Archives for August 2016

7 Mind Numbing Facts about Spread Betting

August 23, 2016 | Leave a Comment

The idea of spread betting is pretty simple. Here, the selling and buying price are called the bid and the offer price. If you feel that a particular market is likely to rise, then you buy at the given offer price. Again, if you feel that the market is likely to fall, then you simply sell at the bidding price. As you spread the bet, you are actually placing a bet with the relevant bidding company. This is the company that will predict where exactly a share or index has the potential to stand in the long run. Right after you decide whether the share or the index is likely to be high or low, you place the bet immediately.

To keep things even simpler, in spread betting you can never really own the specific index or share. All you can do is benefit from the way it moves. If haven’t tried spread betting prior to this, visit any betting platform, click the tab for trading and then consequently click the option for opening a demo account. As soon as you do this, you will get a hefty sum of $100,000 virtual money for placing a bet with. This could be your practice session before you actually try the real betting game. Additionally, before placing your bet with real money, you can also check out these seven mind numbing facts about speed betting that’ll truly change your perspective about this venture.

It is risky but free from taxes

Well, we are not just saying this to intimidate you, but spread betting can indeed be pretty risky. Although it can lead to some big-time profits unlike the conventional fixed odds betting, if not played with right strategies, the bets can also lead you to lose a lot more than the initial capital you had invested. However, despite this glitch one benefit of speed betting would be the fact that it is tax free. You can save up to 40% of your profits from this bets even while paying taxes.

It isn’t really complex

The basic idea of spread betting isn’t really complex. You simply have to place a bet on a market (this can be either the stock market commodity or the share) in either an increasing or decreasing value. Every such point where the market moves in your favour, leads you to win your stake.

You can hedge other investments with spread betting

If you are really affected by the fluctuating prices of the pound or oil, you can actually use this betting method for offsetting the prospective losses that can be caused by both the given trends. For instance, if you spread bet on the Euro, you end up gaining profits as the value of Euro rises. Likewise, if you spread bet for higher prices of oil, you may end up making a couple of extra pounds for offsetting the increasing price of operating your car.

It is often called a chart

With the rise of spread betting, various international financial markets have been democratized. Most of these betting enthusiasts go for the stand alone market analysis and the various tools for charting. This further means that you can technically be way more rational while making investment decisions.

An excellent way to profit during the times of recession

According to a report, the volumes of spread betting had double in 2011 compared to that in 2007 where a regular decline was observed in conventional share trading. The fact that you can place a bet on a market that is losing its value further strengthens the idea that you can make hefty profits i the falling markets by using this betting method.

You can invest in multiple markets from the same platform

In the initial and conventional betting game, you had huge amounts of money to be invested in the stock market or a particular commodity. However, in trade betting, you can end up accessing and trading on the values of multiple markets from a single digital spread betting platform.

You can actually limit your risks with spread betting

The spread betting providers are now allowing the betting enthusiasts to place their preferred stop orders on the various trades. This further means that you can now control your risks in the fluctuating markets as you set a particular price on the trade that will be automatically closed if the markets don’t move in your favour.

Well, these were some really insightful snippets of wisdom about spread betting. Check out CMC Markets for a deeper insight on the topic.

Easing the Transition of Changing Schools

August 10, 2016 | Leave a Comment

In just a week schools will be full of kids running the halls. Though I always remember it being an exciting time of year, for some kids it can be an incredibly stressful time, especially if they’re moving to new school for the first time.

Whether you’ve moved and starting fresh or you’re a brand new kiddo getting ready to embark for the first time, certain things can certainly ease the stress of starting a new school.

Ease Their Minds

Young children will be placed in an entirely new environment for the first time.

It is important to ease their mind in as many ways as you can. Read books about school and reinforce that it is a safe and exciting place to go. There are a lot of great books (The Kissing Hand and the Berenstain bear stories come to mind) that will give the child a good idea about what to expect.

Visit the School Ahead of Time

If you’re able to get into the school a few days before classes start it may be a good idea to walk the halls and give them a layout of where things like the principal’s office is, for reassurance. Make sure they have any medication they may need (especially something like an epipen) and a list of phone numbers where you can be reached (though the office will also have these numbers in case something happens its nice knowing your child has access themselves).

Prepare Them for Emergencies

Older kids moving forward in grade school may already have the safety net of a group of friends moving on with them. This alone may be enough to make the transition easier for them. If they’re old enough to have their own cell phone makes sure they know when to use it (no playing with it in class!) and make sure their contact list is again updated with all important numbers.

Though having mom and dad’s work number isn’t the top contact priority for a young teenager, if there was even an emergency that they needed to get in touch with you they will need it.

Easing the Transition to College

My biggest transition period was definitely moving onto university. Moving from the comforts of four walls to a huge campus was a big adjustment. Just like I did on a tour when starting primary school, my mom, an alma matter to my university, spent a day with me walking on campus and point out where everything was.

I already had my class schedule so was able to walk up to each classroom and know exactly where it was so I didn’t waste any time getting lost in those first few days. I also located other important things like library, student union, student services and university security, covering all my bases. I was much more comfortable on my first day of classes given I had some basic knowledge of the campus before-hand.

Change is scaring especially when totally leaving your comfort zone. Though kids get the hang if things pretty quickly it’s always nice to prepare them in any way we can. They’ll thank us later.

My Favorite Toys for Kids Under 5 Years

August 3, 2016 | Leave a Comment

A friend of mine was recently trying to decide on if a toy purchase for her son was ‘’worth it’’. She didn’t want to start buying a bunch of useless toys for him to have her small house cluttered with kids stuff that was hardly used (a problem I can sympathize with).

My house is overrun with kids stuff. Our daughter is the first grandchild, niece, baby in a long time and people love buying baby stuff despite us asking not to. We have made it quite clear we would rather have a contribution to her education savings than another doll or stuffed animal but people feed off that immediate toddler smile and ‘’thank you’’. However over the years though, a few toys have come into our lives that we love and have had hours of fun playing with. Gifts I am so grateful for, or money I’m so glad we spent.

Books

This is an easy one, but we’re big book lovers and I am all too happy to give another book a home.

Reading is very important to us and though we have a few favorites that rotate every few days, we love having new stories come into our lives. You can never go wrong with giving a child a book.

A few of our favorites from the last four years are the Oliva series; the Fancy Nancy series; Each Peach, Pear, Plum; Sandra Boynton (anything); Look and Find books (hours of fun playing eye-spy); A Very Hungry Caterpillar; The Kissing Hand; Are You My Mother and Sheep in a Jeep. I have hundreds of children’s books in my house and always looking for more! You may be able to find deals on these books using a ebay.ca coupon.

Play Food and Accessories

I think it was for my daughters first birthday that someone gave her a huge gift of pretend food and accessories (pots/pans/bowls/spoons). Over three years later and these are still going strong. Where it started out as a good learning toy- identifying shapes, colors and types of food, she now interacts with them and role-plays which is really fun. A huge hit in our house.

Toy Cash Register

This was a gift from her babysitter when she turned two. Not only does she just love playing with the pretend money it is a huge learning opportunity for us to teach her financial lessons. Sometimes we’ll play grocery store with her pretend food and we’re at the point now of teaching her how many coins she needs to buy the things. Again, over two years later and this still consistently gets played with.

Play House

Two years ago we had an opportunity to buy a small playhouse at a store for 60% off, we decided to go for it and she loves it. I think we paid $100 for it and have gotten a ton of use out of it. It’s plastic and we keep it outside year round. She goes from growing her pretend garden to literally shoveling the snow out of her front ‘’door’’. We play with it year-round and will continue to until she’s too big for it.

Lego/Blocks

My husband was given a collection of wooden blocks when he was a child and he was able to save them to give her our daughter. We have a few different types of blocks (everything from traditional Lego to wood blocks) and she loves them all. This is something I don’t see her growing out of anytime soon.

Crayons/Paper/Coloring books/Stickers

It’s just that simple. We go though a ton of all of the above and she loves them.

Some toys are a complete waste of money. We’re much better at picking our battles in terms of what we spend money on but we are very happy that a few toys have found their way into our lives and offered our daughter so much joy!

What are your favorite toys for small kids?