LazyInvestor

You Can Now Buy/Sell StreetWise Fund Online From ING

2009-04-01T01:08:00.000-03:00

I have been an ING Direct customer since year 2006. The service from ING Direct is very professional and helpful. The only complain from me will be the lack of the ability to buy their mutual funds online. Each time when you want to buy into their StreetWise funds, you have to call them. The whole process is somewhat inconvenient. Today, when I was checking my ING accounts, I noticed that there is a new feature from ING Direct Canada. You can buy/sell their StreetWise funds directly through their website now! Moreover, if you want to setup a monthly contribution, you can do it online too! I am glad that ING is making such a good improvement on their online services. That just makes my life a little bit easier

Update On The Interview

2008-08-29T13:50:00.003-03:00

I have been doing interviews for the past couples of weeks. That is the main reason why I have not been posting for a while. I got a call from one of the recruiters last week and was asked to fly over to Alberta to talk about the job a little bit further. They said I am going to talk to the senior manager who had interview with me and also the director of the department. I think this is a good sign and hopefully I can score the job eventually. Let's keep my fingers crossed. :)

Flirting Look

2008-08-19T22:39:00.006-03:00

People should have the perfect look to impress others while they are in a mood of flirting. How you look is actually very important as well when you try to flirt. Flirting is not just about associating it with words you say to the person but non verbal forms of flirting counts. How you look is actually very important as well when you try to flirt.
One of our sponsors, Extreme Style by VO5, has created a website with an online game called Ultimate Flirting Championship. With this game, you can test your flirting skill and see if you can achieve the victory hair in the virtual world. This game allows to you to be the judge, choosing questions, best answers, and picking winners. If you don’t want to be a judge and believe that you can provide the best flirtatious answers, you can play as a contestant too. It is a great game which could help people to pick up some new skills in flirting. In order to achieve your victory hair, you need a plan. Mine will include something like inviting her to dinner, chatting on the phone or online a lot, helping her with anything you could, and sending her some flowers.

So what is your plan? Can you achieve the victory hair? Click on the widget in this post and test out your flirting skill! Most importantly, have fun!

Salary Review

2008-08-19T13:32:00.003-03:00

I have finished my salary review for my current year. Not surprisingly, I got the average 5% increase as others. After tax, I will probably get $50 more each pay cheque. I have decided to put all of them into my mutual fund purchase. From now, I will be contributing about $500 each month to my mutual funds.

Hilton Head South Carolina

2008-08-07T20:23:00.001-03:00

I love traveling and hope I am able to go to a place which I have never been to before every year. Based on my own tracking on Facebook, I have been to fifty cities in eight countries. As I am searching for my next travel destination, it seems that hilton head south carolina is a fun place to go. There are variety of fun and safe activites offered all over hilton head island such as tennis, golf, kayaking and even surfing. I have never surf before. It will be great if I can try and pick up that cool sport. If you have friends who love shopping, hilton head is also a great place to go as it has two huge outlet malls offering over 100 stores! The climate looks nice on hilton head as well. Summers are warm, but the ocean breezes help to cool things down. Winters are generally mild and tend to be short. Spring and Fall are temperate and gorgeous. It seems to be a great travel destination for everybody. I think I will look into this place more.

FREE Everything Sale from VistaPrint!

2008-08-07T19:33:00.002-03:00

Many of you may have heard of Vista Print before. I have even purchased some products from them a long time ago. They are a huge online customizing, printing and distributing company. They have a large variety of products including business cards, business card holders, invitations and announcements, rubber stamps, business card magnets, postcards, t-shirts, and return address labels. The best part about their products is that they are attractive and affordable.

Currently they are having a Special Sale on their website. Everything from business cards, sticky notes, pens to car door magnets, window decals and rubber stamps plus much more are all FREE! All you need to do is to pay a tiny shipping fee like you would for any other mail item. No catch at all! It is hard to pass by a FREE item. Maybe you are considering getting yourself a business card which can reflect you and your business; or you are having an upcoming event and you want to offer the t-shirt with your own design as a presents to the guests; or you want to send out a party invitation to your friends and families, you should check out Vista Print for their high-quality and affordable products.

Review Time

2008-08-07T19:15:00.002-03:00

August is the start of the new fiscal year for my current company. It is also the time of the salary review. Some of my friends has just finished theirs today. It looks like most of them have got a 5% raise this year. I have not got my review scheduled yet. Hopefully, it will come soon. As for the percentage raise, I think it should be at 5% level as well. We will see.

How often is your salary review? What is the usual percentage of raise?

Finally! Full Time Carpal Tunnel Relief

2008-08-05T10:04:00.002-03:00

What is carpal tunnel syndrome? Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) or median neuropathy at the wrist is a medical condition in which the median nerve is compressed at the wrist, leading to pain, paresthesias, and muscle weakness in the forearm and hand. A form of compressive neuropathy, CTS is more common in women than it is in men and has a peak incidence around age 42, though it can occur at any age. The lifetime risk for CTS is around 10% of the adult population.
Most cases of CTS are idiopathic (without known cause). Repetitive activities, such as typing, are often blamed for the development of CTS along with several other possible causes.
Many people that have carpal tunnel syndrome have gradually increasing symptoms over time. The first symptoms of CTS may appear when sleeping and typically include numbness and paresthesia (a burning and tingling sensation) in the fingers, especially the thumb, index, and middle fingers.
There are many treatments available to cure CTS. Some of them are acupuncture, massage therapy, carpal tunnel release surgery, and physiotherapy and so on. Alternatively, you can try the new innovation of carpal tunnel relief produced by IMAK that offers comfort for CTS syndrome. This Glove comes with loads of exciting features which includes washable, long standing, more comfort with cushions, improves circulation of blood and mainly it is reversible so that it can fit both left and right hand. You can check out more information on their website.

Going SixFlags!!

2008-08-01T10:27:00.004-03:00

I am leaving this afternoon to SixFlags New England. It has been a long time that I want to visit this amusement park. Here I go! As a big roller coaster fan, I am so excited. We will be staying at the Sheraton in Springfield for two nights and then heading to the Wrentham Village Outlet mall on Sunday.

Originally we would like to stay in Springfield for one night and then two nights in Boston. But due to the big conference in Boston, the hotel is so expensive in Boston for this Saturday. Therefore, we twisted our plan a little bit. We paid $60 per night for Sheraton in Springfield and $88 per night for Omni Parker House in downtown Boston.

Also, there is a big promotion for SixFlags currently, everybody pay kids price! The admission is reduced to $29.99 if you buy online. I think it is a good time to visit SixFlags if you like coasters!

Amazing Domestic Seafood Recipe

2008-07-31T15:17:00.003-03:00

The following post is sponsored
I, as a big seafood lover, like fish, shrimp, oyster and so on. I have some really nice seafood recipes that I can share with you. One of them is the microwave steam fish. Here is the steps and what you need to make it:

You need some fish, of course. It does not matter what kind of fish you are going to use. Cod, catfish, halibut, and even salmon are perfect choices. Chinese people like to use whole fish. But you don’t have to. However, I would recommend NOT getting fillet. The better choice would be fish steaks due to its thickness.
Green onions. You need about two green onions and cut them into green onion silks.
Light soy sauce. There are two different kinds of soy sauce. One is dark soy sauce, and the other is the light one. Please make sure you get the light soy sauce. Otherwise, you will have a very very heavy colored fish without much flavor in the end. I recommend the Maggi’s which I think is the best one to use for any seafood plate. If you cannot find Maggi’s in the stores you shop, don’t worry, you will be completely fine as long as you are using the light soy sauce instead of the dark one.
Last, not the least, cooking oil and the microwave.

Let’s start cooking. Firstly, you need to clean up the fish by just washing it under running water for a bit. Then place the fish steaks in the plate, cover them with another bowl or plate or anything you can find to cover it in the microwave. This is an important step. Do not put the fish in the microwave without cover as it will let the moisture escape and leave you a very dry fish in the end.

Now, turn the microwave on for about five minutes at the high level. You can turn the fish once when it is half way through. After it is done, remove the plate from the microwave. You may find some water in the dish. Do not worry. It is normal. Just get rid of the water. Remember that we have some green onions silk prepared to use? It is the time to put them evenly on the fish.

The next thing we want to do is to heat up some cooking oil. Turn on the stove, pour some cooking oil into it (probably about 5-10 table spoons depending on the amount of fish you are having) and heat it up until you see a slight smoke coming out of it. Pour the heated cooking oil directly and evenly onto the fish. You will hear some nice sizzling.

The last step is to add the light soy sauce. Just pour the light soy sauce equally onto the fish and…..you are done!
This recipe is simple and easy to make and very delicious at the same time. I think it is a really great contender for a Cook off. If you like seafood, you should check out the GreatAmericanSeafoodCookOff event where you can watch all kinds of seafood cooking demonstrations from the chiefs across the states. It is One of America’s most prestigious culinary competitions, one chef and one state will walk away with the title of King of American Seafood. Governor Jindal issued the challenge for states to send us their best chef and most delicious domestic sustainable seafood. It is a fun event to attend. You can check out more information from their website.

GCR Check Received!

2008-07-30T10:47:00.003-03:00

I have finally got my GCR rebate check in the mail yesterday in the total amount of $65.05. It took me about 45 days to receive my check from the date I requested. I just had the worst timing. They process checks on the 15th of each month. I submitted my request on June 16th,one day after the dead line!
So if you would like to pay by checks, you should pay attention to when you should submit your request. Of course, the best date will be the 14th. Or you can simply choose to pay by paypal.

Interview coming up

2008-07-27T20:59:00.002-03:00

I have an interview scheduled on Aug 12 from a financial institution in Alberta. The job is exactly what I am looking for in an industry I want to work for. I hope I can score it on Aug 12. To prepare for the interview, I have searched on the internet for how to answer those questions usually pop up during the process. The particular useful one I have found is Interview Questions on About.com. If you are interested, you can follow this link.

Good luck to all the job seekers! :)

LA Police Gear

2008-07-27T19:31:00.001-03:00

The following is a sponsored post

Have you ever wanted to buy the police gear such as 5.11 tactical series , watches, Sunfire LED flashlights, tactical boots and so on? Check out LA Police Gear website on which you can find a lot of those kinds of stuffs.

LA Police Gear was founded by Los Angeles area Police Officers. They have branded the company on extremely fast shipping, low prices, and outstanding service. LA Police Gear is a factory-authorized dealer for most of the brands you see on its web site.

So if you are interested, check it out using the link in this post and gear up in the summer.

Passive Income Report

2008-07-27T19:22:00.002-03:00

I have decided to do a passive income report each month. Right now, most of my passive income come from blogging and investment income such as interests and dividends. In the month of June, I have been able to generate about $285 dollars. It has been pretty good. I hope the trend can continue into the future.

Grow With Cisco Certification

2008-07-24T14:37:00.001-03:00

Information technology, computer, and Internet have become a must for today’s business and our daily activities. Without any doubt, IT industry presents many opportunities and has grown very fast in these days. There are many companies that need to hire someone who has IT background and knowledge. It is very important and necessary in my opinion to get yourself some IT certificates if you are considering a career in IT industry since without a proper certificate many companies will have doubts in your abilities.

There are so many different companies who provide IT certificates and offer related trainings. You will have to choose very carefully based on both your career stream in IT you want to head to and the trustworthy of the company who is offering the certificates. You certainly do not want a certificate without any value. If you are considering a career as a Network specialist, I would recommend Cisco certification. It holds a large value in today’s IT industry. The Cisco Learning Network is offering all kinds of Cisco certification programs such as IP Networking (CCENT), Routing&Switching (CCNP), Design(CCDP) and so on. If none of those sounds interesting to you, specialist certifications are also available for fine-tuning your skills in particular areas such as wireless LANs, security and more. All the certifications would be a validation of your knowledge and skills for internet networking and at the same time a ticket to wider career opportunities. If you are interested, you can check out the website of Cisco Learning Network to find out more.

Update on GCR checks

2008-07-22T20:41:00.002-03:00

I logged into my GCR account today. My account shows that the check has been cut and mailed. My total rebate is $65. Until today, I have not seen the mail coming yet. I will wait until Friday before I send them an e-mail. Hopefully, I will be receiving it soon.

WarGames 25th Anniversary Back in Theaters

2008-07-16T09:55:00.002-03:00

Although I am not a big movie fan, I like to watch some movies from the 80’s, such as Indiana Jones, Sixteen Candles, Back To The Future and so on. I feel the movies from the 80’s have more stories to tell than today’s. They might not use a lot of stunts and high tech animation, but still fun to watch.

WarGames is celebrating its 25th Anniversary and it will be back in the theaters nationwide this coming Thursday, July 24. The showing is one night only and will include never-before-seen interviews with film’s creators and the cast (including Broderick and Ally Sheedy) and crew on how the movie was ahead of its time and its relevance today. Additionally, only at this one night event, get a sneak peek at the making of the sequel – WarGames: The Dead Code. If you are interested, do not miss this opportunity.

Scotiabank and Etrade Canada

2008-07-15T14:02:00.003-03:00

Scotiabank Reaches Agreement To Buy E*TRADE Canada. The announcement has been made yesterday although the deal has not been finalized yet. It looks like there is going to be less and less competition for the discount brokerage firms in Canada.

For more on this, please follow this link

Get Paid To Try Today!

2008-07-14T09:39:00.001-03:00

This year is definitely very tough. Stock market is down. Home value has been beaten up very much. Everything seems to be heading the direction we do not want it to. What can we do? I do not think there is much we can do other than stay calm and stay the course. In the mean time, to get through this tough time, you might want to consider increasing your take-home pay by generating some side income. There are several ways to do this. One is to blog, and the other one is to take some paid surveys at home. If you would like to try to take some paid surveys at home, you should check out GetPaidToTry.com. If you sign up now, you will get $20.00 after completing the member bonus. Moreover, unlike other survey sites, there will be no credit card information required during the sign up process. The registration was very quick and simple. Once confirmed, you are free to do whichever offers you wish to do when you feel like doing them. The offers are categorized which allows you to easily find those you are interested in. Furthermore, GetPaidToTry has a referral system as well. You will be able to earn more cash by referring your friends to GetPaidToTry. Sounds interesting? You can Click here to begin.

GCR Weekly Report

2008-07-14T09:35:00.001-03:00

If you shop at Footsmart.com this week through Canadian Great Rebates, you will get 10% in Cash Back Rebates. Plus, until the end of July save 15% Off the purchase of lower body health items with Coupon Code: WBFSS10.

SocialSpark is Great for Mommy Bloggers

2008-07-12T10:29:00.002-03:00

For the past two months, I have been able to bring a little bit extra money by taking the sponsored post opportunities from SocialSpark. The result is so much better than I have thought. On average, I am able to generate about $100 additional income each month. It might looks small, but it certainly pays for my food each month. I think it is pretty cool that I can eat free for the rest of my life.

These days there are many mommies who stay home, look after their family, take care of the kids and do the entire household work. Moreover, among those stay-home mommies, many of them are bloggers as well. They are writing posts about their daily life, the persons they care and love, the things they are passionate about, and so on. Blogs are their diary online. If you are a mommy blogger, I encourage you to check out SocialSpark and join the community where bloggers and advertisers unite. At SocialSpark, you will be able to share your thoughts through your blog and earn some money from it. The typical pay out for each post will be in the range from $5 to $30 with the requirement of 50 to 300 words. Based on my personal experience, it will take about 15 to 30 minutes for me to write up a post, post it and submit the URL at SocialSpark. Don’t worry. It is a very easy task. If I can do it, you can do it too. So, take the time to sign up at SocialSpark, start blogging away and earn some hard cold cash.

iPhone 3G comes to the market

2008-07-12T01:30:00.002-03:00

Today is a big day for iPhone lovers as it is the time the iPhone 3G comes to the market. For Canadians, Rogers is the wireless provider who will offer this phone in Canada. If you would like to get one from Rogers, here is the list of plans they are offering now:

New iphone black 16G $299

1st 2 month is free
1st 3 month is unlimted call time
each month $35 with NO data plan
250 day time min, free after 6pm.
free call display, call waiting

$60/month - 150 anytime minutes, 75 outgoing SMS, and 400 MB data
$75/months - 300 anytime minutes, 100 outgoing SMS, and 750 MB data
$100/month - 600 anytime minutes, 200 outgoing SMS, and 1 GB data
$115/month - 800 anytime minutes, 300 outgoing SMS, and 2 GB data

Basically, we are looking at, at least, $45 per month with NO data plan or $75 for a plan with 400 MB data. For me, that price is just too high. $900 per year is enough to pay for a small nice trip. I would rather go traveling instead of having an iPhone. How long will I feel it is a fun gadget? Probably 6 months maybe? After 6 months, I will be stuck for another two and a half year of it. I don't think I will be getting one.

Buy Your Next Prescription Glasses from Zenni Optical

2008-07-11T16:10:00.002-03:00

Do you wear glasses? I do. I used to buy my prescription glasses in store. Those prescription glasses are so expensive. After the $150 deductions from my insurance, I still need to pay around $170 out of my own pocket. If you hate the high price just like me, you need to check out ZenniOptical.com which sells stylish prescription glasses online from $8. You will find huge selection of frames, with single vision lens, sunsensor (potochromic)lens, tinted sunglasses lens, bifocal lens and progressive lens. The Secret to Zenni’s Low Prices is that they sell only their own manufactured frames direct to the customer, with no middlemen and virtually no advertising budget. Even Fox News is talking about ZenniOptical as well. For the full story, you can check it out by the following link,Zenni on Fox

This post is a sponsored post

Canadian Mortgage Rules Act Change

2008-07-11T13:25:00.002-03:00

As the change to the act, there will be no 40-year mortgage in Canada anymore. The maximum amortization period will be limited to 35 years. Also, 5% down payment will be required when purchasing a house/condo. The change will take effect on October 15.

This is a sign of credit tightening. Apparently, the federal government is worried about the similar sub-prime crisis might happen in Canada.(Just take a look at the real estate market in BC and AB) Will this change cool off the real estate market in Canada? I think only time can tell. But this is a correct decision to make. Good move for the federal government.

Dungeon Runners

2008-07-09T10:18:00.003-03:00

Gaming industry has become larger and larger. Nowadays, there are more and more people especially kids and teenagers who play all kinds of games, such as video games and computer games. Gaming is truly enjoyable and addictive. Among all different games, the massively multiplayer role-playing games are very popular. People love to play this kind of RPG games because they can interact with lots of people, make friends and team up with them in a quest. Although I am not a big fan of online games, I found the new Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, Dungeon Runners, quite engaging and entertaining. In the online video game, players can play as a hero, fight monsters and explore exciting magical places. Also, players will obtain magical Bling Gnome that eat their unwanted items and turn them into gold by taking a golden squat. This game is very simple but fun. You might think that you need to pay a big price or high monthly subscription fee for such a fun game. No, you do not have to. Although there is an option to purchase a subscription, you can still download and play the game for free.

Dungeon Runners is a great online game you can play. If you are interested, march over to their site, download the game and try it out yourself.

DRIP Order Problem With Questrade Update

2008-07-09T09:40:00.002-03:00

OK, I just got the e-mail reply from Questrade. It looks like the executed price was correct. They execute the DRIP order the day after the dividends payout, which is July 2nd in this case. The trade will settle in 3 business days, which is July 7th. In their back end system, Pension, the correct executed price(July 2nd price) was recorded. However, in their trading platform, Webtrader, the executed price was recorded as the price at the close time of the day the trade settled which is July 7th price. So, the number in Pension is correct but the number in Webtrader is not. I am glad the problem has been figured out. But this kind of issue is still not acceptable. Basically, I could not use the records in Webtrader to calculate my adjusted cost base. I have to go back to the back end system to figure that out. Oh, well, let's just hope there is no more issues with Questrade. Otherwise, I am ready to switch.

New Way to Boost Your Blog Traffic

2008-07-08T11:23:00.002-03:00

People are blogging for many reasons. Some write posts to sell a product; some are blogging to make some extra money; some are just blogging for fun and want to meet some new friends. No matter what you are blogging about. Every blogger is looking for more traffic to their blogs. What are some ways you have been using to drive more people to your blog? Obviously, there are many different techniques and websites which can bring more people to read your blog. Have you noticed that there is one called TrafficeXplode2.0? The TrafficXplode2.0 was designed with “Owners”, “Visitors” and “Invitees” in mind. In other words, it creates a “win-win-win” situation for all 3 parties. As an owner of the blog, you will get more traffic to your site. If you are the visitor, you will be getting some free gifts. As an invitee, you will get to know about a great resource that might potentially be something of value. TrafficXplode2.0 is basically a tell-a-friend solution. Visitors to your blogs get to introduce your blog to their friends by importing and inviting their contacts through either email contacts such as Gmail and Yahoo or social networking contacts like Hi5, MySpace, Friendster and even Facebook. The software will keep track of the referrals. To award your readers, you can choose gifts that in the price ranges you are comfortable with. I think this is a quite interesting and innovative idea. If you are interested , please check out their website for more information.

DRIP Order with Questrade

2008-07-08T11:20:00.002-03:00

I just noticed a problem with my DRIP order in my Questrade account. The executed price shown in my webtrader account is different than the one shown in its backend system Penson. The net difference is 2%!! They are not sure what is going on now, but will e-mail me back when they figure it out! I will sure not be letting this go without a proper reply. Let's see what they come up with.

A Penny A Day

2008-07-07T16:40:00.002-03:00

Every one loves to have more money in their accounts. One way to achieve that is to save more. How do you save more? There are several ways to do it. You can either make more or spend less or doing both. At the beginning of this year, I have made several moves to cut down my expenses such as switching my cell phone monthly plan to the prepaid service (save me at least $30 per month), canceling my cable TV and watch my favorite show on the internet and so on.($25 per month save). If you pay attention, you will find a lot of ways to find a little bit extra dough. Here are some I would like to share with you:

1. Get a coffee mug and bring your morning coffee with you instead of going to the drive through of McDonald’s to get yours.
2. Start car pooling with your colleagues.
3. If you are not a big talker like me, consider switching your cell phone to the prepaid service. Feel need to chat on the phone? Pick up your land line.
4. Clip coupons and reading the flyers to find the best deals for your purchase. I just got a leg of lamb last weekend for 60% off last weekend by simply looking for the deal at the grocery store!
5. If you need to make a lot of long distance calls, consider using Skype or other VOIP services to save big.
6. Are you in debt and looking for Debt help? March over to bills.com to find some information on Debt consolidation, Debt relief and Consolidate debt. You will find a lot of information about how to save the interest charge on your debt.

Building up a personal net worth is not an easy job. It takes a penny a day to achieve your final financial freedom.

How do you determine your networth?

2008-07-07T16:11:00.003-03:00

I have been regularly posting my net worth on this blog. But, actually, how do you determine your net worth? What is the standard for rich and poor? Is a person with $40,000 in assets and $1000 monthly expenses richer than the one who only has $30,000 but $500 monthly expenses?

Obviously, there are many ways to measure your net worth. Besides the numbers, I typically like this one: how many months you can live on without having a pay cheque? Using the example above, Person A would be able to go without having a pay cheque for 40 months while Person B will be able to do so for 60 months. Although Person A has higher net worth in numbers, Person B is actually has more net freedom.

This method not only measures wealth, but it measures wealth against lifestyle costs as well. It gives higher score to those who live below their means since they are truly more flexible than those who just live larger than life.

So, what is your score in terms of your pay cheque free month?

Online Baby CPR

2008-07-07T11:18:00.001-03:00

Are you new parents or soon-to-be parents? Do you know that thousands of babies and toddlers die each year from drowning and choking and yet most Parents do not know CPR or have not been trained in CPR in the last couple of years? Do you want to learn the skills that you need to help your babies or young children in an emergency? Traditional CPR course will take about four hours to complete. Most of the parents or soon-to-be parents do not have the time and resources to do so. Online Baby CPR has provided a new way for new parents to learn the skills at home, at their pace, for an affordable price with online CPR course designed for parents.

Currently, Online Baby CPR is offering some demo courses which include topics such as Drowning and Choking Prevention, Infant Child CPR, What is AED, How to use AED and so on.. The lessons include pictures, video, and audio. I think every parent should learn the CPR skills and online course is a great way to learn it. If you would like to know more, please visit Online Baby CPR website

GCR Weekly Report

2008-07-07T11:15:00.001-03:00

Great Canadian Rebate is offering 15.0% Cash Back Rebate, save 10% instantly and FREE shipping on orders over $37.00 from Yves Rocher this week. You can check it out here.

Get To Know Glenn

2008-07-04T10:15:00.001-03:00

Do you know who is Glenn Beck? He is the funny guys who is known for his political comedy and hosts his radio program with a wide range of topics. I have never paid much attention to Glenn Beck before. Today, I watched several videos on his website. I like the way he talks about politics. In his video, "Real Story- Energy Independence", I am surprised that how those politicians make their promises but most of them were not able to keep it. Glenn Beck just tells it like it is!

There is going to be a summer political tour for Glenn Beck. He will be in Dallas on July 17^th. The Dallas show will be broadcasted to select movie theaters by FathomEvents. Make sure you check it out.

Do you check your pay stub?

2008-07-04T10:00:00.000-03:00

I think most of the people got their pay directly deposit into their bank account. Therefore, many just do not bother to walk to the admin's cubical to get their pay stub. If you are on fixed salary each month, there should be no problem. I, however, am on the two weeks' on-call rotation. Therefore, once in a while, I will get the extra on-call pay. Surprisingly, my on-call pay for last month was not processed. I immediately noticed that when I got my pay stub from the admin. It turned out to be a error from the pay roll team and they assured me the pay will be processed next time and show up on my next pay stub. So, if you are like me and will sometimes get additional OT or other extra payment, it might be a good idea to check your pay stub because errors do happen.

Glenn Beck, The Funny Guy

2008-07-04T09:38:00.002-03:00

Every one finds Glenn Beck funny. He talks about politics with his unique style and a sense of humor in his radio program. I do not consider myself a politics fan of any kind. But as I read through Glenn’s blog about the wearing of Dr.Oz in Oprah show, I had a good laugh and agree with him that in this society many people tends to judge others by his/her appearance or think others will judge them in this way.

If you are a fan of Glenn Beck, make sure that you check out his blog which he updates regularly with videos, articles and his radio shows with a wide range of topics. Moreover, Glenn Beck is doing a summer comedy tour. The Dallas show on July 17th of his will be broadcasted nationally to select movie theaters nationwide on that date. Make sure not to miss this event.

My Side Income - June

2008-07-01T21:31:00.002-03:00

As my previous post stated, I have made my target to bring in additional $80 for June. I think it is interesting to see what amount of money I am able to generate besides my employment income. For now, it is pretty simple. All of my side income fall in two categories: Blogging income and money from investment such as interest and dividend. For the month of June, my blogging income is $120. The interest and dividends from my investment adds up to $80. Overall, I am able to bring in around $200 per month besides my regular pay cheque. $200 a month is enough to cover my monthly food expenses plus the cost of my car insurance with a little bit extra left. I am working towards two more ideas to generate a little bit more money each month. Both of the projects should go live in the month of July. Let's wish me luck. I will provide an update later on.

Advertise with SocialSpark

2008-06-30T21:39:00.003-03:00

I have been doing some sponsored posts through the opportunities provided by SocialSpark.com for about two months. From the blogger point of view, the results have been phenomenal. Within two months, I have been able to bring in average $100/month additional income. But if SocialSpark is only beneficial to the bloggers, it will not be as successful. For any advertiser, it is one powerful marketing tool. First of all, it is the fastest way to create a buzz for your new products or services. After the advertisers published the opportunities, the bloggers have 12 hours to complete the post, which means within 12 hours or even less time you will be able to bring thousands of potential buyers to your products/services. Secondly, it is more cost effective. Even if you do not have large budget for your product promotion, with SocialSpark you will be able to maximize the result. It is like having thousands of bloggers working as a marketing team for you.

As a personal finance blog, in the future, I hope I can see some financial services companies, such as broker firms, can join SocialSpark to promote their new products and services. That will be a perfect fit for my blog.

My NetWorth Update - June

2008-06-30T21:22:00.002-03:00

It is the time of the month again to update my net worth. My total net worth is up exact 2% from the month of May. Let's take a look at the number:

Assets:

Cash: $1100 (-88.25%)

Stocks: $27569 (+47.97%)

Retirement: $18533 (+1.27%)

Car: $26400(-1.12%)

Debts:
Car loan: $20318（-2.10%）

Total NetWorth: $53284 (+2%)

We see a big drop on the cash part of my assets. That is because I transfered $10,000 to my Questrade Account to balance my portfolio. I have also added $400 to my RRSP. Again, my company pension is included in my net worth calculation.
The market has been pretty bad now. Therefore, even with several hundred dollars added, I did not see a big increase for my retirement funds.

The NEW! Dirt Devil

2008-06-30T14:12:00.003-03:00

Do you like cleaning? I know I do not. And I believe most of people do not like cleaning either. It is a boring, time consuming, and labor intensive job. It takes me a long time to just make the decision to clean. Let alone the actual cleaning job. I live in a two-bedroom apartment with my two roommates. Different from me, they seem to like cleaning. I do not know how, but they have decided that every Saturday morning is the time that we should clean our apartment and have the vacuuming job assigned to me. I usually do not wake up until noon on weekends. Our heavy, noisy, and energy inefficient vacuum makes the job even worse for me. In order to save energy, I opt to mop our laminate floors in our apartment instead of vacuuming. Sometimes, I even try to avoid the cleaning job by not waking up on time. J My roommates are nice enough not to knock at my door and drag me out of my bed to clean! To thank them, I will usually cook the dinner for them.

Today, I have found out that Dirt Devil is introducing its new AccuCharge Stick Vac and Hand Vac. It seems to be a new way to save energy. The new vacuum that Dirt Devil brings to us has the first cordless cleaning technology that earns Energy Star approval. The AccuCharge technology with their new vacuum enables a 70% reduction in energy consumption compared to other cordless vacuums. I might just find a better way to save energy during cleaning. To find out more, please visit their website.

GCR Weekly Report

2008-06-30T09:48:00.005-03:00

Today is the day before July 1st, Canada Day. It is super quiet in the office. Most of the people is taking the day off. Anyway, let's look at the special from Great Canadian Rebates for this week:

Great Canadian Rebate is offering 5.0% Cash Back Rebate and shipping starting at 3.99 per Order for purchase on Barnes & Noble.com Today. If you are looking to pick up some books, it might be worthwhile to do it within this week.

I Hit My Target for Side Income This Month!

2008-06-28T00:00:00.000-03:00

If there is an equation to rich, I would put it this way: Spend Less+Make More+Invest Intelligently= Wealth. I am living within my means. In fact, I could not find any more ways to stretch the dollar, not until I am ready to be starving anyways. In the meantime, I am investing. Hopefully, I am doing it intelligently. Having said that, I think I can be working towards making a little bit more.

Early this month, I have set a goal for myself to generate $80 additional income. Up till now, I am proud to say that not only I hit my target, but I am actually making additional $102 for the month of June, more than 120% mission accomplished.The money mostly comes from blog sponsorship and the sponsored posts I have been writing. Here I really want to thank SocialSpark and PayPerPost for all the wonder opportunities. I hope that it is sustainable for me to bring in about $80-$120 each month by continuing doing this. Considering the money is after tax, it would be equivalent to about $1370~$2057 annual pay increase to me. (My marginal tax rate is around 30%) Not bad at all!

Auto Body Expert

2008-06-27T22:36:00.003-03:00

The following is a sponsored post

Try to repair your car from a collision? Need to have some auto body shop job done to your car? Although there are many auto body shops to choose from, very few of them are expert collision repairers. You certainly do not want to take a chance with your vehicle and your safety. Check out this website, auto body san jose, to find experts in the field of collision repair and bring your car back to the pre-accident condition.

Reply from GCR

2008-06-27T09:39:00.002-03:00

I sent an e-mail to Great Canadian Rebates yesterday about my cheque request yesterday. Within 24 hours, they have replied me. It looks like I won't get my cheque until July 15th, the earliest. Here is the reply from them:

“Greetings,
Cheques are mailed on the 15th of each month, your request was received on the 16th of June and thus will be eligible for payment on July 15th.”

Therefore, if you would like to request the cash back payment by cheque, you probably want to pay attention to your request date and make sure it is before the 15th of the month.

Hollywood Love

2008-06-26T18:39:00.003-03:00

Are you a fan of Hollywood movie? Do you love watching those romantic stories on the big screen? If you do, you must have some favorite quotes and memorable lines from the movies. My vote will be the one from the 1970 movie, Love Story. It goes like this “Love means never having to say you are sorry”. I am sure all the memorable lines from the movie sound beautiful and romantic. But what is the possibility of using these lines in real life and them actually working? If you are curious about that just like me, why not got to the Ultimate Flirting Championship provided by Extreme Style by VO5 to test it out? Based on my own experience, although those lines from the movie did help me a bit, it is still not easy to achieve the Victory Hair if you do not play with your own style.

Try the game using the widget embedded in this post. I am sure you will have fun playing!

Still No Cheque from GCR

2008-06-26T18:14:00.002-03:00

I still have not received the cash back cheque from GCR yet. I submitted the cheque request around June 12th. After the submission, they did send an acknowledgment e-mail to me about the request. I just shot them another e-mail asking the estimated date when I can receive the money. Hopefully, it will be sometime next week. :)

Excuse me?

2008-06-26T13:26:00.002-03:00

How do you start a conversation with a stranger or someone you would like to know? Do you use pick-up lines? What is the worst pick-up line you have ever heard? Here is the worst one I have heard many years ago: “My love for you is like the Energizer bunny, it keeps going and going.” Humorous, current commercials, slogans and jingles are great pop-culture references to start conversations. These puns, however, are not great pop-culture references to start relationships. Your hair will never been turned into Victory Hair if you use pick-up lines like that one just mentioned.
The Ultimate Flirting Championship is sponsored by Extreme Style by VO5. You can test your skills with the flirting widget embedded in this post!

My ETF Dividends Payout

2008-06-26T13:22:00.001-03:00

iShares Canada has finally published the quarterly dividends payout for their ETFs. I currently hold the following ETFs in my portfolio: XRE, XBB, XIU, XIN, and XSP. The dividends payouts are:

XRE: $0.22096 per share
XBB: $0.33506 per share
XIU: $0.49049 per share
XIN: $0.35008 per share
XSP: $0.12630 per share

Based on my average cost of each ETF and the percentage of each one in my portfolio, the current yield of my portfolio for this quarter is around 1.07%. If this rate is sustainable through out the year, my overall yield for this year will be around 4%. Not bad at all.

I have been thinking about adding XTR to my portfolio due to its high dividends payout ratio and VWO to diversify myself into BRIC. However, I still need to do more research on both.

Meet the Victory Hair

2008-06-26T13:08:00.003-03:00

Have you ever heard of Victory Hair? If your answer is no, don’t worry! Let me explain it for you. Victory Hair is the messed up state that hair gets after magic happens between good looking couples with great hair style.
One of our sponsors, Extreme Style by VO5, has created a website with an online game called Ultimate Flirting Championship. With this game, you can test your flirting skill and see if you can achieve the victory hair in the virtual world. This game allows to you to be the judge, choosing questions, best answers, and picking winners. If you don’t want to be a judge and believe that you can provide the best flirtatious answers, you can play as a contestant too. It is a great game which could help people to pick up some new skills in flirting. In order to achieve your victory hair, you need a plan. Mine will include something like inviting her to dinner, chatting on the phone or online a lot, helping her with anything you could, and sending her some flowers. ：）

So what is your plan? Can you achieve the victory hair? Click on the widget in this post and test out your flirting skill! Most importantly, have fun!

Four years of home gains have been wiped out

2008-06-24T11:40:00.000-03:00

Home prices in 20 major U.S. cities have dropped a record 15.3% in the past year and are now back to where they were in 2004, according to the Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor's. Real Estate market has longer life cycle than the stock market. Let't not forget what goes up must come down. In the end, it will be back to its true value.

Here's the city-by-city breakdown in the Case-Shiller index:

Las Vegas, down 26.8% in the past year; Miami, down 26.7%; Phoenix, down 25%; Los Angeles, down 23.1%; San Diego, down 22.4%; San Francisco, down 22.1%; Tampa, down 20.4%; Detroit, down 18%; Minneapolis, down 15.5%; Washington, down 14.8%; Chicago, down 9.3%; New York, down 8.4%; Atlanta, down 7.5%; Cleveland, down 6.8%; Boston, down 6.4%; Seattle, down 4.9%; Denver, down 4.7%; Portland, down 4.7%; Dallas, down 3.4%; and Charlotte, down 0.1%.

Crazy Gas Price

2008-06-23T13:02:00.002-03:00

This is the first time when I filled up the tank of my car and the total bill came to more than $40. The gas price is going crazy at 1.40/l here and well above $1/l over the border. I am not driving a fancy car with 6 or 8 cylinders. But the gas price has actually started to hurt.....

Gear Up This Summer

2008-06-23T11:57:00.003-03:00

The following is a sponsored post

Have you ever wanted to buy the police gear such as Luminox watches, Sunfire LED flashlights, tactical boots and so on? Check out LA Police Gear website on which you can find a lot of those kinds of stuffs.

GCR Weekly Report

2008-06-23T11:08:00.002-03:00

Great Canadian Rebate is offering 15 Day Free Trial and $18.00 Cash Back Rebate for joining the Privacy Protection Plus Today.

You will be able to get your FREE credit report and credit score by joining Privacy Protection Plus. Also, you'll have a full 15 days to try Privacy Protection Plus FREE. I think it is a great time to find out what your credit score is. Join Privacy Protection Plus, know your credit score immediately, cancel the plan within 15 days, and pocket the $18 cash rebate.

If you are interested, please check it out here.

Abra Cadabra

2008-06-18T18:16:00.003-03:00

Have you ever watched the show about Criss Angel on TV? This guy is awesome. To provide you a little bit background information if you do not know who he is. He is a young magician or illusionist just like David Blaine and Harry Houdini. When he is performing on TV, seriously, I could not believe what I have seen. This guy seems to be able to read people’s mind! There seems to be nothing that he could not achieve, such as walking on the water, telling what is in YOUR mind without you telling it, driving with his eyes covered (do not try this yourself) and so on..

If you are a big fan of Criss Angel just like me and would love to witness his magic. Here is your chance. In Luxor Hotel Las Vegas, there will be the new Cirque Du Soleil performance featuring Criss Angel called CRISS ANGEL Believe. Different from the traditional magic-themed shows, Criss Angel Believe transcends any preconceived notion of what it means to be emotionally engaged by the arts of mysticism and illusion. The stunning illusions in CRISS ANGEL Believe will not be presented as standalone elements, but as interdependent components using heightened imagery, fantastical creatures and impossible feats of legerdemain, all of which will be integrated into the dazzling, colorful fabric of the story.

If you are interested, you should try to enter the Text Message contest- just type Text 'Believe' to 22122 to win 2 tickets to CRISS ANGEL Believe

Prepaid is the Way to Go

2008-06-18T11:31:00.002-03:00

Early this year, at the end of January, I switched my cell phone plan to the prepaid service. Now, five months have passed. What is my cell phone bill each month? $4.2!! Yes, you read it right. Now I am paying only $4.2 each month for using my cell phone. Compared with the monthly plan I used to have and pay $37 per month, I am saving $32.8 more each month which adds up to $393.6 per year(about half of my auto insurance annual cost). Not only I am saving tons on my cell phone bill, I am actually getting more features with prepaid service as well, such as caller ID which I have to pay extra to get with the monthly plan.

Although some of you might say why not just get rid of your cell phone completely, it is not an option to me since I need it once a while especially when driving.

If you do not talk a lot on your cell phone, you might want to consider to switch to the prepaid service as well. Keep your cell phone for emergency and occasional use only. If you feel that you really want to talk, pick up your land line or chat using Skype.

The Victory Hair

2008-06-18T10:23:00.001-03:00

One of our sponsors, Extreme Style by VO5 , has created a website with an online game called Ultimate Flirting Championship. With this game, you can test your flirting skill and see if you can achieve the victory hair in the virtual world. This game allows to you to be the judge, choosing questions, best answers, and picking winners. If you don’t want to be a judge and believe that you can provide the best flirtatious answers, you can play as a contestant too. It is a great game which could help people to pick up some new skills in flirting. In order to achieve your victory hair, you need a plan. Mine will include something like inviting her to dinner, chatting on the phone or online a lot, helping her with anything you could, and sending her some flowers. ：）

So what is your plan? Can you achieve the victory hair? Click on the widget in this post and test out your flirting skill! Most importantly, have fun!

Guiding People to A Correct Direction

2008-06-18T10:05:00.003-03:00

Do you feel good when you can provide some good advice and suggestions to other people? I think most people do. Since I am so obsessive about personal finance, I talk about it quite a lot when I am hanging out with my friends. Last couples of months, I have seen some of them actually changing their spending habit and behavior towards money issues. Two of my friends have finished reading The Wealthy Barber and one of them have finished The Automatic Millionaire. Moreover, many of them have started to ASP(automatic saving plan) to pay themselves first. I think it is a good start. It does feel good when you can guide people to a correct direction. :)

Ultimate Flirting Championship

2008-06-17T10:03:00.003-03:00

The Ultimate Flirting Championship is sponsored by Extreme Style by VO5. You can test your skills with the flirting widget embedded in this post!

GCR Weekly Report

2008-06-16T09:24:00.003-03:00

Great Canadian Rebate is offering 50 Free Prints and $9.50 Cash Back Rebate for joining Snapfish Today.

Also, I have sent the cheque request today to them for my cash back, in a total amount of $50.05. Let's see how long it will take them to mail it to me. I will do an update when I receive it.

Toronto Condo

2008-06-13T09:19:00.001-03:00

Do you live in Toronto and try to find yourself a condo? On the website, toronto condos, you can find all kinds of information about the condos and lofts in Toronto including various toronto condo reviews. This website is designed to help you with the process of locating your desired property in greater Toronto area. It offers one of the largest and most extensive search engines in the Toronto market. Their search engine is a quick and effective tool to find detailed information and the latest pictures concerning the newest available listings on the market.

On the website, there is an original, first of its kind review section. This section is created solely for the clients who require an unbiased feedback about the property they are interested in purchasing. The tenants and owners can rate their Toronto Condominiums and state their honest opinions about the building they are living in. I think it is extremely useful for someone who is looking to buy a condo.

Want to communicate with your neighbors and maybe make friends? The forum section is designed for owners and tenants who reside in the same building to communicate with each other. It can be utilized to plan sports events, meet new people or discuss meaningful subjects.

Besides the review and forum sections, there are also Listing and Blog sections where you can locate your dream property and check out the real estate news in Toronto. This is a great website for potential condo/loft buyers in Toronto. You should check it out. :)

Timing the Market

2008-06-12T13:22:00.002-03:00

We all know that market timing is bad and does not work in the long term. But can we eliminate it completely? I don't think it is possible though. I have just come to realize how difficult it is to try NOT to time the market.
Currently, I have around $10,000 in my Questrade trading account. I plan to use the money to balance my ETF portfolio that I have set up by following the couch potato approach. But I have not done it yet. Every time, when I saw the market went up, I said to myself,"Um, it might go down tomorrow. I probably should not be buying today. I should just wait." Then, it did go down the next day. Did I pull the trigger? No, I did not because I am afraid it might go down further.
The similar thing could happen when you try to sell. People keeps post ponding the selling because they always want to sell for more. Fear and greedy are really the worst two enemies of individual investors. We can only not to time the market when we have overcome them.
Um......Should I balance my portfolio today?

Every Little Steps Make a Difference

2008-06-11T10:18:00.004-03:00

As many of you have noticed, I have been doing some sponsored posts quite a lot recently. First of all, I am sorry for that many sponsored posts if it annoys you. To be honest, I hope I can generate some income while doing post on this blog. I agree with Brown Eyed Girl and Money. Sometimes you need more than one motivation to get you going. And the possibility to make some money out of it is one of them.
I have set up a goal to make around $80 this month from doing sponsored posts. Currently, I am half way through($45 right now). I think $80 a month is a quite realistic and achievable goal. At the end of the month, I will be doing another update on this and see how I have been doing.

NEW! Dirt Devil® AccuCharge™

2008-06-11T09:13:00.001-03:00

Western Union®* and Scotia OnLine

2008-06-10T10:34:00.002-03:00

Scotiabank, the bank I am using, has been pretty innovative currently. Earlier this year, they have introduced a new service called Bank the rest. Now, it is partnering with Western Union to allow you to send money to friends and family in over 200 countries and territories using ScotiaOnline.
I don't know how much they will charge for the service yet. But I really like it. Since I have many family and friends overseas, it just make sending money to them so easy. Also, I have been thinking about those who want to retire outside Canada. Now they can send money to themselves with a matter of several clicks online. It is a pretty cool feature from Scotiabank, I will say. :)

Shop Shield® New Identity & Fraud Protection

2008-06-10T10:06:00.001-03:00

I am a lazy person and tend to buy everything online if I could. Personally, I have kept three credit cards. One of them has only $1000 credit limit which is the card I will use for shopping online. The reason why I keep such a low credit limit for the card I use for shopping online is that I am worried about the identity theft and fraud which I might encounter online. With the low credit limit, I feel that I will be able to minimize the damage if that would happen. Today, I have found another way to protect myself from identity theft and fraud. It is called Shop Shield. Shop Shield® is a new consumer service offering complete protection against identity theft and fraud when you shop online. This is a free, new, unique, complete, and cutting edge privacy solution to protect your identity when shopping online. It can protect consumers’ credit card numbers, bank accounts, billing address, Email address, and login information. With Shop Shield, the consumers never have to worry about hackers and insiders gaining access to customer databases, stealing their name, credit card number, password or even their email address, because this information is never entered into the databases of web sites they are shopping. Companies they buy from will not be able to sell their information – because consumers never give it to them. There’s no risk your information could be compromised at a merchant site, because it’s never sent there. Shop Shield is able to guarantee that because of the following technologies it is using:

* Consumer data is stored in a fortress of security systems
* All personally identifiable information is broken into undecipherable fragments, then encrypted
* Encrypted data is stored in multiple independent databases.
* Every transaction is monitored and recorded using technologies that exceed even federal banking standards
* Hardware that stores data is modeled after Department of Defense security standards.

Currently, Shop Shield is conducting a live beta test. You can Visit Shop Shield® to Learn More

Road to Wealth

2008-06-10T10:00:00.000-03:00

I still remember the question from one of my professors in university."Do you care to be famous or rich?" You answer might be both. Unfortunately,I only have some points to share with you on how to be rich.

1. Live within your means. It does not matter how much you make. What it matters is how much you keep. You are not anywhere better off if you make $70000 per year and spend $70001 per year than those who merely earn $35000 per year and manage to only spend $30000 per year. Simple?

2. Make more. It is difficult to make a lot out of single source, but relatively easy to make some from different ways. Each little step makes a difference. You might think $40 extra per month is small. But I look at it differently. If you can bring in $40 more each month, that simply means you can use your cell phone free for the rest of your life. I think it is pretty damn good.

3. Invest intelligently and REGULARLY. Keep the investment simple. Don't buy those products you don't understand. Make regular contributions to your investment. Wait and see it grow. Speculation is exciting, but investment should be boring as hell.

4. Pay attention to cash flow. Will loads of gold and antiques do you any good if they do not generate any positive cash flow? Those articles are probably important and inflation protected. But you can only achieve your financial freedom with POSITIVE cash flow.

5. Diversify. Don't put all the eggs in one basket. Trust me on this one. 10% drop in your assets hurts so much more than 10% lost in potential earnings even if they are equivalent amount of money.

6. Stick to your plan. People tends to talk about their investments when they are making lots of money from it. When a sector got so many people talking about, it is usually too hot already. Do you own due diligence to protect yourself from catching the falling knives. Set your goal, draft a plan and stick to it.

Hensley Arrow Anti-Sway Trailer Hitch

2008-06-10T09:18:00.003-03:00

Summer is officially here. It is the time again to pull the RV out of your garage and go camping with your family. When traveling with your family, you should pay extreme attention to safety. One of the safety concerns regarding RV is that sometimes it sways! Trailer sway is the #1 cause of trailer accidents.It is very dangerous for you, your family and any people in the car behind your RV.

Well, I have a solution to the problem. Hensley Arrow Advanced Towing System Guarantees Trailer Sway Elimination. And only Hensley can make that statement! It is the ONLY towing system which can guarantee that you will not have any sway problem when towing your RV. It eliminates any possibility of trailer sway. That’s not a misprint or an exaggeration. It is physically impossible for a travel trailer to sway, fishtail, or jackknife when outfitted with the Hensley Arrow. There are several benefits to have your travel trailer outfitted with Hensley Arrow Advanced Towing System, such as level floor plan, easier hook ups, lower trailer cost, lower center of gravity, stress free towing, lower fuel costs and so on. You can easily transfer the Hensley Arrow Advance Towing System to any trailer you have. Also, you will receive a lifetime warranty on it. Therefore, you will have it for life. If you are interested and would like to get more information, you can click here for a free video.

GCR Weekly Report

2008-06-09T10:11:00.002-03:00

Great Canadian Rebate is offering 15% discount on all orders over $99 , plus get 4.5% in Cash Back Rebates on purchase from Foot Locker. Time to get some sportswear?

Money Saving Tips for Travel

2008-06-06T10:11:00.002-03:00

I love to travel. I hope I can travel to at least one new place I have never been to before each year. Not only I like to see many different places, I also love to save during my trip. Here are some money saving tips I would love to share with you:

1. Go traveling with a group of people. There are many costs you can share with others when you are traveling, such as gas, parking, hotel room and so on. I typically go on vacation with my roommates who are my friends as well in a group of three or four. Besides the savings, I also find that traveling in a group is more fun and less stressful sometimes since different people have different strength. For example, some people might be good at finding the direction while others are good at searching for deals. Having different people responsible for different parts of the trip makes things so much easier.

2. Take the trip during off season. You can find many awesome deals if you go during an off-season. For example, you can go to Disney World in Orlando in September which is hurricane season for Florida. Since Orlando is in-land, the most you will get is probably just rain. If you are going for a week or so, the possibility to have rain all week is pretty low. Also, you can try to go to Vegas during June or July. There are plenty deals to find for Vegas during that time as well, from Free hotel stays to Free gift cards, etc.

3. Find a place with lots of free activities. Vacation does not have to be expensive. Try to find some places with lots of free activities. Have fun and save money too. One of the great examples is Washington DC. Almost all of the attractions are free there. It is a great get away place for the whole family, from various museums to the lovely night life in Georgetown. You will just love it.

4. Plan ahead. Sure, you can find some last minute's deal. But it only works if you don't care where you want to go. If you would like to take a vacation in a specific place, planning ahead will save you a lot of money. When we go traveling, we usually plan the trip at least a month ahead. Search online for deals and ask people about the place we want to go. Two online forums I use a lot to search for the price of airline tickets and hotel rooms are www.betterbidding.com and www.biddingfortravel.com Pay attention to how much people are paying for their vacation in the place you want to go. You will score big rewards by planning ahead.

That is about what I can think of to save some money while traveling. Do you have any to share?

Living with Diabetes

2008-06-06T09:20:00.001-03:00

My dad has been diagnosed with Diabetes since I was around thirteen years old. It has never been fun to live with the disease. I think anyone not just people with diabetes should pay attention to their blood sugar level and learn to live a healthy life. On RD.com - Managing Diabetes, you will find a lot of information about how to manage your blood sugar level. The topics include Understanding Glycemic Index, Exercising with Diabetes, Foods to Stabilize Blood Sugar, and Diabetes-Friendly Recipes.

Exercising is one of the most effective ways to lower your blood sugar level. Sometimes, my dad just can’t go motivated to go out the door for a walk. I pointed him to the article named 11 Ways to Sneak Exercise Into Your Day for suggestions. Also, I mind him that exercise works so well at bringing down his blood sugar that he needs to make sure that it doesn't drop too low. He will want to time exercises to his medication or insulin schedule, but he should also be prepared to deal with hypoglycemia if it occurs. Exercising with Diabetes is a good article about how to deal with that problem.

Besides exercising, people should pay attention to what they eat as well. On RD.com - Diabetes Friendly Foods, you will find all kinds of diabetes-friendly recipes. The diabetes-content on RD.com is not only robust, but frequently updated. So it may be helpful to add rd.com/managing-diabetes as a bookmark. You will find it helpful to return frequently for new and updated information and hundreds of recipes.

Your Junk Car= $1200 for a bicycle + bus tickets

2008-06-05T15:18:00.002-03:00

If you live in BC, you might be interested in this:

Bring your old car to the junk yard , you will get $1200 for a bicycle + bus tickets

your old car MUST have insurance on it and MUST be driveable.

you can choose
- lots of bus passes AND $1200 for a bicycle
or
- no bicycle, but more bus passes
or
- up to $2250 towards a new car, depending on how green it is

http://www.scrapit.ca/incentive_choices.htm

You might ask what the catch is. The catch is that your car has to be 1995 or older. Nevertheless, I think it is a good move for BC government. I hope other provinces will follow.

Make Your Mark at RD.com

2008-06-05T11:00:00.001-03:00

Reader's Digest believes in the power of the individual to create change. At RD.com - Make Your Mark, you can find all kinds of the stories about what people are doing to make a difference. I have read a really inspiring article about an incredible woman who has made 41 trips to Haiti to help those less fortunate than herself. The lady’s name is Helen Little who is 77 years old and will make her 42^nd trip to Hati in July to help the poverty-stricken country in any way she can. She has tried everything she can to help this Caribbean nation. When she is not in Haiti, Helen spends her time in North Carolina going to yard sales to gather up cheap clothing and any shoes she can find to send there. She also spends a large portion of her time fundraising. Since she began her work two decades ago, Helen has seen improvements in Haiti--the streets are cleaner, more children are attending school, and the generation growing up seems more aware that things need to change. And Helen plans on helping them continue that change for as long as she can.

At Reader’s Digest, you will find more stories like this. Stories about how individuals use their own power to create change and make their marks. If you would like to participate, you can join the weekly challenge at RD.com. The Weekly Challenge is a chance for you to get involved! Each week, rd.com selects an issue and gives you meaningful ways to take action around it. For each issue, such as Cut Down on Car Pollution, you can pledge to take a Step, Stretch or Leap. For more information, please check out this page.

DC Trip Expenses

2008-06-04T09:58:00.003-03:00

Finally, I have all the expenses for my DC trip calculated. We have spent $435 each person for a three days trip to Washington DC during May long weekend. The following is the break down(for each person):

1. Airline Ticket: $185.78. This includes all the tax and fees for a round trip flight to DC.

2. Hotel: $128 for three nights at a 4 star Hotel downtown DC.

3. Parking at the airport: $9

4. Gas: $28

5. Train to Baltimore: $6.1, our return flight was departed from Baltimore Airport. So we had to take the train to the airport.

6. Miscellaneous: $96.12, this will include food, metro pass, tips for the housekeeping in the hotel, etc.

Overall, I think we have spent wisely on our trip.

Bleach The Movie

2008-06-04T09:37:00.002-03:00

Bleach the Movie is the latest Manga hit. NCM Fathom and Viz Media present Bleach the Movie: Memories of Nobody to select movie theatres nationwide for two nights only - June 11th and 12th at 7:30 PM!

I absolutely love Manga and if I would need to come up with my own powerful Manga Character name, I would name it Hikari (to shine / shining). It is a great name for smart characters. And it sounds cool as well. :)

Advance purchase tickets for this movie are available NOW by entering your zip code in the "Find Theatres" box on this page or at the theatre box office. Seating is Limited - get your tickets EARLY!

Is Tax Refund Good or Bad?

2008-06-03T11:40:00.003-03:00

I have finally got all my tax refund back yesterday, both Federal and Provincial. Some people might have argued that tax refund is a really bad thing because you basically give the government a free loan for a year. However, I prefer to receive a tax refund at the end of the year than getting it each month.
Spending habit is hard to adjust when you are trying to go from extravagance to thrift. At least it is a very painful process. Having the tax refund at the end of the year actually works as a forced saving. If I receive the tax deducted each month from my pay cheque, I might just allow myself to spend more rather than save the money.
Also, receiving a big sum of the money at the end of the year allows me to better utilize it. I can either put them into my mutual fund, ETFs, Stocks or Cash component based on my overall assets allocation.
What is your preference? A big sum of money at the end or a little bit each month? No matter what your preference is, saving it is the key! :)

Laugh out loud – at RD.com

2008-06-03T10:51:00.003-03:00

Do you like jokes, cartoons, funny photos and videos? If you do, you should check out RD Laughs Main page. With Reader’s Digest Laughs, that’s exactly what you'll get! RD.com has a huge library of jokes and anecdotes (including those submitted by readers), humorous Stand-up Videos, Funny Cartoons, funny photo contests, and more!

The cartoons, jokes and videos are all organized by their categories. As a software engineer, I like to read those jokes under the “Computer Jokes” category such as this one:

Erred Error

“Usually there's no computer problem I can't solve. But I met my match when I turned on my machine and was greeted with the message "Keyboard not detected. Hit any key to continue.”

With RD.com, you can not only read jokes but submit your own as well and possibly win 100 dollars in cash! If you would like to submit your joke, photo, or video, you can go to their main page and scroll down to the bottom. On the right hand side of the page, you will see “Helpful links”. Click on those submit links. You are on your way to create smiles.

If you would like to sign-up for their jokes’ RSS feeds to keep the laughs coming your way, please use this link.

GCR Weekly Report

2008-06-02T14:12:00.000-03:00

Great Canadian Rebate is offering 4.75% in Cash Back Rebates for purchase made on the new Zellers website.

"Zellers is the mass merchandise division of Hbc with locations in communities nationwide. The chain offers customers value, stylish brands, service, price competitiveness and great value through Every Day Low Prices"

Skype Promotion Ends in this Saturday

2008-05-29T22:30:00.002-03:00

Skype's promotion for the monthly subscription plan will end in this Saturday(33% off). If you would like to save more, you can join the Great Canadian Rebates to save additional 7%.

I have just used up my Skype credit last night and will be switching to the monthly unlimited calling plan before the promotion end date.

In Plain Sight

2008-05-29T21:14:00.003-03:00

USA Network's new original series In Plain Sight is an all-new crime drama from USA Network starring Mary McCormack as Mary Shannon, a U.S. Marshal attached to the highly secretive Federal Witness Protection Program (WITSEC). Mary’s job is to protect and manage relocated Federal Witnesses who come from all over the country. There are seven major characters in the show, Mary Shannon, Marshall Mann, Raphael Ramirez, Stan McQueen, Jinx Shannon, Brandi Shannon, and Bobby D.

Among all those characters, I found myself most related to Marshall Mann who focuses on his career track and knows a little bit about everything which comes in handy when he is working on a case with his colleagues. Also, my youngest uncle shares the same quirky flaws with the character, Jinx Shannon, in the show, who has never been a traditional, supportive, job holding figure.

The premiere for this series is coming up soon on June 1st! If you would like to know more about it, please visit its website.

Breaking the $50,000 level

2008-05-28T10:51:00.005-03:00

I usually update my networth the day after I paid my car loan of current month. Now, it is the time again. I am happy to see my networth breaking the $50,000 level this month, which means I hit my goal.
My total networth has increase by 5.64% from last month, or $2789 in total. Here is the number:

Assets:

Cash: $9363 (+2.78%)

Stocks: $18631 (+3.20%)

Retirement: $18300 (+11.04%)

Car: $26700(-1.11%) Yes, I consider my car an asset of mine, but a depreciated one at a fixed amount of $300 per month. :)

Debts:
Car loan: $20754 （-2.07%）

Total NetWorth: $52240 (+5.64%)

Teach Me Time - Talking Alarm Clock

2008-05-28T09:24:00.002-03:00

Teach Me Time Clock, a new clock that helps kids learn the time. It is a delightful child's bedside alarm clock, time-teaching tool and dual-color nightlight all in one. The clock is brand new to the market and a great cool clock for the parents to give to their kids.

"Green means go"
The nightlight of the clock has flexible timer settings. You can define the time that it turns on (soft yellow glow), the time that it changes color from yellow to green ("Ok to wake!") and the time that it turns off. If desired, the color-changing option can be easily disabled as well.

So this cute time clock with its talking-time teaching feature is a great gift for all the curious kids. Please read more at their site.

GCR Weekly Report

2008-05-26T15:43:00.004-03:00

Great Canadian Rebate is offering 6% cash back for purchase on Chapters.Indigo.ca until end of this week. I have been waiting for this as I want to pick up couples of investment book that I have wanted to buy. Although the rebate is not as high as last time(12%), I still think it is a good time to buy some books.

Happy reading. :)

Car Washing Weekend

2008-05-24T21:59:00.002-03:00

Based on the forecast, it is going to be a sunny day tomorrow. I plan to give my car a completed wash, which includes claying and waxing. I have to admit that washing a car by hand plus claying and waxing it is a very labor intensive task. It usually takes me about three hours to get it done. But I feel that hand wash is always better than those automatic car wash and I think I do get better result by going with hand wash. Moreover, it costs much less to hand wash your car by yourself.

What about you? Do you wash your car yourself?

LA Police Gear

2008-05-24T21:29:00.004-03:00

The following is a sponsored post

Have you ever wanted to buy the police gear such as tactical holster, Sunfire LED flashlights, tactical boots and so on? Check out LA Police Gear website on which you can find a lot of those kind of stuffs.

Do you buy refurbished stuff?

2008-05-23T15:21:00.003-03:00

Today, one of my friends asked for my opinions about the refurbished DELL X51V on sale. I told him that I am the kind of person who are not comfortable buying refurbished stuff, especially the electronics. I know most of the refurbished electronics like digital cameras and printers are just as good as those brand new ones. But if I have to make the decision between buying a refurbished electronics and not buying at all, without a doubt, I will just not buy at all.

I used to buy stuffs like lamp and furnitures from the second hand store when I was a poor student. No offense, but I could not deal with the fact that buying used clothes from second hand stores. I think that is disgusting.

Nowadays, the only things I will buy used are cars and houses. ;) What about you? Do you buy used stuffs?

Online Boutique for Women

2008-05-23T09:59:00.002-03:00

I think most ladies love to shop in store or online. If you are a woman and love the convenience of shopping online, you might want to check out www.melange4women.com , an online boutique for women. The store delivers fashion in a straightforward, down to earth and personal style. It carries a great selection of clothing for women, gifts, pajamas, and baby items. It is a great mixture of goodies, for women of a wide range of ages and styles.

It is fairly easy to shop on this boutique online store for women as the website has been designed to be very user-friendly. You can either shop by Outfits, Designs, or Categories. Its nice, colorful, and neat layout makes the shopping experiences even more enjoyable. Right now, it has a promotion going on. Use the coupon code MUSTHAVE for an additional 20% off any items that have already been marked down!

When it comes to the payment methods, the boutique store accepts all major credit cards like Visa, MasterCard, AmericanExpress. It also accepts checks and money orders. What about shipping and shipping charges? If your order is in stock, they will ship it out within 24-48 hours. Any orders exceed $75 in total can be shipped using USPS for free. If you want to get the item faster, you can choose other shipping methods such as USPS Overnight and Fedex Overnight and so on for a fee between $8 and $20.

So what are you still waiting for? Check out this store and get shopping. :)

GCR Weekly Report

2008-05-22T09:49:00.002-03:00

I have decided to do a weekly report on Great Canadian Rebate, which is a website that pays you cash back rebates on your online purchases. If you don't know what Great Canadian Rebate is, you can check it out here.

Besides the regular rate of cash back, Great Canadian Rebate runs a promotion called Merchant of the Week, through which you can collect more rebates on that merchant during that week.

For this week, Lens.com is the Merchant of the Week. You save $25 on every purchase over $199, plus earn an 8.0% Cash Back Rebate on Lens.com purchases.

Credit Crunch NEWS for UK

2008-05-22T09:16:00.003-03:00

Credit Crunch news is a website that offers news on the credit crunch that everyone in UK is talking about at the moment. You will be able to find a lot of information on the website, such as Money Saving Tips, Mortgage Advice, and so on. If you are in UK, please check it out.

Sometimes, Less is More

2008-05-21T10:42:00.002-03:00

My friends and I just returned from our 2 days trip from Washington DC. In just two days, we have visited the Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Capitol Hill, White House, Library of Congress, Air and Space Museum, Spy Museum, the ZOO. We were exhausted!!

Two days are definitely not enough to explore DC. In the plan, the places we wanted to visit are far more than those just mentioned. But, in the end, we realized that we simply could not handle that many in just two days. So we decided to change the original plan and focus on the most important ones. We were glad that we have made that decision. Instead of running all over the places and not having seen anything in enough depth, changing the plan allowed us to taste Washington much more and actually enjoy it. Sometimes, less is just more.

Pension in Your Networth?

2008-05-14T19:31:00.002-03:00

BigAssSuperstar left a comment on my previous post about my net worth update. As he pointed out :
"Now that's something I hadn't considered doing ... adding my company pension value into my NetworthIQ. Is that a typical thing to do? I mean, I got a company pension statement in the mail a month or two ago ... and if I added in the present value of that, I'm certain my graph would spike up... I just never considered adding that as an "asset", as I consider it something I don't have access to until years in the future."

Do you include pension in your networth? I will not include pension like CPP in my net worth for sure because it is largely affected by the government policy. Will it still be there when I retire? I don't know. But in terms of company pension, I think as long as it is vested, it is fine to list it as your assets. Of course, it is locked-in, but, I mean it is still your money, isn't it? There is little difference between RRSP and pension I think. They are both your retirement fund, right?

DeathNote in Theaters Near You

2008-05-14T16:07:00.003-03:00

Have you ever heard of DeathNote? It is a movie based on the hit supernatural action-mystery manga, and follows the story of Light Yagami, an ace student who finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god named Ryuk. Any human whose name is mentioned in the notebook dies. Light has decided to take advantage of the supernatural power to get rid of the evil in the world. If you love supernatural powers and wish you got such a power or characteristic, then this one is a must-see. The movie is dubbed in English and will be in theaters near you on May 20th and 21st. Get your tickets in these theaters.
If I have got the supernatural powers, I would probably love to be able to predict any disasters that could happen so that I can save people's lives. What about you?

China Earthquake

2008-05-13T18:21:00.002-03:00

I think most of the people have heard the massive earthquake in Sichuan province, China. The death roll is more than 13,000 now and the number is still increasing. Some of my friends and I are going to run a donation event in our company tomorrow to help those devastating people in China. I would like to ask anyone who read this post to help too.

Canadian Red Cross is now accepting online donation to help China. It’s simple to donate online (https://www.paypaq.com/redcross/new/index.php) with a credit card or call 1-800-418-1111 to donate over the phone.
For the Fund Designation, please select “China Earthquake”.

Thank you, everyone, for your understanding, for your care, and for your help.

Truly Harrowing

2008-05-13T17:57:00.004-03:00

I have never been a fan of horror or terrified movie ever since young as it takes such a long time for me to get it out of my mind and the movie has had significant impact on me. The most horror movie that I have ever watched was the movie ‘The Ring’. I still remember most of the horrifying scenes from it. When I came to know about this Frontier(s) movie that has just been released on 9 May 2008 in selected theaters, I was very curious about it. I wonder if it could be more horror than those I have watched before. Therefore, I went to the movie trailer site and watched the trailer. Here is what I have found:

There were four crooks who run away from police. They ended up in a hotel at nowhere. The hotel is run by a family of neo-Nazi cannibals, in other words, somebody who eats human flesh. The family was so happy to see these four people as they knew that they were going to have a scrumptious feast. They were going to eat up every single part of these crooks’ body. What could YOU do if you were in such a situation while nobody could help you out of there?

This movie is uncut and unrated, which makes it even more horror and thrilled. Considering most of the uncut and unrated movies do not make it to the theaters, you do not want to miss this one. Its theatrical release date was 9 May 2008 and the DVD release date was 13 May 2008. If you are interested, please check out the select theater listings.

How do you like the new template?

2008-05-09T14:42:00.002-03:00

I have applied a new template to this blog. Some of the features are not fully functional (like the search bar on the top). I will spend some time over the weekend to make it better. But, how do you like the new template so far?

I Signed Up for SocialSpark!

2008-05-09T13:35:00.007-03:00

Wow, SocialSpark just accepted my blog today. SocialSpark is a newer and better get paid for post system. It is a system that
-100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure
-100% Transparency
-100% Real Opinions
-100% Search Engine Friendly
Compared with PayPerPost, SocialSpark has several advantages. First, as many has known that it has become more and more difficult to get an opportunity on PayPerPost. One has to frequently check PayPerPost website to see if there are new opportunities up for grab. I have been trying for many days, but was not able to get anything. With SocialSpark, you don't have to do that anymore. If you see you are qualified for an open sponsored post, even if the slot has been full. You can request to put yourself into the queue, something like a waiting list. When the opportunity becomes available to you, you will get notified through e-mail. As long as you completed the post within 12 hours, you are safe. ;)

The second advantage is that besides the sponsored post, SocialSpark is providing blog sponsorship as well. The advertisers will pay your certain amount of money to display their ads on your blog. With this new feature, you are having more options to monetize your blog.

Last, not the least, SocialSpark is all about Spark! With the bigger nicer blogger community, you will find many Spark opportunities there as well. Fellow blogger will invite you to be their friends, put up a link to you blog on their site. As a result, you will drive more traffic to your site and hopefully bump up your page rank as well.

I think SocialSpark is a great get paid for post system. Maybe you should check it out too. ;)

Pay Attention to Your Withholding Tax

2008-05-08T15:59:00.002-03:00

Do you buy stocks which are listed in American Exchange? If you do, you might want to double check the statements from you broker and make sure you have been charged for proper amount of withholding tax.

The withholding tax is the tax to be withheld by the paying country on dividends and interests paid to residents of the other country. Normally, the withholding tax rate is 30%. But because of the agreement between US and Canada, if the security holder (You) has certified himself/herself as a Canadian resident, only 10% and 15% withholding tax rate will apply for the interests and dividends you received from US investments, respectively.

For example, if you, as a Canadian, buy the Bank of America shares listed on New York Stock Exchange, for every dollar dividends you received from BAC, there will be 15 cents tax withheld. When you file your tax at the end of the year, you can claim the credit for foreign tax paid, but up to 15% withholding tax level. And then you includes the grossed-up amount (100% of the interest or dividend payment) on Canadian tax returns, and calculates federal and provincial taxes in the normal way. It is important to make sure you are charged for withholding tax at the maximum 15% level instead of 30%. Otherwise, you will be double taxed.

It goes like this: You paid 30% up front, only able to get back maximumly 15%, file the tax, pay whatever tax you owe on the interest/dividend you received from US investment, say 20% of the interest/dividend, based on your income level. How much you have been tax actually? 35% (30%-15%+20%).

So if you invest in the US securities, it is important that you are taxed properly.

New Features from Questrade

2008-05-06T09:45:00.002-03:00

I use Questrade as my broker. They sent me an e-mail yesterday about the upcoming new services, Pre-authorized deposits and eSignatures.

With the pre-authorized deposits, you will be able to set up recurring and one time transfers into your Questrade account. You can fund both US and Canadian dollar account online. This is a big step forward for Questrade. Before, to fund your US dollar account, the only way to do it is to send Questrade a cheque in US dollar. The whole process could take up to 7-8 business days. With the new service, the process time to fund your US dollar account will be much shorter.
The second new service is the eSignatures. With eSignatures, new account applications can be opened and funded immediately online without having to print and mail any documentation. I remembered when I opened my Questrade account, I have to sign and mail about 5 pages documentation to them along with the photocopy of my ID. eSignatures will simplify the process and make it much easier and quicker to open a new account.

On top of the new services, Questrade is monitoring government proceedings of TFSA closely and plans to offer TFSAs when they become available.

Switch to Index Fund for My RRSP

2008-05-05T14:00:00.002-03:00

I called the ING Mutual Fund Associate last week to switch from ING Aggressive Portfolio to the new ING Street Wise Growth Fund. It looks like it is all done today. (It took around 7 - 8 business days for the whole process to be done)

The main reason for the switch is that the MER associated with the original aggressive portfolio is too high, average 2.3%. I do not think its performance is worth that. The MER for the ING Street Wise Fund is 1% and it will be balanced every quarter.

I know the MER is still high, at least not cheap, for an index fund compared with TD eFund series and ETFs. But my annual RRSP contribution is small at this moment, around $4800 per year. If I use ETFs instead to build my portfolio, it will be inefficient for me to do the dollar cost average and keep my trade commission low.

Also, as I mentioned in previous post, the ING Street Wise Fund might not be tax efficient outside RRSP. Since I will hold it inside my RRSP, I don't need to worry about that now.

Losing the Job

2008-05-02T19:12:00.005-03:00

One of my co-workers just got laid off today. Although I think lay-off rarely happens in my company, it could very well does. Now she feels very stressful and is selling her home which she just bought eight months ago with a zero down payment mortgage.
This makes me think how should we cope with the situation if that ever happen to us. Other than actively searching for new jobs after getting laid off, I think there are some general guidelines that we should follow to help us better getting through the tough time.

1. Build up an emergency fund. It is recommended to have around 3 to 6 months living expenses available to you in some easy to access account, such as savings account. Some people use line of credit. With emergency fund available, it allows you to calm down, think about the situation/problem before making any decisions.

2. DO NOT get yourself into zero down payment mortgage. If you have to buy a house with zero down payment mortgage, it simply means you cannot afford it. Don't buy it. Continue to rent, save more until you can buy it with at least 20% down payment. My co-worker has to sell her house because she and her husband could not afford the mortgage payment anymore after she got laid off. They are under pressure to sell their house. As a result, they probably will not sell their house for a good price.

3. Invest in yourself. We have been talking about investing our money every single day. However, the biggest assets you have is yourself. Go to school, learn new things, invest in yourself is the best way to avoid losing the job you have.

Update On the Hotel Bidding Process

2008-04-30T17:45:00.003-03:00

Finally, after bidding for two days, we got our room at DC. It is 4* Convention CTR Renaissance. We got it for $135 per night ($158 after tax). Looks like everything requires a little bit persistent. :)

I signed up for PPP!

2008-04-30T16:18:00.003-03:00

I am excited because, finally, PayPerPost approved my blog to their blog network . If you do not know what PayPerPost is, don't worry. You are probably not alone. PayPerPost is a great company who allows you to get paid while posting on your own blogs. I really see its service as a win-win situation. Bloggers help the advertisers to spread out the words about their products or services. In return, the advertiser will pay you for helping promoting them.

I first knew about PayPerPost from Krystalatwork blog. The story between Krystalatwork and PayPerPost is quite inspiring. Within one year, Krstalatwork has made around $2000 from it. That makes me realized that it is possible to make money while doing something you like.

I think there are some benefits to join PayPerPost. One, obviously, you can generate some income while doing something you have already been doing. Secondly, let's get realistic, sometimes, you just could not find a topic to post. This is when the PayPerPost can help as well. It helps you to find a topic to write on your blog when your ideas dry out. Thirdly, you can find a lot of fellow bloggers on PayPerPost, browse their sites, make friends. Last, not the least, there are many companies who advertise through PayPerPost. You will consistently get to know new products/services on PayPerPost.

I am on a personal project to generate some alternative income. I am sure PayPerPost will be a great choice helping me achieving my goal.