Carousel Checks provides personal checks and business checks, as well as computer and laser checks to suit the needs of consumers and businesses. With the wide variety of check styles, customers tell them that they certainly fill every one of their check writing needs.

This online vendor offers value priced checks starting at $ 3.89 a box. Plus, all of their check prices are the same price when you reorder your checks. You will find that they feature exclusive designs licensed from featured artists. And, they offer Custom Photo Checks at reasonable prices. Carousel Checks is different from other photo check providers. One of their photo professionals looks at every image and makes it the best possible photo check for you.

While Carousel Checks collects contact information (for example, your email address), and financial information (your bank account or credit card information), the company considers this information as confidential and is collected solely for fulfilling orders and to properly bill you for products and services.

Call the company on their toll free line for customer service or to order checks at 1-888-422-6122. The department operates from 9 AM-5PM Monday through Friday Central Time. You can also reach them by mail at 14032 South Kostner Unit C, Crestwood, IL 60445; or e-mail at service@carouselchecks.com.

They accept VISA ,MasterCard , and personal check by net for orders placed through their web site. When you place your check order online, Carousel Checks will charge your card only for the purchase amount.

Planning a wedding can be an expensive and extremely stressful endeavor. We baby boomers certainly don’t need stress and we sure don’t want to spend any more of our retirement funds as humanly necessary.

Penned by Jhong Ren, one online source for wedding planning help can be found at romance-fire.com. From wedding day problems to wedding planning stress, the author has written hundreds of articles devoted to the travails of the first day of wedding bliss.

His blog highlights:

1. wedding day problems,
2. wedding planning stress,
3. relationship problem advice,

items which are relevant not only on your wedding day, but also after your wedding.

One blog post that I particulary appreciate is titled “100 Creative Ways to Cut Wedding Costs”

The article discusses the myriad of ways in which we can work towards saving money, without sacrificing the wedding experience. Of great importance to the bride, Jon discusses how to look great without busting your budget. He recommends that, if possible, you avoid buying a “wedding” dress. Sometimes a bridesmaid, prom, or department store dress can look just as good as a “wedding” dress and you may be able to find a dress that just happens to be white at a fraction of the cost.

Another suggestion that he makes is to consider wearing someone else’s gown. You could ask your mother, grandmother or other family member if she has a dress in storage. Many times, she will be honored that you asked. You can’t get cheaper than free.

Many more hints and tips about wedding day matters can be found at Romance Fire

MLS Number: 50913

City: Valle Crucis, NC
Stories: 2
Bedrooms: 4 Baths: 4.5
Area: Boone-Blowing Rock, NC
Year Built: 1990
Plus Five fully furnished 1,400 sq. ft. Rental Cottages. Each built in 1996 on approx. 1/2 acre sites. Current cottage average annual rental income $150,000.

39.4 acres with 360 degree view of Blue Ridge Mountains.

5,200 sq. ft. main house built in 1990 on 1.24 acres.

No restrictions and no zoning offer many other options:

* Family compound
* Corporate retreat
* Religous retreat
* Horse farm / Dude ranch
* Recording studio
* Cottages can be sold separately
* Land can be further subdivided if desired

Contact Elizabeth Carter, 336.973.5594 or Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247 or email eacarter@charter.net

click here for more information

search for : Valle Crucis, NC, Blowing Rock, NC, Blue Ridge Mountains

We baby boomers love our jewelry. Whether it be for personal use or to give as a gift, jewelry is in much demand. Particularly for Mother’s Day, jewelry, especially a diamond ring, makes the perfect gift for your Mom.

Apples of Gold Jewelry hand-selects their jewelry from top manufacturers worldwide, offering items at below retail prices, with a well known reputation of standing behind the quality and value of their products. If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with your jewelry purchase, you may return it in its original condition within 45 days for a full refund.

Personalized rings are individually custom made to your specifications. These include personalized name rings, bible verse rings, and wedding vow rings. Most all of their diamond rings can be engraved with the receipient’s name or initials. Sizing options are available if your personalized ring does not fit. And, the company will have your ring re-made for you for a charge of $99 (within 45 days of receipt of your order).

The Apples of Gold secure server helps to ensure protection against unauthorized charges on your credit card by using data encryption technology which scrambles your credit card and personal information.

All personal information is rendered unintelligible through their secure technology encrypted SSL server which decodes credit card information for maximum protection, privacy, and security. The process employs SSL technology through trusted third-party companies as Verisign and GeoTrust. You can order safely since Apples of Gold provides you with an utmost secure shopping environment.

Order with the trust that everything comes with a 45 Day Money Back Guarantee and is guaranteed authentic.

We baby boomers are not getting enough sleep. It’s not just the hours, but the quality of sleep that counts. A recent survey found that nearly three-quarters of boomers say a good night’s sleep is very important. However less than half are getting less sleep than a decade ago and the same number say the quality of their sleep is on the decline.

It’s probably no surprise to you that the older we get, the less sleep most of us get. Less than half of us aged 53 to 62 are getting less sleep today, compared to just nearly one-third of those between 42 and 52.

For us baby boomers who have trouble sleeping the book shown attached explains why sleep is so important, identifies the different types of sleep disorders, gives advice on managing stress, and explains how sleep medication and other drugs can affect sleeping patterns.

Also provided are tips on retraining oneself to sleep and sleep aids and how to cope with the effects of aging.

search for : baby boomers

87.5 +/- Acres Available For Residential Subdivision Mountain Development, 7 miles from West Jefferson, NC

Paved Road and Bridge Built To State Specifications.

Average of $23,000 per acre.

This Property Should Retail For Approximately $50,000 to $60,000 per acre.

ALL PROPERTY HAS LONG RANGE MOUNTAIN VIEWS

Contact Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247

or

email Greg at grstike@charter.net

click here for more information

Prosper.com is an online community where people come together to lend money or find a loan among the lenders registered on the site. As a lender, the process involves bidding on borrowers’ loans with lenders getting great returns by offering great rates.

Internet users already familiar with online auctions will find the process of lending and borrowing money just as intuitive as other auction sites. But, instead of listing and bidding on items, folks around the world list and bid on loans using the prosper.com online auction platform.

Lending money directly to people is a great way to earn a fair return. For each borrower, prosper.com provides a description of their credit, employment, and income data, and lets you choose exactly who you want to lend to. When you make lots of small loans rather than one or two big ones, you spread your risk and receive a more reliable return. Diversification is the key. Diversification is how the banks build a reliably performing loan portfolio.

If the borrower doesn’t pay-back the loan, prosper.com notes his credit history and assigns a collection agency to recover the funds. Making many small denomination loans to many individuals, “spreads the risk”. It’s a concept made popular in a virtual fashion by prosper.com. The process works and individuals around the world make loans and receive a return above what might be expected in traditional savings’ accounts.

New to the site is a function that allows the lender to choose a comfortable level of risk. Called the Portfolio Plan, the process allows a prospective lender to bid on a group of borrowers that, according to their credit history, should generate returns from five or six percent to over nine percent.

Do your own research before lending or borrowing money from the service. My recommendation is that you google the site using the keyword “prosper.com”. See what others are saying about the service. You might be pleasantly surprised with the additional monthly you could receive with a moderate investment in prosper.com.

search for : Prosper.com

1. Be currently employed by or enrolled in an accredited university in the United States and have a minimum GPA of 3.6.
2. Have a graduate degree with a minimum of 5 years professional editing experience.

Requirements and Qualifications:

* Ability to work independently
* Ability to meet deadlines
* Exceptional time management skills
* Experience writing academic papers on various subjects
* Meet one of the two requirements listed above
* Web savvy
* Work a minimum of 12 hours a week (3 shifts per week)
* Required software and hardware:
o Microsoft Office 2007
o Adobe Standard (or higher)
o PC with either Windows XP or Windows Vista OS

If your qualifications match the above job description, please submit an application to EditorLive.

* Location: Online
* Compensation: $300-$3,000
* Telecommuting is ok.
* This is a part-time job.

click here for article

For most of our (long) life, we baby boomers have assumed that paying our bills on-time has resulted in a good credit score.

However, I’m sorry to report that’s not always the case. There are many mis-perceptions about how scores are calculated. Yours could be lower than you might expect.

Not to be overly didactic, it bears mentioning that credit scores are used by financial institutions to determine whether they should lend you money. But, of more importance, your credit score could determine what interest rate will be charged. A higher score means you are statistically less likely to default on the loan; therefore, you will usually get a lower interest rate. Maintaining a healthy credit score will save you thousands of dollars over your lifetime.

Developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation back in the 1960s. FICO scores are by far the most commonly used to evaluate individuals of credit worthiness. You have three different FICO scores, one for each of the three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and Trans Union.

Paying your bills on time only accounts for roughly one-third of your overall FICO score. The reporting agencies also factors four other components: the amount of debt you owe, the length of your credit history, the number of credit accounts you’ve recently opened and the types of credit you use. FICO considers you a lower risk if you have multiple credit accounts, while keep the payments up-to-date, and maintaining balances between 25 percent and 35 percent of your available credit.

Your FICO score doesn’t take into account your net worth or your income. A large number of credit inquiries will lower your score, but the FICO algorithm is smart enough to know when you are rate shopping. Checking your own credit report does not affect your score. Check your score as many times as you’d like.

To learn more about how FICO scores are calculated, visit Fair Isaac’s web site at www.myfico.com.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. The FCRA promotes the accuracy and privacy of information in the files of the nation’s consumer reporting companies. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces the FCRA with respect to consumer reporting companies.

The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up a central website, a toll-free telephone number, and a mailing address through which you can order your free annual report. To order your credit report, for free, visit annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or complete an Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

search for : good credit score, FICO score

The beautiful water front home is located in a private community with spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It has a double deck boat dock, an enclosed boat garage and a private ramp to launch your own watercraft. The home was built originally in 1972 and totally renovated in 2002. A four car detached garage was built in 2002.

There is a total of 264 ft. of water front. Beautiful three tier sea walls accent this elegant home. Hard wood and tile floors, modern appliances and vaulted ceilings are only a few of the amenities that capture you with this home.

Private dock permit.

List Price: $1,800,000
Flexibility: Willing to finance
Acreage: .75 acres
Type: Waterfront

Floors: 2
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 4
Sq. Footage: 3700
Garage Size: 4.0
Year Built: 1972, totally renovated in 2002
School District: Nebo

Suitable Use: Residential

Topography: Rolling
Road Frontage: Private Road
Location: Lake James, Burke County, NC

Amenities: Waterfront, Fireplace, Central AC, Alarm, Wood Floors, Gas Range, Patio, Wheelchair Accessible, Nature/Bike Paths, Boating, Controlled Access, Spa/Jacuzzi

click here for more information

search for : Lake James waterfront home, Blue Ridge Mountains, Lake James, Burke County, NC

InboxDollars™ provides more than 2.5 million loyal Members the opportunity to be rewarded for participating in a variety of product and service trials, marketing research studies and other online activities, such as shopping and playing games.

InboxDollars™ is 100% free to join. In fact, the site pays you just to join. To become a member, click on the InboxDollars™ ad in the column to the right, complete their Signup Form and they will credit your account $5.00 just for trying the service.

Viewers of this site say that they really do earn money for reading E-Mails from InboxDollars™. And, it’s so easy! Simply click the confirmation link in the Paid Emails™ that InboxDollars™ delivers to your Inbox. After clicking the confirmation link, your account will be credited instantly and you’ll be taken to the Advertiser’s web site.

InboxDollars™ generally sends 2 or 3 Paid Emails™ per day to their U.S. Members, announcing various ways to make money. Most of the Paid Emails™ that InboxDollars™ sends to you will include an opportunity to earn additional money by taking advantage of the offer for the product or service that is being advertised. However, you will earn money for confirming the Paid Email™ regardless of whether or not you take advantage of the offer being advertised.

search for : InboxDollars, Paid Emails

The research for a revision of the exisiting New England volume (now St. Johns, New Brunswick to Block Island, RI) is scheduled for early this summer and Jerawyn publishing is looking for writers who are also boaters who will visit and review marinas in their local area. Assignments are to cover a *minimum* of 50 transient marinas - or as many as 250.

Time Frame: Visits must be completed between June 1 and July 15. Final Deadline for all Reports is October 15 - or earlier. Visiting and photographing the marinas is only 1/3 of the assignment. The hard work is writing up the report, choosing the photos and gathering and fact checking the very detailed what’s nearby content.

The market is comprised of cruising boat owners – power boaters, trawler owners, and sailors – whose craft range from 25 ft to megayachts and who frequently overnight in marinas in their adventures away from their homeports.

These guides are very detailed and data intensive, with an extremely tight format. Half of the data is facility-specific and half of it is a “travel guide” to what is nearby. There is one color photo of each facility in the book and 15-25 on the accompanying, fully searchable DVD-ROM (all digital) and on the website. JPI uses a proprietary and unique system to publish its books, DVD-ROMs and Website; the data is input into an easy-to-use program that is currently a windows application that resides on the reviewer’s computer but is currently being migrated to a password protected part of the ACC website.

A comfort level with technology is critical as well as competence with, and ownership of a recent, good quality (6 mp+) digital camera and comparable Windows-based computer with high speed access. The ideal candidate will be detailed oriented with a drive to “get it right,” enjoy interacting with people, be very conversant with the language boating, and have a flexible current work situation that would permit the inclusion of this project and be able to demonstrate that s/he understands is conversant with the requirements of guidebook writing.

Compensation is a work-for-hire $50 flat payment per new marina review and $40 for a revision of an existing review. This is a work-for-hire. These visits can be, for the sake of efficiency, made by land. Approximately six visits per day are generally possible with an equal amount of time spent before and then after to prepare and fully research the Reports. Each facility has been asked to complete an extensive questionnaire and a follow-up Data Confirmation Report and that information will be entered into the database by the publisher.

For more information, please email a resume of your boating, professional and writing history with links to writing and photography samples.

* Location: Coastal Rhode Island
* Compensation: $2000-$12,000 depending on the number of marinas covered
* Telecommuting is ok.

click here for article

According to a recent article published on the Computerworld website, statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that by 2016, one in four workers will be 55 or older. Particularly troublesome for Information Technology departments, there’s not a big influx of new talent. According to the Computing Research Association, computer science enrollments have dropped 14% each year between 2004 and 2006.

In a 2006 survey of 488 companies conducted by Buck Consultants LLC, only 42% of the respondents said that the aging workforce was a significant issue, and 29% said it had little or no significance.

But, beyond losing those the talents of the very individuals that built the IT infrastructure, are there other factors to consider when migrating the workforce towards younger individuals?

According to Dave DeLong, president of research firm David DeLong & Associates and author of “Lost Knowledge: Confronting the Threat of an Aging Workforce”

“One of the most important things is to start a conversation about what would keep key employees long enough to capture their knowledge,” DeLong says. A powerful tool in that effort is to offer longtime staffers new challenges and even new roles. “You may lose them from that [current] role,” he says, “but you’re keeping them available to transfer knowledge about their job.”

Maybe for us baby boomers involved in the IT industry, we can parlay our experience into some post-retirement income.

Something to ponder…

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MBS is seeking writers to post messages / articles that small businesses and the self employed need to know. Unconventional small business loan underwriting -equity Funding options -Poor Credit Business Loan programs- debtor rights - etc.

MBS will email details and speak with you on the telephone as soon as possible and upon receipt of your interest : Please type ” PR writer ” in the subject box of your email to prevent spam collectors from trashing your mail. robert@mbsfinancial.com

* Location: usa
* Compensation: neg
* Telecommuting is ok.

click here for article

MLS Number: 51166, List Price: $898,500

2 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, 2 half baths, 2 car attached garage, full basement, and a barn on 5 acres of land.

These terms are used to describe thousands of homes and yet some things just can’t be described, they have to be experienced. This is one of those homes that really has to be seen to be appreciated.

This majestic Timber Frame home of the Bob Timberlake genre is not just another house, it provides a feeling of home that is not about walls and floors and windows and doors. It creates a feeling of the flow between your outdoor and your indoor environment that is seamless. Everywhere you look there is a view. Everything you touch feels natural and beautiful in a way that cannot be described, only owned.

Contact Elizabeth Carter, 336.973.5594 or Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247 or email eacarter@charter.net

click here for more information