If you are like most people then you probably spend most of your waking hours in the office. Which means…it’s a good idea to make your office space as comfortable as possible. Some do so by bringing home supplies to their workspace such as comfortable slippers, eating utensils, or even their favorite pillow for that after-lunch nap. Others try to decorate their room, cubicle or desk with personalized items such as photographs, significant trinkets and such.

If you find yourself unmotivated to start working in the morning, sleepy by the middle of the day and impatient to go home an hour before you can, then you might want to do something about your office space. A drab office space can really decrease your enthusiasm to work. Here are some decorating tips that you can use to liven up your workspace. Not only are they effective, but they are also easy to create with just a bit of online printing know-how.

A calendar is a must-have for any office table, but this doesn’t mean that you need to stick with those plain and boring desk calendars. Ensure that you have motivation the whole year round by personalizing your own calendar. For instance, each month can represent a beautiful vacation spot or a place that you’ve always wanted to go to. March can feature the tropical shores of Hawaii while April can show the romantic streets of Paris. Seeing the places that you have always dreamed of visiting will certainly put enough drive in you to work hard.

If your office space is bare and completely lacks personality then hanging posters on your table or walls can certainly improve its mood. Instead of buying generic posters from the bookstore, opt instead for pictures or words that have a lot of meaning for you. For instance, if you’re into photography, you can take a good picture that you’ve taken and have it blown up to a size of a poster. If you are an art fanatic, you can print a copy of your favorite painter’s masterpiece. Or you can also hang posters that have your favorite mottos or phrases.

Another common way of personalizing your workspace is to put framed photographs on your desk. Pictures of family, friends, pets and other loved ones can cheer you right up whenever you are feeling stressed out at work. These pictures can depict special occasions like holiday trips, graduations or birthdays. Or they can also be ordinary moments like hanging out at the park or enjoying a cup of coffee. Aside from pictures of the ones you love, you can even frame lyrics from your favorite song or poem to give you inspiration throughout the day.

They say that prices are supposed to drop when a technology becomes more widely used. According to Wikipedia, there are now over 271,000,000 cell phones in used in the United States, so why does it still cost upwards of $130+ just to get a half-way decent voice and data plan? Well, here are five proven ways to lower your monthly bill:

1. Employee/Student Discounts

If you work for a big company, or attend a big school, check with your provider to see if you’re eligible for a discount. For example, if you’re currently employed by Bank of America, Sprint offers a business employee discount of 23%. Work for General Electric? Get 20% off. Employee of American Express? 12% discount. There are thousands of different businesses and organizations participating. AT&T, Verizon, and others offer similar discount programs too, although they’re generally less lucrative.

2. Unused Add-Ons

Do you really need to pay $8.99/month for unlimited directory assistance? You can call 1-800-GOOG-411 for free! Why pay $9.99 a month for the navigation app, when you can download Google Maps for free? These types of add-ons and upgrades are huge money makers for the providers. Check your bill and see if you’re paying for any of these upsells… if you are, re-consider.

3. Credit Card Rewards For Spending On Wireless

As you know, there are a plethora of reward credit cards out there. Some give higher rebates for certain categories of spending. Did you know some of these credit cards give higher cashback for spending on wireless purchases – this includes your monthly bill! For example, the American Express Simply Cash card gives 5% cash back on this category. So just pay your cell phone bill with this charge card and that saves you 5%. The American Express Gold card also has above average rewards.

4. Paying Extra For Early Nights/Weekends

On most plans, free nights and weekends don’t start until 9 PM. However, many providers will start them at 6 or 7 PM if you pay an additional monthly fee. For many people, this is probably not worth the extra money, but for some it is. For example, I’m on the West Coast and frequently call back East (which is 3 hours ahead). For me, it makes sense to pay the $10 extra per month, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to call them for free until midnight their time!

5. Adding Mobile-To-Mobile

Some providers offer unlimited mobile-to-mobile for an additional monthly fee. Others offer it on their network only. Whatever the case, look over your bill and who you call the most. If a large chunk of your calls fall under this category, it may make sense to downgrade your anytime minutes and pay the $10 or so extra for this feature.  

So there you have it, five effective ways to save money on your monthly bill! Best of all, you can combine multiple strategies – i.e. getting your 5% discount by paying with your American Express card and taking advantage of your company discount. Use as many of these strategies as you can and you’ll be on your way to a much lower monthly payment!