Career and Business Consultant.
A 23 year Navy veteran with 20 years of progressive experience in brand marketing, career counseling, world travel and veteran consulting. Founder and Co-Owner of MVOSS Creation LLC who manages and directs the following organization - serving the community of Virginia Beach and around the globe:
• Mvoss Creation Promotional Products
• LifeWise Consulting
• Chiefpreneur
My Top 10 Things (from $5 to 5K) I spend time & money on that is worth it in 2014.
My Top 10 Things I spend time & money on that is worth it in 2014. From $5 to 5K
This
year I enjoyed scoring deals that makes a good investment for my health
and lifestyle from toiletries to summer vacation that became part of
our daily life - without draining my wallet and credit card. I usually
don’t pay or buy something unless it is at least 50% off the usual
price. I negotiate for everything, there is no such thing as fixed
price. Remember that many of these items have at least 75% mark up. Also
checkout those hyperlinks to find out more.
Here are some things I recommend you buy, invest or score to keep your sanity in every aspect of your life from $5 to $5,000:
Infusion Pitcher (Health)
For
less than $5, I scoop a deal on this drinkware that keeps me on taking
water in the morning and before going to bed that I believe helped me
maintain or even loss some weight without any hard work. Two years ago I
invested on a good Osterizer that still blends me fruit and kale
smoothie even during the winter. I have not read anything bad about
drinking water with lemon (or tea) so far and so I think I got this deal
pretty good for my health. (But since this is a cheap one, I started to
notice some molds so it’s good to invest on a new good quality infusion
container, I saw this one).
Antenna for my nightly news and other TV series (Information)
For
about $15 on Amazon & Radio Shack on their weekly Sale I was able
to easily install this gadget and say goodbye to cable bill of $50. I
can still watch all my shows even premium shows online via streaming but
mainly, all I need is to watch our daily news, major sports event and
reality shows. I saw one for less than $10.
Bidet (Household)
Two
years ago during our trip to Europe I found this bathroom “must” to be
efficient in cleaning myself daily, refreshingly. We usually spent lots
of money on toilet paper, not anymore except for my son who is still
trying to get used to it. I have one additional Bidet to be installed
that was a gift to me for giving a great review of the product. Here is a
review of the Bidet I got: Amazon
Membership on Associations & Network (Business & Networking)
People
is the most important factor in life whether you are worker or a
businessman. Networking with different community helps me grow and
appreciate my skills and others through active listening and
participating in events from Chamber of Commerce, Knights of Columbus, local churches, cultural groups, business networking and toastmasters.
Amazon Fire TV (Shows & Entertainment)
We
knew that cable TV is eating too much of our productive time and so it
is not ideal to waste our money on cable TV so we simply checkout movies
from local library (some of the best and the latest) and a monthly
subscription to Amazon Prime (which is pretty much paid off after a
month on shipping) and lately on Hulu because we missed some of the TV
series like Gortimer Gibbons, Hot on Cleveland and Blackish for our
Family TV night (we can watch anytime) show, Selfie for my wife, Jimmy
Kimmel Live for me and Flash for my son. We also have Roku, Chromecast
but we use our Amazon Fire the most. Checkout other streaming typically around $80-100 except for Chromecast for less than $35 on Google.
Apps (Electronics & Productivity)
Last
month I wrote a separate topic on these. Apps is undeniable as useful
tool so stop fighting it, try to use it every day until it becomes
second nature. The bad thing is, you can’t live without it once you do.
From Google Apps like Keep or Evernote for notekeeping & easy
sharing, Holy Bible for devotionals, Groupon for deals, Yahoo digest for
news, Overdrive & Kindle for reading and so much more. Website,
email and PCs are so 19th century, it’s now Apps, Facebook and Samsung
Note 4. Don’t be left behind. See my quick review on some of the Apps
you may need now: Things that replaced our Daily Habits.
Camera lens and good Tripod (Travel and Photography)
I
enjoy taking videos before until I switch to still pictures and became a
photo hobbyist. I took over 7,000 photos from my last summer vacation
and I was so glad I got this portrait lens & telephoto so we got a few family portraits from all the countries we visited this year. Timeless. A selfie pod which we use is an honorable mention.
Pick
a good phone you can invest on. It is a computer in your pocket. If you
had bad experience 2 years ago with a smart phone, things have improved
quite a bit. The bad thing is the more you use it the more dependent
you become and it becomes a leash but there are ways to control it.
A Smaller Home but near Nature and Everything (Home)
Location,
location. Nothing can beat a residence near the beach and it’s the best
place all year round to jog, walk your dog, watch the sun rise and set,
dance at night in your jacket, relax. Our move to Virginia Beach after
18 years in California and 4 years in Connecticut as family was the best
choice we had. Close to all conveniences (Saves you gas), best school
(Future investment for children), near park and nature (Saves gas and
great for hosting guest for picnic) and perfect weather (Less
utilities).
3 Weeks Family Vacation in Europe
As
family we love to travel and you don’t have to spend a lot of $ if you
use the right tool, plan ahead and be flexible. If you don’t have those
three it would be hard to really get into travel mode because you don’t
want to be disappointed. The more you travel the better you become.
In
2013 we drove (rent a car) and fly (Jet Blue) to Italy, Germany &
Switzerland, last year 2014 we learned our lesson so we try the Eurail
(Rail pass) we don't have to worry about parking and we just hop on hop
off to great cities of 8 Countries in Europe for 3 weeks.
Traveling
opens your mind as well makes you appreciate many things around you
because you have many things to compare into and see great things you
can do that you have not seen in America or your local place. As long as
you have the following in your toolbox, you will be good to go:
Proper use of GPS
Good Apps: Travel Advisor (ratings), AirBnB, Trivago or Hotels.com
AAA membership for Triptic and free premium guidebooks
Willingness to be flexible and have an adventurous spirit
Savings, plan and at least 3 weeks on summer.
Practice traveling on 3 day weekend out of the area.
These
or just a few of our purchased last year that I would like to share
that could benefit you too, in 2015 and to show that you don’t have to
spend a lot to gain a lot. Timing and proper use of reviews before you
buy things are important. I am sure that many of you can add some things
here and I would be thrilled to hear from you.
These list is just a few that I think we “purchased” that is worthwhile and to
show that you don’t have to spend a lot to gain a lot.Timing and proper use of reviews before you
buy things are important.I am sure that
many of you can add some things here and I would be thrilled to hear from
you.
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