? I’ve fallen into this trap more then a few times. The solution to save money here is using a shopping list and sticking to it. Find a cooking book, check some recipes you would like to make and make a shopping list with the ingredients needed. Add to that any other item you might need.

The key here would be to go directly to the aisles where your ingredients are located, trying to ignore all the other delicious stuff that might make you spend money. The store’s mission is to arrange their merchandise in such a way that makes you spend more. Your mission is to be aware of that and to try to stick to your shopping list.

Even if you only save $20 per week, that’s $1000 in a year. Depending on your shopping habits, you might save more then that. Saving money by cutting luxury items off your list works.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I was reading an article on MedicineNet.com about first aid myths the other day, and I thought it would be interesting to present a few of them here. I for one was surprised by some of the cures that I used and I shouldn’t have.

1. Myth: Putting Butter On A Burn

Applying butter on a burn will just add unclean, foreign proteins to your wound. If they’re 2nd or 3rd degree burns you should go to a doctor. If they’re 1st degree burns (when the skin is red but the feeling still normal), then you can treat it at home. Run cold water on the burn for at least 10 minutes then apply an over-the-counter antibiotic ointment. Then put a cloth on it, and a cold compress over it. Don’t put ice directly on the skin, use a bag of frozen veggies instead.

2. Myth: Throwing Back Your Head When You Have A Nosebleed

This one surprised me, as I’ve been doing it for ages. Tipping your head back can apparently bring the blood into your lungs or into your stomach, which will make you vomit. Instead, grab your nose on the fleshy part, as you would if you would try to stop a bad smell. Press firmly for 10 complete minutes on the clock. Don’t take your hand to see if you’re still bleeding. If the nosebleed goes on for more then 15 minutes, it comes after a serious injury or results in serious blood loss, go to a doctor or the emergency room.

3. Myth: Getting The Venom Out Of A Snakebite As Soon As Possible

Using suction to get out the venom can bring in more germs and bacteria. Don’t let the victim run for help either, as it accelerates the speed of the tissue-destroying and nerve-paralyzing venom. Remove tight clothing and rings from the victim and get them to a hospital. Keep the affected area immobile and below the level of the heart. What I’m curious though, what if you’re camping and a hospital is hours away. I guess using suction to get the venom out is better then nothing?

4. Myth: People Can Swallow Their Tongues During A Seizure

Another one that surprised me. Apparently people can control their own airway and we shouldn’t stick anything in there. Holding him down can also result in injury and we should let the person to roll around on the ground. Just remove any objects that can injure him. I don’t know about this one. Anyone has any opinion on this? I mean, if I see someone having a seizure, I’m going to be really pissed off if he injures himself because I was just waiting around for him to finish it, doing nothing as this doctor says.

5. Myth: A Cold Steak Can Bring Down A Shiner

Putting a cold steak over an injured eye will just introduce grease and foreign proteins in it. Use a frozen bag of veggies instead.

You can read the rest of the article here. There are couple more first aid myths mentioned there.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

One other way of saving money is buying clothes or other season related stuff in other seasons. For example, when the winter is gone and spring comes knocking, it’s a very good opportunity to go buy winter clothes for the next season, as shops try to get rid of the stocks. Unless you’re a fashion victim that needs clothes that match the latest trends, those clothes will be just as good if you use them 6 or 9 months from now.

You probably know what you usually pay for clothes in winter, so make a list of what you’ll absolutely need when winter is coming and go shopping now, looking for cheap alternatives. I’ll have to reinforce the word “need” here. Just because you can find a cheap snowmobile now doesn’t mean you should buy it.

When seasons are over, look for big discounts and take advantage of them so you don’t have to scramble 9 months later. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go look for a new winter coat.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Today’s tip is somewhat related to the Day 3 tip, reducing entertainment costs. Take a moment and consider the costs of all the objects you buy. DVD’s, books, audio cd’s, games, board games and all the other stuff you buy and usually just store in a closet. Items that are not of everyday use can be borrowed to your friends. You can also borrow a book or a DVD from them and watch it freely instead of paying for it. Or you can just trade them, a book for a DVD or any other combination that makes sense. Taking a book from a friend to read is a very good way to save $20.

This kind of trades can keep your entertained for free for a very long time. I’m already using this together with my friends. If they have a book that I want to read, I borrow it from them and give it back once I’m finished with it. When me and one of my friends want to buy some books, we don’t buy the same titles, because we’re going to trade the books and all of them anyway.

A better way to find something you like, instead of relying solely on your friends taste in books, is using a service like SwitchPlanet.com. They allow you to give away any item to other members, and receive instead virtual currency that you can use to get stuff that other users want to get rid off. The only cost is those for shipping. A very nice way to save money and get all kinds of stuff in return.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

For the third day of the 10 Day Money Saving Marathon, we’ll see how we can reduce the costs for entertainment. The inspiration came from this article, that makes a nice job on breaking down the costs for several fun activities. Now, I’m not necessarily for cutting back on fun activities and doing something else then we usually do just because it saves money. Relaxing and doing something you truly enjoy is very important, so I’m going to use this tip for the times when I really need to cut back or when I’m in a tight spot with money.

The best value for money when it comes to fun comes from items you buy and use very often, but there are some activities from that list that make sense doing more often if you enjoy them. Biking, bowling ($5/hour), board games, a walk in the park, a picnic, going to a movie or seeing a show from iTunes or using Netflix. You can add to that list camping, reading a book and listening to music.

For example, if you usually go bowling every weekend for 2 hours, and you rent something from Netflix instead, you save $8 every week, or $400 every year. It may not seem much, but if you use it combined with the rest of the tips in the series, it all adds up to quite a large amount of money.

In the end, it’s all about what your current entertainment costs are, and if you’re willing to trade for something cheaper.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!