I know from counseling couples that remodeling can be stressful. Specially the kitchen. A couple has to balance taste, cost and functionality and do it by choosing from different views, designs and options. Then there are friends, relatives, other homes the couple has seen, guide books, internet, TV shows…..the availability of options is mind boggling. No wonder a lot of couples end up stressed, conflicted, adversarial and utterly confused.Here are some basic rules to avoid all that.1. Start with a base design and modify it as you decide on options, spacing etc. At no time should the design reflect anything other than your style and personality; add to it but make sure, that addition reflects your style and your taste. Listen to your friends, designers, experts, neighbors, relatives—but plan should reflect you and your spouse. For example, stay away from top of the line over-priced appliances and gadgets—expert s will tell you it increases “resale” value. That is inaccurate and I am talking from experience of owning and selling a number of homes. What sells a kitchen is its access and design—not the furnishings and appliances. Yes, they should be elegant and not look cheap and short-lived but no need to pay a huge premium for some European or designer name. It is doubtful it can mask a badly designed kitchen so that is the beginning and end of your quest. If you ignore it, you will regret it and in the meantime, you will have spent a lot of money and not necessarily made your kitchen accessible, friendly and warm or added any real value.2. Settle the model between you as a couple. You are the one that will have to live with it—the advice givers and the TV experts will be long gone. Make sure3. Do prepare a budget and stick to it.4. Begin with a basic list and add to it only for a defined and agreed purpose.5. Remember, shop wisely, but do not skimp or be penny wise and pound foolish. Kitchen is a long term investment. Remodel it and furnish it with items of lasting quality.6. You will most likely grow into your kitchen, so keep an eye for the long term. If you lived in the home for the next five years, would you still love your kitchen?7. Do get the opinion of the ones who are likely to visit your home the most–nearest relatives, children, in-laws and friends.8. Do not just listen to the advice. Question it–get behind it. For example if your friend says you should only buy a particular brand, ask them why? Do they have experience with that and other brand and why are they preferring one over the other? What is wrong with a competing brand. Maybe they are foisting their personal choice upon you. Maybe they are snobbish–both are wrong reasons to choose a particular brand.9. Prepare a “Must Have” and a “Nice to have” lists. This will help you stay within budget.10. Not a good idea to use porous material or wood in the Kitchen. Marble or high grade granite brings richness and warmth.11. To point number 5, do leave some room for expansion, if you can, in the kitchen. For example, do not buy cabinets that go to the ceiling–maybe you will want to add storage later on.GOOD LUCK.
How to Earn Money by Answering Paid Surveys
Nowadays that the economy has become very unstable and unpredictable, more and more people are looking for ways on how they can earn more money. A lot of people look for jobs online because these jobs are very flexible and can be done right from the comforts of their homes. While some jobs might be hard to do, there are some jobs which are easy enough that you can do on a daily basis without taking too much of your time and without putting added pressure or stress that already comes from 9 to 5 jobs including answering online paid surveys. Answering surveys for money is relatively easy. All you need to do is to find legitimate paid survey sites to ensure that you will be paid in exchange for your hard work. If you are one of those people looking for ways to earn extra income online, listed below are the details on how these paid survey sites work.
Simple process. The process of applying to paid survey sites is comparatively easy. The tricky part might be finding a legitimate site, but once you have, all you need to do is to sign up and complete a member profile. They will use your profile to look for surveys that they think you can best answer. Once they find a survey that matches your profile, they will send you an email including an attachment which contains the survey. They should include an estimate of how long the survey you should take to complete it, explain how you will be compensated if they accept your application and provide a link to the survey. Typically, surveys last up to 15 to 20 minutes.
Payment for surveys. Rates per survey hugely vary from site to site and from the surveys sites ask you to answer. Most paid survey sites are capable of paying in cash that ranges from about $1 to $50 per survey. Your cash compensation will mainly depend on the type of survey they provide and on how you answer the survey. Other sites give points that can be redeemed in exchange for prices while some offer sweepstake entries. These three are among of the most common ways paid survey sites pay their employees but some also answer in exchange for new products to try.
How to find a legitimate paid survey site. When you search paid survey sites on the Internet, you will see that there are a lot of listings available. While there are indeed a lot of reputable survey sites found on the web, there are also a lot of illegitimate sites that people need to be aware of. These illegitimate sites are mainly created with the intent to lure people in providing their information and then using the information for their own deceitful purposes. Thus, while looking for one, you need to take your time and research about the company to make sure that you do not become a victim of these scam sites. Always keep in mind that a legitimate paid survey site will never require you to pay a membership or application fee and will never guarantee a fixed income. Moreover, avoid survey sites that do not clearly explain how you will be compensated, that ask for unnecessary information such as your social security card number, credit card number and bank details, which have no privacy policy and those which sell member information to third parties.
Where to find reputable survey companies. As mentioned earlier, while a simple web search will show you a list of opportunities, there is a chance that you might fall for a not-so-reputable company if you do not take the time to research and conduct a background check. To make sure that you are giving your information to trustworthy and reputable companies, take the time to research about them on forums. Getting involved in forums will give you an idea on what companies are worth looking into and on what companies are nothing but scams.
How to earn a lot in answering surveys. Answering paid surveys might not seem to be a lot of money especially if you only apply to a single survey site. To maximize your earnings, apply to different survey sites so that your chances of getting surveys are higher. Moreover, make sure that you respond to survey invitations immediately and that you update your profile regularly so that companies have a clear idea on which surveys you qualify for.Having a part-time job might be a daunting idea to some because of the added stress and reduced free time. However, with a job such as this, which allows you to work on your own pace and on your own time, you are assured of earning extra money while spending time at home. Sign up to paid survey sites and get paid to take surveys now.
Make Money Online – Failed?
I was analyzing why people trying to make money online fail. Where do they go wrong in their venture of making money online?First of all what misleads most of the people is the BIG myth that “it is easy to make money online. You can do it overnight. You can make money online with just a few clicks. You can make money online $$$$ while you sleep.”There are a lot of full time on job people who start out thinking it is an easy option that they can work at with minimal effort along with their jobs. And make money online while they SLEEP. Well success and money never come easy be it offline or online. I would add though that making money online is easier and less risk prone, less investment compared to making money offline. BUT it involves a whole lot of effort, specially when you are a beginner and there’s a learning curve ahead.A second myth that misleads people is that you can earn money online fast. So people set out, put in some effort and look forward to quick results and big bucks. But when they do not see quick results, they are demoralized /frustrated/lose faith in their ideas and online venture. It is important to note that a website does not start drawing traffic immediately – it take time for the traffic to grow or rather to be made to grow. Your ideas may not yield instant results. Some of them may not work but you need not stop experimenting if you want to make money online. Want to make money online – then learn this virtue: Patience pays.A third reason why people trying to make money online fail is information. Information is a cause in one or more of the following waysMisinformation: If you read up any of these make money online related forums you would see the most viewed/answered threads are those which talk of ‘Make money online $$$ in 15 minutes’, ‘Tried ways of earning $$$$ in a week’. People swarm to such posts and are mislead. I am not saying these forums are full of junk, there is a wealth of information out there on how to make money online. But you need to filter out misinformation , you need understand that there are no shortcuts to making money online.Overload of information: There is so much information out there on the net about how to make money online that people are bogged down, flooded with ideas. So many ideas that they never end up executing any of them consistently and with focus. They jump from idea to idea without planning a course of action and focussing on it.Can they make money online? Well, NO. You need to have focus and planning before execution.Less information – There is this other category of people who jump to execution with limited information and planning. They need to build knowledge, something that no one should ever stop building be it about making money online or any other occupation. Keep yourself updated on information, learn from people, forums, subscriptions, newsletters, books.A fourth reason why people fail to make money online is not being able to take risk, not being able to experiment. You cannot learn till you go all out experimenting and taking risks. Chances are that some of your experiments would fail but unless you experiment you would never learn what ideas work for you to make money online. And there is no one out there sitting to share the tricks of their trade with you. People may guide you about how to make money online but you need to take the risk of experimentation.Are you trying to make money online? Do you identify yourself with any of the above?
Then pull yourself up, plan your course of action than just sitting back and tracking your statistics everyday. Stick to it and have patience to see results. If you persevere you sure can make money online. Start afresh NOW! All the best!