What does volume tell the stock trader ? The main thing it tells us is how much interest is in a stock. When volume spikes it gives us an idea of the emotional excitement, or “irrational exuberance” to quote Alan Greenspan, there is for a certain stock. Stock chart volume is simply the number of shares traded during a certain period of time and when it spikes it is a signal to the trader that some sort of news has been released, whether it be good or bad.

When a stock is trading on high volume there are many traders involved. It becomes easier to trade in and out of. Volume spikes usually bring in the day traders, more traders in a stock usually means the trading becomes more volatile.

Here is the chart from Yahoo finance, of a biotech stock that I traded, BLRX normal daily volume before an announcement on January 24th, 2012 was minimal. January 24th, they released news volume spiked up to 253,000 shares traded that day and the share price rocketed up. The spike brought in traders long and short (me) and over the course of the next few days money was made.

Notice the massive increase in volume and as it decreases the price declines. This was a case of irrational exuberance. The news released was a licensing agreement for a Hepatitis C treatment still in pre-clinical studies. For those of you that do not know what that means, it’s in animal studies and as of yet has not been tested in humans, as such it is many (10 or so) years from making it to the market and making any revenue for this company.

The only time volume is going to help in trading is when it is combined with a price movement. There is a saying that “volume precedes price”, many times you will see volume pick up before the move in price. The increased volume is showing that interest is building over the expectation of some news.

Trying to interpret volume on a chart is hard, it is not until you have some price action that you can be sure what the volume was telling you. Then do your due diligence to see if the price movement is rational or not.

Another way to use volume is to use a PBV (price by volume) chart. This helps traders gauge the level of interest in buying and selling at various price levels. PBV charts can be created using online charting services from websites such as StockCharts.com and BigCharts.com. They are pretty easy to understand.

A PBV chart will show you:

• Volume Strength which indicates the amount of shares traded at a certain price level indicated by the horizontal length of the PBV histogram (Histogram is a graphical representation, similar to a bar chart used to demonstrate how many of a certain type of variable occurs within a specific range.)
• Volume by type shows the number of shares bought compared to the number of shares sold. This is indicated by the two different colors seen on each bar.
• Successful reactions or tests which refers to the number of times that a stock successfully tests and “bounces off” a given level.
• These three things will allow you to determine the strength of a certain price level. Once you know this, you can combine this information with trendlines and other indicators to find support and resistance levels.

So whether you trade support and resistance, play gaps or have your own technique, whether you are long or short, may all of your trades be profitable!

There is no magic trick to saving money on your credit card. You simply need to know how. The following five methods of saving on your credit card have been used by many others in the past and are guaranteed to work. As long as you can qualify for a credit card, most of them work even if your credit score is a little lacking.

How to Save Money on Your Credit Card

1. Save Money on Interest Rates

Many credit card companies offer low introductory interest rates to tempt card holders to open a new account. New card-holder rates may extend to balance transfers, new purchases, cash advances or any combination of these. These rates can dip as low as 0% APR for the first six months or more. You can save money on your monthly credit card bill by rotating balances between cards with a 0% introductory APR. Be careful of late payments when rotating balances in this way. Late payments may cause your APR to skyrocket unexpected before the introductory period ends.

2. Enjoy Member Only Discounts

Most major credit card companies have formed partnerships with other companies to offer discounts on the products and services that lots of their members already use or might be interested in using. Examples include insurance, identity theft protection, tax preparation software and more. Card holders can save a bundle by purchasing the products and services they want directly from their credit card company instead of buying from third party providers. Card member services can usually tell you about any special promotions their partners may be offering.

3. Cash In on Rewards Programs

Many credit card companies offer reward programs. For each dollar you spend using their credit card, the company gives you a set number of points which can be applied to the purchase of goods or services. Some rewards programs have only a few items, like those that offer points towards travel expenses including airfare, hotel accommodations and car rental. Others have massive catalogs including small kitchen appliances, software, gift cards to popular restaurant chains and lots more. Rewards programs can be a great way to save with your credit card provided that the points can be applied to items you would normally purchase anyway. For example, a card that offers only travel discounts is great for someone who travels a lot but someone who travels less frequently may prefer other types of rewards.

4. Get Instant Savings at the Register

Some credit card companies offer their card holders instant savings at the register instead of cumulative rewards. This is one of the easiest ways to save with your credit card. Convenience store credit cards may offer customers a reduction of $0.05 or $0.10 per gallon of gas, free or discounted car washes, reduced prices for coffee or other perks. Many big-name retail clothing chains reward their card holders with special coupons, sales and other discounts that can only be accessed when paying with the store credit card. Your own spending habits dictate how much you can save each month with perks like these.

5. Earn Better Bonuses

Credit card companies encourage their card holders to pay their bills promptly by offering more and better perks to those that have the best payment histories. Some examples include interest rate reductions, more points or miles in a rewards program and even cash back. Companies usually send mail alerting card holders to any opportunities to get better rewards by maintaining or improving payment history. Be sure to check all mailings from your credit card company so you do not miss out on any of these opportunities.

Be a Good Credit Card Holder

No matter how great the credit card offer, you have to be a good card holder in order to save money with your credit card. Pay your bill on time, stay under your credit limit and use your card regularly to reap the biggest rewards. Any savings you might make with a good rewards program, immediate discounts, savings through special offers or other incentives will be lost if you are frequently for being irresponsible with your credit card.

Andy has been blogging about managing money for his company, which is one of the biggest Australia’s leading impartial comparison websites. He leads a busy family life, enjoys working on new start up businesses, loves to travel and spending time outdoors. Follow him on Twitter.

Ever heard that a rising tide lifts all boats, it works that way in the stock market as well. After a tumultuous 2011 and ending the year just about unchanged, the stock market is rising. What has changed to cause the market to climb, not much. Trading volume is still on the low side. There has not been a noticeable increase in buying demand, the rally has occurred because of reduced selling pressure. Investors and traders that have missed the move, watch as the market rises. These one time skeptics will take notice now that a technical indicator known as “A Golden Cross” has shown up.

What is a golden cross you might wonder, I’ll tell you. It’s when the rising 50-day moving average of the S&P 500 crosses above it’s rising 200-day moving average. This signals that bullish momentum is building, and that if you put your money to work in large cap stocks, you have a good chance to make money over the next six months or so.

Think about it, technical analysts and advisors see this indicator an advise clients to start putting money to work. Any pull back being viewed as a buying opportunity. Out of the last 10 times a golden cross has shown up on the S&P 500, 9 have seen further gains 6 months out. The one exception was in 2010-2011, the market was very volatile and the S&P 500 lost a third of a percent. Here is a chart from Stockcharts.com showing the recent golden cross.

Technical indicators are not a guarantee of what is going to happen in the market, but a guide for what is likely to happen. You can use technical indicators and compare past price behavior in an attempt to determine where prices are going to head in the future.

They are also fairly accurate. I tend to look at these indicators and try to balance them with other things affecting the world economy before I jump in. People tend to buy and sell with the herd and it usually works against them. Most people get shaken when there is a sharp drop in the stock market as happened in 2000-2002 the dot com bust and late 2007 to early 2009 our financial meltdown.

Most sell toward the low and then watch as the market rises. Then they jump in near the high, fearing missing out on all of the gains, only to watch the market retrench again. The golden cross seems to be signaling that at least in the short term, the market is headed up. The recent rally in the markets allow for a pull back without having the technical picture deteriorate. You can be cautiously optimistic for the short term but keep up with the economic events that could change the technical read.

I am personally a little nervous about the market, the market has bounced back almost 100% from it’s 2009 lows and now investors are feeling like now it’s safe to get back in. There are a lot of issues that still worry me, housing, unemployment and continuing recession over seas. Mainstream media is saying it’s time to get back in and since the individual investor is usually the last one to the party, it gives me pause. I’d be looking at booking some profits and be extra careful about buying into the exuberance in my stock trading.

As always, no matter how you trade, long or short may all of your trades be profitable!

I am a day trader, I love the thrill of the trade, every day presents a new opportunity. I don’t believe that there is any better teacher than experience, so much of what I know is learned from my trading successes and failures. I stick with what works for me and that is shorting.

For me it is easier to spot a stock that has moved up too fast, rather than buy a stock hoping it will keep going up in our uncertain economic times. I watch CNBC all day, every day. I read information on the internet on trading strategies and technical analysis. There is always over exuberance in the markets you just need to find it.

Every morning I tune into CNBC. I check the futures and read about what is going on in Europe and how their markets are trading. I watch pre-market trades, to see if any stocks have had a major move up on pre-market news. If nothing peaks my interest, I wait until the market opens and start checking the biggest percentage gainers list.

If I find a stock that is up 20% or higher (the higher the better), that interests me. I will look up the symbol read whatever news was released, then I make a judgment on whether I think the move is too much.

The best time to make money in the markets is the first and the last half an hour.

• If I decide that a stock has moved too far, I’ll start checking other things like the chart, how has it been trending.
• A stock that has been in a downtrend is one that I would rather short than one that has been going up and spiked on some news.
• Volume is something I factor in, on a pop in share price you want to see a increase in volume.
• I check the float, the larger the float the more it interests me.
• Low float stocks are a dangerous short, you never know how high they might go.
• I’ve seen low float stocks go up over 600% in a day. I’m not saying I don’t short low float stocks but I’m more cautious.
• I’ll take a small short position on a low float stock when it seems the price action is slowing and the volume is decreasing.
• I keep watching the price and volume.
• If the price keeps going up I’ll increase my short position.
• Depending on how high it has moved depends on whether I hold my position over night.
• One more thing to check is the percentage of the float that is short, you do not want to short a stock and get caught in a short squeeze.

On January 17th 2012, around 10:30 I noticed KUTV up more than 170%. The company is a Chinese internet television company that announced an agreement with YouTube. The price moved from $1.35 on the 16th to over $4.00 on the 17th, the volume was huge compared to the 183,600 shares that usually trade.

The stock has been in a down trend for the previous 9 months, it does not have a large float 10.62 million but it’s not tiny. The short position was minimal. I shorted at $3.58 a share and I’m still short. As of right now I have a 39.72% return on my KUTV postion.

Friday I noticed SCHS up just over 50% there was no news other than the previous day they announced their 2012 expanded offering of classroom technology solutions.

It had been in a downtrend for 6 months, volume was 4 times normal, float 16.3 million. I shorted at $3.12 and covered at the end of the day at $2.93, which gave me a 5.98% return.

Like I said there is always over exuberance in the markets you just need to be able to recognize it.

As always, no matter how you trade long or short may all of your trades be profitable!

The new year is underway and Christmas shopping is behind us. You may have noticed that many stores have sales in January. You can think of it as the New Year’s slump. They want to do everything possible to encourage shoppers to come out to the stores and spend money. As you have probably noticed stores generally put certain items on special at specific times of the year. This is their yearly sales cycle. While there are some exceptions to the cycle, in general you can anticipate what will be on sale and then can plan accordingly for the items that you need.

There is often a right time and a wrong time to buy something. You will save money if you know exactly when the right time is. Let us look at five of the best deals that you are sure to find in the first month of the year:

1. Many people decide that losing weight is something they want to do in the new year. In fact it is one of the top of all New Year’s resolutions. Stores know this and they want to capitalize on this. What they do therefore is they put diet foods and drinks on sale to cater to weight conscious individuals. Look for diet meals, diet drinks, diet bars, diet supplements and the like.

2. Continuing on the weight loss theme there are plenty of weight loss products beyond food items that will also be discounted in January. If you wish to buy a new pair of athletic shoes or exercise wear then the start of the year is the time to look for it. If you want to improve upon your home gym then the wintry days and weeks of January are the wisest time to do it because you will save yourself a few bucks in the process.  Purchase an exercise bike, a treadmill, or a weight set this month. Sometimes even memberships at gyms are offered at a reduced price to draw in more people.

3. Is this the year you have decided to quit smoking? If it is then you are not alone. This is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions around. Some people fail at it while others succeed. The stores will do their part to help you to succeed by putting stop smoking aids on sale. Peruse store flyers and store shelves for such things as gum, lozenges and patches.

4. With the holidays behind them, stores want to make room for new merchandise but they first want to sell as much of their holiday stock as possible. The more they sell the less they have to store for next year. As a result they offer some excellent discounts on many holiday related items such as gift wrap, decorations, seasonal candy, and other holiday oriented finds such as place mats and tablecloths. This is the time of year to cash in on all those things you may find yourself needing when the next holiday season is upon you.

5.  If you need a new jacket for your skiing vacation, a new pair of gloves to wear to work or a new sweater or pair of boots then peruse the stores in January. There are often deals and discounts on winter garments at the start of the year because these items are in such high demand, for every age group and member of your family. If there is someone in your life with a winter birthday then a new scarf, pair of gloves or hat would make a wonderful present for them. While winter clothing is more likely to go on sale closer to the end of the season when stores start to bring out their spring collections, some stores are smart and want to get ahead of their competitors by putting sales on winter clothing items while the winter season is still in full swing. To find good deals for those snowy and windy winter days and evenings shop in January.

If you’re an investor, you probably know that Wall Street is full of analysts who study and report on what they believe is the health and stability of stocks as well as commodities and other investment products. Their primary duty is to give investors unbiased, tradable advice based on careful study of industry analytics as well as company specific metrics. It all sounds like a great service to the investment community but does the reality of the analysts live up to what they promise?

Analysts have to earn a living just like you and I so at the core of what they do lies the compensation they receive. Any time somebody is giving you advice, you have to ask the question, where are their loyalties? There are two types of analysts you should know about.

Sell Side Analysts

If you watch financial television, you are inundated with sell side analysts. These analysts often work for brokerage firms and tailor their advice to the clients of the firm. These are the analysts who publish the strong buys, holds, neutral, or sell ratings. Although they aren’t in the business of trying to get the firm’s clients to transact stocks, a brokerage firm makes money on the commissions generated from buying and selling products. Brokerages know that there’s a fine line between their analysts making recommendations frequently enough to generate commissions and making so many recommendations that clients no longer listen to them.

Also remember that sell side analysts’ recommendations are general in nature. They don’t take in to account your individual investing goals, level of capital, or risk tolerance. Just because they make a recommendation doesn’t mean that you should blindly follow it.

Finally, most analysts issue price targets based on their research. Nobody knows where the market will go tomorrow or a year from now. Price targets provide very little value to you as an investor. Use these analysts for their research and evaluate their findings for yourself. You can learn a lot about the stocks you own by reading their reports.

Buy Side Analysts

Buy side analysts are not highly applicable to the individual investor. Buy side analysts are employed by professional trading firms like hedge funds, mutual funds, and other large proprietary traders. These firms hire the best analysts in an attempt to get an advantage in the market. They don’t want their buy side analysts heading to CNBC to tell the world what they believe because the funds that employ them would lose their edge. These analysts are compensated by how much of an edge they give the fund that employs them. Great calls mean great bonuses. Bad or missed calls could mean unemployment.

Loyalties

Since the 2008 and 2009 collapse, analysts are now more tightly regulated and are more highly responsible for the ratings they place on investment products. Problems still remain, though. Let’s say that you owned a large company and used Citigroup for your banking needs. Citigroup doesn’t want to lose your business so their analysts might be less inclined to speak negatively about your company. New laws have made banks separate their investment banking division from their traditional banking in order to reduce the possible conflict of interest but as you read analyst reports, keep in mind that those conflicts of interest still exist.

Finally, you’ll often find that analysts are often late to make calls. An analyst may downgrade a stock on a day when their earnings report disappoints and the stock drops 10%. Like any other profession there are good analysts and bad analysts but remember that you are responsible for being your own analyst. Read their reports and use them as a jumping off point but don’t make decisions solely based on their information.

The more information we can get our hands on, the better, right? Not necessarily and here’s why. Speaking personally, I have to admit that I’m a bit of a hypochondriac. A stomach ache might be cancer, a small pain in my chest could be a heart attack and a common cold could be the beginning of the end in my mind.

I used to spend far too much time on WebMD and other health sites researching my ailments and finally I had to set a personal rule that there would be no more frequenting of those sites. I still worry more than I should but I couldn’t argue with the doctors who said that reading every detail of what could happen is not a recipe for long term mental health.

Isn’t the investment market like that too? Numerous studies have shown a correlation between the amount of “active managing” you do in your account and the amount of money you lose. More toiling in your portfolio leads to less gains for most.

If we should leave our portfolios alone, what causes us to make frequent changes? It’s noise. The noise comes from sites like StockTwits, CNBC, Bloomburg, Yahoo! Finance, Business Insider, and the many other sites which, admittedly, I write for. Everybody has an opinion about where the market will go tomorrow but the truth is that nobody actually knows.

Tiffany

Here’s a great example of noise. For well over a year, we’ve heard that if it weren’t for luxury retail, there would be very little consumer activity. Tiffany and Coach have held up quite well in a space where so many others have struggled to survive. It didn’t seem to make sense but the media told us that these are the stocks you should own because there’s always a market for luxury goods because those people have the money to spend regardless of the economy. We heard this advice up until very recently.

Then, Tifffany, the company every investor should own, slashed their forward guidance because of weaker than expected holiday spending. They saw same store sales growth of 4% instead of the more than 7% than analysts were expecting. Because of this, Tiffany shares traded down more than 10% in just one day.

Now, the same news media that loved Tiffany just days before are now printing story after story of how Tiffany along with the jewelry industry, may be the decade’s next underperformer.

Seriously? Let’s analyze this. Tiffany, the second largest jewelry retailer in the world has a slower than expected holiday season and that’s a reason the stock should fall by double digit percentages? Because many of the rich are on Wall Street, the decline in Tiffany sales must signal that another Wall Street crisis is coming. That was actually printed in an article and because of that and all of the other noise, there are undoubtedly hoards of retail investors who sold their shares after the recent decline for a huge loss.

Is this global jewelry icon really on life support or is this a chance to pick up a high quality name at an amazing price?

My Advice

I don’t read the health pages anymore because I don’t have the industry knowledge and experience to analyze the information in a healthy way. If you want to read every story about the ECB, and stock metrics that you don’t understand, go for it but there’s a better than average chance that the information is nothing more than short term noise.

The information you want to pay attention to are the larger stories. If Tiffany spends the next year reporting disappointing earnings, that might be something to consider but don’t bail on a quality stock (at its lows) because of some article you read. If you want to trade the noise, do it with play money instead of funds set aside for retirement.

Don’t fall for the media noise. Long term investing is far easier than short term trading and it pays better too.

If at the beginning of 2011, anyone had forecast long term bonds returning more than 20% by year end you might expect that stocks got pummeled. Oh contrar, the S&P closed at 1,267.50 on December 30th down .04 points or 0.0%, the Dow was up a few percent and the Nasdaq was down a few percent. Given this divergence, you would think that one, equities or treasuries are extremely overvalued. I expect that in the coming weeks we will get an announcement that will shed some light on which it is.

Europe along with the U.S. dollar and the Federal Reserve’s forward monetary policy, will have a major impact on which direction price action breaks for both Treasury Bonds and equities. If European leaders don’t get a handle on their debit issues and restore confidence, things will continue to get worse. If Europe starts to falter, you might start to hear the word deflation mentioned more and more. Deflation is not something that the Fed wants they would rather have inflation. The Fed will probably step in with QEIII, over the long haul it could have a very negative effect. The implementation of QEIII could cause the dollar to fall off a cliff.

As of now the dollar is trading near recent highs in a consolidation zone. The U.S. Dollar Index is in a rising wedge pattern which could break in either direction and indicates that it is at a major inflection point. The U.S. dollar is like a valve, reacting to global market situations, and changes in monetary and fiscal policy.

Below is a chart from StockCharts.com:

U.S. Dollar Daily Chart

If the Fed lets QEII end in June as expected and does not implement QEIII, it is not clear what will happen in the bond market. When the feds first round of bond buying ended in early 2010, both stocks and bonds fell. Some experts think that once QEII ends stocks will be more resilient because the economy is stronger now, rising sales and profits at many companies should sustain stock prices. Then there are others that are worried there could be a big hole in the Treasury bond markets, who is going to step in and buy? Once the Feds buying dries up, long term rates are expected to rise and Treasury prices to fall, because interest rates and bond prices move in opposite directions.

With the implementation of QEIII, we just keep printing money and devaluing the dollar, I guess we will just wait and see.

As always whether you are long or short may all of your trades be profitable!

The desire to change the world and do the environment good are very admirable and show a sense of responsibility for the planet as well as a great deal of awareness. There is another reason why going green is such a great idea- are you ready for this? – it can help to save you money!

There are so many ways (simple and easy ways actually) that you can help the Earth and hold onto more of your cash. Let us look at some of those inventive ways here.

Washing and Drying Your Clothes

We begin with… washing your clothing. This is something that all of us have to do. But the way you do it can affect the planet and your bank account. Whenever it is possible wash your clothing in cold water. Approximately 85 percent of the energy that is required to launder clothes in a washing machine is devoted to the heating of the water. If you switch to cold water then this issue is no more.

To save money and energy when it comes time to dry your clothes hang them outdoors on a clothesline or use a drying rack indoors. You will love the smell of your clothes if you are able to hang them outside to dry and the cash you will save will amaze you!

Grow Your Own Vegetables  

Start your own vegetable garden. Growing your own vegetables offers nutrition for you and your family that is only a few steps outside your door. It is close at hand when it is time to prepare a meal. Find out which plants are native to your area and are drought-tolerant. These plants require very little watering which can save you money on water and is a blessing to the environment.

Commuting Costs

How you commute back and forth to work can make a difference as transportation costs can really add up. The less gas you spend the more cash will remain in your pockets. If you can take the bus, the subway or carpool then do that. If you can walk to work or bike, or a combination thereof then that is even better for your financial picture and for your health. You will save on gas and parking costs and you will also keep your heart in good shape.

Go Meatless and Organic

When it comes to the foods you eat consider going meatless for one day a week. Substitute beans or legumes for meat. Or if one day a week is too much to be meat free then do it for one meal a week. Meat is expensive. When you do buy it purchase it from local farmers so you can keep the money in your own area. Choose meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products that are organic, free range and humanely raised.

Be Smart About Your Bottled Drinking Water

Everywhere you go you see people carrying plastic bottles of water. Drinking water and toting it with you is a good thing for your health but buying plastic bottles all of the time is not good. It is costly and it is unhealthy because the plastic gives off chemicals. It is particularly unhealthy if you freeze the bottle and then thaw it.

Purchase a reusable water bottle instead for work, travel or family outings. Choose one that is made of either stainless steel or aluminum and steer clear of plastic.

For home use consider purchasing a water filter that will purify your tap water instead of buying big bottles of water. There again, bottled water is pricey, whether you buy the large bottles for home or the small bottles for your car or purse. In the same way the environment is not too happy with them either. Bottles of water equal a great deal of container waste.

Buy Used, Buy Online or Rent

If there is something you wish to buy and it is something that you will only need to use once or twice then find out if you can rent it. Or go the free cycling (also known as free recycling) route. Give away useable unwanted items or swatch them for items you need online. One resource worth visiting is http://www.FreeSharing.org/.

Before you buy anything new consider whether you really want to spend the money for it or not. If it is furniture or appliances you need then check the Internet to look for secondhand items that are gently used or practically new. Look to http://www.Craigslist.org/ or related sites for help in this area.

There are lots of ways to save money and one of those has to do with energy. Perhaps you have made some energy saving decisions in your home that have allowed you to keep more of your money where you want it to be- in your wallet or your bank account- or maybe you just need that little push to become more energy cash savvy. Here we give you that push!

Lower the Temp on Your Water Heater

Lowering the temperature on your hot water heater will lower your water costs anywhere from six to 10 percent. If you love hot showers to ends your day or to start a new day then you owe it to yourself to turn it down in order to save both energy and your hard earned money. This is good for the environment and for your savings.

Unplug Chargers When Not in Use

Do not leave any chargers plugged into electrical outlets if they are not being used. Only plug in your cell phone, laptop, etc. when you need to charge it and then unplug it. Even when you are not charging something it is still drawing electricity and therefore running up your bill. Don’t throw your money away- unplug what you are not using.

If you tend to be forgetful in this regard then buy a power bar or surge protector and turn off the switch once you have given your electrical item enough time to get charged up. This will save you more money than you know!

Replace Your Light Bulbs with CFL’s

Next time you need to replace a light bulb in your home think twice about replacing it with the regular incandescent kind. The compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs with their spiral shape look a little strange but they are true winners in the energy world. They use less than a third of the energy of traditional light bulbs and they last up to 10 times longer. They do cost more money however but the amount of money you will save in reduced power bills in a matter of months will make it such that they will pay for themselves before too long.

Consider this, if every household in the United States replaced just one of their light bulbs with a CFL then the energy that they would save could light as many as 2.5 million homes annually- 2.5 million! Imagine that!

If you have always appreciated the versatility of different styles and colors of regular bulbs then you will be pleased to know that the CFL’s offer you the same. If you want pink bulbs for your bedroom then you can find them. If you want a candelabra bulb then that is no problem at all.

Make Low-Flow the Buzzwords for Your Bathroom

Bathrooms get a lot of use in most households. The more members of your family the more usage it gets! For this reason to save energy and cash you should think about installing low-flow water fixtures.

In days gone by toilets used (and wasted) gallons of water every time they were flushed. Every flush used five gallons of water. Luckily the situation has improved and today toilets are more efficiently designed than ever before. There are now low-flow models that use less than a gallon of water with every flush. Three of the companies that are leading the way when it comes to energy saver toilets include Kohler, American Standard and Toto.

Your toilet is not the only energy and money guzzler. Your shower is as well. To save as much water and money as possible but also to guarantee that you continue to have enough water pressure you should change your showerhead to a low-flow one. The low-flow head will decrease the consumption of water you use for bathing purposes by anywhere from 50 to 70 percent.

If you are not that mechanical that don’t worry- these water saving showerheads are easy to install and cost very little money to purchase. You can get one for around $10. Once you get use to your new showerhead you might want to move onto your faucet. There are now low-flow faucets that can also provide a means of saving you money and energy at the same time.

When you receive your credit card bill every month you may notice on the statement that it shows what your minimum payment for the month is. The minimum payment represents a percentage of your total balance.  That is then deemed the minimum that you must pay per month. It is a small percentage of your total balance, and is generally around three percent. If you were to only pay the minimum every month then it would take you many years to pay off your balance.

The thought of having to spend years and years making credit card payments can be discouraging, especially when you consider all of the interest that you will end up paying overall. However if you cease to use your credit cards and you really put your focus and effort into paying off your debt then you can turn your circumstances around. Depending on how high your credit card balances are it may take some hard work and sacrifice on your part to make things right but you can improve your situation. It will also involve some changes in how you live your life (i.e. your spending habits) but in the long run it will be worth it.

Stop Using Your Credit Cards

What you need to do right now is to stop using your credit cards. Do not assume that because you are making your minimum payments every month that you are doing all right financially. Too much credit card debt can cripple you financially and it can limit you when it comes to applying for a mortgage or a car loan. If you really look at what you use your credit card for you will realize that more often than not you have purchased a good or a service that has no lasting value attached to it. That is why spending on a credit card is rarely a smart choice. It is often an easy choice and a convenient one but it can come with a very high cost to you.

Pay More than the Minimum = Get Out of Debt Quicker

To get out of debt you must begin to pay more than the minimum monthly requirement. Increase your payments as much as you can. If you usually pay $25 a month then increase it to $50 or $100 if you can afford it. If you possess more than one credit card then increase the amount you pay on one card at a time but continue to make the minimum payments on the other one at the same time. It can be too overtaxing on your income to try to increase the monthly payments on more than one card all at once. The more you pay the more financial power this puts back into your hands.

Once one credit card is paid in full then move onto the next card and do the same thing with this card.  You might want to consider transferring your balance to a card that boosts lower interest (if you find out that you could be paying less interest than you presently are).

3 – Reasons Why Paying More than the Minimum is Strongly Recommended

Making the minimum payment may seem easier and may cost you less in the short-term but in the long-term you are losing a great deal. Here are a few reasons why paying more than the minimum each month is smart:

1. You will save money when you pay higher amounts on your credit cards every month. In terms of the interest you could be saving yourself hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Try to look at it from that perspective and ask yourself how much the minimum payment is really costing you.

2. The longer a period of time it take you to pay off a credit card the more of a burden it is to you. The finance charges are bad enough but consider this- the sooner you pay off your card the sooner it becomes a debt that you no longer have to think about.

3. You never know when you may need to use your credit card again. You will free up credit if you make more than the minimum monthly payments. On the other hand if you pay only the minimum amounts and something comes up then you have to look elsewhere to buy whatever it is you need.

It is a new year and with it comes the need to make some financial resolutions. Most importantly you need to stick to the resolutions that you make once you make them. This may be the year that you have finally decided to start saving money or you want to eliminate debt or start investing. Whether you want to curb spending or learn how to budget properly, you need to set financial resolutions for the year that you will not abandon by the time Valentine’s Day rolls around.

Even if you have faltered in your past attempts to improve your finances at the start of the year that does not mean that you will not be successful at doing it this year. Many people fail at their attempts to keep their New Year’s resolutions but then keep setting them anyway until finally they are victorious in their efforts. This could be you this year!

If you were not pleased with the efforts you made in 2011 to get your financial house in order then resolve to make healthy changes this year that you will follow through on. You can do it and you will.

Here are some tips to help you be smarter with your money in 2012:

1. Setting goals and achieving them is not something that only a select few in this world can do. We are all capable of altering our actions and our behavior and changing it from negative to positive. No matter how ingrained your financial habits are they can be changed. You are not predisposed to either failure or success. For instance, just because your parents never emphasized the importance of saving money when you were growing up does not mean that you cannot change that once you are older. You can modify your thinking about savings and can start to save at any time.

2. Luck has nothing to do with your ability or inability to set financial resolutions and to improve your financial picture. You have to want to make changes and then commit yourself to doing the work. It would be nice if luck played a role in financial success or if you could just wave a magic wand but no, you must do the work necessary to fix your finances all on your own.

3. To make changes that will be permanent and will stick you must look for inspiration from within. If you are like most people it does not matter how many times others offer tips or advice about money, or share their harrowing tales or try to warn you about money mistakes, the motivation to bring about uplifting changes to your financial future must come from the desire that lives inside you. You will do it when you are ready and in your own way. This is often how most permanent changes in all areas of life take place. Hopefully this is the year that you say, “I do” to making the right financial moves!

4. Take an honest and realistic snapshot of your finances as they stand at the moment. To get where you want to go you first must know where you are starting from. Be honest and realistic about your starting point and then map out your course. What are your most important goals for your money? How can you realistically attain those goals? Where do you want to be in a monetary sense in six months, a year, two years? If you can decide these things then you will be one step closer to realizing your financial hopes and dreams. As well, if you can continue on despite the obstacles that appear in your path then this will lead to a greater sense of well-being and empowerment for yourself. You will not believe how sticking to guns when it comes to your money can give you greater control of your life and make you feel positively wonderful!

Happy Financial New Year!

This article was written by Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of Card Hub, a leading online marketplace for credit cards, prepaid cards, discounted gift cards, and the best credit card deals.

“Interchange fee” is a term that became a greater part of the mainstream American lexicon during 2011. “Prepaid card” is one that will certainly become more commonplace in 2012. Why? Because of the Durbin Amendment, of course.
That’s the law that led the Federal Reserve to cap the interchange fees (also known as swipe fees) that banks charge merchants every time a debit card is used at their establishments – a move that cost major banks $9.4 billion in annual revenue and set the table for a restructuring of the payments market.

You see, the law was intended to create savings for businesses, which would then trickle down to consumers in the form of lower prices. However, the fact that debit cards from banks with at least $10 billion in assets were the only payment method regulated meant that banks could easily compensate for losses and consumers would inevitably gravitate toward more attractive options.
Big banks have indeed cut debit card rewards programs and increased checking account/debit card fees. Rewards credit cards, already more lucrative than rewards debit cards prior to the passage of the Durbin Amendment, have become relatively even better and more popular since the law took effect as well. Next, we can expect banks to both revamp existing prepaid card offers and roll-out new ones.

Why prepaid cards?

It’s simple; prepaid cards are perfectly suited to be checking account replacements. They offer direct deposit and online bill pay, allow you to make purchases at the point of sale, give you the ability to withdraw money from ATMs – pretty much all the utility one gets from a traditional checking account, minus the physical checks.

Interestingly, while free checking accounts are gradually vanishing, a Card Hub study revealed that at least one prepaid card can fill the void. More specifically, the Green Dot® Prepaid MasterCard® serves as a free checking account of sorts as long as you load at least $1,000 each month and use in-network ATMs. Those requirements shouldn’t be too hard to meet either, since you can directly deposit your paycheck and Green Dot has over 18,000 in-network ATMS.
Ok, that’s all well and good, but what does this all mean for consumers?

First of all, it means that you should check the terms and conditions of your checking account to determine whether any new fees have been introduced. In the event that you are faced with additional monthly costs, shop around for a checking account from a small bank or even consider the use of a prepaid card if you can stomach banking without paper checks.

Regardless of how you decide to handle your everyday banking needs, everyday purchases should be made with a credit card instead of a debit card given that the superior rewards can literally save you hundreds of dollars each year. Some of the best credit cards currently on the market are the Blue Cash Everyday(SM) Card from American Express – which offers 3% cash back at supermarkets, 2% at gas stations and department stores, and 1% everywhere else – and the Capital One Venture Card – which basically gives you 2% cash back across all purchases as long as you redeem miles for travel-related charges.

While the hassle of monthly bills is a common concern for consumers considering a move from debit cards to credit cards, this can easily be alleviated by linking your credit card account to your bank account so that payments will automatically be made at the end of each billing period.

Ultimately, it’s clear that the payments landscape has changed, but whether these changes affect you directly is a whole other story. The most important thing is to be both aware of what’s going on and prepared to adjust if need be. Just think of yourself as a banking Boy Scout and there will be nothing to worry about!

There are so many ETFs on the market that the landscape looks like the mutual fund world. In order to find the quality funds you have to sift through the hundreds of others that probably aren’t a good fit for you. I, like most investors, have a short list of funds that I use to meet the needs of clients. I’m always on the lookout for better products but a strong history of performance speaks volumes to me.

Of course, I don’t know anything about you or your portfolio so use these names as new tools in your investing toolbox. Some tools don’t get used all that much but that’s ok. Do some research and see if they have a place in your portfolio.

Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI)- I’m not a lover of mutual funds but in the rare occasions that I use them, it’s always Vanguard. Good performance along with low fees make them a responsible choice and their ETFs aren’t any different. The VTI is about as broad based as it gets if you’re looking to capture the performance of the total market.

PowerShares Financial Preferred (PGF)- Investors like preferred stock because of the high dividends but playing preferred stock through an ETF gives you the dividend without the risk that comes with owning a single company’s stock.

iShares MSCI BRIC Index (BKF)- BRIC is an investor acronym that refers to Brazil, Russia, India, and China. These four countries are considered the emerging markets although some investors would have different lists. Regardless, this is a great ETF to capture performance in the emerging markets.

iShares PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector (SOXX)- The technology sector is huge and simply investing in technology stocks feels a lot like investing in the total stock market. This ETF captures the performance of the semiconductor sector giving you more of a targeted exposure to technology.

Market Vectors High-Yield Muni Income (HYD)- Remember that owning municipal bonds has tax advantages that corporate bonds don’t so the dividend yield you receive from munis is actually higher than the listed yield. This is a bond ETF that’s a little higher on the risk spectrum than investment grade bonds so understand the product fully before committing money.

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate (SOXX)- This ETF invests in real estate investment trusts or REITS which give a large portion of their profits back to investors in the form of dividends. A good choice if you’re looking for dividend but REITS aren’t well liked in Washington so keep a close eye on this fund.

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate (LQD)- The dividend yield isn’t great on this bond ETF but without going to government bonds, it’s hard to get a much safer ETF. This fund invests in large companies with investment grade ratings and the diversification of the ETF makes your money ultra-safe.

United States Commodity Index (USCI)- Commodities are the types of investments that will keep you up at night but if you put them together in an ETF, it takes a lot of violent moves out of the stock. Use an ETF like this if you want the exposure of commodities without the stomach ulcers that come with owning individuals like gold, oil, copper, or corn.

iShares Russell 2000 Index (IWM)- Feeling aggressive? This fund invests in smaller companies that are very sensitive to economic events. Don’t load your portfolio with this one name but it’s a great fund for small cap. stock exposure.

Finally

I purposely stayed away from some of the more widely known ETFs like GLD, SPY, and UNG but also take a look at these highly popular names. Now, start your research. You can’t buy any of these until you can tell somebody how they work. You should be an expert before you buy.

What is market volatility? Market volatility is when the market goes up 175 points one day, down 250 points the next day, then back up 300 the following day. Heck, the markets can do this all in one day. I’ve mentioned before that news is what moves the markets and that the markets hate uncertainty. So stay abreast of economic news around the world and when something unexpected happens you will know which direction you want to place your trades, long or short.

I like to day trade and I mostly short stocks, I love the thrill of the trade. I’m pretty good at discerning whether a stock has moved up too far, too fast, on news. The more volatile the market the better it is to trade. Keeping up on economic news you’ll have an idea what direction the markets are going to move and why.

Lets take a look at some of the news events that moved the markets in 2011. Back in February 2012 there was political unrest in Libya, oil prices were rising, there had been anti-government protests happening for days and February 22nd we got the Case-Shiller home price index report and it was dismal to say the least, the market fell 174 points.

Then the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan March 16th, overshadowing what was going on in Libya, with the extent of the damage unknown and fears of a nuclear meltdown and the massive loss of life, the market fell 242 points. We were hearing about the European debit crisis in June and July, confidence in an agreement to remedy the situation was waning. These are news events that leave the markets with fear of the unknown.

There is no fast remedy to what has happened so the markets trend down, any pop in the markets will usually be sold and individual stocks popping on news will usually end the day lower than they opened. News about our government’s ineptitude kept the markets in turmoil and reached a pinnacle in early August when they failed to reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling.

This happened a day before the monthly jobs report and the DOW fell 512 points. Then Standard and Poor’s, made the decision to downgrade the United States credit rating (which was no big surprise they had been talking about a downgrade for weeks) on August 8th, the DOW fell 635 points. If you had been keeping up on the news events happening you would have been on the right side of the trade for months.

We hit the market low in October and ended the year pretty much even. It was a bad year but a great last quarter. What happened to turn it around? The European debit issues faded somewhat into the background as U.S. economic news became the focus. U.S. housing starts increased, factories are producing more, unemployment claims fell and U.S. economic growth rose.This news brought the markets back to even after declining 19% to October 3rd. Sounds as if we’re on the rebound, right? I’m not so sure.

Here are some things that worry me.

• There has been no solution to the debit crisis in Europe, it’s just waiting to come back and bite us.
• The fact that our markets ended even (S&P) to up slightly (DOW) compared to other world markets is a worry.
• The end of 2011 saw the Bovespa index (Brazil) was down 18%, Hang Seng (Hong Kong) dropped 20%. In Europe the FTSE 100(Britain)  lost 5.6% and the DAX (Germany) ended down 14.7%.
• The world markets are highly correlated and usually trend in the same direction, especially emerging and developed markets. Emerging economies tend to grow at a faster rate than developed markets. China and India are the larger of the emerging markets, as such growth in these markets is often considered the engine driving global economic growth and uptrends in stocks and commodities.
• For the year, however, all of the top Asian stock indexes were well in negative territory. The Kospi (South Korean) was off 11%, with the S&P/ASX 200 (Australia) down 14.5%, the Nikkei Average (Japan) 17.3% lower and the Shanghai Composite 21.7% in the hole.
• I am not a believer in global decoupling, which means the U.S. markets are going to have a serious drop, or the other markets around the world are going to see a major run up. Personally, I believe we are headed for a fall.

So keep up on the news and economic events, then ask yourself this “Do you feel lucky” and place your trades.

As always, no matter how you trade long or short may all of your trades be profitable!

What will 2012 bring for the stock market? That is debatable, if we look back at what occurred over the past few years we might be able to identify some pros and cons. The European debt crisis that has become front and center in the news is very reminiscing, of our financial crisis in 2008.

Even though much of the bad debt that the banks carried then, has been passed on to governments and the taxpayers, the level of bad debt remaining is unquantifiable and potentially lethal. This is a worry for many investors. On the other hand the US has had some improving economic reports over the last couple of months, giving investors hope that the US economy might be turning around.

Here are some things that could happen to send the stock markets higher in 2012

Solid plan to contain the European Debit Crisis

Several European countries are on the verge of bankruptcy their debt levels are so high. One thing that could send the markets soaring is a solid plan from European leaders to reduce the debt and stabilize the Eurozone. If they succeed in implementing a plan, stocks should perform better in the second half of the year, once the fear of an economic contagion subsides.

Continued improvement in economic reports

If the US continues to have improving economic reports, investors could start to focus on that instead of the debt issues in Europe. The US is better equipped to ride out financial turbulence, the US fundamentals will provide an attractive alternative to more volatile assets around the world.

The historical trends

We have seen eight declines of 15% to 25% since 1945, the market was up an average of 31.7% the following year. Stocks tend to be much stronger after steep declines. We experienced nearly a 20% drop this year that ended early October, so the odds favor a rebound.

Things that could prove to be bad for the stock markets in 2012

Worse situation in Europe

European leaders moving too slowly to handle their debt crisis and Europe falls into a deep recession and takes the rest of the world with it. Remember we are a global economy, what affects one country affects other countries. Italy needs to sell $172 billion in national bonds the first three months of 2012, to raise money to pay holders of older bonds that are coming due. If investors demand high interest rates to buy the new bonds, that will spread fears of a possible default. This happened in early December and caused stocks to sell off hard around the world.

Washington Gridlock

The gridlock in Washington looks as if it is here to stay. The paralysis that has plagued Washington’s ability to balance the budget, fix the economy is spilling over to other areas such as consumer product safety and education. This does nothing to help and threatens to slow and possibly stall what little economic growth momentum the US has. Pushing off important decisions until the last minute, does not instill confidence in the American people. If the American people do not have confidence that their government is going to take appropriate action to fix what ales the country, why should anyone else believe positive results will occur.

Fiscal policy has dried up

The bulk of fiscal stimulus is done, monetary policy has interest rates near historical lows and so far it does not seem to have stimulated the economy. If the European crisis gets worse and threatens to pull the US back into recession there are no arrows left in Bernanke’s quiver to save us

The above are things I think could swing the markets one way or the other. I personally take the more negative view because of Europe.

Greece, to receive a $156.6 billion bailout from it’s European neighbors, since May of 2010 has implemented a series of austerity measures meant to cut it’s deficit and restore investor confidence. They continue to miss deficit targets. As they sink deeper into recession the harder it will be to make any meaningful cut in their deficit.  As financial gridlock sets in, other European countries will have to take aggressive measures to deal with the contagion. So far all that been done is to keep kicking the can down the road buying time.

So pick your positions carefully and as always no matter how you trade long or short may all of your trades be profitable!!

Not too long ago, I set up a new portfolio for a client. He is in his 40s and has a balance of what I would consider to be upper middle class. His risk tolerance is middle of the road where he doesn’t want a bunch of fixed income but he doesn’t want to take a lot of big risks either.

His balance isn’t important. If you have money to invest, you can allocate funds as you feel comfortable but I thought I would give you some insight in to some of the stocks I purchased for him. Because I set this up late in the year, it may be what I consider to be my hot stocks for 2012 list although I believe I’ll hold these names for him for quite some time.

Apple (AAPL)

OK, everybody talks about Apple and if you’re a football fan, telling you to buy Apple stock is like telling you to bet on the Packers as your Super Bowl pick but there’s a lesson to be learned here. If your goal is to make money, why wouldn’t you invest in a company with a long history of making people a lot of money? It doesn’t matter that Steve Jobs passed away—at least not any time soon. Always partner with a winner or winners as the backbone of your portfolio.

Nike (NKE)

2012 is a big year for sports with the Olympics and so many other events. On top of that Nike is the new apparel provider for the NFL. Once again, Nike is a best of breed stock with a chart that does what winning charts do: it starts at the lower left and ends at the upper right. It’s had a nice run to the upside so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some near term correction but expect Nike to be a winner in 2012.

Transocean (RIG)

This one takes a little explaining because the chart is exactly what you don’t want to see. First, if you want to get to the really deep offshore oil, there’s one company that can do it and that’s Transocean. They’re the biggest and best equipped and as the overhang of the lawsuits begin to subside, this stock will be seen for what it is. It also pays a huge 8% dividend right now although I expect it to be cut to 5% or a little less this year.

It’s still in a downward trajectory but I expect that to change. In the meantime, I’m selling a covered call and buying a $40 put option which caps my losses at $40 per share. It’s not a perfect strategy but it keeps this stock worth it to me to wait for it to recover. When Transocean catches a bid, it goes up fast so I’m not concerned

Digital Realty Trust (DLR)

Thanks to the internet, we now produce more data in two days than we did from the start of recorded history up until 2003. That’s a lot of data. If you’re Apple and have more cash than some countries are worth, you build your own data center to house all of this information. If you’re not, you subcontract with a company who owns and operates a data center.

Digital Realty Trust is a Real Estate Investment Trust or REIT that owns these data centers. They currently own 75 properties and as part of their requirements as a REIT, they give 90% of their profits back to shareholders in the form of a dividend.

If you believe as I do that cloud technology will continue to gain momentum as more people switch to tablet devices, people who operate data centers will continue to grow. Before investing in a REIT, you have to do some research in to these types of businesses. I keep a close eye on my REIT investments because Washington isn’t a big fan of these corporate structures. If they pass legislation that is REIT-unfriendly, these names will plunge in value.

Bottom Line

These are just a few of my favorites. I also like Domino’s Pizza, Eli Lilly, and Deere but I’ll let you do some research. Happy 2012! May it be a profitable year for you!

Tis the season. If you’re an investor, you’ve probably noticed the endless barrage of media coming to you that includes predictions for 2012. The hottest stocks for 2012, what will the market do, will Europe finally stabilize, will the housing market finally rebound, and will we enter the great age of prosperity that we once had?

The financial news media knows that you’ll read all of these prediction articles and your eyes will at least glance at the advertisements that are on their webpages. They know that this is the time of year when you’re making goals.
Before you read too many of these articles, I want you to think about a few key points for a moment. Vanguard, probably the investment group with the best long term performance of anybody out there, posted a warning to their customers about this very topic.

They cited a study that was done at the University of Pennsylvania to see if there was any real predictive value in these sooth saying articles. Hopefully it doesn’t surprise you to know that after analyzing 30,000 predictions from 300 experts over a 20 year period they found experts were only slightly more accurate than random predictions.

They also found that the more famous the person making the prediction, the less accurate they were in their predictions. If you were around during the last real bull market, you remember the famous call for the Dow to hit 36,000. If you were investing in the dot com age, you remember the experts who said that it wasn’t a bubble. In more recent years, how many times have we heard that financial stocks are going to lead the market in coming months?

If you know anything about efficient market hypothesis you know that there is no possible way to have an edge on the market. You, or any of the experts making the predictions, don’t have any secret information that gives you an edge over everybody else. If you did, you wouldn’t tell anybody because that could adversely affect your secret information. The fact that it’s a secret is what makes it valuable. If you tell everybody, it’s no longer a secret and it doesn’t hold value. Make sense?

Also consider this: the media has a way of rewarding people over and above the value of their contribution. One analyst who correctly called the 2008 and 2009 financial crisis is now regarded as one of the best in the business although many of her calls before 2008 and many of her recent calls have been wrong.

Get one call right, your paycheck goes up. Get it wrong and you’ve lost nothing. You simply say that you weren’t wrong, it just hasn’t happened yet and for some reason, in an investment community who puts a huge value on time, they forgive you.
If you’re considered an expert, you can make some pretty outlandish and media friendly calls without suffering consequences for being wrong. Not only that, the financial media has no use for you if you make a call that might actually happen.

What if you went on CNBC and said, “I’m predicting that the stock market will act the same way it did in 2011. I believe there will be a lot of ups and downs and in the end we probably won’t see any large gains. It will all be as it has always been. Status quo”

That would be the last time you got to talk to a CNBC anchor.

What’s the bottom line? Don’t listen to all of these predictions. They’re only being published because behavioral finance experts know that you and I have an unconscious need for order. We want to know that somebody knows what’s coming next even though they don’t.

Read a chart, read a prospectus, or listen to an earnings call but don’t read the predictions. Make that your new year’s resolution.

When you exercise on a regular basis you improve your quality of your life because it keeps you stronger and healthier. Exercising regularly also helps to keep infections and health problems at bay. But even though we know these things deep down we still find excuses not to lace up our sneakers and move our bodies!

A common reason that many people give for not exercising is lack of funds to do so. Do you really believe that keeping in shape and staying in shape is only for those with lots of money at their disposal? Really, do you honestly believe that?

That is rubbish!

Even if you are on a strict budget and there is not a lot of wiggle room you can still get the exercise you need to get in shape, lose weight and tone up. Exercise is for everyone and has no connection to your socio-economic status.

Here are some tips to help you to get more physical activity even if money is your sore spot:

Toss the Gym Membership

Why is it when you talk about exercise some people automatically think of a gym? Worse yet, some individuals think that the only way to get fit is to work out at a gym? For other people as soon as they purchase a gym membership this ensures that they will get less exercise. Gyms make thousands of dollars every year on unused memberships. Forget the gym membership. They are often overpriced and fitting the gym hours into your own schedule can cause more stress in your life. As well the pressure to exercise will make you want to run in the other direction! It is also sometimes a challenge just to use the equipment you want because they are always being used by other members.

If you want to run on a treadmill then make your own investment in one for your home. Or save your money and walk or jog in your own neighborhood. Check out parks, hiking trails and stroll down the sidewalks of streets that are familiar and new to you. Buy a pedometer and attach it to your belt so you can keep count of how many steps you have taken on each outing.

Make Small Changes

Forget the elevator at work as well as when you go to appointments and the mall and take the stairs instead. On your lunch hour at work take a stroll. If there is nowhere to go then walk around the building a couple of times. This gets your blood moving and it can be energizing.

Walk instead of driving whenever you can. There are lots of ways to add more exercise into your everyday life. Bending more and stretching more does not cost a dime. Take breaks away from your computer and jog on the spot or make circles with your arms. The more you look for way to incorporate physical activity into your life the more ways you will find.

Take Advantage of Commercial Breaks

So you like to watch television? Well that is no crime but it is no excuse to be a couch potato! Buy an inexpensive exercise mat (even the dollar stores sell them now), lie it down on the floor and do some exercises during the commercials. This is a great way to enjoy your favorite programs and get some exercise at the same time. Do sit ups, push ups, squats, crunches and jumping jacks. “The Mentalist” will never be the same again once you start exercising while watching the tube!

Buy Light Weights

Strength training by way of lifting weights can help you tone your body and it is very good for your bones. Purchase some light weights (5 to 10 pounds weights can do the trick) and then use them two to three times a week. In fact you can include them with your workouts that you are doing during the commercial breaks as described above. These weights are not expensive but will help you reap many health benefits.

You do not need money to stay healthy, lose weight or get in shape. Stop with the excuses and start changing your health situation and your financial situation right now.

When you do your shopping do you tend to always buy name brand products or are you more inclined to choose generic and store brand items? Some shoppers are faithful to certain brand names while others are open to trying the generic (and generally cheaper) store brands.

Often times we find a name brand product we like and we come to trust it which is why it ends up in our shopping cart as opposed to a store brand product. It may cost us a little more but we know it will do what it is meant to do. Is it worth it though when the store brand version is sitting right next to it on the shelf and is $2.00 cheaper?

According to lifestyle expert Robyn Moreno, the author of “Practically Posh”, this all depends upon the product. Name brands may be better choices when it comes to some things while for others store brands may suffice.

To illustrate this point let us look at some products commonly purchased in grocery stores and drug stores on a regular basis:

Pain Relievers

You have a headache and you are all out of pain relieving medication at home so off you go to the drug store or grocery store to purchase some. But which should you buy- name brand or store brand?

If there is a generic version of a pain reliever then choose that one. In order for the FDA to certify a pain reliever as a store brand or generic brand it must contain close to the equivalent of the same active ingredient as the brand name product has. The generic has to be within a 20 percent range of the brand name.

The reason that name brand aspirin costs more is because the companies that make them spend more money when it comes to research, development and advertising campaigns.  Store brands on the other hand are not as widely marketed or promoted.

The only thing you need to be aware of is that store brand pain relievers contain additives (such as caffeine for example) that may cause side effects. As well, store brand versions may absorb differently in the system than name brand products do. This may be something you wish to discuss with your doctor first. In most instances however generic brands are as safe and as useful as name brands.

Groceries

When it comes to groceries, such as canned and boxed food, be it soup, crackers or cereal the choice of whether you should choose a name brand or a store brand comes down to cost and taste. Just as is the case with pain relievers, generic brand grocery items are less expensive because companies often do not advertise them much and instead just put them on store shelves next to the name brand products. When you are standing in an aisle in the supermarket you may wish to compare the labels of a name brand food item versus a store brand item to see if the ingredients are basically the same. It is always best to buy the product that contains the least sodium, sugar and/or additives. Experiment with both versions of products to decide which one is most pleasing to your wallet, your tastebuds and your tummy!

Toiletries

Name brand products are generally packaged in a more attractive manner but also cost more. This is very much the case when you compare the selection of hand soaps featured on store shelves.

When it comes to toilet paper and tissue store brands are sometimes not that much cheaper than the name brands (except in the case of sales) so you may wish to buy a brand name paper product in this case. Brand name versions of toilet paper offer better quality and tend to be more absorbent. Check how much you are getting though before you pass over the generic brand. It may actually be the better deal of the two when you really take the time to compare them.