YOU ! Magazine: March 2008 Issue

How to Shop for a Mortgage Today By Mertz Esswein The troubles in the subprime mortgage market have led to tighter standards for all borrowers. Buyers and refinancers with sterling credit records won't feel the pinch. But lenders have reined in their underwriting rules for borrowers with less-than-perfect credit and for those seeking nontraditional loans that require a low initial payment or little verification of income. Now, rising home prices can no longer serve as the ultimate guarantor of a home loan. Keep Reading »
FW: Forward Thinking Simple Email Etiquette By Tim Sanders Welcome to my first article on email and how to use it more effectively in your life. I call it The Dirty Dozen Rules Of Email Etiquette. I’m the former Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo!® I also wrote the book, The Likeability Factor. And for the last year my team and I have been doing research on how people just like you feel about email and how it's used in your culture and in your life. It can be your biggest tool or your Achilles' heel. It just depends on what you know. Keep Reading »
Teeth Whitening Making the Most of Your Smile It serves as both an involuntary reflex and an intended gesture. Unique to human physiology, most people view it as a highly positive signal. To say it is integral to conducting business is a bit of an understatement. As for our personal lives, let’s just say that without it most relationships would never get off the ground. If you haven’t guessed, we're talking about our ability to smile. Keep Reading »
10 Credit Card Myths That Put Your Scores At Risk! By Linda Ferrari, President, Credit Resource Corp. Managing your credit is a long and sometimes confusing process. It seems everywhere you look, some program or web site offers credit fixes, offers and deals that make it seem so easy to consolidate debt or, worse, get "easy credit" to buy the things you need. They offer "free credit analysis" - many of which will most likely lead you down a path of credit destruction. Most of what is out there is just plain misinformation and contradicts the steps you are taking to improve and maintain your credit scores. The best defense against making a credit blunder is to better educate yourself about credit and ways to manage it. Keep Reading »
Discover the New Trends in Home Flooring If you're moving into a new house or just want to change the look of your current living space, a good place to begin is with your floors. The reason is simple. There are many new flooring options available, enabling homeowners to pick and choose the right surface to best suit their needs and desires. Keep Reading »
Ensure Your Family's Future Happiness and Success We all want the best for our children. This is a worthwhile sentiment despite its sometimes paradoxical nature. Here's an example. Most parents believe in teaching their kids the virtue of manners, as well as the concept of respecting authority. The same parent may simultaneously teach about verbalizing one's feelings or standing up for a belief. For a child, this can result in a mixed message that translates to, "Don't speak unless spoken to - except, of course, if it's about something really important or you believe in what you're doing." Keep Reading »
March Madness: High-Scoring Snacks By Kirk Leins Football season is over, but there's still another title to crown – NCAA College Basketball Champions. For fans of college hoops, there's nothing quite like the month of March. Nicknamed March Madness, it's a month-long, single-elimination tournament featuring the NCAA's 64 most-celebrated Division 1 teams. For those who can't relate, let's put it into culinary terms. Take one-part shocking upset, throw in a healthy dose of nail-biting excitement, top off with a splash of fear – and you've got March Madness. Keep Reading »