10 Tips for Finding True Love and Happiness

In their new book Love for Grown-ups: The Garter Brides’ Guide to Marrying for Life When You’ve Already Got a Life, the Garter Brides (Ann Blumenthal Jacobs, Tish Rabe and Patricia Ryan Lampl), a sisterhood of girlfriends who wore the same garter at their weddings, offers lots of tips for women over 40, including how to meet and marry the man of your dreams, and how to have the life you want and the happiness you deserve! Here are their top ten tips:

1. Leave the past in the past 

When you meet someone new, leave any negative feelings or past heartbreaks just where they should be—in the past.

2. You won’t meet someone new in your living room 

Well, maybe a cute guy will deliver your new sofa, but chances are you’re going to meet someone by getting out there and trying new things—online dating, taking a class, etc. Tell everyone, especially your married friends, that you’re looking to meet someone and ALWAYS go to parties. Because you truly never know who you’ll meet.

3. Give the guy a chance

When you were 20 your list was “he must be tall, dark and handsome.” Try going against type. It just might be a perfect fit.

4. Look at blind dates like a first date 

Two of the authors of our book met their husbands on blind dates, and you can too! If you’re not sure you want to sit in a noisy restaurant, go out and do something fun. One of our Garter Brides went to a baseball game, and she and her date each brought a friend. They had a blast and got married one year later.

5. Time is on your side

Take your time in getting to know your guy and don’t feel in a rush to meet his children or have him meet yours. It starts with the two of you. Make sure this is someone you want in your life.

6. Isn’t it romantic?

Just because you’re meeting the love of your life later in life doesn’t mean you can’t still have passionate, amazing sex! The Garter Brides say “Go for it!”

7. Someone to come home to

When you’re ready to move in together you will discover how wonderful it is to come home to the one you love. Be prepared for some give and take—for example, over which of each others’ belongings stay or go.

8. What’s up with a pre-nup?

Remember that a pre-nup isn’t because you think your marriage isn’t going to work—it’s so you get to decide how your assets and everything you’ve worked for can be protected.

9. Your wedding, your way

Now you’re in love and it’s time to have your wedding exactly how you want it. The Garter Brides have had all kinds of weddings! Remember it is all about you and the man of your dreams. Whatever you want is the way to go.

10. Happily ever after can happen to you

Remember what the Garter Brides always say: “It’s never too late to find true love. We did, and you can too!’

How to Tip When You Travel Around the World

There are a lot of different countries in the world, and there are even more tipping customs. When you travel you need to know how to tip in the country that you’re in, otherwise you’ll leave  servers angry everywhere you go. Here are just a few guidelines to tipping around the world.

Brazil

There will always be a standard 10% service charge added to your bill, and you won’t necessarily have to tip. If you do feel like being generous, an extra 5-10% will really make your server very happy. Just remember to do this as subtly as possible—Brazilians don’t make a big show of this.

Israel

Tipping is a fairly straight forward 10-13%. Your service may not be stellar, but those are the rules. Restaurants in some touristy parts of Tel Aviv may add a gratuity as high as 18%, so keep an eye out to avoid double tipping.

Dubai

In Dubai it’s mandatory for restaurants to charge 10% gratuity on all restaurant and bar bills. You can add a couple of dirhams to this if you feel like it. Waiters are not paid very much in Dubai, so it is always very appreciated.

Germany

German bars and restaurants will include the gratuity as part of what you owe, but that’s not all you have to pay. It is customary to round the bill up after that, usually to the euro. This can be anywhere from 5-10%. When it’s time to settle up, you won’t get a bill: your waiter tells you the total and then you tell them how much you want to pay, including your “tip,” and hand over the money.

Czech Republic
While locals in the Czech Republic don’t leave tips, that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. Foreign tourists are definitely expected to leave some kind of tip for service—as long as you’re in a high tourist traffic area, like Prague for instance. The standard tip is 10%. Just remember not to misinterpret your server’s curtness for rudeness.

India

If you liked the service, go ahead and tip your server 5-10%. You have to adjust that amount though, based on how big the meal you’re eating is. If the bill is for a small meal, and totals less than 300 rupees, tip the full 10%. If the bill is higher, tip towards the 5%.

Thailand

Thailand doesn’t have a very strict tipping custom, but it’s always nice to leave something for your servers. In Thailand a tip will be appreciated, but never asked for. Leaving the loose change left over after you’ve paid your bill is sufficient, or you can leave a dollar for each diner at the table.

No Tip

Even if you’ve had really extraordinary service, if the country you’re visiting doesn’t customarily practice tipping your servers there will not expect a tip. That doesn’t mean you can’t try to give them one, but just keep in mind that your offer may be more disturbing to the person you want to thank than gracious. Countries where tipping is not usually practiced include Italy, Japan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, France, Norway, Singapore, Malaysia, China and Hong Kong

Top 5 BANNED Foods (Are They In Your House?

It turns out that a lot of banned foods end up in our grocery cart and contain hidden toxic chemicals that increase your risks of disease and storing belly fat.

 

Every day, Americans eat tons of dangerous banned ingredients, and chances are you’re one of them. I don’t mean to scare you, but to simply tell you the truth.

I’ve spent the last 7+ years researching how our food is made, and discovered dark secrets I have to tell the world, even if it makes me the most HATED expert by the big companies.

Here’s my top 5 banned ingredients that end up in most plates:

1) Ractopamine (in pork)

It’s banned in the European Union, China, and Taiwan, but Consumer reports found this dangerous drug in 20% of all pork products. Oh, and as a side note, recent studies also found that 81% of all supermarket meats in the US are contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria which damage your gut flora and slow down your weight loss.

2) rBGH (in milk)

While Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel and all European Union countries banned the use of rBGH, this hormone used to increase cows’ milk product is still used in all 50 states. The use of rBGH increases the levels of IGF-1 hormone in the milk by at least 6 folds, increasing risks of various cancers.

3) GMOs (in almost everything)

Over 50 countries require labeling of GMO foods, and many of them banned GMOs altogether. In the US, GMO foods are NOT labeled, even if 91% of the population feels like they should be. And because 90% of all soy, corn, canola and sugar (sugar beet) in the US is now GMO, Americans eat their weight in GMO foods each year.

The first-ever lifetime feeding study on the potential health risks of GMOs was published in September 2012. The results of feeding rats GMO corn for two years were very scary:

• Some rats developed massive tumors that represent 25% of their body weight
• Liver damage was up to 5 times higher in the GMO group than in the non-GMO group
• Female rats that ate GMOs had a 3X higher risk of premature death

4) Potassium Bromate (in bread)

Called a cancer threat by the CSPI since 1999, banned from dozens of countries, this ingredient is still used in bread these days.

5) Chloramphenicol (in honey)

This antibiotic used on honey bees has been banned in the US for years, but can still be found in cheap supermarket honey (along with heavy metals) that comes from China. The concerning thing is that a recent study found that 75% or more of all the honey in the U.S. may be Chinese honey sold as American honey.

Three Big Money Mistakes People Make

No one wants to be in financial trouble but it happens so easily. All it takes is one or two bad decisions and suddenly you’re writing checks that bounce, the bank is foreclosing on your house, and your life is falling apart. Here are the three biggest money mistakes to avoid and what to do if they happen to you.

Student Loans
More than good grades, student loans are the gateway to higher education for most Americans. Here’s the catch: the debt you rack up for school can’t be discharged it in a bankruptcy, so no matter how broke you get, you still have to pay for it. Also, it isn’t clear from the start how high your monthly payments will be on this loan. Or if college will mean a high paying job. Sorry, new grads.

Credit Score Ignorance
People who rack up a lot of credit card debt probably aren’t aware that they have a miserable looking credit score that is getting uglier with each missed payment. This kind of ignorance can really make them suffer when they try to pay for a car or house.

Spending Instead of Saving
When people have extra money they usually want to do something fun with it. They spend it. When a crisis rolls around like a major home repair or a health emergency, they don’t have any money in the bank to fall back on. Don’t let it happen to you.
If you do get caught by an emergency and need to get a hold of some cash fast to pay the bills, LoanPocket can help you. It’s the easiest way to get the liquidity back into your bank account. All it takes is a few steps:

• Filling out a simple application online
• Waiting just a few minutes for approval
• Watching the funds roll into your bank account the next business day

Even if you have a bad credit score LoanPocket can help. It’s safe too, with 256-bit SSL encryption technology. It may make the difference between being able to pay for an emergency and making another money mistake.

Everything Was Great Until He Needed Money Fast

 

                                 Stop me if you’ve heard this one.
This guy doesn’t have a job. He’s a college student so he can’t have a real job, plus the money he has goes towards his books (and maybe some of his “extracurricular activities”) He winds up putting a lot of the stuff he has on his credit cards—you know, those credit cards that they threw at him as soon as he started freshman year. His wallet is full of them. This is how he gets to live so well while he’s away from home.
Now that he’s out of school he can find a job. It isn’t easy but he does find something, and it’s kind of what he always wanted to do. Unfortunately, that means keeping up the right appearance and going out with the rest of the team after work to schmooze. So he puts the cost of his new wardrobe and the dinners he’s buying on the old credit cards too. The problem is that he’s not making enough to pay any of the old debt he racked up years ago, never mind all the bills he has to pay now that he’s living on his own.
Suddenly, they want to shut his electricity off. They are going to cancel his phone. Some guys who keep calling up are getting very annoying. If he had enough money to run away from it all, he would. He needed money fast.
So that’s why it was so miraculous that just before his internet service was cut off, he found out about LoansIsland. LoansIsland had all of the answers he needed. He found:

 An Easy Application Process
It took no time at all for him to sign up. Before he knew it, he was done.

Security He Could Trust
No one was going to find out what he shared at LoansIsland. All of his financial info was encrypted and safe.

Quick Approval
That’s what he needed most—the cash in his hand. And he got it. That’s all that he asked for. The money was in his account on the next business day.
Think this story sounds familiar? If you need to get some funds quickly, try LoansIsland right now.

How to Rock Any Job Interview

Most people have no idea what it is employers are looking for in a prospective hire. Don’t be fooled: there is a lot more to going on an interview than just showing up, shaking hands and walking away with a new job. Unemployment remains high, so odds are that there have been hundreds of other applicants vying for the same position as you. You need a way to stand out if you are going to rock your job interview.
1. Be Likeable
Likeability is a big part of why you’ll be chosen for a job, especially in a discipline that is not going to rely heavily on any specialized skills. Employers are looking for people who can work with their existing staff structures, they want to know before they add you to their team that you won’t cause workflow problems because you can’t get along with your co-workers.
Listen to what is being said to you, offer opinions warmly and don’t be confrontational. Make sure to treat the interviewer as a human being and not as a robot with a list of questions for you: smile when they smile, make eye contact, and try to express yourself in a way that they will relate to.

2. Invest Yourself
Employers aren’t interested in hiring people who don’t care about their companies. The best way for you to make an impression is to show a familiarity with the work that the company does, and why that matters to you.
If there is anything that you don’t understand in an interview, ask the interviewer to clarify it. If you miss something, letting it go in the hopes of catching on later is one of the worst things you can do in an interview. Most likely the interviewer can already tell if you are not following what is being said–doubling down on miscommunication is going to make you come off as if you are not invested in getting the job. Asking for clear explanations will give your potential employer a better sense of how well you problem solve and communicate, and show that you really care about what the job is about.

3. Peak Performance
Walking away from an interview with a job is really a matter of how well you can connect with the person conducting the interview. Basically, you are taking part in a conversation that is not only about you, but one where you need to perform as yourself. In many ways your interview is like an actor going on an audition, except the role you are up for is to play yourself.
Even the best actors hone their craft: the same should be true for you. It may sound silly, but it never hurts to do a few rehearsals going into an interview. Practice answering a few theoretical questions while you stand in front of a mirror. You can even record yourself to hear how your voice sounds to other people. Make little adjustments if you think there is anything wrong with these rehearsals so that your real performance comes off better.
If you are still at the searching phase, know that there are specific websites that are purely dedicated to posting jobs. The best one we know of is Indeed.com. This website allows you to search for specific job titles, industries, and by location as well. In addition, you can upload your resume to the resume database so that employers can find you. You can even search for specific company website job boards and look up salary averages and industry trends. Make sure to join this leading Job Search Site, and beyond that, check it daily so that you can pounce on job postings quickly.

What Are the Rules that Make Happy Successful People?

We’d all like to know what guidelines the most successful and happy people in the world are using to make their lives so fulfilling. What makes them able to reach their goals unlike everybody else? Here are some of the guiding principles that healthy, happy successful people use to reach their goals and create the lives that they want.
Ego-check
They can check their egos, but they also know how to make themselves seen, heard, and respected.

Follow Through
They don’t drop things as soon as the going gets rough. What they begin, they’ll see them through to the end.

Think different.
For these people, they don’t have to think outside of the box: there isn’t a box to think outside of. They don’t let other people’s ideas stop them from imagining the world as they want to see it and make it.

Healthy, Strong Bodies
Exercise is part of the solution. They take the time out of their lives to make sure that their bodies match the way that they feel—good.

Self-Satisfaction
They know how to make themselves happy, which is why they get good results in life. Happy people also aren’t overly concerned with making other people happy. They’re the ones who other people go out of their way to please.

The Right Tribe
People who succeed surround themselves with friends and allies who they love and trust. This is their tribe. They keep out the noise because they don’t the negative people get close. They know who their tribe is, and know how to use them.

No Set Backs
When bad things happen they don’t think of them as the end of the world. They see problems as challenges that they can learn and grow from. This is why nothing seems to hold them back.

There Are Limitations
They know what the limits are. They don’t think there is a way to do everything, so they focus on the things that they can do 100%.

Natural Givers
They’re truly generous people. When they give, they don’t want anything in return. What’s good about this is that it pays them back, double.

Moving On
Happy people let the past go. It isn’t something that will drag them down, they move ahead instead of getting caught up in all the snags that try to catch them up along the way.

Higher Awareness
Spirituality for them doesn’t have to mean religion or meditation. Successful, happy people think and live in the world as parts of systems that only they can perceive. They can perceive the next level and they reach for it.