Welcome to EVLiving.com - An eastern phoenix blog !

East Valley is a booming area within the Greater Phoenix region. If you don’t know what this implies, this means that there is always something interesting that's happening! The question is - how do you keep up with East Valley's awesome places and events when there is little information about it on the web?

We asked the same question, and it has lead to the creation of EVLiving.com.

EV Living

What You Can Expect From The Site

Important News - we don't cover every news that simply pop-up within East Valley. That's a newspaper's job; and frankly, that's a bit boring. We handpick only the most awesome and interesting East Valley news for you.

Big Events - EVLiving.com provides you with the significant upcoming events in East Valley. This ensures that you don't miss anything memorable and exciting.

Awesome Spots - as mentioned before, East Valley is a growing area. There is always a new fantastic spot that's worth your interest. We will give you the details and the location, so you can enjoy and experience East Valley yourself.

ELiving.com is a Eastern Phoenix blog that is truly dedicated to bringing you the best of the best in East Valley. We regularly update the site, thus it is a good idea to give us a visit periodically.

What To Choose- Dividend Or Systematic Withdrawal Plan

What To Choose- Dividend Or Systematic Withdrawal Plan

Investors in mutual funds can structure the manner in which they get the profits from their venture as a profit or capital gains by picking the dividend and growth choices individually. A brisk recap of the manner in which mutual funds produce returns won’t come awry here to comprehend these choices. 

A mutual reserve gathers the commitments made by various investors and puts the cash in an arrangement of value and obligation instruments relying on the speculation goal of the plan. The portfolio procures dividends on the offers held, intrigue income on the bonds and debentures, and capital increases or misfortunes on the protections held in the portfolio. The consolidated returns earned from every one of these sources are reflected in the net resource esteem (NAV) of the plan, which is the net of the expenses related to the plan. 

Picking Desired Option 

Mutual funds offer the profit alternative and the growth choice for investors to choose how they need to appreciate the profits. 

The choice of dividend has been at the foundation of numerous misinterpretations that investors in mutual funds hold. 

Investors accept that the dividend is an extra return they get, similar to the dividends on value shares, far beyond the addition in the NAV. In any case, in a mutual reserve, the NAV speaks to the whole case that every unit held by the financial specialist has on the profits produced by the mutual store and any profit paid is out of this NAV. The NAV will, consequently, go down to the degree of profit paid. 

In the growth choice, the speculator decides to let the venture develop till they need the funds and afterward recover the units as required. In the growth choice, the arrival is adapted uniquely at the hour of recovery. The NAV mirrors the estimation of the units and the profits are permitted to compound over the time of holding. 

What’s The Right Decision To The Choices? 

A superior method to create ordinary incomes from mutual store ventures is to reclaim units occasionally to the degree required. Not at all like the profit alternative where there is no assurance on the measure of profit and the profit choice is made by the store the executives, mutual funds give the office of systematic withdrawal plan (SWP) where investors can determine the measure of cash required and the periodicity and the mutual reserve will execute it by recovering the necessary number of units. Utilizing the SWP choice gives assurance of income that isn’t there in the profit choice. 

The Role Of Taxation

The profit and growth choices were set up to contend with one another since the tax treatment of profits as dividends and as capital additions were taxed in an unexpected way. 

In any case, with a 10% profit circulation tax presently being forced on dividends that are appropriated and a long haul capital addition tax of 10% on increases over ₹1 lakh per annum if there should be an occurrence of value funds, and a profit conveyance tax of 25% and LTCG of 20% with indexation benefits on obligation funds, the decision turns into somewhat more nuanced.

What’s The Best Option?

SWP can be the best option for this purpose for everyone and majorly for the people who are going to retire soon or who are retired from their jobs to save a lot of taxes and withdraw a fixed amount regularly each month. For this purpose, you can even view some Systematic Withdrawal Plan Calculator and check your withdrawal and taxable amount easily.

Moss Agate And Its Powers

Moss Agate And Its Powers

Throughout the centuries, holistic healers have utilized the spiritual and healing properties found in Moss Agates. Whether it be to bring about the balance or wellness for themselves and their clients, or as a means of healing one’s chakras. However, these healing stones aren’t just for holistic healers anymore! Many people are beginning to take the power of these stones within their own hands. But, how do you find the Moss Agate that will be appropriate for you?

Finding the appropriate Moss Agate for your needs might be difficult. However, once you begin to understand their history and power; it will be easy to select the right ones. The primary use of moss agates throughout history has been for healing or spiritual purposes. However, during these times the gems were thought to be rare. Causing them to be available for a select few. Luckily, today they are more readily accessible to everyone who wants them.

There are a few people who are skeptical about the powers of these stones. However, the powers of these stones are even recognized by modern science. You may not know that they are utilized in watches, lasers, computers, and even in potencies. Regardless of this backing of science, they still have yet to prove or disprove their ability to promote physical healing in the body.

These semi-precious stones have magnetic powers in varying degrees. Of which many are extremely beneficial for the use of healing on the human form. They are known to emit small vibrations and frequencies that have a strong potential to affect our being. In many different religions and practices, these gems are used for healing, transforming, attuning, and balancing the body mind and soul. Used frequently to activate our own personal abilities to soothe, comfort, heal and balance one’s self in many different aspects.

However, despite the abilities of these stones; many people still have yet to experience the healing ways of these agates. Some of the first steps you will need to know about agates, is how to cleanse them of any past energies.

The agate in question should be cleaned either by leaving them under running water for six to eight hours. Or can also be buried in the earth overnight. Otherwise, you can place them over the flame of a candle until it melts. Once you have cleaned your agate, it should be placed in direct sunlight for purification; as it is a wonderful source of energy.

Remember, you should wear your stones. They are of little use to you when sitting in a jewelry box. Having a healing moss agate with you at all times can help to heal your body, mind, and spirit; with little to no effort on your part. Simply being in tune with the stone, and allowing it to work its energy over your body is enough.

Once you have decided to embark on the quest for knowledge about these healing gemstones, you will need to have an open mind and heart. There are many different theories out there about why and how the healing powers of agates work; however, some can become convoluted and jaded with time. Simply believe in the stones, and allow the energy to work its own kind of magic.

Some Online Friendships Are Better Than The Real Ones

Some Online Friendships Are Better Than The Real Ones

Some online friends are really far better than your actual friends with whom you do meet on an everyday basis. Friendship does not develop by juts meeting regularly, you need to hold a special bond and mutual respect for each other if you want your friendship to last for longer time periods. This connection can be developed online as well and without even meeting for once. 

People use applications to judge their levels which cannot be correct at all as you may hold a special bond but your thinking may vary with the other person. There is not such a Friendship Calculator to judge your friendship level and comfort you feel when you talk with each other but at least with these calculators, you can sense what your friend’s mindset is likely to be.

When you make friends you look for some similarities for the first time, you look for the vibes and your intuition that may suggest to you if it’s right or not. We can never really judge a person by talking to them once. But, you can get an idea about the other person’s personality by judging the way of talking. 

Maybe you have a friend to whom you have to know for years and met sometimes even in reality but still can’t get those positive vibes. On the other hand, you made an online friend on some social media account and you get those vibes that this friendship will work. Even when you feel confident and positive from your end the other person experiences the same vibe as the other person can sense it through your tone of talking.

There are many people who have never met even for a single time in their life but still share every feeling with each other. Maybe, the other person is living far miles away from you can connect with your more as compared to those who are just living beside your apartment. If you are able to connect with someone more comfortably, your friendship can work for a very long time. 

Some people are more likely to be interesting while they are texting and when you meet them in person, they turn up into something different for the very first time. There are only some online friendships that work far better than real friendships, but nowadays with the technology taking over we have more virtual friends as compared to real friends and we share most of the feelings with our online friends as compared to the real ones. 

The most dominant part behind these online friendships is the technology and some internet applications which allows you to make more friends by just swiping right to your preferences. There is a very rare case in these type of platforms that your friendship is going to work for a long time as you never know how many people are chatting with each other at the same time and even if you are getting a strong vibe, it can turn out to be a dud with so many people involved. But in case both you have got some similar connections and you are able to connect after all these things your friendship or bind is going to go further for sure.

Best money transfer apps to use today

Best money transfer apps to use today

There are numerous money transfer apps online that anybody can use. However, it’s crucial to figure out the apps which are the best for the purpose. To make things simpler for you, we present you this list of the best money transfer apps along with their features.

  1. OFX 

OFX is the ideal money transfer app for paying out truckloads of money abroad. The platform supports currencies from many countries of the world. A live exchange rate money converter enables you to secure the most ideal trade rates on the date of transfer. There is no limit to the number of transactions. This is something that is interesting about this app.

  1. PayPal 

PayPal has been around longer than most other money transfer apps. People and businesses all over the world are now familiarized with PayPal. PayPal has a broad system of nations that you can send funds to and it’s protected. For transfers within the U.S., PayPal takes 2.9% commission on the transaction and also a 30 cent fee. For international transactions, above the 2.9% cut, PayPal charges $2.99 for transfers to Canada or Europe, while the rate for other countries is $4.99. The fixed transaction fee changes from nation-to-nation. To find the exact currency exchange rate for a country you can use tools like the PayPal currency converter. PayPal currency converter calculates the transaction fee that PayPal charges and shows you the amount that will be received at the other end. PayPal is an efficient tool for sending funds to remote zones that you may not generally approach. 

  1. Square’s Cash App 

If you are searching for a brisk and simple app that covers almost all of your bills, then Square’s Cash App is a good option to go with. It does not charge any fee for peer-to-peer transfers. You can even make an available website page that enables individuals to make payments to you without spending anything in the name of transaction fees. This is one of the simplest and easiest money transfer apps to use.

  1. TransferWise 

TransferWise is a perfect pick for individuals who need to send money to family, companions, or organizations globally. Their transaction fees are insignificant contrasted with banks and their currency conversion rates are ensured for as long as 29 hours. Unlike OFX, they don’t have any minimum limit on the transfer amount. This enables you to send a smaller amount of funds if necessary. 

  1. WorldRemit 

WorldRemit is best utilized for the transfer of small amounts to individuals around the globe. With its wide index of qualifying nations, low expenses, and an assortment of ways beneficiaries can get to their money, it’s a handy tool to transfer funds overseas. WorldRemit processes international money transfers instantly, and that makes it an appealing app for global transactions.

Those were some of the best money transfer apps you can use today. There are a lot more apps out there. But, none of them are as good as the ones in the list.

Benefits of meditation

Benefits of meditation

Meditation was practiced in India for long and there were many benefits that were listed.

People claimed that it can reduce stress, can slow aging, improve concentration and much more. These benefits were too good to believe and hence, researchers from all over the world spent years to find out if it’s all true. So, after numerous experiments, test cases and researches, they found out that not only were these claims true, but there are many more benefits of meditation which most of us don’t know. So, in this article, I am going to tell you about 5 major benefits of Meditation.

  1. So, the first benefit is that it physically changes your brain. There was a study conducted in 2011 at Harvard led by Dr. SaraLazer found that meditating for just 8 weeks increases your brain size in 3 beneficial areas. The Left Hippocampus which is responsible for learning ability and ability to retain information, The Posterior Cingulate Cortex which is responsible for controlling where your mind wanders and Temporal Parietal Junction which is responsible for empathy and compassion. Meditation just doesn’t grow the good areas of our brain but also decreases the areas which are responsible for some not so good things like the same study found out that after practicing meditation for 8 weeks, there was decrease in cell volume in Amygdala which is the area of the brain responsible for fear, anxiety, and stress.
  2. Now the second benefit of meditation is that it reduces bad feelings. Meditating regularly can help reduce stress, overcome depression and reduce anxiety. Now stress isn’t that bad for us, in fact, a little stress is healthy and can help us keep motivated but in today’s world, most of us take a lot of stress which in turn is not healthy for us. Meditation forms like Om Yoga not only help us manage our stress better but also dramatically reduce the side effects of stress. Studies have shown that practicing Om Yoga can help overcome depression. It is as effective as anti-depressant drugs and results showed that people treated with meditation had 31% fewer chances of relapsing. A similar study in 2014 done by Dr. Elizabeth Hoge proved that meditation helps reduce anxiety symptoms for those who are suffering from a general anxiety disorder.
  3. The third benefit of meditation is that it helps us overcome bad habits. Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex is a part of the brain which is responsible for willpower. A study conducted in 2015 proved that meditation stimulates growth in this part of the brain resulting in increased willpower.
  4. The fourth benefit of meditation is that it increases concentration and helps us focus better. Now, there was this experiment conducted where people were asked to perform some extremely boring tasks like finding the differences between drawn lines. It was seen that people who had the habit of meditating regularly performed much better than other people. In our day to day life, we see that people who practice meditation can sit for longer hours in the office and can focus readily on the task assigned. Students who meditate regularly can perform better in studies and can focus better on the courses for a longer duration of time.
  5. The fifth benefit of meditation is that it is extremely healthy. A study conducted on older people at the University of California, Los Angeles found that it decreases the amount of C – reactive protein in the blood which directly correlates with heart disease. The same study found a significant drop in inflammation in the body. Regular meditation can decrease high blood pressure. It also has a direct effect on our body at the genetic level.

So, friends, these were the 5 most common benefits of meditation. I hope that this article will motivate you to join Yoga Classes today.

Steps to initiate a conversation

Steps to initiate a conversation

Learning how to start a conversation is considered to be a challenging task for many individuals. Initializing a conversation with others is considered to be one of the most challenging social experiences among most individuals. While most people are under the impression that you must be an extroverted person, or that you need to know a great deal about an assortment of topics in order to learn how to start a conversation, this simply is not true.

In order to learn how to successfully initialize a conversation with others, you must possess an interest in people, have a passion for others and truly care about others, in general. Throughout this guide, you will learn a few steps on how to start a conversation with others – whether you know them or not.

Increase Your Confidence

The first step to initializing a conversation with another individual is to ensure that you are comfortable with yourself. It is essential that you are not self-conscious. It is also critical to eliminate any type of judgmental thinking that you may have – about yourself, as well as others. Most people that have issues starting conversations are not truly insecure with the people that they will be communicating with. They are insecure about themselves.

If you have a genuine interest in others, do not let the insecurity that you have in yourself interfered with your ability to openly communicate with others. Remember, most people are instantly drawn to others. They are especially drawn to those that know how to start a conversation. Most everyone wants to communicate, but are insecure in taking the lead. By having confidence in yourself and by knowing others truly do want to converse with you, it is likely that you will discover the simplicity of starting conversations.

Searching Beneath the Cover

We are constantly judging books by their covers – despite all of the warnings not to do so. It is imperative that you avoid falling into the trap of dismissing individuals based on their general appearance. You should develop the mindset that each person that you come in contact with is much like a book. Despite the cover, there are still millions upon millions of words contained between the front cover and the back cover.

If you want to learn how to start a conversation, it is important that you strive to discover the story beneath the “cover” of the person that you come in contact with. It is important to ensure that you are paying attention to every single person that you meet and all of the events that are taking place around you. By taking this step, you will find that you develop a wide array of things to discuss – regardless of who you come in contact with.

Take an Interest in Others

Individuals love it when people take an avid interest in them. However, they are able to quickly identify those that are displaying a phony interest. If you want to develop your conversation skills, it is essential that you become naturally inquisitive about each and every single individual that you are around. Learn to offer individuals compliments, learn to listen and learn to ask random questions. If you find it difficult to bring out random questions to ask, I suggest you should try a random question maker. A random question maker is basically a tool that generates questions on various topics that will help you to start a conversation with anyone. 

If you want to learn how to start a conversation, you must understand that the majority of your skill is not in how much you talk, but how much you listen. By keeping this fact in your mind, you will quickly find that many enjoy talking with you. While it is true that you will do your fair share of talking in a conversation, being able to listen effectively to those that you come in contact with will result in better and even more productive conversations.

How to calculate GPA and CGPA

How to calculate GPA and CGPA

What are GPA and CGPA and how to calculate your GPA and CGPA? I will explain with step-by-step all necessary points in the calculation of GPA and CGPA. So let’s get started.

GPA stands for grade point average. GPA is defined as the total grade points earned divided by the total credits taken. GPA is equal to the sum of total credit hours per course, multiplied grade received per course, then divided by the total number of credit hours per semester. Let me explain this formula for GPA calculation. We need to follow four easy steps only. 

Firstly, multiply each numeric grade value by the number of credits the course worth. Secondly, add these numbers together. This is the total number of quality points. Thirdly, add a total of credit hours per semester. Finally, divide the total number of credit hours per semester by the total number of quality points. 

Here, one very important thing you must know about GPA is scale. The standard GPA is based on a 4.0 scale. It will vary from university to university. You will find this scale in your syllabus, University websites and administration office of the university.

After understanding GPA calculation now I am going to explain what CGPA is and how to calculate CGPA. CGPA is also known as Cumulative Grade Point Average or overall GPA. CGPA is used in schools and colleges to measure the overall academic performance of a student. We can use the following formula to calculate CGPA: CGPA is equal to the sum of GPA of all semesters divided by the sum of credit of all courses.

Let me explain the calculation of CGPA with the help of an example. 

Let’s assume a student has 24 credit hours in 1st semester and got a GPA 3.5, in 2nd semester 25 credit hours and got a GPA 3.2. First, we will multiply credit hours with GPA, here in semester one 24 credit hours multiplied with GPA 3.5 we get weight 84 average GPA in semester one. In 2nd semester we again multiply 25 credit hours with GPA 3.2 we get 80 weight average GPA in semester two. Now we add 84 weight average GPA and 80 weight average GPA, we get 164 total weight average GPA. Now we add 24 credit hours and 25 credit hours of each semester, we get a total of 49 credit hours. In last, we divide 164 total of weight average GPA by 49 total credit hours, we get 3.35 CGPA. I hope you understood this concept.

Different countries have their own grading standards. India’s grading system is based on percentages. However, in some universities of India CGPA has come into existence. If you are a student from India and looking for an alternate way to calculate your CGPA, then you can use an online tool to convert percentage to CGPA. Search the internet and you will come across many websites and tools that convert percentage to CGPA. You can simply use any one of those to get your CGPA.

How Gratuity Saved Me From Financial Crisis

How Gratuity Saved Me From Financial Crisis

Wondering how can gratuity save anyone? Well, I was a working professional and I worked for a reputed company for more than 26 years before my retirement at the age of 52. The main reason behind leaving my job was the marriage of my daughter. 

During my working period at that company, I was able to save some amount in my bank account and due to that savings, I was able to cope up with my daughter’s marriage. Even though I didn’t have any idea about the expenses for all the functions and arrangements, I started preparing for functions with the money I had in my account. 

I was hoping that the money in my account would be enough to bear all the expenses but some small expenses came to me during the arrangements and those expenses hit really hard on my bank account. I managed all the functions with the money that was there in my bank account but all my money got exhausted. 

There was a time when I was helpless and so much tensed with all the burden and suddenly a notification popped up on my phone. After watching that notification, I went into self-analysis, whether it is real or not. I got a message that your gratuity fund of rupees 4,12,150 has been processed and credited your account. This is the best ever notification that I have ever seen on my phone till date. 

All my stress and burden suddenly went away and thanks to gratuity who saved me from this financial crisis. Before some days prior marriage I was looking to Find My Gratuity Pay but due to all these sudden preparations for all these functions, the thought of gratuity never came to my mind. Now, I was really happy that at least all the functions and ceremonies will go smoothly without any issues. I used half of the amount in some extra preparations and fulfilled all the areas where it was lacking before. 

This is how hard work pays you off. If you have served well in some field you are definitely going to get your pay not now but someday when you will be needy and desperate, you will also experience this kind of wonderful feeling. A feeling of joy, a feeling of happiness, a feeling of accomplishment, and you will be filled with immense happiness after such instances. 

If you are a good person, you have done good deeds to people, you are loyal towards what you are doing throughout your life, your wishes will also come true. It can take time but soon all those wishes will be fulfilled in your life. 

This was my wish to marry my daughter in a good family and she should never feel dissatisfied with her marriage preparations. This is what happened to me, now I am happy and I feel thankful to that company who recognized my loyalty towards work and helped me in this way. Gratuity really saved me from the financial crisis that I was going to face if this thing has never happened. 

How to turn your passion for video games into a career

Is there a better career option than the one that lets you do what you love and get paid for it? Now, if you point out that it depends on how much you will get paid, let me tell you that the satisfaction you will get from doing what you love is way better than doing something you do not love. In the case of gaming, it is a dream come true if you make a career in gaming. Why? Because everyone loves gaming. To build a career around something you love is something that not everybody gets the chance to do. 

Having said all that, is it easy to make a career in gaming? Read on to find out.

You could be into hardcore game development, or you could be in the creative team. In any case, you will be building something you are passionate about.

Career options

There are many career options when it comes to gaming. Here are some of the most popular ones:

  1. Game developer
  2. Game designer
  3. Game Tester
  4. Game advertiser
  5. Professional gamer

I have been associated with people in the gaming world and I have known the energy and teamwork involved in the process of creating a game, testing a game and everything else. 

That makes it a good reason to pursue a career in the gaming industry

Talking about the monetary aspect, the average annual salary of a gaming professional is $90,000. Don’t be surprised. This is just the beginning. The video game industry is a growing industry and soon the level of income from this industry will be much higher.

How to get into the gaming industry?

Getting into the gaming industry can be tough. There is no doubt about it. However, with the right skills and passion, you can enter this industry. Degrees in specific fields would be really useful besides your passion for gaming. To start with, you can apply for internship programs in the top companies. That can be your ticket to this industry. However, make sure to put all your heart and soul into your work when you are in the internship stage. That is how you get into the gaming industry.

What is the biggest misconception about gaming professionals?

The biggest misconception of people is that video gaming professionals get to play games all day. If you are thinking of starting a career in this industry to play games all the time, you are mistaken. More than playing games, gaming professionals spend their time in testing and verifying tools like LOL ping test checker. Tools like LOL ping test checker help League of Legends gamers determine the ping from their location to the server locations.

Conclusion

That is how you can turn your passion for video games into a career. I hope you found some useful information out of this article. Share your thoughts in the comment section below. Also, make sure to come back for more interesting articles like this in the future.

Roblox – a gaming platform on the rise

Roblox – a gaming platform on the rise

Roblox is a popular multiplayer gaming platform where you can play games with other gamers online and create games of your own. To play this game on your computer, you have to make sure that your system has the following requirements:

  • For PC/Windows: Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, or Windows 10.
  • For Mac: 10.7 (Lion) or higher
  • Chrome OS: Chrome OS version 53 or above
  • 1.8 GHz processor and 512 MB of RAM.
  • Fast Internet connection

After downloading the game from the official website, you can customize the character you want to play. There are a variety of things to choose from the catalog. These things are created by other users of the game. There are also items that are served by the Roblox company. When you make the choices for your character, you portray the games character with your preferences and style.

The games let you choose models for your character, meaning you can choose images and create your avatar. This makes you have your own identity in the game and you can create your own little world as you keep playing. To do this, you can use multiple gears from the catalog. These gears will help you in the game and make you a better player. 

There are options for subscription and if you opt for it, you can get exclusive virtual goodies in the game. These goodies are not accessible to other players. They will either have to make a purchase from the Roblox store or use a robux generator to get these premium items. The downside of a robux generator is that sometimes it just doesn’t work. However, there is always a chance that you get some free stuff using this tool.

One thing that I really like about Roblox is that it lets me list my creations on the Roblox catalog. This is where other users can see them and use them in their games. I can even sell some of my creations on Roblox groups. 

There are over 15 million types of games you can play in Roblox. You can choose a genre and start playing the game you like the most. You can create custom worlds using block style elements that often make your created world appear like a maze. If you ask me, the best part about the game is that it is custom made. There is a different kind of fun in designing and building your own game from scratch.

Roblox has been a game loved by gamers from all over the world. It has become extremely popular now and new gamers are coming to the platform every single day. I just hope that the game becomes even more popular so that it stays with the gaming community for many more years to come.

Those were my thoughts on Roblox. Did you find something useful from this post? What more do you want to know about Roblox? Please let me know in the comments.