Whenever I go to the gym and tell a friend that I’ve recently started the supplement, NO2, nobody knows what I’m talking about but I even mention Creatine, and that is well known as a standard for building muscle.

Could NO2 be the next Creatine? When Creatine was launched, it was expensive. But it worked. It was a huge craze at the gyms and most everybody wanted it. The reason they wanted it so much, is that it worked. It was legal and the side-effects, well so far, there aren’t any (as long as you drink plenty of fluids). Since the launching of this successful product, there has never been anything that hit the market with the same enthusiasm.

NO2, according to research , “the first of an exciting new category of muscle-enhancers known as a hemodilators. NO2 has the unique ability to perpetually sustain the flow of muscle-building agents to skeletal muscle.” Before I give my review, I’d like to share another quote of the benefits and claims. “By increasing nitric oxide production, NO2 increases your maximum contractile velocity - in all muscle types. The results are immediate and consequential, and include increasing your load capacity, boosting your power output, and quickening your muscle contraction.”

When I first was asked to try this product, I was skeptical. I’ve been bodybuilding for 16 years now (mainly for general fitness not to get freaky huge), and I’ve tried a lot of supplements. The last time I was excited about a supplement was Creatine like most of the gym-rats. But I’m always willing to review something and try it for myself in hopes that maybe I’ll find that gem and tell the rest of the world.

Taking 3 pills before breakfast, and another 3 one-half hour before lunch, I can honestly say that while I’ve noticed no gains in strength yet, my muscle do feel perpetually pumped. It’s like I just came back from the gym but it lasts all day. While I cannot say the results are amazing, I can say the effects - both physical and psychological - are extraordinary.

As with any supplement, you need to drink plenty of water. NO2 does not have this specific requirement, but I’ve noticed that being properly hydrated has helped me keep that pump going all day. I’ve also seen some recommendations that taking NO2 with Creatine gives a complementary effect. To date, I have not tried this.

If you are looking for the next Creatine, NO2 could be it. I love the effects. Unfortunately like Creatine when it first came out, it’s not cheap. But I’ve heard rumors that others will jump on this market and bring down the prices where the masses can afford it.

About The Author

Marc David has a degree in Criminal Justice from Sacramento State, a 16 year history of non-competitive bodybuilding and is the owner of Freedomfly -the fitness network! For free fitness tools, discount supplements, fitness consultation, and workout routines, visit http://www.freedomfly.net

mrcd@freedomfly.net

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Are you jaded of the usual junk or gold or silver? Wish to append that exquisite flicker to your jewelry box? Nothing serves you better than moissanite diamonds. Moissanite diamonds will be the crown of glory on your fabulous jewel collection. For the admirers of splendor, looking to flaunt their luxury, these artificial diamonds are perfect.

Moissanite diamonds are simulated diamonds that are artificially created in the lab. Crafted with unmatchable expertise and almost unattainable proficiency, these gems truly reflect your class. They are intricately shaped and cut to perfection.

In spite of the fact that moissanite stones are simulated diamonds they do not give the feel of being counterfeit unlike most other diamond alternatives that can easily be distinguished. Their conspicuous fire lends moissanite jewels that exclusively fine look.

No Less Than A Real Diamond

Duly known as the substitute to diamonds, though simulated, it is extremely difficult to tell moissanite from a real diamond. Moissanite diamonds appear to be as real as a natural diamond. They come along with a bonus benefit of being cheaper. But however, this piece of cosmic gem is no less in the comparison of the glam element - even more than a diamond!

Originally found in Arizona about more than 50,000 years ago, moissanite was showered upon the earth by a meteorite. Looked upon as an absolute diamond look-alike with an added profit of being shinier, moissanite caught the fancy of all jewel lovers. With its crystal clear form and radiant blaze moissanite stands out among the rest of the semiprecious stones present today.

For that distinct silver lining all over you, that is sure to get you noticed, moissanite diamonds would make a smart decision you can rely on even with your eyes closed.

These simulated diamonds make a pleasing gift irrespective of the occasion. You could present it to a friend, a relative or could simply savor the beauty of this simulated diamond yourself!

Moissanite jewelry is the most contemporary mode of chic styling to enhance your personality. Moissanite jewelry carries an enthralling magic that will surely overwhelm your senses…

Get yourself some moissanite diamonds - pamper yourself today!

Find out more about Imitation Diamonds as well as Moissanite Engagement Rings and other types of Moissanite rings at Peter’s website, The Magic of Moissanite.

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On-line sports gambling internet sites are governed through the agency of three councils. They are OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), the IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and finally the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association FTGA. Whereabouts of Red Sox ball uncertain

The OSGA is an independent watch-dog office which currently oversees the offshore sports gambling industry, they intend to afford sports betting afficionados the capability to swiftly identify reputable companies to play betting games with. The Offshore Gaming Association aims to guard client’s rights, additionally they charge no annual charges. The OSGA are a competent and nonpartisan third party agency who formulate unprejudiced impressions, built around your responses, unbiased studies, phone chats, tips and additionally dispenses inside intelligence.

The Interactive Gaming Council are a nonprofit council. The organisation was set up to furnish a platform for worried participants to discuss concerns and in addition to improve shared interests in the international web-based sports betting industry, to ensure upright not to mention sound professional rules and systems which raise consumer confidence in internet based sports gaming merchandise and functions, and also to be of help as the industry’s general strategy guardian furthermore the council functions as an information clearing house.

The Interactive Gaming Council have worked up a regard for honor, consistency and believability by virtue of the ethical code it demonstrates, and in addition its appeal for commercial enterprises of good conduct. The Interactive Gaming Council monitors overseas sports gambling by means of advancing a special 10-step series of guidelines furthermore bills gaming internet sites a price for the use of the council’s logo. Dissatisfied clients can additionally disclose their issues to the IGC.

The FTGA has been set up in a venture to set a benchmark which will upgrade the transactions of online sports gaming trading operations. The Interactive Gaming Council proposerealize that by doing business entirely with sites of honorable standing, they can form an alliance of the fairest and professional overseas gambling operations in the world at large. So, there are establishments who attempt to survey the transactions practised by machine-accessible sports betting and which should assist to ease a few of the uneasiness felt by bettors. World wide web based sports gaming sites are today entirely secure, due to the fact that personal details shouldn’t be requested and in addition the rewards not to mention the gambling odds are equivalent to a traditional Vegas-style sports bet. They cut down travel, but maintain the original ethos, but now you are enabled to bet in your home.

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New detailed GPS measurements conducted on the 17-18th September have demonstrated that Monte Bianco measures 4810.5 metres. Monte Bianco is layered by a heavy ice cap which has thickened by 2.4 m in barely two years moreover more suprisingly the mass of the snow and ice has just about doubled . Least ways that is according to the experts.

The mass of snow and ice was figured for the first time in 2002. It worked out to be 14000 metres cubed above 4770 m. It amounted to merely 13500 cubic meters in 2001 perhaps owing to the heat with +ve temperature as high as 5000 meters alt. Notwithstanding the ice has just about increased twofold since then and today measures 24000 cubic metres.

Chamonix’s respected near by weather forecaster Ignacio Flores said the development in the scale of the ice cap is among the counter intuitive effects of climate change: The amount of snow has not multiplied generally in the Alps but with the climate change we’re having added hotter westerly winds which bring in rain at lower altitudes however during summer this results in significant snow that falls higher up than 4000 metres altitude therefore the amount of the ice-cap is increasing. Contrast that to the state of affairs in winter time where snow crystals are very cold and are moved by wind so don’t settle on the summit.

Chamonix Mont Blanc France is not only famous for Mont Blanc it is also a well renowned snowboarding area and climbing mecca with many ski deals and lodging offers to be had.

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Wondering how to gain muscle? There are many fads, gimmicks and “quick fixes” to be found, but there is really only one healthy way to gain muscle mass. You don’t need to be gifted with great genetics or use potentially dangerous illegal hormones or steroids.

The “how to gain muscle” question has a relatively simple two-step process:

1) increase your caloric intake, and
2) workout. This combination will provide the desired results.

Don’t be embarrassed to look in the mirror! You CAN have the body that you strive to achieve. When you first begin thinking about how to gain muscle, the first instinct may be “But I don’t want to gain fat”. Losing fat and gaining muscle mass are two different objectives, and are tackled in two different ways. At this point you have to realize that dieting and exercising to lose weight is different than dieting and exercising to gain muscle.

In gaining muscle mass, the caloric intake must be increased. You have to take in more calories that your body is used to: take in more proteins and fats-your body has no choice but to gain weight. While nutritional supplements may be utilized, this should NOT be used as a substitute for a healthy diet. The increased calories are then offset by working out with weights in order to achieve the increased muscle mass you desire. This workout will stimulate growth by “overloading” the muscles. The combination of caloric building blocks (which help rebuild and repair muscle tissue) along with the increase workout.

If you are among the millions who constantly try to gain weight and build muscle mass, remember that a firm commitment, the proper diet, and a good weight-training regimen are the best ways to succeed in reaching your goal. A muscle mass building diet includes plenty of protein and enough calories to promote weight gain.

A good place to start is to multiply your current weight by 18. This number will give you a rough idea of how many calories your body needs in a day to bulk up. If you are extremely active, play sports, or have a faster than average metabolism, you may need to increase your caloric intake even more. A muscle building diet requires a lot of effort on your part. It’s not easy to consume enough calories in three meals per day. A good suggestion would be to eat several small meals each day rather than three large ones.

Protein is a critical element in any mass building diet. Ideally, you should eat one and a half grams of protein per pound of body weight. While this seems like a lot of protein, spread over several small meals each day it will be a lot easier to meet this goal. Fish, poultry, eggs, and lean red meat are excellent sources of protein. Lots of fresh vegetables and simple carbohydrates combined with plenty of protein should allow you to meet your calorie quota each day. The best muscle building diet is a combination of consuming adequate calories and the proper types of foods.

Michael is a former “skinny guy” who gained over 20 lbs of muscle. He attributes most of his muscle building success to the information about how to gain weight he learned from www.fastmusclegain.com

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“Hey, I’m looking for a rhythm guitar player for my virtual blues band. Can you play the blues? You can? Great! Would you like to audition? You would? Fantastic! Come on, step into my virtual rehearsal room and meet my virtual band mates. We’ve got a big virtual tour coming up and we desperately need a virtual rhythm guitarist. By the way, what’s your name? Stevie? Nice to meet you Stevie, I’m Pete. Come on, come inside…..”

CUT TO…..

VIRTUAL REHEARSAL ROOM -EVENING

A dimly lit room with graffiti on the walls. The drummer and the bass player are jamming a jazz blues. Pete and Stevie interrupt.

PETE: (Shouting) Guys

They don’t hear him

PETE: (Shouting louder) Guys, QUIET!!!!!!

They stop playing.

PETE: Thank you. This is Stevie. He says he can play the blues.

JAKEY THE DRUMMER: Hi Stevie, I’m Jakey

COLIN THE BASS PLAYER: Yo, I’m Colin

STEVIE: Nice to meet you both.

JAKEY: So you play the blues, huh?

STEVIE: Sure, anybody can play the blues.

PETE: Ok, grab a guitar Steve. We’ll have a jam.

Jakey adjusts his hi-hat. Colin turns the volume up on his amplifier.

COLIN: Ok, how about something simple to start off with.

JAKEY: A 16 bar?

PETE: Sounds good, key of C sharp.

Jakey starts counting in

JAKEY: 1…2…3..

Stevie interrupts

STEVIE: Sorry, a what bar?

PETE: A 16 bar

Stevie has a blank look on his face. Colin and Jakey exchange glances.

PETE: Have you played a 16 bar before?

Stevie shakes his head.

PETE: Ok, erm…I know let’s try an 8 bar blues.

COLIN: Yeah. Let’s do it in A flat

JAKEY: Great! 1….2….3….

STEVIE: (Interrupting) Hold on guys.

Everybody looks at Stevie.

STEVIE: I’m sorry, I’m not too sure how to play an 8 bar.

PETE: I thought you said you could play the blues…

STEVIE: (Angry) Sure I can play the blues. I’ve been playing the blues for years. I grew up playing the blues.

PETE: Erm, ok then, let’s try a minor blues in F sharp.

JAKEY: 1…2…3…

STEVIE: (Interrupting) Er…no

PETE: But you did say you can play the blues.

STEVIE: Course I can play the blues.

COLIN: Ok, your call Stevie, what shall we play?

STEVIE: Well, how about a 12 bar blues in E?

PETE: Yeah, ok. Let’s give it a go. We’ll make it a quick change 12 bar in 12/8 time. Oh yeah and lead in with the turnaround.

JAKEY: 1………..

STEVIE: (Interrupting) Erm…….

Pete, Jakey and Colin are puzzled

PETE: What?

STEVIE: Quick change? 12/8? Lead in with the turnaround?

PETE: But you said you can play the blues.

STEVIE: yeah, well not this sort of blues.

An awkward silence fills the room.

STEVIE: (Embarrassed) Erm…maybe…..I should…er……go

Stevie turns and leaves

Jakey and Colin glare at Pete

PETE: But he said he could play the blues….

Cymbal crash - THE END!

Ok, let’s step out of virtuality and back to reality. I have a question for you…..

If you were in Stevie’s shoes, what would you have answered when asked you if you could play the blues?

Be honest, would you have said yes? I think most guitar players would have. It seems as though a lot of people think the blues is an easy music. Three chords in a 12 bar format. Well, a lot of it is three chords and a lot of it is in a 12 bar format. There is no denying that. But, there is also a lot more to it than most people think.

Let me ask you another question. Once again, answer honestly.

Imagine it was you in the audition room and not Stevie. Could you have played the 16 bar in the key of C sharp? How about the 8 bar or the minor blues? How would you have coped with the turnaround intro or the quick change? Would you have known what 12/8 time was? Would you have been comfortable in the keys that were suggested? C sharp?, A flat? F sharp? Remember, you are being asked to play these things on the spot.

If you answered yes to all the above then, great! You need read no further. Go reward yourself with a jam doughnut, you deserve it. For those of you that answered no to all, or just one of the questions, we need to do some work. Maybe you could argue that “feel” would have got you through the audition. What is this word; “feel?” Well, it’s great to have it, but a bit silly to rely on it. Sometimes we need a little bit more than feel to get us through tough situations. The truth is we need knowledge!

If you are serious about becoming a professional guitar player then you really do need a good knowledge of the blues. It is a language that all musicians love to use. The way to get this knowledge is to work hard and commit yourself to your musical education. A solid understanding of blues progressions is essential to your development. Sorry but a 12 bar in E just will not do.

That’s why we, at Jack Sky Ltd, have produced an excellent blues rhythm guitar study entitled “Blues Progressions.” This 32 page e-Book covers 8 bar, 12 bar 16 bar, minor blues, jazz blues plus many variations of these progressions. It also includes a chord syllabus with chords that are commonly used in blues music. It really is packed with information that will equip you with the skills required to jam with any blues band.

The next time somebody asks “Can you play the blues?” make sure you are in a position to stick out your chest, lift up your head, look em in the eye and reply….”Yes, I play the blues!” Grab this fantastic e-book today. Visit our on-line store at www.jack-sky.com

Knowledge breeds confidence. Confidence will, in turn, create opportunities. Opportunities will bring experience. Experience will bring success!! Here’s to your success! Work hard and feel yourself improve……

Oh, and by the way, can you play the blues………..?

Peter Jones is the Managing Director of Jack Sky Ltd. Based on the banks of the River Mersey in the great city of Liverpool, Jack Sky Ltd is committed to providing quality guitar tutorials to its customers. A warm welcome awaits you at http://www.jack-sky.com

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Want to be totally puzzled? Do a search engine search for “online comic strips.” What you’ll find is that the first and biggest online comic strip site, comics.com does not even show up, at least not within the first 3 pages. This leads me to wonder just how search engines rank their sites and how stupid can they be? But that’s for another topic.

Comics.com quite simply is the black tie of online comics sites. You will find just about every comic strip currently in print in national and local newspapers.

The site is broken down into many sections and you can quite easily get lost there.

My favorite section is “Newest Comics.” In this section the site highlights the absolute newest comics online. As of this article the new guys on the block are “Lola,” written by Steve Dickenson and Todd Clark. Lola is a woman in her 70’s who’s not concerned with her diet or being politically correct. Then there’s “Captain Murphy” written by Mark Seydewitz. Murphy is more or less a one man army against intergalactic space villains. He’s kind of like a Rambo in space. Then there is “F-Minus” written by Tony Carrillo. Quite honestly, I don’t get this comic at all. It seems to be kind of like a Far Side deal where every issue is about some strange thing like monkeys playing volleyball or a chipmunk carving a naked lady out of a tree. Very, very weird stuff here. Then there’s “Unfit” written by Mike Belkin. The main characters are Mike and Stacey. Mike is a councillor, therapist and baby sitter but would rather be a trainer. He works on his patients muscles more than he does their brains. Stacey is his wife who is honest to a fault and has hair and eyebrows to die for.

After getting past the new comics section, which is usually about 3 or 4 per day, then you have the section where they list comics by category such as family, off beat and web exclusive.

Then you have the recommended section. I have noticed that a lot of times the recommended section contains many of the new comics. This is probably a way to give these a jump start. Right next to this section is “Don’t Miss These” which I guess is another way of saying recommended.

To round out the main page they show their featured comic for the day in a big frame layout. This is a great way to get new fans for the comic.

But we’re not done. Because above all of this is the navigation menu which includes the following: What’s New, Home, Comics, Editorial, Columns, Puzzles, Store and E-Cards. Yes, they sell stuff at this site and I’m sure they make a bundle.

If you head over to the comics link you will find an alphabetical listing of every comic at their site by category, which includes the following: Offbeat, Men, Women, Family, Serials, Ages 18-30, Ages 30-50, Pets, Business, Web Exclusives, Slice Of Life and Editorial Comics. Yes, there is some crossover but even with that there are at least 150 different comics you can read at this site. When I think of the meager 20 or 30 comics I get in my Sunday newspaper it just makes me sick when I realize all the great humor I’m missing each week.

Fortunately because of comics.com, I don’t have to. Now if only I could find this site in the search engine listings.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Comic Books

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Traditionally, the bohemian look abounds in spring fashion with flirty, romantic clothing and chunky, bold jewelry made of earthy materials such as turquoise, wood, leather and textured metals. 2006 is shaping up to be much the same, while fall’s hottest trends are carried over and incorporated into the popular looks for spring.

Color is expected to become more neutral and understated than in recent seasons. Classic black and white will combine with blues, corals, yellows and greens in tones that aren’t quite pastel, but not bright either. Instead, there will be a natural, earthy quality to spring’s palette that complements the bohemian look beautifully.

Reflecting our country’s growing sense of nostalgia for less-complicated times, fashion this spring will represent a “return to innocence”. Influence from the classic looks of the fifties and eighties will be apparent, yet designers haven’t entirely abandoned the modern. Look for classic designs with a contemporary twist.

In jewelry, layered looks are still to be found, but have become shorter and chunkier. Furthermore, choker-length necklaces have made a return in the form of chain or leather with a simple pendant or clusters of gemstones concentrated at the front of the neck. Gold filigree and wood components promise to be very popular. They may appear mixed with other materials or even with each other for a unique look.

Earrings are making a transition from the extremely popular long and lean styles to swingers, hoops, and yes, chandeliers! Watch out for new and creative looks for this classic design in the jewelry collections of 2006.

Georgia Hadley is a jewelry designer, writer, and small business owner who lives in rural Vermont. In addition to her own business, Adorneya Jewelry (http://www.adorneya.com), she is also a founding editor of Craft Revolution (http://www.craftrevolution.com), a website dedicated to promoting mainstream awareness of independent designers and their products as desirable alternatives to the offerings of big-box stores.

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“Everyone is too scared to use the Internet to buy things”.

Remember when they said that? It’s not that long ago.

Look at us now. People can and do buy anything and everything from the web. The fear, really a fear of change has gone.

They said TV would destroy the cinema. That didn’t happen. The movies are a completely different form to TV but we didn’t realise at the time. TV and cinema both survived and now both feed off each other.

In hindsight we all see what was perfectly obvious.

Now they’re saying that Blogs, or weblogs are taking over the Internet.

A blog is effectively an online journal where you, or a group, can record their innermost thoughts and make comments about a topic. Anyone has access to read your journal entry (known as a post) and can comment on it.

For much more detailed information about blogging look at the entry in wikipedia for “Blogging.“

You get over 474 million search results if you enter “blog” into Google.

Part of the reason for the blogs attraction is its ease of use. It takes only a few minutes to begin “blogging”.

First you sign up with a blog server, like Google’s Blogger, SixApart’s TypePadblog or use Wordpress.

You choose a page template you like. There are a number of very good ones available completely free. Then post your first entry.

The final step is to let a blog directory know each time you create a new post (this is called pinging). Services such as Pingoat and Pingomatic are sites that can ping a number of other directories on your behalf.

People search these directories using blog search engines and browse the blogs in a similar way to web sites.

Do Companies Really Use Blogs?

Company executives use blogs. For example Bob Lutz, Vice President of General Motors has his own blog. Other people from GM contribute to it as well. IBM Vice President Bob Sutor and Vice President of Marketing for Boeing Randy Baseler write their own blogs too.

Employees from corporates like Microsoft, Google and Hewlett Packard blog.

When blogging is used in a positive way it shows your customers and prospects your corporate personality and helps build rapport.

What Are The Blog Downsides?

The company CEO shouldn’t blog. That’s because there may be pressure to flag future events. Or worse, if they drop a clanger it can be spread world-wide very quickly.

A further potential blogging downside is that you’ve no influence over what others put in their own blogs about what you’ve written.

You only need to look at some of the comments that General Motors got on Bob Lutz’s blog when they started a discussion on seatbelts to see how heated things can get.

Companies may be concerned that employees will spend too much time blogging or reading blogs. That means a blogging policy should be in place to prevent such abuse.

What Is The Advantage Of A Blog?

A blog can position someone, or a company, as an expert. But people can easily pass other people’s work off as their own. So it really is a case of “buyer beware” when reading blogs.

So are blogs going to be a knock-out for attracting and retaining customers?

The short answer is it depends, and the reasons are:

It’s been said that consultancies and other organisations that deal in knowledge and intellectual property benefit most from blogging. That’s because they can demonstrate their ability and expertise to their market in a different way from other marketing tactics.

But really why should it stop there? General Motor’s blog is useful for communicating new model launches and answering customer feedback.

In fact there really is no practical limit to the who can use blogging to communicate with customers and prospects.

But in the end is blogging a dead-end?

The business blog is definitely an important communication tool that every company should seriously consider as part of their marketing arsenal. But it must be looked at as another business tool whose ultimate measurement is: “does it get more sales or reduce company costs?”

If it can’t deliver at least one of those measures business blogging deserves to fail.

I’ve been blogging for over a year now and I’ve found that I’ve had thousands of hits. Intentionally I don’t get any sales from it. But that’s because I’m writing mini articles and will eventually use them as a basis for my next book.

So in the final analysis blogs are another communication channel so companies have the ability to take theirs and make it do the PR, word of mouth, viral and Internet marketing for them.

Internet advertising has grown into big business. Expect blogging to do the same.

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Credit counseling is a viable option for those who are feeling the stress of being overwhelmed by debt. Credit counseling primarily offers assistance with working out a credit and debt repayment plan for an individual to gain control of their finances by creating a structured budget for an individual to follow. Credit counseling offers an individual the option to repay their debts, if needed, through a credit counseling debt repayment program. This is where the credit counseling organization becomes in contact with an individuals creditor to ask for lowered interest rates and for the credit provider to stop any late and over the limit fees that may be attached to a particular credit card.
Credit counseling organizations that provide a no charge credit and money management education program for an individual typically have the individual consumer’s best interest on their mind.

Credit counseling may be needed if the following signs are present:

1. Are you using more and more of your income to pay your debts?
This becomes a problem if you are at the point where the money going out is less than or nearly less than the money coming in. Credit counseling would be a wise choice. Speaking to a credit counseling organization at this point can help because in a counseling session you may find that by sticking to a sound budget you may be able to avoid additional help. The best part is the counseling sessions should be at no charge, make sure of that before speaking to an agency.

2. Do you make only the minimum payments due on your loans and credit cards each month?
Look at your budget, that is review what dollars are coming in and how those dollars are going out. You may find that by tweaking your budget you may be able to avoid credit counseling by implementing a plan of savings through following your own plan. This should allow you to free up more money to be more aggressive in repaying your debt. Credit counseling may be needed if you have reviewed your budget and can’t find additional funds to pay more than the minimum amounts to your credit cards. Paying only the minimum to your credit cards will only prolong the length of time needed to repay your debt. Some credit cards may charge such a high interest rate that it could take years upon years to pay off with minimum payments.

3. Are you near, at, or over the credit limit on your credit cards?

Once a credit card is nearing it’s available balance or even worse if the credit card is over it’s credit limit it is time to take aggressive action to pay down the balance. If this is a situation you are finding yourself in try finding additional dollars to bring your balances down. It is recommended that when doping this you do not open another credit account or take a consolidation loan to repay these accounts as more often than not taking a loan to pay a loan will result in more debt being owed. If you can’t find the dollars to apply towards the credit cards try speaking to a credit counseling organization. They may be able to lay out a plan for you to repay the debt on your own, or through their own credit counseling services.

4. Are you paying your bills with money intended for other things?
If you find yourself “robbing Peter to pay Paul” with your credit cards it may be acceptable if you are replacing the dollars that are going to unnecessary items such as cable TV., cell phone payments…etc. Just as long as those accounts have been paid and you are not accruing any more fees from them. However if you find yourself using dollars that are intended for necessary items such as a car payment, a house loan, food, etc. then you are most likely in a situation where credit counseling is an option you may need to look into. Look at speaking to a certified credit counselor that will offer a solution to your financial needs. Getting out of the red is very important, the sooner you take action the better.

5. Are you borrowing money or using credit cards to pay for things you used to buy with cash?

This can be very problematic when you are utilizing your credit to purchase things like groceries, fuel or other disposable goods. If you are currently in the act of doing this review your finances to determine if you can avoid making these purchases with your credit. If this can’t be avoided try speaking to a credit counseling organization. They should be able to give you the tools needed to avoid this costly practice.

6. Do you often pay your bills late?

There are a few reasons on why an individual may frequently pay their bills after the due date. One of the main reasons is that there isn’t a budget in place to follow, therefore rendering the payments of the debt to the instance of when a person gets paid. If a payment is due on the 25th and a individual is paid on the 30th this typically develops into a past due payment. This is due to the fact that the majority of people live from one paycheck to the next. Creating a savings account and a budget plan will resolve this issue for the most part. Paying bills late on a regular basis may also be attributed to an individual being upside down with their debts, meaning that there is more money going out regularly than coming in. Once this point is reached it may be time to speak to a credit counseling organization. It is urgent to seek help at this point in order to order to avoid long lasting damage to your credit.

Regardless of your situation it is important to seek help when feeling the pinch of being upside down or behind with your finances. Taking measures early will result in less dollars that go out in the long run. Taking action early will also result in a lesser need of bankruptcy which has long lasting negative impact on your credit worthiness.

Rick Munster lives in Boise, ID where he works as the Media Planner for Debt Reduction Services, http://www.debtreductionservices.com. When he’s not busy working with the media he enjoys writing, or getting away to do a little fishing.

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