Product Review: Qwirkle
What game can you play as a multigenerational family? There are so many games on the market that it is hard to know which ones to add to your family collection. One fun game we were introduced to a few years ago was Qwirkle. My aunt was surprised we did not own it, so she purchased it for our family vacation. It was a hit, and we have since purchased it for others. What makes Qwirkle a hit? It is easy to learn how to play, even with nonreaders or those who do not enjoy complicated games. As many as 4 people can play but you could do teams for larger families or younger kids. The game consists of 108 square tiles with 6 different colors and shapes on them. To play the game you create rows of like colors or like shapes. Points are scored for the number of tiles you play with additional bonus points being given for a “qwirkle” which is when you complete a row of 6 with no duplicates. This game is part chance and part skill! The game can take from 30-45 minutes depending on how contemplative the players are. I am not a…
Product Review: How to Invest $1000
How would you invest $1000? Does investing seem like a daunting challenge? Zach Reynolds unpacks this in his video “How to Invest $1000” by giving viewers three different ways to invest money and what the returns could look like. Zach is passionate about personal finance and helping others save money. He posts new videos on his channel each Monday with topics like credit card balances, stock market, and credit scores. Most of his videos are six to ten minutes long. Zach has been steadily growing his subscribers and his content in the past few years. You will want to investigate his YouTube channel for more personal finance tips. Here are a few of Zach Reynolds’s most popular videos: How to Increase Your Credit Score in 2022 Apple Card Review Capital One 360 Checking Review As a young entrepreneur, getting subscribers to follow your channel is one of the best ways to build up your business. Follow Zach for two reasons: increase your financial knowledge and increase his subscribers. It’s a win win that won’t cost you anything! Know of other young entrepreneurs with up and coming channels or websites? Drop a link to them in the comments so we can…
Product Review: Shampoo and Conditioner Bars
What would it take to get you to try a shampoo or conditioner bar? Finding a good shampoo can be a dirty job. I had never even heard of a shampoo bar until I started researching round the world travel and packing light. I was leery and intrigued by shampoo bars. Through trials (some with the shampoo tests and some with my luggage sufferings) I have found a few shampoo and conditioner bars that are great for travel! It was not until I stumbled upon one at Trader Joe’s that I decided to try it out. The price was right for the Trader Joe’s Shampoo Bar and the peppermint/tea tree scent was not overwhelming. I tried it a few times before determining it would work for travel and then I cut the bar in half so it would fit in a small plastic container in my travel bag. It met my needs for a shampoo but I really needed a conditioner too. Know what I mean about the harsh effects of hotel water?! For the most part, conditioner bars have complicated storage or usage directions. That’s not what I needed and Trader Joe’s does not make a conditioner bar. I…
Travel Review: Ultra Minimalist Travel
What products would you hate to be without if you lost your luggage? If you have been following me for some time, you know I’m a huge fan of travel and carry on bags. I have mastered the art of of packing light for a long adventure. My items multi task, and I like to think I’m a minimalist, but I see no need to try ultra minimalist travel. Turns out the airlines wanted to test that theory this summer. I had crafted my packing list and prioritized what I could fit into my backpack (weighing 18 lbs or less) and a laptop bag for a 3 week European adventure. Saving my crazy travel story of cancelled flights for another time, let’s just say “I saw Europe, I saw France, and the airlines kept my underpants!” I truly became an ultra minimalist when I had to survive with one pair of underwear, a change of clothes, and just my liquids bag when my carry on bag, checked at a destination, got lost. Of course there is travel insurance to cover lost things, but what about when you hit the ground running and don’t have time to shop for basics or…
Travel Review: Food Tours
What is the best way to get to know a new town? Food tours are a great way to get to know a new town. Want to get the lay of the land, a quick history lesson, and some restaurant suggestions? Take a food tour on your first day of vacation. Want to see your hometown in a new light? Take a food tour. Want a fun date night with friends? Take a food tour. Our first food tour was a free food tour by foot in Washington DC on a family vacation years ago. We were hooked! Since then we have gone on food tours on vacations across the globe, always delighted with the tours and the tourists. On a typical tour, you will meet at a designated spot to start and end your tour. Your tour guide will give a brief welcome and let the guests introduce themselves. It’s fun to hear whether people are local or just visiting. Usually, the tour is a leisurely walking tour of the town, visiting 4-6 restaurants within a few hours and a mile or two of distance in total with some history of the town or restaurants thrown in. Some restaurants…
Product Review: Uptime Robot
Do you have your own robot working for you yet? Uptime Robot is a free website monitoring service that works so you don’t have to. This business tool is my secret weapon. Uptime Robot checks your website every few minutes to see if it’s up and running and notifies you if it’s down. Downtime happens to the best of us, but hopefully, you can catch it before your customers do. Just this week I was trying to find the menu and hours of a new business but I got an error with every link I tried. Bummer. When I visited the restaurant that day, I let them know and they thought I just had the wrong link. It was up and running today, but using a service like Uptime Robot could have saved them egg on their face. It takes just a few minutes to set up this free service and you can choose to receive an email or text message when your website or course page is down. Plus their smart team of robots can monitor all sorts of other things for you, except what’s in your fridge or when you are running low on basic supplies like…
Product Review: Bankroll Coffee
Can drinking coffee make you a millionaire? I self identify as a coffee snob. No doubt about that. For Christmas my kids got me a coffee bundle from Bankroll Coffee, and it was the perfect gift! Good coffee, catchy packaging, and amazing prices per cup. Names like Double Down, Morning Drip, and Diamond Hands grace the bags. I can’t even pick a favorite, but maybe Hodl, the espresso roast. Eventually, I’d like to try the decaf, Buy the Drip. If you read my earlier post, you’ll know that I make cold brew coffee at home. I always have some regular and some decaf in my fridge. Check out my cold brew coffee review here. Graham Stephan, with his interest in personal finance, real estate, and investing, has an interesting recipe for brewing coffee at home and saving money to invest so you can be a millionaire when you retire. According to Stephan, millennials spend more on coffee than they do on retirement! He says in his video that he wants to create a business that will continue to grow on its own without him having to be constantly involved as the influencer. I resonate with that business goal. That’s what…
Product Review: Youscience Aptitude Discovery
What do you want to be when you grow up? Many high school students dread the question about future careers if they have no idea what they want to do. Many parents fear the task of helping their child hone in on a career path as well because many feel inadequately prepared for the job or want to avoid the conflict. As a teacher and parent, I have certainly had this conversation with many teens and seen the defeat in their eyes when they say they don’t know. Today I want to offer you a solution to the frustration and a tool for career counseling. Go from doubting to curious in just a few hours as you see many possible careers that match abilities and interests. Youscience is an online aptitude and career discovery tool. It helps pinpoint natural abilities and personal interests and suggests in-demand careers that combine those two. I discovered this tool years ago when a client’s mom asked me to watch her teen take the test and discuss the results. The test took about 2 hours but the brain games were fun and the personal interest questions were well written and you could take breaks as…
Product Review: Pinch of Yum
What’s your go-to website for recipes? Finding healthy, exciting, and approachable recipes, such as those on Pinch of Yum, can be a challenge in the giant universe of cyberspace. It’s not that they don’t exist, but that there are so many websites to choose from. Let me introduce you to one of my favorites. Pinch of Yum is one I discovered in the last few years when a friend shared a yummy recipe I had tasted at her house. Now I regularly find myself clicking on the links in their newsletter or searching the blog for a recipe featuring whatever food items I have on hand that night so I don’t have to go to the store just to make dinner. The ability to sort recipes on Pinch of Yum by categories like quick and easy, dinner, Instant Pot, vegan, tacos, freezer meals, etc. makes it easy to find particular things. Another thing I love is the beauty of the website! Not only are the recipes a delight to taste, the website is a feast for your eyes from the fonts to the colors to the photos. Whether you want printed recipes, videos to follow, or explanations, you can get…
Product Review: Esteamed Coffee
How do you choose your coffee shops? The title wasn’t a typo. It wasn’t a mistake. The mission of Esteamed Coffee is to “build esteem and employment for adults with differing abilities.” This delightful coffee shop is in the heart of downtown Cary, NC, and employs several friends of mine. The concept of the shop came together after the stroke and long recovery of an 18 year old friend of ours. Did you know that there’s an over 70% unemployment rate for adults with disabilities? Esteamed Coffee hopes to lower that rate and show other businesses that it’s possible and meaningful to employ people with differing abilities. They want businesses to steal their employees! Along with their coffee for a cause, they showcase local artwork and have space for small meetings and events. If you have not visited this coffee shop, grab a friend and go see why Esteamed Coffee was nominated as one of the top 5 finalists for “Most Innovative Local Startups in 2021.” Or pack up your laptop and work for a few hours inside or outside the shop while sipping on one of the specialty lattes. The staff is happy to make drink recommendations! The hardest…