Online Shopping Guide

Car Buying Tip: Throw away the Blue Book

You can save money on you next car if you have the same tools the dealers use.
Car Buying Tip: Throw out the BlueBooks
Pretty much any article you see on buying used cars recommends research, research, research. I agree, just make sure you are using the correct tools to do your research. The Blue Book is not the right tool. Many websites are out there that will give you Blue Book pricing, cars.com, kbb.com, edmunds.com. What do all of these sites have in common, they all make money from advertising. Who pays for all of that adverstising? Car dealers and manufacturers, so is it any surprise that the “used car pricing” on these sites is skewed to benefit these advertisers.

What is Black Book pricing? Its the pricing guide that dealers use to value used car trade ins. Its also used by banks and credit unions to value a car for a loan. It is comprised by looking at actual sales of cars state by state. If you compare Black and Blue book pricing, you will consistently see that Blue Book pricing skews in the dealers favor. That is how a dealer can sell so many used cars at “below Blue Book value” .

Blue Book pricing is all over the internet, where do I find Black Book pricing? I have found the best and most trustworthy source for Black Book pricing to be credit union websites. Here is an example http://www.creditunionsvc.com/auto/newbb_fs.cfm (note you dont have to enter a vin number, just select the year and boxes to enter the make and model will pop up.)

So do your research, but just make sure you are doing it on websites that are not trying to make money off of you. Personally I have also found it useful to purchase a car at the end of the month. Salesmen and Dealers have quotas to make, they are more likely to let one go cheap at the end of the month.

By Jeff Jones

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeff is a self avowed cheapskate and outlines his transition from spender to tightwad in his blog http://savingmoney.iblogger.org

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Health and Fitness for Women

Health and fitness for women is important because of the roles of mother, wife, and career woman.
With all of the roles women are expected to play, health and fitness for women has become all the more important to consider. By realizing that being a mother, a partner, and a career woman are all exhausting tasks, you can see how a woman’s body might need more attention. But by also being more likely to care for everyone else but us, it’s not something that’s easily done. Here are ways that you can start to take charge of health and fitness for women – and more importantly, you.

Mommy Dearest
The role of being a mom is something that’s most concerning when it comes to health and fitness for women. Not only do women hold the fetus as it grows into a child, but also their bodies need to be prepared to give birth to this child. To help your body be in the best health, you need to recognize the choices you make will affect your body when it’s time to have a baby. Making good diet choices and staying active will help you keep your body strong. And these choices need to begin long before you are pregnant. The earlier you start taking care of your body, the better you will be in the long run.

Partner in Health
Next in the list of things for women to do is to be a supportive partner in their relationship. While this doesn’t seem to be a part of health and fitness for women, it most certainly is. By making good health choices and decisions, you will be influencing your partner and creating the foundation for a long and active life together. And this doesn’t even have to require nagging or pleading with your partner. By simply taking the time to exercise with each other and eating balanced meals, you will do more for your health and your relationships health than any nagging would.

Career Plans
And finally, the stress of being a career oriented woman is another issue in health and fitness for women. To help you maintain your health, you need to make healthy choices in your life. You need to eat balanced meals, exercise on a regular basis and simply take the time you need to take to relax and recuperate from your stress. Make sure that you are making your health a priority in your life, and you will find that your work issues all manage themselves.
When concerning health and fitness for women, you need to realize that you are in charge of your life. By taking active steps to manage your health, the rest of your life can fall into place more easily. A strong body can handle a multitude of problems – get yourself ready.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lynn VanDyke is a master trainer and nutritionist focusing on straight-forward fat loss workouts. Her wildly popular ebook, Melt the Fat is available for immediate download. Bonuses are being offered for a limited time only. Learn more about Melt the Fat at http://www.melt-the-fat.com

By Lynn VanDyke

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Tips for Acne Scar Skin Care

Like it or not, there are only a few fortunate people on the planet who have gone without acne their whole lives. For the rest of us mere mortals, acne has been a problem at one time or another; and for some of us, that same problematic acne left us with scars. Thanks to technology and research, however, there are now many different acne scar skin care techniques that can help us cover up and totally lose the scars.

Make no mistake: most acne scar skin care remedies and techniques are expensive, and they need to be undertaken for a long period of time before any results can emerge. Before you can understand how acne scar skin care works, however, you need to know about acne first and what can cause scarring.

Acne vulgaris
Acne vulgaris is caused by the clogging of skin pores by dirt, debris, or dried skin cells. This clogging causes pimples to form, creating the well-known cystic acne that is common in teenagers or persons with hormonal imbalances. The underlying cause of acne vulgaris has yet to be determined, however: some doctors and scientists propose that fluctuating hormonal levels contribute to acne, while others surmise that acne vulgaris is genetic in nature and can be inherited from one’s parents.
Whatever the cause of acne, dermatologists will always caution you to refrain from touching your face, removing the pimples yourself, and, more crudely, “popping your zits”. This is because any manual force not exerted by medically-approved means can cause acne scars to form.

Types of acne scars
In general, there are two types of acne scars, the pigmented scars and the pitted ones. Pigmented scars can be red or brown in color, and appear after the pimple has disappeared. Although they can be unseemly to look at, they can disappear after treatment, or they can vanish on their own after a few weeks or months.
On the other hand, pitted scars occur when damage is done to the skin tissue beneath the acne. Such scars look like indentations on the skin, and are often referred to as pockmarks. Both kinds of acne scars have their own methods for removal or concealment.
Acne scar skin care for pigmented scars involves using lotions or creams that have whitening compounds. Such compounds can remove the pigment from the scar and even out one’s pigmentation. For instance, exfoliating agents such as glycolic acid or alpha-hydroxy acids can remove dead skin cells from the area so that new skin can immediately be regenerated.

Acne scar skin care is a little more complicated for pitted scars, as these scars are difficult to erase. Some dermatologists can inject protein stimulators that can induce skin cells to form the important proteins elastin and collagen. Once the cells surrounding the scars start producing these proteins, the skin can be plumper, and the depth of the scars can be made shallower, further reducing their pockmarked appearance.

Laser therapy
Laser treatments can also be used to combat acne scarring. Ablative laser treatment, for instance, burns scar tissue off from the surface of the skin, which stimulates the underlying skin to tighten. Such a technique injures the skin and exposes underlying tissue, so that people undergoing ablative laser treatment have to likewise be protected from infection. Moreover, because laser therapy can be painful, doctors apply anesthetics to the skin before undertaking any laser procedure.
On the other hand, non-ablative laser treatment can induce changes in the underlying skin tissue without doing injury to the epidermis, or the surface of the skin. Such laser therapy is relatively fast: this time, it heats up the oil glands in the skin, preventing acne from forming; it also tightens the underlying skin, so that scarring will be less visible. Another type of laser therapy makes use of the yellow pulse dye laser, a machine that operates using yellow light. Yellow light treats keloids, and can flatten or reduce inflammation of raised scars.

Fat transplant
There are other options for acne scar skin care. A dermatologist may offer to inject the scar, or plump it up, with filler substances such as bovine collagen. Fat can also be transplanted from other parts of the patient’s body and into the acne scar. Some dermatologists may also recommend creams or lotions that can plump the skin temporarily and remove any sign of wrinkles, acne scar depressions, or age lines. There are also excision and incision techniques that can be carried out on irregularly-shaped acne scars.
There are still many methods of acne scar skin care. If you have acne scars, always consult with a dermatologist first and talk about what options are available for your case. With the right acne scar skin care, you can have smoother, fairer skin in no time at all.
Flor Serquina is a writer and also a wife and a mother who has a great interest in maintaining the healthy skin of the members of her large family. For more information visit her website, where she discusses various subjects such as acne scar skin care, how to remove acne scars and laser surgery for acne.

By Flor Serquina

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Acne Rosacea Treatment

Acne rosacea is an old term that refers to a skin disorder that is characterized by redness of the face, particularly the cheeks, nose and forehead. These days, it is simply referred to as rosacea because it is not considered as one of the forms of acne. Rosacea is an inflammatory condition that appears as a red flush and sometimes accompanied by the appearance of cysts and red spots affecting mostly the face, although it might also be found in the eyes.

What are the symptoms of rosacea?
Rosacea appears as an erythema or persistent redness or it may occur intermittently as frequent flushing. Pustules (small cysts) and lumps (papules) may also appear which look similar to acne. Tiny blood vessels found under the skin of the face might also become more prominent, a condition referred to as telangiectasia.
Rosacea affects the cheeks, forehead, nose, chin and the area around the mouth. However, it may also appear on other areas of the skin such as on the back or the arms, although rarely. Aside from the burning sensation on the affected skin, there is no discomfort associated with rosacea. It’s not itchy or painful and there are hardly any complications.

What causes rosacea?
There is no known cause of rosacea, although there are certain factors that can lead to the condition, such as sun damage or abnormal blood cells underneath the skin. Rosacea is not contagious and not considered as a skin infection, so germs and bacteria are probably not a contributing factor.

Who is more prone to getting acne rosacea?
Acne rosacea is found more often in adults from 30 to 60 years old. However, it usually first occurs in people who are in their 20s and 50s. It is rarely seen in children. It was first thought that acne rosacea occurred mostly in women, but further studies of available data suggest that it probably occurs evenly in both sexes. Rosacea in women is usually less severe compared to that in men.
It was once thought that rosacea occurred more frequently in fair skinned people. However, some researchers and doctors believe that the increased pigmentation in dark skinned people may hide the appearance of the disease. There is no study yet to confirm this assumption.

Treatments for rosacea
If you’re looking for a permanent cure for this condition, you must know that rosacea has no cure. Any product or company promising a permanent solution to rosacea may be making fraudulent claims. However, there are certain treatments you can use to treat the symptoms of rosacea and things you can do to lessen them.

Flushing
The main problem with rosacea is the flushing of the skin, particularly the cheeks and forehead. There is no pill that can lessen or prevent this but knowing what triggers the symptom and avoiding them might help. Certain factors such as extreme heat, alcohol, spicy food and drinks, vigorous exercises and stressful situations can cause symptoms to appear. Try to avoid these factors to minimize the symptoms.
Certain cosmetics can also affect people with rosacea, who usually have sensitive skin. Creams, cleansers, makeup and perfumes containing alcohol, acetone, oils and exfoliants often aggravate symptoms. There may also be certain medications that can trigger flushing. If this is the case with you, ask your doctor if he can recommend an alternative.
For a temporary solution to telangiectasia and erythema, camouflage creams and concealers can offer a temporary but effective solution. In some cases, fine laser therapy may be used with telangiectasia.

Cysts and spots
To avoid infection and reduce inflammation, antibiotics are usually prescribed if cysts and spots appear. Depending on the severity of the condition, either a topical antibiotic cream containing metronidazole or pills containing erythromycin or tetracycline may be used. Milder symptoms will also do well with topical creams containing azelaic acid.
If you have these symptoms, it’s important that you follow a complete course of treatment, which usually takes about 6 to 12 weeks. This will ensure that cysts and spots clear out. Shorter treatments often lead to recurrence of the symptoms. Improvement using antibiotics is usually noticed about 14 to 21 days after initial treatment.

Rosacea and sunlight
One of the causes that trigger rosacea is exposure to sunlight. Many doctors believe it worsens the symptoms, so it’s important that strong sunlight is avoided. It is also very helpful to use a sunblock to help protect the skin when outdoors. Use a sunblock with a 15 sun protection factor or higher and choose one that protects against both UVA and UVB. Sunblock is not a treatment for acne rosacea but it can help prevent symptoms.
Flor Serquina is a writer and also a wife and a mother who has a great interest in maintaining the healthy skin of the members of her large family. For more information visit her website, where she discusses various subjects such as acne rosacea treatment, chest acne and treating cystic acne.

By Flor Serquina

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