Travel – Page 2

Top Tips for Traveling Responsibly on a Budget

Traveling responsibly on a budget can be an incredible challenge. Not only do you want to save money, but you want to do so in a way that respects the local country.

Here are a few tips to help you do this.

Start with Setting a Weekly Budget

Setting daily budgets while traveling is rather unrealistic. That’s because your expenses can fluctuate drastically.

Crossing the border from Laos to Cambodia might cost you $50, plus $40 for the visa. If that went into your daily expense, that’d mean you couldn’t eat or sleep that day.

Instead of using daily expenses, use weekly expenses. If you have high expenses one day, compensate by lowering your expenses on a different day.

Make sure you’re tracking your expenses while you travel. It can be very tough to keep track of everything but do your best to write down everything you spend when you spend it.

Eat at Small, Local Shops

Eating at small local shops is a great way to save money and support the local economy.

In most major tourist destinations today you’ll find KFC, McDonald’s and other major chains. You’ll also find many upper-class restaurants and many restaurants that sell Western food.

By and large, however, these restaurants are much more expensive than just eating local foods. They’re also often owned by foreigners or global corporations.

Beware of Waste

You can save money and travel responsibly by reducing the amount of waste you produce.

Try to buy as few water bottles as possible. Refill wherever you can find clean water.

Trade books with other travelers rather than buy books. Most hostels and guesthouses have book trade shelves set up, which makes it easy to find interesting reads along the way.

Try not to print anything unless it’s necessary. Get maps from hostels or hotels instead of printing them yourself.

Get to Know Locals

Getting to know locals is not only fun – but it can also save you a lot of money.

Locals don’t eat at the same places that tourists do. They eat at little-known places that taste great and cost half the price.

It’s very difficult to find great places to eat and shop when you’re in a different country. Anything that’s written about in guidebooks is likely to be overpriced and will surely attract people just trying to sell to tourists.

Instead, have a local show you all the most amazing places that nobody else has discovered. You’ll get the real scoop on what it’s like to live in that city.

These are a few different ways you can stick to a reasonable budget while interacting responsibly with the culture and people.

We hope this information was beneficial. You can have anything you want if you are enthusiastic about putting in the time, effort and plans to get to your goals. Discover the secrets why the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. Click Here to view a video with more life tips!

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Your Meds and Your Sexual Health

Summary:

Try as one might, any and all forms of medication will always carry the risk of having side effects that affect another aspect of the body. A person’s sexual health falls under this area, with two forms of medication that can have drastic effects in the sexual arena. These drugs are antidepressants and heart medication.

sexual health:

The realm of sexual health can often be a touchy subject for some people. There are thousands of potential cultural, psychological, religious, and personal factors that come into play when talking about sexual health. However, one thing that most people can agree upon is that there are physiological and biochemical factors in that sort of thing that can affect the physical aspect of the topic. Various medications, even ones that may not necessarily be related to sexual health or the areas of the body that are directly connected to it, may have side effects that alter one’s libido or physical ability to “perform.” Sex-related disorders can be caused by a variety of medications so it would be good for most people to have some idea of what effects such medications might have on the user.

There are various ways that sexual health can be affected by medication. The first thing that concerns some would be the effect that drugs might have on one’s libido. There are several drugs that can reduce the libido as a side effect, basically causing a sharp decline in sexual desire. Another problem would be the ability to maintain sexual arousal, to the point that the ability to achieve orgasms can sometimes be affected in a negative manner. The sustainability of an erection can also be a problem in males, though there appears to be no corresponding problem for females. Whether this is due to the perceived difficulty of sustaining sexual arousal in a female or because there are no side effects of that sort for women is a matter of debate.

Antidepressants are among the many classifications of medication that can influence a person’s sexual health. Most antidepressants work by inhibiting various neural receptors in the nervous system and brain, such as serotonin. In most cases, this is not really a problem, because these chemicals have no known direct effects on a person’s sexual health and libido. However, there are some circumstances where the mix of a person’s individual biochemistry and the effects of the drug can result in any number of side effects, not the least of which can have repercussions in the sexual arena. The effects of this sort of problem usually last for about if a person is taking the type of antidepressant that initially caused the problem. In most situations, a simple change of antidepressant (which may or may not be a simple feat to accomplish) is enough to alleviate the immediate effects.

The flow of blood is very important to sexual performance, though the purposes of it are more painfully obvious for the male half of the species. As such, any medications or drugs that influence the circulatory system can have drastic effects on a person’s sexual health. Any medication used to treat hypertension and high blood pressure can potentially have effects on things like erection, arousal, and performance. Obviously, blood pressure and the overall health of the cardiovascular system can have effects on endurance and the ability to sustain physical activity. While these are not directly related to sex, it does have effects on it.

You can have anything you want if you are willing to put in the time, effort and plans to get to your goals. Discover the secrets why the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. Click Here to view a video with more life tips! In closing, I invite you to share your commits on this and all the posts. Like us on Facebook and Google Plus. Remember to keep an open mind and Shift 4 Freedom.

Do you need help from a Financial Advisor?

We seek help from professionals in all different things such as doctors and accountants, so why not consider using a financial advisor to plan your financial future. Perhaps it’s the result of our grandparent’s generation and a fundamental lack of trust when it comes to sharing our financial situation with others. But could it be that this is one area where we are simply afraid to admit that we do not hold the answers? It’s money after all; we should be able to control it, where it’s going, and what it will do when it gets there right? I’m afraid the answer to that would be, “Not exactly.”

Just as the tax codes in this country have become so complicated that you need a magic decoder ring to sort through them and pay your taxes, so have the rules and regulations when it comes to setting aside funds for the specific purpose of financial retirement planning. One of the reasons they are so complicated is because that many of the plans have unique and very specific tax benefits either before or after the money is received. In other words, don’t put away those magic decoder rings too quickly. You may need them in a few years.

The bottom line is that a good financial planner can help you navigate your way through the treacherous territory of taxes in relation to your financial planning and so much more. Most importantly, however, a good financial planner can clue you into opportunities that you may not know about or may not know enough about. It is their business to know about the many opportunities that exist to set aside and make money for you and your family.

A good financial planner can help you plan for so much more than retirement. In fact, a very good financial planner can help you plan for your retirement, the college funds for your children, emergency funds for life’s little mishaps, and a little bit to put towards those special purchases we like to make along the way.

They can do all the things mentioned above by assessing your current situation, your future needs, your current means, and your future goals. They will discuss spending issues that may be problematic, make suggestions, and help you come up with a realistic plan for meeting your goals. Their work doesn’t stop there, however. They will monitor your progress and when necessary make adjustments that will help you get back on track with your financial planning.

Many people feel that they are perfectly capable of doing this on their own and the truth of the matter is that some people are. The clear majority of us, however, lack the discipline, willpower, and the knowledge of investment strategies to make nearly the return on our investments that a good financial planner will yield. When planning your financial retirement and the future of your family you should keep the bottom line in mind always. If a good financial planner can net you $100,000 or more in retirement funds over time, he’s well worth the price you pay for his service.

Some of the best things about a financial advisor are that you won’t have to pay the sometimes-high price that comes with learning from your mistakes. You will have his or her knowledge and experience working for your money rather than your own inexperience risking it. He or she can also help you with estate planning and tax guidance so that you aren’t left floundering in these matters. He or she can also help you determine your insurance needs to protect those you leave behind. A good financial advisor will help you to maximize your retirement fund so you have what you need in the future.

Discover the secrets why the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. Click Here to view a video with more life tips! In closing, I invite you to share your commits on this and all the posts. Like us on Facebook and Google Plus. Remember to keep an open mind and Shift 4 Freedom.

Are Your Limiting Beliefs Stopping You from Achieving Your Goals?

Everyone has conscious or subconscious ideas that can become limiting beliefs that stop us from achieving our goals if we let them. Sometimes these beliefs are instilled in us in childhood and sometimes we create them ourselves. An example of a limiting belief that can get in your way of success is how you see yourself with money.

If you believe you will always struggle and always be poor, chances are you’ll set yourself up for failure. Your limiting belief that you’re poor and that you always will be poor becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The same can be said about anything negative in your life that limits you – whether it’s career, education, or personal such as being healthy and of normal weight. If you see yourself a certain way, it can be hard to change that view and let go of that limiting belief.

There are eight telling phrases that point to a limiting belief:

“It’s hopeless” – Anytime you use the word “never” is a clue that you’re focusing on a limiting belief. For example: “I’ll never have any money because you need money to make money.”

“I’m helpless” – When most people feel uneducated or helpless, they blame their circumstances instead of working to change them. “I can’t manage my money because I don’t know how” sounds insightful, but the part that’s missing is the feeling of helplessness when all you need to do is take a personal finance course or practice the lessons in “Smart Money Systems”.

“It’s useless” – The idea that nothing you do will make a difference is that you believe that any action you take won’t make a difference. “It doesn’t matter if I work out an hour a day, I won’t lose weight anyway.” How do you know? Have you tried to do anything for longer than a couple of weeks?

“It’s the universe” – Sometimes a limiting belief has to do with the idea that outside forces that you can’t control are at work keeping you down. You can’t find a job or get clients because the economy sucks, where you live is depressed, you don’t have the right clothing and so forth, but you do nothing in your power to change it because it’s destiny. “Everything happens for a reason” type of thinking can be very limiting and make you feel powerless.

“I’m worthless” – The idea that you’re not smart enough or good enough to do what you really want can be a very strong limiting belief system and seems to affect women more than men. You feel you’re not pretty enough, smart enough, or good enough to have something, so you don’t take the steps to achieve it because you don’t feel that you deserve it.

“It’s genetic” – While there are certainly some instances where genetics play a huge role in a person’s life, the truth is that almost everything that is genetic can be fixed with the right mindset, training, exercise, and outlook. You’re not stuck with your genetics, but if you think you are, you may not try any of the things to pull yourself out of the rut you’re stuck in.

“I’ll fail” – The truth is the fear of failure is something most people have a limiting belief. “I’m a bad public speaker so if I do it, I’ll be judged, and I’ll fail anyway so why try” is a common refrain. But, how can you set that belief in stone if you’ve not tried?

“I’m different” – The limiting belief about being different is that different is necessarily bad. You don’t want to be who you are because you’re different and you’ll be looked at as different by other people. You’re afraid to be who you are, and because of that you don’t even know who you are, and you’re too scared to find out due to fear of rejection and ending up alone.

If you ever hear any of these phrases go through your head, try to disconnect from them, and turn them around to “why not me” instead of “why me.” Always ask “why not me” because the truth is, you’re not feeling anything different from anyone else who has made goals and achieved them. The difference is in the doing, not the intelligence or talent.

A Community College Education is a Good Start

Many people search and search for the University they will attend upon graduation from high school. Eager students look forward to their time at university while parents wring their hands hoping that their children choose to attend a university that is not only close to home but also within their budget limitations. Another worry that parents have when their children decide to attend college is whether that university they attend will have the specialized and individualized services that their children were accustomed to receiving in high school. Face, it; larger universities tend to be rather impersonal when it comes to the education of their students.

One answer to all those worries and more is to transition your students from high school to a two-year college rather than throwing them to the University wolves so to speak. Many people find that two-year colleges can, in fact, provide superior educations to four-year universities for those first two years or foundation college level courses. You will not get the specialized or specific instruction in a two-year college that is available to upper-level students on a university level but most students find the first two years of their college educations focused on getting the requirement and prerequisite courses rather than the specialized courses in their intended field of study.

Many people also find that those first two years at a community college-transitioning from a small pond to a larger lake-are much easier to handle than going straight from high school to a university-out of the pond and into the ocean. Universities often have lower level classes as auditorium classes. These classes offer little individual instruction and are often sink or swim sorts of classes. Those students who have special learning needs are often lost in the shuffle when entering a university. Community colleges offer smaller classes and ample opportunities for tutoring as well as classes on how to learn to study.

Two-year colleges are also much easier on the budget than most universities. Most people find that community college does not place nearly the financial burdens on families that universities place. Add to that the fact that most community colleges offer very flexible class scheduling and even some courses online and you will find that there are many reasons to consider community college that go well beyond mere budgeting requirements.

Another benefit to students who wish to enter the work force sooner rather than later is that you can get a degree or certification in certain programs from a two-year college. This means that you can actually graduate and begin earning much sooner than if you were to attend a four-year college in search of a degree. If you aren’t sure you want to invest the next four or five years of your life in pursuit of a degree or you simply aren’t ready to commit yourself to one line of work for the rest of your life it is an innovative idea to spend two years in a community college rather than making the leap straight into a university setting.

If you are considering whether a community college or two-year education is the best course of action for your specific needs, I really recommend creating a list of pros and cons of each and balancing your budget to see where your needs are most likely to be fully met. Remember you can always transfer to a university once you’ve completed your two-year college education or at any time during that education if you meet the universities admission requirements. Good luck and remember that your college education is one of the largest indicators of your future earning potential so take it seriously.