Now I Am Getting Emails From The FBI! - Nigerian Scam Follow-up

Those Nigerian crooks are trying really hard to scam people! Today I received an email from someone impersonating the FBI telling me that it was safe for me to go ahead with my on-going contract with the Central Bank of Nigeria!

First, I never contacted the FBI, I came across their website when I was looking for information on the Nigerian Scam but I never sent them any email! I did forward the first email I received from the so-called "Central Bank of Nigeria" to Scamomatic, but after getting confirmation from their website that this was indeed a fraudulent email, I doubt very much that the FBI would personnally send me an email advising me to go ahead with the project!

OK, so I watch a lot of movies, read a lot of books, when I got an email mentionning "FBI", I got curious (how glamourous is that?) and I actually read the whole email! (I usually just see "NIGERIA", "Dear Friend", "Lotto", "Congratulations".... and I send the email to "spam") but this is all they will get from me, 2 minutes of my time reading an email. No mister, you will not get a cent from me!

Getting Organized In Order To Succeed

For the last few weeks, I have been trying to find ways to increase the traffic to this blog. I keep telling myself that I must find a daily routine from the time I switch on my computer until when the kids come into my room, hollow eyes, looking very hungry!

I decided that I must do the following each day:
- Find a great new blog and write a comment on it,
- Add it to my "Favourite Websites",
- Find a new Freebies website, add it to my "freebies" and if possible, add a comment on their blog,
- Submit my blog to one new blog directory,
- Try and write one blog post.

If I don't get side-tracked (that is my main problem, I waste a lot of time everyday just reading blogs and just following links), I might have time to write one article a day on Associated Content.

I started a diary and when I get an idea for an article, I just write it down (yes, with a pen, on real paper, like they used to do before computers started to rule the world!), I also write down everything I achieved during the day, it helps a lot and it gives me a starting point every day.

Today, I achieved about half of my goals, now I must go and feed my children!


P.S. Sorry if I offended some people with the reference to my kids, I would never favour my blog over them, that was just a JOKE! It was going around in my head since yesteday, I just had to write it!

Listed in Google!

Waow! I can't believe it, my blog is listed in Google!

I was feeling a bit depressed today when I checked my "how much is your website worth" gadget, as the value had dropped from $197 to $180 but I thought this was due to the fact that I hadn't written on it or added any links for 4 days.

Then I started writing posts every day and adding links to Freebie websites and this morning my blog's value had dropped to $175! This was a big disappointment for me so I decided to do something drastic (well not really, it's just something I should have done a long time ago): I added my blog in some Irish blog directories, since I am in Ireland.

I know these last submissions haven't got time to kick in yet but just by curiosity, I typed "Internet Junkie" in my Google toolbar and on the second page, at number 13 to be precise (13 is definitely a lucky number), there it was, as listed by BlogCatalog.

So submitting to blog directories does pay off, well I haven't seen any money yet but imagine the thrilling sensation of being listed in Google! (OK, now I sound like a total nutcase to anybody who has never tried to advertise a website, nevermind, I am happy!)

Freebies Websites

Since we are so close to Christmas I thought it would be a good idea to provide my readers (wherever they are hiding) with links to sites where they (and I!) can get free stuff.

Unfortunately for me most of the freebies are only available to U.S. residents but if I search well I am sure I can find some that I can get in Ireland.

Watch this space because I will try to update it as often as possible (yes, I also have some shopping to do!). Make sure you keep an eye on my "Freebies" heading in the navigation bar.

Any comments are welcome, especially if you can share some sites that I don't know about. If you have received some freebies, I would appreciate your feedback on the products you have got.

Get Free Personalized Stationery With Vista Print

Freebies, Freebies, Freebies! Are you up for it?

When you sign up with Vista Print, you can design your own stationery, whether you have a business or just for fun, it's always nice to have personalized stationery and you can also use them as Christmas gifts!

Yesterday I ordered €74.43 worth of stuff for free. Of course I had to pay for postage but that is still a huge saving compared to what I would have to pay otherwise.

Here is what I ordered (remember this was all for free!):
- 1 white T-shirt, personalized with caricatures of my family members (I think my sister will love it!),
- 250 business cards with my website's URL but you can design them for your own needs,
- 140 return address labels (with my own designed caricatures),
- 25 business cards magnets (well, my kids love all sorts of magnets),
- 10 sheets of A4 letterheads,
- 2 different sets of 10 personalized note cards with enveloppes,
- 1 sticky note pad,
- 1 rubber stamp with black ink,
- 1 note pad (handy for the babysitter).

That is all I was able to put in my shopping basket, but I could also have got free Christmas cards (I never send any, do you?), a free photo calendar (with my own photos) and Vista Print regularly sends me emails when they have special offers. I think I will use them again, I had great fun designing all the items anyway!

If you want to avail of the Freebies too, join Vista Print, I am sure you will love it too!

P.S. Just so that there is no misunderstanding, I get €1 anytime I refer someone to Vista Print.

Don't Get Caught In The Credit Card Trap

It is almost Christmas and some (or should I say most?) of us are relying on our credit card to help us get through it.

Of course you already know all the tricks to avoid paying too much interest on your credit card but you may need a reminder:

1- Only put small amounts on your credit card so that you can pay the balance in full next month and not pay any interest (easier said than done).

2- If you can, switch credit card companies, transfer your outstanding balance on your new card and you will pay no interest for a specified period (typically 6 or 9 months).

3- Use your savings account to repay your outstanding balance (interest on credit card balances range from 9% to 19% whereas a savings account will only give you between 3% and 5% interest: do the maths!)

I had never paid too much attention before today at how the interest is being charged on credit card balances:

If you balance is paid in full each month, no worries, no interest is charged (I am only talking about purchases, cash withdrawals are different).

If you only pay part of your balance, interest on the full purchase amount is charged until the balance is fully paid, on top of the interest on the reduced outstanding amount. What does this mean in plain English?
If you spend €1000 in December 2007 and you decide to repay €200 each month for 5 months, you will pay interest on €1000 until May 2008!

"La morale de cette histoire": have a good Christmas but don't overspend, remember there is going to be another Christmas next year!

Who is going to have the best Christmas? Banks! Now, here is how they can afford to give away free calendars (I think I'll take a few ones for the kids!)

Little Buttons

Phew! I spent most of yesterday trying to add those little buttons that you can now see at the bottom of each of my posts.

It started by a visit to the StumbleUpon website: after I signed up in another effort to promote my website, my blog and my articles, I tried to follow the website's instructions on how to integrate the famous button to my blog so I went and edited my template's HTML but I just could not find the tag they were talking about!

So I searched the web and after a lot of trial I error I finally found a post called How to Share your Blog in Blogger Site.

I am sharing this link here because this seem to be a problem a lot of bloggers come accross. I am not a computer geek but I managed to follow the instructions as you can see (look down!).

So now, feel free to share my blog!