Setting Good Examples for Kids – Inspire the Future

There’s no rule stating that you have to be a perfect example as a parent. In fact, it’s virtually impossible to do so. Your goal, however, should be setting an example that inspires your kids’ future choices.

This could involve sharing your mistakes and successes. Children of different ages have the capacity to understand a great deal. It’s up to us to find easy applications and lessons that relate to daily life.

Young kids can learn from your suggestion to not run without looking. This is a simple lesson that makes sense right where they are. Older kids are sponges for good examples, too.

Sharing why it’s important to stand up for your beliefs may be a broad stance. Inserting lessons specific to you can be truly helpful.

Adopting a Healthy Diet

Kids watch what you do! If you tell them to eat healthy, you’d better be a good example for this, as well. it doesn’t matter whether you are choosing veggies sticks over chips or a salad over a burger.

Parents who adopt healthy diets are setting an example to their kids. Discussions about reasonable choices are good methods for starting the conversation.

Budgeting for Purchases

Relaying the importance of living on a budget to your children could be challenging. A 5-year old understands the correlation between good behavior and getting a sought after toy.

This same child can also learn how to reserve something now for a later date. Tweens and teens are ready for budgeting on a large or small scale. Start with tracking where their allowance goes each month.

Being a Good Friend

Many of our grandparents encouraged us to be a good friend, if we were looking for a good friend. This isn’t a dated message. Showing this through real life examples, parents can explain the efforts they take as a friend.

Sharing these experiences and motivations, at your child’s learning level can help. This like all important things will take time, but can impact the future. Sites, such as Cleverly Changing offer parents an opportunity to not only learn from previous mistakes.

It is possible to visit this site and gain budgeting, parenting, product selections and healthy living tips. These areas are terrific considerations for adopting good examples.

Remember that these are not simply individual lifestyle choices, but ways to model and inspire how our kids may live in the future.

Work Outside of the Box

In recent years there have been millions of job seekers deposited into the unemployment arena. Many of these people are those who have worked in the same industry for decades. Things were very different when they last had to look for work. Technology, for example, did not present so many options.

The internet itself is not simply a way to look for employment. It has become, in many instances, an employer for those ready for unique work opportunities. There are many different types of job options that are available online. It does take a bit of research to find out what’s out there. You will also need to apply flexibility to what you consider work to be. Let’s take a look at some of the earning options the internet presents.

Article Writing


Freelance writing is definitely one of the hidden opportunities that are available. There are many sites that connect writers with clients. Elance and oDesk are two examples in this category. Some clients are affiliated with magazines, websites and blogs. They are looking for someone to provide web content for their niche industry. Articles are used to steer traffic to sites or to sell products.

Blog Writing

There are a variety of different blogs on the internet. Some of these are related to companies, organizations and institutions. Blog owners don’t often have the time to produce current content. Blog writers come in and answer this particular need. Blogs are generally shorter than articles and tend to require posts of 350 to 400 words each.

Resume Writing

There are general freelance sites that provide resume writing services. You will also discover through searches specific sites only for resumes. These sites pay writers per resume and cover letter provides. This type of work is done based upon your own schedule and availability. The average fee for a resume is $20-$25 for the writer.

Customer Service

Small businesses often look for help as it relates to customer service. They are unable to pay a full-time salary but will outsource services. These jobs may require answering calls (routed to home phones), taking orders, making appointments and other clerical tasks. Some of the projects in this category are issued per contract. Contracts can last weekly, monthly or even longer.

 

 

 

Tackle Poverty in Your Area

There are many different movements sweeping across the country right now. These are grass roots opportunities for the average person to get involved in their community. Some movements, like the Smiley & West, Poverty Tour have been greatly publicized. Following this stirring charge to address the suffering of the poorest among us, came Occupy Wall Street.

 Sentiments sparked by these movements have gone from state-to-state. There are millions of other citizens that want to get involved and to take a stand. Some of these individuals live in remote locations. Others simply don’t know where to get started. You don’t have to reside in a mega-city in order to tackle issues like poverty. Surprisingly, there are things that people can do right where they are.

Help your neighborsOne of the things that have become old-fashioned in our culture is to simply help the people around us. We would probably be surprised to find out what the needs are of our neighbors. Believe it or not, this is a place to start with tackling poverty. There are people who are cruising the line of poverty all around us. You could help your neighbors by providing a meal once a week. This is an inexpensive way, in most cases, to show love and to supply a need.

Start a pantrySome churches keep a pantry on hand for those in need. Addressing the issues of hunger is a big challenge. A good place to start is to begin your own pantry. It doesn’t take a lot of funds to stock up on sale items, most non-perishable. These are things that can be shared with your circle or friends or those needier. A garage, storage closet, and other small storage facilities can make a great pantry.

Support giving organizations

If the Speed of Life prevents you from doing more, why not support organizations that are already up and running? This may be your local soup kitchen, homeless shelter, or national organization. These outlets need the financial support of everyone willing to give. They also welcome volunteers, which is another opportunity for you to tackle poverty where you live.

Refinancing Your Home - A Way to Survive the Economy

The average household is looking for ways to save money. The economy has affected many families. Some have lost jobs, homes, and businesses. Finding ways to bring in money is very important. At the same time, people want to be able to keep the money that they have. Refinancing homes is definitely one opportunity that homeowners are considering.

Ironically, the housing market led to the situation that we’re in now. Those who are able to re-finance are in a great situation. This could be a great way for families to re-vamp their finances. Adding more money to the family budget gives people a chance to actually save money. There are a number of different benefits to re-financing your mortgage.

Paying a lower monthly payment
The most popular benefit that everyone thinks of when considering re-financing is a lower payment. For many people, this opportunity could completely transform their budgets. The money saved in this process can allow for a cushion in case of emergency.

Eliminating other debt
The money that you save on your mortgage can be re-applied to your debt. A simple re-finance could help your to eliminate your current debt. Paying more towards monthly accounts will shorten your payoff time.

Saving money
One problem that many families face is not being able to save. Re-financing presents a nice opportunity to put away some money. This is helpful when life sends emergencies or extra expenses your way.

Remembering MLK - Why It’s Relevant?

Last month millions of people traveled to Washington, DC to attend the MLK Memorial opening. There were attendees there from not only this country, but destinations around the world. Why was it so important that people be at the opening in person? One of the reasons was that race is still a relevant issue in our country.

Another is that many of the attendees were not even born during the Civil Rights Movement. Attending this event gave people the opportunity to commemorate the life of an extraordinary man. It also served to showcase a country’s commitment to try harder and to work together. Race continues to be a difficult conversation for people to have. When we think of the life of MLK, it becomes a bit easier.

More in common than not
The issues of race today are much more complex today than in the 50's and 60's. Our country has more citizens that hail from various portions of the world. In this group, there are a variety of races and nationalities. The melting pot affect forces us to look at the things that we have in common. There are more of these than there are differences.

Appreciate the differences
The differences associated with race and nation is what makes life exciting. MLK was such a forward thinker that he realized how important these differences were. He didn’t consider these to be negative, but rather an inspiration to unite and to appreciate on another.

I wasn’t here to experience the movement that made this country more diverse. Like millions of others around the world, however, I admire those who labored. They help us to talk about difficult issues and to work to find solutions that benefit everybody.

What Are They Thinking? Pt. 2

We’ve discussed before that teens are really thinking about what’s going on around them. In some cases, these are their own current events. Teens are also interested in the events that take place around the world. They are influenced greatly by the interests of their parents and peers. Encouraging conversation is a good way to find out what your teen is thinking.

You can also use conversation to spark their interests in other thinks. Magazines are popular sources of information for teens. These periodicals along with the internet are regularly used by them. Social networks are a part of our consciousness largely due to young people. Let’s take a look at some of the issues that teens are concerned with.

Jobs creation

This is one of the most important topics to teens today. The fact that many of them are included in the millions of unemployed has something to do with this. At the same time, this issue affects their future. Teens want to seen progress in jobs creation because it gives them a better outlook. This is true no matter what field they go into.

Foreign affairs

Foreign affairs specifically related to the world’s impression of America are important to teens. These young people will one day play a role in these affairs. The groundwork that adults set now, can positively or negatively impact the future.

International civil rights

Stereotypes profess that teens are self-absorbed and unconcerned about others. Many teens want to see civil rights on an international level. Countries that deny rights to their citizens are on the radar of teens. Some even work to raise money for organizations that help these citizens.

Don’t assume that your teens aren’t thinking. Some may have difficulties expressing their thoughts about these issues. With a little encouragement from you, you may discover a very insightful Teen Voice.

The Future Can Be Scary

Many people that I've heard from are not exactly positive about the future. Everyone knows by looking at the morning, afternoon, and evening news that things aren't good on a lot of fronts. Most of us will not enjoy some of the pleasures that our parents were able to earn. Many of our children, will also find the future a stubborn obstacle.

Although there are challenging things ahead, do we have to be afraid of the future? I'm certainly not saying that there aren't scary occurrences happening all of the time. What I am saying is, how can we find ways to be positive about the future? Our outlook will have a trickle down affect on our children. If all we feel is fear about the years ahead, won't they end up thinking the same way.

Conversation is sometimes the best medicine. Families across the country are putting together a whole new game plan for their futures. Discussing the challenges being experienced is a good thing. Of course, this will depend on the ages of your children. Friends and family members are terrific, when it comes to these discussions. Communicating about your fears is definitely one huge step to overcoming them.

Most things about the future cannot be changed by us on a broad scale. On a small scale you can take care of your health, live on a budget, appreciate the little things, and enjoy your loved ones. Reflect on it!