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At different times in life, you may find that you’re overwhelmed by finances. Whether you’re just starting out in your career and you’ve got student debts, or you’ve recently been laid off, and you’re not able to cope with your financial commitments, it can feel like the end of the world. But it doesn’t have to be. Even when your credit rating is affected, you can work to get it back. Although you’re not going to be able to change your situation overnight, you should find that you are able to make a difference to it, bit by bit. And every step you take forwards will always make you feel better. So let’s take a look at how you can work on making things a bit better.

Stop Spending

First things first, stop spending. Well, not on everything. Feel free to pay your rent and bills and buy food, but other than that, put a hold on things for a while if you can. Although you may want to go out with friends to perk yourself up, you’re only going to make your financial situation worse. But if you’re able to stop spending, for the time being, you’re going to be able to ensure that you don’t make things any worse than they already are. And you will find this a huge relief when you realize that you’ve started to make things better.

Get Advice

Then, you should think about getting some advice about your situation. And this doesn’t always mean heading to the bank. Because you might find that looking into debt consolidation options, speaking to financial charities, or looking into debt relief is going to work out better for you. And by speaking to a debt expert, you should feel a little more confident about your circumstances.

Work On Lowering What You Can

Then, you’re going to want to start tackling those debts. Whether they’re in the hundreds or thousands, you will definitely start to feel a lot better about the situation you’re in when you try to cut things down a bit. Even if it’s only starting to chip away at things slowly, seeing those amounts decrease will definitely empower you and motivate you to make them disappear for good.

Become Credible Again

However, you may be wondering what this is going to do for your credit rating. Well, firstly, bringing down the amount you own, especially if you’re at your credit limit, will always work in your favor with credit agencies. But at the same time, you also need to work on proving your credibility. For this, why not get a loan without guarantors to help work your credit up? Because when you do have bad credit, it can be hard to get more – but you often need it to prove that you can get in the green again.

Make Payments On Time

And of course, above all else, just make sure that you make your minimum payments on time. Because when you miss payments, it can harm your credit rating. So at the very least, just make sure that you’re making your minimum payments on time. And eventually, you will see that everything else improves too.

Article Source: http://www.lebrooks.com/articles/finance-insurance/build-yourself-a-better-credit-rating

Have you ever had so many books on your to-read shelf that you do not know where to start? That is where I am at right now! I just started looking for the new book for a book club, and when I pulled up Goodreads.com, I realized that I had over 3000 books saved - and that is just to read! Not only that, but I also have the couple of hundred books that are in my house that I have not even touched. There are more hiding on my kindle, some on my phone, Netgalley, Scribd,and some that are in the other houses at the moment as they have been loaned out.

There are days that I think I should get rid of all the books that I have not read yet and start over, but there is so much money tied up in books. I am sure that I could sell them and probably pay off one of the student loans that I have, but then I would have to go into debt to pay them off. 

I know that this sounds like simple rambling, but there are days that books just seem simply to many. I have three rooms in my house overflowing with books, and yet I want more! Books are one of the many things that I take pleasure in, and there are times that I want to just hide in the closet and read the day away (okay, lets be honest, I have done it), and forget the normal humdrum of everyday life. There are days that we just need to forget the crazy and live in a fantasy world.

We all have our favorite types of genre's to read, but there are some that we enjoy more than others. I dive into those as often as I can, but keep finding more and more that I want to read. I think at this point, my reading list exceeds my great grandchildren's life expectancy. 

What do you enjoy reading and what are your favorites?

Bradley has created a wonderful text on dealing with today's adolescents. It would be beneficial to any parent, teacher, or adult who has interactions with teenagers.
The author begins with an explanation of today's youth, and how the pressures they face today are much different than the ones we older folks dealt with. The main stress point today is social media, specifically cyberbullying. When I was a teenager, there were bullies, and cliques, and of course they were difficult to deal with. But only while at school, once out of school for the day I had not to deal with them any longer. Today's teens, thanks to all the social media platforms, have to deal with these factions 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They never know when they are going to be slammed online. No wonder today's kids seem so exhausted! And this exhaustion plays into teens making bad decisions. Behavioral, schoolwork, sex, and on and on.
Bradley's solution is to not shelter teens from the bombardment. After all, how could we, there seems to be a new social media platform everyday. His solution is to teach kids resilience. How to absorb the hits and bounce back effectively. In time, teen brains mature enough to deal with these life stresses, but it takes time.
The author lays out seven strategies to teach resilience. And then goes in depth into how parents can help. The "do's and don'ts" of dealing with teens.
All in all, this is a very effective book. I lingered over it for a long time, as there is a lot of information inside, and I found it very engaging. I look forward to trying the ideas in my classroom.

Overwhelmed by You by Nashoda Rose

This is the second book I have read from Nashoda Rose and I loved it as much as I loved Torn from You. I cannot get enough of the Tear Asunder series and the characters. The series is not for the faint of heart, it has dark and serious storylines. However, this one did not begin with darkness and brutality; it built slowly and was exposed close to the ending of the story.

The story began with Kat and Ream becoming friends and moving that relationship to lovers. It was total bliss and rainbows until Ream discovered Kat’s secret and pretty much lost his cool and made a dick move. Ream tries to make amends before he leaves on tour but he really tore the budding relationship to pieces. Kat is done.

Ream is the lead guitarist for the rock band Tear Asunder and has returned from an eight month tour. He has not given up on Kat and returns with one thing in mind. To get Kat back!!

The wooing of Kat by Ream is sweet and it is intense. He is determined to repair the broken relationship. One of my favorite lines by Ream is:   Ream told me he didn’t need a second chance because he was still working on his first.

 Overwhelmed is a perfect title for the characters in the book. Ream is overwhelmed at the beginning of the relationship due to his own issues that come up with Kat’s secret. He has a history of darkness and brutality that he keeps hidden from everyone.  Kat is overwhelmed by the intensity and relentlessness of Ream to continue the relationship. I absolutely adored Ream. He worked hard to repair the damage and pain that he caused in the relationship.

Just when things seem to be coming together for the two love birds….. Nashoda lowers the boom and gives the reader a dark twist to the story.  Ream is forced to deal with his past. A past he thought he had put to rest.

I recommend this book to anyone that likes their contemporary romance with dark twists. It will not disappoint.  I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book in the series.

ARC provided thru Netgalley,  author Nashoda Rose - Thank you

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/828532408

Greetings my bookish friends! I feel like I haven't been around much lately. The holidays seem to be overwhelming me as usual. I'm enjoying the craziness so far but it's only the first week of December so I might burn out before Christmas actually arrives!

Today alone was full of baking, shopping, wrapping and lots of Christmas music. The one thing I am missing right now is my reading time. I'm going to try to set aside some time to catch up on some reading this week, so wish me luck on that!

How is your holiday season starting out? Are you excited about the upcoming madness or dreading it?