Archives for September 2021

4 Budget-Friendly Ways to Learn a Fun New Skill

Learning a new skill is not only a fun avenue to a new hobby, but the act of learning that skill can challenge your brain in new ways. This can lead to better cognitive function and can even reduce your chance of developing dementia. While learning a new skill can seem daunting, especially if you’re on a tight budget, there are a lot of options to ensure you don’t have to invest a lot to become a lifelong learner and find your new favorite pastime. 

Craft Store Classes
From small local shops to large chains, many craft stores offer classes on how to use their products. Take a weekend to explore the world of cake decorating or tackle that scrapbooking project you always wanted to do. These low-cost classes do require some investment in the form of materials and a nominal class fee, but they can be an excellent way to jumpstart a new hobby. Bonus? Attendees often have access to coupons to cover materials for your next out-of-class project.

Home Improvement Store Classes
Learn the basics when it comes to DIY. Your local home improvement store likely offers group classes that cover home improvement basics and fun projects. Whether you learn how to properly use a specific tool or discover how to DIY a wooden planter box, these lessons are sure to come in handy.

Local Clubs
While you might think joining a club is something you do after you have developed a particular skill, chances are your local clubs are interested in welcoming anyone with a penchant for their favorite hobby. There’s a club for almost every interest and skill level. If you’re unsure if your local club would welcome a beginner to the group, simply ask! You may find an avenue to hone a new skill and even a few lifelong friends.

Community College Courses
You don’t have to be seeking a degree to benefit from your local college. Classes are often welcome to community members and some colleges will even offer free or reduced course tuition to seniors or adults wishing to learn about a subject without receiving college credits. Brush up on your cooking skills, or deep dive into your love of Shakespeare without the stress of grades holding you back.

7 Great Up and Coming Career Options

As a new crop of high school grads heads off to college, it’s a good time to think about career majors and where the best jobs will be. Kiplinger’s business editors put themselves to work to identify some of the most promising career options we can expect to see going forward:

Speech/Language pathologist – Many speech therapists work with kids in school who stutter or have other language disorders. But in an aging population, they are also working with older people with hearing loss, a history of strokes, or other disorders related to aging. A licensed therapist will have a Master’s degree and earn about $70,000 annually.

Community Service Manager – An aging population increases the need for adult day care centers, meal delivery systems, and similar programs. With a bachelor’s degree in social work or public administration, a CSM can expect a yearly salary of about $60,000.

Computer systems analyst – In the nerd’s world we live in, a liberal arts degree and a talent for tech can prepare you to earn $80,000 per year or more by ensuring that an organization’s technological security needs are met and are constantly improving.

Apps developer – You may be able to earn more than $90,000 annually if you can develop new and better mobile strategies and/or computer operating systems. You will need a degree in computer science, software engineering or a related field.

Registered Nurse – Already the fifth largest workforce in America, registered nurses are expected to grow by some 450,000 jobs by 2024. A bachelor’s of science degree in nursing, or a diploma from an accredited nursing program, should command a median $66,000 annual salary.

Information security analyst – Thanks to an abundance of cybercrime, this career is growing by leaps and bounds. With a bachelor’s degree in computer science, programming or another tech-related field, and some experience as a network or systems administrator, you should be able to find work in government offices, hospitals or almost any large corporation and earn $90,000 a year or more.

Health services manager – These are the people who oversee the functions of an entire medical practice or facility or a specific department, such as clinical manager for, nursing, surgery or physical therapy. With a bachelor’s in health administration, you can expect to earn over $85,000 annually.