Work At Home Musings

When I was doing some back to school shopping, I came across a fantastic site called eDivvy.com. eDivvy.com is a great way to buy a group gift and it is so easy. All you have to do select and occasion, create a gift basket with the gift or gifts that you want to purchase and then invite friends and family to split the costs! Participants can choose how much they want to give.

After the participants are done entering and paying for their amounts, eDivvy.com sends the gift to the recipient (or to the organizer). If enough funds are not collected to pay for the chosen gift, the recipient will receive a VISA gift card instead. This type of giving works great for weddings, bridal showers, birthday, back to school, Christmas and new baby - the ideas are endless!

We are about to purchase a gift for a friend who is retiring from work after 30 years of service. I decided to give eDivvy.com a shot and see what kinds of gifts I could purchase for her. I was first asked to choose an invitation design to send out to my friends. I choose a simple one with a blue ribbon. I simply filled in the details of the event and the invitation asked my friends if they would like to participate in a group gift. After filling out the details, I was able to browse through the gifts. I found a beautiful earrings that I am sure that she will enjoy.

I added the gift to my basket and found that if we split the cost 10 ways, each person would pay $35 and my friend would receive a gorgeous pair of diamond and ruby earrings. Just her style!

eDivvy.com is a great place to try if you want to find perfect wedding, shower, retirement and back to school gifts, plus so much more! You are able to give a much more expensive gift when you split the costs!

I have always been a big fan of education. I, myself, have a Master’s Degree and I encourage others to get the education that they need to improve their employment or just because they want to know more! I am so glad that many Universities are now offering online degree programs to help those who do not have the time to attend a formal university.

My brother, who has a computer science degree already, is looking to increase his education and hopefully get a managerial position. I told him about Lewis University’s MS in Information Security degree program. This program offers two different tracks: Managerial and Technical.

The program is designed to explore the theory and practice of IT security and included the latest advances in IT technologies. This is a field that is rapidly growing. Too often you hear about credit numbers or personal information that has been stolen. Professionals are needed to find new ways to protect and secure data.

There are many business, organizations and government offices that need individuals that are well versed in information security. This degree could open up doors to new employment in positions such as Chief Information Officer, IT Security Consultant or Access Control Manager.

This degree information is great to pass along to anyone that you may know in the computer field who is looking to advance their knowledge and opportunities.

Unfortunately, I can’t justify buying a new bed right now, but I am intrigued with the beds that are similiar to the sleep number bed. I did a little research and this is what I found that I like about the product:

1. Each bed is dual adjustable. You and your partner can adjust the bed to different “sleep numbers” that affect the softness of the bed.
2. You can adjust the bed at anytime.
3. The beds come in various sizes, so you can find the one perfect for you.
4. The beds are made from quality materials.

The only drawback is that sleep number beds can be expensive. However, you may be able to qualify for monthly payments.

I know many women who never finished their college degree or did not get the chance to attend college when they were younger. Now that they are older and have older children, they would like to take the time to go back to school. One option is college, but another option is attending technical training institutes. These Institutes are located throughout the United States and there are many different courses and programs offered. You can obtain a certification or a degree that will specifically help you in your chosen career. These programs also provided courses to get you up to date with new technologies that can help you keep competitive.

Before deciding on a four year or community college, check out technical training institutes to see if they offer courses that may be of interested to you. Many of these institutes also offer online courses which could better fit into a busy schedule!

Although I would prefer to work at home, sometimes it is necessary to seek outside employment. It is not easy finding a new job and having additional education may help. Saint Joseph’s University is a different kind of University. At Saint Joseph’s you can get a professional certificate by taking courses online.

My husband, who has a computer science degree, is looking to also obtain a CAPM certificate or Certified Associate in Project Management. Having this certificate can open up more job opportunities for him. Plus, it is convenient. He will not have to take time off work to complete the certificate, but can complete all course work at home. Currently, the median wage for employees with CAPM certificates is $111,020!

Saint Joseph’s University also has information on many certificates including construction management, computer and information systems management, crisis management, teachers assistants and purchase and supply chain management, just to name a few.

If you are looking for a career change, or to add to your current career, request information about their programs.

One Step Ahead is a great online store for baby, toddler and child products. When my children were little, I ordered quite a number of items for this website. Why? It was easy to find what I needed! One Step Ahead has baby clothing, bath, feeding, nursery, safety, travel, toys and seasonal items. They even have a sale section.

Now that summer is almost here, check out their vacation travel section. There are many great products to use while traveling. When we were taking car trips, my favorite item was the portable potty. It certainly came in handy when there were long stretches of road and no bathrooms!

Make sure you check the internet for One Step Ahead coupons to save you a bit of money.

I have seen many a scam in my time, but this is not one of them. When I first heard about Build A Niche Store (or BANS), I thought that it must be a scam, but after hearing many reliable testimonies, I realized you could actually make money with this system.

BANS utilizes eBay auctions to produce your “sales”. Every time someone purchase a product from your site they are actually purchasing from eBay and you get a commission. You also get a commission every time someone finds your site and then signs up for an eBay account.

eBay has its own affiliate program. They actually invite you to promote all of their product listings and in exchange, they will pay you up to 75% of the revenue they make from each sale. You can read about the eBay.com affiliate program here.

The KEY to making this process successful is finding a niche that will bring your profits. For example, maybe you will choose sports memorabilia, laptops, mp3 players, etc. After choosing your niche, you will utilize the Build A Niche Store website that you will receive. Here is an example of a BANS store that has been setup to focus on race cars Race Car eBay Affiliate Website and one for golf equipment Golf eBay Affiliate Website

Your store will automatically update as new products are listed for sale and old listing expire from the eBay marketplace and the software has built in development features which enable you to create new store pages, add content to these pages, create content pages, modify your template etc etc.

Build A Niche Store comes with a step by step user manual which will walk even the most technically inexperienced through setting up their eBay affiliate website, 9 professional template layouts which can be customized (from inside your admin panel) to match your target niche, lifetime member forum access, comprehensive product support and possibly most importantly – an UNLIMITED domain license which means you can build as many of these niche websites as you want for the small one time fee.

WARNING! You must be willing to make a time investment and well as spend a few dollars on advertising if you want this to work for you. I would suggest the following:

• Purchase a few articles to get your store name out there. You can even write the articles yourself. heck out Digital Point Forums, Buy, Sell and Trade section. There are many people offering to write articles and post to blogs or websites to get your name out. Look for members who have received good reviews.
• Submit your site to Social Bookmarking Sites. There are members at Digital Point Forums who will do it for you, for a fee.
• Submit your site to Website Directories. Check out my listing of free web directories to submit your site.

I am putting together a new series on my blog - Direct Sales Company Reviews. I will review at least one Direct Sales Company per week (possibly more). If you are a representative for a direct sales company and want some exposure, contact me! At the end of the article I will list the names and websites of direct sales reps. Here are the first four direct sales companies that will get reviewed:

The Body Shop At Home
Jerky Direct
The Fragrant Lemon Peel
Taste of Gourmet

You can also contact me about a suggestion for a review.

I have heard about travel health insurance, but always wondered if it was worth it. If you are traveling in the United States and you have health insurance than the answer is probably no. However, if you are engaging in a risky behavior, such as rock climbing or skiing and then you may need to evaluate your own health insurance to see what is covered and what is not.

As for foreign trips, some US health insurance carries do not cover medical expenses overseas. The may cover emergency care, but may also require that you spend the money upfront and get reimbursed later. You should find out what your insurance covers before going abroad.

You can buy supplemental health insurance, but be sure to read the fine print. Some pre-existing conditions may not be covered and advanced age may lessen your coverage. Health travel insurance can be purchased for as little as $10 per day with a 7 day minimum. You also may be able to buy the supplemental insurance from your cruise line or travel agent.

A couple years ago, my sister in law was looking everywhere for good first communion invitations. Too bad, I didn’t know about The Party Starts Here at that time. Not only do they have a wide selection, their prices are reasonable and they are easy to customize. Besides communion invitations, you can find all sorts of party invitations. The graphics are cute and most are quite original!