Alternative lifestyles require alternative housing. Here are some of the many options out there.

What are alternative lifestyles and why would they require alternative housing? To answer the first part it is easiest to give examples. Then the answer to the second part becomes self evident.

One winter we were camping in our conversion van at a hot springs area in Arizona. We met a man who sold stuffed animals on the side of the highway. Having been through a bad divorce, and having little money, he was living in the van at places like these hot springs. Every day he drove off to the nearest highways and set up his stuffed animals for sale. He claimed to have sold $4,000 worth the first month, so his low cost living meant he could save the money and get back on his feet.

Meanwhile, another neighbor at the hot springs was living in his old RV. He had a house, but he preferred to supplement his social security by renting it out. This meant he lived in his RV for a few weeks at each location, often for free, and spent evenings sitting around campfires talking to travelers like us.

A friend of ours lived in a shack that he built for $3,000 on a small piece of land he bought for $7,000. He was there for enough time to pay off the land and sell it for a profit. This is illegal in many areas, of course, because of things like occupancy permits and minimum square footage requirements. Usually, however, you can camp on your land, so a $2,000 used RV parked on your land makes for a cheap and legal housing alternative.

Other Housing For Alternative Lifestyles

Alternative lifestyle doesn’t mean “low income” of course. There are other reasons for living differently and needing different types of housing. Whether to save money, to travel, to live creatively - there are many reasons why people choose to live in tents, RVs, cabins, underground homes, rental rooms and anything else that’s less common than the houses, condos and apartments that most people call home. Here are a few more of these housing options.

- RV Boondocking. I’ve talked to people living in Rvs that cost $200,000 and ones that cost $600, so the selection of accommodations is varied, to say the least.

- Permanent travelers. Housing is whatever works for the moment for those who work various jobs as the travel.

- Houseboats. There are whole communities of people living on houseboats, and they usually don’t have to pay property taxes.

- Basements. Even some people with good incomes choose to live in the basement as they build the house above for cash. No mortgage sounds nice, doesn’t it?

- Log cabin squatting. Yes, there really are people living out there in the national forests, moving when they get caught every five or ten years.

- School busses. Apparently old busses sell cheap. We met three young men who lived in one in the deserts of Arizona, and anywhere else they could park it for a month.

- Offices. A couple I know almost moved into the office building they owned. It was on the river and had showers, so why not? One less mortgage too.

A national magazine recently did a write-up on people who lived in the jungles of Hawaii. Rents are high in Hawaii, and life on the beach is good - at least for younger people who can tolerate camping out for years. Alternative lifestyles and alternative housing are often more for the younger crowd. Then again, tell that to the tens of thousands of retirees living in RVs.

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Personally, I find the winter holidays to be the most special time of the year. My mother always made this holiday a wonderful one as she used to decorate the house in all things Christmas. I especially liked her Christmas decorating ideas, so I tried to follow her lead to help my own family enjoy this holiday thoroughly.

There is a fine line between festive and flashy and I have always tried to give my best not to cross it. Thus, I have used for my Christmas decorations natural items and lights. I am a candle light lover so I wanted to use it outdoors but I didn’t know how. My older sister helped me by giving me the idea to use ice globes in my yard, just as the people in 1970s did because of the energy crisis.

Making the globe is not a difficult task - all you have to do is fill balloons with water and put them in your freezer. The balloons freeze from the outside in. It is important to regularly check that they do not freeze all the way through. After you see there is ice around the inside of the balloon you should pop it and drain the water out of the centre of the balloon. You might have to chop a hole in the top in some cases.

This is the process that gives you ice globes. You can get different sizes of globes if you use different sizes of balloons. I personally tried something else, as well - I used rings from canning jars to make base to stand the globes on. Then you have to place a candle in each ice globe and that’s how you realize one of the greatest Christmas decorating ideas. As we live in a cold climate, I put many globes in the yard on our steps and line our driveway. The candles are easily lit and the globe protects them from going out.

Another Christmas decorating idea I has was to create ice sculptures in the front yard which I made by several sizes of globes. I decorate the house inside with the help of evergreens and ribbons. Traditional glass ornaments for decorating the mantel and the table tops are also used. What I really like about evergreens is that they stay fresh for a few weeks and after the season is over I can easily burn them in the fire place. As far as the bulbs and ribbons are concerned, after the Christmas season is gone I store them in flat boxes. It is important to know that the best Christmas ideas do not necessarily mean a great deal of money or storage of items.

You can enlighten your Christmas by following some of my Christmas decorating ideas by using the natural evergreens and ice; you won’t have any storage issues with them and they won’t cost you much. Of course, you don’t have to settle for the same Christmas decorations each year. You can make the ice globes in different shapes and you can buy new bulbs and ribbons in different colours which are quite cheap. Last Christmas I even used some popcorn and cranberry strands instead of the traditional ribbons. After the season was over I placed the strand in the trees outside so that the birds could enjoy. In conclusion, stylish and smart Christmas decorating ideas don’t have to be expensive; you can use simple things to make your Christmas unforgettable.

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Around a new born baby everyone gets excited. The whole family eagerly waits for the baby to arrive. All friends and acquaintances are trying to find out as much as possible about the little one.

There are also many companies that get excited about that too. They have free baby offers available for the happy new parents.

There is a very good offer thats available through Enfamil Family Beginnings, and it is one of my favorite. It is a great program suitable for anyone who is expecting a baby. It is also good for the mothers who plan breastfeeding for their beloved ones. Because of the countless benefits this program offers it has actually turned into a real must for expectant mothers.

I had a strong desire to breastfeed my baby girl. However I was unsure if I would be able to breastfeed long enough and whether the quantity of my milk will be sufficient or the baby will need formula as an addition. So I just signed up for the Enfamil baby offers, no matter I actually was against using formula. And I dont regret that decision because of several things.

First of all I was sent by them interesting and precious information concerning the child feeding not only for the first months of the newborn, but all the specific food needs up to toddler years. Those materials were accompanied by two diaper bags a large one and a small one and believe me they proved to be tough enough, in spite of the burden they took through time.

Second of all Enfamil were so kind to send me formula several times, absolutely free, without me even asking for it. I was very happy about that because I knew my baby might happen to need it. And even though my baby eventually did not I gave the numerous samples to a neighbor family whose baby did. So everything got into use.

A free subscription to American Baby Magazine is also one of the baby offers available and I can call it my favorite one. For a whole year I received this wonderful magazine without paying a cent and whats more I didnt receive unpleasant e-mails or phone calls asking me to subscribe and apart from that I found the magazine really useful for any parent, this was the other reason that made me really subscribe.

In continuation with the subject of valuable information for reading you can have in mind the offer of State Farm a copy of Mayo Clinics book for pregnancy, which with its solid three pounds of weight is a detailed medical survey which could be of use for every parent; whats more its absolutely free.

Of course in internet you may find lots of other free baby offers. A quick search in the net might provide your baby with a lot of useful things.

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Christmas shopping is getting more and more expensive each year.  With over 70% of Americans reported to be living paycheck to paycheck, where does the money come from for Christmas shopping? 

Here are 5 tips to getting some extra money for holiday shopping:

1 – Sell items on Ebay

Everyone is buying right now.  Why not have them buy what you have for sale?  All different types of items sell on ebay – the clothes your kids never even wore that still have the tags on them, DVD’s, collectible items sitting around just collecting, and any other “hot” items you may have lying around.

2 – Garage Sale

Do a little ‘Winter Cleaning” and make room for those Christmas decorations and presents.  A Saturday morning garage sale can make you $50-$500, or more.

One person’s junk is another’s treasure!

3 – Collect your Unclaimed Money

There is an estimated $25 billion dollars of unclaimed money in the U.S. On the  Oprah Winfrey TV Show it was announced 8 out of 9 Americans have unclaimed   money.This money comes from many places.  For example it could be an old checking or savings account your forgot about, an inheritance, savings bonds, uncashed checks or money orders, the list goes on and on.  This money is yours and just sitting there waiting for you to claim it.  A simple search in a quality database that includes all states and federal unclaimed money could mean a check in your mailbox!

A simple search in a quality database that includes all states and federal unclaimed money could mean a check in your mailbox! www.cashunclaimed.com is the largest unclaimed money site and is a great place to conduct your unclaimed money search.

4 – Holiday Job or Overtime

Companies are hiring for the Christmas shopping rush.  Usually they are simple retail positions that don’t require specialized training or experience.  A couple nights or days a week could be $1000 by Christmas!

If you are paid hourly at your job, and have enough work and flexibility with your schedule, you can put in some extra hours. 

Workers who have restaurant jobs can pick up extra shifts. 

Special Note: Many people claim 0 exemptions on their W4.  If you have children, own a home, etc.  increase your exemptions to the correct number.  Your employer can assist you in filling out a new W4.  This can mean an extra $50-$400 per paycheck!

5 – Reduce Expenses

You can reduce simple monthly expenses to keep more of the money you already have.  Here are a couple money saving ideas:

• Eat in instead of dinning out
  A family of 4 that eats out twice a week spends about $100 per week.
• Pay minimum payments this month on credit cards
  Don’t make this a habit, but for December it will give you a little extra rather than racking up more credit card debt
• Leave your ATM card at home, carry a little cash for what you need
• Make coffee at home and skip your morning latte 
  (you’ll live, really you will)

Now that you have the extra money  – Merry Christmas Shopping!

About the Author:Nicole Anderson offers more information about unclaimed money at www.cashunclaimed.com.  Would you like to receive your lost funds check without searching 100+ individual databases? A simple unclaimed property search could mean a check in your mailbox.  Click on www.cashunclaimed.com for a free money search, that includes all state and federal databases, and locate your missing money today!

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10 ways to save money every time you shop.

Do you save money when you shop? If you do, you know the money-stretching secrets of savvy shoppers. If you don’t usually get a deal, discover the insider tips that can help you save more money.

1. Eat with the seasons. We humans used to eat with the seasons out of necessity. Whatever food was in abundance, we ate. It pays to eat with the sales now because when produce is “in season”, it usually is on sale. This means buying blueberries in July and apples and cranberries in autumn. The key is to plan meals with seasonal recipes.

2. Shop with the sales. Some items go on sale the same time each year. Car dealers are motivated to sell this year’s models in the last months of the year. The week after Christmas is the time to buy Christmas decorations. Winter clothes, towels and linens go on sale in January. School supplies are on sale in the weeks before school starts. Shop during those times to find deals.

3. Use coupons and make it fun. If your coupons come in the Sunday paper, try to get ten times the value of the paper in coupons. For example, if your Sunday paper costs $1.00, try to get $10.00 in savings each week. Over a year, you’ll save more than $500 dollars. Another great source of coupons is the Entertainment Coupon Book. This coupon book is available in most major cities and can save you money at local businesses, such as restaurants and dry cleaners. You can get this coupon book at www.entertainment.com.

4. Automatically find out about deals. Get a membership at BonusWire.com. Every week BonusWire.com sends you a list of companies who offer freebies, deals and bonuses. Find out more at www.bonuswire.com. Another handy website that will point you to deals is CoolSavings. They will send you coupons for brand name products such as Pampers and coupons to stores such as Petco. Sign up at www.coolsavings.com.

5. Before you buy online, do this. Are you shopping at a well-known website? Serious online savers search for “companyname coupons”. For example, go to Google.com and search “Gap coupons” or “Amazon coupons”.

6. Get a deal after the item has sold out. What happens when you have a store coupon for a GREAT deal but when you get there, the store is out of the item? A little-known secret is you may still get the item for the coupon’s price - simply ask the clerk for a “raincheck”. A raincheck is a little form that extends your coupon for a week. This is only a possibility with store coupons, not manufacturer’s coupons. Also, the original coupon can not state: “While supplies last”.

7. Pay cash whenever you can. Many of us carry credit card debt, which only makes us poorer. The benefits of paying with cash: 1. No interest 2. Some companies offer a discount for cash. For example, a furniture store may offer a 2% discount for cash. When you are buying a big-ticket item, ask if there’s a discount for paying with cash.

8. Combine savings. Did you know sometimes you CAN combine savings? For example you may find products on sale AND use a coupon. Try that the next time you go to the grocery store. Here’s another example, a store runs a special where they will pay the taxes PLUS you could pay cash and get the cash discount.

9. Try this last minute money saver. Before you make any large purchase, ask the salesclerk this question: “Can you do better than that?” This question can save you hundreds of dollars each year. Just wait until the seller has told you the price and say, “Can you do better than that?” Another variation of this question is “Is that your best price?”

10. Get a deal AFTER you buy it. What if an item goes on sale after you bought it? Did you know some stores have a policy that gives you the sale price even if you bought a week earlier? This can apply to big-ticket items such as cameras, TVs and furniture. It’s worth a phone call to the store to find out if they’ll refund the difference.

By putting these money-saving tips into action, you can keep more of your hard earned money. You will be saving with the savviest of shoppers.

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