Good Deals on Home Internet, Phone and TV Service? I’m Desperate!

Hi guys. As a mom who works from home, I more than anyone know how tough it can sometimes be at the end of the month when your bills are due. That was my experience this month, actually, and it got me to thinking seriously about my home finances.

Tough Month for a Work at Home Mom

The last couple weeks have been really difficult for our family budget wise. We had unexpected car trouble AND our heater just decided to up and die on us last Friday. Since we can’t exactly just go without a car or forgo heating when the weather is this cold, we had to obviously get these things fixed ASAP, which didn’t leave much money left in the bank account to pay our bills. SIGH.

When I started looking at what we pay each month for home internet, phone service, and TV, I started seriously considering cutting the cord and just going without some of these things. Obviously, if it’s February and it’s going to come down between TV service and having a working heater, I’m going to go with the heater for the sake of my family, you know what I’m saying? Here’s a breakdown of our budget:

As you can see, we are spending nearly $200 a month on TV, internet and phone alone! That’s a lot of money to be spending on services that aren’t essential to your survival. When I look at it like that, I don’t feel as bad that we might have to eat into our savings a little bit this month.

Anyway, I’ve been looking around online and trying to come up with ideas of how to save money on these things. I came across this website TopSearchNet that offers deals on TV, internet, and phone service. According to them, I can get a high speed DSL internet, Direct TV, and phone for only $89.99, which is less than half what I am paying now. I have never gotten CenturyLink internet before, but for this price I am tempted to at least try it because they have a 30 day trial period. Please let me know if you have ever gotten service from TopSearchnet or Century Link before! I am probably going to sign up soon, so let me know ASAP if I should!

In order for every business to succeed in this digital era, an online presence is almost essential. You can reach an audience of millions with a website and social media presence, even if your business is located in a small town. Whether your business offers tangible goods or a variety of services, maintaining a professional website and reaching out to existing clients and customers via email marketing campaigns is essential. Unfortunately, many small business owners tend to focus more on the core model of the business and often let the marketing aspects fall by the wayside. Marketing your business is essential to its growth, but it can be time consuming and confusing with all of the changes and rules that the search engines have instated in recent years. For this reason, outsourcing your marketing and email campaigns to a trusted company is a smart business decision.

Nominal Investment of Time and Money

Many small business owners elect to take on the roll of marketing specialist in addition to CEO because they fear that hiring an independent marketing company will be too expensive. This is a common misconception. Most professional digital marketing firms offer a variety of packages that let you customize and tailor your website and campaigns to suit your individual needs and the needs of your clients. This not only makes it affordable, but with less time and aggravation spent on managing campaigns, typing mass emails and monitoring results, you can focus this free time on your core business model and bring in even more money to your company.

Hiring a Full-Service Email Marketing Company

Hiring the right email marketing company can be the most challenging part of the process. Once you have selected the right professional company, they can work with you to automate the digital aspect of your business. When looking for a professional full-service marketing company, it is important to consider what types of services are important aspects of your virtual marketing campaigns. Do you need personalized banners and email templates? Would you prefer a service that automatically launches your email campaigns? Outsourcing email marketing to a professional company like Solid Cactus is a wise investment. They offer a free consultation and will work with your existing clients and email lists to create customized templates and monitoring preferences that suit the needs of your business. They also offer professional graphic design and copywriting for added convenience.

It’s a commonly held belief that the garage is the “man’s territory”, but what if you’re a single mom or just like to fix things and get your hands dirty? Women have just as much interest in using the garage as men do. Many women are handy with tools or have a knack for auto repair and feel quite comfortable in the fix-it arena. Other women may find themselves learning to do some of the traditional “manly work” out of necessity. No matter why they’re out there, women will love all the new accessories and fixtures available for organizing a garage space. They can customize their environment to meet their hobby or do-it-yourself repair needs. No matter what women are using the garage space for, there are tons of options for organizing the area and sprucing it up.

Cabinets and Organizing Systems

Products like Ulti-MATE garage systems are great for providing custom-like cabinet storage space without the custom price. They’re sturdy and tough, and the systems can be purchased as sets or individually to mix and match in a way that meets your unique needs. There are various choices from the basic version to more high-end options, so you can even choose the look and type of system, based on your preferences and your use of the space. These organizational tools are perfect for storing repair tools, woodworking items or even gardening supplies. The choices are practically limitless.

Garage Flooring

Plain old cement flooring is cold, unappealing and can even be a safety hazard. That’s why it’s nice to have the option of customizing your garage flooring in a way that makes sense for you. RaceDeck floor tiles allow you to get creative with color and pattern in your space and can be lots of fun for women who want a personalized look. A more durable floor choice would be Gladiator Floor Tile for those who are a bit tougher on their garages.

Wall Accessories

A good choice for finishing off the small details of a garage are wall accessories. These are fixtures for holding the smaller items found in most work areas such as cleaning supplies, potting soil, nuts, bolts, nails, hoses, etc. Choose from hooks, baskets and shelves to complete your custom garage area.

So, ladies, don’t let anyone tell you the garage is a man’s world. Check out all the options at Garage Appeal for creating your perfect space.

Many businesses, both large and small have turned to printing their own checks. It is a convenience that can save both time and money, but some careful consideration of the options should take place before you purchase the blank check stock. After all, it is possible that having blank check stock on hand could result in security issues, depending on the circumstances at your company.

As a result of those possible security problems, there are a variety of options available. In fact, Troy Group, who supplies check paper for many businesses offers several options with high security to meet the needs of today’s business environment (Source: http://www.troygroup.com/products/paper_supplies/index.aspx)

One of the most important considerations for purchasing check stock is if it is going to be pre-printed or if it will be blank. Anytime you have your checking account information printed on the stock in advance, there is a risk for fraud. If you are a small business and do not have multiple employees that will have access to the paper, you may feel that the risks are minimal.

Additional security features are also available, depending on your needs. Watermarking is a common choice for security on checks and a variety of other official documents. It provides a visible feature that is lightly printed to the background of the document. When the check is presented, the watermark can be verified to ensure it is an official document.

Micro-printing is another option that can help to secure the blank stock. It appears as a small line of text to the naked eye, which is difficult to read but under low-power magnification, it is easy to discern. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microprinting).

Additional security features are also available to help keep the blank checks safe. It is important to research these features and to choose them, according to your needs. Some of the additional features can include Thermochromatic ink, non-negotiable stub backer and invisible florescent fibers.

As we continue to deal with security issues, both inside and outside of our companies, the need for more secure features becomes evident. When you make the right choice for secure check stock, it can help to reduce the possibility of fraud considerably.

Freelancers of all types know that the only way to keep afloat is to work with clients and customers who pay on time, without hassle. Most potential contacts will seem very trustworthy, and unfortunately it’s not until after you have submitted your work or performed your service that the waiting game begins. So what is a savvy business person to do, especially when you don’t want to lose future sales from them or get a bad reputation? Here are some solutions that everyone working for themselves should take to heart before they begin collaborating with a new client.

Create a Contract

Many clients will come to you with contracts, but you – the one providing the service – should have a contract for them as well. Your price quote, project due date and invoice due date should all be clearly stipulated, but some of the savviest business people out there will include late fees for each week that payment is not issued. In a lot of instances, the knowledge that they will have to pay even more is enough to motivate them to release funds on time.

Ask for a Down Payment

Particularly when you are working on large projects, asking for a down payment is a very wise move. Not only does it show the client that you value your work (and they should, too), it ensures that you don’t get stiffed by someone untrustworthy. A 50 percent down payment or the 30/30/40 method (30 percent upfront, 30 percent in the middle and the last 40 percent upon completion) are both acceptable.

Have an Invoice Ready

You might try a free printable invoice template to create a professional invoice that you use for all your clients, which includes your late payment policy at the end. Before you turn in your final draft, shoot them a friendly email telling them their work is completed and asking them to look over the invoice to make sure everything is correct.

What freelancers might enjoy in terms of freedom they more than make up for in sudden worrying about dishonest clients, so a preventative plan is absolutely imperative.

I’ve learned already some time ago that it is never too late to start a brand new career in something. Even if you have been working as a teacher or banker for some time, or if you have had any other profession under the sun for some time now, this doesn’t mean that you cannot start participating in resnet certification training and start your life from scratch right now or in the nearest future.

There are many good things about changing your career from time to time. Even you have been doing something for many years, you might have gotten bored with it by now. After all, if you do something for many years, things can get less exciting and more tedious. When you want to have something exciting to wake up to every morning, you might need a change of pace from time to time to invite a little bit of excitement in your life to add to the things that you do.

When it comes to energy auditor training, anybody can participate in such training sessions regardless of his or her prior experience, age, or gender. The things you are going to learn there can help you get a job of your dreams, something that is easy to do, yet something that is exciting at the same time.

A company needs to advertise in order to grow. It is not a secret that a company will not have a chance to grow sufficiently if its owner doesn’t dedicate enough time and effort to advertising.

While flyers, TV advertising, or newspaper advertising or even internet advertising might be OK in certain situations, it is a brilliant idea to increase the exposure by participating in a trade show. Trade shows are a great opportunity to show off what you are capable of and to showcase what you have to offer.

To make the most impact during a trade show, it is a good idea to have some trade show
displays available. It seems that there are some trade show display options available online. Additionally, there are many things you can do in order to increase the attractiveness of his trade show presence.

1. Get suitable table covers. You don’t want to end up having tables that don’t stand out.
2. Get some nice-looking floor displays. A picture is worth a thousand words. Remember about this simple truth and make sure that your floor displays are filled with images and pictures to give your potential customers something to look at.
3. Get table top displays. While they are smaller, they are definitely not less significant. Make sure that you bring enough of them with you.
4. Banners and flags. Banners and flags are usually colorful and they can brighten up your display. People like colors and they are usually attracted to them.
5. Get some bags and lanyards for your customers. People love to get things for free. Encourage them to take some simple things such as bags and lanyards they will be able to use when they leave the trade show.