Gizmo Zone

Guest post written by my buddy Lavern Small

I don’t know why, but for some reason I am always drawn to the idea of shopping on Black Friday. It’s crazy, and although I hate crowds with a passion, I am still compelled to go.

Starting early is what we like to do, but I’m not crazy enough to get up at midnight and sit in a cold parking lot for hours. Our usual start time is around 10 am, and then we see just what is left from the craziness of the earlier hours. This year we decided to stop at Target, since it was nearest to our house and easy to find. Finding a parking spot was troublesome, but you have to expect that. I think it took us around ten minutes to get one.

Once inside, I did find a few deals. They were having a sale on DVDs. I managed to get a few seasons of one of my favorite TV shows for about $9 each. My sister, who was with me, found a good gift for my dad. They had some sausages for sale, which he loves. I am sure he’ll be happy when he sees what he got!

After a long day of Black Friday adventures, I am always quite tired. After all that work, all I want to do is sleep. If I am awake enough I’ll watch some satellite television that I got after seeing this DirecTV comparison, though.

One of the most innovative Christmas greeting we received last year was an electronic one that came in mailed as a DVD. You plug in the dvd to your player or computer and out comes a very festive menu in the form of Christmas tree, you can click on the ornaments and out pops a photo or a blurb about an event that had happened to them within the year. There were also snippets of video greetings from the kids and them making and putting decorations on their gingerbread house. That was really a clever idea but I bet they used some massive flash media skills.

This Christmas I was thinking of doing the same for us. But I will need to purchase a DVD writer first. I know an online store called GotMedia that sells DVD duplicators. I don’t know how use them but I hope their website, www.gotmedia.com also have DVD duplication guide. For sure I will also need CD printers to label my DVD. Oh, I’m so excited about this project. I better start soon, it’s only 17 days till Christmas after all.

My friend who lives out in the west coast is a nurse. She works specifically in the maternity ward helping doctors deliver babies. Her husband is also in the nursing profession working as a psychiatric nurse. i was actually teasing them both about how much their work saves them a whole lot of money as they don’t need to wear normal street clothes to work. They are both required to wear medical uniform tops and bottoms.

Traditionally maternity nursing staff wear those pink scrubs but lately I’m seeing more of those hot pink scrubs that are not as bad. My friend they are not required to wear pink but I see her wear more of pastels with cute prints.

I’n not sure what the requirement is for mens medical uniform for psychiatric ward. At the hospital where I used to work, they wear those light blue ones most of the time.

I should tell them both about blue sky scrubs as they supply good quality scrubs at excellent prices.

My husband and I had been dreaming of going on a cruise one day. Somehow the idea of being in an all inclusive trip seems to be very magical. But ever since that Carnival Splendor engine fire fluke, earlier this week, we had been thinking of flying straight to our destination and find an all inclusive hotel instead.

After much research on different Jamaica hotels, we zeroed in on Breezes Runaway Bay Resort. This is one of top reviewed resort where hotel accommodations, food, beverages, water and land activities are all inclusive Jamaica has to offer.  It’s one of the Ocho Rios hotels, Jamaica can boost of.

Based on our research there are lots of outdoor activities you can do while in Runaway Beach Resort. As the name suggests, while the hotel can also accept kids, it is more catered towards adult vacationers such as couples or group of friends. Just on activities alone, we were sold, the gaming room have slot machines, pool table, jacuzzi, tennis court, a spa, diving instruction facilities, gym, water sports activities and equipments among others. They also provide lots of live musical entertainment and have a wide array of food choices to choose from. Most vacationers are rating this hotel four to five stars based on their experience.

We can’t wait!

It can take a lot of time to pay all of your bills every month. You have to wait for the bill to arrive, write a check and then buy a stamp and put it in the mail. And, you have to do this for every bill you get. It can get very complicated with bills coming at different times of the month and there is no sure-fire way to make sure you don’t miss anything. Bills also create a lot of paper clutter in your house. If this is the way you handle your bills, you’re probably thinking, “There’s got to be a better way.”

Well, there is a better way to pay your bills, no matter what they are. Lots of people have switched many of their bill statements to online. You can get a notice when your bill is ready in your email and then go pay it on the company’s website. Most websites also offer a way to set up automatic payments for your bills every month — with your authorization, of course.

Automatic payment authorization is great because it means you do not have to worry about your bills getting paid. The companies where you have automatic payments set up with deduct your bill automatically from your bank account on the due date. And, there is no need to worry, because if there is ever a problem, the company will notify you by email so you can take care of the problem.

Once you get all of your bills set up on automatic payments, you’ll have more time to spend on sports betting sites and surfing the Internet instead of paying your bills. It truly is a way to make your finances hassle- and worry-free. Do yourself a favor and put all of those recurring bills in check.

Okay, I gave my aunt some advice and I would like to know if any of you agree or disagree or have any other ideas for her.

At the age of 67, my uncle died a few weeks ago. He left her everything, of course, including the 26 rental properties they owned together. While both of their names were on all of the ownership papers, Aunt Lily was never involved in the business aspect of things. Uncle Roger was great at these things. He kept all of the properties in tip-top shape, he made sure he was only renting apartments to people who were honest and reliable, and he did most of the handyman work himself, leaving them a nice profit to live on from month to month.

I’ve told Aunt Lily that she needs to call someone about finding a property management company. When she first told me that there were not any in town, I laughed. Riverside property management companies have to be available since there are so many rental properties. So I checked again for her and found several. This is when the truth came out.

She told me that since she is a single woman she is sure that a property management company will take advantage of her when she needs every penny she can get. I assured her that was not the case and made her an appointment to meet with someone tomorrow afternoon.

When she gets home, she is supposed to give me a call and let me know what they said. I explained to her that the manager will have an interest in making sure that she has a continuing income from her properties. Should the management company not do their job, they would lose out as well.

I hope she takes my advice. Anyone else have any for her?

People all know and dread that feeling of stress when it involves their financial information. Whether it’s insufficient funds or the complete lack of funds, there is sometimes a feeling of stress when there are unplanned expenses or bills that are due.

Budgeting is one way to offset stress, since you can make a pre-determined plan to spend a certain amount of money on certain expenses. By budgeting, you take the guesswork out of how much money to spend and where the money is to be spent. Without the guesswork, or the surprise of unplanned purchases, you can significantly reduce your stress level and keep your finances clean and without any surprises.

By using a prepaid card to take care of expenses, you can also reduce stress that is financially connected and keep it that way. A prepaid card, whether it’s a debit, credit, or medical card, is a great way to manage your finances. You can load the amount of money you need onto the card, make the necessary purchases, and even re-use the card again for future purchases.

The prepaid card won’t allow you to make purchases above the amount that is pre-loaded. So, in other words, there is no way that you can get into financial trouble by using a prepaid card since it won’t allow you to go over your limit or incur additional overage fees, like credit and bank cards do. Imagine the unnecessary stress and burdens that can be avoided by using a pre-loaded card and by not worrying about whether the money is there or not.

In today’s financial times, people want to and need to find creative ways to reduce their stress over money worries and to make their lives a little easier. Although using prepaid cards is certainly not a new way, it is something that can be easily implemented into any lifestyle or budget.

Sometimes, every busy mommy, especially with small children, needs a little pick me up. The best pick me up for most women is a little influx of fashion passion. This means a chance to see what the world has going in the apparel department. In a past life before motherhood, many of us used to spend hours on days off and weekends, browsing through our favorite clothing stores, but those days are done and gone. But don’t think those days of fashion sense are gone. There’s still hope for mothers everywhere.

If you need some fashion spice, then you need to give yourself some time to do it. There won’t be any 5 hour shopping trips to your favorite shopping venues very often; however, you can get some of the best and latest looks using the internet. Get your favorite drink and allow yourself 15 minutes of uninterrupted online fashion shopping time. It’s high time you used fashion to help you unwind. The internet is packed full of great fashion websites like drjays that highlights hip hop fashion. You name it and the internet will have your favorite styles and looks. Keep a list of spots you like to visit.

Some fashion websites also offer facebook and twitter updates and emails regarding sales and offers. This is another way to spice up your fashion knowledge and get some great deals while doing it. The great news is you never have to take a child with you screaming into a store again. No more dirty looks from all the customers who have never had to take child shopping, or who have forgotten that they were once children. It can be shocking how relaxing and fun this can be. Someday, you’ll be able to go shopping again. Until then this is one way to get some mommy fashion time.

This was not your intention, not the desire you once charted for your life. You assumed always that wisdom would lead you, ensure that you made the right choices at the right times. And yet you somehow find yourself now in debt, watching as your credit score plummets to spectacular lows. Money can’t be found (even as it’s so desperately needed). There are no pennies to spare, each already destined for the necessary payments, the costs you can’t deny. You are without hope – and your lenders are becoming vicious, demanding funds you don’t have. With each refusal to pay, your ranking in the world slips further and further. Soon you fear you’ll fall into the dreaded negatives.

Something has to change. You simply don’t know what.

The answer is far easier than expected: you must choose a debt consolidation service.

Defined simply, a consolidation service purchases all of your current debt and gathers it into one simple sum. The cost is greatly reduced and payments can be made more confidently – allowing you to potentially fulfill your obligations more quickly.

And this means an instant reward for your credit.

As you work toward paying off your debt, each dollar will provide instant gains within your score. You’ll see it bounce steadily from tragedy to respectability (moving finally away from the once considered bankruptcy). Your worth will recover from the strain, and you will be able to earn back the trust of all banks and lenders.

Debt consolidation is far more than simplifying your life into a singular payment. It’s instead the opportunity to reclaim what you once thought lost forever – your credit score. No longer will you be burdened by sad numbers and their far sadder meanings. You will instead have the financial strength to face each day.

And there’s no sensation superior to that.

Gain back your score. Gain back your life.