Find a Planner that Fits Your Style

With the New Year, comes resolutions and a commitment or recommitment to goals. To keep all your new tasks organized requires a planner that fits your needs.

I’m organizationally challenged, which causes problems because I’m also a multi-business entrepreneur. I’m always on the hunt for the perfect planner system that fits how I work. My preference is to see the whole week at a glance and have all my to-dos (personal and professional) listed along side any appointments. I don’t want to have to turn pages to manage my day because I’m more likely to not turn the page and therefore miss something. The problem has been that I’ve never found just the right planner.

If you’re having the same problem, visit DIYPlanner which has tons of different planner styles…for free. These planner templates are created by DIYPlanner or its members and uploaded for anyone to use. Planners come in a variety sizes depending on your needs.

The site also offers articles and other resources related to planning. The best way to find the actual planner templates is to click on “DIYPlanner.com” or “Time Management” in the left hand side bar. But do take some time to read the articles and other information. There is an interactive community with lots of great tips and ideas.

To learn more, visit DIYPLanner.com

Debt Payment Calculator

With the economy still in the dumps, many families are struggling to make ends meet never mind pay off debt. But if you’re trying to get out of debt and aren’t sure of the most efficient way to do it, visit the Snowball Calculator.

The Snowball Calculator is designed to figure out the least expensive way for you to pay off your debt. Just fill in the form with the loan information on each loan, how much money you have to put towards debt payment, and click the “Calculate” button.  You’ll get instructions on how much to send to each lender every month and how many months it will take to pay off the debts.

To calculate your debt repayment or to learn more, visit the Snowball Calculator.

Free Anti-Virus Software

Whether you’re online for work or play, you absolutely cannot go without anti-virus protection. Without it you’re not only at risk to ruin your computer, but your passwords and identity can also be compromised.

There are a host of full-service protection software out on the market and you’d likely do well to invest in one. But if you don’t have the cash on hand, a good basic protection is offered for free by AVG Technologies. AVG Free offers protection against viruses, spyware, adware, and Identity theft. Plus it has a click safe feature so you can click on search results safely.

While I have TrendMicro’s Internet Security and Virus protection on my work machine, I have been running AVG Free on my Asus which I use for writing and internet browsing when I’m away from home. The software is a reasonable size (meaning not too big), easy to install and use.  According to the site, its the most downloaded software at CNET with over 80 million users.

There are upgraded options as well that offer greater security from spam, unsafe downloads and instant messaging threats.

To learn more about AVG Free or AVG’s other products, visit its site at AVG Technologies.

One Stop Shop for Movie/Book/Game/TV Reviews

Not sure if its worth $10 per person to see the latest movie releases? Should you wait for the paperback version of the new bestseller saving more than 50% of the hardback price? Before you spend your hard earned money and time, check out MetaCritic.com for the latest reviews from top newspapers and publications around the country on movies, books, games and tv shows. MetaCritic.com offers a “Metascore” (average of the critics’ scores) for each item giving a quick glance at its overall rating. You can read the critics’ reviews as well as the opinions and ratings from non-critics. You can post your own opinions or participate in group discussions.

You can access the information through the website or through an RSS feed or your smartphone.

Screencast-O-Matic Offers FREE Browser-Based Screen Capture

Screen capture is a helpful tool in business and education. The difficulty is finding a quality, AFFORDABLE screen capture software. One option is Jing, which provides a free and low cost option for screen capture video. However Screencast-O-Matic offers one-click recording from your Windows, Mac or Linux browser. The free version provides 15 minutes of video (Jing only offers 5 even in the paid version), hosting, YouTube upload, and exporting in MP4, FLV or AVI. For $9 per year (Jing is $15/yr), you can have the watermark removed, password protect screencasts, ability to screencast outside the browser and editing tools.

If you’re creating lots of videos and need a full range of tools, Camtasia may be your best bet, but at $299 it’s pricey. For the individual or small business owner with few screencapture needs, Screencast-O-Matic offers all the basics for an affordable price.

To learn more, visit Screencast-O-Matic.

Better Living on the Web does NOT receive any compensation from Screencast-O-Matic.