Images for the site

Once more I have been playing with graphics. This time for advert images for the site.



What do you think?

Blue Monday

They're calling it Blue Monday and officially it is the most depressing day of the year.

Believe it or not this can only be good news. It means that this is the low point and the only way is up (baby).

The guardian.co.uk has some reasons to be cheerful including Celebrity Big Brother is over - so it's not all bad.


Photo Credit: kimberlyfaye

Life on £1.00 a day.

David Masters of Fair Home (dot co dot uk) reports: Credit crunch inspires sustainable living revolution. This is something we have been talking about here. Simply put we are all learning to live within our means.

The alternative would be to end up living in our cars (if we even on one) or buying less organic foods.

However few can say they have beaten the crunch more than teacher Kath Kelly who lived for a year on just £1 a day (that's about US$1.48).

If she can do it so can I - actually that's not me taking the challenge but it is me seeing if I can figure out how to do that.

Share your thoughts on how you might do that right here.

Food Facts: Yogurt

Many of us have grown so used to reading labels on food that we have, collectively, lost the ability to identify food that is good to eat without a time stamp and full instructions printed on the label. Food does not expire on the date given and knowing when it is still good can save a lot of money. In this series I will be looking at foods with this in mind.

Yogarts are a yummy and healthy food and they often a good choice with hungry children.

Modern yogurt are, for the most part, sold in airtight plastic containers with a foil lid. This gives us a perfect barometer for the state of the yogurt inside. When yoghurt expires it gives of gasses which can not escape as a result the lid of the yogurt pot starts to budlge upwards under the pressure. When this has not happened the content is most likely still safe to eat.

The general consensus of my straw poll was that shop brought yogurt will last an extra month unopened past the sell by date. Obviously if it smell sour, has green, black or red things that should not be there, goes crusty or tastes "off" then you might want to think twice (or even three times).

On the whole dates are set earlier then they need to be because it makes it easier and less risky for the people selling it.

Yahoo answers and askville both have a discusion on the subject of yogurts and thier kin.


Disclaimer: please use your head. None of us are food scientists, clinical technicians or experts in the field of food sciences. As such nothing here should be taken as advice because, although we understand it all to be true we are only writing this to share what we "know" and have no desire to be sued if you do something stupid or we get something wrong.

Photo credit: Jason McKim

Credit Crunchies - Bringing you Hope in 2009

For some it might seem that the reason for creating this blog was as a "knee jerk" type reaction to the sudden economic atmosphere of fear. However my aims and probably the aims of many other writers here was not to "cash in on poverty" but to sign post personal prosperity.

Thing about the classic basic maths of money management, for example:

income - (bills + food + other spending) = amount left to save

Let's put some overly simplistic numbers into this.

£26,000 - (£24,000) = £2,000

This guy is probably doing okay for themselves and in the excessively blind and optimistic years that preceded the current economic crash and the years of the same that will come again this is a successful person.

Often it is not until the situation becomes:

£12,400 - £24,000 = HELP!!!

That people turn to blogs such as this for advice.

But I want to tell you something - the person in our illustration was being foolish as are we all. If companies, even during good years, we're run like we run our lives and homes they'd need to go running cap in hand looking for cash when there is a short fall. Oh wait...

» Continue Reading: Credit Crunchies - Bringing you Hope in 2009

Drafting a new logo

I have been thinking that while the design of this site is good it lacks a little character. Hoping to bring that to you with as little effort as possible I have given the logo a good looking at.

This is the current one.



This is a red version without the by-line. It's brighter in that it gives contrast.



This one is a lot more complex. This could be bad. It could be good. It has a technical limitation to it that I have to go back and fix or set the background of the header area to white.



Finally here is an idea that is very similar to the current idea. This is a jpg file but the final image would be a transparent background gif file.



Do any of these logos do it for you? I'm no logo design expert, they don't have flashy web 2.0 reflective thingies nor special badges saying beta. Tell me what you think even if what you think is "try again".

6 'Quick Fire' Strategies For Growing Your Business During an Economic Downturn

By Richard McMunn

During a recession or economic downturn it can be a testing time for many businesses and entrepreneurs. However, by changing your mindset and applying a few simple strategies your business can grow significantly during difficult economic times:

1. It is imperative that you implement a 'multi step' follow up communication strand of between 7-30 contacts (email, mail, telephone etc) with everybody who comes into contact with your business as a potential customer. The majority of business owners will give up after just one or two contacts with a potential customer. If only they knew how much income they were missing out on!

2. Powerful guarantees are essential during an economic downturn. If the customer trusts you, they will buy from you.

3. Learn how to test the market - especially the internet, and become very good at Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC). PPC is very easy to test, yet most Search Engine advertising can't be bothered to test it, and will lose a fortune through wasted adverts.

4. The media are generally very good at scaring people - They only have to print the Headline 'RECESSION LOOMS' in their newspaper and the readers attitude to everything will change dramatically. Limit the amount of media coverage you intake. It is important that you keep away from all negative media publishing as you need to be at your best during an economic downturn. If you are feeling negative, then this will come through in your business.

5. Implement an immediate upsell and cross sell programme into your business. It's one of the easiest ways to give yourself an immediate profit boost - at no cost.

6. Double the amount of communications you send to your existing customers. They are 16 times easier to sell to than new customers.

Don't forget, it is those entrepreneurs who develop a 'must win' attitude who will not only survive during an economic downturn, but will see their business grow significantly. You must try to see a recession as an opportunity for growth. Your products or service must be something that the customer really wants, or better still, needs. Try to think outside of the box and go out of your way to communicate effectively with each and every customer or potential customer. Testing the market is also key as this will allow you to reduce costs that are not helping your business grow. If you are going to advertise then remember that now is a great time to get heavily discounted advertising rates - up to 90% in some cases.

Richard McMunn, Firefighter for 17 years and a HSBC Award winning Entrepreneur develops a free online course that will show you how to succeed in any business. Want to learn more about how to start a highly successful and sustainable business? Get Richard's popular free course now, available at: => http://www.how-to-start-a-business.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_McMunn
http://EzineArticles.com/?6-Quick-Fire-Strategies-For-Growing-Your-Business-During-an-Economic-Downturn&id=1834145

How to build a house for £4,000

I have already reported this story here but I think it will bare being said as part of Credit Crunchies too.

The BBC have a news story of another person building a house for pocket change. A good ecologically friendly house. this is something I want to do. Deeply and desperately want to do. I am determined to find a way (land is a big issue).

Here is the BBC story

A Carnival of Credit Crunchies

With the news that the tech industry, publishing industry and pretty much every other sector are all feeling blue it is good to know that there are still plenty of resources that can help us become more efficient and in doing so be far more wealthy in resources of our own than we might have ever been otherwise. This might be especially helpful if you have a large family.

Things could be worse but that is no reason not to take action now. For example smarter shopping (easier with a new price war or two getting ready) and more careful planning can go a long way to make your budget more efficient.

The Guardian (UK newspaper) has recently pointed out traditionally in times of crisis we Brits pull together and co-operate. (read it here). Here at Credit Crunchies I'm hoping to encourage the people of the world to do likewise. We can support each other, share what we know, and do well even under stress.

So far this seems to have manifest in practical kitchen oriented gifts which leads me nicely to the next set of links I wanted to share.

» Continue Reading: A Carnival of Credit Crunchies