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Have you heard of Tchotchkes? Perhaps you have and you are wondering if you got it right. Perhaps you have never heard of it and you are now curious and wanting to learn more about it. It has been a word that was used long ago by Jewish-Americans and now is a part of the normal conversations within the United States. It is originally from Slavic origin.

Tchotchkes are really just little nicknames. They are small things that you can make as a stocking stuffer, they are small gifts that you can give someone. It is not something that will break the bank but something practical that they can end up using in the future. You will see them in touristy areas or tourist shops as small things people can purchase and bring home to enjoy and remember their trip. Some of those would include a pen with the name of the city on it. Perhaps a small Christmas ornament for the tree to remember the trip. There are so many different options.

Tchotchkes are also great to give as a gift at work. They are practical and easy to brand your business on to give away at raffles, at Christmas partners, or just as a small showing of your appreciation.

What are our favorite tchotchkes? Here is our list.
Stress balls
Who doesn’t need a stress ball? Regardless if you use one on a regular basis, if you have an office job, a stress ball can be a great little gift. Many people will use them if they are on the phone a lot. It can become a great little habit to have of squeezing it and great for your mental health. A stress ball can come in so many different colors and can have a logo on it or even your company name if you want to give them away for branding purposes.
Water bottles
A water bottle is not only a practical gift, but it is also good for the environment. People can always use more water bottles and you can even brand the water bottle. This means they are great to add to a gift basket if you are looking to brand your business more. If you are on the road and purchase a water bottle, you will always remember that specific city in the world each time you use the water bottle in the future which makes it so much more fun. If you are interested in creating your own type of water bottle you can and choose the size, style, and colors.
Tote bag
A tote bag is great because it is wonderful for the environment. So many times when are you shopping you use plastic or paper bags and that means that they are simply going into the landfills (in most cases). Instead, you can use a reusable bag and bring it to the store and easily put the groceries inside of it and use it instead. You also can use the tot bag if you are heading to the beach or need a more sturdy bag that you don’t won’t rip right away. Again, you can brand the bag if you would like with your logo or business name. What an easy way to look like you are doing a good job in the community!
Coozie
A coozie is great in the summer to put your cold or warm beverage on the outside so that it doesn’t make your hands uncomfortable. Put your logo on it and be a walking billboard for others.
Yeti
A yeti will be slightly more expensive, but not by much! A yeti is a great gift if you know the person loves the outdoors. If you fill your yeti up with cold water, the yeti will keep it cold for way longer than a normal water bottle. It also is perfect for coffee lovers and they don’t enjoy drinking it all right away. Just like all of these items, a yeti can be branded. You also could make it a nice and personalized gift and add the persons name to it.
Mug
When you go into many people’s mug area in their kitchen, it typically is made up of so many different colors and kinds. It doesn’t seem like many people specifically have a matching set. If they do, they also have other ones from various other areas. Some people collect mugs from places they have visited. Some people love coffee and tea and make sure to have a lot on hand. A mug is an inexpensive and fun tchotchkes to have or purchase for someone.
Tshirt
A T-shirt is one of the easy tchotchkes that people can never have too many of. The only tricky thing is having the right size for so many different types of people. We recommend if you are giving this you can let them choose their own size. If you already give them away for marketing purposes, for example, you probably have a lot of different sizes in stock. When you are ordering them in bulk, make sure you order more sizes that are a lot more common like mediums and larges.
As you can see, there are so many great tchotchkes that you can purchase or you can give as a quick and fun gift. We hope that this list helped and you are on your way to a great gift for someone or at least understand a little bit more about what a tchotchke is.

 

Have you been considering owning a home? Perhaps you are ready to take the chance but don’t know where to start. Perhaps you own a home but are wondering if the perks are everything that it has stated in the past. Regardless of where you are in your housing journey, there are so many great home buying perks. Keep reading as the Vancouver mortgage broker experts explain what the biggest perks of owning a home are. You won’t believe some of them!

An investment in the future

The first reason is that it can end up being such a wonderful investment. You have probably heard time and time again that when you rent, you are throwing away money. We are here to tell you that that is so true. When you pay a mortgage, you are paying it towards something you can end up owning outright. When you are paying rent, you are paying for someone else’s mortgage in which they will end up owning the home or apartment outright. Which would you rather do? Have your money go towards someone else or go directly back into an investment. On top of that, the housing market goes up over time. So, what you paid for your house today should go way up in the future depending how far down the road you sell it. So, not only are you locking in a mortgage, but you are locking in a lower mortgage than you would be paying in the future for rent. Investing in real estate is a wonderful asset to your future.

A place to call home

It’s always great to have a place to call home. Whether that means you are calling it home, you and your spouse are calling it home, or your entire family is able to call it home, it’s so nice to be able to have a home base that you trust. Typically, when you are renting, you are going from place to place. You don’t have a place that feels like yours. If the landlord suddenly wants to sell the properly then you need to move. Owning a home is a feeling of security that you don’t get while renting.

Design it yourself

One of the best parts about having a home is that you can make it yours. That means if you want to change the color of a wall, you can paint it whatever color you want, you can choose. If you want to take down a wall or add a room, you can do that. You can make the value of the home more by adding something like beautiful hardwood floors. The options are endless.

Stop having a landlord

Having a landlord can sometimes have its perks. You can ask them to fix something if something is broken. Let’s be honest though, that’s about it. Having a landlord means you know that someone else technically owns the home or apartment that you are living in. Having a landlord means that they may be someone you don’t get along with. If you own your home, you never have to deal with having a landlord again.

No more deposits

It seems as though you never really get your deposit back, am I right? The apartment or home always ends up finding things wrong, even if it’s just normal wear and tear. When you are moving frequently you end up having to write a lot of deposit checks. That means it ends up costing you a lot more money to be renting. If you purchase a home, you don’t write any deposits for the home and you don’t in the future too. In fact, if you rented out the home in the future, you would be the one collecting the deposit checks.

You can have animals

Many homes or apartments that are for rent don’t allow animals. This is especially true if it’s a larger animal or a not so normal animal like chickens. If you own your home, you can have whatever animals you want in it. That means, that Pitbull that you have always wanted to get, you are able to get them and bring them into your life without asking permission. If you are looking to live on a farm, you an have as many animals as you want and not have to worry about someone saying no or getting in trouble for having a specific animal.

You own a home

Ultimately, a wonderful perk is that you own the home. The home is yours. You don’t need to worry about someone dropping by. This home is yours and you know that you are doing something great currently and for your future. Owning a home has a lot of benefits as you can see, but it being YOURS is one of the best ones of all.
As you can see, owning a home can have so many amazing perks. One of the biggest perks of course is that it can be such a wonderful investment. Whether that investment pays off in just a couple years, or it is a long-term investment for your retirement, it’s always a great idea to start as soon as you have the down payment. Finally, say goodbye to renting once and for all and contact a mortgage company to see what type of mortgage you can get to start having the great benefits of owning a home. We hope that this list helped, and you leaked some wonderful perks about owning a home. Good luck with your home buying process!

 

Relationships are fragile, and they need to be handled with care. This applies to all relationships and includes marriages too. There is no doubt that the institute of marriage is under stress and perhaps even under real threat. According to some figures, 50 percent of first marriages end in divorce. While that number remained more or less the same, the number of couples divorcing and breaking up their marriage has also increased. This is because more numbers of couples are getting married when compared to what it was thirty years ago. The rates of divorce depend on a number of factors. These include religious beliefs, education levels of the partners, economic conditions, and other such factors. Sexual incompatibility is also another big reason for many marriages to fall by the wayside.

Problems With Divorces

The breakup of any relationship is a tough one, and it is all the more challenging for the couples when they decide to break up their marriage and file for divorces. The challenges become even more pronounced when the couples have children out of their marriages. It certainly is stressful for the couples and even more stressed out are the children. Divorces lead to a situation of uncertainty about the future, and there is also quite a bit of ambivalence associated with it.

Children who are victims of divorce by their parents often suffer from many emotional and other problems. These include feeling neglected and abandoned, having a sense of guilt, being angry, and so on. They tend to become withdrawn while many children might exhibit suffer from irrational and violent behaviors. Hence, it is always better to make efforts to salvage and protect a marriage rather than breaking it up. While quite a few things could be done in this direction, hiring the right marriage counseling in Charleston SC is often considered to be a sensible decision. We are listing down some of the main reasons how hiring a marriage counselor could be helpful in salvaging a marriage and prevent a relationship from crumbling beyond repair.

Helps In Restoring Communication

Lack of positive communication is one of the main reasons for the break up of relationships between married couples. When things become soured, couples often indulge in negative communication. This leaves the other partner insecure, disgraced, disregarded, and also depressed. They might then become withdrawn and may not be willing to engage in a conversation. Hiring a professional marriage counselor could help in setting the groundwork for positive communication where each of them tries to look at their positive traits rather than the negative traits.

Overcoming The Trauma Associated With Affair

There is no doubt that one of the couples would find it extremely difficult to overcome the trauma associated with the affair of the other partner. In many cases, the trauma is so deep that it cannot be repaired. However, when the advice and counseling of professional counselors are taken, it could help in many cases. It does take quite a bit of commitment and heart/mind that is ready to forgive and move on with life. If the couples are willing to give the relationship a second chance, the role of a counselor could become quite important. They could help them to find out ways by which the couples can leave the past behind and look to the future.

When The Partners Do Not Know The Next Step

There are situations where the couples do realize that things are not working out properly as far as their marriages are concerned. However, the problem is that they do not know how to take things forward. They allow things to drift, and procrastinating becomes the norm. This could be quite damaging, and the distance between them could increase. Taking the help of a professional counselor is recommended in such a situation. They would be in a position to look at the problem dispassionately from a distance and suggest measures and steps that both the husband and wife should take to sort things out.

Marriage Is Not About Occupying The Same Space

Many marriages fall by the wayside because husbands and wives tend to become roommates rather than a life partner. They may just be spending time doing their chores rather than doing things together. This leads to a breakdown of communication, empathy, and understanding. The best way to solve such a situation is to get in touch with a marriage counselor. He or she could help in restoring the lines of communication and make them understand the importance of living together rather than sharing a common space as roommates.

Conclusion

Getting into a marriage is easy, but making it work, and preventing it from failing is a challenge. If situations are getting out of hand, both the man and woman should sit down and decide to take outside help from marriage counselors to salvage the situation.

Have you been looking at your money lately and thinking about where to put it? Perhaps you are thinking that it’s time to start saving. Perhaps you are thinking about the stock market may be a great place to go to. Perhaps you are suddenly wondering about retirement and curious how you even get there. These are all normal questions. Guess what? A financial advisor may be the perfect option for you. Keep reading as we talk about how a financial advisor can help you reach your goals.

Allows you to lay it all out
Doesn’t it feel amazing to speak with someone that just gets it? Someone that won’t judge you and is there simply to help. Someone that wants you to succeed and get you on track in order to do so. That is what a financial advisor can do for you. Many people need direction. They need to be able to explain everything to someone and then have a little push and guidance in order to get the results they are looking for. This is what a financial advisor can do for you. A financial advisor is not there to judge you. If you are able to feel comfortable about telling the advisor things and explain exactly what is going on with them, they will be able to better understand you and therefore help you.

Helps you create goals
Sometimes you may know what your goals are, but you have no idea how to get there. Perhaps you have no idea what your goals should even be. For example, perhaps you are trying to save for retirement or you are trying to save for a downpayment. How much money do you actually need in order to do that? Having a financial advisor can take all of your factors into consideration and help you plan for these milestones. They can help you by listening to your goals and help you to set completely realistic goals together that are realistic to follow. Does that sound like the goals that you want to create with someone that knows what they are talking about? You are probably shaking your head, yes.

Talk about retirement
Retirement can feel like a scary subject. How much do I need in order to retire? How old will I be when I retire? What about inflation? How much will I have in retirement? How much will I be able to spend in retirement each year if I save X amount of money? These are all important to note and something that you need to understand. Whether you are 20 years old or 55 years old, retirement should always be a topic of conversation so that you are prepared and feel prepared throughout your entire life.

Comes up with a plan
One of the most important things that a financial advisor can do for you is to come up with a plan. This means that they can work with you on how much you make, what your bills are each month, how much you are spending, and calculate what your goals are. This will allow you to know how much you need to be saving every month in order to make those a reality.

Shares money-saving tips
At the end of the day, it’s always wonderful to hear some money-saving tips. Whether you need to cut down on your monthly budget a lot and you need to know the larger ones, or you are simply wanting to put in a little money here and a little money there in order to get to your goals, money-saving tips will help you reach your goals no matter how big or small they are. When you have a trained professional that is looking at how much you need in order to reach your goals, they will be able to specify the types of money-saving tips you will need.

Helps educate you
Sometimes money can be very overwhelming. This is a normal feeling. When you speak with a financial advisor, they are able to put things in more simple everyday terms. Many terms and the language used in finance can be tricky. There are special names for this and that. You want it to be in black and white so that it is easy to understand. A financial advisor can help to explain to you what you are seeing.

Is educated
The final benefit of working with a financial advisor is that you are working with a trained professional. That means that you are speaking to someone that has gone to school or taken a course on what they are talking about, they understand the stock market and the risks associated with it, and they are able to relay all of that to your financial goals and current status. You can always tell how educated someone is when you are speaking to them about a particular subject. When it comes to your hard-earned money, you want to be speaking with someone that is very educated so that you get the best possible outcome. Working with a financial advisor will do just that.

As you can see, there are so many great advantages of going to a financial advisor. Although you also want to take your time in choosing a financial advisor, and go and speak with multiple so that you choose someone that you feel comfortable with. Of course, any financial advisor should not be judgemental and should be helpful, but a certain one may connect with you a little more which will allow you to feel a little more comfortable. We hope that this article helps and you are on your way to choosing a great financial advisor that can help you save money and live the life of your dreams.

 

Have you ever had an amazing experience at a hotel? It not only makes your evening, your sleep, and your time better, but it just adds to an overall better experience within the city you are visiting. That is what people since when they have a great experience staying at a hotel. A hotel doesn’t even need to be a 5-star hotel to still have a 5-star experience. That is why these hotel industry experiences are so important. We are going to give you some tips on exactly how to give your guests who are staying in your Bed & Breakfast or any other place you’re having overnight paying guests a great overall experience. Keep reading to learn more.

Add a breakfast
Do you notice your guests leave happier when they have food and leave full? Having breakfast at the hotel is an easy thing for your hotel to add and it makes it a much better experience for the guest. Even if they don’t choose to eat it, they leave knowing they could have and that there was that option. If you run a less expensive hotel, you can still have out a dry breakfast and still leave customers happy. Make sure you keep a staff member on hand to consistently put out new food and refill items that need it.

Have someone always available
It’s important that someone is always available and friendly to help at the front desk. When someone wants to check in or check out, the last thing they feel like doing is spending 20 minutes standing in line. Make sure that you have multiple staff members at the front desk, this is especially important when you know the busy times are near. Also, have a trusted front desk worker during less busy times that are still great with customer service when someone needs any assistance.

Ensure everything is clean
This is the most important thing you can do. Even when you trust your employees, make sure that you do regular checks to ensure everything is being done properly. Check the linens and towels. When people are really careful how clean their room is, they will check in the hard to reach places. This is what makes them feel happier and trustworthy that you have cleaned the other areas of the room and the hotel. Make sure that this is being done at all times.

The customer is always right
In the end, it’s important to remember that almost always, the customer is always right. This means that you need to make sure each staff member knows this. Make sure they are polite to the customer even if they think the customer is in the wrong. Of course, this is all to a point but it’s important that the customer gets what they want. This will help to create a great overall experience for them.

Make sure they leave on a happy note
Just like ensuring the customer is right, it’s just as important that they leave on a happy note. Make sure you ask if there is anything they need before they leave. Make sure you are leaving any questions or issues and concerns they have answered and cleared up so that when they walk out those doors they are left with a good overall taste of the hotel and nothing negative.

Always ask if they have any other questions
It’s important if they have any questions that it is cleared up. That is why at the beginning you should ask if they have any questions. You can always ask them during breakfast as well and then again when they leave. Customer service is one of your most important jobs and asking them if they need any assistance or answering any questions is a great way to do this.

Give local recommendations
A great thing you can do is to give local recommendations. This could mean a great place to eat close by and a local favorite or even activities in the area that are perfect for their age group or for their interests. You can leave little fliers out near the front desk and when they are checking in, ask if they would like any recommendations or already have their plans ready to go. Even if they do, these kinds of little details let the guest know you care and are wanting them to have a great experience in the city and at your hotel.

Stay on top of quiet hours
The last thing most hotel guests want is a bad night sleep. One of the things that can contribute to this is having a noisy hotel. If there are any loud guests past 10 pm, it’s important that you ask them to be quiet and to ensure this takes place. Having a noisy evening will create a very bad overall experience for your guests. Although people may leave early in the morning just to be leaving and to catch a flight etc, if you find it is very loud and bothersome, it’s also a good idea to remind these people of the quiet hours.

As you can see, there are so many things that you can be doing to ensure your guests have a great overall experience at your hotel. Chances are if they enjoyed themselves, they will be back if they are in the area again. Allowing them to have a great experience will also give you better odds of getting a great review from them online as well as telling their friends about their experience. We hope these quick tips help you with the hotel you have.