Notably, the site has a member section where subscribers can share and discuss with the authors and amongst each other the most effective practices and tools for personal organisation, time and life management. Whakate also offers a free Life Design e-book that will demonstrate how to become more productive and organized. The ebook covers such topics as: personality, assertiveness, values and goals, habits, gadgets and tools and time management. Overall, the website lives up to the meaning of its name  – Whakate,  having originated from the Maori people of New Zealand, which means “to squeeze out” or “get the essence out of”, in this case life.

Did you know that crime rates rise during difficult economic periods? Unfortunately, we are learning this may be true for identity related offences, as well. As the effects of an ID theft can be drastic and reek havoc on your credit rating as well as other aspects of your financial situation, it’s important to stay vigilant. Here are some ways to keep protected:

1. Keep Safe Online.

“Spoof” or “Phishing” emails are common and can be very convincing. Ensure that you don’t inadvertently provide your financial details to those pretending to be from a bank or other financial institution, by accessing your banks website directly and never through an email link. Also, if you receive an email asking (or demanding) for you to update your information, call the financial institution to ensure the request is legitimate.

2. Practice Vigilance When Using An ATM.

Use your body and hands to cover the keypad as you input your pin number. Also, be sure to handle your ATM card in a manner that prevents others from trying to read its numbers. It’s more common than you might think to have this information subtly stolen while visiting an ATM machine.

3. Take advantage of free credit reports.

We’ve all seen the commercials plugging free credit reports, and while I’m not endorsing any particular company, you should regularly monitor your credit. This is important in order to ensure that your identity has not been compromised, as well as it will give you the chance to be aware of, and correct, any errors present on your credit profile.

4. Don’t leave financial statements lying around!

All documents containing financial information should be kept under lock and key. If your house is broken into thieves may enjoy not only the items they are able to handle, but your financial wealth, as well.

Also, consider turning off the paper portion of your bills, and take advantage of online services offered. Almost all companies now allow this, and this step will ensure that your documents are not stolen from your home or mailbox.

Photography: The price of digital cameras has been dropping steadily, while their features have improved. It is possible to sell royalty-free stock photographs to such websites as istockphoto.com and corbis.com. Notably, it is important to take pictures having a unique aspect to them and that pictures of people normally pay more than pictures of inanimate objects.

Gardening: Beyond growing your own fresh fruits and vegetables for self consumption, and flowers for home decoration, you can also sell these in the local farmer’s market or to the local grocers and restaurants at a lower price than they would pay a traditional supplier. Canning vegetables can also extend their shelf life and add another revenue source to you.

Carpentry: An age old hobby, that is useful for many fixes around the house and as a side vocation. If you wish, you could also build and sell furniture online or in the local stores.

Computer Tech Support: Although personal computers have existed for 2+ decades, there are many people that are still computer novices, and could use the occasional help in trouble shooting tech issues. A person who is more savvy with computers can offer support services as well as design websites or build the computers themselves and then sell them.

Knitting and Sawing: If you like to knit or saw, you have a good opportunity to make money selling new or mended clothes online or offer your services to local clothing stores.

Arts and Crafts: Whether its creating glasswork, music, painting, pottery candle making, etc’ , there is a market out there(or at the very least, you can see if there is by listing your items on websites such as eBay.com and Etsy.com).

Car Repair: If you you know your way around anything automotive, you could offer several services such as: oil change, custom retrofitting, turning an existing vehicle’s engine to more environmentally friendly, etc’.

Although hobbies require some monetary investment, a return on investment is clearly achievable. As the saying goes: “find what you like to do best and then get someone to pay you for doing it.”

1. Stop Trying to Pretend That You’re Perfect In business, we try to make everyone believe that we’re shining examples of the perfect manager/salesperson/worker/entrepreneur. Sometimes, you’re successful for a while, but it never lasts forever. Your three-year-old wanders in, the zit pops, you get drunk, or reality otherwise takes a sledgehammer to the illusion you’ve meticulously crafted to fool everyone. The solution isn’t to rebuild the illusion but to accept reality. Realize you’re not perfect, and that you’ll inevitably do something that will make you look foolish. You’re human. If you can come to terms with that and start loving yourself anyway, you won’t mind as much when someone sees “the real you.”

2. Make a Joke Out Of It If there’s anything funny about what happened, make fun of it. Instead of shooing your three-year-old out of the boardroom, ask if anyone else would like to take a “tee-tee break.” They’ll laugh, and it will immediately defuse the situation. Just make sure it’s actually funny. If it’s not, you’ll only make it worse.

3. Address the Problem The worst thing you can do is ignore what just happened. If a zit pops on your forehead in the middle of a sales call, don’t just sit there, trying to pretend puss isn’t trickling down your face. You’re much better off covering it with your hand, excusing yourself, and going to the bathroom to clean yourself up.

4. Put It in Perspective Okay, so everyone at the Christmas party got to laugh at you while you were drunk. Is it really such a big deal? Chances are, you’re attaching a hundred times more significance to it than everyone else. They might look at you and chuckle for the next few days, but does it really mean the end of your career? Probably not.

5. Remember Walking in on Someone Else Sure, you’re mortified about someone catching you with your pants down, but have you ever been that other person, catching someone else in the same situation? How did you feel? Did you dwell on it, or did you try to forget as quickly as possible? The fact is, most people are empathetic. We see someone going through an embarrassing situation, and we genuinely feel for them. We’ve been there, and we know what it feels like. So we do our best forget and help them forget. It’s the only humane thing to do.

6. Realize That Success Isn’t a Popularity Contest For most of us, the fear of being caught with their pants down stems from the high school days of everyone making fun of us whenever we looked uncool. Sometimes, it’s remarkably cruel, like all the girls throwing tampons at Carrie when she had her period in the public showers, and we’re scarred for life (or just kill everybody). But most people change. The older you get, the more comfortable you start to become with the natural imperfections inherent in being human, and you realize that success is anything but a popularity contest. The people that most often do great things are the ones that walk around with their pants perpetually around their ankles, unafraid of looking stupid if it means they occasionally accomplish something big.

7. Develop a Different Source of Dignity Believe me, it’s much better to be blissfully unashamed than to walk through life fearful of other people noting your imperfections. I’m not saying you should intentionally leave the door unlocked in the bathroom, hoping someone will see you exposed, but don’t lock and unlock the door a dozen times, just to make sure that the thing is working, either. You’re better off developing a sense of dignity that’s independent of other people. Take pride in who you are, just for the simple fact that you like who you are, imperfections and all. If someone else happens to discover those imperfections, then they’re just finding out something that you already knew. Even if they never appreciate your flaws, they can appreciate the grace with which you handle them. So sit on that toilet with pride, my friend. And give them a great big grin. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to On Moneymaking.