Do you love to travel but hate paying full price for a hotel room? If you do a lot of traveling, the costs of staying in hotels can really add up after a while. However, there are some ways that you can get the same hotel room for a lot less money.

You just have to know a few clever money saving tricks.

Ask Friends and Family

If your sister, cousin, poker buddy or anyone else you know works in the hotel industry, ask them nicely if they can get you a sweet deal. Most hotel employees will be able to use “friends and family” discounts which will be much cheaper than the regular rate.

If someone you know works in the hotel industry, buy them a cup of coffee and ask them nicely to get you a good rate. It never hurts to ask!

Use Your Connections

Many hotel chains offer discounts for organizations and affiliations, so if you belong to an organization within your profession it is worth giving this a try. If you are a member of the AAA, you will usually be able to get a 10% discount.

Book at the Right Time

When you book your hotel room can make a huge difference in how much it costs. If you are traveling to a popular resort destination, it will be busy on the weekends and slower on Sunday and Monday and throughout the week.

If you are able to keep your travel dates flexible and visit during the week, you could save anywhere from 15%-40% off your rate. If you are visiting a more business-oriented hotel it will be opposite, the hottest days will be mid-week and the weekends will be cheaper.

Negotiate

Don’t be afraid to phone up the hotel and ask for a cheaper rate. Sometimes all it takes is the simple but firm question, “I was hoping to pay less than that; is that the best price you can offer me?” Most of the time if you are persistent you can negotiate yourself a good discount.

These are just a few ways that you can save money the next time you stay in a hotel on your travels.

Jon Schroeder is a licensed insurance agent providing insurance services in the health, life, dental and disability fields. Call Jon today for a FREE insurance needs review at 888-248-2555!

Taking care of all the chores around the house can be a full time job, especially when you have children. Cooking, cleaning, buying groceries, and taking care of the household can get quite overwhelming, especially if you are saddled with most of the burden.

If you feel that you are struggling to get everything done on your own and you need a bit more help from your partner, it’s important to ask them in the right way. Nagging or guilt tripping can only create negative feelings and make both parties feel bad.

You want to speak to your husband or wife in a way that encourages them to help you share the responsibilities and work together as a family.

Just Ask For Help

If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Sometimes all you need to do is ask politely for the help you need. All you have to say is, “Honey, can you please help me wash these dishes?” and you might be surprised how often your partner says, “Sure.”

Don’t Be Resentful

If you never ask for help, yet mumble angrily under your breath every time you sweep the kitchen floor or wipe the sink, you’re not being fair to your partner. If you don’t ask them to help you with something, they cannot know what you want. It’s not fair to stew up this anger and be upset, just ask for the help that you need.

Do it as You Go Along

Encourage everyone in your household to clean up after themselves and perform little tasks which will help you in the long run. For example, teach your kids to put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher when they are finished rather than leaving them in their rooms or on the table, so that all you have to do is press the button.

Say Thank You

When your partner helps you, give them a sincere thank you. Let them know that you appreciate them, and ask them if there is anything that you can help them with.

When everyone works together, the household can run more smoothly and harmoniously.

Jon Schroeder is a licensed insurance agent providing insurance services in the health, life, dental and disability fields. Call Jon today for a FREE insurance needs review at 888-248-2555!

Have you ever seen someone who looks attractive, nice or interesting and thought you would love to have a chat with them? Perhaps you would like to get to know them more, or you think that they would be fun to talk to?

Unfortunately, in our society it is deemed “weird and creepy” to start talking to random strangers, and most people don’t strike up a conversation with others in public places for fear of rejection or being invasive.

Here are some ways that you can start a conversation with a stranger at a party, on a bus, or in any public space without making the situation uncomfortable:

Ask them for Help

A great way to break the ice is to ask the person for help with a problem. For example, you could ask them to give you directions or recommend a restaurant or cafe in the area.

If you are at an event, you could ask them if they know when a certain lecture or concert is supposed to start.  

If you are in an internet cafe, you could ask them, “Is your internet working? My connection is a little slow…” It’s a great way to break the tension without being creepy, because you are asking for their help which is a more acceptable conversation between strangers.

Be Natural

Don’t come in with scripted material, pickup lines or pre-rehearsed jokes. The other person will be able to tell that your speech is not natural and it will come across as fake and strange.

It’s not important what you say, as long as you say it naturally and from the heart, in the moment. Don’t forget to smile!

It’s all About Them

When you are chatting with someone you don’t know, try to focus on them rather than yourself. Everyone loves to talk about themselves, so asking them questions will encourage them to open up to you. Also, you will be out of the spotlight so you are not forced to put on a show.

Gauge Their Reaction

When you use one of these conversation starting techniques, make sure that you are paying attention to the way the other person reacts. If they enthusiastically begin chatting back to you, you can feel comfortable carrying on the conversation.

If they look away, concentrate on something else, or respond with short one or two word answers, get the hint that they are not interested in talking to you. Don’t take it personally; perhaps they are just not in a good mood. Say something like “Nice chatting with you, have a good day,” and move along.

Although your mother might have told you not to talk to strangers, sometimes some of the best interactions can come from words exchanged with people you don’t know as you connect on a common bond or shared observation. You might even form a relationship or a lifelong friendship!

Jon Schroeder is a licensed insurance agent providing insurance services in the health, life, dental and disability fields. Call Jon today for a FREE insurance needs review at 888-248-2555!

Have you forgotten what the floor of your bedroom looks like because it is constantly under a carpet of discarded clothing? Do you let your laundry pile up until sorting, washing and folding it becomes a full day job? Here are a few tips to tame your laundry chaos and make cleaning your clothes much easier:

• Get into a laundry routine. As a general rule, the number of people living in your house equals the number of times per week you will need to do laundry. If you live on your own you can get away with doing a wash every week, but if there are three or four people you will have to do laundry almost every other day. The longer you leave it, the harder to handle it becomes.
• Use small and study laundry baskets in each bedroom, and encourage your kids and your partner to put their dirty clothes directly into them rather than on the floor.
• A larger washer and dryer will allow you to wash more clothes at once which makes doing laundry more efficient and can save you time.
• If you teenager is in the habit of wearing a pair of jeans for two hours and then throwing them in the laundry hamper, teach them to wear their clothes a few times until they are actually dirty before washing them. Unless they are stained or the wearer is sweating heavily, clothing can be worn 2-4 times before needing to be washed.
• By the age of 12, you can start teaching your kids to do their own laundry.
• Cut down your wardrobe to only the essentials. If you have fewer clothes, you will have less washing to do. Don’t have more clothes that you can fit into your closet!
• Keep some hangers in your laundry room so that you can hang up clothes that you don’t fold immediately before they get creased.

Here’s a quick video with some additional tips:

These are a few ways that you can make the chore of doing laundry more manageable and spend more time on having fun!

Jon Schroeder is a licensed insurance agent providing insurance services in the health, life, dental and disability fields. Call Jon today for a FREE insurance needs review at 888-248-2555!

Every office has at least one; the person who makes you want to curl up under your desk and cry, or beat them senseless with a stapler.

You can’t choose your co-workers, and sometimes it can be incredibly frustrating to work in an environment with someone like this. When they don’t deliver work when promised, refuse to collaborate, and fail to listen to feedback they make your job difficult and increase the stress level for everyone else.

So what can you do with that co-worker who drives you crazy? Here are a few strategies who dealing with these difficult workmates:

• Keep your cool. Although you might want to send them an email jam-packed with obscenities on a particularly stressful morning, use self restraint. Losing your temper and lashing out at the person will not help the situation at all. You will have more power in this situation if you deal with it in a calm and controlled manner.
• Consider their intentions. Perhaps this person is not being rude or difficult or purpose, they might just not realize the impact their actions are having on others. Or they might be acting up for a completely different reason. Try to get to know them and find out the motivations behind the way that they are acting.
• Consult others about the problem. Have a confidential conversation with another co-worker that you trust. Ask them for support and advice on how you should deal with the situation. They might also have their own experiences with the person that they could share with you.
• Approach the person first. No one likes being “tattled on” to a higher authority, so running to the boss when someone does something that upsets you should not be your first solution. Speak with your colleague in a calm and respectful manner, and tell them exactly what they have done and why you don’t appreciate it. If they are reasonable, or if they didn’t mean any harm, they will apologize and try to resolve the situation.
• However, if you have approached them in this way and they have responded rudely, ignored you, or refused to stop, it’s time to get the boss involved. Provide documented evidence and clear examples to your boss of your co-worker’s inappropriate behavior, and ask them for help.

Although you and your co-worker might not become best friends, hopefully you can find a way to work together in harmony.

Jon Schroeder is a licensed insurance agent providing insurance services in the health, life, dental and disability fields. Call Jon today for a FREE insurance needs review at 888-248-2555!

The term Golden Handcuffs is often used to describe a financial incentive that keeps an employee from leaving a company. The employee is locked into such a sweet high paying position that they simply can’t afford to leave.

However, this term can be applied to your position in life as well.

Escalating Expenses

When most people get high paying jobs and start earning a lot of money, the first thing that they will do is increase their standard of living to match their new wage. The new flat screen television, the recent model car, the larger house, and the expensive hobbies all start rolling in.

With an increase in salary comes a brand new lifestyle. After all, no matter how much money you are earning, it is the easiest thing in the world to spend it all.

However, what happens when you are sitting on your brand new leather couch, sipping wine from your designer stemware, and you realize that you don’t actually like your job? In fact, you hate it and you wish you could be doing anything else.

You wish you could be able to start your own business, go travelling, or follow your passion to a more rewarding career.

Trapped in a Lifestyle

Unfortunately, if you are spending everything that you are earning (and even going into debt) you are literally trapped in your high paying position. You would love to quit and try something different, but you know that other options out there will not be as high paying as your current position.

With your high mortgage payments, car lease, utility costs, and paying off that new TV you would be bankrupt within a week if you dared to give the job the slip. Any major job change would require stripping your lavish life down and getting rid of all of the luxuries you and your family have become accustomed to.

Avoid the Trap

So how do you avoid this nightmarish scenario? Don’t let yourself get trapped by the Golden Handcuffs in the first place. The trick is to avoid inflating your living expenses to match your income, and always living well within your means. To put it simply: Always spend less than you earn.

It seems simple, but so many people in modern society have been handcuffed. Don’t let yourself become trapped!

If you had taken the high paying job, but stayed in your smaller home with your old car (which works just fine) as well as held off on buying items you could not afford, you would be able to easily make a career switch later on without having any impact on your lifestyle.

In fact, you would probably have money in savings that you could use to travel, start up a business, or pursue your dreams.

Isn’t freedom sweet?

Jon Schroeder is a licensed insurance agent providing insurance services in the health, life, dental and disability fields. Call Jon today for a FREE insurance needs review at 888-248-2555!

Making a to-do list is a great way to see at a glance what you need to get accomplished in a day.

However, some to-to lists help productivity more than others, and a bad to-do list might do more harm than good.

If you can invest a little bit of time planning out your tasks for the day in a clear and achievable list you will be able to accomplish things much more smoothly.

Here are a few ways that you can make the best to-do list possible:

• Break it down. Adding a huge task such as “clean the house” to your to-do list can overwhelm you.  Divide this task into several small jobs so that you know where to start, such as “wash the dishes”, “sweep the floors”, and “vacuum the carpets.”
• Group tasks together that are located in close proximity to each other. For example, if you are driving to the shop to pick up bread and milk and you also have a package to mail you can drop it off at the post office on the way there. It is inefficient just to go out and only accomplish one task at a time.
• Prioritize the things that you need to do by urgency. This will help you know which items are more important and need to be finished first. You can create a system with colors or numbers to organize your tasks.
• If you have bumped a task from yesterday that you couldn’t get finished, this job should get a higher priority today or you will continue to put it off.
• Don’t make your to-do list so long that it is impossible to achieve in one day. This can be very demoralizing. Include small and easily checked-off tasks which will give you positive reinforcement and provide momentum.

Above all, don’t forget to include a reward at the end when you finish everything you set out to do. Whether it is going for a walk with the dog, relaxing for a while to watch your favorite show, or going out with friends, if you achieve all of the goals on your list feel free to celebrate your productive day!

Jon Schroeder is a licensed insurance agent providing insurance services in the health, life, dental and disability fields. Call Jon today for a FREE insurance needs review at 888-248-2555!

Did you know that the food you eat before and after working out can have an impact on how effective your exercise regime is?

Working out takes energy, and the food that you use to fuel that energy makes a big difference. When you fuel up on the right nutrients you can superpower your workout and make the most of your time in the gym.

What to Eat Before the Gym

Some people swear by working out on an empty stomach, but studies have shown that because you have no food in your system to use as fuel this can cause your body to burn your muscle reserves for energy.

You are going to the gym to build muscle, not deplete it so it is better to eat a small meal before working out to give yourself some energy.

This meal should include lean protein, lots of fiber, complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, and a small amount of fat. These types of foods take longer to absorb and make you feel fuller for longer, and they provide lots of fuel to energize you for your workout.

A great pre-workout snack would be whole wheat bread with peanut butter and a banana, scrambled eggs and toast with fruit, or a protein shake or smoothie made with yogurt and fruit. If it is less than one hour before the workout, go for a small meal but if you have more than two hours before you get to the gym you can eat more.

What to Eat After the Gym

Once you are finished working out, you should be drinking lots of water to replenish the sweat that you have lost.

Within one hour of finishing your workout, you should have another small snack with high quality protein, because this will help build your muscles and aid your body in recovering.

Nourishing your body with healthy proteins and complex carbs before and after a workout will give it the fuel to build muscle and become stronger.

Jon Schroeder is a licensed insurance agent providing insurance services in the health, life, dental and disability fields. Call Jon today for a FREE insurance needs review at 888-248-2555!

Have you ever had the experience of realizing that the person you were speaking with was simply not listening? 

They might have looked like they were paying attention, but your words were simply going in one ear and out the other. Chances are this left you feeling frustrated and unappreciated, especially if what you were saying was very important.

Listening is a very important communication skill that not everyone has mastered.

Have you ever thought about how well you listen to other people? Perhaps you might be tuning out others without realizing it, causing them to feel like you don’t care what they are saying.

Whether it is in the workplace, with your friends, or in a relationship, being a good listener is a skill that will always be beneficial. It will help you avoid conflict and misunderstanding, resolve issues, and succeed in all aspects of your life.

Here are some helpful tips for becoming a better listener:

• Don’t interrupt. Let the person finish what they have to say before jumping in to finish their sentences or object. Be patient.
• Remove distractions. If you find that you are looking at your text messages or surfing the net on your laptop while someone is talking to you, then you are not giving them your full attention. Eliminate these distractions to show them respect.
• Give eye contact to the person you are speaking with, and watch their face for important non-verbal clues to what they are meaning.
• To let the person know that you are paying attention, give an occasional nod or say something like, “I see” or “that makes sense.”
• If you don’t understand something, ask questions to clarify so that you don’t get lost as they assume you know what they mean and start to talk about the topic more.

Practice your listening skills and you will find that being a good listener will improve your personal and professional life in many ways.

Jon Schroeder is a licensed insurance agent providing insurance services in the health, life, dental and disability fields. Call Jon today for a FREE insurance needs review at 888-248-2555!

Designing a child’s bedroom can be one of the most exciting tasks of decorating your home. You can create a fun and flexible space that your children will love to spend time in and enjoy throughout their life.

Here are some tips for parents to help with the project of decorating a room for a young child:

Involve Your Child

If your child is old enough to converse with you, have a talk with them to get their opinion on what their dream bedroom would look like. Ask them what they like about their current bedroom, and what they would change. You can also ask them about their favorite colors, animals, and storybooks to get an idea for a theme for the room.

Make a Plan

If you plan your design concept in advance, you will make the project a lot easier by having a clearer concept of what you will want the room to look like. Draw up a floor plan and identify which furnishings and decor you are going to look for. You can print off photos from the Internet and clip out pictures from magazines for inspiration.

Adapt for the Future

Remember that although your little princess is only eight now, in a few years she will be turning into a teenager and she will not want to have Disney characters plastered all over her walls and furniture. Bunk beds might seem like a great choice for your young boys but when they hit a teenage growth spurt they could be six feet tall, making these beds very impractical. Make sure that you choose furniture that will grow with your child and that the bedroom design that you decide on can be easily adapted when your child’s interests change.

Create Practical Storage Space

You can help your child keep their room tidy and reduce the number of times you have to nag them to clean up by creating lots of practical and easy to use storage space. Bookcases, drawers, desks, and closet organizers will give all toys and clothes a place to go rather than being thrown on the floor.

These are just a few tips to help you with decorating a stylish and functional bedroom for your child.

Jon Schroeder is a licensed insurance agent providing insurance services in the health, life, dental and disability fields. Call Jon today for a FREE insurance needs review at 888-248-2555!