Use the Internet To Get a Roommate

The first step is to determine what you want from a roommate. Are you looking for somebody to be friends with? Perhaps you don't want a friend, just somebody who can pay their side of the bills. You need to know what you want from a roommate before you start interviewing applicants.

All meetings with potential roommates should be in public. You won't know much about your potential roommate the first time you meet. Parks, restaurants and bookstores are all safe and public options. Before you invite this person home, you should spend some time with them so you can gauge their character.

Question them about how they prefer to pay bills, in what manner will they wish to divide them. Perhaps you want to depending on the size of your room, those with a larger room can pay more, or perhaps you would rather just divide the bills by half. Will you be buying your separate food or go in together for the groceries. If one of you doesn't eat at home often the better idea may be to buy your own groceries instead of paying half for food you rarely eat.

Discuss their financial situation, you should also inquire about any criminal history they may have. If they currently have a job you need to discover how secure that job is and if they were to lose it would they be able to cover their bills for a reasonable amount of time. It is obvious why you need to discover if they have a criminal history or not, if they do it is up to you if you wish to give them a chance and trust them or not.

Learning about the individual's habits and behaviors is also very helpful when choosing a roommate. Is entertaining guest something that this individual enjoys doing often? Are drugs or alcohol part of this potential roommate's lifestyle? The information that you will gather from these interviews will be essential in making your decision, as you and your roommate will be in close quarters, with you being exposed to their friends in the areas of the home that you share, and your friends and family that visit you being exposed to them.

What type of hours does this person keep? Ask about whether they will be staying up late, or leaving at the crack of dawn. Will their late night arrival disturb your sleep? Maybe you will be entertaining guests or preparing your breakfast when they are asleep.

What Makes Online Dating So Popular

Have you ever wondered what makes online dating so popular? Do you really need to ask? First of all, let's weigh the other options out there. You could go the route of arranged marriage... On second thought, maybe we'll pass on that one. How about using some of those cheesey pick-up lines for the bar scene? It doesn't get much more romantic than a room full of drunks. Then again, maybe you've left those rowdy days in the past.

You could always wait on a friend who has promised to introduce you to some promising family member of hers. But, you could be waiting a long time for that. Not to mention, blind dates are almost always a nightmare. Church is another place that people claim you can meet a potential date. But how would you do that? Is it appropriate to turn around in your pew during mass and say hello?

A lot of people think that work is a good place to meet people. But, dating a coworker can have disastrous results. If things don't work out, you will have to spend hours every day with them as long as you both work for the same company.

These scenarios are just a few of the reasons that you should give online dating a try. Not to mention the fact that it's the main scene for most everyone these days. Dating online is the best short cut for cupid's arrow! Roughly 37 million people come looking for love online on a monthly basis. Can you imagine 37 million prospects!?

Aside from the whopping number of love seekers, online dating sites allow you to pick and choose through a variety of criteria, such as the color of eyes or hair. If you don't like pets, you can pass by the ones with furry companions. Say you want to meet someone from North Carolina, then you can search only in North Carolina! With so many people utilizing online dating sites, you maximize your odds. Surely out of 37 million love seekers, someone should fit the bill as your potential significant other.

You will not have to sniff out people's intentions when you meet them; you will know right away exactly what they are after and you can then proceed. You will know that they want to find someone as well.

Peace Through Music

From the award-winning documentary, "Playing for Change: Peace Through Music," comes the first of many "songs around the world" being released independently. This amazing version of “Stand by Me” brought a smile to my face, and I hope it will do the same for you.

Watch it from beginning to end I know you won't regret it. The song, Stand By Me was recorded by completely unknown artists in a virtual studio on the street all around the world.

It all started with a base track (vocals and guitar) recorded on the streets of Santa Monica, California, by a street musician named Roger Ridley. The base track was then taken to New Orleans, Louisiana, where Grandpa Elliott (a blind singer from the French Quarter) added vocals and harmonica while listening to Ridley's base track on headphones. In the same city, Washboard Chaz's added metal percussions.

From there, it just gets better and better: The producers took the resulting mix all through Europe, Africa, and South America, adding new tracks with multiple instruments and vocals, which were assembled into this final final version; all done with a simple laptop and some microphones. Truly Amazing!

Are You Participating in Your Relationship?

How much time to you spend on your cell phone texting? Do you text while sitting at dinner with friends? How about your significant other, family members, co-workers? The question: Are we letting the person we are sharing our time with know that they are not as important as a text message from someone else? What does this say about how we hold our relationships? Watch this video and see if it makes you change your mind about how often and when you text.

MARRIAGE

Ever have a bad day being married? Relationships can get messy. This may be a good time to go back to a time before you were married. Think about the first time you ever saw the man who would become your husband and answer the following questions:

Where were you?
What time of the year was it?
Were other people there?
What did you first notice about him? Was it his smile? His eyes? His sense of humor? His confident manner?

Think about your first date?
Your first kiss?
Who did you tell?
What did your friends think about him?

When did you meet his family?
When did he meet your family?

Think about when you realized that he was the right man for you?
How did it make you feel?
Think about when he asked you to marry him?
Were you ready?
Were you surprised?
How did you react?

Think about all the plans that went into your wedding?
Think about your wedding day?
What did you wear?
Think about seeing him waiting for you?
Think about your vows and the commitment you made to each other?
Remember your feelings and the plans you made together for the future?

Where is your relationship now versus the place it was when you first got together? How does it feel?
Marriage may be a legal contract, but it is also more than that; it is a long-term committed relationship. There are three parts to a long-term committed relationship: the man and what he brings, the woman and what she brings and the relationship itself.

The relationship is a living thing. It grows and develops. Regardless of how many years you have been married the relationship needs care and attention. All relationships need work, need to be attended to. In our busy world today, we often take for granted the other person in our relationship. Remember when you were dating how you couldn’t wait to see each other, to share your day, your dreams, your hopes for the future? It is still important to have that communication. Remember too how excited you felt getting ready for a date? No matter how long you have been married remember to have a date night. If you can’t do it every week, try for twice a month and at the very minimum, once a month. You don’t have to spend a lot of money; you just need to spend the time with each other.

Quote from a man: “Men know nothing about relationship. Get used to it. My wife claims that I can’t be that stupid. Frankly, I don’t know what she is talking about. This is how I participate in the relationship. I jump through hoops. Some of these hoops are so stupid, I think about opening my mouth and saying something (bad of course). Taking out the trash. Taking the kids to school, getting take-out food so she doesn’t have to cook, helping her on her computer, vacuuming one room of the house, NOT touching the laundry, keeping her van clean and shiny, and full of gas -- that is fueling the relationship. What I am trying to say is that women seem to find new ways to fuel the relationship, and men do mostly the same things over and over. Women take the same things we do for granted and forget about them, and then think we don’t care or do anything. The bad part is that I think they remember after you are dead.”

What will you do this week to care for and feed your relationship?

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"Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day."
- Sally Koch, Author

How’s Your Relationship with Money

Like all relationships, this one takes work and focus. If you don’t know how much debt you have or how much you make, or even how much you spend each month, then I would suggest that your relationship with money is not working.

So, what’s the answer? Why not start at the beginning. First, figure our how much money you have coming in each month. Then, figure out your monthly expenses. When I first had to deal with my relationship with money I didn’t know how much I was spending each month. I never balanced my check book and barely looked at the bank statement. For the first month I wrote down everything I was spending my money on and then looked at where I was wasting money and what my obligations were. Starting from there I opened and excel spreadsheet and made a simple balance sheet just like the one that comes with your check book: Date, Item, Income, Expense, Balance.

If you don’t know how to set up a budget, a good place to start is by figuring out your income, subtract your expenses and then what ever is left over can be put towards debt or added to your savings. In my budget I’ve allocated 10% of each pay check to long term savings. This would be your RRSP (Canada) or 401K (USA) for example.

Short Term Savings, also 10% of income, is for those items that you want to purchase in the next 1 to 5 years. A trip perhaps, or a new car, or even renovations to the house; you decide. At least 60% should go to expenses such as rent/mortgage, food, utilities, clothing, etc.

All work and no play is not good for anyone, so take some of your hard earned money and enjoy some entertainment. This could be dinner with friends or renting a moving. Allocate 15% to entertainment and the remaining 5% towards charities. In this economic climate you will not only feel better for helping others who are less fortunate, but you will be making a difference.

The Comfort Zone

I used to have a comfort zone
where I knew I couldn't fail,
The same four walls of busy work
were really more like a jail.

I longed so much to do the things
I'd never done before,
But I stayed inside my comfort zone
and paced the same old floor.

I said it didn't matter
that I wasn't doing much,
I said I didn't care for things
like diamonds or furs and such.

I claimed to be so busy
with the things inside my zone,
But deep inside I longed for
something special of my own.

I couldn't let my life go by
just watching others win,
I held my breath and stepped outside
to let the change begin.

I took a step and with new strength
I'd never felt before,
I kissed my comfort zone good bye
and closed and locked the door.

If you are in a comfort zone
afraid to venture out,
Remember that all winners
were at one time filled with doubt.

A step or two and words of praise
can make your dreams come true
Greet your future with a smile,
success is there for you!

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When I have fully decided that a result is worth getting, I go ahead of it and make trial after trial until it comes.”
- Thomas Edison, inventor