Wanda Holmes

(NC)-While everyone loves to go on holiday, the same can't be said about coming home to outrageous long-distance bills and roaming charges from your mobile phone.

North Vancouver's Anna Marie Garcia, for example, said she had to pay close to $2,000 in roaming and long-distance charges while traveling recently. Since then, she has switched to Mobilicity and pays a flat 20-cents-a-minute, North American travel rate, seven times less expensive than her old carrier.

Angela Self, a personal finance expert and one of the five money-smart women known as Smart Cookies, agrees with being cautious. She, says that while Canadian travelers are commonly faced with "bill shock", there are several ways to prevent paying hundreds of dollars in extra charges, such as:

• Research travel rates before you leave home. Most carriers charge separate roaming and long-distance fees, so be sure to factor both into your calculations.

• Ask about special travel rates/packages, but note some providers charge an extra fee.

• If you need a ton of minutes, texts and/or megabytes, look into getting a pre-paid local SIM card at your destination that allows you to pay local rates. Make sure your device is unlocked and compatible with the local carrier's network.

• Consider switching to a value-based carrier, like Mobilicity, which includes 'voice roaming minutes' in some of its regular monthly plans, and guarantees customers won't get bill shock when traveling. The company's unique My Wallet feature prevents phone usage on the road if you go over any allotted minutes and if there aren't funds in the account to cover roaming.

Courtesy of Newscanada

It's amazing how quickly our homes can start to look dated. Even if they were once the height of fashion, they can easily start to feel stuck in the past, and for many people it is enough to make them consider moving, unaware that it is simply the fact that things feel stale that is giving them such wanderlust.

There is plenty that can be done, easily and cheaply, to make a house feel more modern though. A change of paint is always a great way to start. Finding out the colours that are currently in vogue is a great way to instantly transform a room. On top that, interesting and modern artwork and contemporary knick knacks will also instantly bring a room up to date.

Home lighting is also a surprisingly date-specific kind of thing. Older light fittings will instantly date any room, and changing glaring halogens to more subtle accent lighting can instantly change the feel of a room without anything else being needed. Altering home lighting is also easy to research and cheap to achieve, making one of the perfect places to start if a house is starting to feel jaded. The more you can spend on lighting, the better.

Wooden floors are also a great way to stay modern. On top of this, utilizing a wooden floor gives you great scope to include under-floor heating, an investment that will almost certainly pay for itself in terms of how much money can be saved on energy bills. Under-floor heating also helps you remove what are usually unsightly radiators and give rooms more space – another way to make any room feel more modern.

If you can, make as much space as possible, knocking down walls to create more space if it is appropriate. Space and lighting combined will make even the dullest room feel fresh and new.

By: Allision Kraft
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/home_improvement/article_7221.shtml