New glasses for new year.

One of the many things I love to change for this new year is my glasses.

The last time I changed my eyeglasses was back in year 2001. Yep, it's been 7 years, and I still war that same old glasses.

And these days changing eyeglasses isn't cheap. For a pair of decent prescription glasses with good quality lenses can easily cost few hundred ringgit, or may be a thousand, depending the type of frame and lenses you choose.

But you now at Zenni Optical: Sell Rx Glasses $8 with case!

For a decent pair of eyeglasses with prescription, such as single vision, for only $ 8. It includes good quality stylish frame, anti scratch coating thin and light 1.57 index lens with full UV protection and polishing edge, hard case and a microfiber lens cleaning cloth. Or to upgrade to 1.67 index len, is additional $17. Well, under RM100 after conversion.

Not bad deal huh? And it also comes with full gurantee. Well my current eyeglasses cost me RM200 to RM300.

So what are you waiting for? I'm getting mine.



*This post is sponsored*

A perfect fit

When you are sad and can't sleep, what do you do?

Well, I surf and try to do something to cheer myself up and make myself tired, like now.

As a result, I found this ipod case which also known as invisibleSHIELDs, very useful for my Sony Ericsson K750’s screen, as it can be custom made to fit.

My phone is almost 2 year old and it was bought before Natalie was born. DH passed it to me when he decided to get a PDA, which he was eyeing for a long time.

By the time the phone reached my hand, its screen was scratched a little. And I have been thinking of getting it a shield to protect it, but never actually get down to it, until just now.

This invisibleSHIELDs protector, can also be custom made to fit other devices like PDA, camera LCDs, MP3 players, laptops, GPSrs and so on. It uses military technology; urethane film which is used used to protect the leading edges of military helicopter blades, sound cool eh?
It’s invisible, durable, scratch-proof and with a life-time guarantee. And it’s only $11.95 with free shipping.
Hmmmm… to go with this screen protector, I may consider a new casing too, just to give the phone a new facelift, since I’m still far from getting a new phone.

*This post is sponsored*

Revolution of searching and rating

The recent revamp of PageRank affected many blogs and sites. The incident shows that a lot of things aren't within our control.

Well, maybe it's time that we users and bloggers take charge.

That's why EarthFrisk.org, an alternative search engine, is created, to make things different. It's a community powered search engine and its search results are the best of all "Big Brothers" and the spams are filtered.

At EarthFrisk.org, users have the freedom and power to rate and rank websites and blogs as well as individuals with its Meta Functions. It changes the paradigm for search and gives the power back to us, users.

Let's take charge and be part of the community to power search results now!

*This post is sponsored*

I want to work from home...

Ever since I had Natalie, I've been dwelling on possiblities that allow me to work from home. So that I can spend more time with her.

Now that I have Max, the desire of working from home is growing stronger.

Online business has been one of the areas that I've been considering. Online business no doubt has great potential but it's also very competitive, as many people have already jumped on the bandwagon. The most popular option is blogging. And there are companies offers themselves as the middle man to connect bloggers with advertisers.

There are many other online business ideas which are shared by Experienced People about Where's there's free, there's money.

What they are sharing are simple ways of making money online, such as buying and selling websites, Ebay trading and so on. You can also find out ideas of how to work from home with your skills and passions.

Besides, they also have a complied list of websites and contacts which can help the middle-aged experienced of individual to find job opportunities and trainings course.

They have some simple yet interesting ideas which are worth checking out.

With these interesting ideas the Experienced People share, all you need is just to add a bit of creativity and originality, you and I can also make something work.

When I grow old...

I can still clearly remember that when I was in my teenage years, my parents always reminded us not to abandon when they get old. At that time, I didn't understand their worries.

But as I grew up, I began to understand and see their worries from a different perspective. I started to remind myself, that I won't become of what they worried I would. Meanwhile I always told myself that when I'm in golden years, I want to be independent, both financially and physically. Hence, I don't have to depend on my children so much. And I started planning for myself, in case I live too long.

For a start, be it for yourself, or your old aged parents, you can check out this nursing site for old aged, bettercaring.com. They specialize in answering questions about old age caring issues, such as finding to the right nursing homes, tips for one who prefer to stay at their own home, like my dad, how to take care your health, where to find financial support and other related factsheets.

They also provide news articles and forum for you to read up and participate. By reading more, it helps you understand how to handle caring issues better. Also, through the forum, by linking yourself to community, it will open you up and help you to realize that that they are not alone.

I alaways believe in staring young, be it health issues, financial planning or other matter. Knowledge and preparation overcome fear and worries.

Money not enough?

Many times I heard from hubby that in his office, there are still some staffs taking a minimum salary of 600 to 700 bucks home every month. On top of that, they have some overtimes and some little incentives. But is it enough for a household? I always wonder. Even for hubby and I, who earn decent income, there are months when money is just barely enough when there are extra bills like insurance renewals, road tax renewals and so on.

Besides, prices of things have inflated little by little. For instance the price of every loaf of bread has gone up about 30 cent, due to the price hike of crude oil.

Therefore, most of these staffs have resort to either personal loan or credit cards, for some emergency cash to get them through each month. However, some of these loans take days up to week for approval, for financial background check and so on. The process requires lots of running around and is time consuming, and in the end they might not even get their loan approved.

But with Payday Loan Quotes, a one-stop financial matching service, these people will have easier way of getting suitable no fax payday loans, with fast approval. As fast as in 24 hours. There is no minimum credit requirement and anyone can apply. However, one has to bear in mind that loan approval is not always guaranteed.

All one needs to do is to fill up one simple form online with some basic information, provide a reference's details and submit. The system will match one's payday loan with the lenders database immediately, based on interest rate that fits one's financial profile. No matching fee charges and all the information given is strictly private and confidential. So no worries.

The moment a match is found, the lender will contact the borrower via online or phone. Once the loan is approved, the cash will be banked into the borrower's respective bank account. It is that fast and efficient.

Get lucky with pro360

My dad loves to buy 4 digits, be it Magnum, 1+3D or Toto. Well, I once in a blue moon try my luck too, normally my car number. But not as crazy as my dad.

He's not just buying numbers, but he jots down all the winning results in his little 555 notebook and and studies them, except Toto Jackpot and Big Sweep. Yes, from all three outlets every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday plus the special draws. He's been doing this since god knows when, and it has become his hobby.

I call him Uncle 4 Digits, he always tries to work out the probability of those winning digits, just like what pro360.com does. They're an online casino reviewer.

At pro360.com, they provide online casino reviews for all participating sites by categories, such as best payouts, best bonuses, highest jackpots, Editors' Choice, those which accept US players, player's rating and so on. They offer full review for a list of hundred US approved online casinos.

After seeing the site myself, maybe I should suggest to my dad to start an online 4 digits reviewing site for himself, to pass his time. Well, being computerized, would, hopefully bear fruits for people like my old man....

Bets in life

There's saying; "In life there are only two things that are guaranteed, death and tax."

It's true life is unpredictable and full of uncertainties. There are times when we try our luck and take the best bet out of life.

For example, there are many people who loves to try their luck and bet on anything in the world to win something, wealth or others, in return.

Some people are in for sport games like WorldCup, EuroCup, Olympics Games, NBA Basketball and so on, while others bet on lotto, numbers, jackpots, stock market and so on. All these betting games can now be found on bet365. It offers different kinds of online betting services, in all kinds of sport games, poker, some interactive games and so on. One just needs to sign up for an account to start the ball rolling.They provides live scores and stats to enhance user experience. Also, their range of services are now extended to mobile phone users.

In life we can't run away from betting.

As for me, I'm not into money betting games, as I believe controlling things myself such as proper investments with proper research.

However, there are something I can't control. For instance, my birth options, I still don't know whether I will end up having another c-section or natural birth. But I'm putting my bet on having natural birth even though my gynae has told my chance of having c-sec is higher than those who had never had a c-sec before. Also, my chance of having complications via natural birth is also higher, as my uterine may rupture during the birth. Since she allows me to try for natural birth, I'll go for it.

I can have an elective c-sec but I don't want to give up now. I want to wait and see, while hoping for the best. I'm leaving to God and let Him decides what's best for me and my baby. This is my best bet.

Starting an online business

The other day a book-lover friend was asking me about online shopping cart software. She’s planning to start her online business, selling imported books.

So I recommended her Ashop, shopping cart software which I reviewed earlier as it's easy to use and suitable for a novice like herself. Meanwhile she can also easily register her own shop domain with Ashop.

At first she offered me to design a nice looking shop front, but I had to turn it down since I'll be going into labour anytime. However, I showed her how simple is to customize the online shop front with the available web themes to suit her taste.

I showed her some awesome features that Ashop offers, with their online demo and tutorial movies.

I was showing her:
- How can she manage sales analysis with the admin panel, such as inventory and stock control with the multilevel product variants and tax variant,
- How can she easily keep track of and retrieve her daily sales data, such as how many visitors to her shop every day, the number of her customers, and potential customers and where they come from.
- How can she design her own discount coupon and gift certificates to send to her potential customers in future, and so on.

She was also happy to find that Ashop shopping cart software has SMS order alerts and is web-based, so that run her business while she travel outstation or overseas.

After going through most of the demos with her, she was impressed with this simple yet reliable software as it gives her so much control over her business.

However, there are still a few things that bothered her, such as the transaction mistakes, payment security and credit card fraud. To ease her worries, I showed her the software integration with Google checkout and PayPal. The Google checkout can help minimizing the chances of customers abandoning their carts, while PayPal can make sending and receiving payment transaction easy for her and her customers.

Without delay, I helped her open a PayPal account to show her how PayPal works as well.

With much amazement, she checked at the pricing and packages and finally decided to try it out their most affordable package, Ashop Light, which only cost her $39.95 per month, as she's aiming to minimize her startup capital.

Finding the best car insurance rates within clicks.

Finding and comparing cars' insurance quote is a hassle.

I have four more than 10-years-old cars at home, both belongs to my husband and myself, while the remaining two are my in-laws'. When it's time to renew all the cars' insurance, which happen to be the same time, I'll have to carefully compare a few quotes for each car. It's a very time consuming exercise, and without a good driving record or NCP, it'll cost a bomb, for the car insurance plus roadtax. A big OUCH for my family's wallet.

However, at AdvantageAutoQuotes.com, you can find the best coverage quote based on one's driving record, accident history, vehicle value and age, driving experience, location and so on just within clicks. Be it comprehensive full coverage, third party, fire, and theft coverage, or a basic auto coverage, it's very simple to sort it out in a jiffy.

AdvantageAutoQuotes.com helps users to search for the most affordable and suitable auto insurance rate through their system, even though you might have a bad driving record and accident history. All you need to do is just fill up ONE application quote form, and you will immediately get the most competative quotes from different well-known car insurers for you to compare. It'll save you time from filling in many request-a-quote forms from different auto companies.

The site also offer users useful tips on how to be a prudent driver and maintain your driving record clean, in order to get the best rate for your auto coverage.

Frankly I consider myself a prudent driver and yet there were times when accidents couldn't be avoided. One of my worst accidents I had, happend in 2004. I had forgotten to disengage my gear before starting the car, which was parked on a slope. As a result my Isuzu, lunged forward and knocked into a Nissan MPV in front. It's bumper was badly totalled, while my car wasn't even scratched due to the front bull bars. That accident cost me 250 bucks. But I felt really good because I chose not to hit and run. Instead I left a note for the owner to call me. He did call, and told me that I just need to pay 250 bucks for his repair and paint job, rather than 500 bucks for a brand new bumper. I think it was pretty fair and it settled it.

Since then I had learnt my mistake, and always put in neutral before starting up, and be extra careful on the road.

The perfect portable DVD player for travelling

All these time when we go for our long distance family outings, Natalie and I would normally sleep throughout our journey, while dear hubby's driving.

Therefore, I've long been thinking of getting a portable DVD player, so we can play some of our favourite shows while we're on the move. However, I haven't come across one that fits my criteria, till now. O.k. I'm a fussy consumer.

At Digitalframez.com, I found this portable DIVX DVD player. It's the DIVX compatibility that really captures my attention. With it, I can play my borrowed Japanese anime files, which are mostly in AVI format, whilst on the move.

At home we have a DVD player with the DIVX compatibility, and I can play almost anything with it, such as AVI, mpg files and so on. But it's too bulky to be carried anywhere. And this 10 inch LCD screen portable DVD Player I found in Digitalframez.com is the perfect solution. It also comes with power cord and connector to outer source.

Other than the DIVX compatibility, it can be easily recharged with its built-in lithium battery by just plugging in to the car's cigarette lighter after a 4 hours playback of an extended version of a LOTR movie.

As for my news' fix on the move, it comes with a TV tuner. I can catch my regular news programs anywhere, only if Natalie's not hogging it.

This mini 3D home theater system fits snugly in our 24 years old 2-doors Toyota AE86.

Also, it's a way to keep Natalie occupied with her favourite programs during a long journey.

What's more to say? It's small, it's perfect and it's all I need for complete portability.

A perfect ecommerce partner, Ashop Commerce

Thinking of starting an online business?

For a start, a reliable ecommerce software is important.

Ashop Commerce offers perfect solution.

First of all, it's a web-based application and you can manage your store and organize your sales data from anywhere, so long internet access is available.

Setting up
With its easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, fully customizable built-in design themes, you can setup your online storefront hassle free, be it starting from scratch or adding shopping cart function to your existing site. You don't need technical knowledge of web designing or programming.

Ashop Commerce also offers tutorial movies and a comprehensive step-by-step user manual to guide you through the process.

What’s next?
It’s your daily operation and sales figures.

With Ashop Commerce, these data are just clicks away.

The software offers a very user-friendly store admin panel, where you can keep tracks of site visitors and their activities, customers’ info, daily order and shipping, payment transactions, inventory, and so on. For example, you’ll get SMS alert when there’s new order.

Also, you can export and import these data to and from external spreadsheet. It allows you to have better control of your everyday business operation.

Meanwhile the software is designed with a secure checkout system to prevent issues like orders fraud, abandoned shopping carts and so on. For instance, all credit card transactions are secured and protected by Ashop Commerce’s free 128 bit Secure Socket Layer protection, the highest industry-standard encryption.

It’s designed to protect your business and your customers.

As for payment methods, Ashop Commerce offers wide integration with major banks, gateways and third party processors including PayPal and WorldPay.

Every business needs promotions.
You can too design and customize your own monthly newsletters to be sent out to your customers, to inform them about the latest products or services that you’re offering. Newsletters subscription management is as easy as ABC with Ashop Commerce.

Affordable starter's package.
Every business owner wants maximum return on investment with minimum capital. Therefore, Ashop Commerce offers basic package with straight forward monthly fees, which you can start with 500 products and 10-day no obligations free trial, before you commit yourself.

Try it and let the ecommerce software speak for itself.

Now, I’m off to think about what I want to sell in my online store.

Get Smorty! Get paid to blog.

Like I've said, one of my reasons to blog again is to make some extra money out of blogging. However, I have not been really working on it, other than writing for pleasure.

But now, I think I have got the gist of blogging and can churn out stuff faster. So I think my blog and I are both ready to take the challenge and make some extra cash.

To start the ball rolling, I choose Smorty, a service that connects us, bloggers with the advertisers. It gives us a chance to earn some income by sharing our opinions on peoples products, services or websites on our blog.

Why Smorty?
Besides earning extra cash. I can make my blog content more dynamic with Smorty's campaigns. I can get ideas, choose to write stuffs within my interest and share my opinions with you.

You won't miss out
Smorty also send out email to notify me if any new opportunities available.

For people, like me, who always keep their email account or instant messenger login 24/7, this feature is very useful.

It keeps me aware of any new opportunities, before they are taken. Remember, opportunities await no man.

The best, Weekly Payout
There is no minimum payout. It means I get paid my article is approved, which normally takes about 5 days.

I have control over how much you can earn on a weekly basis. The minimum is US$6 per post, and can go up to a maximum of $100 per post, depending on your Page Rank along with a high Smorty smart score.

Well, the more you write, the more you earn. Tempting huh?

More than opinions blogging...
You can also sign up as an Smorty advertiser to get your blog, your product or services to be reviewed by other bloggers.

Or become a Smorty affiliate and get paid for referring bloggers who signs up for Smorty Blog Advertising. Huge potential in generating more income for professional blogger.

Last but not least,
Smorty also provides very useful tips and links on how to optimise your blog/s. It is worth reading up, if you're serious about building your blogs'Page Rank.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up now and get paid to blog!

And, I'm off to set up my Paypal account. :)