Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Obtain a personal loan. Take out a home equity line of credit (HELOC). Take advantage of balance transfers. Avoid spending too much.

Answer: You consolidate your debt by taking out a loan in the amount of all of your debts. You then pay off each individual debt. Now, you have only one monthly payment, preferably at a much lower interest rate. You can get a personal loan from your bank or credit union. You should stop in and ask about interest rates and repayment periods. Ask if you can get the loan without a prepayment penalty. This will allow you to pay back the loan faster and reduce your overall debt. You can also get a personal loan from an online lender. Some online lenders specialize in personal loans for debt consolidation. Be wary. Most scammers operate on the Internet. Don't borrow from lenders that claim not to care about your credit score or require that you pay an advance fee. Instead of getting a personal loan, you might seek a HELOC. HELOCs are usually offered for a low interest rate, and you can spread out payments over a long time. However, a personal loan is much better than a HELOC because a personal loan is unsecured. This means that if you do have to file for bankruptcy, you can completely wipe out the debt in a Chapter 7. With a HELOC, by contrast, your bank will keep its lien on your home, which you can't get rid of in bankruptcy. For a small fee (usually around 4% of the balance) you can transfer debt from one card to another. For a limited amount of time (usually one year), you don't have to pay interest on the debt. Check to see if your credit cards allow you to use balance transfers. Make sure you are transferring to a card that doesn't have a balance. If it does, the balance already on the card will continue to accrue interest. If you have good credit, you might take out a new credit card. Often, credit cards offer a promotional period of 12-18 months where you won't be charged interest on your balance transfers. Once you consolidate debt, you might gain some breathing room. However, you can't immediately start spending again. For this reason, you should come up with a budget even if you consolidate debt. To pay off debt as quickly as possible, funnel all extra money to debt repayment.

Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Look for signs of a fracture. Distinguish between an open and closed fracture. Know when to go to the veterinarian. Be prepared for surgery.

Answer: You may be able to tell that your hamster is in pain. He might not be as active or won't want to move at all. Other signs that your hamster has a fracture include: Swelling A crackling or popping sound (from the broken bone rubbing against itself) The bone visibly sticking out of the open wound (which is rare) Once you suspect your hamster has a broken bone, you need to determine what type of a break he has. If it's an open fracture, the white of the bone will be visibly poking through the skin. If he has a closed fracture, the bones aren't visible and there's no skin wound. Instead, the broken bones remain sealed within the muscles of the leg. If your hamster has a closed fracture, you will notice: Dragging of the leg The hamster avoids putting weight on the leg A crunching sensation beneath your fingers when you gently feel the area If your hamster has an open fracture, you must visit the vet. You won't be able to treat this kind of break at home and without medical treatment, your hamster will get infected bone stumps, leading to general tissue infection, blood poisoning, and death. This is slow and painful for your hamster, so get immediate help. You should be prepared for the vet to suggest euthanasia, to prevent the hamster from suffering. If there's no medical option to treat the leg, euthanasia will save your pet from pain and suffering. If your hamster has an open fracture, the veterinarian may suggest that the best course of treatment is amputating the limb, or trying to fix the fracture. Both of these are high risk procedures which need to be done under strict sterile surgical conditions in order to avoid infection. Your hamster will need anesthesia to deal with the pain. Be aware that the procedure is high risk and there is a high likelihood of the hamster passing away Do not try to replace the bone ends under the skin without anesthesia, since this is incredibly painful for your hamster. It should only be done under trained medical supervision. Do not give pain relief at home since the small size of the hamster makes it inevitable you will overdose the hamster. Too much pain relief is harmful and could cause gastric ulcers or death.

Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Pick a goal. Research options for learning. Choose the best option. Experiment with learning. Evaluate your results and milestones. Refine your approach.

Answer:
Look at the changes you want to make to Measurably Improve Your Quality of Life. Which goals require you to learn more before you can confidently make the change you want? Look for a goal you could start on now, without too much time required. In this case, the goal we have chosen is to take better care of our body. Then we are going to break it down. What elements go along with taking better care of our body? Study as early as possible. Get plenty of sleep Eat healthy food Drink plenty of water Get exercise Brainstorm criteria for which options you are attracted to and which you are not. Are you interested in researching on the internet? Do you want to talk with a nutritionist or a fitness instructor? If you have difficulty when paying attention while reading, would magazine articles be an effective option for learning? Trust your intuition. If heading down a certain path doesn't feel right, don't go that way! If you begin reading on ways to improve your sleep habits, and the information is not something you would be willing to use in your own life, then stop reading, and find a different resource. Do not continue simply because it is information coming from an "expert" or because "everyone is doing it". The information has to be useful to you. Refine your goal with research. As you begin to look into ways to take better care of your body you may discover there is one element that you really want to focus on. This narrows your goal from "I want to take better care of my body" to "I want to take better care of my body by eating a healthier diet." Find someone who has done what you want to do and have them show you. If you know someone who has changed elements of their lifestyle, such as exercising more or implementing a healthier way of eating, talk to them. Find out what they did, how they did it and where they found their information. Do research on the internet, take a class, interview others, and find a mentor. Try out different varieties of learning to see which one works best for you. Pick something that is possible to do in your environment, that you can work on constructively within your timeframe, and that you can do successfully with the energy and attention you have. Do not decide to take a nutrition class if you are already pressed for time and won't have time to attend. Instead, take a smaller piece, such as following a nutritional plan. Whatever it is, it needs to be something you can effectively add to your life. Consider time constraints, geographic constraints, and your mental state. Do not bring more stress to your life by taking on more than what works for your life circumstances. Learning should add to the quality of your life, not take away from it. Schedule a time of day for learning and practicing what you learn. Having a set time for learning can help motivate you to continue the process. Develop the habit of paying attention to what you want to learn or improve upon. "Emotions drive attention. Attention drives learning." Pay attention to your emotional reactions. If you are researching exercise options and find yourself resisting, explore why. What is it about exercising that is causing the reaction? There is a reason for resisting the learning experience. Don't become overwhelmed with all the choices. Sometimes we become distracted and overwhelmed by wanting to choose the "right" option. There is no "right" or "wrong"; it is about what works for you. Just pick one and try it! If it doesn't work, then pick another one. To effectively conduct an experiment you need to have a plan, a way to evaluate if the experiment is working and a time to reflect on the process and outcome. The learning process works the same way. Setting a specific criteria allows you to see if you have met it or not. When deciding on a nutritional plan do I want it to include 3 meals a day or do I need it to cover several smaller meals throughout the day? Be sure to have a method for keeping track of progress. Use whatever tools you have! Notebooks, phone, apps, computer, internet, calendar, blogs, etc. Keep reflecting on your progress. Do I still need more information or do I have what I need to begin a new sleep routine? Set milestones and stick to them. I want to find 3 new healthy dinner recipes to incorporate into my nutrition plan. Did you reach them? Did you learn enough to implement a new exercise plan? Have you found an effective way to improve your sleep habits? A reminder in your calendar will prompt you to reflect. Set a "check-in" date to evaluate the information you have learned; see if it is effective; is there is more you have realized that you need to know. What worked and what didn't? Why? If the learning approach you chose worked, then keep going with it. If not, go back and pick a different one and start experimenting!