10 Ways to Have More Money

My top 10 suggestions for the savvy woman are:

1. Work more.

Not always possible but you will have more money in your pay packet. That is if the tax man, childcare, mechanic, chain store and other support services don't chew it up first.

2. Have your food and personal needs home delivered or wear blinkers at the shops.

You don't spend as much if you don't see the food or other items and have the "I want" rush. Mind you, Ebay can be pretty addictive, as I found out last year when I had some spare cash to burn lying around.

3. Get rid of your husband and kids.

This one is guaranteed to save you thousands! Not always practical though.

4. Commit to not using as much power.

Turn off the TV, the Aircon, the computer, the stereo, the alarm, the fridge, the washing machine, the vacuum cleaner, the toaster, the juicer, the blender, the dishwasher, the telephones, the dryer, the modem, the lamps, and all those other items that chew power. Wow...didn't realise just how many items we have plugged in and turned on for our convenience. What would you do without all these power gobblers?

5. Recycle old underwear.

When the elastic goes or the bottom starts to wear out, get out the scissors and with a few quick snips you have a modern g-string, ready at your convenience!

6. Wear last year's fashion, or in some cases, the year before's or the year before that's.

Of if you are like me, the clothes that fit and are comfortable...maybe 10-15 years old, but at least they have my body shape moulded into them!

7. Cut up your credit cards.

Now I'm serious about this! After all, they charge you for having it, so if you haven't got one they can't charge you.

8. Pay your bills on time.

How many thousands of dollars do people pay per year in fees for late payments?

9. Cancel all direct debits.

How many thousands of dollars do people pay in fees because their direct debit bounced?

10. This one is my biggest life secret on how to have more money. Give it away.

It seems that money is like a man. If you don't love it, it just wants you and will chase after you!

Obviously, these are not all serious suggestions, however the secrets to having more money is contained within the satire. Did you pick them up? Post a comment and tell all.

The Double X Chromosome Factor

If I ever get to meet God in person, the first thing I am going to ask Him is why women make great girlFRIENDS and men make such inferior boyFRIENDS.

Before you shoot me down, hear me out. I'm not a feminist, gay or a women's libber. In fact, I'm the first to say "Why fight for something you already have?" in relation to equality. But it is a mystery to me why God didn't make this whole male-woman thing easier to understand and work with.

Now I'm not saying all that because I'm separated from my husband. That is simply the outworking of some decision making based on wisdom for my circumstances. But rather, because I look around me and I listen a lot and I hear a lot of women complaining about the lack of FRIENDSHIP in their relationships with their partners and I have to wonder if it isn't the Double X Chromosome Factor at play? Could it be that God placed in that extra part of the chromosome, the friendship data? You know, the listening ear, shoulder to cry on without having to fix you, the 'I'm going to ignore that you are emotional because you are hormonal' part. I can hear my husband gasping in disgust and all those scientists out there sighing at my total lack of evidence, but what if????

I firmly believe that life gives us feedback about our behaviors and it is up to us to listen.

Life has been telling me that men and women are different. Unfortunately, it seems that where men are concerned they are speaking a whole different language which makes the communication necessary for good friendship difficult.

Take for example shopping. When a woman goes to the shops she may have a list, but she is ALWAYS open to a bargain or something that she thinks will add a little something to the pantry or home. She's also open to a long chat with a girlfriend over the trolley top should their paths meet. She is by nature a gatherer. The last thing she wants is a hunter in tow who has never learned how to appreciate the value of shopping...you know...walking through many shops just having a look on the off chance something strikes the eye and excites the "I want" nerve. Nor the value of the girlfriend relationship, where you don't have to have a planned appointment to appreciate a cuppa, cake and chat. My experience of men is that they prefer targeted shopping and that you save all your listening credit up for them. They want to be able to find what they are looking for quickly, to pay for it by self-service, to not have to acknowledge another living soul and to get that thing home as quickly as possible so they can bend your ear about their day or ignore you while they watch their favorite programs or isolate themselves in the shed on secret men's business.

Now if you are lucky...obviously I haven't been yet...your partner will be a freak of nature that has at least an imprint of the missing part of the gene, causing him to be sympathetic, maybe even empathetic, of the behaviours assoicated with the double Y chromosome bonus package. He will respond to your invitations of friendship and lend you his listening ear, shoulder to cry on and be willing to accept your moans without trying to fix you. We can hope for a miracle!

When you think about it, Scientists, I can see a lot of evidence supporting the Double Y Chromosome Factor theory.

In fact, the evidence speaks for itself. Women have more chromosome, therefore they have more personality, emotions, tantrums, hair, hormones, bad days, creative ideas, and opportunities to do things that males cannot and would not ever enjoy.

So men, I say, "Get over it." Women will always want to spend time with their girlFRIENDS because of one simple factor, they have the same extra bits! They will always be able to do more in the same amount of time and with way loads more distractions. They were the improvement on the model, although, perhaps God could give us both an upgrade!

Of course, this all from a woman's perspective!

Ever had an interview go South?

What was your most embarrassing or empowering interview moment?

I was thinking about the whole job search thing, as I was writing my latest post on Job Search Techniques on my other blog, Motivational Magic. I thought, wouldn't it be interesting to hear some ladies' stories about interviews that have 'gone South' on All Things Women. So I sent out some emails to ask my girlfriends if they've ever had an embarrassing interview experience that they would like to share.

My Experience

To kick things off I shared one of mine. I was at an interview for a training position in the Public Service. The Department was finance related, not exactly my highest level of interest being very creative, but an interesting opportunity. I had just completed a knock out interview, where I'd dazzled them with my psycho-babble activities that are designed to get the learner thinking about themselves, taking the pressure of you, the interviewee. I was wrapping things up and had my briefcase on my lap, with my resume, sunglasses, mobile phone, pen, and some other papers that I had been scribbling notes on balancing precariously on top. In my nervousness, I jumped up to shake hands and knocked the glass of water over on the table. Whilst leaning forward to grab the errant cup, I promptly dropped my load on the floor. As I bent to pick everything up, I almost collided with the panel chairperson and was mortified. Suffice to say, I had sufficiently planted myself in their memory as perhaps the highest risk candidate to date! Funny enough, I was offered the position!

My Girlfriend Kris's Experience

My girlfriend, Kris, responded to the call and told me about her misadventure when she spun a line to her employer about a doctor's appointment as she didn't want them to know she was looking for another job. Well, her appointment was at the local law courts and she managed to grab a 30 minute car space, right out the front, which she saw as a stroke of luck, as she would be able to duck in, do the interview, then shoot off back to work. There was just one problem. During her interview there was a bomb threat and everyone had to down their possessions and leave the building immediately. Her bag, keys etc were locked in the building. She was made to stand in a group, outside the law courts for 2 hours! Meanwhile, the local camera crews were there in force and what were they filming, her personalized number plates on her lovely car parked right outside the building. She managed to evade the cameras, but her car was a dead give away! Imagine having to explain that one to your boss!

My Girlfriend Kelly's Experience

Then there was my other girlfriend from New York who was going to an interview at a very upmarket business in downtown N.Y. Firstly, my friend is from "The Projects", so opulence and her are new acquaintances. She looked great - got herself looking gorgeous for the interview - well that was when she left home and before she road the train in the summer heat. Suffice to say, her deodorant was working overtime but she made it to the venue with time to spare!

Arriving at the building she couldn't prevent jaw from gaping, as she walked into the marble, fine wood and gold trimmed foyer. She was whisked up to the floor of her appointment and once again, couldn't help but be awestruck by the opulence. She had an interview with the current occupant of the position she was applying for and they hit it off famously. Then she was ushered into a board room to meet her potential employer, a Director of the business, and the view from the room was breathtaking. She was hard pressed to concentrate on the interview because of the view.

Her interviewer was a bit dry but bearable and gave her a task to complete. She had to recreate a presentation and was ushered to a computer. Well she whizzed through the presentation but found she was stuck on one element. After battling with it for 10 minutes, the lady who'd initially interviewed her came over and asked how she was going. She confessed she'd never done that one particular element, but was reassured that it would not be a problem. To cut a long story short, after sweaty palms and feeling like she'd failed her high school exam, she was shortlisted with another woman. She didn't get the job, but the knowledge that she got into the top two in such a high profile establishment shot her confidence through the roof.

My Girlfriend Pat's Experience

Another girlfriend shared this tale of woe, as an interviewer and not an interviewee. She said she was at the end of a three day process, where she was one of two women on a three person panel. The male union rep panel member was drawing the last of 11 interviews to a close, with the obligatory "do you have any questions that you would like to ask the panel or comments you would like to make regarding the interview process?"

The male interviewee promptly asked my girlfriend and the other female panel member to assess how they were sitting, the height of the coffee table in front of them and the height of the chairs that they were sitting on. Confused they assessed the situation but were unsure of the meaning of the question, so he filled them in.

All through his interview my girlfriend and the other female panel member, had been crossing and uncrossing their legs, as they tended to do on a regular basis. The height of his chair allowed him a birds eye view straight up their skirts. With the crossing and uncrossing he had been able to ascertain that my girlfriend was wearing pink knickers and the other lady, black. Can you even start to imagine the color they went and the sinking feeling they experienced when they realised they had been sitting in this same position for all 11 interviews. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall of that interview room. How hilarious!

Fittingly they decided that anyone who could perform at interview with that level of distraction and still keep his head and have the guts to tell them at the end, was going to be an asset to any company. So his bravado got him the job. It was a bit difficult when he started work in my girlfriend's area to make eye contact for the first couple of days, but eventually they got over the embarrassment factor. His employment turned out to be the best decision that they had ever made with him taking over her position as Assistant Director when she resigned.

What about you?

Do you have an embarrassing or empowering interview moments to share? Please comment.

Burnt offerings anyone?

Have you ever put your heart and soul into a culinary disaster?

I have, too many times to be funny. I am actually a reasonable cook, with lots of burps and patting of rounded tummies after I prepare a feast for family and friends, but I have actually made some huge blunders in the kitchen.

Take for example meals I have prepared in desperation. You know the kind, when the cupboard is nearly bare and all you have left is a tin of corn, some tuna, pasta and asparagus soup. Well, it was worth a try! The combination may have been luxurious to a person who is dying from malnutrition, but to my family of six all I got was the look that says, "You've got to be joking mum!"

Then there are my burnt offerings. Ever walked away from the stove and forgotten about something? Well, there have also been too many of these to remember. My worst habit is putting something on, then thinking of 100 other things I would rather be doing and I forget about it. I think garlic bread would have to be my largest casualty. I've lost count of the number of black bottomed garlic breads I've placed in the basket and brought to the table with an over bright smile and declaration of "The garlic bread's ready!", only to be met by my eagle-eyed child's comment of, "Mum, what is the black bits?" to which I simply respond, "Just eat it. It tastes great!" How many of us have said that about our disasters, silently hoping someone will humour our hard efforts and eat it just to please us?

I'll never forget burning the potatoes when I was pregnant with my third child. I'll say no more about being pregnant because we all know this is prime time for burnt offerings as our brains go to mush! Anyway, this particular night I was cooking potatoes and we were particularly poor as I recall. Well, I burnt the potatoes. Not severely, just enough for them to have that burnt offering smell. Just when I needed his support, my husband smelt the smokey flavour that I'd tried to disguise with lots of butter, milk, salt and pepper. In an instant I knew that I had lost the battle, as he turned to me and said, "I'm not hungry" and quickly walked off. I turned to the two little faces looking up at me and quickly they followed suit. If Daddy could boycott the burnt offerings, then so could they!

My worst burnt offering was when I made a pot of chicken soup for visitors. There was my girlfriend and I and our eleven children. I was warming the soup and forgot about it. Chicken does not burn well, let me tell you. It was stuck to the bottom of the pot and the flavour was particularly bad! But you know, my girlfriend, myself and her children sat down and ate our soup. My children took one look and decided they would rather be anywhere on earth than sitting at that table to eat my soup. Suffice to say, it was a long time before I could get them to eat chicken soup again!

Well, I have had more successes in the kitchen than I have had failures, but you know, I tend to remember the failures more vividly. It's a strange thing about life. We tend to dwell on the negatives and forget the many wonderful things that have happened to us. It bears thinking about.

Leave your comments about your "burnt offerings"!

The baby just dropped out???

I was astounded when I saw a video on MSN today, describing how a young woman was in the bath, feeling a little uncomfortable, then stood up and the baby just fell out.

Wow, that must have been freaky. I'm completely envious. I've had four children by natural child birth and I had to do hard labour (literally) to get each of those suckers out. I mean how lucky can you get?

The report went on to say that she is in more pain now than when she was in labour, and incidentally, there were two babies in there, with the second born 55 mins later. Well, she might think she's in pain, but she doesn't really know what pain is until those suckers grow into mini adults! Then she'll really know pain. The day they get a will of their own and a voice to match, that's when the real pain begins.

Back to child birth, I vividly recall having my son. I'd been in labour on and off for two days. He was born on Boxing Day - I thought he'd be a Christmas baby for sure, but no, he was born at approximately 6am Boxing Day.

I remember being in labour and the pain being quite controllable. With each contraction I just would go to that happy place where the pain was a long way away. Seriously, it worked until the doctors decided to get involved. They were convinced I was having a monster! You know a 10-pounder or bigger. So, when I was only 5cm dialated they decided to give me a hand via a drip.

Well, I went from being the 'silent achiever', that's what the nurses had nicknamed me because of calm manner in which I was handling the pain etc, to being a holy screamer! The pain was so intense. After one hour I was panicking and begging the doctor to get the baby out, and I didn't care how he did it. He checked me again and I was not that much further along, so he decided to give nature a little helping hand and pushed my cervix open with his fingers. I screamed, my husband nearly punched him and then a very short while later, out popped my beautiful red head son.

The sad thing was that he had to spend the first 12 hours in a humidicrib because of his rude rush into the world. The whole birth thing caused a lot of problems for me, as I truly believe the shock of the birth was a major factor in my getting post natal depression. My son was my fourth child and I'd had them all naturally with minimal painkillers, so I was very experienced at this child birthing business. It was no wonder I was so shocked by this labour.

Anyway, my best wishes are with this young lady who now has her hands completely full with twins, premi-twins, that are going to have a big fight on their hands to make it through the next 8 weeks. My girlfriend had a premi son and it's been a huge battle for them. He's making progress - he's now two - but it has been a long journey, with many hospital visits, therapists and specialists. But he's a bright little soul and has so much love and care, if love alone can make him grow he will be the healthiest young man alive!

Got any unusual birthing stories to share? Why not comment now.