Why You Don’t Need to Go to School to Be Successful

Most people go to high school, college and then finally university. The entire process takes over a decade and it can be a tiresome and gruelling challenge. However, it’s possible for anyone to drop out of that typical educational path and still be successful. Let’s take some of the greatest minds of our generation. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, actually dropped out of college and didn’t finish his studies before going on to start his business. Apple is now an internationally renowned company that has some of the most popular tech products in the world. When you consider the company was founded by a college dropout, it makes you wonder why you should ever both going to school.

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School helps, but your passions are more important

School obviously gives you an advantage over others who don’t go to school, but the quality of your education is heavily affected by both your teachers and the students around you. Too many distractions and you probably won’t be able to focus. If you have bad quality teachers and you’re going to study on your own for the most part and there’s really no reason to attend school in the first place. But what drives us to learn from home anyway? Why do we decide that we’ll study at home instead of relaxing in bed? The answer is passion.

If you have a passion for something, then no matter your age, you’re going to follow your dreams and work hard to reach your goals. For instance, if you’re passionate about art and you’re currently working a boring 9 to 5 job, then you probably spend a lot of time dreaming about art, drawing in your notebooks, or perhaps you spend a lot of disposable income on art materials. Having a passion is important, but so is finding the right teacher.

Learning online is the smarter option

If you really want to follow your passions and turn them into money, then online learning is the way to go. Not only does it give you direct access to the courses and subjects you love, but it’s also a cheaper option and can be done in your own time. This means you can continue working or studying your current courses and still have time to learn new skills. For example, Find Your Context is a great place to look at different degree courses, what they entail, and what career options you’ll have at the end of it.

Although online learning is a cheap option, you can also learn from other experts for free. For instance, there are many educational YouTube channels that will teach you everything from science to how to draw, and you can utilise those skills in a number of different ways. You could turn into a freelance artist by studying how to draw with guides and videos, or you could learn to become a writer by reading tips from other authors online.

In short, school enables us to learn, but with the internet being such a varied, informative and expansive platform, we can use our passions to guide us instead of listening to a teacher at our school or university.

Steak 'N Shake Bonus Days #Swagbucks

If you love Steak 'N Shake, you can get a 15% cashback when you purchase Steak 'N Shake gift cards from MyGiftCardsPlus, which is a site that gives you cash back when you buy gift cards to your favorite retailers.

The cash back is paid in the form of SB points on Swagbucks, which you can turn into free gift cards to places like Amazon, Starbucks, or PayPal. You can take advantage of this deal by clicking here, and if you don't already have a Swagbucks account, you can create one there so you get your SB points for your purchase!

This is a limited time offer that's good through this April 30th or until supplies run out, whichever happens first!

I LOVE Swagbucks ... give them a try!

Swagbucks Eggstravaganza = Huge Swagbucks Rewards

To celebrate the beginning of Spring, Swagbucks is offering HUGE SB on Discover offers, so now’s the time to try out some of these products and services! If you're not familiar, Swagbucks is a site where you earn points (called SB) for checking out deals and products from different companies. Then you redeem those SB for gift cards to places like Amazon, PayPal, Starbucks, Walmart, Target, and many more. You can also earn SB for things like shopping online, taking surveys, watching videos, and searching the web!

To take advantage of the Spring Into Deals bonanza and check out over 100 Deals that are now more rewarding than ever, just click here to get started! 
 
Here’s just a few deals you’ll find:  

• Divine Eats = earn 50 SB
• Church’s Chicken = earn 100 SB
• Auntie Anne’s = earn 100 SB
• 60 Seconds Home Life Insurance = earn 100 SB 

We’re also giving you even more SB on our most popular offers for a limited time:  

• Uber: Need extra cash? Earn with Uber & Get $90 in Gift Cards! Sign Up and Earn 3,250 SB. Take your first passenger and earn 5,750 SB (totally considering doing this)
• Puzzle Buzz: Get 2 Free highlights Activity & Coloring Books + Stickers and earn 750 SB
• Just Fab: Get 2 paris of shoes for the price of 1! Take a fun fashion quiz and earn 200 SB. Buy 1 pair of shoes and earn 2,500 SB
• Winc: Discover your unique wine personality! Sign Up & earn –2,500 SB on your first order. + Earn an additional 2,000 SB when you stay subscribed for 2 months. 
• eStories: Find your next favorite Audiobook and earn 2,000 SB (I actually just signed up for this since I walk so much and love to listen to audiobooks)
• DegustaboxReceive delicious food straight to your door and earn 1,000 SB
• Foodstirs:Introducing Foodstirs' simply delicious Darling Daisy Cookie backing kit. Purchase a 3 month subscription NOW with code SB50 and earn 4,000 SB

 
 Check out all these great offers plus many many more! But hurry, this limited time offer is only good through April 16th. As a special bonus, if you sign up through my links this month and earn 300 SB before May 1st, you'll get a bonus $3 (300 SB) added to your account at the beginning of next month!

Swagbucks Easter Sales Event: Spring Into Deals

Spring has sprung and at Swagbucks, the deals are in full bloom. They're giving back BIG Cash Back on your favorite merchants. If you haven't heard of Swagbucks, when you shop there you get cash back in the form of SB points for every dollar you spend. Then you redeem those points for gift cards to places like Amazon, PayPal, Starbucks, Walmart, Target, and more! Sign up here to get started

The weekend is upon us and the weather is warming up, so now’s the perfect time to do a little shopping! Need to update your wardrobe for the new season? Check out all the great Cash Back deals you can earn at:

JCPenney – 15% Cash Back 
Nike – 20% Cash Back
Macy’s – 12% Cash Back
Gap – 8% Cash Back

Looking to do some spring cleaning and organizing? Check out great deals at these retailers:

Home Depot = 3% Cash Back
Target = 4% Cash Back
Walmart = Up to 8% Cash Back
Lowe’s = 3% Cash Back


Plus, if you've signed up through my links at some point this month (or do it now), you'll get a $2 (200 SB) bonus added to your account when you get your shopping SB! 

You can earn SB in all sorts of ways, including discovering deals and trying new products/services, watching videos, taking surveys, or just searching the web!

Hurry though, because this deal ends on the 16th!

Educate Yourself to Success

Education is everything in this day and age. People are measured by how educated they are. It isn’t always fair, some people are more capable than others by nature. Yet, it gives a fair reflection of the work people have put into life. If you properly harness education you can reach the heights you want, ensuring you get to where you want to be in life. If can help in all areas. Your career for one, you could learn more about a hobby, or perhaps learn a language or follow a passion. Education can give you the tools to succeed in many different ways. This article can show you how.

For a start, education can further your chosen career. You may have gone into some kind of job straight after school and now lack the qualifications to progress, or perhaps you need a certain degree to get further in what you do. The options are out there. For example, a nurse could study an RNBSN Online Degree to further their career. There are always options. Sure, you may need to study part time. You will need to go to class after work, something which is tough as you could be quite tired. If you are committed you will see it through. Try asking your supervisor or relative superior what degrees or courses could further your your advancement in your chosen profession. You could even leave your job if you had the savings or someone there to support you. It would mean you could gain the degree or complete the course at a quicker rate and then get into the job you want.

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They say the key to happiness is doing what you love for a career. This can become a reality if you get the right education to back yourself up. If you love working with children then getting a teaching degree or postgraduate qualification means you can work with them everyday. Or perhaps you like helping people, in which you can move to social care. Like numbers? Accounting. The options are endless, it just means you have to go back to school.

You would prefer something more passion related. For example if you love writing and want to become a writer, then you could study journalism. Or if you had your heart set on writing a book you could look at studying creative writing. This can fuel a passion would could see you succeed. Want to set up your own business? Consider entrepreneurship courses and degrees. Do you have a flair for a foreign language? Look at learning it. You could then use it to get a job in translation of some kind.

As seen, education can be the route to any kind of success. You just need to free up the time to do so. Getting the time right means you won’t rush your study and get bad grades. Remember, you are paying for it, so find the time beforehand and you can make a real success out of your education.

Is It Time To Buy Your First Family Home?

There tends to come a time in every parent's life when they start thinking about buying a house. Having somewhere for you and your kids to live and call your own is something of a dream for most people. The question is, how do you know when it’s the right time to buy a family home? Well, in this piece, I’ve listed a few little questions you should ask yourself to determine if the time is right:

(Picture source: http://bit.ly/2o91RGH)

Do You Have A Regular & Secure Source Of Income?

Owning a house is a big financial responsibility. As such, you need to have a regular source of income if you wish to do so. You’ve got bills to pay, house taxes, not to mention the costs of things is something goes wrong in your home. When you rent a property, any problems are dealt with by the landlord, so you don’t have to worry about them. But, as a homeowner, all the responsibility is on your shoulders. As such, you and your family need a regular & secure source of income to help handle all the additional costs of owning a home. If you don’t, then now is not the time to buy your first family home. Someone in your family has to find a full-time job that pays well, and then you’re ready for homeownership.

Do You Have A Good Credit Score?

Speak to anyone with an ounce of financial knowledge, and they’ll tell you your credit score is very important in the grand scheme of your life. Especially when you’re thinking about buying a house. Family homes aren’t cheap, and you’ll most likely need to apply for a mortgage to afford one. But, applying for a mortgage is hard if your credit score is underwhelming. Ideally, you want a good credit score that can enable you to borrow as much money as you need. So, work on getting your score in check. If things are really bad, then a credit repair company might come in handy. Otherwise, just focus on good financial behavior such as repaying any debts, paying your bills on time, and being responsible with your credit card use. If you have a bad credit score, then it’s not time to buy your first family home. Instead, it’s time to fix your score, then buy one when your score is good.

Do You Need More Space?

A lot of families are perfectly capable of living in rented apartments as they have no need for lots of space. However, if you have a few children and are in desperate need of more space, then upgrading to a house is definitely a good idea. Renting a house is always worse than renting an apartment as it’s just not worth it. You’re far better off buying and actually owning the property yourself. So, if your answer is yes, you do need more space, then the time is right to buy your first family home.

If you answered ‘yes’ to all the questions, then you’re definitely in a good position to buy your first family home.

Chicago Day Four: Museum of Science and Industry and Dylan's Candy Bar

Welcome to the pictures of the McLoughlin Family Trip to Chicago 2017! This is the trip where my husband had training all week in Elk Grove Village so the kids and I stayed by the O'Hare airport and took the train downtown daily! Today started with making sure my kids got into the free LEGO monthly minibuild, which is always a frantic time since it's hard to get into these days. So after doing that and dropping off my husband, it was time to head to Des Plaines for some Weight Watchers weigh-in and run action.

This is for my mom, who flips out over White After Labor Day. I'm not in love with the white pants but I ALWAYS buy black, so I got red and white this time. White gets dirty easy, as I knew they would, so forget that. I'm over these pants already.

Our station: Rosemont.

Lowe's Bonus Days at MyGiftCardsPlus and Our New Wood Kitchen Floors #Swagbucks

If you have some home projects you're working on (like our new wood floors in the kitchen) or just need some gardening supplies (is it that time already?!), you can get 10% cash back when you purchase Lowe's gift cards from MyGiftCardsPlus, which is a site that gives you cash back when you buy gift cards to your favorite retailers.

Ladies, marry a man who can do home projects himself and teach your kids how to do them too. You'll save a load of money in the long run!

The cash back is paid in the form of SB points on Swagbucks, which you can turn into free gift cards to places like Amazon, Starbucks, or PayPal (that's what I do!). You can take advantage of this deal by clicking here, and if you don't already have a Swagbucks account, you can create one there so you get your SB points for your purchase!

This is a limited time offer that's good through this Friday or until supplies run our, whichever happens first!

The Importance of Online Marketing and How to Find Leads Online

Most times, a business is only as good as its marketing. What that means is that it is pretty much pointless if a business is able to provide a top-quality service or product if no one knows about it. Marketing plays a vital role in how companies grow and develop a customer base. Modern approaches to marketing have made it so companies have a lot of options when it comes to how they want to go about marketing the brand and/or interacting with customers and potential future customers. Being an Instagram influencer is a great way to drive traffic and make more people want to see your posts.

Modern times have brought us to a place where the internet is at the core of everything and for companies this represents an invaluable gate towards endless supplies of customers from all demographics and viable for all marketing strategies. But many are baffled or overwhelmed about the concept of finding leads online. There are, however, many ways in which leads can be acquired and submitted to the process that would eventually turn them into ready and viable potential sales.

Social media

Social media represents one of the biggest breaks companies have received in modern times. Through social media they are able to tap into huge banks of customer material. This pipeline never dries out due to the way in which social media websites and outlets work. Everyone is interconnected and this gives companies access to everyone. Having a solid, strong marketing campaign is deemed not helpful but absolutely necessary when it comes to utilizing the tools at your disposal.

Software

There are many software solutions that improve and build upon a company’s relationship with its customers. That being said, what can software do for finding leads? Through services such as marketing automation, companies and marketing agencies are able to score leads a hundred times more effectively due to the fact that it facilitates specific lead targeting. By analyzing collected data, marketing automation helps by telling companies exactly what each lead is looking for, making it very easy to provide exactly what the customer wants.

The importance of finding online leads

The online medium has long taken over from traditional means of communications and even marketing. While “on foot” marketing is still practiced in somewhat capacity, the bulk of the operation is being handled online due to the fact that this is where you’ll find most people from whatever social category or niche you could possibly think of. Not implementing online lead hunting solutions is not just a guaranteed drop in profit but also marketing suicide.

Taking these elements into consideration, acknowledging the importance of online scouting is the first step in the journey of creating potent online marketing solutions that will generate accurate leads for which there will be equally accurate marketing strategies.

#TheKerrieShow Goes to Chicago Day Three: Shedd Aquarium!

I wrote this in my journal on June 18, 2016:

Joel wants to go to sealife downtown KC now that we saw the movie Dory. I want to take them to florida even worse. Chicago is where shedd aquarium is? THERE! Can you imagine a trip to Chicago with them? They would love it.

A few weeks ago I saw a picture of the Caribbean Reef in Shedd Aquarium on their website and I almost cried. I told myself that if I could just sit there on a bench in front of that, it would be the most amazing thing ever. I was so excited to go.

Then I stood in line in 25-degree weather with snow for AN HOUR with five annoyed kids before paying $212 for what turned out to be about 3 hours of Shedd Aquarium and I was a little ungrateful and disgruntled. By that time we were hungry and so there went another $80+ at the food court in Shedd and 30 minutes of fun time gone. Should have packed PB&Js; note to self for next time! Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it and then it might not live up to what you had in mind but at least you got to experience it!

I could have spent two full days wandering that place, with or without kids. The older my kids get, I start thinking things like, "Hey, in the not-so-distant future I might find myself in Chicago another time with my husband but the kids will be grown and I will be here alone. I will have to learn to deal with not being a mom of little kids anymore and I will have to enjoy the silence in my mind as I check out places like this ... but I will also be able to go to places like Frank Lloyd Wright's house and Ernest Hemingway's birthplace without worrying about anyone getting stolen or bored."

But I digress, like always. Here are the pics.

MORE SNOW OVERNIGHT

The kids were thrilled with the snow but we didn't have a ton of time to play in it plus the younger two were the only ones with boots :-( Praying for a huge Kansas City snow next year!

Heading to the red line from the blue line in the cool tunnel

Waiting for the bus to Shedd. It wasn't too far but it was COLD so we just waited.

The kids loved taking pictures of these birds.

The bus to Shedd in Chicago. I can't tell you how great my kids were on this trip. True travel champs for real. So proud of them.

Here we go. A long tent up the steps of Shedd and it was COLD and took forever to even get into the lobby then MORE waiting but were at least warmer. I was so impatient because I knew it would cost a fortune and that they closed at 5 so we didn't have a ton of time.

Cold Sammy

Cold but happy Eva

WE MADE IT TO THE CARIBBEAN REEF!!! I can hardly believe it! The room is kinda dark, though, and not perfect for pics, but whatever.

A dream come true!

At some point we broke way from the reef and went to a section of lake and river fun.

Then we went to a 4D Spongebob show and then it was time for lunch. Our view for lunch.

Touch pool

Seriously, we could sit here all day. I hated the feeling of being rushed around the place (self-inflicted because we wanted to see as much as we could). We are the kind of people who like to take our time and enjoy things and mess around, so this was tough for us to rush through an aquarium of this caliber. It was amazing. WE HAVE TO COME BACK SOON.

I can't tell you how moving this was. Incredible to see these gorgeous creatures ... so peaceful.

We call these ponguins.

Time to head downstairs to the Wild Reef, included in our ticket price. I hate that crap, and it's confusing as heck ... just pay one fee and see the entire dang place, seriously. Stop asking me what I want to add on for extra money and confusing me about what's included because then you get kids standing around wanting to do something that's not included in their ticket price and how annoying is that for a parent? Somehow we got everything included in ours, but remember we spent $212 for 6 people. And we could have done without the 4D experience.

Time for the indoor show

Then the littles and I were beat so we sent the big boys off down an alley off the Reef to check some things out and take pictures.

This was my chilling-out view. I was happy resting here.

Joel went to town taking pictures. What the heck are these suckers?

Yes. This is the picture I went for. This, with the Reef behind my precious children. Yes, this is why I do what I do and dragged them on a train to get downtown and pay a fortune and wait in line in the cold. To see them tired and happy at the end of a good day with their brains full of new visions of sea life.

You should have heard them griping at me about this ONE MORE PICTURE with sun in their eyes. I'm such a mean mom. Then we hopped our bus and off we went.

They liked to use their own Ventra cards at the train stations.

Such cool tunnels.

Dunkin' Donuts almost every day. They were at most of the train stations. Brilliant.

Joel took this with his phone and it uploaded to mine ... they went to the workout room together at the hotel that night.

I had to go to Target Tuesday night for a stand-alone phone charger (highly recommended if you're traveling and out all day) and groceries. And saw the next Nerf gun I want. The Lawbringer.

Check out Day Two (Monday), when we went to Adler Planetarium! Day Four was Museum of Science and Industry and Dylan's Candy Bar, so check it out!