(NAPSI)—With a new year in full swing, self-evaluation is likely a common theme in manyU.S.households. In this frame of mind, many families are likely to assess spending and saving habits, crafting a plan for better budgeting.

When was the last time you took a serious look at your budget? If you’re due for a checkup, a number of tools and tips exist to help guide you through the budgeting process. You can find resources online, like budget worksheets that allow you to plug in your income and expenses and determine where there is room for adjustment. These are available for free to those who take the AllyWalletWise.com budget course.

The following five tips can help you create a budget that works for you:

• Envision the finish line: It’s hard to start a race without knowing where and when you will end. Decide on a financial goal—a big purchase you want to make, a debt you’d like to pay off or a savings fund goal—and use this as a motivational tool to commit to a budget.

• Put pen to paper: To best understand your current financial landscape, begin with a big-picture view. List household income, expenses and savings goals in an organized document (whether written or online). Don’t try to budget in your head.

• Balance your budget: Are you keeping expenses proportionate? Typically, housing costs should not account for more than one-third of your monthly take-home pay, while transportation costs should account for less than 20 percent, and savings between 5 percent and 10 percent.

• Dig up deals: You can easily “find” more money in your budget by cutting down on current expenses. First, identify which parts of your budget are considered wants—versus needs—and whether you’re willing to cut them out. Then look online for discounts and to review various service providers, like cell phone and cable, to see if any better deals are available.

• Aim for weekly check-ins: Decide who should be involved in the budgeting process and meet on a weekly basis to review finances, which will help you stay on track and remain accountable. Don’t wait until the end of the month, when making fixes will be harder. And remember, a sound budget requires regular review, since financial situations can change and unexpected events can occur.

Learn More: For information on basic budgeting guidelines or to take a free online budgeting course, visit Ally Bank’s financial education website, Wallet Wise, at www.AllyWalletWise.com.

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(NAPSI)—If you think your work skills are only useful at your current job, think again. Many of the skills acquired in the workforce can be used in related or even completely different careers, so there’s no need to stay in that dead-end job or keep trying for a job in an industry that’s losing them.

Many skills can be transferred and be an asset in another type of career. Although theU.S.unemployment rate is currently 8.3 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 3.4 million jobs open right now. Many employers have positions they believe they can’t fill and can’t find the “right” candidates to join their team. Many of these open jobs are in sales and other areas such as human resources, where skill sets are easily adapted to new organizations and industries.

While many employers are having a tough time finding “qualified” candidates to fill open jobs, the insurance industry is hiring, targeting efforts at career changers.

For example, The Guardian Life Insurance Company ofAmerica(Guardian) expects to increase its sales force by 5 percent, adding over 800 new members to its national distribution team in 80 agencies across theU.S.The company has seen that life insurance industry experience is not the only desirable background in this rapidly changing economic time and hopes to fill many of those positions with candidates from other walks of life.

While the pool of people who succeed in making the shift into the life insurance and financial advisory arena is diverse, they share certain characteristics, particularly the eagerness and overwhelming drive to make the opportunity their own and create a business for themselves.

Diverse business experience, well-developed interpersonal skills, a keen interest in financial success, a passion for lifelong learning, and professional training are important transferable skills for people most likely to thrive in the financial services environment.

Some 65 percent of the company’s representatives are career changers. Career changers tend to offer many great qualities: maturity, good judgment, professional comportment, knowledge of business etiquette, and experience. In addition, career changers are often self-starters, and while they may need training to assume their new responsibilities, they do not need an inordinate amount of hand-holding.

For many companies, hiring the “right stuff” means welcoming career changers. For more information, visit www.GuardianLife.com.

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(NAPSI)—It may not be summer here inNorth America, but no need to miss out on the freshness of the season. Nutritious and delicious fresh nectarines, blueberries and other delights fromChileare available all winter long in your grocery store.

It’s summer inChile, where the climate, soil and water yield consistently high-quality fruit that meets the highest assurance standards in the world. That’s good news, because natural fruits are not only good to eat, they’re good for you. A half cup of blueberries packs a bounty of fiber, vitamin C, potassium and antioxidants into only 40 sweet calories. Eating blueberries may also help prevent cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s.

Fresh fruits can satisfy a sweet tooth without adding unhealthy fat or excessive calories because fruits contain naturally occurring sugars in calorie-free plant fibers and water. They help you fill up without filling out.

Here’s a great way to enjoy summer fresh nectarines and blueberries:

Fresh Chilean Nectarine and Blueberry Cobbler

1? cups flour

½ cup sugar, divided

6 Tbsp. butter, cut into pieces

1½ Tbsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

¾ cup heavy cream, divided

4 cups fresh Chilean blueberries

1½ lbs. (6 medium) ripe Chilean nectarines, pitted and cut in eighths

Preheat oven to 350° F. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, ¼ cup of the sugar, butter, baking powder and salt. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside 1 Tbsp. of the cream. Add the remaining cream to flour mixture; process until dough starts to form a ball, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; gently pat it together. Divide dough into eight 2-inch balls; flatten into rounds; wrap and refrigerate at least 20 minutes. In a shallow 2½-quart baking dish, combine blueberries, nectarines and 3 Tbsp. of the sugar. Arrange dough rounds on top. Brush rounds with reserved cream; sprinkle with remaining 1 Tbsp. sugar. Bake until the filling bubbles and the topping has browned, about 50 minutes. Serves 8. Serve warm with ice cream, if desired.

Learn More

For more recipes, visit www.chileanfruitonline.com.

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(NAPSI)—If your lawn mower is more than 10 years old, it may be time to consider a replacement. In the past decade, engineering advances have produced gas-powered lawn mowers that run cleaner, start easier and are more fuel efficient than ever before, while providing a variety of options that make yard care easier.

Gas-powered mowers remain the No. 1 choice among homeowners, accounting for four out of every five mowers sold in theUnited States, according to The Stevenson Company, a leading consumer research organization. Lawn care experts say they aren’t surprised because gas mowers give consumers so many choices when it comes to power, price and options—something they don’t get with electric and battery-powered mowers, which are mainly an option for homeowners with small yards.

“Gas mowers provide a range of power to reliably mow any size yard and even tall, thick grass,” explains Rick Zeckmeister, a vice president at Briggs & Stratton Corporation, which engineers and manufactures gas engines for outdoor power equipment.

Today’s gas-powered lawn mowers, he points out, are also in tune with today’s environmentally conscious lifestyles. Since 1995, Briggs & Stratton has reduced carbon emissions produced by its gas engines by 75 percent. According to EPA statistics, all gas-powered outdoor power equipment combined accounts for less than half a percent of all carbon emissions in theU.S.(Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the U.S. Transportation Sector 1990?2003, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, EPA 420 R06 003, March 2006). Based on EPA statistics, if a family replaced a single 75-watt incandescent lightbulb with an equivalent compact fluorescent bulb in their home, it would more than offset the carbon emissions from using a gas walk-behind mower for an entire mowing season.

“Gas mowers have improved dramatically over the years in every way,” says Zeckmeister. “It would be like comparing a television from the 1990s to a new flat- screen LCD TV you would buy today.”

Other innovations and benefits of the newest gas mowers include:

• Easy starting, with a single pull of the starter rope or the push of a button, like in the newest cars;

• Improved fuel efficiency and advanced muffler systems that produce a more pleasant sound quality and less vibration;

• Ample engine power to mulch grass clippings while mowing, turning them into a natural fertilizer for the lawn;

• A variety of options to make mowing easier, from mowers that automatically adjust to the walking pace of the person mowing to digital dashboards that show the time, fuel level, maintenance reminders and other information.

Briggs & Stratton provides an online tutorial on how to select a lawn mower at www.yardsmarts.com.

For information on environmental and product performance considerations when choosing a new lawn mower, visit www.briggsandstratton.com.

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