INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Do this when you know you like someone to prevent competition down the line. If you keep your feelings to yourself, your friend may never know how you feel. If you don’t inform your friend how you feel, it’s unfair to be upset if they start to like your crush too. To eliminate complications and get to the point, simply ask your friend directly who they like. You can do this after you’ve noticed your friend’s flirty or suggestive behavior. Or, do this as you mention your crush to see how they respond. This way, you are both honest and open about your feelings.  For example, you can say something like, “I think I’m going to ask Heidi out to prom. Do you know who you’re asking yet?” For example, your friend may mention that they’ve thought about your crush romantically but haven’t pursued it, that they have no feelings or your crush, or that your crush has expressed interested in them. If your friend tells you that they like your crush, explain to them that you like them too. This situation may be a bit awkward and uncomfortable, but the best thing to do is to be truthful and direct about your feelings. For instance, tell your friend how long you’ve liked your crush and how strong your feelings are. They may back off if they are interested in other people. Once you disclose your feelings, your friend may let you go after your crush, or they may get upset and defensive. At this point, choose if it’s worth it to lose your best friend. If you value your friendship more than the potential with your crush, explain that to your friend and go from there. If you’d rather go after your crush, know that you and your best friend may not be friends any longer.

SUMMARY: Tell your friend who you’re crushing on when you develop feelings. Ask your friend who they're crushing on. Bring up your concerns with your friend. Decide whether your crush is worth losing a friendship over.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: It is impossible to build consistent, high-volume traffic on your webpage without getting people to come back day after day. While you should always be on the hunt for new markets and viewers to tap into, you need to provide longtime readers a reason to keep coming back or your site will fall apart. Keep people updated on new information, and keep them engaged constantly. Soon they'll be sharing your site with others and you'll get more views, likes, shares, etc. You want your site to be a dependable source of information—the first place people turn when they open up their computers—no matter what your subject or topic. Everyone loves a contest, poll, or giveaway. Get people involved by asking for their opinions in the comments section or raffling off a website-themed prize. If you can get your community to interact with you, it will draw viewers to the page. Let your fans and followers know that you see them. When they leave a reply for you to see, they probably also expect an answer back. So by replying, they'll see that you do care about their comments and that you do see them. They'll admire you for being so kind to them and be a loyal member/fan/follower. That said, you cannot reply to everyone — be prudent and respond to viewers who seem interested in conversations. These will draw other people in and give your page more content.

SUMMARY: Know that most of your traffic will come from repeat viewers. Post new content 2-4 times a week. Offer ways for readers to get involved. Reply to your comments.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: An amortization schedule will help you understand your monthly payments and fit them into your budget. The benefit of creating your own spreadsheet is that you can save it on your own computer and print it out, which you can't do with the online calculators.  Most basic spreadsheet apps have amortization table templates built in. You also may be able to find a template for the spreadsheet app you use and download it for free online. Using a template will save you from having to enter the amortization formula manually. Your spreadsheet will have a separate line or row for each payment over the life of the loan. You may want to organize your spreadsheet so that the first half of the payments are on one side of the page and the other half run down the other side of the page, so you can see the whole table at a glance. The first column of your spreadsheet typically should be the date each payment will be made. Work with your spreadsheet functions to see if you can get these dates to auto-populate based on a formula rather than having to input each one manually. The two columns that provide the amount of each payment that goes to principal and the amount that goes to interest will be the most useful columns for you in comparing different loans or understanding how your loan is amortized.  In the beginning, you'll notice that more of your payment goes to interest than to principal. This is because interest is being computed on a larger amount of principal initially. As you pay down the principal, the interest you pay gradually decreases as well and more of your payment goes to principal. If you aren't using a specifically designed amortization table spreadsheet, you'll have to enter the code yourself for the amortization formula so that your spreadsheet will auto-populate these columns and you don't have to calculate each amount by hand. You may want to add an additional column for the interest rate. If you have a fixed-rate loan, you may feel this column is unnecessary, but it could be useful if you have an adjustable-rate loan. Unless you have an adjustable-rate loan, your monthly payments aren't going to change, so you can easily fill in the payments column using cut and paste.  Your overall balance typically should be the last column on the spreadsheet. Use the formula function to fill in the data for this column, showing the balance decline by the amount of each monthly payment. You also may want to include a column that shows how the principal balance (rather than the total payoff amount) is declining over time. To populate this column, create a formula that subtracts the amount of each payment applied to principal from the total remaining principal after each payment. If you have a fixed-rate loan, your amortization schedule will determine the amount of each monthly payment. This amount won't change unless you are late with a payment, at which point your lender will charge you late fees and other penalties.  Some lenders reserve the right to increase the interest rate if you are late on multiple payments, which could affect the amount of your monthly payment. Keep in mind that if you are late on a mortgage payment, you typically must continue to pay fees and penalties until your mortgage is brought current. This means if you skip one month's payment and then make the regular monthly payment the next month, you'll be charged for two months of late fees. In many cases, you can make extra payments each month and these will be applied entirely to the principal of your loan. Making extra payments, whether regularly or sporadically, can help reduce the amount of interest you have to pay. You'll also pay off your loan faster. With an amortization schedule you can create an extra column for extra payments. Enter extra payments to see how much sooner you can pay your loan off.

SUMMARY:
Download a template. Create a line for each payment. Include the date of each payment. Add columns for principal and interest. Set columns for your balance and payments. Make your payments on time. Evaluate the impact of extra payments.