Cash For Junk Cars Blog

Many people rush into business thinking it will be easy to run, but very soon they realize that it is not as easy as it looks. A successful business is a finely tuned machine. In order to keep your business running smoothly it is important to avoid making mistakes.

Here are the 7 most common mistakes to avoid:

1. Not having clear objectives: Many business people start a business without clear objectives. They fail to set realistic goals for their marketing and consequently set themselves up for failure. It is important to make a list of goals and objectives based on a quarterly time line. If you do not have company goals and objectives you are like a car driving without a road map. Make sure all employees are briefed on company objectives. When your employees are not properly prepared you will not be able to achieve company objectives.

2. Neglecting to analyse your potential customers is a dangerous mistake. It can lead to many problems. When you do not analyse your customers wants and needs you do not know what products and services to develop for them. This will lead to targeting the wrong market and neglecting to understand your own niche market. It is important for any business to do their marketing analysis so that you can target your market and maximise your sales.

3. Not testing: By not testing your sales copy and places you advertise with split testing your advertising, you will be losing sales. Split testing is simple to do but many businesses fail to do this. This results in a lot of wasted time and effort. If you do not test your ad copy and marketing promotions you will not have a proper idea of the ads and promotions that are pulling and what is not working. It is simple to do by placing 2 ads for the same product in a publication or website etc. You can then see which one is performing the best.

4. Not budgeting: Budgeting is extremely important in business. Your business should never run out of money. This is especially true with your marketing and advertising ventures. It is important to have a monthly or quarterly budget for your marketing. Within that budget put aside money for each promotion you will be doing. Start small, test and then build on successes. This will allow you to always stay solvent and have enough for promotions.

5. Giving up too soon: Companies go out of business at an alarming rate these days. One of the reasons is that the owners give up too soon. Just when success might be just around the corner they give up and decide to close the business down. In exactly the same fashion marketing promotions can fail. You need to give your promotions at least 3 months before you decide to scrap them. Some promotions will take longer than others to bring results. As always, test all marketing tactics before you launch a larger promotion. Patience is one of the hallmarks of business and you need to implement it.

6. Poor sales copy: How often have you wanted a product but when you read the sales page you had serious doubts? Poor unprofessional ad copy will cost you sales. In fact without good sales copy you will not be able to sell effectively at all. It is critical to your business to get this right. If necessary get an experienced copywriter to do this. It is worth the investment, as you will see returns when you make sales.

7. Not screening your employees carefully: To handle the extra load for the Christmas season you will need to hire new employees. It is very important not to rush into this. There is no dearth of people needing employment but you need to screen them carefully before hiring. One rude customer service agent can cost you customers. Do not take this type of risk. You want to preserve the integrity of your company at all times and screening employees is the way to achieve this. You will then be able to build a core of loyal professional employees that will be an asset to the company.

The golden rule is to diversify. You should always use multiple forms of marketing promotions in your business. Do not just do one or two promotions and then wait for results. This will slow company growth and your business will stagnate. The last thing you need is to slow your marketing in the Christmas season. So remember to diversify and enjoy the increase in sales.

By avoiding these mistakes you will take your company to the success you deserve. You will be able to have year round success for your business and really be able to cash in on the Christmas season. So plan ahead and be careful not to make these common mistakes.

Thanks to the internet and digital cameras there’s a hugh market now for

selling all kinds of photos featuring themes, styles, topics,etc.

How easy could it get than taking photographs with a camera and sell them

making money while doing it.You don’t have to be a professional photographer

or have any special skills to get started in this exciting money making

opportunity. If you have a digital camera and a computer with internet access

you’re ready to start earning money.

Most everyone enjoys taking photographs whether at family gatherings,

birthdays, weddings,etc. so why not turn what you enjoy doing into cash. You

say, that’s all well and good and sounds like something I would love to do

but how do I go about selling my photographs and who buys them?

There’s a whole slew of people that will pay you for taking pictures. Just to

name a few:

*Marketers

*Writers

*Magazine Editors

*Scrap Bookers

*Business People

*Travel Agents

*Realtors

*Web Designers

There’s many more, but you get the picture.

These people pay for photographs of places, cars, people, houses, etc. You

can make a good commission by taking pictures of vehicles for sell in your

local area and uploading them onto Ebay Motors. If you are a sports buff you

can even make money taking pictures of sports events.

Before you start your exciting money making journey you will need to do your

home work and research the stock photograph market. There are quite a few of

these sites you can check out for what photographs are popular and in demand.

Start out slow. Practice taking pictures of different things (indoors and

outdoors) from different angles and lighting; keeping a record of which

settings give the best picture because the better quality pictures are the

ones that people are going to buy.

The great part about this job is you can do it part time and still earn up to

hundreds of extra dollars a week. This would especially appeal to stay-at-

home-moms, students, retirees as well as others.You can set your own hours

and schedule. Work as much or as little as you want.

Another great thing about making money with your camera is you don’t even

have to have a website, requires no shipping, doesn’t involve adult or

pornographic content and doesn’t require some high tech camera.

There’s never been a better time than now to become a Freelance Digital

Photographer.

Thanks to the internet and digital cameras there’s a huge market now for selling all kinds of photos featuring themes, styles, topics,etc.

How easy could it get than taking photographs with a camera and sell them making money while doing it.You don’t have to be a professional photographer or have any special skills to get started in this exciting money making opportunity. If you have a digital camera and a computer with internet access you’re ready to start earning money.

Most everyone enjoys taking photographs whether at family gatherings, birthdays, weddings,etc. so why not turn what you enjoy doing into cash. You say, that’s all well and good and sounds like something I would love to do but how do I go about selling my photographs and who buys them?

There’s lot’s of people and businesses that will pay you for taking pictures.

Just to name a few:

*Marketers
*Writers
*Magazine Editors
*Scrap Bookers
*Business People
*Travel Agents
*Realtors
*Web Designers
There’s many more.

These people pay for photographs of places, cars, people, houses, etc. You can make a good commission by taking pictures of vehicles for sell in your local area and uploading them onto Ebay Motors. If you are a sports buff you can even make money taking pictures of sports events.

Before you start your exciting money making journey you will need to do your home work and research the stock photograph market. There are quite a few of these sites you can check out for what photographs are popular and in demand. Start out slow. Practice taking pictures of different things (indoors and outdoors) from different angles and lighting; keeping a record of which settings give the best picture because the better quality pictures are the ones that people are going to buy.

The great part about this job is you can do it part time and still earn up to hundreds of extra dollars a week. This would especially appeal to stay-at-home-moms, students, retirees as well as others.You can set your own hours and schedule. Work as much or as little as you want.

Another great thing about making money with your camera is you don’t even have to have a website, requires no shipping, doesn’t involve adult or pornographic content and doesn’t require some high tech camera.

There’s never been a better time than now to become a Freelance Digital Photographer and make money selling photographs.

Alice de Sturler is a Dutch lawyer who teaches human rights at Virginia Tech. She lives in Blacksburg, Virginia with her husband and daughter.

If there is one thing working moms need to do, it is to manage their time. In my humble opinion, every working mom needs a good organizer to accomplish this. I know that electronic organizers are all the rage – Blackberrys and iPhones are super cool, but not always practical (at least not for this working mom). Paper works everywhere and doesn’t run out of batteries. Soft cover, hard cover, ring-bound, glued spine, a week at a glance, one day per page, a month at a glance, spiral bound, electronic organizers…you name it, I have it (partly used and abandoned in a trunk in the basement!)

Ultimately, I keep coming back to my leather bound ring organizer with yearly refills. Advantage: old-fashioned with a quality cover that lasts a lifetime. Disadvantage: old-fashioned and pricy. But, you get what you pay for; mine dates back to the 1980s.

Now on to content: I like a horizontal week-at-a-glance. The month at a glace does not leave me enough room to write what an appointment is about, what to bring to a field trip, or whose birthday party it is. I chose refills that have the times and dates preprinted. A page per day makes the book too thick and will not fit in an average-sized handbag.

I once saw the loveliest organizer, but it had a day per page. It did not fit into any of my handbags, so I started carrying it around. It didn’t take long and, you guessed it, I got annoyed with that. So I set out for the nearest department store and searched through all the handbags to see which could hold my lovely organizer. When I realized I was buying something I didn’t need to carry something that annoyed me, I got so discouraged that I went back to the old format and size.

Now, make sure when you purchase your organizer that you think about how you will use it. If you leave it at home on the table, then any size and thickness will do. Leave it in the car? Better choose a cover that wipes clean easily and has a clasp to make sure you do not lose tickets or scraps of paper that invariably get tucked inside. Do you keep it in your handbag on a daily basis? Then a smaller, pocket size model is probably best.

To make sure I am on time for appointments, work, or classes, and still have some time for myself, I follow a few guidelines. At the beginning of each school year, all school drop-off and pick-up times are penciled in making sure I catch all the early releases (they really mess up a working mom’s schedule.) Next come the work schedules, mine and my husband’s, plus all the family sports schedules. Then I block parts of the days. If for example your child is out at 3 p.m. and has soccer at 5 p.m., the time in between is blocked for driving home, snack, homework and driving to practice.

I also keep addresses and/or telephone numbers I need on a daily basis, the rest stay at home. I also have a few checks tucked in the cover. No cash at a store that only accepts the one credit card you do not have? No problem! Grab your handy organizer and pull out your emergency check.

Every time your child comes home with new schedules, dates of field trips, or music events, immediately adjust your organizer. If you write all school days in the calendar it also becomes clear in the beginning of the year where the long weekends will be. That will give you a chance to keep an eye out on airfares to book a get-away with the family.

After all, that’s why we plan and schedule…so we can work and raise a family without going completely crazy.

As excerpted from “42 Rules ™ for Working Moms” Super Star Press, 2008

Times are tough for retailers. Iconic brands from General Motors to Sears are struggling to survive. Starbucks posted a staggering 97% decline in the third quarter, and is shuttering 600 locations. Others like former electronics juggernaut Circuit City have already been forced to file Chapter 11. Sales are down at every major US retailer… except for one. Walmart has announced a 7.5% increase in sales for the first three quarters of 2008.

So, what’s their secret?

While they’re surely benefiting from the new frugality of the US consumer, the cha-ching of cash registers at Walmart can also be attributed to a sweeping brand revitalization initiative launched in 2007. However, that revitalization came only after a hard lesson in branding that the retail giant learned the year before.

In 2006 the company made a critical, and costly, branding error. Frustrated with stagnant sales and a low-end thrift store stigma that didn’t appeal to affluent consumers, management leaders at Walmart made the fateful decision to reposition the brand – and discovered the fundamental problem with the idea of brand repositioning: it rarely ever works.

Why They Did It, And Why It Failed

From humble beginnings in 1962, Walmart grew to become the world’s largest retailer by smartly positioning themselves as the low-price leader. Since founder Sam Walton opened the first Walton’s Five and Dime in Bentonville, Arkansas – and discovered that he could achieve higher sales volume through lower markups – the Walmart brand has boomed by becoming synonymous with discount savings. Today, nearly 100 million customers – almost one-third of the US population – visit a Walmart store in the US each week. These consumers site low prices as the most important reason for shopping at Walmart. The average US Walmart customer’s income is below the national average, and an estimated one-fifth lack a bank account. Over the years, facts like these fueled a litany of unflattering stereotypes that diminished the brand and dissuaded upper middle class and affluent consumers.

That’s why after nearly half a century as the low-cost leader the marketing team at Walmart decided to scrap Walton’s blueprint of reducing costs for working families (and the substantial brand equity that philosophy had created) and reposition the brand to focus on premium items to lure up-bracket clientele. Soon, new Walmart Super Centers – outfitted with wooden floors and wider aisles designed to compete with upscale competitors like Target – featured sushi bars and coffee shops with Wi-Fi internet access. Shelves were stocked with $500 bottles of wine, trendy organic foods, pricey electronics, and other high-end goods. Celebrity endorsements by the likes of Beyonce, as well as glossy ad campaigns in publications such as Vogue, heralded the new upscale offerings.

But shoppers didn’t buy it. Consumers couldn’t be convinced that Walmart was suddenly a luxury brand, and their traditional customer base – looking for deals on detergent and diapers, and not $500 a bottle merlot – was nonplussed. By seeking to expand into what they perceived as greener retail pastures, Walmart squandered their brand equity and alienated their core consumer.

Breathing New Life Into An Old Brand

Once it was clear that the brand repositioning was failing, Walmart execs gracefully shifted to a revitalization strategy. Whereas brand repositioning jettisons the equity a brand has built, brand revitalization honors that history, and builds on what made the brand great in the first place. Articulating the tenets of the brand in new ways to connect with contemporary consumers is what brand revitalization is all about.

To reconnect with their base demographic, as well as attract new customers, Walmart returned to the promise at the heart of their brand: value. The refocus on value is the result of an economic study commissioned by Walmart and conducted by research firm Global Insight, which showed that the retailer’s low prices saved US customers $287 billion last year – or an average of $2500 for each US household shopping at Walmart. After 19 years Walmart retired its “Always low prices.” slogan in 2007, and unveiled “Save money. Live better”, as it’s new tagline. According to Stephen Quinn, Walmart’s chief marketing officer, “People know they can save money by shopping at Walmart. The emotional connection was what the savings allowed the family to do.”

And, what the savings might allow your family to do is brilliantly reinforced in television advertising. 30 and 60 second spots feature customers pondering whether to spend the money they’ve saved by shopping at Walmart on cars or family vacations. The ads close with the voice over “Walmart saves the average family $2500 per year. What will you do with your savings?” It’s a powerful statement that resonates within Walmart’s demographic, and beyond.

Consumers seek security in brands, and at a time when many people are wondering how they’re going to pay the mortgage and put food on the table, Walmart’s brand actually offers hope – no celebrity endorsements required. It communicates that as tough as things might be, there’s still somebody on the consumer’s side helping them provide for their family. The resulting emotional connection has had a profoundly positive impact on brand perception. In an economic climate where frugality is the new swank, Walmart is suddenly chic.

A Beacon Of Hope

The renewed focus on the brand promise of making life better, or easier, or more manageable, by providing quality at a value, is also embodied by an updated visual identity, the cornerstone of which is an illuminating new logo.

On June 30, 2008, Walmart unveiled a non-hyphenated letter-mark paired with a stylized “spark”. Economy of shape and color make the new logo clean, concise and instantly recognizable. The spark icon conveys a host of positive messages, such as; bright ideas, a brighter day, the light at the end of the tunnel, or a beacon – perhaps even a beacon of hope. Exuberance and optimism burst forth from the vibrant symbol, signaling the brand’s positive, affirming attitude. Design critics have criticized the color and font choices, but in this instance those details are more subjective than fundamentally important to the strength of the logo. Overall the entire aesthetic is open, airy, contemporary, and yes, a bit more affluent.

The Moral Of The Story: Seeing The Light

Being flexible enough to adapt to market changes and consumer needs, without losing site of your core values, is what allows a brand to remain relevant and thrive. Learn from the mistakes, and triumphs, of the most successful retailer on the planet: know and respect your consumers, connect with them emotionally, and always honor those connections. Make your brand a beacon, and consumers will see the light.

© Ken Peters, 2008.

Over the last year the US, once flying high, has fallen and face planted into a somewhat ugly recession.  For people with steady jobs the fear is of course the dreaded pink slip.  But as long as they can keep their jobs their paychecks in most cases will remain the same.  For small business owners a recession is often felt in the pocketbook.  With less people buying their goods and services their revenues and profit margins can start to sink.  And it can be painful for a number of reasons.  First many business owners have an emotional attachment to their business.  When the business starts to flat line its hard to readjust to the new realities of your surroundings.  If you are a restaurateur it might be hard to scrap plans for opening a new location across town even if the economic realties of the market make it clear that continuing ahead with previous plans is illogical.  The second difficulty is that it’s hard to readjust ones life to deal with a lower take home pay.  So while a small business might see a 20% drop in revenue that could translate to a 40-50% drop in profits.   And while you might have lived on a smaller revenue 10 years ago it’s hard to go back to that.  Living without regular out of states vacations is one thing going back to that point is even more difficult.  And these somewhat harsh realties are what drive people to look for something, anything that can restore their business to its previous health and prosperity.  

First I want to point out that in some cases advertising in a recession can be a wise move to increase market share and take advantage of a bad market.  But more often what I see is this.

“Our revenues are way down”
“That’s horrible”
“Let’s spend a ton of money on advertising and hope we can put this behind us”

The problem is that the difficulty for this business is not that they didn’t spend enough on advertising last quarter.  The problem is that we are in a world wide economic depression caused by billions of crappy loans real estate loans given out over the last few years.  And yes everything is interconnected but putting out more ads for a local restaurant is probably not going to change this.

Simply put sometimes business owners make asset allocation decisions based on emotion instead of their current economic realty their business exists in.  A few reasons that increased advertising might be a bad idea for your business.

1) The number of potential customers is decreasing
2) In many industries your competitors are increasing advertising to “spend their way out of a recession”
3) Increased advertising and decreased customers is a bad market to ramp up your advertising budget
4) Spending more on advertising can mean advertising in new venues.  Often when testing new venues you can wasn’t a lot of money discovering mediums that simply don’t work for your business. 
5) You can increase your expenditures and your cash burn rate.  So basically the economy might eventually turn around but your business might not be there to see it. 

Ok so if the answer is not doubling or tripling your advertising what is the answer?  Here is my advice

1) Cut Expenses that are not needed.  Comb through your budgets for extras you added during better times but are not needed. 
2) Keep current advertising that is working.  Whatever is currently providing you business I would stick with.
3) Cut advertising that is not working.
4) Adjust

Number 4 is probably the most difficult but important.  If ones business is affected by the recession (and most are) it might be a good idea to simply accept the possibility of a reduced monthly income for awhile.  I am not saying people should give up on their business or not attempt to increase profits.  But during a recession it might be a good idea to keep working to achieve higher goals but at the same time when you are doing your monthly personal budget accept the possibility that a weakened economy often results in less customers and lower revenue.  This means if you planned on buying a new car or taking an extra vacation it might be a good idea to change those plans. 

In the end by operating in a logical manner a business can survive a recession and hopefully be in a position to flourish once the economy recovers.

You’ll run across a hundred thousand articles showing you exactly how to stay friends with your ex girlfriend.  And then you’ll run across this one… the one article that tells you all those other articles are a bunch of crap.  Because if you’re looking to one day kiss your ex again on something other than her cheek?  You’re going to need to know why being her friend is the last thing in the world you’d ever want.  

So wipe that phony smile off your face and throw away the small talk… I’m here to help you out of the Friend Zone before you even step foot within it’s desperate boundaries.

After a girlfriend dumps them, many guys will cling to the idea of staying close to her.  While accepting your ex’s offer to be friends sounds like a really nice deal, it’s actually not.  The whole thing will end up costing you a lot more than you think… you’ll develop bitter feelings of awkwardness and jealousy that you never imagined you’d have.  For example, imagine your ex girlfriend kissing another guy.  Pretty bad, right?  Now imagine her kissing another guy and then telling you all about it.  Now go even one step further, and imagine yourself having to clap your hands and act all happy for her because you’re her “friend” and you wish her nothing but the best.  Are you getting the picture?  Good.

Any time a girl ends things with you, there are really only two choices.  Either you choose to forget her and move on with your life, or you make a strong attempt to get her back.  Winning back your girlfriend is definitely achievable, but you have to first make the conscious decision to try and do it.  It’s not something you “kinda” do from a friendship standpoint.

Oh, and all those guys who say you *can* be friends with an ex?  They’re liars too.  Because they’re sitting there doing the same thing you’ll be doing in a few weeks or months: clinging to your ex girlfriend’s table scraps while hoping that she’ll turn around and miraculously decide she loves you again.  Do you think being pals with your exgirlfriend is the same as putting your foot in the door to a future romance?  Because if that’s what you’re hoping to achieve, you need to cash the following reality check:

Let’s list the things your girlfriend gets when you agree to be her friend:

* A nice companion to bounce things off of
* The comfort of being with you, without being *with* you
* Someone to call and talk to whenever she’s confused
* Someone to take her out whenever she feels bored
* A friend who’ll do anything she wants, just to hang out with her

Now let’s see all the wonderful benefits you get from the friendship:

* The eternal insecurity of her rejection
* The jealousy of watching her life move on without you
* Lots and lots of great small talk (you do love small talk, right?)
* The constant fear of her dating someone else
* The unlimited fun of acting like you don’t still have feelings for her
* The awkwardness of meeting her new boyfriend
* The despair of knowing she’ll never date you again

Awesome stuff, right?  Of course it is.

In a perfect world, you could stay friends with an ex girlfriend whether or not you had feelings for them.  But it’s not a perfect world, and there are forces aligning against you.  For example, how will her new boyfriend react to your friendship?  Is he going to join the two of you on your little friendly hangouts… or is he going to sneer in your direction and keep your “friend” as far away from you as possible?  Odds are good that he’s not going to be your biggest fan, especially once he finds out that you once dated and slept naked next to his girlfriend.

And consider the reverse scenario: what about when you start dating someone else?  Will your tell your ex about your friendship?  Will she approve of you being buddies with someone you were so close and intimate with?  Or will she drive a wedge between you and your ex, causing you to see her less and less until she resents you for abandoning the friendship?  Both situations suck, and there are no good solutions.  Even though you might have the best of intentions, the reality always comes back to bite you in the ass.  Unfair as it may be, it’s the way of life.

And hey, let’s be honest… chances are you still have feelings for your ex girlfriend.  You may say you don’t, but in the back of your mind it’s always nice to think she’ll come to her senses and realize she should never have dumped you.  Know where that’s going to happen?  In the movies.  Because it’s not going to happen in real life.

Here’s a novel idea: rather than act like you’re okay with being friends with your ex, why not work toward getting her back?  Winning back your girlfriend’s love isn’t as hard as you think it is.  If you’re interested in giving your relationship another shot, you should try and take that chance.  There’s a long winding road to reconciliation, but that road doesn’t have friendship stamped all over it.  If you’re willing to put in the time and effort to repair your break up, you and your ex can be friends *and* lovers… which is what you probably wanted in the first place, before she broke up with you and used the “F” word.

To get your ex back, you must first make her miss you.  She just can’t miss you while you’re one of her friends.  Making her need you back is next to impossible when you’re talking to your ex, emailing her, and texting her on a daily basis.  You’re shooting yourself in the foot – diving head-first into a huge friendship trap, and there won’t be any way out of it once you get in there.  As time goes on and your past history together becomes further and further removed from her mind, your ex sees you as a platonic friend – a brother even – a guy to call when her car won’t start, or when she needs the recipe for something.  Ugh.

When your ex offers to be friends, tell her you just can’t do it.  Let her know you care about in different ways, and that being her friend would be like going backward.  Either she gets all of you or none of you at all – make her face the fact that she might lose you completely as both friend and boyfriend.  Faced with this choice, she might consider reversing the decision to break up.  This is a choice she’ll never have to make while you allow her the cushy comfort of friendship.

So stop reading articles on how to make a nice little friendly world that includes your ex girlfriend in it… and start learning how to get her back in your life for good.

So your girlfriend utters those three magic words no guy wants to hear… “let’s be friends”. In theory, it’s not such a bad idea is it? You get to still hang out with her, talk with her, play email tag… it’s a way of being around your girlfriend even after the two of you drift apart. But what if you want her back? What if you’re not just looking for friendship, but a little something more?

You’ll run across a hundred thousand articles showing you exactly how to stay friends with your ex girlfriend. And then you’ll run across this one… the one article that tells you all those other articles are a bunch of crap. Because if you’re looking to one day kiss your ex again on something other than her cheek? You’re going to need to know why being her friend is the last thing in the world you’d ever want.

So wipe that phony smile off your face and throw away the small talk… I’m here to help you out of the Friend Zone before you even step foot within it’s desperate boundaries.

After a girlfriend dumps them, many guys will cling to the idea of staying close to her. While accepting your ex’s offer to be friends sounds like a really nice deal, it’s actually not. The whole thing will end up costing you a lot more than you think… you’ll develop bitter feelings of awkwardness and jealousy that you never imagined you’d have. For example, imagine your ex girlfriend kissing another guy. Pretty bad, right? Now imagine her kissing another guy and then telling you all about it. Now go even one step further, and imagine yourself having to clap your hands and act all happy for her because you’re her “friend” and you wish her nothing but the best. Are you getting the picture? Good.

Any time a girl ends things with you, there are really only two choices. Either you choose to forget her and move on with your life, or you make a strong attempt to get her back. Winning back your girlfriend is definitely achievable, but you have to first make the conscious decision to try and do it. It’s not something you “kinda” do from a friendship standpoint.

Oh, and all those guys who say you *can* be friends with an ex? They’re liars too. Because they’re sitting there doing the same thing you’ll be doing in a few weeks or months: clinging to your ex girlfriend’s table scraps while hoping that she’ll turn around and miraculously decide she loves you again. Do you think being pals with your exgirlfriend is the same as putting your foot in the door to a future romance? Because if that’s what you’re hoping to achieve, you need to cash the following reality check:

Let’s list the things your girlfriend gets when you agree to be her friend:

* A nice companion to bounce things off of
* The comfort of being with you, without being *with* you
* Someone to call and talk to whenever she’s confused
* Someone to take her out whenever she feels bored
* A friend who’ll do anything she wants, just to hang out with her

Now let’s see all the wonderful benefits you get from the friendship:

* The eternal insecurity of her rejection
* The jealousy of watching her life move on without you
* Lots and lots of great small talk (you do love small talk, right?)
* The constant fear of her dating someone else
* The unlimited fun of acting like you don’t still have feelings for her
* The awkwardness of meeting her new boyfriend
* The despair of knowing she’ll never date you again

Awesome stuff, right? Of course it is.

In a perfect world, you could stay friends with an ex girlfriend whether or not you had feelings for them. But it’s not a perfect world, and there are forces aligning against you. For example, how will her new boyfriend react to your friendship? Is he going to join the two of you on your little friendly hangouts… or is he going to sneer in your direction and keep your “friend” as far away from you as possible? Odds are good that he’s not going to be your biggest fan, especially once he finds out that you once dated and slept naked next to his girlfriend.

And consider the reverse scenario: what about when you start dating someone else? Will your tell your ex about your friendship? Will she approve of you being buddies with someone you were so close and intimate with? Or will she drive a wedge between you and your ex, causing you to see her less and less until she resents you for abandoning the friendship? Both situations suck, and there are no good solutions. Even though you might have the best of intentions, the reality always comes back to bite you in the ass. Unfair as it may be, it’s the way of life.

And hey, let’s be honest… chances are you still have feelings for your ex girlfriend. You may say you don’t, but in the back of your mind it’s always nice to think she’ll come to her senses and realize she should never have dumped you. Know where that’s going to happen? In the movies. Because it’s not going to happen in real life.

Here’s a novel idea: rather than act like you’re okay with being friends with your ex, why not work toward getting her back? Winning back your girlfriend’s love isn’t as hard as you think it is. If you’re interested in giving your relationship another shot, you should try and take that chance. There’s a long winding road to reconciliation, but that road doesn’t have friendship stamped all over it. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort to repair your break up, you and your ex can be friends *and* lovers… which is what you probably wanted in the first place, before she broke up with you and used the “F” word.

To get your ex back, you must first make her miss you. She just can’t miss you while you’re one of her friends. Making her need you back is next to impossible when you’re talking to your ex, emailing her, and texting her on a daily basis. You’re shooting yourself in the foot – diving head-first into a huge friendship trap, and there won’t be any way out of it once you get in there. As time goes on and your past history together becomes further and further removed from her mind, your ex sees you as a platonic friend – a brother even – a guy to call when her car won’t start, or when she needs the recipe for something. Ugh.

When your ex offers to be friends, tell her you just can’t do it. Let her know you care about in different ways, and that being her friend would be like going backward. Either she gets all of you or none of you at all – make her face the fact that she might lose you completely as both friend and boyfriend. Faced with this choice, she might consider reversing the decision to break up. This is a choice she’ll never have to make while you allow her the cushy comfort of friendship.

So stop reading articles on how to make a nice little friendly world that includes your ex girlfriend in it… and start learning how to get her back in your life for good.

By: Rowena De Guzman

Depreciation in accounting is the process of spreading the cost of an asset over its useful life to the entity. It is an annual income tax deduction that allows you to recover the cost or other basis of certain property over the time you use the property. It is an allowance for the wear and tear, deterioration, or obsolescence of the property. You can depreciate most types of tangible property (except land), such as buildings, machinery, vehicles, furniture, and equipment. You also can depreciate certain intangible property, such as patents, copyrights, and computer software. To be depreciable, the property must be owned by you, it must be used in running your business or income producing activity. It must have a determinable useful life and must be expected to last more than one year.

Depreciation is calculated in two ways: Straight line and Accelerated Depreciation.

Straight Line Method is the simplest and most common used depreciation method. Under this method the basis of the asset is written off evenly over its useful life. An equal amount of depreciation expense is recorded each period.  The annual depreciation is calculated by subtracting the salvage value of the asset from the purchase price, and then dividing this number by the estimated useful life of the asset.

Under straight line method of depreciation one common method is the Units of Production depreciation method. This depreciation method ties the rate of depreciation with the asset’s lifetime capacity to do work. These units can be measured in a number of ways, miles for cars or trucks and hours used for machines and other equipment. This method has nothing to do with assets age rather the more the asset is used the more it depreciates.

Accelerated Depreciation refers to any one of several methods by which a company, for financial accounting and or tax purposes, depreciates a fixed asset in such a way that the amount of depreciation taken each is higher during the earlier years of an asset’s life. This is method is fairly complicated so the business owners should have a better understanding of the method to help save on taxes. This depreciation method allows faster write-offs than the straight line method. It provide a greater tax shield effect than straight line depreciation, and so companies with large tax burdens might like to use accelerated depreciation methods, even if it reduces the income shown on financial statements. Accelerated depreciation methods are popular for writing-off equipment that might be replaced before the end of its useful life since the equipment might be obsolete (e.g. computers).

One example of an accelerated depreciation method is the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS). This is the current method of accelerated depreciation that the IRS requires businesses to use. In this method asset classification determines the depreciation period. Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System is the modified ACRS.

Before Accelerated Cost Recovery System (ACRS) most capital purchases were depreciated using straight line. ACRS was in force from 1975-1983 in the United States under Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1986. This method is unique because the property class lives were established, calculations were based on an estimated salvage value of zero, and the shorter recovery periods were used to calculated annual depreciation. This result in a faster write off of capital cost compares to straight line method of depreciation.

Salvage value is the estimated value of an asset at the end of its useful life. This is also known as the residual value of or scrap value. It is the net cash inflow that occurs when the asset is liquefied at the end of its life.

MACRS replaced ACRS in 1986 with the passing of Tax Reform Act of 1986. It is similar to ACRS except that the number of property classes was expanded and half year convention was added to simplify the first and last year of the property’s recovery life.

Other types of accelerated depreciation are “Sum of the Years Digits” and “Double Declining Balance.” Here is (briefly) how each work.

Double declining balance, the asset is depreciated twice as fast as under straight line. This method of depreciation assumes higher depreciation charges and greater tax benefits in the early years of an asset’s life. The declining-balance method may be appropriate in industries where equipment and technology changes quickly

Sum-of-the-years-digits, the asset are depreciated faster than straight line but not as fast as declining balance. It is a depreciation method in which the amounts recognized in the early periods of an asset’s useful life are greater than those recognized in the later periods. The SYD is found by estimating an asset’s useful life in years, assigning consecutive numbers to each year, and totaling these numbers.

Since the start of the credit crunch mortgages and remortgages applications has gone down.

Unless a person considering buying a property has a substantial sum of money saved to pay cash for the property which is unlikey taking out a mortgage is essential for most people. Very few have this kind of money in the bank and therefore most people do in fact require a mortgage to fund the purchase of a property. The average person moves house on average every four years or so and therefore most will have several mortgages during their life.

This all means that mortgages were an extremely very much in demand financial product, as a homeowner would be applying for a mortgage every few years.

However the recession changed much of that, as suddenly even some who thought that they had a job for life, found themselves on the scrap heap of redundancy. Others saw their family incomes reduced by no longer working overtime due to the decrease in their firm’s productivity, while other members of the work force were asked by their bosses to accept a cut in wages to enable the firm to survive the credit crunch.

This severely depleted the confidence of the public in general and many no longer considered taking out a mortgage, whether to buy their first property and become a homeowner for the first time, having lived up until then with their parents. Therefore even young adults who would have loved to flee the family home and set up their own first home lacked the confidence to do so.

Those who wanted to move house to, for example, buy a bigger home or to relocate to be nearer their work place or elderly parents choose to stay put.

Therefore there was less call for mortgages. This was coupled by the fact that even for those in a healthy financial situation and in recession proof professions, such as young doctors and teachers, found it difficult to get on the property ladder, as mortgage lenders tightened up their underwriting criteria and their equity so that first time buyers required to have a minimum 25% deposit.

Remortgages suffered the same fate. Remortgages had always proved to be a popular product allowing homeowners to move from their existing building society to another to obtain a better rate of interest. Changing from one mortgage lender to another without applying for any additional funds is known as a like for like remortgage.

rEMORTGAGES CAN BE USED FI A VARIETY OF PURPOD=SES INCLUDING

Remortgages can be used for almost any purpose and are a very low interest way of, for example, funding home improvements such us a new kitchen, a conservatory, attic conversion, garage, etc. Remortgges are useful to pay for weddings, holidays, cars, etc. In fact they can be used for any legitimate purpose.

Homowners often took out a remortgage for debt consolidation whereby all outstanding debts on personal loans, credit cards etc. were rolled into one, saving a considerable sum of money each month and making the household finances much easier to manage.

During the course of the recession remortgages followed the same path as mortgages and caused a number of mortgage lenders to stop lending and close shop.

Only today it was announced that Kensington, who had withdrawn from the market, are now coming back although in a more restricted fashion than previously when they advanced remortgages and mortgages to people with poor credit ratings, and accepted self cert. self employed applicants.

Now only status remortgages and mortgages will be available from Kensington and their once extensive intermediary sector is, for the meantime at least, restricted to only three. Hopefully there is a renewal of hope in mortgages and remortgages.