This summer we had the opportunity to go to Walt Disney World in sunny Orlando, Florida.  Not only was it an experience we will always remember, but we try to share our experiences with as many people as possible, so that they may have a good vacation there.

One of our better choices was to checkout Universal Studios.  We were able to checkout the Revenge of the Mummy and E.T. Adventure -which are both based on two of my favorite movies.

We also stayed at the Disney World Resort Hotel – and was I impressed.  Not only was the food there amazing, but they were very family friendly – which is important for trips like these.

I decided to document my experiences on the Disney World Forum.  Hopefully by sharing our experiences, it will encourage others to travel there – I cannot wait to go back!

I just came back from a camping trip where we got lost.  Now, when I say lost, I mean I had no idea where I was – and that is scary. 

The one smart thing I did two weeks before the trip was checkout some of the latest phones at an online mobile phone shop.  I ended up purchasing a Nokia N95 with the intention of taking it on our trip in case we ran into trouble.

We were hiking in the woods and made a wrong turn somewhere and we didn’t end up at the rendez-vous point – instead all we could see were trees and mountains – no roads.  My friend and I were really scared but then she reminded me about my N95.

It was at that point that all the lights in my head started going off – the phone had a built in GPS!  We used the GPS on the phone to get our bearings and make it out of the forest. 

Thank goodness technology has progressed this far – I don’t know what we would have done without my phone – we probably still would be lost.

I have made a lot of friends working various jobs over the years.  I recently said farewell to one of my best friends who was going to live with his girlfriend at Ko Samui in Thailand.

Over the past few years he has gone out to visit her and they have stayed at various Samui hotels to make their reunions special.  I have seen the pictures he brought back and each time they look so amazing.

What I did not expect was a phone call from him, inviting us to stay out there with them.  I know that their place is very small, so we didn’t want to impose – instead we have made reservations at the Chaweng Beach Hotel for when we go out there.

We are leaving on December 10th for our trip and I am sure it is going to be a blast.  The only thing that scares me is the flight over – I have never been in an airplane for more than a couple of hours – but I am sure it will be great!

Now I don’t know about you, but I am pretty healthy.  Sure I get sick here and there, but nothing really worth talking about.  But let me tell you I have made arrangements for when I do become unhealthy some day – and you should too.

What prompted me to plan for when I am unhealthy?  Well, you see, my father had an accident and ended up in a nursing home for a few months.  Now, he didn’t really have the money to pay for his condo and for his stay in a nursing home – he was in dire trouble.  In fact, after about three months, all the money he saved up is almost gone.

Now, I don’t want to be like him – nor do I want to see my savings up in the air.  I looked on many health related blogs for the answer of what I should do to prepare for poor health and the financial consequences.

There were many answers out there, but I was looking for the best solution for me.  Thankfully there was an answer for me:  I could buy long term care insurance.  Now, this insurance would pay your health care bill that would accrue when you need to stay in a long term care facility. 

Price wise, it is quite reasonable, especially when you consider the alternative if you don’t have it – the devastation of your savings.  Needless to say, I signed up for a policy and you should too – you won’t thank me now, but you sure might later.

My wife and I are about to celebrate our third anniversary.  For some of you, this may not seem to important, but we have had a rough couple of years both with our marriage and our finances. 

But we have made it through the worst I think.  So, I thought that to celebrate this year I would make a custom diamond pendant for her.  It took me awhile, but I did eventually get the design right.

I found a jeweler in our town that would put the pendant together – now all I needed was the diamonds.  I figured that I could go to one of those stores that sold loose diamonds – that was really all I needed.

There are two business trips that I need to take in the coming weeks – one to Houston and one to San Antonio.  So I checked online for Houston diamonds and San Antonio diamonds, and have made a list of stores I can visit while I am there.  Hopefully one of them will have the right diamond to go with the pendant.

So, time is running out till our anniversary, but I am confident that I will find the perfect diamond.  I will have to bring some tissues when we go out for supper – I think she will cry.

Have you ever considered options trading?  Many people have and made fortunes.  But flip the coin over, there are a lot of people that have lost fortunes as well.  Usually these people did not take the time to learn anything about what they were going to do – and they paid for it.

The key to successful option trading is to follow a system and stick to it.  The moment you stray off your system and go with what you "feel" is a good trade, you can kiss your money goodbye.  This is but one of many option trading strategies you should be using to be a successful trader.

My biggest recommendation is learn as much as you can before you plunge head first into it.  Whether that is reading a book about options, attending a course, or getting a practice account, be sure that you are ready before you try the real thing.  That way you won’t lose a bunch of money or sour your experience the first time you try it – it would be a shame if you missed out on making some good money.

A little while ago, we had to install a couple of stair chair lifts in our house.  You see, my son had back surgery and was bound to a wheelchair – no more walking while he healed.

It didn’t seem that it would be too bad as we needed only straight stair lifts, but I was floored when I found out what our cost was going to be.  It sure seemed expensive – we really only needed it temporarily.

I inquired about the resale value we could expect and I was not too pleased with the results.  I checked out the used market for stair lifts, but I couldn’t find any.  One of my friends suggested renting stair lifts – they had done it before and they found the pricing very reasonable.

So, I called a few places to inquire about renting stair lifts.  Over the phone, I learned that the price was very reasonable and that they could come out in the next couple of days to install it.

Now that the stair lift is installed, my son can get around the house with ease.  As soon as he is mobile, we can just give them a call, and they will remove it.  I am so thankful that it was available – otherwise I don’t know what we would have done.

It seems like forever since I last applied for a job.  To be honest, I haven’t worked since I came back to school in September.  But, the spending money I had saved from the summer is starting to run out, and with Christmas coming up, I need some money for presents.

This is also a really good time of year to get a temporary job.  I can work for the next two months and make enough money to sustain my spending till May when I will get a summer job.  So, I have decided to work on my resume today with the intention to go out this week and apply for jobs.

Now, I haven’t updated my resume since last spring – and I want to spice it up a bit.  I have been looking online at resume samples to get some good ideas on how to make a killer resume.  Some of the samples I checked out look pretty good.  I have printed out the better ones and have them laid out in front of me.

I also printed off some handy resume writing tips to help give the extra tweak or two I might need.  There are some great suggestions regarding layout and description of jobs that are guaranteed to make mine stand out from the crowd.

So that is what I am doing today.  I should get to it instead of blogging here.  Wish me luck!

Now, I don’t really have a lot of experience promoting websites.  In fact, six months ago, I didn’t really even know that I was going to start some sites.  But if you fast forward to this point in time, I own a couple.  It was definitely a learning process for me, and I will share the one essential thing you should do to promote your site – and the best part is that it is free.

In order to figure out what I should be doing, I visited many forums, read some webmaster blogs, and read lots of marketing articles.  Through my research, I learned a key component for making your site succeed: submitting your site to web directories.  If you want a quick explanation, a web directory is a human edited collection of websites.  In theory, these sites have passed some standards, so they should not contain much, if any, spam.  The links that you get from the web directories affect your search engine rankings – which should result in more traffic.

The best part about web directories is if you are on a zero or minimal budget, there are thousands of free ones.  Sure, it may take a little longer to get approved, but except for your time, it does not affect your pocket book.  I have taken the free directory route and I can see my traffic increasing day after day.  So, if you are starting a website, or have one already, be sure to list your site on web directories – it is essential to your website’s success.

I was talking to a couple that I coach and they were telling me about some of their problems regarding their finances.  The husband had lost his job a few months ago and I asked how that was going – I found out things were not so good.

Since they had been living on just one income, they were not able to keep up with all their bills.  What was worse is that they were unable to make the mortgage payments – it even was at the point where the bank had told them if they didn’t make a payment their home would become another one of their repossessed properties.

They needed to do something fast or lose everything.  By chance Lisa saw an ad for a company geared towards people in their situation – and she gave them a call.  They took advantage of the sell and rent back program – they paid off their mortgage and now rent where they once owned.  Jerry finally found a job, and things are going better.  They are just so thankful that they didn’t have to lose everything.