The Next Best Thing

It is an essential part of growing up learning to handle your finances effectively. We can get a lot done if we have a stable sum of money and we know how to let it stay that way. Borrowing money from family members, or worse: friends, can be a little humiliating when certain limits have been crossed. 

Spending your cash becomes difficult if it has been stashed away in an account. You have to have your money withdrawn, which is less easy than spending money that you have already. Get an account and add one additional layer of defense between you and that voice in your head that want's you to treat yourself. You get to enjoy a lot more by making an account. You get to experience banking and what it is like to interact with professionals. Perfect if you've chosen finance and accountancy as your profession. Banks have this atmosphere of professionalism; everybody is suited up and preppy. This is how your employers will expect you to behave. 

If you already have an account, you need to hide your credit card. This is how spending your cash becomes easy when you don't have cash on-the-ready but have a card. You carry it around with you and sigh at the first thing you see when in the outside world, shopping or hanging out with friends. You want it immediately. In some cases, you have some really bad friends who are a bad influence. They'll coax you into buying things either for themselves or for you. Steer clear of such friends and hide your credit card if you're an addict buyer of things.

Another way of handling your finances is to enlist your parent's help. Ask them to be your accountants. Give whatever you save to them for safe keeping. There's no one else you'd rather trust either. Moreover, your parents want you to save money and not spend it immaturely. Have faith in their strictness and watch as they help you in this arduous task of not spending. 

Prepare charts and to-do lists and make a saving plan. You must know how much you can spend and how much you must save before your allowance or your earnings are handed to you. Make a timetable of sorts. You can even save daily. Little by little, it will equal to a good sum. Or you could be one of those monthly-saving people, who save half of their savings and spend the rest from whatever cash they make.

Making a saving plan is a must.

And finally, you need to lessen your expenses. Be they books or whatever you're addicted to, too much of something can prove unhealthy. Not books, of course. I take it back. You need to minimize the amount of cash you spend on a usual basis. Start by subtracting small amounts and then increase the number you distract every other month. After a year, you'll be surprised at how far you've come and how much you've saved. 

Happy saving!

It hasn't been long since these were released. You have to listen to them. Here are the five new songs you must listen to right now!

Number one is On Your Side, by The Veronicas. They previously made a comeback with their single, In My Blood. It is rumored that the twins are working on a new album. 

Well, it's about time!

Number two is Atlantis, by Bridgit Mendler. Ready Or Not singer has promised a new EP by the name of Nemesis to be released soon. Atlantis is the lead single.

Get ready for some new music from Mendler.

Number three is All We Know, by The Chainsmokers. This one came after Closer, which is currently on top on the Billboard. The Chainsmokers might release a new, full-lengthed album.

Stay tuned to find out.

Number four is Brightside, by Icona Pop. The duo made its much-awaited comeback with this song. It is yet to make its way on the chart.

Last, but not the least, number five is Rise, by Katy Perry. It's probably not that new, but we can't ignore this single for it proclaims a potential new follow-up. We've seen a change in Perry's music strategy. Rise is a part of it. 

We have our fingers crossed for the album.

There are more that you should listen to. Like Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and My Way by Calvin Harris. You just can't get enough of music, can you?

Even though TV has become more glorious today, we can't deny the fact that a lot of our favorite TV shows have been discontinued. What fun days were those! When Disney used to be the prime channel here in Asia and how we spent our nights in front of our TVs; watching all Disney had to offer. 

These five are unmistakeably the ones we can't stop missing.

This one was magical.

Selena Gomez was the lead. Causing up trouble for her wizarding siblings—and sometimes, herself—Alex was what made this show worth watching. Over and over again. The Wizards of the Waverly Place series ended up at its fourth season, where Alex became the family wizard and Justin the new headmaster.  

Zach and Cody were our favorite twins.

Tipton Hotel was always in turmoil with those two around. The Suite Life of Zack & Cody was later continued into a new show by the name of The Suite Life On Deck, where the twins ventured to the seas. It eventually was discontinued at its third season, when the twins got graduated. 

Miley Cyrus gave us the best of both worlds in this one.

This series ended, as well, on the fourth season—the finale being an emotional one where Miley and Lily hugged; their friendship stronger than ever. Hannah Montana also became a movie. People still listen to Miley Cyrus' songs from her reminiscent sitcom.

This one starred Demi Lovato.

Unfortunately, Sonny With a Chance lasted for only two seasons. Demi Lovato gained many fans with this comedy and it is undeniably another reason for her fandom—apart from her music career.

This one is the oldest.

That's So Raven featured Raven Symone, a psychic who had visions. Most of this sitcom centered around how Raven would inadvertently glimpse into the future and then either try to make it happen or prevent it.

Raven Symone separated herself from Disney channel and we haven't seen her since. A pity.

Well, these were my absolute favs. Have you any? 

You're probably tired of reading at a snail's pace. You want to read fast, get to the end having understood each and every sentence. There are readers out there that can. I wonder how they do it. While devising strategies to do my oh-so-long reading list some justice, I thought of these five ways to read a book faster, and tried them! I guess it worked. I've finished half of my current read: Crooked Kingdom. 

Here they are!

Surprised? I think not. We pull all-nighters for exams and whatnot. It can be applied here, too. After you're done with your day, open up that damn book you've been reading since forever and get started! Keep reading. You know how captivating a plot gets when you're reading with all your senses tethered to your book.

You won't even know how much you've read until you're finally tired. Trust me, it'll be too much.

Yeah. The best way to get done with reading is to divide the book. You should either have a one-chapter-a-day policy or a page wise approach. Make sure you're determined enough to complete each of your sections within the time frame you've allocated it. 

You can even try using cool bookmarks to divide it up. This way, you'll know when you've reached your target for the day.

If you're a true reader, you cannot deny the impact comfort has on reading. Find that spot you know you love. Is it your couch that gives you pleasure? Or you head-over-feet with your book in front of you on your bed? Apart from furniture, you can try reading outdoors, too. Either a warm sun on your skin does the trick. Or that soft blowing breeze turns your reading-mode on. 

Get comfy, whatever it takes. And speed read!

With no noise to distract you, you can definitely read fast as compared to when you're surrounded by noise. Find some silence. Either in a locked room? Or that corner in your house where nobody goes. You can put a do-no-disturb sign outside your bedroom door. Try venturing somewhere other than your house where there's quiet. 

If all else fails, go to a library!

This one will work like magic. We all have reading lists that are overflowing with exciting reads. Their number keeps on growing and we have no way of stopping this precipitous increase! The only way is to entice ourselves to read our way out and then delve into another book. 

Take a look at your reading list, gasp in horror, and read away.

Happy reading, folks!

Who knows how many start-ups have, well, started up. Many just begin out of the blue, based on a whim—without any contingency plans and policies in place. These are the primary reasons why most of them fail. Or rather, just disappear. 

But, when we look at other big-wig organizations, those that have left a permanent mark on the world, what comes to mind? We marvel at how they did it and are doing it. 

I am not an expert, but I can guess what a start-up needs. Having been a part of a few myself, I can bet these are the five must-haves for newbies.

If newbies won't have the basics—the assets—then they might as well go home and watch TV. For an organization to be successful, there has to be cash. This can be invested in the organization's promotion, and in so many other ways. 

The members need to have cars so that they can easily move around town for different events, without relying on anybody else for rides. You never know when you'd be refused.

There has to be a well-seen-to workplace. You can't just keep working inside of a basement of your garage. If your goals are long-term, you need to invest in some land and work on it. You also need equipment of your own: computers and other tech that is solely yours.

You need experienced individuals to help you run your business. Your preference should be fresh graduates who've had at least a year's experience. Mostly, you'll find organizations forming from the folds of last semester batches; friends who know each other inside out. This is ideal, too. But, all your people should have the expertise in the area they've chosen to lead that is needed. Your people should be creative, and fit-for-the-job kind.

Make sure you can depend upon them to do their work right and not create a set of problems for you to deal with later.