How To Choose A Wood Burning Stove
Written by AprilIf you live out in the countryside chances are you want to buy a wood burning stove to heat your home. The thing is that there are actually a number of different choices and it’s important that you look at them all to see which one you should buy. They can be a pretty big financial investment for a lot of people so you don’t want to end up with a stove that isn’t right for you. The first thing you need to consider is what sort of fuel you use for your stove.
Solid Wood
There are really arguments for and against using wood. First of all there are those who say that it’s good for the environment because the trees put out oxygen whilst they are growing which off-sets any pollution put out by burning it. Whereas there are those who say that it’s bad because trees are being cut down to create fuel and it would be better for the trees to be allowed to keep growing.
The thing is that you don’t actually need to use wood that has come from trees specifically felled for fuel. If you go along to your local dump there is a good chance you can pick up discarded wood for free. Everyday there are folks who rip out kitchens, doors and old floorboards and then they take the waste wood along to the dump. By salvaging some of this wood for your stove you are actually recycling.
You should also look at the practical issues of a wood fuelled stove. You need to realize that a wooden stove is nothing like having a gas or electric stove. You can’t just set the temperature to whatever you want that then allow the system to do the rest for you. With wood you need to keep adding more and more wood in on a semi-regular basis. Which means you’ll have to keep checking the stove every 30 minutes or so.
Some people simply can’t be bothered with this because they want an easy life. For the same reason, you can’t have the heat on all night because you’ll be asleep and won’t be able to keep an eye on it. If you are away on vacation during the winter you also have the worry of frozen pipes because you can’t have the heating going on and off like you can with gas and electricity.
If you live in the US you should buy a stove which is EPA approved because they are a lot more efficient than the old models. As a result you will use a third less wood which is fantastic.
Wood Pellets
An alternative to solid wood is wood pellets. Basically the pellets can be made from a number of different materials including sawdust and general wood waste. Unlike the solid wood burning stoves, you have a lot more control over this system. There is a thing called a hopper which holds the pellets and then feeds them into the stove for burning depending on the temperature you have set the thermostat for. The larger the hopper fewer times you have to refill it.
Corn
A further alternative type of fuel you can consider is corn. Whether you consider this in the first place really depends on how easily available corn is where you live. If you are unable to find a local supplier of corn then there isn’t any point in buying this sort of stove. Instead you would look at the solid wood and wood pellet options. You also need to think about the storage of corn because vermin such as mice and rats love the stuff and you don’t want to leave it lying around for these pests to eat.
With both the wood pellets and corn burning models of stove you will also require an electricity supply. So if you have a problem with your electricity supply you might want to think carefully about whether you want a system like this. Both types of stove work pretty much in the same way and you can buy stoves that will burn both wood pellets and corn so have a look out for these if you want to have the choice of fuel you use.
Whatever stove you choose you also need to make sure that it’s the correct size for your home. It’s best to talk with an experienced installer about this because you don’t want to make any mistakes by doing this yourself. You should also find out if you are allowed to install a stove in your area because there are different rules about these sorts of things due to the need for keeping the air clean. There are also fireplace inserts which can be bought and have been made for installing into a fireplace. They work just the same as any wood stove.
Hopefully this article will have provided you with a good foundation of information when it comes to choosing a wood burning stove. Make sure you have a look at all the different types, sizes, brands and models out there because they really do vary quite a bit.
There is something rather cute about the phrase "love handles" but if you find yourself with your very own pair then you might not find it so cute. At first they might seem a rather cuddly but if you leave them for much longer they can start to get pretty ugly and even embarrassing.
Love handles can be a problem in both men and women and not only can they look unsightly, they can be an indicator of poor health. Basically when you get love handles it's because you're eating more calories than your body is burning up.
Centuries ago when the world was very different, the fatty store was nature's way of getting through the harsh times when it was a cold and there was a lack of food. However these days we can get as much food as we like and we really don't have to worry about food shortages. Therefore it's no wonder that so many people are carrying more fat than they should.
So how do you get rid of them? Well, you have to do the same things as when you want to get rid of fat from any part of your body. You need to eat a healthier diet and exercise more. You could do one or the other however reducing your calories as well as burning up more calories is by far the best approach.
A lot of people when trying to lose weight simply eat less however what they don't realize is that at the same time as doing this they might be losing muscle. Simply going onto weighing scales won't show this fact up however if you have your body fact percentage measured with callipers you will find out the truth.
You really don't want to lose muscle because not only does muscle keep us strong, it also burns off calories at a much greater rate than fat ever can. So hopefully you will see the benefit of exercising in addition to making changes in your diet.
Of course, if you are the sort of person who wants everything ASAP and doesn't want to work for it then you could go under the knife to have your love handles removed. This should be a last resort because there is always a risk of complications with any type of surgery.
Also, if you exercise and eat well you will improve your over all health and well being. You will have more energy, suffer fewer illnesses and generally feel much better for it.
If you have love handles you probably have excess fat in other parts of your body too so general exercising is a good idea. Aerobics, weight lifting, cycling, swimming and such like are all going to help you reduce your weight.
How To Make Money With A Website
Written by AprilYou’ve probably heard people talking about how easy it is to make money with a website. But if you have never even set up a website before it can be really confusing to know where to start. You will find all sorts of different websites telling you about the “perfect” way to make money and how easy it is.
Fist of all, you should know that making money with a website can take in various forms. Some people set up what is known as an e-commerce site where real products are sold. Basically you need to find products that you can sell for a profit, is in demand and can easily be shipped out to the customer. This is much easier said that done. Here are the problems with setting up an e-commerce site:-
1) A lot of companies require you to spend a minimum amount of money with them yet if you don’t have much money to spend you might not be able to afford the minimum order.
2) Many companies don’t provide photographs of the products which means if you are selling something like fashion accessories you will need to take the photographs yourself . This isn’t very easy if you are not familiar with product photography.
3) You’ll have to compete with the larger stores that have really professional photographs and website design which make the products look amazing. If you are on budget and have to do all the website work yourself you might not be able to create the professional image you are looking for.
4) What if you don’t get enough people to visit your store and you are left with loads of stock you can’t sell? You could therefore end up losing a lot of money.
5) What happens if you want to take time off for vacation or illness? If you are working on your own you might not have anyone to run your business which means shutting up shop for that time. Resulting in loss of revenue and customer trust.
So is there a way of making money with a website that will offer you the following benefits?
Requires no start-up money
Requires no technical knowledge
Will earn you passive income 24/7
Actually, the answer is yes. Here at Word Wolf you can easily make money by writing articles on any subject you wish and in return you will receive the majority of the advertising revenue. Here’s what you need to do:-
Get Yourself a Google Adsense Publisher ID
For those of you who are not familiar with Adsense, Google displays targeted ads on your webpages and you then receive a percentage of what the advertiser spends. Thousands upon thousands of advertisers from all around the world advertise their products and services with Google which means you don’t have to worry about finding these advertisers yourself. All you have to do is write the articles and Google will then display the most appropriate ads.
How to Create An Adsense Account
If you don’t yet have an account with Adsense you need to create an account with Word Wolf by clicking here. Then you need to add at least 6 articles which are about 400 - 500 words in length. Make sure that these articles are helpful to visitors and will help them find what they are looking for.
You can then sign up for Adsense here. When signing up for Adsense they will ask you for your website address. What you need to give them is your author profile page which will look something like: http://wordwolf.com/author/myusername.html.
What Should Your Articles Be About?
They can be pretty much about anything, however it’s a good idea to write about a topic that you are familiar with. If you have a dog you could write about dog training or the costs involved in owning a dog. If you’ve just been on vacation you could write about that.
When giving a title to your article make sure you think about what someone might actually type into the search engines. There’s no point in giving your article a title of “Why I Love Barbados” because it’s unlikely anyone will search for that. Instead something like “Where To Stay in Barbados” would be more appropriate.
Hopefully this article will give you some ideas about how you can genuinely make money with a website, no matter what level of experience you have. How much you earn will entirely depend on how much work you put into it. You might only have an hour a day which means you’ll possibly earn enough to buy a few treats for yourself. Whereas if you have several hours a day you can easily make a full time income. You can also work wherever and whenever you like as all you need is a computer with an internet connection.
Make Money Writing Articles Online
Written by janetIf you have a flair for writing then you could make money writing articles online. You can start off without having to invest any money yourself although, once you get started, you might move into creating a website on your own server. That's for another article however. In this article I'll talk about writing articles for Word Wolf and other sites and how you can make money doing it.
How to sign up for adsense
The first thing you'll need to do is to sign up for an adsense account. Many of the sites online that share revenue have adsense ads on the site. You will tell them your adsense ID and you then receive a share of the revenue that they make when people click on the ads on your articles. You can sign up for an adsense account without having a website yourself. Go to Google adsense to sign up.
Sign up for adsense using Word Wolf
Once you have registered with Word Wolf you will need to publish at least six articles, preferably more. We know people who have been approved with six articles but ten would be better. Make your articles at least 400-500 words. Once you have done that then apply to adsense and give them the address of your page on Word Wolf. This is the page with an address similar to http://wordwolf.com/author/yourname.html. Adsense approval can vary from a few hours to more than a week so be patient. Once you have your ID then come back to your Word Wolf account page and enter the whole of the ID (in the form pub-123456789).
Sign up for adsense using a Blogger Blog
Another way that seems to be quite successful is to make a free Blogger blog. You can do this at Blogger. Blogger blogs are very easy to set up with a good range of themes to choose from. Pick a subject that you know well and that you can write at least ten posts about.
What should I write about?
Well you should, of course, write about a subject you know about but there's more to writing articles online to make money than just writing about anything that takes your fancy! You'll need to pick subjects that people will be searching for online so that they come to your page on Word Wolf. For example, you probably arrived at this page by typing 'how to make money writing articles online' into Google! You were looking for the answer to a problem and 'hopefully' this article has answered it. This is a huge subject but the first thing to do is to think about what people need answers to. You could look at Yahoo Answers to find out what are good topics to choose.
How to use Google's keyword tool to find ideas
'How to' articles are great. Another way to find a subject that people are searching for is to use Google own Keyword Tool. I typed 'How to' into the search box and found a list including 'How to roast' and 'How to budget' . Now 'How to Roast' wouldn't be a great idea as there are a ton of websites that teach you 'how to roast' but then I put How to Roast' into the search box and came up with 'how to roast beef tenderloin', 'how to cook a pot roast' and 'how to roast a leg of lamb'. Putting 'How to budget' into the search box I came up with 'how to budget my money' and 'how to budget properly'. Just a few ideas, you'll want to find some of your own that are being searched for and that you can write an interesting article about!
Using channels in Adsense
Once you've written some articles you'll want to see which sites you're making money from! This is easy in adsense as you can use channels to track which site or which articles receives clicks. To track a site got to 'adsense setup' then 'channels' and then click on URL channels and add the site. For example to track clicks on Word Wolf enter wordwolf.com into the box. If you'd prefer to track individual articles click on 'custom channels' instead and enter the complete address of your article.
There are many other ways to make money writing articles online but I hope this short introduction has given you some things to think about to get started.
Legitimate Ways Of Making Money Online
Written by AprilLoads of people really hate working for other people and want to set up some sort of business on their own. Alternatively, they might have been made redundant and urgently need to start making some money to pay the bills. The internet can be a really great place to start earning money but there are so many different techniques that can be used it’s difficult to know what you should and shouldn’t try.
Unfortunately there are many scams on the internet making all sorts of false claims about how to make $1,467 in an hour whilst sitting on the beach. They make false claims, they use PhotoShop to doctor the their earnings and they even make up the testimonials. Do yourself a favour and ignore these bogus claims.
The truth is that it takes a lot of time and effort to make money online. It’s like anything else, you need to learn the ropes and figure out a lot of things yourself. There are also a lot of blogs created by people who are offering up tips on making money online but the truth is they aren’t making money very successfully at all.
What happens is they read a blog by some “blogging guru” who tells everyone to create a blog and talk about what they are passionate about. So the person reading this decides that they are passionate about making money online so that’s what they write about. My advice is not to do this because there’s so much competition in this area and you really need to know what you are doing to make money from it.
Don’t get into the trap of reading every website and blog and forum out there. If you only have limited time everyday then you don’t want to waste it by reading junk. Instead you need to focus on your business.
Although writing about something you are familiar with is a good idea you don’t have to be particularly passionate about it. For instance I know quite a bit about home improvement because I’ve done different DIY tasks around the home and I’ve watched my dad who is a joiner to trade. I don’t particularly enjoy DIY but I can write about it very easily because I have first-hand experience in the subject.
When writing articles for your websites make sure you think about problems that people experience and would gladly pay money for a product or service to deal with the problem. For instance, if you found mouse droppings in your kitchen would you pay money for mouse traps or an exterminator to get rid of them? I‘ve had mice in my kitchen and I bought some mouse traps because of it! So think about what people might type into the search engines to get help on this subject. For instance, for those who want to get rid of mice they might type in “how to get rid of mice from my kitchen.”
There are people who will tell you that if you write fantastic information people will feel compelled to link to you. Sure, I’ve had people link to me but usually it’s because I’m already ranking highly in the search engines in the first place. And the reason that I’m ranking high is because I have learnt about Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
So how do you go about creating a blog anyway? Well there are some free options such as Blogger, BlinkWeb, Weebly, HubPages, InfoBarrel and also Word Wolf. You just create an account and then start posting “how to” articles helping people with their problems and talking about products and services that can help them.
Alternatively you can buy your own domain at godaddy.com and then get a hosting account at hostgator.com. You can create your blog using WordPress which can be installed via Fantastico or you could try the self-hosted version of Blogger which is a lot simpler to use. However if you really don’t have much technical skill or money then one of the free options is better to start with to allow you to get your “feet wet” so to speak.
The best way to monetize these articles is with either Google Adsense or Chitika so make sure you sign up with these companies too. With Adsense you need to have a domain with at least 10 articles on it to show the quality of the site you produce. If you are going to go with a revenue sharing site such as Word Wolf or HubPages you should have 10 articles published and then list your author page as the domain.
So basically if you are looking for a legit way of making money online you need to avoid the “get rich quick” schemes that will just take your money and leave you with nothing to show for it. There’s loads of great information out there but there’s also a lot of junk so be very careful about what road you go down when it comes to making money online.
Creative Ways To Make Extra Money
Written by AprilLet’s face it. We all would like to make an extra buck or so. There seems to be so many bills to pay off and once you’ve paid them there doesn’t seem to be very much left for extra treats and such like. So if you want to find some creative ways to make extra money then hopefully you’ll be able to find them here:-
Rent Out Your Driveway/Garage
If you have a car garage that’s just sitting there not being used or you have a large driveway for some extra cars then you can actually make pretty good money by renting this space out. There are different ways to go about it but one way is to sign up at parkatmyhouse.com.
A big reason why people might want to rent your garage or driveway is because they are wanting to go to a stadium, airport, train station, ferry terminus or some other place like this. In built-up areas parking can be very difficult and if you simply leave it in a random street or public car park you might worry about your car being stolen or vandalised.
However if they pay you to keep their car in your driveway or garage they will feel a lot more comfortable. I mean, if you were going somewhere by ferry for a couple of weeks and you had to leave your car in a public car park, would you feel comfortable? Personally this is what I do most years when I visit the island of Canna and I always worry about leaving the car. I would be happier if I was leaving it at someone’s house.
When you sign up with Park At My House it doesn’t cost any money at all. They just take a 15% commission which isn’t all that much. The amount of money you can charge for renting out car space can vary greatly depend on where you are. If you live in the middle of nowhere then you might struggle (although it’s still worth signing up anyway). If you live in a major city near to a stadium or transport link then you could make quite a lot of money.
Alternatively you could look to advertise space in your local paper because there might be someone in the area who doesn’t have a garage and wants to keep their car safe at night. Or perhaps they are a commuter and you live near to where they work.
Rent Out Garden Space
I was reading in my local paper some time ago about a lady who had a large garden that she really wasn’t interested in maintaining. She knew that there was a long waiting list for people looking for allotment space to grow fruit and veg so she decided that she would allow people to grow produce in her garden.
She didn’t mention anything about charging any money for it but you could try and see how you get on. A lot of people these days are wanting to grow their own produce because they want to eat food that is healthy and organically grown.
To advertise your space you could simply put up a notice board saying that you are looking to rent out plots of your garden for x amount of money. You could also place an ad in your local paper. Even if you don’t charge any money for the plots, you could always do a barter system by asking for some produce in return.
Become a Secret Shopper
There are companies out there who really want to make sure their business is being run properly so they hire the services of a secret shopper. Basically, you’re given an assignment to go into a particular shop and carry out specific tasks such as ask questions, buy products and look at how clean the shop is.
A lot of people will say that by doing secret shopping you will get paid to shop. But I haven’t found this to be 100% true. I have had a couple of hair cuts, a pizza and also a couple of cheap bars of soap. But the other things I bought such as Cds and shoes had to be returned. (What’s the fun in that?!). The pay wasn’t all that great either. Every job is that bit different and you need to make sure you read your instructions carefully. You also need to fill in the forms with detailed information about your experiences.
Over all I didn’t really think secret shopping was worth it but if you don’t have anything better to do it’s still worth signing up with some companies to see what sort of assignments you get. You might be lucky and be given some cool jobs.
So yes, there are some very creative ways to make extra money besides the usual ones you read about such as pet sitting, car washing, gardening and selling stuff on eBay. You might as well give them a go to see how you get on. Just make sure you remember to declare your earnings to the tax man otherwise you might get into a spot of bother!
