February 22nd, 2010 by Stuart Crawford
Guest Blogger – Amy Chokshi
When buying food, just letting the food price guide your purchase decision is not enough. You have to consider the nutritional value as well. Paying for foods that don’t have any nutritional value is more expensive than shopping for nutrition rich foods. Eating healthy food is not as expensive as you think if you do your due diligence and research the economical options for healthy foods. Here are the top 10 easy options that you can instantly implement to keep your diet healthy on a low budget.
- Avoid shopping the pre-packaged foods. These foods are neither healthy nor cost-effective. Instead, look up some easy slow-cooker recipes. They are very healthy, save enormous amount of time and money.
- Drastically reduce the intake of sodas, presweetened juices, alcohol, and energy drink. These beverages are filled with useless calories. Instead of buying high-calorie, high-sugar, concentrated juices, just eat the fresh fruits because fruits also offer you the additional fiber content. They waste away both your health and money. Instead of sugary drinks, consider green tea. A pack of 100 tea bags from your local Asian grocery store would cost you less than a pack of 12 cans of soda.
- Create your own food garden. National Gardening Association’s survey shows that on average, typical food garden results in a return value of about $500 compared to its original investment. Grow Your Own Herb kits and Container Gardening are some of the easiest ways to get started on food gardening. Read the full report on The Impact of Food & Community Gardening In America
- Frugal cooking doesn’t have to limit with rice and pasta. Whole grains, one of the most cost-effective staple foods, are excellent source of fiber and they reduce cholesterol. Moreover, they fill you up, and thereby reduce overeating and obesity. Whole grains like quinoa, barley, millet, and oatmeal are excellent sources of nutrition are fairly cost-effective when bought in bulk.
- For savings on meat, shop at the deli counter. Deli meats are considerably less priced than the prepackaged meats, moreover, they are very healthy too. If you grind your own meat, it can result in significant savings as well. Grinded meat not only tastes better, but also saves you a bunch on your meat shopping. Consider slow-cooking for adding tenderness to your meats. Pressure-cooking the meat is excellent way to save time and money as well.
- Dairy is one of the areas of grocery shopping were most people over-spent. Most often, making simple changes like buying skim milk, avoiding flavored milk, and can result in some savings. Eggs are high-quality source of protein. They have more nutritional value than milk or cheese. Consider making them part of your regular diet and reduce the intake of cheese or milk to increase your nutritional intake and decrease your expenses.
- It is easy to save on coffee by blending premium coffees with regular coffees. This gives you great tasting coffee at a budget. Try to avoid buying coffees from coffee shops – these coffees are overpriced and are stuffed with calories. If you are a coffee enthusiasts, learn how to make specialty coffee drinks at home to enjoy a gourmet coffee experience.
Amy C. is an expert on living a healthy, conscious, and frugal lifestyle. She enjoys exploring the arenas of finance, healthy, and spirituality. She is an entrepreneur as well as a tabletop fountain artist. Amy has recently launched a new line of solar fountains for garden and patio enthusiasts.
February 21st, 2010 by Stuart Crawford
TD Canada Trust would like to present a new online workshop: Expanding your network can help your business grow. Knowing when to call in external resources and how to do it effectively is critical to your success, no matter the size of your business. We invite you to join our FREE online seminar to show you how building an external team of professionals who offer specialized expertise can help you reach your goals.
In this online seminar we will cover:
- Why external business networks can be critical to your success.
- How to tell when it’s time to call in professionals, such as IT specialists, lawyers, accountants, or other experts.
- How to make the best use of your external relationships regardless of your business size.
- How to find the right advisors for your business.
Format:
- Video with slides, manual downloads, and Q&A
Date:
Time:
Pacific: 9:00 AM
Mountain: 10:00 AM
Central: 11:00 AM
Eastern: 12:00 PM
Atlantic: 1:00 PM
Newfoundland: 1:30 PM
Duration:
Join our host Irene Law, Senior Manager, Business Banking and guest Sheryll Reid from the Toronto Business Development Centre for an engaging discussion on how to make the best use of your external professional relationships.
To learn more and register for this event please click the following link www.tdcanadatrust.com/externalteam.
January 29th, 2010 by Stuart Crawford
Social Media is taking off however many of Calgary’s vibrant small business community is playing catch up. Are you wanting to know more about how social media may fit into your business? Sitting on fence and not sure what direction to take. ULISTIC may just have the answer for you. Come on out on Feb 25, 2010 at the Blackfoot Inn from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM to learn from David and I on how we have embraced the power of social technologies to grow several businesses across North America and especially right here in Calgary. Social Media has changed the way businesses work online and also how “word of mouth” referrals are shared amongst each other, we want to share how we did things so you can do it for yourselves.
Register today by clicking here
During this full day training session, which is $197.00 + GST for each attendee (we have heard similar social media courses in Calgary are running for almost $500) you will what David and I have done over the past 3 – 5 years to promote our businesses online and win new business opportunities. Social Media is not rocket science, but you need to know where to start, what to do, how to automate all the services and also how to track your reach and effectiveness online.
Bring your laptop (or we can loan you one) for this hands on training, because you will be doing work and not just watching a bunch of confusing PowerPoint type slides. We guaranteed you will leave with new tips and tricks on social media and also if you haven’t even started using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn for your business, you will be the end of this interactive training day.
Stuart Crawford and David West will be your trainers for the day. Here are what some of your peers have said about taking our social media training in the past.
“Stuart has always shown great confidence in his area of experience and has effective teaching skills. I enjoy Stuart’s easy manner and ability to set all participants at ease.”
Carolyn Jones, Happy Earth Inc.
“Stuart has been teaching us the basics to Social Media. We started with blogging, and now on Linkedin. We are very impressed and now we have learning the extra benefits and focus on the why.”
Jo-Ann Grimwood, Business Owner
Here is what we plan to cover during our time together:
- The importance of Social Media
- An overview of the top Social Media sites and how to use them.
- Hands on setting up your Social Media accounts.
- Preventing the fatal mistakes with your online communications.
- Build your Social Media followers – how to get good followers.
- How to position yourself as an industry expert with your followers.
- Reach people with practical online videos that tell your story & how to syndicate your videos.
- Automate… how to manage your Social Media strategy for multiple sites with one tool!
This is a great opportunity for you to get a jump on what social media can do for your business. Register today by clicking here
Hope to see you on Feb 25.
January 9th, 2010 by Stuart Crawford
TD Canada Trust presents a new online workshop: Planning for Success – a business plan that works. The next workshop in our webinar series will show you the importance of having a sound business plan, whether you are a new business, just starting out or are already well established. We invite you to join our FREE online seminar to help you learn the “ins and outs” of creating a plan that works.
In this online seminar we will show you how to create a plan that:
- Defines your business and its objectives
- Identifies the steps you need to take to meet objectives
- Sets benchmarks and tracking your progress
- Helps you avoid making common mistakes
Format:
Video with slides, manual downloads, and Q&A
Date:
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Time:
Pacific: 9:00 AM
Mountain: 10:00 AM
Central: 11:00 AM
Eastern: 12:00 PM
Atlantic: 1:00 PM
Newfoundland: 1:30 PM
Duration:
1 hour
Join TD’s host Irene Law, Senior Manager, Business Banking and guests Rick Spence, a specialist in entrepreneurship and Steve Stunt, Business Advisor for the Business Development Centre at Niagara College, for an engaging discussion on how to build a sound business plan.
To learn more and register for this event please click the following link: www.tdcanadatrust.com/company_plan
