I have found that in my adult life that I have made an effort to find ways to stretch the dollars that I have into as much as possible.  This has included everything from looking in flyers for sales, cutting coupons and taking advantage of specials whenever possible.  But I have also figured out something else that works that I would like to share with you that I learned at my local hair school.

You see, I accidentally went into the local beauty academy to ask about their spa packages if they had any.  The helpful woman behind the desk gave me a pamphlet detailing what they offered and their prices.

When I got home to read it, I realized that the beauty school gave deep discounts as we would be guinea pigs for the students.

In fact, that is all I do now - for letting the students practice on me, I can stretch my dollar even further than before - and I haven’t had a bad experience yet.

There are a number of software packages that I use on a daily basis that I just couldn’t live without.  In fact, as sad as it sounds, without these certain pieces of software, I just don’t know what I would do - I would be lost without them.

I depend heavily on Atomic Watch to monitor whether or not my website is having problems.  It is a website monitoring package that made a lot more sense to me than paying a monthly fee to do the same thing.  I have been using it for some time now, and it has been invaluable tool to ensure that my money making websites are always online.

I also depend on the convenience that AKeeper password manager gives me.  With the number of sites that I am a member on increases, it is getting harder and harder to remember all those passwords since I have been making sure that each site has a different one.

Needless to say, without these software tools, I wouldn’t be able to use my computer as effectively.

One of my biggest frustrations over the years with respect to looking for a job has been the fact that you need to visit many different employers to basically drop off the same piece of paper (your resume) at each one.  Not only is this a big waste of time but it can result in one getting very frustrated with the lack of results during a job hunt.

So for the past couple of years while applying for accounting jobs in Australia, I have been looking for some kind of one-stop job shop where I could do all my job hunting as well is fill out as many applications at one time as possible.

It wasn’t until I was talking to a good friend who had found some Australian customer service job listings on a website that I found what I was looking for.  He mentioned to me a great website that listed many jobs in Australia and had the facilities to allow you to submit your application as well.

From now on, I’ll rely on the resources provided by the site as well as others on the Internet to make my job hunting as efficient as possible.

I was watching a television show last night about the new HD televisions.  They were demonstrating the differences between this new technology and the old tube-style televisions.  I was shocked at how small they were and that they could be so much clearer than my Sony television right in front of me.

What I did learn from the program was that they were not perfect.  You see, unlike the glass TV screen protection that the old tube televisions had, these ones were more likely to be damaged if you weren’t careful.

They recommended on the program to buy a TV screen protector to ensure that the flat screen televisions would last as long as they are rated for.  It not only made sure that the screen would not be disturbed, but it also made it much easier to keep the screen clean.

So, I think that when I take the plunge and get a new television, I will make sure to get something to protect the screen - what can I say, it was good advice.

Computers usually work great until they have a problem - then they can become a real headache.  Unless you are some sort of computer guru, you will usually find these "little" problems can take up a lot of your time.

But there are some software products on the market that can help you keep your computer running smoothly.  Chances are you are familiar with some of them such as anti-virus software and you probably use them on a daily basis.

Once in awhile, my computer "catches" some adware and gets sick.  This usually happens when I go outside of the regular sites that I visit, and I’ll admit that it is my fault.  Actually, a couple of years ago I was in this exact situation and I was looking for a solution.

The solution came in the form of a software product names SpyHunter.  You see, I happened upon a SpyHunter review while looking for a way to fix my computer, and once I read about it, I knew that I had found the solution.

In fact, I still use it to this day.  For me, SpyHunter makes getting rid of adware very easy.

One of my dreams since I was a young child was to own my own business.  For some kids, that is mostly a common dream, but I wanted mine to be slightly different - I wanted to be in a position to help other people.

At an early age, it was evident that I would work in the health industry in some capacity, but I really didn’t know exactly what I was going to do.  It was at this point in my life I was introduced to wheat grass (and later I would use barley grass) and I thought that I could help the world with alternative medicine.

What I didn’t realize is that years later, I would be placing orders for chlorella and spirulina for my new health food store.

Needless to say, it has been a great journey, and I can’t wait to see how well the store does in its’ first week.

It seems that every year, our company likes to offer a unique calendar to our customers.  Now, that is perhaps our crowning marketing vehicle as most people wait all year for a copy.  Though that may sound like something exciting, the problem comes down to that we do it at the last minute each year, which usually results in an all-nighter.

That is exactly what is happening tonight, and it is seven hours since we closed for business for the day.  In that time, we have been searching for some stock photos royalty free that we can use for the calendar.  We used to get a photographer to take the pictures for us, but the amount of money that we were charged was getting out of hand, so we switched.

Now, we find any stock photo that we need online at the many stock photography websites out there.  In some respects, it has become easier, but it would be nice to not have to work all night for a change - maybe we can start early next year.

I was recently introduced to a live action roleplaying club in my home town.  I had never tried it before, but with my experience playing Dungeons and Dragons as a youth, I thought that it would be something that I would be interested in.

Since it was my first larp game, I had to be explained how things worked and what to expect.  I thought that it would be similar to the pen and paper roleplaying games that I had played in the past, and I was right.  But, instead of just imagining things in my head, we actually acted it out which was a new experience for me.

I was particularly impressed by the larp costume armor that some of the players had - it was really quite amazing.  After the game, I asked to try some of it on, and it was a lot heavier than I had imagined.

Needless to say, I think that the traditional roleplaying games will be less satisfying now - there is just something about playing the game in real life.