Epsom Salt: For Moms who deserve to be pampered

One of the first budget cuts for many families is spa trips and expensive bath beads, but Epsom Salt can be used to create the ultimate at-home spa. A relaxing bath or exfoliating treatment will leave Mom’s skin radiant and glowing.

Tips include:
• To exfoliate: Mix 2 cups of Epsom Salt with 1/4 cup of petroleum jelly and a few drops of lavender essential oil. Use the mixture to gently scrub away dry skin patches.
• Facial: Mix 1/2 TSP of Epsom Salt into cleansing cream for a deep-pore cleansing. Massage on skin. Rinse with cool water. Pat dry.
• For a relaxing soak: Add two cups of Epsom Salt to the water in a standard-sized bathtub; soak for at least 12 minutes, three times weekly. For an extra treat, add a few drops of eucalyptus oil for a refreshing scent.
• For a simple hair volumizer: Combine equal parts of warm, deep conditioner and Epsom Salt. Work the warm mixture through your hair and leave on for 20 minutes. Rinse.
• For a foot scrub: Mix 2 cups of Epsom Salt with 1/4 cup of petroleum jelly and a few drops of your favorite essential oil. Use the mixture to gently scrub the heels and dry, rough patches on the feet. Repeat every few days.

For gardeners

Epsom Salt helps seeds germinate, makes plants grow bushier, produces more flowers, increases chlorophyll production and deters pests, such as slugs and voles. It provides vital micronutrients to supplement your regular fertilizer. Epsom Salt is recommended by Master Gardeners and used regularly by commercial growers around the world. Tests by the National Gardening Association confirm that roses fertilized with Epsom Salt grow bushier and produce more flowers, and it also makes pepper plants grow larger than those treated only with commercial fertilizer.

Tips include:
• Houseplants: 2 tablespoons per gallon of water; feed plants monthly.
• Tomatoes: 1 tablespoon per foot of plant height per plant; apply every two weeks.
• Roses: 1 tablespoon per foot of plant height per plant; apply every two weeks. Also scratch 1/2 cup into soil at base to encourage flowering canes and healthy new basal cane growth. Soak unplanted bushes in 1 cup of Epsom Salt per gallon of water to help roots recover. Add a tablespoon of Epsom Salt to each hole at planting time. Spray with Epsom Salt solution weekly to discourage pests.
• Shrubs (evergreens, azaleas, rhododendron): 1 tablespoon per 9 square feet. Apply over root zone every 2-4 weeks.
• Lawns: Apply 3 pounds for every 1,250 square feet with a spreader, or dilute in water and apply with a sprayer.
• Trees: Apply 2 tablespoons per 9 square feet. Apply over the root zone 3 times annually.
• Garden Startup: Sprinkle 1 cup per 100 square feet. Mix into soil before planting.

After exercising

Epsom Salt– actually magnesium sulfate – can help people maintain optimum levels of both magnesium and sulfate. Sulfate helps form joint proteins and helps keep joints healthy, flushes toxins and improves absorption of nutrients. Magnesium regulates more than 325 enzymes in the body, performing more functions than almost any other mineral. Among the benefits: magnesium helps reduce inflammation to relieve pain and muscle cramps, helps muscles and nerves function properly and helps prevents artery hardening and blood clots.

Tips include:
• To ease muscle pain and fading bruises. Add two cups of Epsom Salt to warm water in a standard-sized bathtub (double the Epsom Salt for an oversized garden tub) and bathe three times weekly, soaking for at least 12 minutes. Also can be used to make compresses.
• To soothe feet aching from a tough workout or a long day, create a balm by adding a cup of Epsom Salt to a tub of warm water.

Fire-wise tips for SC homeowners

Why do some homes burn in wildfires and others not? Firebrands and surface fires are responsible for the majority of homes lost to wildfire. Firebrands, also called embers, falling onto things like flammable plants and mulch will ignite. When exposed to heat, some types of siding will melt, exposing the interior to fire. Embers can also enter through eaves, soffits and vents or be blown onto outdoor furniture cushions, leaves under decks or other flammable materials, starting fires.

Homeowners who want to protect their homes can take proactive steps to increase the survivability of their homes by creating an area of defensible space within 30 feet of the home. Undisturbed forestland and natural areas should be separated from the home by patios, driveways, or grassy spaces and dense understory plants should be removed from these natural areas.

In landscaped areas adjacent to the home, nonflammable mulches of stone, volcanic rock and brick should be used. Heavier mulches such as pine and hardwood bark or cypress are somewhat resistant to ignition, but will burn.

In the area immediately surrounding the home, residents should use plants that are less flammable. Wax myrtle, juniper, saw palmetto, yaupon holly and pampas grass are some landscape plants that ignite faster and burn more readily. These highly flammable plants are not recommended for planting adjacent to homes with wood or vinyl siding.

In landscaped beds near and immediately adjoining the home, individuals should use plants with some fire resistance which are less likely to ignite from a wildfire. These include deciduous plants and those that do not have resinous, oily or waxy leaves. Shrubs that exhibit some fire resistance include azalea, barberry, boxwood, gardenia, loropetalum, pittosporum and spiraea. Other fire resistant plants include crape myrtle, dogwood, monkey grass and periwinkle.

More information is available at www.trees.sc.gov and www.firewise.org.

Twitter Scams

The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs warns consumers to be vigilant of scams circulating on Twitter.

Historically, from the telegraph to e-mail, con artists have quickly adapted to advancements in communication technology. Thus, it comes as no surprise that they are now targeting social networking sites such as Twitter.

Twitter is a micro blogging tool that allows users to post, in 140 characters or less, what they are doing. Scammers are utilizing the site in the same way they use spam e-mail to try to entice users.

Easy Money
These scams have been around for years in various incarnations, such as work-at-home scams, pyramid schemes, and timeshare fraud. The bottom line is the same – you lose money. Scammers post promises that you can make thousands of dollars doing little or no work. A link is included in the post, directing you to a website that has more information on this “great opportunity.” This is never legitimate. No one is ever going to post on Twitter a legal way for you to make thousands of dollars.

Phishing
In most of these schemes a user posts a link to a website masquerading as a legitimate website. The spoofed site uses any information you enter to steal your identity, hack into financial accounts, and generally wreak havoc.

One scam, specific to Twitter, involves receiving a spoofed e-mail made to appear it is from Twitter. The e-mail usually claims you need to click on an accompanying link to see a “funny” post or “great site.” The link takes you to a site spoofing Twitter’s homepage. Once you login, the scammer has your user name and password, giving them access to your account and the ability to pose as you.

How to Protect Yourself
If you are uncomfortable with a follower, block them. To do so, simply click on their user name and then click the block user box under their picture. You can also protect against unwanted followers by making your posts private.

Be very wary of users who are following a large number of people, but are not being followed back by very many people. This is an indication the user is just looking for people to spam.

Never enter personal information into a website you reached by clicking on a link in a Twitter post. Instead, if you are going to enter personal information, open a new web browser and type in what you know to be the organization’s website address.

Someone you haven’t met is never going to post about a legal, legitimate “opportunity” to make thousands of dollars with little or no work involved.

This is not meant to discourage consumers from using Twitter. It’s one of the safe sites on the Internet, and the organization has taken a very proactive approach to stamping out scams and spam.
The Department has a presence on the site and can be reached by tweeting@scdca.

For more information, contact the Public Information Division at 803.734.4203, toll free in SC at 1.800.922.1594.

Networking for the Newly Unemployed

by Gini Graham Scott (www.workwithgini.com)

Now that layoffs are increasing, a new type of networking is emerging that echoes the pink slip parties held during the dot.com bust -- though now unemployment has been hitting just about every type of industry. Besides pink slip parties, there are unemployed groups forming all over, where people can provide each other with support, job tips, help with resume writing, and more.

One such group is the Unemployed Social Network, which, with some irony I think, was started by the founder of the Future Millionaires of Santa Monica. However, after getting little response to the Future Millionaires and a growing response to the Unemployed group, including a feature on a local news show, the founder, Jeremy Erickson, has decided to focus on building the unemployed group. And he has found his own niche in serving the unemployed market -- by writing resumes. He has invited meeting participants to bring their resumes, cover letters, and portfolios to work on them to make them better, and has announced his availability as a coach and mentor to help them.

Plus he has suggested a series of rules for getting employed. Among them: "Get off your butts...talk to people...build a great looking resume...network, network, network...and send out as many resumes as you can per day." He also advises playing the numbers game, doing what you can to stand out to get the attention of the employer, and don't lose hope.

Besides these unemployed groups, I've discovered a growing number of business networking and entrepreneur groups which include many of the unemployed -- and often these small businesses and start-ups are a good source of jobs and opportunities, as well as being founded by the formerly employed. And all types of groups -- from social to business groups -- are sponsoring pink slip and unemployment parties -- a sign of the times.

So how do you find such groups? Check if you have a local networking group such as MeetUp in your area. If you do, put in some relevant search terms, such as "unemployed," "networking," "entrepreneur", and "jobs" to see what groups in that category exist in your area. Another source of such groups is Craigs List. Look for your area, and then check for community and other types of group in that location.

Then, start going to these events. Bring business cards, and if you don't have them yet, you can get them made up for about $45 dollars from various online business card printers like Vista Print. Work on a resume highlighting the skills you feel are most salable, along with the jobs that are most relevant. And be ready to adapt your resume to the job you are interviewing for, which is easy to do now on a computer. Just rearrange and change your copy as appropriate, and keep copies of these different resumes, so you can easily print them up or e-mail them to prospective employers. Also, be willing to lower the salary range you are looking for, so you can jump aboard some of these new start-ups that are just leaving the station. They commonly can't afford very much to start, but many of them will grow into a powerful engine of the new economy, opening up even more opportunities in the future.

And if you’re an employer, such events are a good way for start-up businesses to find well-qualified employees who are willing to start at a lower than usual salary just to be working. I know first hand, because I've started to go to such groups myself to hire a few administrative assistants, and I've quickly gotten dozens of resumes from people eager to work again.

For more ideas on how to achieve what you want, you can see some chapters from my books Want It, See It, Get It (www.wantitseeitgetit.com).

Five Reasons to Think Ahead

By Mark Fritz

The usual advice is to live in the present. The past is behind you, and the future seems too far away to think about. Our current moments, as they say, are all we have. Generally, that’s good advice...but there are times when thinking ahead can be valuable. In fact, looking into the future and planning ahead can lead to opportunities to do what you love and in the way you want to do it. Here are five reasons to step outside of the moment and think ahead:

1. Create Goals. You can only get what you really want if you have your goals clearly set ahead of time. There is so much that competes for your attention on a day-to-day basis and so many paths you can take. If your goals are vague, and you don’t put enough energy into establishing what they are, then you’ll find yourself losing focus before you even have a chance to succeed. Setting goals helps to keep you focused on the direction your life should be taking and helps maintain your sense of urgency. When you think ahead and determine the goals in your life, you create the path and the inspiration to make it happen. Invest the time to create your life’s path and think ahead toward your goals today.

2. Pursue Opportunities. If you’re always looking at the ground, you may never see the world in front of you. Similarly, if you are always focused on today and what is keeping you busy, then you may be too focused on the present to see the opportunities lying before you. When you think ahead, you see those opportunities. You also have a chance to pursue them. As they say, success comes when opportunity meets preparation. Think ahead and see those opportunities now.

3. Stay Focused. Every day, you experience something new, and often that distracts you from your priorities rather than suggests new approaches to achieving your aims. When you invest time to review your goals and think ahead, you get the opportunity to evaluate those new ideas and see if they will help you achieve your goals faster. This thinking ahead time will help you confirm what’s important and to stay focused. When your focus is on the future and what you hope to achieve, you’re more likely to meet your goals. Remember, achieving your priorities drives your life and your future.

4. Achieve More. There’s an old saying: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. You know that you always achieve more when you plan effective ways to use your time instead of behaving spontaneously all of the time. When you think ahead, you use your creativity to fit into your schedule all the important tasks that need to be done today, and throughout your week. Fitting more into your life helps you get more out of life By thinking ahead, and by fitting more of your priorities into your life, your life becomes more fulfilling and rewarding.

5. Respond More Quickly. Take notice of people who think quickly on their feet in meetings. You may be impressed and think to yourself: these people are really clever. However, the majority of time, they are not any smarter than you. It is just that they always think ahead and prepare for the possible subjects that will arise in the meeting. Because they have already thought through the possibilities, they can respond faster than those who don’t. You can join them by thinking ahead, and as a result, you can respond more quickly and appear smarter and better-prepared as well.

So live in the present, and make the most of every moment in the here and now. But, when it’s time to think ahead, don’t be afraid to look into the future. What you see in the crystal ball today just might lead to happiness in all of your tomorrows.

Mark Fritz is the author of “The Truth About Getting More Done” (FT Press). Visit him at www.markfritzonline.com.

How To Weather A Stormy Recession

Author Suzanne Caplan, chief blogger and founder of www.womenetcetera.com, an Internet business portal and social networking site for women over 50. Caplan believes that there are ways people can limit the damage of the recession and come out on top.

In the storm of a recession, Caplan believes higher ground does exist. You just need to know where to look for it. She offers the following tips:

• If you are doing nothing because you think it can’t get any worse; be assured that it will. Now is the time for action. Action is always preferable to inaction, because inaction spawns a pattern of victimization, and pins us down into a habit of only reacting to the bad, instead of planning for the better.

• The unknown is likely to be less threatening than you expect. This is particularly true about creditors; they have far less power than you may think. Tune out the noise until you are ready to work on a plan. Decisions made out of fear and anxiety are almost always the wrong ones, so take a breath and a blank piece of paper and write down a list of your liabilities and your assets and take stock of everything you can do to get the two lists to cancel each other out.

• Being Proactive is far better than being reactive. Once you know what you need to do with regard to any of your challenges, you should be the one to take the first action. Make it bold and with confidence. The more you play on your side of the field, the better off you are. Offense is easier to play than defense in this situation; you get to set the pace.

• If you are working in an industry at risk or for a company that seems vulnerable, now may be the time to move out on you own. Great fortunes are started in down times. Remember that most everyone shares one common trait with every successful entrepreneur – at one point or another; they’ve all worked for someone else, too.

• Think about taking over an existing business; there are owners who will finance the cost, particularly if they are close to retirement. Assets are very cheap at this point. Many business owners own more than one, and sometimes they are willing to sell off a profit-generating business in order to cover the losses of another. Take advantage of that condition to find an opportunity that matches your education, background and talents.

• The more diverse your clientele, the less likely you will be without sufficient income. Remember to market for growth. Don’t simply cater to your existing customer base, but rather, open your business aperture to include non-traditional potential clients. Those customers represent growth and prosperity. Do not put all your eggs in one basket.

• If you are living in or driving an asset which is overleveraged (you owe more than it is worth), give serious thought to getting out from under it. Like many large concerns, it is better to take a one-time hit to dump an upside-down asset than it is to continuing to allow it to pull revenue away from you a little at a time.

“In a storm, people can either be victims, or they can take positive steps to rescue themselves,” Caplan said. “The idea of mastering your destiny instead of letting circumstances master you is not a platitude or a bumper sticker. It is very real, and many of the most successful entrepreneurs discovered this reality at a time when they were at their lowest ebb.”

Recession Got You Down? Don’t React – ACT!

Connie Podesta, business consultant, speaker and author believes that even the least advantaged worker has the power to be proactive in protecting livelihood and career, even in the most trying of situations.

Podesta’s real world tips include:

• Take charge of your personal life - As one CEO said, “I want people working for me who come to work ready to get the job done - people whose personal life is stable and healthy enough that they can direct their attention and energy to their work, their customers and their colleagues.”

• Demonstrate your added value - Employees have to recognize that every one of their decisions, ideas, actions, and plans must be linked to the long-term financial stability and growth of their company. According to a business owner, “We are looking for employees who not only understand the need for us to remain financially sound, but who are actively involved in finding ways to help us do that.”

• Have a positive impact - Employers do not have the right to evaluate our inner attitudes, beliefs, and feelings, but they DO have the right to evaluate how we behave and perform on paid work time as a result of those attitudes, beliefs, and feelings. Employers expressed an overwhelming preference for employees who model a positive attitude through their performance and behavior.

• Embrace and initiate change - Change can be frightening and change can be exhilarating. But one thing is certain: change has become a permanent and necessary fixture in today’s business environment. Employers will keep employees who can adapt to all the changes their organization is going through with professionalism, determination, and optimism. They need employees who are resilient enough to face change boldly without resorting to complaints, apathy, anger, or fear.

• Work smarter, harder, faster and better - One manager stated, “Which employee would I keep? Why, of course, the one who can get a quality job done - on time. I need employees who aren’t afraid of hard work, who can be counted on to do the job right, and who don’t need constant reminders or supervision. They know what needs to be done and they do it - it’s as simple as that.”

• Communicate openly and directly - Employers want people who can most effectively communicate their needs, preferences, ideas, and feelings to their customers, co-workers, and management team without manipulation and game playing. In order to achieve this level of assertive, open, and honest communication, however, a climate of trust and mutual respect must exist throughout the company.

• Look for leadership opportunities -“Which employees would I keep?” One business owner replied, “The ones who are willing and able to assume a leadership role and take charge when necessary and appropriate, regardless of their job title.” Good leaders are positive role models and relationship builders who can be counted on to be trustworthy, resilient, optimistic, enthusiastic, and visionary.

How to Stop Being Greedy

By Abbot Christopher Jamison

Here are three steps to restrain greed:

1. Recognise how it works for you
Greed is about the attraction of wealth and begins with apparently harmless thoughts: ”what I have at present is not good enough and needs replacing.” Sometimes this is, of course, true: if the bucket has a hole in it, you need a new bucket; if the dress is very old, get a new one. But, so often, that’s not the case; it’s just that we really fancy the latest iPod or the latest fashion. Fashion is the hardest one to call: we can condemn our children to misery if we make them wear old-fashioned clothes but we still need to prevent them growing up impulsively buying the hottest new thing. If children only deal with greed by getting what they want, then they grow up to be miserable adults because even when they’re wealthy, they’ll still want more. And notice that even our language links unhappiness and avarice: the word miser is the root of miserable. Each of us needs to recognise and contain our own greed if we are to live happy and fulfilled lives.

2. Tell yourself a better story
Greed is the product of our imagination, not of our bodies. The attraction of food and sex is different from the attraction of wealth: humans are hard wired to respond physically when food and sex are attractively presented, but the same is not true of money. Once life’s basic necessities have been met, the rest is determined by each person’s description of the good life, their personal story. We have to avoid the pitfalls of distorted descriptions of happiness that actually lead to frustration. We need to describe to ourselves a good life that is balanced, long-term and generous, the opposite of the consumer good life that is indulgent, short-term and self-centred.

3. Take stock of your life, literally
Once a year in Lent, English Benedictine monks have the custom of writing out ”a poverty bill.” They write down an inventory of everything they have for their personal use and hand it to the abbot. It’s a very revealing exercise and enables them to ask: do I need all this? An excellent rule of thumb is this: if you haven’t used an item in the last twelve months since the last poverty bill, then you probably don’t need it, so you can give it away. This is a wonderful way to heighten self-awareness about material possessions, is quite liberating, and you may be amazed to discover what you don’t need.

This Week's Healthy SC Challenge Tips

The Healthy SC Challenge is the Sanford family's effort to get all South Carolinians to do just a little more to live a healthier lifestyle. The tips are designed to encourage individuals and communities to live healthier lifestyles in three categories - nutrition, exercise and help to quit smoking.


Nutrition
Almost every South Carolina town or community has an annual fair, festival or carnival. These events feature many high-calorie treats like funnel cakes, cotton candy, caramel apples and corn dogs. Since you do a lot of walking at these events, you may think you can burn off those extra food calories. You can, if you walk up to a mile and a half for a bag of cotton candy or three miles for a funnel cake!
Most of the foods we traditionally associate with fairs, festivals and carnivals are characterized by big portions with lots of sugar and fat calories. For many people, attending the event wouldn't be nearly as much fun without these tasty treats. You look forward to a corn dog or cotton candy, and some of these treats are once-a-year foods.

So, how much exercise does it take to walk off your favorite munchies? On average, you have to walk about one mile to burn 100 calories. To visualize how far that is, there are approximately 12 city blocks to the mile. Although calories in your favorite festival food can vary depending on portion size, recipe and more, you would have to take an 18-block walk to burn off the calories in a serving of cotton candy.
Here are the approximate distances you have to walk to burn off the calories from a few popular foods available at festivals, fairs and carnivals:
* Corn dog, large: 4.5 miles
* Fried candy bar on a stick: 4.5 miles
* Funnel cake, 6-inch diameter: 3 miles
* Soft pretzel: 3 miles
* Caramel apple: 3 miles
* Soft drink, 32 ounce: 2.5 miles
* Snow-cone: 2.5 miles
* Cotton candy: 1.5 miles

This does not mean that you need to load a picnic basket with carrot sticks and celery before heading to the fair. With a little planning, you can fit your favorite fair foods into your daily diet. Here's how:
* Quench your thirst with a small soft drink instead of the larger sizes. Better yet, buy or bring along bottled water. Save your calories for your favorite once-a-year food.
* Limit yourself to one treat. Make sure the rest of your choices are reasonable serving sizes of lower-sugar and lower-fat items.
* Check out all the food booths before making your selection. Imagine that you have a "calorie salary." Enjoy the foods you like the most for your "salary."
* Split foods among several people. For example, share a large funnel cake with friends. Everyone gets a taste, and no one gets overloaded.
* Allow enough time to sit down and eat, rather than grazing your way from one end of the fairgrounds to the other. It's hard to know how much you're eating when you're walking, talking and eating at the same time.

Dress in comfortable shoes so you're more likely to walk off some of those extra calories. Wear a pedometer and see how many steps you can take at the festival. One mile equals about 2,000 steps, or around one-third of the calories in a caramel apple. Finally, if you do indulge a little too much, remember to return to a more balanced way of eating the next day. A day or two of overeating won't affect your weight that much, but weeks of overeating will. Eating an extra 100 calories daily can result in a 10-pound weight gain in a year.
-Clemson Extension Home & Garden Information Center

Physical Activity
Here are important components for what make an ideal workout partner.
1) Sharing the Same Schedule: This is a big one. If someone has a different schedule, it's just going to be more hassle than it's worth. Picking someone you work with or someone who has the same hours at the office is always a good way to go. If you live in opposite directions, carpool from the office to the gym and you'll be helping the environment in the process! Or even better, walk to the gym with each other!
2) Sharing the Same Goals: This one isn't a necessity, but it does help. If one person is trying to lose weight and the other is trying to get super muscles, it might not be a great match. Plus, if your partner is lifting so heavy that you can't even handle the weight, it will pose a risk to both you and your partner.
3) Sharing the Same Dedication: You may not think that this is important, but if you partner up with someone who is wishy-washy about staying in shape, you may be hindering yourself and your gains. Think about it. If you get in the groove of only going to the gym when you're partner goes, you'll be dragging yourself down to their dedication, and that's no good! So pick someone that is motivated!
-www.gohealthygofit.com

Tobacco
You've tried the patch, gum, lozenges, inhaler, Zyban, etc., and that didn't work. What's left? No one substance or method is the magic bullet. You need to keep tinkering and trying. Meanwhile, people who manage to shift their addiction to nicotine replacements, like the patch, the gum, etc., have already taken a huge burden off their lungs, their heart, and their gastrointestinal system. And for some reason, it's easier to taper off the replacements than off of straight tobacco. Studies show that people who use these items triple their chances of finally quitting.
-www.dukehealth.org

How to Get Through the Financial Crisis Without a Ph.D. in Economics

Kim Snider, CEO of Snider Advisors (which manages approximately 500 million dollars) and author of the new book How to Be the Family CFO: 4 Simple Steps to Put Your Financial House in Order, advises for Americans struggling to get out from under the yoke of the ongoing national financial crunch. Her concept is to turn heads of households into their family’s Chief Financial Officer, instilling the same principles of fiscal responsibility and management in regular folks.

Her advice delivers the heart of basic financial literacy through easy to follow steps:

Plan Prudently – Whether you do your bills online or the old fashioned way, every family can easily see what they owe in bills every month. Gather the paperwork into one stack, or create a computer file that details all your regular monthly expenditures. Combine it with your pay stubs and records of any other income. Now, you have a clear picture of your revenue and your payables. Moreover, you also have due dates for those bills, so you can match your cash flow (when you get paid) with when certain bills are due. Now, simply plan out what you’re going to pay and when you’ll pay it. Most companies mirror this procedure once a week, cutting checks on Fridays. You may not need to do it as often, but if you review your expenses once a week, you’ll always know where your money is and where it’s going.

Save Prodigiously – Saving money, to most families, is one of those things that always gets delayed for next paycheck. But saving is more than just trying to create a stockpile of cash for the proverbial rainy day – it’s about weathering the minor drizzles that come along every month. Unexpected car repairs, medical bills, home repairs, clothes for kids who can’t seem to STOP growing – these are all examples of flies in the budget ointment. If you can put away even $10 per week, it can help stem the impact of having your car’s alternator go belly up the same week you’re buying holiday gifts.

Invest Wisely – Take true advantage of your employer-sponsored retirement plans and 401K plans by allowing them to deduct the maximum amount from your paychecks. In many cases, employers match that money, so it’s tantamount to saving twice the amount for retirement. Plus, the more you save up front, the more you’ll benefit from the magic of compounded interest. The few dollars in cash flow you sacrifice now (which won’t hurt as bad as you think, because it’s PRE-TAX dollars) will be well worth it when you see your retirement balance grow later.

Manage Risk – Your biggest risk isn’t what you might think it is – it’s not about the financial markets or even your house burning down. Rather, the biggest risk for most people is the loss of your regular income. The vast majority of families who are in trouble today aren’t in crisis because of natural disaster or catastrophic illness, but rather, because someone in the household lost a job. You can hedge that risk by keeping your job skills current and competitive, and taking on a disability insurance policy.

Snider believes that if more people ran their household finances like a company, they would run smoother, more efficiently and with fewer crises both in the short term and the long term.

Top Teen Tips for the New Year

Ketaki Shriram, a 16-year-old author who managed to write her first novel, Sorceress of the Himalayas (Crystallius Press, $17.95) at age 13. Now 16, finishing her senior year in high school and preparing her college applications, Ketaki has some advice for teens priming for the New Year.

Her tips include:

Read More – “Read, read, read,” Ketaki said. “Read newspapers, books and magazines. Read more than you did last year. Pick a genre that you like and buy 5 novels – don’t ignore classics and plays or things on your schools reading list. If you liked The Matrix, you’d love George Orwell’s 1984, one of the inspirations for The Matrix.”

Get involved – According to the pollsters, the youth vote tipped the scales in favor of Barack Obama in the last election. “Young people, when united, were strong enough to change the course of one of the most powerful nations on the planet,” according to Ketaki. “Imagine how much good we could do if we all volunteered our time to a worthy cause at least once a week.”

Do something outdoors – Whether you live in the city or the suburbs, teens today are spending way too much time shackled to their computers, lounging with their iPods or texting on their phones. When weather permits, get outside for at least a few minutes every day. “Walk down to the corner store,” she said. “Ride a bike. Do something so that you don’t form bad habits that hurt your health later on in life.”

Talk to your parents – Yes, actually talk to them. Many problems that arise between parents and teens revolve around lack of communication. With time for daily communication at a premium, now more than ever it’s important to make the most of that time. “The more you talk to them about your day, your activities, your social life and yes, even your boyfriend/girlfriend, the more they will feel involved in your life,” Ketaki said. “They will trust you more, and you will benefit from their wisdom, even when you least expect it.”

Stay informed – A whopping 67 percent of high school students couldn’t identify our vice president, speaker of the House of Representatives or Senate Majority Leader. More than 30 percent didn’t know we were at war with Iraq. There is no excuse for being ill-informed about the world around you. “Know who your leaders are,” she said. “Know what’s going on in your town, your state, your country and your world. The only way to be a part of it is to know what’s going on.”

“Taking control of your own life is up to each of us,” Ketaki added. “The earlier we master it, the better our adult lives will be.”

Healthy SC Challenge Tips

The Healthy SC Challenge is the Sanford family's effort to get all South Carolinians to do just a little more to live a healthier lifestyle. The tips are designed to encourage individuals and communities to live healthier lifestyles in three categories - nutrition, exercise and help to quit smoking.

Nutrition
Forego the designer coffee drinks. When it's cold outside, people reach for warm drinks; and normally, that means a run to the coffee shop around the corner. If you have to get your fix of caffeine, do it with coffee instead of a mocha latte or a blended drink. Many of the concoctions at your local Starbucks have more than 700 calories. 700 calories for a drink?! Your best bet is a cup of coffee with a bit of skim milk; it has only a few calories and the same pick-me-up power as those calorie-laden lattes. Also, remember to stay hydrated by drinking lots of water during the winter months. This is the time we get dehydrated most often. -www.aarp.org

Physical Activity
The data is convincing that regular physical activity provides protection from breast cancer and a growing number of studies are finding that it may be even more life-saving for breast cancer survivors. Yale School of Medicine scientists followed 933 women diagnosed with breast cancer over a 4 to 9 year time period and found that 2 years after diagnosis, women who engaged in any recreational activity at all had a 60 percent lower risk of death than those who were sedentary. Women who walked briskly at least 2 to 3 hours a week reduced their risk of death by 67 percent. Women who became sedentary after diagnosis were 4 times more likely to die of breast cancer than those who were inactive before diagnosis and remained so. Based on the studies I have reviewed, daily exercise should be a standard part of the treatment plan for any cancer survivor.

For those at risk for cancer (which is all of us!), please remember that regular physical activity (exercise) is 3rd only to avoiding tobacco and maintaining a healthy body weight as the most powerful thing you can do to reduce your cancer risk. For more on cancer prevention, please visit www.PreventCancer.org.
-Dr. Ann Kulze, Nationally recognized nutrition and wellness expert, www.dranns10steps.com

Tobacco
If you have asthma, smoking is especially risky because of the damage it does to the lungs. When someone smokes, he or she may cough, wheeze, and feel short of breath. This is because smoke irritates the airways, causing them to become swollen, narrow, and filled with sticky mucus. These are the same things that happen during an asthma flare-up. That's why smoking can cause asthma flare-ups to happen more often. Those flare-ups may be more severe and harder to control, even with medicine. -www.kidshealth.org

Holiday Party Liabilities

As millions of Americans host and attend holiday parties across the street or across the country, many are unaware of the risks they may be taking or of their own responsibilities to ensure their guests don't hit the road drunk, according to a new national survey on homeowner's insurance issues by Trusted Choice® and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big "I").

For the survey, homeowners were asked if they believed they were legally liable if a guest caused an alcohol-related traffic accident after leaving a holiday party at the respondent's home. Additionally, they were questioned about the liability responsibility of a guest destroying a house with a careless act such as leaving a candle unattended or smoking indoors. Respondents were also asked if they thought they would be legally liable if a guest was injured on the sidewalk in front of their property or suffered food-poisoning from catered food while attending a holiday party at their home. Alarming percentages of homeowners either thought they could not be held liable in these situations or admitted they didn't know.

Do Your Homework: When hosting a holiday party, individuals should look to the liability portion of their homeowners or renters insurance policy to protect them if they are sued and found liable for an accident involving a guest who drank at their home. Consumers should regularly review their liability coverage limits to ensure they are adequately covered should an accident occur.

Consider an Umbrella Policy: While holiday partygoers and hosts alike should act responsibly and know their limits, consumers need to acknowledge that most risks cannot be entirely eliminated. But planning ahead and learning about what's involved in hosting a reception is the best defense. Purchasing a personal "umbrella" liability policy - providing $1 million or more in additional coverage over the limit of a standard homeowners or renters policy - may be a prudent move for the frequent party host.

Consider the following tips to prevent holiday party accidents and protect yourself:
* Limit your guest list to those you know.
* Host your party at a restaurant or bar that has a liquor license, rather in a home or office.
* Provide filling food for guests and alternative non-alcoholic beverages.
* Schedule entertainment or activities that do not involve alcohol. If the party centers around drinking, guests will likely drink more.
* Arrange transportation or overnight accommodations for those who cannot or should not drive home.
* Stop serving alcohol at least one hour before the party is scheduled to end.
* Do not serve guests who are visibly intoxicated.
* Consider hiring an off-duty police officer to discretely monitor guests' sobriety or handle any alcohol-related problems as guests leave.
* Stay alert, always remembering your responsibilities as a host.
* Review your insurance policy with your Trusted Choice® agent before the event to ensure that you have the proper liability coverage.

From Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, Inc.

Tips Teens Can Use to Overcome Challenges, Focus on Strengths

1. Write Down a List of Your Goals. Make long and short term goals for yourself, and try to have at least one that is related to finding a new activity or hobby to engage in. If you can try to stay focused on what you want, it’ll be easier to stay calm when school gets busy. You’re also more likely to have time to pursue a hobby or passion if you set goals and achieve them within certain time limits.

2. Create a Schedule for Yourself. By creating a schedule, you can figure out how much time you need to spend on homework. You’ll also be able to plan time for your friends in a schedule without getting behind on schoolwork. Planning ahead can also leave you with some time for any other activities you might have.

3. Don't Spend Hours on Facebook or AIM. It’s so easy to get sucked into reading the latest celebrity gossip blogs and playing tennis on your Wii. Try to finish all your homework before getting onto facebook or AIM. This will reduce your stress level.

4. Get Some Sleep, You Earned It! Try to sleep early; it’ll help you stay awake in class the next day, and you’re less likely to be irritable and fight with your friends if you’re well-rested. Aim for an absolute minimum of six hours per night. Stay off the energy drinks! They’ll affect your sleep cycle even more.

5. Create Challenges For Yourself. Trying new things will help build your confidence, keep you learning, and introduce you to new people. Choose and try at least one new fun activity that is different than what you routinely do. If you find something you are passionate about that is different from the rest of your life, you’ll be able to ignore the pressures at school with less difficulty.

From Ketaki Shriram, author of “Sorceress of the Himalayas” (Crystallius Press). She began writing in the fifth grade, and penned this novel at age 13. She is currently a high school student in Menlo Park, Calif. and this is her first published novel. Her writing has been inspired by the events and people in her life. She also uses writing as a way of teaching, learning, and as an emotional outlet for coping with negative situations and emotions. Her story focuses on succeeding and overcoming obstacles, something that she has applied to her own life. www.sorceressofthehimalayas.com