POSHVICE

Although I remain childless - and plan on staying that way probably forever - a good amount of my friends have kids in the 2-6 year old range. One of my closer friends from high school actually has a little girl about to begin kindergarten next month! It’s amazing how fast time flies.

Anyhow, point being, this kind of rules for me because while I’m not into the idea of ever having my own children, I’ve always liked helping my friends shop for toys for their kids -most likely because one of my favorite things (if not THE favorite thing) about gift-giving is the reaction, and children are naturally more honest and enthusiastic about whatever you’ve picked out for them.

One of my favorite places to help my friends e-shop for their kids is definitely the Buy.com toys section. They’ve got just about anything that you (or your child, niece, grandkids, toy-collecting adult friend, whatever) could possibly want!

One of my absolute favorite topics to read about (or think about, or talk about, or… you get the picture) would definitely have to be skincare. I’ve always had rather, shall we say, temperamental skin, and products that work wonders for me one day will somehow stop working for me in a few months, forcing me to be on the constant lookout for new products, supplements, and skincare regimes to try and whip my oily-yet-sensitive skin into shape.

After looking around the web in search of the current best acne treatment, I found this website - getacnetreatments.com - that is definite bookmark-worthy if you’re at all interested in shopping online for skincare. They have brutally honest reviews & descriptions of every brand out there, from Proactiv to Murad, and they keep records of not only each product’s retail price, but also the best price to be found via eBay or other webstores. All in all, VERY helpful, and worth a read if you’re looking for to-the-point, concise reviews and price listings on skincare products.

I love being self-employed, and from time to time I’ve fantasized about either opening my own store or getting a franchise of some cool, underrated chain (Three Dog Bakery, hello), but I never really knew where to look for information about these kinds of opportunities.

Enter Franchise Gator, a website with a totally weird name but a very useful purpose. Essentially, it lets you browse available franchises by location, the amount of liquid capital you need, and industry/sub-industry. Very cool.

For example, I’m looking through Ohio listings right now, and some tech place called NERD FORCE! is looking for franchisers. It would be better if it was Nerd Herd, though, right (Chuck needs to come back with its new season already)?

Baskin-Robbins also needs franchisers… and I sorely hope someone with $100,000 in liquid capital will jump on this, because Columbus sorely needs one! Seriously, I don’t know of any Baskin-Robbins in this state, even. It sucks.

For the record, the cheapest franchises looking for Ohioans are vending machine companies at around $9,000 required LC; the most expensive is something called Austin Grill, needing $500,000. I’m so amused by looking through these listings for some reason!

I have a desktop computer, and while I definitely prefer it that way (owning laptops has never worked out well for me - they either get stolen or break in some exclusive-to-laptops way, or… both - yes, i’ve had a busted laptop stolen, haha) I can’t deny the irrefutable fact that sometimes, laptops are just handier. For vacations, when you’re moving large distances and your desktop is all packed, or any other set of circumstances that pop up that require you to have a computer or internet access without having your normal, at-home computer at the ready.

So I thought it was really clever when I came across this website offering laptop rentals (though they offer quite a bit more - desktops are also available, as is a lot of various audiovisual equipment, flat screen/big screen televisions for the big game (a WAY better idea than buying one on credit and returning one the next day, which I’ve seen some people do… ew) and even VIDEO WALLS and computer kiosks). You have to fill out a form with valid contact info to get a quote, and since I don’t actually need to rent a laptop right this moment, I didn’t want to waste their time, so I’m not exactly sure of the prices… but I still thought it was a really cool, useful idea & service that some people might be interested in. If anyone does rent from them, shoot me a comment here and let me know how it went.

I broke my foot last year, and in the time where it was healing, working out was obviously out of the question. As one would expect, I gained some weight. My foot finally healed properly, so I’ve been doing my best to lose the excess pounds - eating right, working out almost every day, walking the dogs more often & longer… it’s going, but it’s going VERY slowly. So I decided to look into a bit of a cheater’s tactic: weight loss pills.

After all the bad press that some past diet pills received, it was clear to me that thorough research about each brand and their side effects was necessary. Luckily for me, I found the Weight Loss Research website, an absolute treasure trove of reviews & ratings of all the top diet pills. I’ve been making my way through all of the reviews, and it’s definitely been helping me to narrow down my choices, so I thought I should pass on the URL in case anyone else is in the same boat as I am!

Once I do pick a diet pill and start trying it out, I’ll be sure to post my experiences here, so check back if it’s a topic you’d be interested in.

I checked my e-mail for the first time in about a week, and I had TWO messages asking for me to post again talking about my experiences with Payday Loans. So, this post goes out to you two & anyone else who is still curious about what exactly these sort of services entail.

Honestly, I think the easiest way for me to explain is by walking you through how to get one in the first place - and the first step is to find a reputable lender, for example this Payday Loans website. Once you’ve thoroughly read their website and gone over their terms carefully, fill out their online application. Make sure you also check out your individual state’s laws about these kinds of services (they can be found here, at the State Licensed Cash Advances info page). The nice thing about this website in particular is that you can apply 24/7 - so if you realize that you’re about to be broke at 11PM on a Sunday night, you can still put your application through right then & there.

You’ll receive an answer within a few moments, and since your credit score isn’t a factor, even if you’ve got debt/bad credit you CAN still use these services & get approved. You’ll be told how much money they can lend you (basically, they won’t lend you more than you can pay back realistically), and once you accept the deal (ie, you pay the money back within a certain time frame with a certain amount of interest on top) your money will show up in your bank account within a day or two via direct deposit.

Paying back the money that you’ve borrowed is pretty simple - you can pay it either via direct deposit (have it taken out automatically on your next pay day) or online through their website. In my experience, their customer service department is really friendly and helpful, so if you end up needing an extension or more money, don’t be afraid to ask - these companies basically exist to help you, after all. Just stay honest with them and don’t borrow more than you can afford in the long run, and these types of services can be a really great way to help dig yourself out of a temporary financial hole.

Hope that helped - if anyone has any more questions, feel free to comment & I’ll respond ASAP!

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m looking to become much more financially savvy & responsible. Not that I’m in huge debt or anything, but I often feel rather clueless about the whole realm of personal finance. It probably stems from the fact that I grew up EXTREMELY sheltered and really wasn’t even allowed to have any money or a checking account until I graduated from high school - I opened my first bank account (with disastrous results - avoid the Bank One in Flagstaff at all costs, y’all - I would deposit my paychecks and had a few of them NEVER SHOW UP in my account… um, what) when I left for college. So yeah, I never really had anyone explain to me a good way to manage money other than my mother’s attitude of “credit cards are EVIL, never get one!!!!”.

Thankfully for me - and others like me - there are helpful websites out there that can aid the financially clueless in our quest for understanding the mystery that is credit cards. Services like the website Your Credit Network have been an incredible resource when it comes to figuring out exactly how credit cards work, which cards are good for those of us just starting out, and how to apply for said cards instantaneously & online. I just wanted to pass it on in case any of y’all are as mystified by the whole world of credit & finances as I am. Hope it helps!

I don’t know how many of you run your own business, but if you’re in the market for a good logo design website, you’re in luck. I found this website earlier, while I was toying with the idea of getting business cards made up for one of my other websites to leave in relevant stores as a kind of viral marketing tool (and to enter those free lunch drawings you always see, ha). I had a LOT of fun playing around with the various customizations that LogoYes offers. Seriously, they have countless design styles and pre-made logos for you to choose from - everything from a bowl of nuts to an atom to the cute pink Hawaiian lei that I ended up choosing for my own card mock-up. You can see the design that I came up with below (click to enlarge the image):

I love it! Obviously, I edited out my real information, but the basic idea and look remains the same. The entire process took me a whopping two and a half minutes, and the generator was impressively easy to use without limiting your creativity at all. There were literally thousands of variations for me to choose from… typeface, colors, alignment, creatives, overall style, layout, and on and on and on. You really can create almost anything you have pictured in your head with this website, which is why I’m so excited about it - as most of you know, I make my living running websites, and new ways to find traffic and word-of-mouth advertising is HUGE in my industry. I’m planning on making these business cards for each of my websites to help in offline promotions… and I have high hopes about the potential of this marketing tactic.

Sorry to nerd out on y’all a bit (I really am a total marketing/advertising geek), but this kind of stuff makes me feel all motivated… like I’m on my way to becoming a mini web mogul, with the aid of my amazing personalized business cards, haha. But I figured I should pass on the info, in case any of the other webmasters/business owners that read POSHVICE (I know there’s a few of you out there) want to try this out as well. Thank me later!

For someone as hopelessly addicted to online shopping as I am, you can be sure that I’ve investigated quite a few of those “rewards for shopping” programs - whether it’s a website or a specific credit card. Right now, I’m trying to save up for a trip to Las Vegas with my boyfriend - we want to celebrate my birthday there this year. So I’ve been poking around the web, looking for a service that’ll help me with scoring some free air miles while letting me shop for spring fashion, woman clothes, and/or sexy shoes… I mean, what’s the point of getting air miles & going to Vegas if I don’t look cute while I’m there, right?

I found the Air Miles Shops website earlier this evening, and after browsing it for awhile… I’m really impressed. They’ve got a program set up where you can earn air miles for shopping at TONS of different online stores - including personal favorites of mine like Victoria’s Secret, Sephora, Bluefly, and Amazon. Considering that I do the bulk of my shopping online and order from Amazon and Sephora like it’s my job (Amazon multiple times a month and Sephora once or twice every month or so), this is a really cool find & will greatly help me towards my goal of getting to play in Vegas this summer!

I seriously worship fragrances. When it comes to shopping, I love buying just about anything - shades of Sophie Kinsella, here - but nothing can grab my interest like a good scent. With that in mind, here goes the first of what is probably many perfume-centric posts & reviews!

I tend to be really picky and sensitive to fragrance - actually, quite a few of my friends swear that I have an overdeveloped sense of smell! I’ll notice weird odors way before anybody else, and I’m usually able to name what perfume a passerby has on just by them walking past me. I also notice when certain brands have a sort of “base” scent that they use in all of their fragrances. For example, Chanel. While a lot of their scents are hugely different - No. 5 and Chance are worlds apart - there’s something in the notes that IS very similar and broadcasts loud and clear that you’re wearing one of dear Coco’s creations (or Karl’s… or, more realistically, whoever the perfumer that they’ve hired is). For me, scent and our sense of smell is really complex, evocative, and intriguing.

I’ve had a few people ask me how exactly I manage to afford & find so many of the unique scents that make up my fragrance “closet”. I tend to really dislike scents that smell typically “perfume-y” to me, which eliminates a LOT of the current big-name, department store brands. Chanel being an obvious exception; Chance was my signature for awhile. But for the most part, I prefer to find & try smaller brands that produce quirkier and more standalone fragrances - Eau de Generic Club Girl is so not my thing.

So where do I tend to prowl for my next big fragrance find? I’ve got a few regular haunts - places where I not only find new scents, but am able to buy them (or at least sample them) as well.

First and foremost, the Sephora Fragrance Department is amazing. They have a fantastic range of products and don’t solely sell the big name brands (though you will find those as well, of course) and many of the smaller “boutique” lines get deeply discounted every so often - I managed to score a full-size of my current obsession, La Maison de la Vanille’s Vanille Noir de Mexique, for only $10 last month! I prefer to shop via the Sephora @ Amazon store, because Amazon features reviews and more comprehensive listings than the main Sephora website.

I’m also fond of La Creme Beauty - the woman who runs this small e-boutique dedicated almost entirely to perfumes & candles has AMAZING taste. She stocks fantastic “smaller” lines like Voluspa, Star Boutique, Serendipity 3, and La Luz at seriously affordable prices… but if you’re looking for luxury, she’s got a couple of heavy hitters like Serge Lutens and Yosh, as well. There’s also a sample program if you can’t decide between a few scents, which I’ve used quite a few times. Shipping & packaging from La Creme is always fast & fantastic - I really recommend this place.

Another amazing fragrance e-tailer is the pricier Lucky Scent. This is the one that I see featured in the beauty/shopping magazines (think Allure, Lucky, etc), and with good reason - their selection is INSANE, and they let their customers submit fragrance reviews so you get a really good idea of how accurate the scent descriptions REALLY are, as well as the lasting power and overall scent quality. Like LCB, they also have a sample program, so you can try out the current trendy/celebrity-worshipped scents like Kai, Pilar & Lucy, or Child without too much cash or commitment.

If you want to go more high-market, there’s Aedes - the online king of expensive fragrances. Creed, Annick Goutal, Etro (who makes one of my all-time favorite scents, Palais Jamais), Diptyque, Santa Maria Novella, People Of The Labyrinths… this is where you get the ultra-luxurious, $200/bottle fragrances you read about in Vogue or W, basically.

If you’re as picky as I am when it comes to scents (it’s a very rare fragrance that I love long enough to use an entire bottle, quite frankly), getting decants or samples is a really good idea. The two best avenues for this kind of thing are the obvious eBay (many sellers actually make their living by simply buying expensive scents and selling decants to those of us who don’t want to commit to a huge bottle) and the fantastic Makeupalley, where you can “swap” your old fragrances with other beauty-obsessed surfers (MUA also features a fragrance-focused message board - love it!).

That’s all for now, but stay tuned… I have quite a few perfume reviews & the like coming up soon!

I’m probably COMPLETELY behind the times here, but since I just recently bought my first mp3 player (well, technically it’s my second - the first ended up being so buggy and incompatible with my computer that I was never able to use it), the world of podcasts and the iTunes store wasn’t really anything I paid much attention to until now. But now that I have my adorable little hot pink Creative Zen Stone, I’ve been seeing what sort of downloadable content is out there to help keep me entertained while I’m on the treadmill - I’m extremely ADD, and sometimes music just doesn’t cut it & I need more distraction to keep from getting bored mid-workout.

My favorite discovery is iTunes U, which allows you to download podcasts of college courses & lectures completely free of charge. And the schools involved are some heavy hitters - MIT, Stanford, and UC Berkeley are just a few of the universities posting their courses for public consumption.

I’m kind of an sucker for astronomy & classical history, so I’ve been really enjoying being able to download & experience lectures on the subjects from some of the best minds in those fields. I’m currently taking a break from school because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life & felt that I was wasting money with my “Undecided” sophomore status, so being able to listen to these courses for free is really helping me figure out what exactly I should go back to school for - without all the expense & commitment of bouncing around from major to major. So if anyone else is in the same sort of aimless education boat that I’m in - or if you just dig learning new things - definitely, definitely, definitely check out iTunes U!

addiction treatment

I don’t think I mentioned this previously, but the boyfriend and I have a sort of dream/goal to move to Las Vegas in the next few years… believe it or not, the cost of living is still pretty cheap there, and it’s close to a lot of my family and friends (I used to be a West Coast girl)… as well, both of our jobs could seamlessly transition there (obviously I can really work from anywhere with internet access, but my industry DOES have lots of events/conventions in Vegas)… and of course, there’s the gambling.

As I expressed earlier, I’m currently researching online casino websites. That may sound completely weird, but as much as I want to try my luck at online gambling… I really want to do it in a responsible (well… as responsible as gambling can be) way. This means that looking into reviews & ratings of all the various online casino services is probably the best route, right? But yeah, I figure I should get myself schooled & primed via the online casino scene first, before we make the big move to LV & I’m suddenly trying my luck against the big guns. Plus, it’ll give me a chance to practice my poker face, which it admittedly horrible… er, with that in might… maybe online gambling is my safest bet.

I recently upgraded to my very own dedicated server, as I was having problems with my sites disappearing when the mysql databases would overload. My hosting service claimed that moving from a virtual to a dedicated would eliminate the problem. I’ve been on my dedicated for a little over two months now, and it’s unfortunate to say but… there have still been problems. My sites have still gone down for unexplained reasons, and even when it’d get fixed, it was still like pulling teeth trying to get my hosting company to explain WHY I was having downtime in the first place. At one point, I was on hold for OVER AN HOUR while the tech “worked on finding what happened” until I finally gave up and hung up.

Needless to say, I’ve since been on the lookout & reading reviews in an attempt to find the best web hosting company. Right now I’m paying $100 a month, and while that’s pretty moderate for a dedicated server, it’s not acceptable for my websites to randomly vanish every so often. I make my living by running websites, so finding the best web hosting for my needs is crucial.

I recently found this review of a few big-name hosting companies (visit site), and it seems like Kaushal is pretty happy with Host Monster thus far, so I’ll definitely be looking into their prices & services. Anyone else have any good suggestions for affordable, reliable dedicated hosting providers?

I am a complete and utter insomniac. I pretty much can’t sleep without the aid of sleeping pills, and even those only work part of the time. So, as you can probably imagine, I end up spending a lot of time scouring the internet for ways to amuse myself in the dead of night. Whether it’s scaring myself silly by reading ghost stories or surfing multiple message boards, I’m constantly on the lookout for some new way to pass the time.

Luckily for me, last night I ended up at this place that reviews online casino websites. I’d always been curious about internet gambling, mostly because I used to date a guy who was REALLY good at it and managed to actually support himself quite comfortably via his winnings. I tend to be a really lucky person when it comes to games of chance and the like (the first time I ever played poker, I won $450) and always wondered if that luck would carry over into cyberspace.

So finding this list of online casino websites has kind of rekindled that spark of interest I had in giving online gambling a shot… I really like that the website offers both user and editor reviews, features a list of the best online casino by player votes, and gives you a rundown of all the basic info about each website . They also have FAQ’s and a beginner’s guide to get you started, which is exactly what I needed. I’m really excited to give a few of these sites a try, and see if this will be a successful, fun, and productive way to wile away the wee hours.

It’s not necessarily that I have bad credit, but I’m stuck in the same sort of hole that most young people are: no credit. And unfortunately, almost no credit card companies seem to be willing to take a chance on a twenty-something girl with little to no credit history… which puts me in that endless cycle of “I can’t get a credit card because I don’t have any credit history. I don’t have any credit history because I can’t get a credit card. I can’t get a credit card because I don’t have any credit history….” and on, and on, and on.

So, thank the Shopping Gods for websites like Bad Credit Offers. This website was a HUGE help when it comes to looking for credit card bad credit offers - which, of course, also tend to welcome those like me with hardly any credit at all.

The Bad Credit Offers website has a few categories: they offer a list of credit cards that people with poor/no credit can be accepted for, as well as services that help repair bad credit, ways to check your credit online, and help with home, auto, and personal loans. This website is a DEFINITE bookmark if you’re a shopaholic like me, even more so if you’re young, lacking credit, or have some past credit mistakes haunting you. So go check it out - you can thank me later!

You’ve probably noticed a change of tone & writing style at Posh Vice the past few days; the reason being, I was having trouble being inspired to write a sort of bland, basic post every few days about a certain product. It’s just not how I talk - I tend to write best in a sort of conversational, anecdotal style, so be ready for a more intimate feeling to my blog posts as well as - hopefully - more frequent updates. I’m going to make the blog more personal; because what’s easier than talking about myself, right?

The other different you’ve probably noticed is that a few paid posts popping up here and there. Don’t worry, Posh Vice won’t be completely overtaken by blog advertising; as it stands, I’ve resolved to only blog for money when the topic is something I actually feel like I can write about and care about.

The newest advertise on blogs website that I’m trying out is Smorty - it was recommended to me by my good friend Jaimee over at Mod Gerl. The premise is simple: you submit their blog, they review it, and you’re notified of paid blog opportunities that fit with your website’s content and theme. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a glowing review (you’re not giving up your freedom of speech or opinion, here), the main thing for them is linking to the sponsor with certain keywords and getting the word out about the company. A combination of viral and word-of-mouth marketing, if you will.

I’m very excited to try Smorty out on Posh Vice, and if you have a blog that you think would lend itself well to paid posts, I encourage you to sign up as well.

Here’s something I “stumbled upon” earlier today and thought was kinda cool - a charity that lets you donate more than just your old clothes or trinkets. Car Angel allows you to donate your old car, boat, RV, or even a house or a plane (whoa) in order to help them further their cause of helping the homeless, supporting single mothers, and both treating and preventing drug addiction. One of the ways that they use your car donation is to help create anti-drug and educational children’s videos. Press play on the video below to see an example!