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Fight against credit card rate hikes

by Gerri Willis, CNN finance editor

As expected, credit card issuers are raising fees and rates just before legislative restrictions take place next February. But you don't have to be vulnerable. Here are some alternatives to bank credit cards.

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Cutting Grocery Costs without Cutting Nutrition

Simple, healthy, and affordable ways to weather the rising price of food

by Karen Collins, R.D., American Institute of Cancer Research

Grocery prices are projected to increase again in 2008 – that’s following 2007’s highest annual increase in 17 years. But surviving these tough economic times doesn’t have to mean sacrificing good nutrition. Some simple strategies can help you cut food costs and eat more healthfully, too.

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Madlynn is Kid of the Month

83 Percent of Recruiters Look for Digital Dirt

4 Ways to Clean Up Digital Dirt

by Selena Dehne, JIST Publishing

Job seekers, beware! That MySpace photo of you doing a keg stand may get a few chuckles from friends, but it's no laughing matter in the job market.
Employers are increasingly scouring the Internet for "digital dirt" to help them weed through job candidates. In fact, 83.2 percent of recruiters acknowledged to using online search engines in 2007 to uncover information about candidates, according to ExecuNet, an online referral network for executives and recruiters. Of these recruiters, 43 percent acknowledged eliminating candidates based on the negative information they found.

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Stop these bad work habits now

by CNN and CareerBuilder.com

...Try going on a diet and I guarantee that a freshly baked pizza will break your willpower whether you're on the second or the forty-fifth day...
Here are bad work habits you need to break now:
Confusing casual with disrespectful, Always doing the bare minimum, Not budging from your job title, Forgetting what your job is, Ignoring the chain of command, Operating on your own clock, Badmouthing your colleagues, Flaunting your connections.

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Six Job Hunting Myths Debunked

by Robert Half International

Everyone wants to give job seekers advice, and while much of it is useful, some guidance may miss the mark. Because the employment market is constantly changing, ideas that once worked well may no longer be effective. This doesn't mean you have to second-guess everything you hear, but do be aware of common job-hunting myths, like the following:

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Job markets news
 

*Up to $810 per week* working at home!


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Single Moms - find here resources on financial aid, scholarships, help with basic needs, food, prescription drugs, health care, housing, legal info, and much more...

 

Feedback: Easier to Give Than to Receive

 

by Nancy Ahlrichs Raichart

No one escapes receiving feedback today--not the teacher, hospital administrator, attorney, elected official, consultant, or you: the businesswoman. Your internal and external customers demand accountability from you and anyone else with whom they spend time or money. Everyone is a consumer who expects a degree of satisfaction whenever they interact with you. You expect no less when you are the service or product consumer.

 

Conversely, each of us needs feedback to feel appreciated--and to correct whatever subtleties stand in the way of receiving that appreciation. Honest feedback is a reward valued by even the highest paid individual.

 

The best feedback is mutual, even if the timing is not concurrent. Strong work relationships and trust are built when feedback can be given, discussed, and taken to heart on the part of both people. Whether you are a manager, team member, or sales rep giving feedback to and receiving feedback from employees, peers, or customers, the ideal outcome of is a stronger relationship, improved work skills and lower stress levels.

 

While the performance review has historically been the setting for managers to give mostly one-way feedback, the use of 360-degree assessment tools enables gathering multiple sources of performance data rather than relying on one person's perspective. Relevant peers, employees or customers may contribute their experiences in an effort to further refine both the individual's performance and skills development.

 

Weekly feedback, however, most effectively reinforces desired behaviors so that they are repeated appropriately, and it provides a timely course correction for behaviors that should be modified. Feedback is a key ingredient in employee loyalty and motivation. Here are seven tips for giving feedback more effectively:

 

1. Praise in public and reprimand in private.

 

2. Offer positive feedback whenever possible, but provide negative feedback, if necessary.

 

3. Be specific.

 

4. Offer constructive suggestions.

 

5. Watch your--and their--body language. Meet eye rolling or other negative nonverbal behaviors by saying, "Is there something I am saying that bothers you?"

 

6. Skip the small stuff.If the employee's behavior is not negatively affecting operations, service, quality or customer relations, let it go.

 

7. Accent the positive. Catch someone doing something right-and they are more likely to repeat the behavior appropriately in the future.

 

Receiving feedback is more of an art than a science. Prepare yourself prior to receiving feedback so that the interaction strengthens-not weakens--your relationship.

 

1. Focus and listen. Do not accept phone calls, send emails, allow interruptions or otherwise multi-task.

 

2. Ask the individual to prioritize and clarify if they are giving you multi-part feedback.

 

3. Ask what specific actions or behaviors would be appropriate or preferred.

 

4. Set a reasonable deadline for response. Digest the input before deciding your next course of action.

 

5. Be prepared to act by the deadline. If you cannot act on the feedback, explain why and provide an alternative.

 

Nancy Ahlrichs Raichart speaks at WLE conferences around the U.S.

Her two books, Manager of Choice: 5 Competencies for Cultivating Top Talent, and Competing for Talent: Key Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Becoming an Employer of Choice, may be found in large bookstores and on www.amazon.com.

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Top 8 Tips for Reducing Kids Screen Time This Summer

Reducing time spent in front of televisions and computers is one of the easiest ways to improve your family's health. Here are eight simple ways to limit screen time so you can help crank up your kids’ energy, re-charge their minds, and improve their health.

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What would you change?

Weekly Column, by Annette Bridges

Change -- some people dread it, and others can’t get enough. It may be much like the idiom, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” When it comes to what we would alter or why we would make a modification, the answers vary because we all have different things we value, want, need and consider important.

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Being a Role Model

by Laurie Cesario-Overton

If I had to choose one sentence that would best describe what I feel parents need to learn, it would be this: Be your child's BEST ROLE MODEL in all the ways that truly count. Be your child's HERO. Whatever you do, do it for all the right reasons.

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How to Find the Best Car Loans for Single Moms

Financial Advice for Single Moms

The best car loans for single mothers might be just around the corner at your local car lot.

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3 Money Rules for Stay-at-Home Moms

As we all know, life is unpredictable. We lose jobs, get divorced and even become widowed...
Here are three steps stay-at-home parents should take to better manage their own and the family’s finances.

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You May Have Too Much Debt But You Also Have Options

How Life Works

If you feel like you're in over your head with personal debt, you're not alone. Millions of Americans have become overextended, many as a result of easy credit and the recessions. Credit cards, medical bills, personal loans and raising interest rates do not make a good financial mix.

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Could fat babies mean fat toddlers?

A new study from Harvard Medical School found that babies who gained weight quickly had a sharply higher risk of obesity. The study followed close to 600 babies and found those in the top quarter of weight for their length at 6 months had a 40 percent higher risk of obesity by age 3 than smaller babies.

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Crystal Bowersox - A Single Mom And A Real American Idol

Read how the amazing Crystal Bowersox. the runner-up of American Idol Season 9, handles fame and life as a single mom, raising her 17 month old son.

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5 Ways for Single Moms to Save Money

Single moms are always looking for ways to save money, and for good reason... It’s important to find ways to cut corners on the little things that perhaps you don’t think about too often, because those are usually where your biggest money drains are.

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Suze Orman's Recession Rescue Plan - helps you survive in times of financial crisis

OPRAH.com

Do you know what your family would do if you lost your job - or worse, your home? Financial expert Suze Orman is ready to help you devise a recession rescue plan to survive - and possibly thrive - during this deepening financial crisis...

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Your Just-in-Case Emergency Plan

by RealSimple

Who do you call if you can't make it home in time to meet the kids' bus? Who do you trust to take in your mail when you're on vacation? Who do you trust with the extra set of keys to your house?

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How to save $10,000

By Liz Pulliam Weston

If you were hoping for a list of small tweaks you could make in your spending to save $10,000 a year, sorry. The reality is that $10,000 is a lot of money. And saving big money usually means making big changes in the areas where we spend the most, such as: Housing, Transportation, Food.

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The Super, Sexy, Single Mom on a Budget

by Renee Rayles

A quick reference guide designed for the busy, single mom who has

little time to read while running the mom taxi, cooking dinner, helping with homework, and trying to fit in a date night every now and then.

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Single Mothers &
Male Role-Models / Mentors

Single mothers carry an enormous load of responsibility, especially those having sole and/or primary custody of minor children. They nourish, they nurture, they teach, they discipline, they shelter, they protect, and they provide… all without the assistance of another equally-invested adult.

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Mom's Obesity Raises Newborn's Heart Risk

from the National Institute of Health

The more obese a woman is when she becomes pregnant, the greater the likelihood that her newborn baby will have a congenital heart defect, a new study suggests. The finding raises concerns because 1 in 5 women are obese at the start of pregnancy in the United States.

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The 10-Ingredient Shopping Trip

By Tara Parker-Pope and Mark Bittman

... In his latest “How to Cook Everything” segment on the Today Show, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman makes it surprisingly easy to cook a week’s worth of dinners with just a 10-ingredient shopping trip.

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Your 5-minute guide to protecting your identity

20 steps to protect yourself from identity theft, and seven ways to clean up things if you become a victim.

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TheOnlineMom.com offers parents and consumers a guide to the top-rated, age-appropriate, kid-tested and parent-approved tech toys and gifts.

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Single Moms in the News

6 Best Celebrity Single Moms
Read about Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Michelle Williams, Reese Witherspoon, Kimora Lee Simmons, Mary-Louise Parker... read more

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw

by Jeff Kinney

For those wondering why tween boys don’t read very much, the answer is that more books aren’t like this...

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34 Ways to Reduce College Costs


Cooperative education programs allow students to alternate between working full time and studying full time. This type of employment program is not based upon financial need, and students can earn as much as $7,000 per year.
Some colleges give credit for life experiences, thereby reducing the number of credits needed for graduation. Students should check with the college for further information.

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8 Ways to Survive - and Thrive - in a New Job

by Robert Half International

... The initial months on a job can be exciting, but they also are critical to shaping your manager's and co-workers' opinions about your potential in the new role, as well as laying the groundwork for success within the organization...

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Answer Key Interview Questions Like a Pro

by Robin Ryan, Author of "60 Seconds and You're Hired"

"We would like you to come in for an interview" are the wonderful words every job hunter longs to hear. All that stands in the way of your new job is acing the interview and handling the questions like a pro. Long, babbling answers or monosyllabic replies aren't effective.

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Factors to Consider Before Accepting a Job Offer

by Robert Half International

Searching for a job is hard work. Scanning help-wanted listings, researching companies, sending out customized cover letters and résumés and attending interviews can be tiring and time-consuming. If you're like most job seekers, you're excited -- or at least relieved -- when your efforts result in an employment offer.

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How to Identify Your Transferable Skills

by Rachel Zupek, CareerBuilder.com writer

This "finding a career" thing is tricky business.

You go to college and major in one thing -- but find yourself in a job opposite from what you spent four years studying. Or, you land a job that's exactly in line with your college major -- but discover it's not what you had in mind.

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Four Ways to Get Hired Faster

by Mark Krajnik, CEO, Next Level Solutions

The difference between being proactive and reactive is time. Reactive people wait for things to happen to them, while proactive people go out and make things happen. Timing is key in any career move, so it is up to you to make things happen.

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Industries That Will GAIN The Most Jobs In Next Decade
Huffington Post

We've seen the deterioration of certain industries and massive disruption in employment. But, in the next decade there will certainly be a corresponding expansion in some unexpected areas. Earlier this month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics forecast the industries in which it expects the most job growth over the next decade.

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