Following on from recent posts regarding the changing nature of this website there is a new page all about debt problems. This is going to be the main focus of this website going forward and several other pages have been/will be adapted to reflect this.

When the website was originally set up it focused on a particular business opportunity. This has now faded away and I am no longer involved in it. Other business opportunities have been and gone but, to be frank, I am rather dissillusioned with them all.

The lure of easy money tempts us all but there is no substitute for hard work and that is why I am now focused on a new project and why I'm still working at 23.24!

I already have a number of debt related sites such as Financeworx Debt Management and I will be working hard to promote them any way I can to achieve my objectives.

Rather than just hope enquiries come my way I have set a goal of 50 debt enquiries by the end of August. This might be ambitious as so far I have only had 1 but this is no time for excuses. A positive attitude is needed and I need to make it happen.

I'm also working on Debts 2 Go website and I've just posted an article on the blog about becoming debt free.

Why focus on debt? Debt is one of the growing areas in many people's life. Did you know total personal debt in the UK stands around £1.5 trillion?

The name of this site is Improve Your Future and for anyone who is struggling with debt an opportunity to reduce and ultimately become debt free would do just that.

It's not impossible no matter how bad your circumstances. It might be hard and you might have to make sacrifices but it will be worth it in the end.

Visit the debt problems page to find out more and to make an initial enquiry to see what can be offered. Some solutions can write off your debt by up to 70% before reducing your monthly repayments, making it easier and quicker to get out of debt.

I've launched a new blog on the Word Press website. You can find it by clicking - http://a21cntony3.wordpress.com/. I have put a permanent link to it in the "Navigation" links on the right hand side of this blog.

It's not my first Word Press blog (I previously used one on a website I worked on) but it is my first online blog at the Word Press site. It will deal with all of my website work plus random other stuff happening in life.

As I get so little time to update this blog it might seem a little strange to be taking another one on but my Word Press blog will be very much work orientated so will feature a lot more work content. This one can then deal with more personal stuff, rather than resembling a website promotion board.

I haven't finished changing the look and feel of it yet - primarily because I haven't learnt how to yet! The initial photo of a person walking in the countryside is quite nice though so maybe I won't change it too much.

My first post has been made though - http://a21cntony3.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/hello-world/ - dealing with my latest finance related website (car loans and car finance) and my new foray into camping.

My competition wins have been updated - Competition Wins 2010 - with another small win. No sign of a biggie at the moment even though I'm finding enough time (just about) to enter plenty via my favourite competition site - The Prizefinder.com.

This site has recently had a complete overhaul and the changes have not been universally well received. I have found it to be a change for the better, after the initial learning curve which comes with all change.

Fingers crossed for a big win soon - we could really do with it.

Not much time to post on the blog as I continue to try and work on a number of website projects. Early days for all of these so it's wait and see if any will be successful.

• Around Arnold

A local portal for Arnold, Nottingham. It can be incredibly difficult to find local events, tradesmen, classifieds etc, even with the full power of the internet at your fingertips. Having everything in one place should assist the folk of Arnold find everything they need within a 10 mile radius.

• SME Business Resources

Small and medium sized businesses often miss out on the best deals. This website aims to point them in the direction of a number of services specifically aimed at small businesses with cost savings and service improvements in mind.

There will also be business help and advice, articles, news and more.

• Car Loans

This site has been around for years and I used to look after it a few years ago. I'm now back with the aim of propelling it further up the search engine rankings.

It offers car loans to all types of applicants, tenants and homeowners, with good or bad credit histories. The site will also carry car loan news, motorsport, a new blog - it will be expanding with new pages and information at a rapid rate.

I started my first website in June 1999. At that time I new nothing about websites and got it built by a friend of a friend who owed me a favour.

In the following months, as I needed to update the site, I taught myself a little about html and went on from there. Throughout the last 11 years I have had a number of websites online and spent a fair proportion of that time earning enough from them to pay the bills.

I've never hit upon the idea that is going to make me a million, and I've put in lots of effort for fairly average rewards, but I live in hope every time I launch a new website!

Anyone can start a new business online. You don't necessarily need your own website, for instance there are many ebay traders who use the ebay platform exclusively.

If you do need your own website the domain name and hosting do not cost much and even if you need to get it built by a web designer there are plenty of freelance designers offering good deals.

Starting a business online is easy, making money online is much tougher. A website without visitors isn't going to generate much of an income.

Many people I know have come to me over the years with internet business ideas and wanted to launch new websites but have not thought about where they are going to get visitors from. This is the fundamental problem with most new websites.

So as well as a good idea you need to think about how to get that idea across to as many people as possible. This will usually involve promoting your business offline as well as online.

Does your new business have geographical limitations? If you are only offering your service in your local area promotion by way of leaflet drops and local advertising is the obvious first step.

It is also easier to achieve good positions in the organic search results quickly if you have a geographical limited keyphrase. eg. "plumber in Nottingham" rather than just "plumber".

A quick way to start a new business online is to buy a ready built website. We offer just such a service at Improve Your Future and along with the website comes a host of promotional ideas, help and advice.

For a very limited outlay you can be up and running with your new online business within 48 hours. To find out more follow this link - start a new online business - make money online.

2010 hasn't been a particularly good year so far. No competition wins for a start - a bit disappointing considering how many I've entered recently.

Plus the weather is playing havoc with travel plans and getting to work. Can't wait for the snow to go and things to get back to normal.

I've added a little free download to the free stuff page. This is an analysis tool for your computer. It tells you, amongst other things, the make and model of the motherboard and chipset. This is useful info for anyone looking to upgrade their computer.

I'm also working on a new project in conjunction with Britcover Home Insurance. They offer really good savings on home insurance, buildings insurance and contents insurance. If you are currently paying £20 or £30 each month you could be paying £10 or £15 instead. It adds up to a big money saving over the course of a year.

I will be posting more info on this and putting up a dedicated home insurance page on the site in the coming weeks.

Another site I've been promoting is The Online Business Directory. This lists businesses across the UK in a variety of categories. If your business has a website you can list for free and drive targeted traffic to your site.

Finally I have a number of items posted on Ebay for sale currently. If you are looking for a 42" rear projection TV, 6MP Olympus digital camera, King Keg half full of beer, Reddyvac vacuum cleaner, old computer bits or a DVD recorder visit my ebay page and get bidding!

Hope everyone had a good Christmas. Ours was very busy and I'm looking forward to a few days off now to relax (as much as you can with a 15 month old in the house!).

Nearly at the end of the year, in fact the end of the decade. It's a good time to look back on what's happened and take stock of the past, present and future.

2009 has ended well. My competition wins in December (three arriving in Christmas week) cheered me up no end. Although I have had a few problems this year, particularly with work, I am at least in work and nothing disastrous has happened this year in terms of death or illness.

We are a bit poorer financially than this time last year, a trend which looks like continuing for the forseeable future (lottery win permitting), but things could be a lot worse and there are plenty of people worse off than ourselves around the world.

I'm already looking forward to 2010. I've been hammering the competition entries over the last few days and am extremely confident that prizes will be showing up in January. I've already set up my 2010 competition wins page in anticipation.

I desperately need to lose weight and something drastic may need to be done on this front. My gym membership has had to be cancelled and I haven't had chance to try out my new running shoes with all of the snow and ice underfoot.

Need to do something with this website too. The money making DVD is still available as is the free money making ebook but neither have been making me any significant money so I'm looking at changing track. Not quite sure where to go at the moment but I have some time now to give it some thought and come up with some ideas.

Happy New Year to everyone. Hope 2010 brings you everything you wish for.

Our second competition to win a Samsung U600 mobile phone has now ended. There were about 500 plus entries and I will be making the draw this weekend after they have all been collated.

I've also won another prize myself, although I don't want to publish it until it arrives. I was very excited as it is something I can use and which I really wanted to win.

I've been unsubscribing from hundreds of email lists in the last couple of days. Most of these subscriptions arise from my competition entries.

Although I normally tick the box NOT to go on the mailing list sometimes I miss it in my rush to enter and for some comps subscribing to the mailing list is part of the terms of entry.

My competition inbox is getting too full now so I'm having a good clearout and trying to get my emails back down to a manageable level. It will slowly creep up again in a couple of months and I'll have to go through the whole process again but that is just the way it is.

There is no news on our next competition. I don't have a prize to hand so unless something turns up over the Christmas period (which could well happen), or a sponsor wants to offer a prize it will be a few months before the next prize draw.

I've just finished entering my competitions for today. It feels like ages since I had my last win. In fact it's just over a month according to my record of 2009 competition wins.

That was only a promotional glass, it's been a couple of months since my last "proper" win. My lack of success in comping this year pretty much mirrors how life has been this year.

Despite my best efforts we've really taken a couple of steps backwards this year. We're in a position where our income is not really enough to cover our outgoings. It certainly isn't going to cover extras such as a holiday or anything that is not absolutely essential.

It doesn't leave me very hopeful for 2010. We've already cut back about as much as is possible and most of our shopping is now done at the car boot. I don't want to buy anybody any Christmas presents this year. After all, what is the point of spending money we can't afford to buy presents that people don't really want?

Miserable, miserable, miserable. I just need something positive, something to go right to cheer me up.

I know I should count my blessings. I'm healthy, as are all of my family, and although life is a struggle financially it's not all about money.

I once read a book called "How to enjoy your life in spite of it all". Quite a long read considering the thought behind it was pretty simple. Too many people are striving to make their life's better in the future without enjoying the current blessings they have. Although I can see that this is correct, and that it applies to me as much as everyone else, it is very difficult to get into the right mindset to really enjoy life as it happens.

I find myself regularly looking towards retirement, wishing my life away, when I might not even make it that far! I bet retirement is not all its cracked up to be either.

So I need to sort out my current situation. I'm going to start some training in computers (CompTIA A+) as it is something I'm interested in and would enjoy doing as a job. This should also, in the fulness of time, lead to a better salary and perhaps enough to pay the bills with a (little) bit left over.

In the meantime I will continue to keep this site updated in the hope that it will eventually start to bring in some money. A bit of a vague plan but I'm finding less and less time to concentrate on it and give it the necessary focus.

Bottom line is I need to stop worrying and be happy. I'm putting a smile on my face now. Cheer up, life is good.

Can't believe this is my first post in November. Just haven't seemed to have the time to update the site or even write a few words.

My day job is getting in the way, causing me untold headaches and putting me under a fair bit of stress. I've had so much on my mind recently, none of it positive, and it's been a very unproductive time.

Hopefully this post will herald a return to a more regular blogging pattern as there are a few things coming up which will hopefully make me some money!

The first is selling trainers online. Through a contact on a car boot we've managed to source some ridiculously cheap Nike and Reebok shoes. They are originals, not copies, and should yield a few quid profit on each. We're trialling different adverts and prices on Ebay to see how it's all going to work and if the first few sell well we will look into getting some more.

We've also found a source for cheap food to sell at car boots and markets. It's either out-of-date or nearly out-of-date but most of the items are still going to be OK to eat. I've never had any problems with buying out-of-date stuff in the past, it's a good way of saving money.

The first order has been placed and is being picked up tomorrow with a view to running our first car boot stall this weekend, weather permitting.

I've also taken delivery of a great money making DVD. It contains over 60 CDs worth of stuff for resale. One sale will get my money back and then it's into profit.

It contains hundreds of ebooks, ringtones, clipart, hypnosis tracks and lots, lots more.

I'm going to be selling this DVD on this site for £4.99 and for people looking to make some extra cash you could do worse than get your own copy to re-sell yourselves.

Actually all of the stuff on it is worth far more than £4.99 and with so many different programs on there you are bound to find something useful or interesting for your own pleasure. It's an absolute no-brainer.

All being well this new money making DVD will be available by the weekend. Come back soon for your copy.

Our second competition is open for entries and we have to date received 182. Actually we have received a great many more than that, but unfortunately these were sent from an automated bulk entry system and have been deleted.

As a result of this attempt to cheat I have added an extra field into the comp form (post code) plus changed the validation question. This seems to have stopped the auto spammers for the time being.

If there is any question that other entries have been submitted via this method or that entrants are making multiple attempts to enter (remember it is only one entry per household) they too will be deleted.

It's only fair to the genuine competition entrants that people trying to gain this type of advantage are excluded.

Remember when entering competitions to check the rules before you enter if you are thinking of making multiple entries. Some competitions do allow them, or allow entries on a daily basis.

We don't, so keep your entries honest and you'll be in the draw for the mobile phone in December, despatched in time for Christmas.

Good luck to all.

The saving money page has been updated today with a new savings scheme from Scottish Friendly.

Their child bond enables you to save between £10 and £25 tax free for each of your children. It's tax free and available for long term savings from 10 years plus.

By investing over the long term you avoid the peaks and troughs of short term trading and should benefit from a steady growth giving your child a good start in life when they reach adulthood.

The child bond can be taken out in addition to an ISA, giving you even more tax-free allowances to use. And you don't have to be a parent to open one.

Grandparents, aunties, godparents - anyone can open a child bond for their nominated child.

Scottish Friendly also operate a Scottish Bond which has all of the benefits of the child bond but doesn't have to be used as a savings account for a child.

Anyone can take one out, Scottish or otherwise, and receive their proceeds tax-free when the bond matures.

A friendly society has the benefit of sharing out all of its profits between its members rather than paying shareholders. Currently they are offering £15 high street vouchers as an incentive to sign up for either bond.

Saving money tax-free makes a lot of sense. If you currently have savings in the bank and are paying tax on the interest you should consider moving some or all of it into a tax-free method of saving such as the Scottish Bond.

After all, no-one likes paying taxes and if it can be avoided (legally!) all the better. I'd rather have the money in my pocket than the chancellors.

Just about ready to get the new competition up and running. I'm charging the mobile phone as I write this, although it will need charging again nearer the time of despatch.

This blog post will form part of the terms and conditions of the competition so make sure you read it carefully. Basically the prize is as sent and any problems after are down to the winner!

The phone is currently locked to the Virgin Mobile network as it is a replacement phone sent by them for one that broke. It hasn't been used by me and still has the screen protectors on.

I found an old PAYG Virgin Mobile sim in the garage and have put it in. It is however showing "Limited Service" - this may mean that you just need to put credit onto it or register it or the sim may not be working. It is up to the winner whether they try to get the phone unlocked to another network, try and get it working with Virgin (or flog it on Ebay!!).

I found the original box for the phone and inside were earphones and USB cable, both still bagged as they have not been used. The charger, CD and manuals are also included and are in excellent condition.

Although this is a "new" phone I cannot provide you with any warranty. If it breaks in a months time then it's down to the winner to fix it. My original phone lasted about 10 months so I would expect that this new one should at least last that long!

OK, those are the rules, so to enter the competition visit the competitions page and follow the link.

The quest to make money online continues. I've had a little time to make a start on Financeworx and I've just remembered I have another site I could use, both for finance and business opportunities, called Cash 2U.

Again this site was set up ages ago and has been languishing without any effort being put into it. I need to get more visitors coming to all three sites to start making some sales and thus make some money.

That's the key to making money online - visitors. It doesn't matter what you're trying to sell online, carpets, light bulbs, accountancy services or business opportunities, without visitors to your website you are not going to make any sales.

There are a variety of ways to get traffic to your site, many of which are free but require time and effort listing your site. You can also pay for traffic by pay-per-click or participate in banner exchanges etc.

Once you start to make sales and make money you can apportion a percentage of your profit to ongoing marketing to keep traffic coming in and to continue making money online.

Getting started is the hard part and it can be a daunting prospect and easy to give up too quickly. Websites require a little time to gather some momentum and need plenty of work in the early days. But once the traffic starts coming in it can snowball.

When I have more time I will compile a list of traffic generation methods which will help anyone participating in the online business opportunities listed on this site. Sign up with me and you will have my support available by email 24/7 (Well you can email me 24/7 and I'll reply as soon as I get it!).

Still not cracked it. Business is slow on Improve Your Future so I've had a look round at other websites that have been left dormant.

One of these is Financeworx. This site deals with personal loans for tenants and homeowners as well as debt management and other finance related products.

I must have updated it at some point during 2009 as it has a 2009 copyright notice on it but I suspect that was done in January and since then I haven't touched it.

It is very out-of-date and needs work on pretty much every page. I've just added Google analytics to see whether it currently attracts any traffic and, when I get time, I will start to go through each page and replace all of the old programs with new ones.

I've got a few similar sites that are sitting idle, gathering dust, so once I get this back up-and-running I'll move onto some others to try and get some more visitors across a range of websites.

Hopefully I can get some referrals between sites and cross-sell on them. I have to do something. Last months bank statement is in and it looks like we are spending around £100 more than we are generating each month.

A slow, steady descent into the poorhouse beckons unless I can reverse this trend. So need to start generating some income quicker than I had anticipated.

Another competition prize received today. A Mighty Glass from Irn-Bru. Not exactly what I've been comping for but it will at least get used. I've added it to my competition wins for 2009 page.

As mentioned previously, the breakage of my laptop has meant I've entered very few comps in the last week and I don't know where I'm going to find the time to enter all of those I've missed.

I will have to be very selective and just enter the big ones where there is a holiday or big electronics prize involved. The rest will have to wait or just not get entered.

I'm just about up and running on my new computer. The final few bits of software I need are now in my possession, just have to get around to installing them. Then things will be back to normal.

However, for the future I need to think about what would happen if my computer breaks again, or is lost/stolen. I need a better form of data recovery to get myself moving in double quick time.

I have seen that there are online storage websites that might allow me to upload info on a daily/weekly basis. This might be the answer. I will have to try and find a free one.

Or alternatively I suppose I could use this website and just ftp everything on my hard drive every week. Could take a little time though. I would probably prefer a professional solution.

Anyway I'm back online and working hard now. My new competition will probably be delayed a few days, I'm thinking around the 20th October for a start date now.

Good luck to all of those that have entered the DVD competition. Only a couple of days until the results are announced!

Sorry, but it's been nearly a week since the last update on this website. A combination of things have happened/are happening that have led to this.

The most important is the demise of my old laptop. The screen packed up and it was beyond economical repair. After an awful lot of messing about I finally got it to work with an external monitor and have retrieved all of the data.

However now it is a matter of transferring all of this data to another computer and downloading all the software I need again.

Plus I need to get all my work stuff up and running first before I can spend any time on this site. So it could be a few more days before there are any substantial or interesting additions.

Note to competition entrants - no entries were lost, but I am now behind with compiling them all into a spreadsheet for selection purposes so it may take an extra couple of days to sort out the three winners.

We're also thinking of moving house. So we've been spending time getting it ready for sale, sorting out an Estate Agent (useless robdogs) to market it and looking at other houses to buy.

It's a time-consuming business, particularly trying to keep the house tidy and clutter-free for viewings when our one-year-old is intent on exactly the opposite!

Be patient, normal service will be resumed eventually. Keep checking back for further updates. Enjoy what's left of your weekend!