Wait a minute. How can credit cards be both great and dangerous? It all depends on how you use them.

But when you look at the commercials on TV, you never get the feeling that having all that fun with credit cards will actually put you in debt. The ads only show you the glamour of credit. Airplanes flying toward sunny beaches. Fancy dinners. Cool home entertainment systems.

There’s not a word about the 12-20% interest rate you’re charged for borrowing money. No one mentions $25-$35 penalty fees for late monthly payments.

The advantages:

Smart shoppers take advantage of the many benefits of credit cards:

1. You don’t have to carry lots of cash in your wallet, which might get lost or stolen.
2. You have the power of money in an emergency. For example, you get a flat tire and have to call a tow truck.
3. You may be able to use the credit system to get a free loan. Some credit card companies allow you to borrow money for about four weeks. And you pay nothing, not a cent for using this money if you pay it all back on time.
4. By owning a credit card, you can build a good reputation for paying your debts on time. A good payment record will qualify you to take out loans for cars or borrow money to buy a house later in life.

The disadvantages:

1. Credit cards give you the freedom to buy things you really can’t afford.
2. Credit cards tempt you to buy on impulse because you always have the power to spend.
3. Credit cards can fool you into spending money on “great deals.”
4. Credit cards can tempt you to spend so much that most of your cash is going to pay your credit card bill. Then what happens? You begin charging everyday items because you don’t have any money in your pocket. It’s like being caught on a merry-go-round – one that you can’t get off. Each time you “go-round” you charge more and owe more.

Whatever it is, be wise in spending, be a smart shopper.

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Ever dream about what it would be like to be a millionaire? Almost everybody does at one time or another. In their minds, they see chauffeurs, yachts, mansions, glamorous clothes, vacation homes on palm-treed islands. Lots of free time. No worries.

If you want something, you buy it. And a servant carries it into the house for you. Money is no problem, right? Let’s see how much you really know about millionaires. Here are the facts.

Most millionaires inherited their money - FALSE. Only 19% of millionaires were given any income or wealth from their families.

Millionaires don’t actually work - FALSE. Most work more than 45 hours a week. That’s more hours than most employees work in a week.

Millionaires shop in very exclusive stores, not where ordinary people shop - FALSE. 43% of millionaires have Sears or Carrefour charge cards.

Millionaires drive impressive cars - FALSE. Only 23% of millionaires drive a new car – that is, one manufactured in the current model year.

Most millionaires make their money in glamorous ways - FALSE. Most millionaires work in very ordinary jobs. They are paving contractors and owners of mobile-home parks, etc.

Millionaires have lots of credit cards, so that they always have enough money to buy things on the spur of the moment - FALSE. Many keep only one credit card, and most pay it off in full at the end of each month. Millionaires don’t like paying interest on debt.

Most millionaires own their business - TRUE. Lots of people think that millionaires work for large well-known companies. Most millionaires consider themselves to be entrepreneurs (people who start their own business from scratch). This fact may explain why they work more hours than you would think – they are the decision makers for their companies.

Many poor people become millionaires by winning the lottery - FALSE. The chances of winning the lottery are 1 in 12 million to 120 million. How likely are you to win the lottery? You have a better chance of being struck by lightening. Your chances of that are 1 in 9 million.

Most millionaires are college graduates - TRUE. 4 out of 5 millionaires are college graduates. 24% have earned masters or doctoral degrees. Another 14% have earned medical or law degrees. Most millionaires are well educated.

There’s a good possibility that you can be a millionaire - TRUE. It wouldn’t be hard to do either. Let’s say you invest $3,000 every year and earn just under 8% interest. You begin investing when you are 21. By the time you are 64, you will have saved a million dollars! If you save more, or if interest rates rise, you’ll be a millionaire sooner.

All of this is good news for the rest of us. It means that if we get an education, work hard, save our money, and avoid debt, we, too, might become millionaires.

People who became millionaires got there because they worked hard, didn’t give up, planned, and were careful with their money.

Wealth is not the same as income. You can earn a good income and blow it all on expensive things. Wealth is the money you accumulate. You save it and invest it. Many wealthy people do not live in expensive homes, and their personal habits seem pretty normal. Why aren’t millionaires more extravagant? Perhaps that’s why they’re millionaires. It’s something to think about.

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After you have set up your blog, how do you make it a success? Well, first a blogger needs to figure out how to measure success.

There are many ways to do so. Some measure success by the number of visitors. Others may measure success in dollars and cents. The truth is that few bloggers make any money from their work and only a small percentage ends up with enormous readership. But then again, most bloggers don’t start their blogs for fame or fortune. Each blogger decides for him or herself what success means.

That said here are a few tips for creating a successful blog.

Meet the Neighbors

Almost every blog fits into some online community. It pays to be an active member of the blogosphere to which you belong. If, for example, you blog about art, it’s a good idea to read and comment on other art blogs. Add the blogs you read to your blogroll, and send a few polite emails to certain bloggers letting them know you have started a blog, perhaps with a link to a post of yours you think is particularly good.

Find Your Voice

In short: Be Yourself! Every blogger has his or her unique voice, and this should be cultivated and used at all times. Write about what interests you and inject some personality into your posts. Even if you are writing about something as arcane as tax reform in Tanzania, it helps to have personality in your writing. One of the biggest differences between blogs and traditional media is that the former have lots of personality, which is probably why so many people enjoy reading them.

Keep it Current

One of the quickest ways to lose readers is to not post anything new on your blog. That doesn’t mean you have to post 10 items every day, but you should try to post regularly and fairly often to keep readers coming back.

Make It Interactive

Encourage readers to comment and be involved in comments yourself. You will find your readers have interesting perspectives that you may have overlooked, and by encouraging readers to be involved, you are much more likely to build a readership that has a stake in and regularly visits your blog.

Offer Something Special

One surefire way to build a successful blog is to offer something no one else offers. While many blogs comment on reports from traditional media, much rarer are the blogs that do original reporting. If you can, try to offer readers something they will not find anywhere else.

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What is a weblog, better known by its short form, blog? A blog can be as simple as a personal, online diary or as large as a website with a team of editors. The vast majority of blogs are written by one person and intended to be read by friends and family. Others operate like media outlets, featuring news and opinion articles intended for a large audience. Some blogs have a small readership while others are read by hundreds of thousands of visitors per day.

We all have something to say and things to share with others. Blogging gives everyone with access to the internet the opportunity to write about what is important to them. Odds are that you have something you want to say or share with a wider audience, and with a blog, you will become part of a global conversation.

No matter what interests you, you can start a blog about it. So, what is you blog about?

Blogs are open to all on the internet, and easily found through search engines, which gives you the opportunity to make an impact. If having an online diary is what inspires you, then by all means have one.

But writing about current events – what is going on in your town, your region, your country, the world – and adding your personal perspective is most likely to appeal to a broader audience.

Especially if you are writing from a part of the world in which there are few bloggers, your voice and point of view will be an exciting addition to the global discussion.

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Blogging is powerful because of its immediacy. The best blogs are regularly updated; a stale blog is a dead blog. When you start blogging remember this, you have to feed it regularly or the blog monster will die unmourned by readers.

The power of blogging flows from directly connecting with the readers, key to that direct connection is honesty. Readers like and want you to be honest that are why blogs which tell only one side of the story totally fail to connect.

Know your audience. Who do you want to reach? Make your content relevant to that audience. Have a conversation as equals – the comments you get back will rapidly let you know if you really reach your readers.

Here are the top ten tips for a successful blog:

1. Write something every day
2. Don’t write an essay. Be short and snappy
3. Interact with your readers who make comments
4. Don’t try to copy another blog. Make yours unique to you
5. Choose a blog name that is easy to remember and not too long
6. Don’t pander to what you think people want to hear
7. Be controversial, but not for the sake of it
8. Don’t be afraid to offend or be offended
9. Link to your favorite blogs and ask them to link to you
10. Sign up to a Stat Counter which can track how many hits you get

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