It Pays to Be Second Hand Rose

Why is it that it is always at the time when you least need things to go wrong that they are almost always bound to do so. Murphy's Law I guess. That is how I feel about this recession.

Thus it is that when money is extremely tight, this is the time when it is guaranteed that major household appliances will start to seriously malfunction and so on.
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When this happens the first question that needs to be asked is, does whatever it is that has just died really need replacing? After all, whilst a second or a third TV set in the bedroom might be handy, it's not really something that you could genuinely claim to be absolutely essential.
There are lots of things in my life that are luxuries and that I can live without. But, what do you do when something really does have to be replaced?

The simple answer is, try to find whatever it is you're looking for a second hand, rather than immediately driving down to the mall to buy a brand new one.

No matter what you are looking for, you will be on to find a bargain if you spend enough time and make some effort to find what you're looking for.

The first place you should look would be on a global auction site like eBay.com. Another way of trying to find what you need online is to look at free classified advertising sites like U.S. Free Ads or Craig's List Alternatively, try searching Google for national classified ad sites for whatever country you're based in, because again there are plenty of sites like this.

There are also lots of ways that you can find high-quality, recycled products using offline resources as well. For example, most major towns and cities have a local newspaper, and many of these carry classified adverts. In addition, major cities often have free advertising newspapers or journals that are distributed to the user at no cost, with advertisers paying for their adverts to be featured.

One of the major advantages of buying recycles or used goods nowadays is that most modern equipment is made to last, and often times, people are getting rid for a reason that has nothing to do with something being worn out. For example, with the soaring rates of divorce all over the world, it is a fact that an increasing number of homes end up ‘splitting' with the result that the home contents (generally, in very good condition) end up on the market.

This is of course terribly unfortunate for the original owners, but when you're having a tough time in your life, you cannot afford to be overly sympathetic to others, so you should take advantage the cheap offerings.

Parenting Tips
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The Worst Health Habits for Kids

According to the April 2008 edition of NEWSWEEK, kid's fitness experts have identified their six worst health habits.

If you want to keep your kids healthy and happy you are supposed to avoid Eating in front of a television or a computer. Both habits keep the kid too distracted and they do not figure out when their stomach is full. This can lead to mindless overeating.

Playing too many videogames and watching too much television can make your kid too fat. Way too many kids play hours and hours of videogames instead of getting outdoors to exercise. The problem is getting so bad that The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids under age 2 have no screen time at all. Kids older than two should watch no more than one to two hours of, and that kids older than 2 watch no more than 1 to 2 hours a day of TV. Kids that watch too much television tend to eat twice as much food. Part of this is their exposure to ads for junk food. The answer is to substitute television-watching time with more exercise.

Kids choose foods that they find visually attractive so when introducing new foods that may be more nutritious then that pink cocooned encrusted snowball you need to make it more attractive. You also shouldn't force your kids to eating everything on their plate at once when introducing a nutritious food. There is something called the two bite rule where you give the child two bites and no more. This can make the child think about the food and request it next time.

You should also not keep too much junk in the cupboard. This is because older kids will raid the kitchen cupboards for food as soon as they come home from school. Fill the bottom drawers of your fridge with healthy foods like carrot sticks and keep the unhealthy stuff out of sight. You can also prepare cheese chunks; fruit slices or celery sticks and make them readily able for your child.

It is also a bad idea to get your kids used to prepackaged meals or frozen dinners. They are usually loaded with high levels of fat and sodium. The answer to this is to make a week's worth of lunches and freeze them all a head of time. This will reduce the busy mom temptation to send something unhealthy to school with your children.

Another thing to remember is that you are your child's main role model and they are going to eat in the same way you do. So if you are tearing open a bag of potato chips every time you watch television your kids are going to want to do the same.

Parenting Tips
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