Great Deals on Household Cleaners!

 Does your toilet care what cleaner you use to scrub the bowl?  Do you drive around the neighborhood proudly advertising the product that you use to clean your kitchen counters?  Do you get any social capital from using a certain brand of window cleaner?  If the answer is no, you might as well get your household cleaners as cheaply as possible.  We've been finding that Dollar Tree is a great place to buy cleaning supplies.  To find out what deals we found, read my article -

The Best Place to Buy Household Cleaning Supplies:  Dollar Tree

By Xnatedawgx (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

How to Celebrate the Holidays When You Are Flat Broke

The holidays are almost upon us again.  Thanksgiving.  Christmas.  They should be a season of joy, excitement, and anticipation.  But, they can be tough when you are flat broke.  There are lots of gift giving, family gatherings, and social obligations that can leave you even more broke for the coming year.  Here are some tips on how to celebrate the holiday season when you are flat broke.  With a little luck, you can have a holiday that is more meaningful and more focused on the things that really matter despite financial woes.

How to Celebrate the Holidays When You Are Flat Broke

Free Powerpoint Training Friday!

If you are interested in learning Microsoft Powerpoint, there are lots of free resources online.  One that caught my interest were these Powerpoint Tutorial on Youtube from 10minutetrain.

Powerpoint 2007 Tutorial 1:  Intro to Powerpoint

Powerpoint 2007 Tutorial 2:  Create a Basic Powerpoint from a Template

Powepoint 2007 Tutorial 3:  Create a Basic Powerpoint

While these should get you started, 10minutetrain actually has a series of training videos  on Powerpoint 2007.  You can access them all here -

 14 short training videos on Powerpoint 2007. 

Now, if you can get access to a machine with MS Powerpoint, go out and make a slideshow!

Make Thursday Microsoft Office Training Day!

Despite the popularity of the iPad and Smart Phones, most business is conducted using Microsoft Office.  It's important to know some of the most common MS Office Programs - Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Access.  Fortunately, there are a number of free training resources to help you master Microsoft Office.  While Office 2010 is now being sold, many businesses are still using Microsoft 2007.  So, that might be a good package to work with to get the basics.  Here are some free training pages:

Official Getting Up To Speed with Microsoft Office 2007

Up to Speed with the 2007 Office System

Official Microsoft Office Training Page

Training - Office.com

Wilkes University Microsoft 2007 Video Tutorials

 MS Office Video Tutorials

By Althepal (Original work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Soon, I'll publish some more focused training specific to one package.  First up, Microsoft Powerpoint!

Saving Money on Personal Computers & Software

Computers can really be a drain on the household budget.  It's tough to keep up with the latest and greatest.  Peripherals.  Software.  Security.  They all add up.  If you are flat broke, Apple products have been out of the picture for a long time. Now, Microsoft is offering new tablet computers and a new operating system called Windows 8.  These are all great.  But, if you are broke, there is a lower cost alternative.  The open source software movement offers completely free software developed by a worldwide community of programmers.  Their operating system is called Linux.  It is more secure than Windows and is growing easier to use with every new release.  If you'd like to learn more, check out my newest blog:

N00b2linux

Ubuntu Linux 12.04 LTS By FSOG (Screenshot) [GPL (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

How to Get that Job You Can't Do!

Leaving the world of real estate moguls behind, let's get back to reality and jobs.  When I look at job postings and see skills listed that I don't have or terms that I don't know, I write them down.  Then, I go out to the Internet with three questions:

1. What are these skills or terms?
2. What training do I need to get up to speed?
3. Can I find that training on the Internet or on Youtube for free?

You'd be surprised at the different kinds of training that is available for free on the Internet.  As an IT professional, I find that many software vendors conduct free training online to increase the pool of people who are qualified to use their products.  In many cases, you can even download the software for free.

The Problem with Self-Help Gurus

There is only one problem with self-help gurus.  They tend to be charismatic, outgoing, people with boundless energy, above average intellect, endless reserves of personal courage, the ability to network easily, and amazing communications skills.  It's actually no surprise when they succeed.  When you look around the world for people to emulate, try to find someone who succeeded using skills that you have or can develop.  If you are Oprah Winfrey, don't try to be Donald Trump.  If you aren't Steven Hawkings, perhaps you are J.K. Rowling.  Donald Trump's "Kicking Ass" is much different than Dale Carnegie's winning friends.  Read several gurus and then find your own path . . .