When It's Worth the Money

A few days ago, my dad called me complaining about King Soopers and how he didn't get his fuel savings. (He participates in their fuel program, where you earn discounts on gas depending on how much money you spend on groceries.) He'd spent time on the phone complaining to customer service, all over a price difference of about a dollar, total.

In my opinion, there are two times when it's not worth making a fuss over saving money:

1) When the savings aren't worth more than your time (which $1 in gas money definitely isn't), and

2) When it's too important to make a fuss over saving money.

A perfect example of the latter is my husband's diploma frame. He has spent many years plugging away at his degree while working full time, and it's a big deal to him because he came from a family where even finishing high school was rare. So yeah, when he graduates next spring, it will absolutely be worth spending the money on a nice university diploma frame.

Furthermore, he is planning to continue on with his education after he graduates with his bachelor's, and he is looking at graduate programs that aren't particularly cheap. But again, his education is so important to him that it is worth the extra money to make sure it's a good one.

What about you? How much do you value your education?

35 Different Options for Cisco Certification

A lot of people go through Cisco Certification Training. This is professional technology training that certifies you to use certain Cisco products in your career. If you're looking into Cisco Training then you'll rapidly discover that there are a lot of different options open to you for this type of education. In fact, there are 35 basic certification options that you'll be looking at when you consider getting certified in Cisco products.

Don't worry; it's not nearly as complicated as it sounds at first. The first thing that you'll need to know is that there are seven different paths that you can choose for certification. Those seven paths are:

1. Design.
2. Network Security.
3. Routing and Switching.
4. Service Provider.
5. Storage Network.
6. Voice Services.
7. Wireless.

Once you've determined which path you want to pursue, the rest of the decision making process is easy. That's because the other options that are available for certification are based on your level of training. You can start at the first level and work your way up to higher levels if you want to or if your job requires a higher level of certification. The five levels of certification are:

1. Entry Level.
2. Associate.
3. Professional.
4. Expert.
5. Specialist.

With seven paths to choose from and five levels available to you at each path you technically have thirty five different course options to select from. But, as you can see, you really just need to make two decisions: which path to take and how far to go with your certification in that path. See, it's actually really easy!

Cooking More Than Just Hotdogs

One of the most embarrassing things in my life is my ability (or lack of ability) to cook.  I have to admit, I grew up in a home where TV dinners were the common staple, and I don’t even remember ever having the chance to cook while I lived at home.  In fact, I didn’t even realize that you could cook something from scratch, which is kind of pathetic.

So, as you can imagine, I was in for a big shock when I moved out from home.  For the first time in my life I had to prepare food for myself, and I would have to say that I wasn’t very successful.  Some of the meals that I had were microwave popcorn, TV dinners, and I even learned how to cook hotdogs.

I started dating a boy that was enrolled in a culinary school in town, and for the first time in my life, I realized what I was missing.  In fact, some of the food that he prepared was the most beautiful and delicious that I had ever tasted in my life, and I found myself wanting to learn how to cook something that actually tasted good.

So, I enrolled in some night classes in the culinary arts to improve my cooking skills.  Though I am no expert yet, at least now I can cook more than just hotdogs.

The Empty Spot on My Wall

Since my husband and I moved into our house three years ago, I have been reserving a spot on the wall in my office for my university diploma — whenever I get around to framing it.

It's not that I'm not proud of my diploma. I am. Unfortunately, there is a combination of factors that have kept me from hanging it on my wall, despite the fact that I graduated more than four years ago.

First of all, it's hard to find good diploma frames. You can't just go into some discount store and pick up a four dollar frame, because believe me, you get what you pay for. Those frames are simply terrible — cheaply made, with flimsy cardboard as backing and no clips to hold that and the picture in the frame.

The other problem is that I just never seem to have time to mat and frame my diploma. Heaven knows I'm busy with real life these days — doing the job that my diploma got me, incidentally.

I know it's important in many ways to be proud of your college diploma, and to display it so that you can be reminded of what you have to be proud of (and, of course, remind others too). And someday, my framed diploma will hang on my wall in all its glory. In the meantime, though, it doesn't hurt to remember that the real treasure is what is inside your head — and the line on your resume that states your qualifications and helps you land good jobs.

College Enrollment Going Up!

My mom and pretty much everyone else I know in higher education (my mom is a college librarian) tell me that college enrollment is up. With the recession the way it is, many people are going back to school to improve their education or learn a new trade.

If you decide to go back to school, you will need to think about what path you want to take. For instance, do you want to become a full-time student in a bachelor's, master's or PhD progrm? If so, you might be able to live on campus with your tuition and dorm expenses paid by a scholarship or grant.



Another option is to go through an accelerated program or get a license in something that will take less time, so that you are out and ready to start working as the economy recovers. A good example is FHA training or mortgage broker licensing. The housing market is expected to recover before the rest of the economy, since it caved in before the rest of the economy, so a job in the industry will enable you to earn a living while other industries, such as the stock market and banking industries, are still struggling.

You may also want to consider the value of community colleges, such as the one where my mom works. The cost of classes at these schools is pretty affordable, and they offer a wide variety of associate's degree programs, certificate programs, and licensing programs, as well as the ability to take the first two years of your bachelor's degree there at a much lower cost.

Whatever you decide to do about your education, just know that you are not alone right now in wanting to go back to school. A lot of people are dealing with the recession in exactly the same way — by preparing for when the economy gets better!