5 ways to be happier

“Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are. It solely relies on what you think.” Buddha. If you find yourself feeling unhappy here are five easy ways to help change that.

1. Remove the negative. Look for the people that make you unhappy and remove them from your life. Is there a “friend” or family member who always seems to bring everyone down? We all need someone to vent our problems to from time to time. However, if there’s that person, the one who brings the drama or they just seem to suck the life out of you, try spending less time with them. Seek out happy, positive people and invite them to coffee or join their group.

2. Take a break. If you are under stress or find yourself feeling unhappy, do something else for 30 minutes. Take a walk if the weather is nice. Spend a few minutes playing with your dog. Go to a park, beach, coffee shop or pick up a book or magazine. Put on some music and dance around. Just do something fun for a few minutes to reset your mind.

3. Make a gratitude list. Do not do this on any electronic device. Take a piece of paper and write down 10 things (or people) you are grateful for. Sometimes this can difficult to begin. Start with the most simple things like the fact that you have a piece of paper, or that you are breathing.

4. Hug. Facebook, twitter, instagram, snapchat and other online communication make us feel as if we have connected with others, but we are missing a vital part of our human happiness, the physical connection. We need to feel that contact. It actually produces endorphin in the brain and makes you happy. Start hugging your friends. If you are not comfortable hugging, shake hands. Make contact in some way. Petting a cat or dog or other animal can also make you feel good. Contact with other living creatures is the key.

5. Give. Not all giving needs to be monetary. Volunteer somewhere. You don’t need special skills to do this. Offer to walk dogs at a pet rescue or serve meals at a senior center. Offer to be a reader to kids at the library. Find a non profit group that needs people and join in. Giving feels as good as getting. (You might even get a hug.)

I made $10 in 10 days.

I’ve been bombarded with a ridiculous number of “work at home” scams over the last few years. Every once in a while, one will have a really good hook. Most people today are wise to the “make a million overnight” websites. You read along their well written testimonials until you get to the part about  “Buy my e-book for $29.99.” That is where I usually click away to something else. I’m too cheap to pay to earn money.

Then there are the sites that make less ridiculous claims. My favorite are the ones that promise hundreds a month taking surveys online. Many of them are real, but if you spend 20 minutes taking a survey that pays $.75 that adds up to $2.25 per hour. You have to pay attention because they throw in a trick question once in a while to make sure you didn’t chain your monkey to the keyboard just to make money.

Vindale Research
Of all the survey sites, though, Vindale Research seems to be legitimate. I made about $6 for about an hour’s worth of work. If you have lots of free time and want to take surveys, this one has the most potential. There are a few catches to taking surveys online.

You will  have to enter your personal information and who knows what they do with that.
They only pay twice a month and only when your account reaches $50
They continually ask you to join their partner sites.
I still haven’t been paid yet so I’ll keep you posted.

Swagbucks
So how did I make $10 in 10 days? It’s a site called Swagbucks. The basic premise is that you earn swagbucks (points) to redeem for gift cards. All you have to do is watch videos or take quick surveys and the like. It’s actually kind of entertaining. Swagbucks are worth $.01. While one cent doesn’t seem like much, it can add up quickly. You can redeem points for Amazon or Starbucks or other good stuff with as little as 300 points (or $3). If you find you don’t like it, you can get your $3 and get out.

Here’s how to make more money faster:

Do more than one thing at a time. You can have several videos playing (earning points) in different windows on your computer. I leave the longer ones running in the background on mute while I work on real work.
You can earn points for shopping. Recently, I had to order some supplies for the store. I used the Swagbucks link to go to Staples then placed an order for the things I needed and got over 200 points for that. The downside is they only apply those points in 30 days so that didn’t count towards my $10
You can earn points for searching. *Big Warning* – use the search bar on their page but DO NOT make it your default search engine. It is almost malware and takes some hacker knowledge to get rid of it if you change your mind. With that said, searching is fairly decent. You can earn from 6 to 50 points every once in a while. They use the Yahoo search engine so you get more ads on the first page but just head to the second page and you’ll be fine.
Force feed referrals to your friends and family. Use the referral emails to annoy your friends into joining too. You will get some of their points if they join and use the site.
All in an Amazon card, it is not a bad way to make a little extra money. Most of the $10 I accumulated while watching TV with the laptop on my lap and a nice glass of tea by my side. I traded my 1000 points for an Amazon card. It took 24 hours to be available but then it was easy enough to add to my Amazon account.

Evernote and dropbox have saved me!

I never really understood the use of Evernote until now. Occasionally I would be at my computer and find a recipe that I want to use, so I'd paste it into Evernote and open it on the iPad to take to the kitchen. (20% of my iPad use is as a recipe book in the kitchen)

Recently, things changed. I'm in the process of opening a shop and have found the reason for Evernote. I can do research at home, purchasing, license information, etc. paste it into Evernote and have it available anywhere. When I finally had the computer set up, it was great to have all my info right there. The only thing Evernote doesn't do well is maintaining files.

Dropbox is a program I've been using for a long time as an online backup. Now I find it invaluable to hold files like ordering forms and spreadsheets that I can work on anywhere.

It took a while to learn how Evernote is set up bu it is worth the learning curve.

Frugal Food: 5 things to do with a bag of potatoes

I saw a 10 lb bag of potatoes on sale for 1.99 how much cheaper can it get? I know that potatoes can have a bad rap for being carb loaded but if you keep the skin on and don’t go too crazy with the toppings you can have a nutritious and filling meal for very little money.

1. Potato salad:
4 potatoes boiled for 15 to 20 minutes and cut into cubes
4 hardboiled eggs peeled and chopped
1/2 cup of mayo, light mayo or similar substitute
1/4 cup sweet relish (optional)
2 tbsp of mustard
Garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste
Mix all together and serve warm or chill potatoes and eggs first then mix for cold potato salad

2. Oven fried potato wedges:
Heat oven to 400
5 medium potatoes cut into wedges the long way (about 8 cuts per potato)
1/4 cup olive oil or any oil you like
Garlic, salt or other spices. You can get really creative using curry powder, or herbs de province etc.
Mix all in a bowl
Spread out on a cookie sheet topped with tin foil or use non stick sheet
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, use a spatula to turn them over and bake 10 more minutes

3. Good old fashioned baked:
In the chilly season, what better excuse to warm up the kitchen?
Heat oven to 350
Rinse potatoes and poke a fork in the side a couple of times.
Bake till soft in the middle.
Top with anything! Leftover veggies, cheese, chili, black beans or whatever you have on hand. Try something new or unusual besides sour cream and bacon bits. Kids love it when you put out several options and let the family “build their own”

4. Mashed potatoes:
I know, this is obvious but it’s so easy.
6 medium potatoes
1/2 cup milk
1/2 stick of butter
Salt, pepper, garlic to taste
Boil potatoes in a large pot of water until soft. If potatoes are large, cut in half and they will cook faster.
Drain and return to pot. Mash with milk, butter, garlic, salt and pepper.
You can add other things like chives or rosemary or other spices if you like.
Note: the vegan version is pretty good. Substitute plain soy or almond milk and substitute vegan butter, a bit of olive oil or coconut milk. Just don’t use vanilla soy milk, yuck!

5. Potato skins:
4 potatoes
Olive oil
8 slices of cooked bacon cut in half the short way
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded.
Preheat oven to 350
Rinse and dry potatoes poke with a fork
Coat skin with olive oil and bake until soft
Remove from oven and cut in half lengthwise – leave oven on
Scoop out potato halves leaving a little bit attached to the skin
(save the excess potato and use for mashed potatoes)
Place potatoes, skin side down on a baking sheet
Distribute cheese into each potato half
Place two slices of bacon halves on top and bake until cheese is melted.
You can use imitation bacon bits, or soy cheese for a vegan version.

Potatoes are versatile, forgiving and easy to make. They are a great food for the budget challenged. Get creative!

It’s like a restaurant but without the tip

I love to eat at restaurants. Rather, I used to love restaurants. With the exception of some sushi places, and a few small chef-owned jaunts, it’s just not worth it. I’m especially tired of eating at the chain restaurants. The quality of the food, and often the service, has declined while the prices have gone up! Everything looks good on the menu but the real dish never measures up. Don’t even think about the ridiculous amounts of fat and calories. Then there is the sticker shock of the bill and you still feel obligated to tip a less than attentive waiter. Lately, I’m just finding restaurants to be disappointing and expensive.

There are lots of ways to save on eating out. Order water instead of soda or pricey drinks, skip dessert and stop for ice scream on the way home etc. Many blogs and articles have been written on early bird and coupon dining. Instead, I’ve been looking at recipes for my favorite dishes and stepping up my cooking skills as a way to enjoy good food without the cost of a night out. So far I have found allrecipes.com to be the best recipe site. The instructions are generally easy to follow and the reviews are really helpful. I also love thekitchn.com. Faith has a great writing style and interesting recipes.

I’m a huge fan of ethnic food. Italian is really easy to make. In the summer, tomatoes, peppers and squash are easily found at farmers markets and local stands. In the winter, you can pick up canned tomato on sale and still reap the benefits. Ratatouille and great sauces are not difficult. Make a big pot of really good tomato sauce on the weekend and you have a couple of dinners for the week. You can have spaghetti with sauce one night, then make an easy eggplant or chicken parmesan another. Pan fry thin slices of eggplant or chicken thighs till they are cooked through. Then then place them on a sprayed baking sheet. Top with mozzarella or provolone cheese and bake at 350 till the cheese melts. Top with some warmed up sauce and shredded parmesan and your done. Actually, most leftovers topped with cheese and a good tomato sauce are tasty.

Asian and Indian are two of my favorite restaurant standards. I’m working on gaining some skill at these. I found a fabulously easy recipe for Chana masala, a chick pea based Indian dish that is easily made spicy or mild. There are, as with any Indian dish, some spices you don’t have in your pantry, but if you like Indian food, you should invest in them. Get familiar with small ethnic grocery stores. Many “exotic” ingredients or spices can be found really cheap there.

Japanese Soba noodles with peanut sauce is really good, and easy to make. So are stir fried frozen veggies with curry powder and coconut milk.

Check the web. Look for a good recipe book at the library or thrift store, or dust off one of your own. You’ll be surprised at what you can do in the kitchen.

On the subject, some recipe sites have an ingredient search. You enter the ingredients you want or have on hand, and the search will return results based on your entries. This is really helpful when you are on a budget and trying to cook from what you have without an extra trip to the store.

10 Things to do Instead of Shopping

It’s so tempting to shop during the holidays, you are bombarded by media: radio, tv ads, the Internet, even friends. There are sales, events and specials everywhere. The holiday’s are upon us and in much of the country it’s cold and the weather isn’t cooperating, tempting you to go to the mall. DON’T! I’m always barking about  the psychology of shopping. This is the time of year that marketing goes into full force. It’s safer to stay away. Here are some alternatives to mall mania.

1. Go to the library. Head straight for the self-help or finance section and look for books that will help save you money. I recommend these. (Your money or your life; Don’t sweat the small stuff; Tightwad Gazette)

2. Clean your house. Whether you have company coming or not, cleaning up will make you feel good about what you have and less likely to want more. Clear the Clutter

3. Take care of those small details. Little things bother us but we don’t realize how much. I was always annoyed that I couldn’t find the cordless phone.  The base would ring and all of the handsets were dead or missing. I finally put an old-fashioned wall phone in the kitchen. Now, when the phone rings at least I can answer it. If something is broken, get it fixed or get rid of it. I don’t really need a clock in my office. I have a computer, a watch and my cell phone. Broken clock = gone.

4. Clean up your email, address book or do some computer maintenance or other task you’ve been putting off. Perhaps that half finished craft needs to be done, or pile of Christmas cards.

5. Phone or visit a relative or friend. This could be a nice thing to do for someone you haven’t spoken to in a while, a friend who is ill or an older relative who you would love to hear from you.

6. Get out – anywhere but the mall. If you have nice weather, take a walk, a hike, a picnic or other activity. If the weather is bad, get a group together and do something fun. Bowling and ice skating rinks can be relatively cheap if you have a group. Or just invite a friend to a local independent coffee shop.

7. Do something selfless. Pick a local charity or church group and volunteer. This time of year they need more help than ever. Food banks and other services are swamped. Offer to babysit for a busy mom or do some chores for an elderly neighbor. You’ll feel good about helping others.

8. File that pile of paper you’ve been avoiding and start getting your financial info together for next year. It’s close enough to the end of the year to organize and get ready for your taxes. If you have most of it together, you will be less stressed come tax time. Now is also a good time to start your budget for next year. Review your spending and see where your budget needs revising. Don’t have a budget? You already have most of the year’s receipts, credit card bills etc, so start on the road to living within your means.

9. Try some new recipes. See what you have in your pantry, then come up with new ways to make frugal meals. Need help? Check recipe sites on-line. Avoid the ones with exotic ingredients. Or, you could just organize the pantry or fridge. Clean out the freezer and get ready for the holidays.

10. Take a break. Take a nap, do some yoga, meditate or just read a good book. Find something a bid self-indulgent. Try a home-made facial recipe. There are plenty of recipes on-line with things you already have at home.

If you absolutely have to shop, go online. Look for coupon codes and discounts. You shouldn’t pay anything for shipping this time of year. Make your list, figure out your budget and decide where you are going to shop. Find you must go to the store? Take one day, preferably not the weekend if you can manage and choose one store. Go to the thrift store, local boutiques or discount department store (ie marshalls or tjmax) and get all your shopping done there. Or, choose a local craft fair. Whatever you don’t find at that store, on your list, go home and do the same on-line. Choose a site like Amazon and order whatever gifts you need to. Make sure you stay in your budget and set a time limit.

iPad 2 (refurbished) is on the Apple clearance rack!

The online Apple store had lowered it's prices on the iPad 2.
I'm surprised to see a price drop but I have to admit, its a really good deal, for Apple that is. I have an iPad 2 and really love it. If you are looking to buy one, now is the time. These will go fast. As for the refurbished thing, it's a no-brainer. I bought my iMac 3 years ago from the refurbished section and have never had a problem. I bought my first iPad refurbished and it too worked perfectly. I have also bought ipods refurbished and only had good experiences. They come with the same warrantee as the new ones, and are just as good. Ah, but where to find these secret deals?
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad