The Music Of Achievement

Are you having trouble paying your monthly bills? Or worried about losing your home and car because you have problems paying for your monthly installment?

Well, you are not alone. Many people face a financial crisis in some part of their lives.
Whether the crisis is self created (over spending) or by accident (family illness, or loss of a job), it can be prevail over. Your financial health can only improve if you put your heart and soul into nursing it.

The first step to manage yourself get out of debts is to develop a budget plan. Take some time to think over and do a realistic assessment of how much you earn and spend each month.

List your expenses into fixed and variable and identify which are ‘needs’ spending that you cannot live without (for example food and house mortgage), and ‘wants’ spending that you can survive without spending.

Get a good idea of how much you need to spend on your fixed and ‘needs’ spending and always leave enough money for them. The goal is to make sure you can make ends meet on your basics needs: housing, food, health care, insurance, and education. And reduce your ‘wants’ expenses as far as possible.

If you have creditors, contact them immediately to tell them frankly that you are in financial difficulties. Ask them to work out a payment plan that you can manage so that you can still pay them. You’ll be surprise that most of your creditors are wiling to negotiate and work out a better repayment plan for you.

Manage your secured debts especially your auto loan. Lenders have the right to repossess your car if you default on your payment. Instead of waiting for your car to be repossessed and paying extra fees. Talk to your lender and ask if you can sell or trade in your car for a cheaper one. Alternately, ask for grace period so that you can save on the added costs of repossession and a negative entry on your credit report.

Your public library and bookshops should have more information about budgeting and money management skills. Do not hesitate to consult them for more advice if needed. Start a budgeting plan to nurse yourself back to a good financial health today!

Moses Wright is the webmaster of Bulletpedia.com. He provides more helpful information on debt and bill consolidation tips, personal finance credit help and personal finance loan help that you can research in the comfort of your home on his website. You are welcome to reprint this article if you keep the content and live link
intact.

Vioxx was a very popular prescription pain medication taken by an estimated 20 million people. In September 2004 however, it was pulled from the market because a study found that its use increased the risk of heart attack and stroke.

On Friday August 19th, 2005, a jury held drug giant Merck & Co. liable in the heart-related death of a 59-year-old marathon runner who took Vioxx, slapping the company with a $253.4 million judgment.

The Vioxx scandal was only the beginning. Since taking it off the market last year, numerous questions have been raised about other popular prescription and over-the-counter pain medications. In short, they could be extremely dangerous.

Thankfully there are safer, natural pain relief alternatives though…

White Willow (Salix species) (bark): The bark of the stately white willow tree (Salix alba) has been used in China for centuries as a medicine because of its ability to relieve pain and to lower fevers. Early settlers in America found Native Americans gathering bark from indigenous willow trees for similar purposes. The active ingredient in white willow is salicin, which the body converts into salicylic acid. The first aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) was made from a different herb containing salicinmeadowsweetbut works in essentially the same way. All aspirin is now chemically synthesized. It’s not surprising, then, that white willow bark is often called “herbal aspirin”. Although white willow is the species of willow tree most commonly used for medicinal purposes, other salicin-rich species are employed as well, including crack willow (Salix fragilis), purple willow (Salix purpurea), and violet willow (Salix daphnoides). These all may be sold under the label of willow bark.

Health Benefits: The salicylic acid in white willow bark lowers the body’s levels of prostaglandins, hormonelike compounds that can cause aches, pain, and inflammation. While white willow bark takes longer to begin acting than aspirin, its effect may last longer. And, unlike aspirin, it doesn’t cause stomach bleeding or other known adverse effects. White willow bark may help to relieve acute and chronic pain, including arthritis pain, headache, back and neck pain, muscle aches, and menstrual cramps. The effectiveness of white willow bark for easing these and other types of discomforts results from its power to lower prostaglandin levels. Some arthritis sufferers taking white willow bark have experienced reduced swelling and inflammation, and have eventually achieved increased mobility in the back, knees, hips, and other joints.

This article is an excerpt from “An Herbal Guide to Natural, Safe, Effective Pain Relief” Please visit to continue reading about other safe, effective herbs that relieve pain.

Every woman hits a crossroad when that fateful day arrives, and someone she loves puts a ring on her finger. As she peeks over the threshold at the daunting, exhilarating, endless year ahead, she’ll probably spend some time pondering how to fine-tune her look — for posterity, you know. After all, this will be her red carpet moment, and she’ll be paying the photographer an awful lot to capture it.

At this point, some brides will go totally over-the-top. By that, we mean bridal boot camps and personal trainers named Reinhold. Brides with even less of a rudder will apply to one of the emerging reality TV programs, such as Britain’s “Bride and Grooming,” where “lively couples” go under the knife, turning Roman noses into cute little Irish ones, lifting those baggy eyelids and of course, getting their teeth done.

Chances are, you’re not like that. You want to look your best, but you also want to look back on this year and remember your grip on sanity. And if you’re like me, you don’t have a lot to spend on “Exxtreem Makeovers” anyway. Which is fine, because a couple of bucks here and a couple of bucks there can pack quite a punch … without making you look like a stranger.

Fuller Lips — the Reality TV Approach
Puff up your lips with various temporary injections, or more permanent Gore-Tex implants. Costs: $200-2000 for “injectables”; $1000-3000 for implants.

Fuller Lips — the Sane Way
Almost all women — especially we hopelessly Caucasian types — wish we had fuller lips. We know this because of all the droopy “trout pouts” that show up on rising and fading Hollywood stars, no matter how goofy they look.

The sane bride can plump up her lips at home for a fairly small investment. No, we’re not talking do-it-yourself collagen implants. We’re talking CityLips, the only lip plumper we’ve tried that works.

Don’t get excited (or alarmed) — you’ll never get Angelina Jolie results with lip serums. And in fact, anecdotal evidence suggests that CityLips won’t work for everyone. But it works for us, unlike anything else we’ve tried. Yes, there are a number of effective plumpers that temporarily irritate and swell the lip tissue, but CityLips actually plumps the collagen through some mysterious mechanism instead of merely irritating your lips. It takes about 30 days to work.

So where to buy your lip-plumping secret weapon? We tried eBay, but we didn’t get much of a discount. We did learn to avoid buying the mini tubes, since much of the serum gets stuck in the bottom.

Instead, we found the best deal was to sign-up for the newsletter at www.citylips.com directly. Every so often, they put out a “buy 2, get 1 free” deal that’s music to our ears, or they offload a less popular color at a great price. Sure, you might end up with psychedelic purple gloss, but who cares? It’s CityLips!

Whiter Teeth — the Reality TV Approach
Plant your derrire in a dental chair. Prop your mouth open for one hour while the dentist turns your teeth into an approximation of the polar caps (pre-global warming) using a peroxide-based solution and a laser. Costs: $800-2000.

Whiter Teeth — the Sane Way
Dentists have long given up the rap that you have hit the office to whiten your teeth. We all know you can do it at home. The best way?

The overwhelming consensus is Crest Whitestrips.

You have plenty of choices — peroxide-based gels and trays you fit to your teeth at home are easy to come by. But they’re uncomfortable, not very strong, and they make you drool. Crest Whitestrips have none of these drawbacks, and many people find they work better anyway.

Want to get them cheap? Buy them on eBay. Buy them even cheaper by choosing a slightly older product, like plain old Whitestrips instead of Whitestrips Premium or Premium Plus. They go for a song. What a deal. Forget the whitening toothpastes; they don’t work.

One more note on teeth — sometimes it does make sense to get a little work done. To wit:

A Sad, Sad Tooth Story
When I was a child, I had a diastema — a gap between my front teeth, like Madonna. It was kind of cute. But my parents took me to an orthodontist for surgery. He fixed the gap, but didn’t use braces. So my formerly straight-as-an-arrow teeth lost the gap, but grew in crooked. My sadistic parents stopped there, leaving me with awful, inward-pointing front teeth until I left home.

In college, I found I could finally fix the problem with a few inexpensive veneers. Veneers look terrific, and if you only need a few, the costs can be reasonable. If you had sadistic parents or a few problem teeth, this stretch before your wedding might be a good time to look at veneers.

Forehead Wrinkles — the Reality TV Approach
Botox, duh. Costs: $400 a session.

Forehead Wrinkles — the Sane Way
You’re young, right? You’re not a chain smoker or former tanning booth marathon champion. You shouldn’t have forehead wrinkles, yet you do. In fact, there’s this big one right in the middle, one that seemed to pop up the very day he popped the question. Where did it come from, and how can you punish its sender?

It’s likely it comes from your habit of indulging in pained expressions. Yes, pained expressions are appropriate when you’re planning a wedding. But they lead to hyper-developed forehead muscles and that weird line right in the middle, and you really don’t want to resort to bangs, right?

Train yourself to stop frowning. In the privacy of your own home, slap a big old piece of tape on your forehead. It will remind you. Don’t forget to remove it when you head to the gym or that upscale whole foods store.

A Few More Champagne Tips for the Beer Budget Crowd

The Hair
If you have a thick, umber mane like Cindy Crawford’s, just leave it alone. But if you’re a dishwater blond like me — and you know who you are — look into some coloring or a few subtle highlights.

Another tip: don’t try to look like someone else for your wedding day. If you wear your hair short and sporty, don’t grow it long “just for your wedding.” You’ll look much more fabulous as yourself.

The Skin
Sometimes a glycolic peel is a great way to freshen up your skin and get an extra glow. You don’t need to book the dermatologist; you can do this at home.

Actually, brave brides can buy extremely strong TCA peels from eBay (at their own risk). I wouldn’t do this less than six months before your wedding, and I wouldn’t do it if you have a risk-averse personality. Oh, and the top layer of your skin will peel off a few days after you apply the product. This can freak out your friends.

It’s easy to find gentle glycolic peels on the shelves of any drugstore. I found L’oreal’s ReNoviste on sale the other day, and I liked the results.

The Oddball Dietary Suggestion
Everyone knows you’ll look better if you exercise during the wedding prep phase, and strive to avoid the “french fries and diet coke” diet. But another trick you might want to try is dumping dairy. Many people have a lactose intolerance without even knowing it, and that can lead to indigestion, black circles under the eyes, and other subtle beauty-busters.

No other animal drinks milk after its infancy … much less milk designed for a totally different animal. Only we do that. Try life without milk for a few weeks, and see if you don’t perk up.

About the Author

Blake Kritzberg is editor at “FavorIdeas.com.” Stop by for unique wedding favors and how to find the perfect wedding dress, cheap. This article also appears in our Bridal Beauty section.