Category Archives: Helpful Tips

Why Use Gmail

Posted on by

With all the different fee email services out there why should you use Gmail?  Gmail isn’t just an email account. There are so many other features that come with a Gmail account that makes life easier.   Below are the top nine reasons why you should use Gmail.

 

  1. Gmail uses labels and filters to help you organize email easier. An email can have several labels. Filters and labels allows you to forget about putting email in certain folders.  It automatically sends the email to the appropriate assigned folder.
  2. You can use Google SEARCH within Gmail to find the exact message you want – no matter when it was sent or received.
  3. There is a cool chat feature within the Gmail interface you can chat to friends or colleges right on you Gmail account page. You can also do a video chat.
  4. Google Voice is also another cool feature. You can sign up for a free phone number and call people from your computer or cell phone using that number.
  5. Google Docs is also available to you free, which has a word processor, along with Google sheets, which is like Microsoft Excel, and Google slides, which is similar to Microsoft’s PowerPoint.
  6. Google Drive is another feature where you can store documents and share for others to read or edit in real time.
  7. There are many extensions that you can add to your Gmail account to make it more powerful, such as Gmail with Boomerang lets you send emails in the future. You don’t want to forget a birthday or a meeting reminder? Or you want to send an email at a specific time? Boomerang lets you do it!
  8. Fetch your other mail: Gmail feature is Mail Fetcher, which can check up to five other email accounts and download all that mail into your Gmail. To help keep things organized, Mail Fetcher can automatically label and archive all this incoming mail.
  9. Gmail restricts downloads from automatically starting, just in case you open an infected email, and blocks images until you allow them to be seen.

 

With all these features and much more, why wouldn’t you want to use Gmail?

Karen Beth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Budget

Finally a realistic way to budget your money!

Posted on by

No-one likes to hear the word budget. However, budgeting is the only way you can really get a good picture of how much money you have coming in and going out. If you want to finally take control of your finances, I have created some fun ideas that will help you stay on track and finally save for the future.
If you follow these tips and apply them every day, you will soon become the master over your money, instead of money being the master of you.
1. Gather all of your bills and calculate how much money has to go out every month. Don’t calculate in groceries, or gas just yet, that will come later. Once you get a good idea of how much money you need every month just to pay your bills, you will have a foundation you can work with and you will see how much money you need every month to keep a roof over your head, and a car to drive, if you have a car payment. Once you establish that figure, subtract it from your total monthly bring home pay.
2. Now, two scenarios can come into play here.
a. Either you have more money left over than you thought, and you are wondering where in the heck all of your money is going.
b. Or, you don’t have money left over to buy groceries and gas.
If you have more money than you thought, you are good and a budget can get you back on track to saving money and paying down some of the credit card bills. (Go to step 3) However, if you don’t have enough money to buy groceries or gas, then you need to assess the bills you owe and see if you can consolidate or cut down on your cable or phone bill. Still, just cutting down on you utilities probably won’t leave you much money to save for a rainy day. In order to get you back on track you might want to consider a debit consolidation service such as National Debit Relief. After you sign up to consolidate your credit cards and have extra money to save, follow the steps below to become the master of your money.

3. Now that you have a figure you can work with, subtract the amount you need for gas, and groceries. The amount left over is what you need to pay very close attention to, this is what you will use to budget entertainment, savings, gifts, etc.
4. Now here comes the fun part! Decide how much money you absolutely have to have for entertainment and the little extras that come along each month. If you like to go to the movies, budget going to the movies once a month. Make that your reward for sticking to the budget. If you have birthday gifts you have to purchase, put a limit of $25.00 on each gift, or less. Stop buying coffee, and sodas at the convenient stores every time you stop to fill up. You will be amazed at how much money you can save.
5. Next, decide how much money you can save each month. Then multiply that amount by 12. This is the amount you will have in savings at the end of twelve months. Make it a realistic amount, but also challenge yourself to save as much as you can. Get excited about the amount of money you are going to save! Multiply it by five years, and see how much money you could have if you stick to the budget. Example: If you save $300.00 a month for twelve months you will have $3,600.00 at the end of the year. That doesn’t sound like much, but if you multiply $3,600.00 X 5 years, you could have $18,000.00, which is a substantial amount of money in savings. Play around with the math, and see how much you can save without putting a strain on your family.
6. Once you have a figure that you want to save every month in mind write it down, along with the amount you will have at the end of the year and put it on your refrigerator, bathroom mirror, and on the dashboard of your car. This way you will always be reminded of how much money you will have if you stick to the budget. Every morning when you wake start dreaming of what you’re going to do with all of that money, give yourself a pep talk, and get excited!
7. When you get paid, take the amount that you have calculated for savings and immediately put it into a savings account, CD account, or whatever you deem fit for your needs. (I will discuss the best saving accounts later in another blog.) If you need to split up the amount between paydays that’s fine. If you plan on saving $300.00 a month, you can put $150.00 into savings at the first of the month, and then another $150.00 on the 15th of the month. Or you can take out the amount that totals $300.00 weekly, whichever way works with you pay schedule.
8. There’s a lot of way to help you stay on top of your money, one way is to down load a free money app on your phone or computer. There are several out there; just read about each one and decided which one will work best for you.

If you finally want to take control of your finances make a budget and stick to it, dream big and believe. Your future is in your hands!

Karen Beth

cropped-canstockphoto8959299.jpg

Helpful Tips On How To Hire A Virtual Assistant

Posted on by

Here are some helpful tips to help you hire the best virtual assistant for your needs.

1. Never pay for a service up front! If someone is asking you to pay for a service before it’s delivered it’s probably a scam. You should always verify the work delivered before submitting payment. Some virtual Assistants  require a contract in place before work is started, that is a normal practice, to ensure payment will be received once the work is delivered.

2. If someone is charging you a very low rate to complete a task, think twice. You get what you pay for; sometimes the work is not up to par and full of errors. Make sure the virtual assistant you hire has a guarantee policy in place.

3. Don’t hire a virtual assistant without an interview! Make sure they can handle the task at hand, and will be available when you need them. Some virtual assistants work with only one client, while others have several different clients they work for. If you need a full time virtual assistant let them know so they can take that into consideration before accepting the position you have available. Also, just because you don’t see them in person everyday doesn’t mean you don’t have to make sure your personalities don’t clash. There’s nothing worse than having a virtual assistant that has an attitude. Suggest doing an interview through Skype, or at the very least, conduct a phone interview.

If you have any questions about hiring a virtual assistant let me know. I will be more than happy to assist you in finding your perfect assistant, even if you don’t hire me.