18 Money Saving Ideas Worth Exploring

Money plays a key role for all of us. It surely makes our lives comfortable if not perfect. Having money helps us getting most of what we desire in our life.

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Wealth can be created by three fundamental means – Earning, Investing and Saving. If any of these three means is lacking, it can significantly impact our wealth creation objectives.

Saving money is an attitude or a habit which can be inculcated. Anyone can develop this attitude given that he or she consciously works towards it.

Today, I would like to highlight some money saving ideas worth exploring by anyone. Many of them are just reminders. You may choose which ones are suitable to your life-style.

Let us have a look!!

Choose your travel mode wisely - Each travel mode has its own pros and cons.

1. As far as time permits, travel by public transport. Not just it is highly economical, but in big cities it also saves the challenge of finding a parking for your vehicle and a probable expense for parking.

2. Limit number of personal vehicles you own. Owning and travelling by personal vehicle is convenient but at a significant cost. Apart from the purchase cost, it also incorporates regular expenses in form of insurance renewal, regular maintenance & service expenses and fuel cost.

3. Travelling by taxi could be cheaper than using your personal car in the long run. Anyone can do the math and find this out easily. Further, it is less tiring and more convenient travelling by a taxi as you can utilize your time better in the comfort of your seat.      

Seize the money saving opportunities at home – Your home is a great place to start looking for money saving opportunities. Let us look at some of them.

4. Judicious use & consumption of electricity can save good money. Go for energy efficient CFL bulbs/tube-lights/other appliances. They not only consume less electricity (as low as 20%-30% of normal in case of CFL) but also have longer life.  Develop a habit of switching off fans, lights and other appliances when not in use.

5. Relook your cable TV needs. Now-a-days, we are not just dependent on TV for entertainment needs. Depending on your needs, customize your cable TV plans. Pay only for the channels that you view regularly. There is no need to subscribe to standard cable channels plans. This way you can save a good amount of money.

6. Re-evaluate your telephone/mobile requirements. In the current time, everyone has their own mobile phones. Given that, do you really need a land-line at home? This is mostly redundant for which we need to pay the bill regularly. If you have multiple mobile sim-cards, re-think and justify the need of it.

7. Subscribe to news-papers only if required. In this online world with over-flow of news and information, do you really need to subscribe to the newspaper? Most of the time, we subscribe for multiple newspapers but we don’t have the time to read anyone of them. Look at your requirements and then decide.

8. Sell stuff you don’t need. There are many options of selling your redundant stuff online without any hassles. This way you not only get some money but also get some space freed up in your home.

Size of your apartment determines your expenses – If you are really serious about money savings, this is an important area where you can reduce your expenses. However, depending on your needs, take mindful decision for yourself.  

9. Rent/maintenance expenses for large house is significantly higher than smaller house

10. You require more maids/servants for a larger house.   Even, maid/servant charges are more for bigger apartments.

11. You need more fans, tube-lights, electrical appliances for a larger home

Need for furniture and other stuff are higher if you have larger space availability.

Plan well for your shopping needs–

12. Plan in advance for your major shopping needs. Planning in advance and buying in bulk help you getting good discounts.

13. Look for any deals & Offers. There are so many promotional offers especially when you are buying in bulk. Look at them and take benefit wherever you feel so.

14. Look for generic options especially medicines. Medicine expenses are really high now-a-days. Understand the concept of generic medicines. These medicines are generally equally effective but come at very low costs (as low as 10% of non-generic versions). Go for them after consulting with your doctor.

15. Go credit-card less. This is more psychology linked. Paying cash hurts more than paying via cards. Using this trick controls your desire for unnecessary shopping.

Save money by learning things for free – Yes, this is true. Just check it out.

16. Learn from each other. One of my friend’s sons used to go to a music class to learn Keyboard. After coming back home, the kid used to teach the same to his brother and father. Isn’t it a wonderful way of learning a new skill by paying just for one?

17. Learn online. You can learn literally anything online. From web development, yoga to content writing to almost anything. There are numerous free courses available at platforms like Coursera etc. You just need to identify what you want to learn and you can find courses online to learn it for free.

Take good care of things you own –

18. Take good care of all things you own – A famous quote says – “A stitch in time saves nine”. Use this advice for the things you own. Take good care of your vehicles, AC, Washing machine, TV, refrigerator etc. Go for regular service of these items. This will save a lot of money in terms of unnecessary repairs, in case of break-down in the long term. Not just this, this will also increase the life of the items you own so that there will be less need for replacement.

Try some of the money saving ideas as mentioned above and let us know in comments if any of them worked for you. 

Happy reading!! 

7 Healthy Lifestyle Tips for Busy Life

In our busy lives, we find it really challenging to spare quality time towards our health. Here are few amazing healthy lifestyle tips which can be easily squeezed in your busy lives.

    Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash

Everyone is too busy now-a-days. If we look at our daily schedule, the top priorities for us are generally work, kids and home. Most of us spend our entire day on these priorities. Though everyone feels the need to spare some time for health, but only few of us are able to achieve this.

Every task requires time.

The general belief is that any health related activity including Gym, Yoga etc may require sparing at least 1-2 hours per day.

In contrary to the general belief, I want to share some amazing health lifestyle tips which can be easily incorporated in your busy schedule without using too much of your time. Not just this, implementing these tips will also make you feel great the entire day.

Here you go!!  

1. Drink lots of water/fluids – This is no secret. Water is required for smooth running of majority of our bodily functions. For the same, we require to drink at least 7-8 glasses of water/fluids every-day.

Tip – Drink at least 2 glasses of water when you wake up. Make a habit to drink some water whenever you return from toilet. Keep a water bottle handy at your working table. Drink 1-2 glasses of water before going to bed.

2. Eat healthy – Everyone knows this. Never skip breakfast as it is the most important meal of the day. Eat small portions of food at regular intervals. Focus on balanced diet with mix of protein, carbohydrates and fat rich foods.

Tip – Keep roasted cereals with you near your working desk. Have them whenever you have an urge to eat something. They are not only tasty but also very healthy. Carry fruits (like apple, banana, pears etc) or salads to work and use them as fillers between meals.   

3. Keep track of your nutrient levels – This is really important. The key ones are calcium, Vitamin D and Vitamin B12. Majority of body pains (including pain in bones, muscles), neurological symptoms (like weak memory, brain fog); body weakness and tiredness are due to deficiency of these three.

Tip – Keep track of these nutrients by doing blood tests every six months. Supplement any deficiencies if required after consulting with your family doctor.

4. Run regularly – This is most basic. Running has tremendous health benefits. It keeps heart, lungs and bones healthy. It keeps stress levels to the minimum and helps in reducing weight. It makes you strong and energetic.

Tip – Try to incorporate running in your morning schedule if possible. You need not spend much time here. Running for only 12-15 minutes in a day will give you all the benefits mentioned above. Just inculcate this habit  in your routine.

5. Stretch to have great health – This one is interesting. Stretching provides your body overall flexibility, your joints range of motion and releases tightness from all areas in your body. Stretching is a kind of ‘semi-yoga’ with very little time commitments, yet with huge health benefits. Stretching routines generally take 5-10 minutes every day and can be done very easily at home.  

Tip – Read and learn about stretching for initial kick-start. Spare 5-10 minutes daily for this health routine. You may also download and use some wonderful free ‘stretching apps’ on your mobile to do regular stretching sessions.  

6. Avoid late night meals – This is must for maintaining a healthy digestive system. If you frequently encounter poor digestion and acid reflux problems, following this routine will reduce the episodes of your problems. This one habit will also help you with a sound sleep.    

Tip – As far as possible, have your dinner early and at a fixed time every day. Having fennel seeds after food is a great way to boost digestion. Brush your teeth after dinner in order to suppress any further desire to eat in night. Take a small walk after dinner and before retiring to bed.

7. Don’t compromise on sleep – This is obvious. Sleeping keeps us sane. We require minimum 7-8 hours of sleep for healthy life. It is interesting to note that during the sleep our brain flushes out toxic chemicals which get produced when we are awake. During the sleep only, our brain re-structures our thoughts & memories and makes their impressions stronger, which boosts our long term memory and improves our effectiveness & productivity.

Tip – Don’t consider sleeping as a waste of time. Sleep enhances our creativity and capacity to think. Even small naps during any time of the day can help us in the similar way.

Value your health. It is really important to you. Use the above healthy lifestyle tips to make most of it!!

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How To Job Search If You Get Laid Off – 9 Practical Tips

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For many of us, job is not just a source of income but it is much more than that. Job gives us an identity and a purpose in life as our entire productive time during the day revolves around it.

Losing a job can never be easy. No one ever imagined that this can happen with any one of us. A sudden job loss can be really shocking, frustrating, de-motivating and it has the capacity to hit our self esteem in a negative way.

Companies doing lay-offs is not very uncommon, however, not every lay off is linked to employee performance. People are laid off due to multiple reasons including industry down-turn, organizational restructuring, personality issues, ethical issues, department closures etc to mention a few. What-ever could be the reason, the person getting laid off always has an opportunity to move ahead, start again and look for newer paths. 

Let us look at some of the practical tips that will not only help you to re-evaluate yourself but also help you to get a new job at the earliest possible.

1. Take a break to discover you – While working on a job you just keep on running, trying to meet your targets and calendar deadlines. This is probably the first time in your career you need-not have to get ready to go to the office.  I suggest you not to rush for finding a new job (if possible). Take a small break. Sit at home or plan a trip. Have some personal time to discover yourself. Deliberate if you are on the right track and working on the job you really love? This is the most important question to be answered for a happy, rewarding career.

2. Update your cover letter/CV and Online profiles – Once you are ready for the job search, prepare a brief yet comprehensive ‘cover letter’ and update your ‘CV’. The importance of cover letter/CV can’t be ignored. They are the instruments that will help you getting interview calls. Take professional help if you are not really confident about them.   

3. Talk to your family & close friends – Your family and close friends are the most trusted companions. They are the ones who fully support you in your difficult times. Take this opportunity to get close to your near & dear ones. Talking to them will help you to come back to the normal quickly so that you can focus on your job search with a positive frame of mind. 

4. Re-ignite your old network/colleagues – Now since you have initiated your job search, the first set of people you should reach out are your colleagues/friends from your old network. They are the ones who know you well and are aware of your capabilities. They can recommend your credentials in their network and help you getting some relevant interview calls. Now-a-days, most of the companies are recruiting new candidates through references as it makes their job easier. They get recommended candidates who can easily fit in their company culture.     

5. Reach out to your previous companies – If you have worked with some other companies in the past and had built a great reputation there, this is the time for you to reconsider them and reach out to them for any newer opportunities. Given that you have done some good work for them earlier, they will be more than happy to relook at you for any relevant opportunities with them.

6. Make best use of internet/social media – Internet has really made our life easy. Job search portals are helping us to identify and reach out to relevant jobs in the shortest possible time. Apart from traditional job portals, make use of portals like ‘linked-in’ to reach out to professionals/job consultants in your industry. Don’t shy asking for help show-casing your competencies/experience. Reaching out to people from your industry is a great source of getting new leads for your job search.

7. Don’t just spend entire day on job search – To be frank, job search can be a really stressful task. Don’t overdo it; make a routine for your day. Don’t focus on job search for more than 2 hours in a day. Given that you have time on hand, use it to focus on your hobbies, improving health and developing new skills in your field. This will indirectly support you in your job search by keeping you calm, sane and updated.

8. Keep a record of all advance stage interview leads – In case your job search drags for long, you will be having a big number of potential job leads for employment which you may need to follow up after regular intervals. Keeping a record of all advance stage leads with relevant details will simplify your job search process.  

9. Be open for part time/temporary/other jobs till you get the right fit – This can be a personal call for each individual however I recommend you to be open for all kinds of jobs till you get your best fit job. A relevant job search for an experienced individual may take up to 6 months or sometimes more. A make-shift job will not only help you paying your bills but also help you to be in touch with the market. This will also tell a lot about your adaptive qualities and create a positive reputation for you in front of your future employers.    

The journey to job search may be tough but you will be able to overcome this if you keep a positive frame of mind all along the way. Just get in and give your best.

It would be great if you share your job search experiences in the comments section!!

Taking Cricket as a Career in India – Pros & Cons

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Cricket as a sport is one of the most loved games across entire South Asia including India. Cricket was introduced in India by the British. It was considered as a gentlemen’s game and played by only rich and elite.  Post India’s independence, Cricket has surpassed any other sports in the country in popularity and fan-following. Now the game is so popular that it has become the game of masses.

Historically, most of the sports including Cricket were merely considered as a source of recreation and entertainment by the people of India. Cricket as a career was never viewed as an option by youngsters & their families. Further, it was tougher to be selected as a part of national cricket team, given the intense competition for the limited number of positions available in the team. The parents always wanted their Children to study and take up careers like administration, banking, engineers, doctors etc to mention a few.

However, now the times have changed slowly but significantly. Given the commercialization of sports, there are much wider and better options available in cricket for the youngsters. The fame, money and career options are not just limited to the players of national cricket team. The new cricket formats like Indian Premier League (IPL) etc have widened the scope of the game and have provided newer opportunities of career advancement for more & more youths (even if they are not part of national cricket team).

Given the new opportunities burgeoning in this space, cricket has surely become a lucrative career option for today’s youth. Let us look at various aspects of the game that has changed over time and has impacted the thought process of the youth to take cricket as a career for them.

The Pros

Changing mindset towards Sports as a career - The mindset for Sports as a career has changed for good. The parents are no longer inclined only towards academics (& related fields) for building a career. Rather, now the focus has shifted towards individual’s passions and interests.  Fields like sports, arts, vocations etc have become viable career options for consideration.

Rising opportunities – There was a time when opportunities in cricket were very limited. The players who couldn’t make it to the national team were considered a failure and had a career full of struggles. Now the situation has changed. Due to the advent of new formats (like T-20 cricket) and new tournaments (like IPL), the opportunities in cricket has multiplied. There are so many cricketers like Rishabh Pant, Chahal, Bumrah, Samson etc who have risen to the ranks of national team mainly through platforms like IPL.

More career and fall-back options – Playing professional cricket is not the only option available for the youngsters. Once a person has prepared to become a professional cricketer, even if he is not very successful in professional cricket he can look at alternate career options within cricketing arena (like becoming Umpire, Commentator, Physiotherapist, Support Staff, Manager, Coordinator etc) for various professional teams at franchise, state, national and international level. Additionally, a professional player may become a coach by opening a private academy or decide to work in schools/colleges as cricket coach. The options are diverse.

The Cons

Intense competition – With India having population of 1.3 billion and everyone so passionate about the game, there is no doubt that one has to face intense competition to become professional cricketer in India. Obviously some youngsters still make it to the top but it is not easy at all. There will be challenges along the way even if you are highly talented.

Need to have a God-father – Just like for film industry, it is also being said for cricket that one needs support from a God-father to be selected at the top-most levels (national level) in cricket. However, given the rising number of opportunities this is of lesser importance since you still need to showcase talent, hard work and passion to reach to middle levels (state/franchise level).    

Subjective selection criteria – The selection criteria of cricketers for the higher level is considered subjective and lacking fair processes to measure a player’s performance. There could be many factors impacting the performance of a player (like strength of opposition team, type of pitch etc). Apart from the performance, players also need to aware about the importance of being on top of the mind of media and selectors.

Quality of cricket infrastructure – Ever after so much attention on cricket, the cricket infrastructure in India is not yet fully modernized and competitive. Most of the cricket pitches in India are flat and batsman friendly. These pitches are unfair for the bowlers as they are not able to perform to the best of their potential. The best performing batsmen on Indian pitches fail to impress on fast pitches in many other countries. This is high time for Indian cricket authorities to focus on cricket infrastructure for training & identifying best talent for the country.  

For taking cricket as a career, one needs to be really passionate about it. If one is passionate enough, then he need not worry about making a successful career in this game as there will be enough opportunities available for him. Just make a plan and keep on giving your best.