Tag: experience

Why starting over is the perfect time to get your money right!

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Long story short, my web page has to start over again. Not only is it starting over but it will have to rebuild what it once had. With that being said, I am okay with it. Just like everything else, sometimes it is best to just start anew.

I run this page

This is the accompanying website to my one-woman operation podcast. I also have a Facebook page and a very private Facebook group that is by invite only. I help women who have gotten a late start get a hold of their finances and take control so that they don’t end up old bitter hags who are still working even though they are well past the age of retirement.

Kidding . . . kinda . . .

Seriously though, take control now so that you can do what you want to later. I know it is hard. We all want to have that . . . .

Well maybe not all of us, but I do!

I am Cecily White aka Teacher Ces. I have a podcast that you can find here:

Find Out Which Rules to Break and Which to Follow! – Teacher Ces Podcast

#femaleentrepreneur #sidehustle #teacherlife In this video, I explain to you that The Teacher Ces Podcast is coming back for season three. It is time for my return.   🌻 LET'S CONNECT ON INSTAGRAM: See my life and my biz-ness https://www.instagram.com/teacherces   🌻S U B S C R I B E. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYnq…   🌻 F O L L O W Website | https://teachercesblog.wordpress.com/…   🌻Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/teacherces/​   🌻Facebook | TeacherCes   🌻Twitter | @TeacherCes   🌻 W H A T  I ' M  R E A D I N G The Simple Path to Wealth: https://amzn.to/3xTyMPH   *Disclaimer: Some links are affiliate. By clicking and or purchasing, I may receive a monetary reward. It does not alter the price or change your buying experience. As always like and subscribe. Follow me on all of my social media platforms!    🌻 TeacherCes Podcast http://teacherces.libsyn.com   🌻 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teacherces   🌻 Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/teacherces   🌻 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/teacherces   🌻 Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/teacher_ces              
  1. Find Out Which Rules to Break and Which to Follow!
  2. Let's Talk Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
  3. What NOT to do with your Stimmy
  4. That Damn Shot . . .
  5. Getting Pimped for a Slice of Pizza

Teacher Cecily White (Teacher Ces) is all about financially empowering teachers in a matter-of-fact and supportive way. I have obtained a master’s degree in education and an undergraduate degree in communications. I also hold advanced university certification in teaching English as a Second language. When I am not teaching at home online, I can be found working in the public school system as an English as a second language teacher fight outside of Washington DC. Since I haven’t done it enough already, I want to plug my podcast. I am the host of Teacher Ces Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. My schedule is always busy as the divorced mother of fraternal preteen boy/girl twins.

Staying Healthy on the Road

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You can tell an experienced business traveler from one who is new to the experience. It is easy for someone new to business travel to participate in excesses on the road. As business traveler, you are an adult and you are trusted by your company to conduct yourself in a businesslike fashion during your time out representing the firm. But it is easy to let the idea of an expense account and free time in a far away town get the best of you and to let yourself go as you travel.
These kinds of excesses are the types of behavior that you will see an experienced business traveler avoid. If you are setting out on a lengthy business trip perhaps lasting many weeks and traversing many cities, the road itself can take a toll on your health and well-being. The disruption to your normal life patterns, the hard work and the stress of making connections and moving from town to town can introduce levels of fatigue that can take a toll and even lead to illness on the road. And there is no more unpleasant experience than to be ill while traveling for business and to still have to do your duties despite your poor health.
It is for this reason that observing some strict rules of good living on the road will pay off over the life of the trip and make the rigors of travel much less serious. Much of the discipline of business travel involves simply introducing a daily routine to your life that includes some healthy activities so you can keep your physical, mental and emotional state in good shape and ready for business each and every day. Some simple but effective rules to live by for a healthy business travel experience include…
* Sleep routines. A good night’s sleep is something we take for granted. And to get into a rested state takes more than just a bed and an alarm clock. You have routines at home that you use to cycle down toward rest. Adapt those to life on the road and allow yourself that hour before bed to get ready to rest as well as ample time to rest as well as sleep. Both are necessary for good health.
* Regular exercise. Most hotels have an exercise room or pool you can use to get some motion into your muscles. Sitting in airplanes or conference rooms can cramp your muscles and keep you from maintaining good flexibility. Even if it is nothing more than taking a walk after dinner or doing some simple exercises at night in the hotel, give your body some movement so stretch those muscles and get some fresh oxygen into your blood.
* Time not working. For the sake of your mental health, take some time just for you. If you are in a town that has some fun things to see, get away from the business side of business travel and go to the zoo or a museum or see an attraction to give your mind a break from the stress of business. And take a few hours at night to relax in the hotel and read a book or watch your favorite TV show. You need that mental down time to recuperate and process all that is going on during your trip.
* Good foods. Don’t cave into the temptation to eat fast food. Look for restaurants that will serve you well-rounded meals. Make sure you eat fruits, dairy, vegetables, breads and good healthy proteins each day.
* Don’t drink. Alcohol, while fun, is a huge drain on your body’s resources. The time drinking and recovering makes demands on your body that take away from your stamina and ability to stay healthy each day. So avoid alcohol other than perhaps a glass of wine at night. You will survive the trip so much better if you are careful about your alcohol consumption.
Some of these ideas seem almost ridiculously simple. But if you have done any business travel at all, you know that sometimes the simple requirement of a healthy diet and some time to yourself to exercise and rest can be elusive in a busy work schedule. But if you make it a priority to live well on the road as you do at home, you will come home ready to deal with home issues without having that long time to recover from the trip.

Rebates – Reward or Rip Off?

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Cons Pros Buttons Showing Decisions Or Debate

Rebates have become increasingly popular in the last few years on a lot of items and certainly on electronic items and computers. Rebates of $20, $50 or $100 are not uncommon.

I’ve even seen items advertised as “free after rebate”. Do these rebates come under the heading of “too good to be true”? Some of them do and there are “catches” to watch out for but if you are careful, rebates can help you get some fabulous deals.

The way a rebate works is that you pay the listed price for an item then mail in a form and the bar code to the manufacturer and they send you a refund thus reducing the price of what you paid for the item except with a time delay of several weeks.

Rule #1. Rebates from reputable companies are usually just fine.

You can be pretty sure you will get the promised rebate from Best Buy, Amazon or Dell but you should probably not count on getting one from a company you’ve never heard of. If you really want the product and are OK with paying the price listed then buy it but don’t count on actually getting the refund.

Rule #2. Check rebate expiration dates.

Many times products will stay on the shelf of a retailer after the date for sending in the rebate offer has expired so check that date carefully.

Rule #3. Be sure you have all the forms required to file for the rebate before you leave the store.

Rebates will almost always require a form to be filled out, a receipt for the purchase and a bar code.

Rule #4. Back up your rebate claim.

Make copies of everything you send in to get your rebate including the bar code. Stuff gets lost in the mail all the time and if the rebate is for $50 it’s worth the trouble to back up your claim.

Are Travel Agents Obsolete?

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I am currently in the process of booking my families summer vacation.  I feel that I am very hands on when it comes to finding the best deals, especially in the summertime when deals are few and far between.  The amount of travel websites on the innerwebs can seem overwhelming.  These travel web sites have been very successful at facilitating travelers to book their own airline and hotel reservations online.  So with this huge push from the internet to take over the travel industry, one has to ask, “Are travel agents obsolete?”

If you have browsed some of these travel sites, you have observed that they are amazing in the diversity of travel options that they make available.  And it is impossible to deny that many thousands of people have taken advantage of these services.  Then, there is the business traveler.  The business traveler has needs that are somewhat different than the typical airline passenger.

There are some very specific services that a living and breathing travel agent can provide that simply cannot be replicated by an automated web site like Kayak or Hotwire.   Some of those services that a seasoned business traveler would be hard pressed to live without include…

  1. Focus You as a business traveler are not arranging this trip for entertainment.  You have specific business objectives in mind.  So if you must take time away from preparation for your business task to worry about travel itineraries, hotel and rental car reservations and the like, that is time that you are not being productive for your business.  If you can call a talented travel agent who knows your travel profile well and delegate those arrangements to that agent, they do their job in finding just the right accommodations for you and you are freed to do what you do best, focus on your business and the upcoming business trip.
  2. Economy It is difficult to find that balance between finding the accommodations that fit the demanding schedule of a businessperson on the road and is respectful of the companies travel budget as well.   If you use an automated online travel service, you may have to sacrifice convenience, schedule or location for economy.  A good travel agent will work hard to get you the right itinerary while getting as close the corporate travel cost restrictions as possible.  And they will do it without taking up a lot of your time.
  3. Back up. You don’t need help if your trip goes completely as planned.  But if you encounter problems on the road, you can find yourself in need or rescheduling flights and finding new accommodations to work around canceled flights, weather issues or other unexpected interruptions to your plans.  These travel disasters are not mindful of your tight deadlines to meet your business goals.  But if you have a travel agent who is dedicated to providing you service, he or she can find those alternative routes and resources to do all they can to get you to your destination so you can conduct your business on time.
  4. That personal touch. You may have travel preferences that you want to achieve with each trip you take.   A travel agent has your profile and your travel history so they can do what they can to accommodate your preferences.  But moreover, if you have specific special needs such as a diet limitation or a need for accommodation due to a disability, it will be a travel agent that sees to it that your needs are provided for and you are well taken care of on the road.

 

  1. Complications. If your travel itinerary involves making connections with other business partners who are traveling from diverse offices, complex travel schedules and itinerary challenges that just cannot be described to the generic screens of an online travel service, you can explain these complications to your travel agent and they can work with other travel agents working to organize the meeting and see to it that your itinerary meets your requirements.

 

While the online travel services do provide a valuable and affordable alternative to the general traveling public, it is easy to notice their limitations if you are trying to book a trip that is tricky or if you have specific needs that the screens do not anticipate.  That is why working with a human travel agent guarantees that this travel professional will dedicate themselves to the task of making sure your trip works to your specifications and that you get to your destination ready to conduct business and be successful in your achieving your goals.

What are the Five Easiest Ways to Make Money on eBay?

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What are the easiest ways to make money on eBay?  Well what do you consider easy?  It is my belief that there is no easier way to make money on the Internet than by selling items through eBay. What could be simpler, a straight forward 5 step process.

  1. Get something to sell.
  2. Photograph it and write a description.
  3. Upload your listing to eBay.
  4. Collect your money.
  5. Dispatch the item.

What could be simpler than that?  Well a lot!

But I suspect what people are really asking is how can I easily get products to sell. From my experience this is what both newcomers and some experienced eBayers find difficult. So, I want to highlight five very simple ways that you can get products to sell without even leaving your computer. This I hope that will be easy enough for everyone.

  1. What, no photograph?

It is my belief that there is hardly an item listed on eBay or any of the other online auctions that does not benefit from having a photograph or image included in the listing. In fact, most items that are listed without a photograph that sell tend to fetch 20% less than those with. In some categories the figures are even higher. For instance, clothing items offered without a photograph average a 78% lower selling price than those with. So, it would seem to be pretty easy to browse eBay looking for these “photo less” items, buying them and then relisting with a photograph. Money for old rope really.

  1. Finding the poorly listed item.

There are many reasons why someone’s listing fails to attract any worthwhile bids. Bad title, short or poor description, wrong category, poor spelling and so on. You can find these by browsing around the auction site, but I would suggest an easier method.

Select the categories that you are interested in and look down the search feature for items finishing within the next hour. Here is where you will find the bargains that have failed to attract any bids for the reasons we have mentioned.

  1. Unsocial hours

In any book about eBay you will find tips on when is the best time for auctions to finish. The most suggested times for most items are Sunday afternoon and evenings and Wednesday evenings. Some experts suggest that for business related items Monday or Tuesday during office hours are best. If you accept that there are times when you will get increased bids for your items there must also be times when if your auction ends you will not do so well. I would think if you have an auction that finishes between say 5 am and 8 am on a Monday morning you will not have too many people lurking to place last minute bids to push the price up. Again, buy and relist with your auction set to finish at a more sociable time and you could easily make a 20% or more profit for very little effort.

  1. Buy Collections

One of the easiest ways to make money on eBay is to cash in on others laziness. If someone has say a collection of 10 china dogs, it is a fact that if they put all ten in one listing as a collection they will get less than if they had listed each item separately. But it is amazing how many sellers cannot be bothered to do this. I have in the past bought such a collection and made more from one of the items than I had paid for the whole collection.

  1. Other online auctions.

Over 95% of all online auction sales are on eBay. They have the largest number of registered buyers and items listed for sale. For this reason, items offered for sale on eBay get the best prices. So why not search around some of the smaller online auctions, because in many cases items listed with them will not attract such a good price as could be achieved on eBay. Then all you must do is buy from them and relist on eBay.

So, there are 5 easy ideas for you to consider. Why not give some or all of them a try?