the U.S. Census Bureau data indicats that there has been a sharp rise in number of kids staying with their grandparent or grandparents between 2007 and 2008. In 2000, total number of American children living with their grandparnets was 2.5 million, wich rose to 2.9 million in 2008. ThIere has been a sharp rise of 6% in this figure between 2007 and 2008.

It has been found that 41% of children (4 out of every 10) who live with their grandparents are also raised by the grandparents only. In the analyzed period (between 2000 and 2008), the number of grandparents functioning as a prinary caregiver to the American kids has also increased to 2.8 million in 2008 from 2.4 million in 2004, which is an 8% increase. 5% of which has increased between 2007 and 2008. It seems recession definetly has affected the way family unit organize itself in the US.

Nielsen BuzzMetrics has done a thorough study to gauge the mood of the consumers, and for that the company sieve through 45,000 Usenet forums, 8,000 discussion forums, and 135 million blogs. According to the Nielsen Company, the main focus was on finding the following:

• How are consumers reacting?
• How are card companies communicating changes?
• What actions do consumers plan to take?
• Who is to blame?
• Which companies are being implicated?

The study revealed that buzz related to Credit Card Act tipped off big time in May 2009, and it continued making round until it petered out n February 2010, when the law was put into effect. (See image for trend).

People who went gaga on the announcement of Credit Card Act 2009 started to oppose it when Obama signed the bill to make it a law. People have many complains ranging from having not enough protection to fear of misuse by the company, etc. Only time will tell how justified this fear is, meanwhile see the image below to get the complete data.

Plan and prioritize your projects so that you don’t feel overwhelmed by having too many things to do at the last minute.  Figure out what you need to complete now, so that you can push a few things off until later.  By creating a schedule ladder of importance, you can focus on the tasks and complete them with plenty of time.  Taking the stress off, allowing you to relax a bit, and keeping you happy as well as productive.

Remember to take your breaks.  Even if you have a ton of work, and you want to skip a break to work through it, don’t!  Skipping your breaks will only make you feel more disheartened and overwhelmed.  Take that break so you can get some fresh air, maybe a cup of coffee, and relax for a few minutes.  You’ll feel better, and will work more effectively when you resume your duties.

Know when to ask for help.  Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s just finding a solution to a problem that you can’t solve yourself at the moment.  What’s worse that having to ask for help, is not getting your work done because you didn’t.  Failing on your own instead of succeeding with help should never sound like the better option.

Always stay polite and courteous no matter what.  Keeping in a positive mind with a positive attitude is the best way to work through the problematic times.  By staying positive you’ll feel better, as will the people around you.  You’ll all get more done, and you’ll be much less apt to get overwhelmed, or feel unhappy at your job.

-Try thinking positively about the job you hate.  Consider the positive parts, such as the fact that you are lucky enough to have a job during this turmoil.  The fact that you have reliable enough work that you’ve stayed employed, and have been able to live more comfortably than many other Americans.  Thinking about your good fortune is a great way to bring that smile out.

-Set time limits on your tasks, to see if you can accomplish your goals.  This is almost a tactic to make a game out of the monotony you may suffer if you hate your job.  Also this helps you get faster, and better at accomplishing your tasks.  The appearance of becoming a better, harder worker, could help you advance into a higher position that you won’t hate.

-Take an interest in your coworkers.  Make friends, and be positive and good natured with them.  Creating a better work environment around you can really help how you feel at work.  A great way to do that is improve your relations with those around you, creating a friendly environment that you can enjoy.

-Finally, just because you have a job, doesn’t mean you can’t look for a different one.  Try looking for other opportunities that may serve you better.  Something that you can really get into, and have a true passion for, unlike your current job.  Just make sure to keep that knowledge silent, as some employers take personal offence when their employees look for work elsewhere.  The last thing you want is to lose the job you have, because you were looking for a different one.

Every application needs a cover letter, and a cover letter is your chance to shine.  So take advantage of that opportunity and be original.  The last thing you want in a cover letter is to sound mundane, or like the cover letter is the same form that you’ve sent to every other company you’ve applied.  Personalize and let your personality show.  That’s what a cover letter is for.  Sell yourself, and let your originality shine, and that will make your cover letter stand out from the rest.  Just remember to remain professional and courteous.

Being persistent means letting the company know who you are.  After you’ve turned in an application make sure to follow up.  That means waiting a few days, and then visiting the company again to check on the status of your application.  This shows initiative and a genuine desire to work.  That gives you an edge as most people think the process is done after submitting an application.

Finally, remember once you have that interview, the job is far from done.  Be confident, and do your research.  You need to know what you’re talking about here, because a bad interview will always lose you the job opportunity.  Stay positive, and confident, and know your facts concerning the company.  Use those facts to work for you, and to outline your desire to work there.  Performing that to great effect will make you a top candidate for the job, and will best increase your chances for landing the position as quickly as possible.

Thinking about what a hiring manager considers, your career objective says to them whether you fit in at that corporation, or not.  You want your career objectives to immediately follow your contact information on your resume.  Having your career objectives first up in your information points out what you want, and what you want to contribute immediately.  This way if you write your objectives effectively, you’ve already got the interviewer’s attention, and more importantly their interest.

The biggest key to writing your career objectives, is to tailor them to each position you apply for.  Writing a generic objective that doesn’t apply to that company directly shows a lack of attention to detail.  Or worse, too little commitment to even think about that company specifically when writing your resume.  Tailor those objective statements to fit that company.  Your career goals that you hope to get from them should apply to that job specifically.  The same with what you give to that job opportunity.  Make sure they have a slant towards that job specifically.

Competition for jobs gets all the more fierce when faced with a recession, so avoid some of the common objective pitfalls.  This means avoiding commonly used phrases that will make your resume seem generic.  Avoid terms like “opportunity for advancement” when applying for a job.  Of course that’s what you want, that’s the whole point.  Don’t waste an interviewer’s time by telling them something they already know.  Instead, use the space for something more unique, and more important.

One good way to develop a little bit of money easily is through writing articles online.  There are a variety of websites that pay decently for articles.  You can find them fairly easily through any search engine, or job search engine.  They don’t usually pay enough for you to make a living from the articles alone, but they are quick to complete and pay a decent rate.  As these pile up over the years you’ll find your savings growing, and writing is a lot of fun.

Try blogging on for size.  A blog is a great way to build up a little money through advertising.  As long as you write quality content that keeps people reading, you’ll be successful.  Just network yourself, and use a program like Google’s Adsense to make the most out of your money.  They pay fairly well, and a successful blog could end up making you more money than your day job.

Finally, if you put in the work in article writing or blog writing, another great way to make extra money through those is through affiliate marketing.  This is where a company actually pays you to talk about their product.  You have to have a fairly popular blog, or be renown for your articles, but it’s a fast way to earn a lot of cash quickly.  Plus usually you get free products so that you can try them out before you write about them.  That’s a win-win scenario, and it puts more money in your savings account.

First off, ensure that you know the situation.  If your company is basically on fire and jobs are falling left and right, and not even your boss seems to be safe, probably not the best place for a raise.  But if things seem fairly comfortable, with a few worries here and there, you could have a good shot.  Just make sure you don’t paint a target on your back by asking for more than the company will think you deserve.

Asses your worth to the company before asking for a raise.  If you find people have been laid off or fired in your department, but you have survived the scrutiny, there has to be a reason for that.  Asses your accomplishments and your skill set, so that you can see why the company values you.  This will give you good groundwork to make use of in an argument for why you deserve a raise.

Finally, using your track record as a resource, go in and ask for a raise with your previous accomplishments as your foundation.  Be prepared to get rejected, after all it’s recession, and this is more of a long shot than anything else.  But be courteous and stay positive, and illustrate this isn’t a deal breaker for you, as to whether or not you’ll stay with the company.  You’d just like a raise or a promotion for your continuing efforts in helping the team strive for success.  Make that point evident, and you’ll be fine.

- Firstly, dress appropriately.  I shouldn’t even have to mention this one, but some people undervalue the importance of looking well groomed and professional.  In other words, always leave the jeans and sneakers at home.

- Research, research, research.  Make sure you know the company you’re interviewing with as well as possible.  The in’s and out’s of what the company is about, how they function, and the goals they are working towards as specifically as possible.  The more information you know the easier that you can help conversation freely flow, which makes you look like a person interested and informed in the company to which you are applying.  That is always good.

- Ask real questions about the company and the position to outline your interest and willingness to get and excel at the job to which you are applying.   Don’t try to control the interview with your questions however, as that tactic fails about as often as it succeeds, but make yourself appear as interested as you are in the position.  Always do what you can to let the interviewer know that you want the job.

- Don’t be afraid to talk yourself up.  This is your interview, don’t waste your time by not making yourself look like the ideal candidate for the position to which you applied.  Go in confident, and outline the features you have that make you a fantastic candidate for the job, including your desire to do the job.  Stay away from suggesting you are the perfect candidate however, as this is more of a form statement made by too many people, and means nothing more than you are just trying to get a job.  Show real interest, it will make all the difference.

Of course there are many other factors that can determine how well an interview goes and your likelihood of getting a job after applying, but following those four steps is a fantastic start to helping you stand out from the rest of the applicants.

Make a plan about your business that outlines the service/product you intend to offer and the market segment you expect to reach. In order to execute an action , there has to be plan that governs all the steps that one intends to make. This will prepare you in advance for the many responsibilities that may arise as you undertake you mission step by step.

Create a website for yourself . There are thousands of website packages that allow you to build a website at an affordable price and even offers privacy protection.Organize your website to ensure that it is easy to navigate and attracts the attention of online navigators.This can be achieved though optimization of your website using tools such as SEO.Finally ensure that you have taken the necessary precautions to avoid Identity theft

As budget is the determining factor in any recession there are quite a few ways for you to advertise your services without having to spend a lot. E-mail marketing for example is a cheap way that guarantees this.E-mail marketing requires that one has to an organized database in operation and a system that manages the messages you intend to send out.

There are thousands of websites that claim to drive Internet traffic to ones website, this has to be carefully researched as at times there really is to gain to this , just spam and not Internet traffic. Another point is that in order to be aggressive in the market, one has to be aggressive to defend his/her product and brand, always check to ensure that untrue advertisements regarding your product are not made and that you are not hosting your competitor on your website!!

Understand the desires of your customers and always review blog posts to see what hey are saying. By doing so you will be informed as to what you need to offer your clients in order to stand out in the market by these very blog posts.

For those who do not have a product to offer at the time and may consider working as a freelancer special care should be taken when looking for at home jobs on the Internet. Never take a job that you have to pay for, after all that is the main reason you are behind a job, to get paid!!. I recommend Odesk, Elance if you wish to work as a freelancer using the Internet.