Increasingly, people need to show that they have real skills and real ability to perform on the job site. While that may not mean a Bachelor’s degree, it often means an Associate’s degree.  What’s complicating matters is that today’s big name colleges will gladly encourage you to take out $200,000 in guaranteed student loans while knowing full well, you’ll never be able to pay off those loans with the meager salaries their training provides. And I’m not just talking about “for profit” schools… I’m talking about Harvard!

So how do you find the best value? First, find out if you’re eligible for a “Pell” grant.  You do that here: Free Application For Federal Student Aid http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/. Even if you’re not eligible for a penny or for the full amount, you know what you’re working with.

Personally I am telling my children to follow this strategy… not to go into huge debt just to get a B.A. or B.S. degree! You are more likely to do that by researching many Online Universities to see which have full accreditation, which will accept any previous college work you’ve done, and which will allow you to “test out” of as many non-core courses as possible without paying tuition, just a testing fee.  You’ll find there are many online degree programs in human resources … that’s usually an easy way to let people finish their B.A. (or B.H.R.) quickly. But it may not be the best option.

Instead, research your desired job, profession, or business… find the education you need, then find the cheapest way to “get there”. With many online options today, that is getting easier but you’ll still need to do alot of work.

Note: Thanks to http://www.findyoureducation.com for working with us and sponsoring this post.

CAFE AND GIFT SHOP IN N.E. PA We are the owners of a small (50 seat) cafe and gift shop in N.E. PA, and are looking for someone, preferably a couple, to manage it. Strong faith, people skills and entrepreneurial bent are highly desired. We have been in business for 13 years, and presently we are open Wed-Sat. 8-4 and Sunday 10-2; closed Mon. and Tues. Housing can be included in salary if desired. Please send a letter of interest to Bill Haas, PO Box 1, Bear Creek, PA 18602 or via email. See our website for additional info. www.thebearcreekcafe.com

Source: World Magazine Classifieds

I’m sort of ashamed. I don’t have the discipline to even work out at home in the Air Conditioning, let alone run a marathon!

Read how This work at home IBM employee also runs marathons!

So how’s your work life balance?

Check this out – could working at home drive you nuts?

After much arguing, wheedling, and cajoling, I finally convinced my boss that — thanks in large part to all the gee-whiz technology we have now — I could work at home and be even more productive than I already was. He reluctantly agreed to let me do it.

That was about six months ago and I realized after a few weeks that it was a mistake. My productivity hasn’t suffered, but it’s driving me crazy to be home all day, putting up with endless distractions. I also miss my colleagues.

Specifically, this is the nub of the problem:

SAHM and WAHMs often find themselves at home more by themselves than other mothers and crave interaction. They crave adult interaction. They want to have someone see them as the person who is living a dream but a difficult dream. A dream that may be more difficult than the work at a workplace mom may have.

How so? A SAHM or WAHM has to divide her time up very carefully. She has to be able to complete the necessary tasks for keeping home, working at home, child care and personal time all in the same location. A work outside of the home has opportunities during the work hours to socialize, run personal errands and not have to care for children. Day care of school will accomplish that. A work outside of the home mom has more leverage to encourage their family members to take on some of the house work as they are out of the home 40+ hours a week. A stay at home mom is expected to constantly be doing housework, cooking great meals, working at home, caring for the children, and everything else.

It really is an educational experience for me and the rest of the family. I need to educate the family on the rules of the house from a WAHM standpoint. Then I can stand firm on the right side of insanity.

What are you doing to stay sane?

To make things worse, there is the fear that the business you can do today will dry up – perhaps as soon as tomorrow!

Does that describe you? I know that I need to chill out, but I find it hard to find much “balance”.

Perhaps this article will help you achieve the elusive “work life balance”?

Home Business: Balancing Family and Working at Home

A study by Brigham Young University showed that home based workers did a better job of balancing home and work life. But one success factor seems to be employer support.

Employer support at a minimum means supporting the technological infrastructure to allow suitably motivated people the opportunity to work at home. But because working environments are social networks, there are non technological forms of support that make sure home based workers are not treated as “second class” when it comes to opportunities and advancement that are very important as well.

“I wanted a place where I could hold events and be creative, a gallery where I could show my work and other people’s work, and I wanted to work at home,” recalls Weil, 43, an artist and Web designer who is one of the founders of the bustling River North Art District northeast of downtown.

His website is http://www.weilworks.com/

But there’s something I admire in my mom’s sport’s mania. She can at least get absorbed in something besides work! I have virtually no work life balance. I go from work to work and it’s starting to wear me down! Workaholism is an addiction too and I seem to have ti pretty bad! One of our partners here suggested some relief by checking these links for my workaholism (and yours): They suggested Toyota Center Tickets for the Houston Rockets. Oddly enough, my mom seems to know all about them. I only know they are from Houston. She and my friend also suggested some relief in obtaining New York Rangers Tickets but if I want to watch hockey, I’ll just drive to Nashville and see the Predators.

There was one suggestion that did sound good: Getting some Ohio State Buckeyes Football Tickets. I checked their schedule and they are slated to play Penn State. I don’t know much about football anymore, but Joe Paterno is someone whose team I’d love to see play.

Since Mom’s here screaming at the football teams and other sports teams, maybe I can take advantage of the decibel level and get some work life balance. Hopefully you can too!

Here’s what I’m talking about… while on vacation I left my rural, non-3G world to venture through many towns with 3G connectivity. I was amazed at where these networks were already. When you have 3G connectivity, your iphone zips speedily through it’s internet related tasks. Otherwise, well, no so much!

Now AT&T plans to double connection speeds on its wireless networks.

But more than just the iphone, people we used to call “home based” entrepreneurs will be able to work from many new places as long as they can connect to these networks.

That’s good news for the evolving work at home business opportunity market.

Related link: Istormer – How To Make money selling iPhone Applications