Thursday, April 26, 2012

My New Site Is Now Up!


After many migraines, sleepless nights, hours on You Tube and forums, and getting some help from a couple of techies, my site is finally up. I really didn't think it was going to be this much work switching from Blogger to Wordpress. I should have just started with Wordpress, it would have saved me a lot of time.

Anyway, I hope you like the new look. I still have some work to do, but at least it's functional. Please don't forget to subscribe to my new site and follow me on twitter.

Check it out here

Sunday, April 15, 2012

I am Still Working On My New Site!

April 11th finally came and I can launch my website! I have already started working on it, but it's harder than I thought, so please bare with me over the next few days or possibly weeks as I attempt to build my website and transfer all of my posts to the new site. I havn't figured out if I can transfer your comments, or followers. I have no idea how this is done, or if it can be done. I did read on a fellow bloggers site that she was not able to transfer her followers. I'll have to contact either Wordpress or Blue Host to double check. Either way I'll let you know. If I am not able to transfer your comments or you as a follower, don't worry I wouldn't ask you to go back to my previous post and comment again. That would be funny if I did that though! Lol! I will ask you to subscribe again, if it won't be too much trouble.

Wish me luck on my new venture! Oh and my new website will be www.callmewhatyouwantevencheap.com, it's not up and running yet. I will let you know as soon as it's up.

Thanks for your patience!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Top 10 Most Expensive Cities to Live In!

Where would you like to live? Have you ever thought of moving to a different city? I've thought of this many many times. I've travelled to Atlanta on a few occasions and seeing house prices for $70,000 and looking at house prices here in Toronto for $450,000, definitely makes me think about moving. By the way those prices are for detached single family homes. The price difference is just crazy! What's funny is my friends in Atlanta think $70,000 is expensive.

If you're thinking about relocating, check out the top 10 most expensive cities in the world to live in. The  Economist Intelligence Unit conducted a survey on which cities around the world have the highest cost of living? The study compared the cost of food, clothing, renting a home, transportation, and schooling.

Here's the list from least expensive to most expensive cities in the world:

10. Frankfurt, Germany
9.   Singapore
8.   Melbourne, Australia
7.   Sydney, Australia
6.   Paris, France
5.   Oslo, Norway
4.   Osaka Kobe, Japan
3.   Geneva, Switzerland
Both Osaka Kobe and Geneva were both tied at 3rd place 
2.   Tokyo, Japan
1.   Zurich, Switzerland

Are you surprised that Zurich and Tokyo are the most expensive cities to live in? Well according to the study "Both Japan and Switzerland have seen strong currency movements over the last few years which have made them relatively more expensive. This has become especially true of Switzerland in the last year, where investors looking for a haven currency outside the beleaguered Eurozone have invested heavily in the Swiss Franc, prompting an unprecedented move by the Swiss government to peg the Swiss Franc to the Europe to keep the currency competitive."

Japan is definitely on my list of countries to visit. I don't plan to ever move there, but it should be a fun visit.

Have you thought of living anywhere else in the world? If so, where and what made you choose that city besides cost of living?

Monday, April 9, 2012

April 11th is Almost Here!

April 11th is the day I get to transfer my account from Go Daddy to Bluehost. As much as I would like April 11th to be my launch date, I don't know how realistic that will be. I've been playing around with Wordpress to try to find a theme and I am having a hard time deciding. I've also been learning about plug-ins and just seeing what else I have to learn to launch my website. I am not a techie person and it looks like I may have to do some coding.

I've been thinking maybe I should just pay someone to do this for me, but then again I am not making any money from this blog to dish out money to hire someone. Wordpress doesn't look as easy as Blogger, but then again it will be my own website, so maybe it's suppose to be more difficult. On top of that, I paid someone on Fiverr to do a logo for me on March 25, I was sent three logo's, none which I liked, so I asked for a few changes to be made. I haven't heard back, even though I've sent him two messages. I may have just lost $5. Oh well it could have been worst.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Day 14 of Insanity!

As much as I love talking about money, I know that a balanced life is necessary to truly be happy. Plus if I plan to stick around to enjoy my riches, I've got to stay healthy.

I am on round 2 of Insanity. I am definitely crazy for putting my body through this madness, but I just love how it makes me feel when I am finished. I hate it when I am doing it, but the energy that I have once I am finished is just great!

I started Insanity for the first time last year and I have to admit it's the hardest work out I've ever done. I actually thought I was in pretty good shape before starting Insanity. I've been working out since I was 18, so I am not new to the gym or working out. But once I tried Insanity, I felt like I was out of shape. They really couldn't have chosen a better name for this work out. It really is insane! Within the first five minutes you're sweating, and I don't mean a mild sweat, I am talking about sweat where you need to wipe it off!

My first time doing Insanity I lost 4 pounds. I started at 133 pounds and went down to 129. I am still at 129 and would like to loose another 4-5 pounds. I like how I look and feel at a 125 pounds, so that's what I am aiming for. Today I completed day 14 and I haven't lost anything yet, but I am much stronger and am able to keep up a bit more with the pros in the video. Imagine doing Insanity non stop? Man, the shape I would be in! I don't know if I have it in me to do this craziness non-stop.

Once I am finished with Round 2 of Insanity, I plan to do Hip Hop Abs. I've never tried it, but I've heard great things about it. Since there's a lot of dancing in it, I am sure it will be more fun than Insanity.

Are any of you doing any work out programs to get back in shape?

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

How Much Plastic Is In Your Wallet?

Yesterday I decided to go through my wallet to see how much plastic I had in there and I was shocked to discover that I had 13 cards. This was a surprise to me considering I only have one credit card. As I went through all of the cards, I realized that I haven't used some of them in a long time. I actually forgot I had some these cards.

Here's what I found:

  1. My driver's license, I knew this was in my wallet. I always keep this in my wallet in case I need ID or get pulled over.
  2. Two debit cards
  3. My one MasterCard that I use for work
  4. Cineplex Scene card. This comes in handy for discounts at the theatre
  5. AMC Movie Watcher discount card
  6. Library Card
  7. Plum Rewards Card. This is my discount card for Chapters, Indigo and Coles bookstore
  8. La Senza discount card. I completely forgot this was in my wallet. I am just thinking of all the times I've been in La Senza and didn't realize I had a discount card. In fact, the activation sticker is still on the card. Maybe I should activate it! Lol!
  9. Suzy Shier discount card
  10. Petro Canada discount card. I love getting my free car washes with this card.
  11. Air Miles. I don't remember the last time I used this card, I forgot it was in my wallet. All those missed air miles.
  12. Health card
I knew that I've always been one to love a good discount, but I really didn't think I had 7 discount cards. They're all worth it because they were free and I really only use them when I remember and if I am already shopping in one of those stores.

How much plastic are you carrying around?

Monday, April 2, 2012

Is College Or University Really Worth It?

Many students are asking themselves if College or University is really worth it, considering the amount of student loans they're graduating with and the fact that some can't find jobs. I do believe that your odds of being successful in life are greater if you have an education. I know we've all heard of Bill Gates and Mark Zukerberg, and time and time again I hear teenagers talk about how successful these two are and they didn't finish University. But let's not forget they both got accepted to Harvard before dropping out to pursue their own businesses. Most people are not going to create the next Microsoft or Facebook. These two individuals are exceptions to the rule. I don't say this to discourage anyone trying to start their own business or pursue their dreams, I just want to point out that they were both pursuing their education prior to the launch of their businesses.

Education sets the foundation for any business and also provides networking opportunities for you to meet other students that could be on the same path as you.

Unfortunately many students have found themselves in more debt than they can handle after they've completed their studies. I took a different approach with my education than the average person and in the long run it worked out better for me. I am not a big fan of debt as I am sure you are aware of if you've read previous posts. I was constantly looking for ways to pay for school without having to go into a lot of debt. I wrote about how I paid for my education in this post.

There are many ways students can pay for their education without racking up thousands of dollars in debt. There are scholarships, grants, tuition reimbursements through companies, and there's the old fashion way of paying for it by working. This really isn't a bad idea! If you are not in a rush to finish, consider taking your degree on a part-time basis. Some Colleges and Universities offer online and evening courses to make it more convenient. You could work full time and pay for the courses you could afford until you're finished. If you take this route, try finding a job in your field of study while you're pursuing your education. Companies love employees who take continuing education courses, it means you are taking the time to remain current in your field. When you graduate who do think will most likely want to promote you. You will also have more experience than the student who graduated with only an education and no experience. Besides think about how many people are applying for the exact same jobs at graduation. Your odds are much smaller when you're competing with thousands of other applicants at the same time. This is what I did and it worked. It took me longer to finish, but I was working alongside people who had a degree when I was still obtaining my degree.

Although I have absolutely no regrets with both College and University, there are some things that I didn't learn in school that are extremely important for success.

Ambition, this is something that I learned growing up, watching my mother hustle to take care of two kids on her own. I don't remember seeing my mother sleep a lot when I was young. She was always on the go and always looking for work.

Passion, this is something that has to come from within. A strong desire that you have to complete something or do something in this world to make your mark.

Persistence, being able to maintain an action regardless of what obstacles come your way is extremely difficult. But to accomplish big things, persistence is needed. I also learned this from my mother and not in school. She always taught me to never give up and to never allow my vision to be clouded by what's in front of me.

Lifelong learning is something I didn't realize I would have to do until I finished University. How naive was I! It wasn't until I finished, did I realize that if I plan to be all God wants me to be in this world, I have to continue to educate myself and be open to learning new things.

Education never really stops, unless you stop it!