01 Dec 09 Keeping The Weight Off During The Holidays

Now that the holiday season is upon us, many are fearing for their waistlines. The holiday season is typically when many of us gain a little extra holiday weight. The meetings with family, which usually mean lots of good food, can really take their toll. But they don’t have to, as long as you’re smart, and exert a little willpower, you can limit the damage.

Make sure that you don’t give yourself any delusions as to eating healthy while everyone enjoys the really good stuff. Eating a healthy salad while everyone else enjoys a great feast is only going to make you wish you could join them. Therefore increasing your chances of binging later to make up for the food you didn’t eat in the first place.

Instead, go ahead and eat the good stuff, just limit how much you eat. A good tactic is to only eat until you’re about 80% full. That way you ensure you’re only taking in what your body can make use of. You don’t have to eat every meal like it’s your last, you’ll eat again. All that good stuff will still be there later, so just limit how much you eat right now.

Another good tactic is to eat slowly. Remember, it takes your stomach about 20 minutes after you start eating to signal to the rest of your body that you’re full. If you eat quickly you pack in more food and your stomach will signal it’s full too late. Eating slowly means you’ll feel full when you actually are, and you won’t run the risk of over eating.

Finally, try even eating a small meal before you leave for a big party. That way you’ve got something in there, and won’t be as likely to eat a ton more when you get there. Anything that keeps you eating less is good, and will be key if you want to keep those pounds off.

Tags: Ahead, Binging, Delusions, Extra, Good Food, Good Stuff, Great Feast, Holiday Season, Holiday Weight, Holidays, Risk, Stomach, Tactic, Waistlines, Willpower

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20 Nov 09 Paying Back Defaulted Student Loans

Paying back your student loans is a daunting task for any college graduate. Unlike most debts, student loans have all sorts of advantages to keep you paying until you’ve paid back everything you owe. There are laws to help student loans get around declared bankruptcies, as well as wage garnishments to force you to pay back your debt. But there’s always something you can do to help get yourself out of debt, and away from those student loans.

Remember that your student loan is a priority, you should treat it as such. That’s one of the first and most important debts you have, that needs to be paid off as soon as possible. There are legal provisions on federal loans that stop them from being defaulted until you’ve missed payments for nine months. Take this as an advantage, but don’t risk falling behind that badly.

If you have defaulted on a student loan, don’t be afraid to contact the lender you owe money. They obviously want to be paid back in full for the debt. So in most cases they will be completely willing to renegotiate a new payment plan that is acceptable to you. Try and work with them, instead of waiting for them to come after you. In the end they’re always going to win. If you can’t help but default on a loan, contact them immediately.

Don’t forget you always have the option to ask for a student loan deferment. This way you are allowed to stop making payments while you recover financially, for a set period of time. Effectively allowing you to regroup and get your head straight once more. Through a deferment the loan will still gather interest, so you’ll have to pay back more money in the end. But a deferment can buy you the time you need to start money rolling in, so you can keep paying out.

Tags: All Sorts, Bankruptcies, College Graduate, Daunting Task, Debts, Defaulted Student Loans, Federal Loans, Legal Provisions, Loans Student, Money, Nine Months, Period Of Time, Priority, Risk, Student Loan Deferment, Wage Garnishments

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04 Nov 09 Using Your Credit Card Overseas

Using your credit card overseas can be dangerous, unless you prepare. If you’re planning on visiting any relatives on the other side of an ocean this holiday season, there are some steps you should take to prepare. Not planning properly with your credit cards can lead to any number of headaches. When you’re not on your home soil, and need a reliable source of income, that’s the last thing you want.

One of your first steps should be to notify the credit card companies you are planning on using, that you will be making the trip. The way automatic fraud protection is set up now, your card might be automatically blocked from making overseas purchases. That’s not what you want when you’re trying to check into your hotel, or buy dinner.

While you’re calling to inform them you’ll be traveling abroad, ask about the rules regarding international use on your card. Sometimes banks or credit card companies will have special rules pertaining to those purchases. Inquire as to any possible spending limits, or special requirements you may have to meet.

Do a little trip research and make sure that you have credit cards that will be accepted everywhere you will be going. The last thing you want to do is only have a Visa card in an all Master-Card area of the world. Things can get tricky, or just downright uncomfortable if you have trouble paying for your items because of a credit card dispute. Researching beforehand can prevent any undesirable circumstances.

Finally, familiarize yourself with the currency exchange rates for the areas you will be traveling. This way you don’t risk overspending what you have available. The dollar is fairly week with the state of the economy, so make sure you know how the dollar stacks up against the other currencies you’ll be using.

Tags: Credit Card Companies, Credit Cards, Currencies, Currency Exchange Rates, Economy, First Steps, Fraud Protection, Headaches, Holiday Season, Home Soil, International Banks, Lead, Little Trip, Master Card, Overseas Purchases, Relatives, Risk, Stacks, Undesirable Circumstances, Visa Card

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01 Dec 09 Keeping The Weight Off During The Holidays

20 Nov 09 Paying Back Defaulted Student Loans

04 Nov 09 Using Your Credit Card Overseas

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