If you are looking for a quiet, safe, and friendly place to live, consider a small town in Illinois. Each of the small cities and villages listed below offer great schools, affordable housing, good roads, great family restaurants and easy access to top hospitals.

Illinois is a great place to grow flowers and vegetables , so if you garden, Illinois is for you. The state has lots of rivers and creeks where you can find many trees and all kinds of wildlife. And you’ll find hunting and fishing is great throughout the state.

The following ten villages and cities have populations from 3,000 to 6,000.

• Arthur, an Amish community in central Illinois with great shops.
• Beardstown, located on the Illinois River.
• Sherman, a small village five miles north of Springfield, the state capital.
• Chatham, a growing village south of Springfield.
• Forsyth, just north of Decatur on Route 51.
• Havana, located on the Illinois River.
• Mt. Zion, a growing village west of Decatur, the home of Millikin University.
• Pickneyville, a small southern Illinois city.
  
• Rochester, located seven miles from Springfield.
• Shelbyville, located on Lake Shelbyville, a popular fishing, camping and boating area.

Falling prices have driven up dividend yields (in parenthesis) of the five largest United Kingdom bank stocks, with three yielding over seven percent.

• Barclays (7.41%)
• HBOS plc (8.98%)
• HSBC Holdings (4.33%)
• Lloyds TSB (2.43%)
• Royal Bank of Scotland (9.45%)

For more information about these banks, see buyupside.com

Silver is used in jewelery as well as many industrial products. It’s always in demand, and the companies that mine it can be profitable investing opportunities. Here are ten large silver mining companies with their stock symbols:

• Apex Silver Mines (SIL)
• Coeur D’Alene Mines (CDE)
• Endeavour Silver (EXK)
• Hecla Mining (HL)
• MAG silver (MVG)
• Mercator Minerals (ML.TO)
• Mines Management (MGN)
• Pan American Silver (PAAS)
• Silver Standard Resources (SSRI)
• Silver Wheaton (SLW)

See About Gold and Silver for more information about precious metals.

Here are 10 tips to help you “get rich” the old fashioned way:

• Make saving money top priority. Save as much money as you can. Save every penny. nickel, dime and dollar.
• Reduce your spending. Compile a list of your current expenses and spending habits. Identify areas where you can reduce spending. Do you need that latest gadget? Is bigger really better? Is more stuff necessary?
• Do not carry a credit card balance - ever. Pay off your monthly bill in full and get an interest-free loan. Pay off existing credit card debt.
• Do not use a home equity line of credit to pay off other debts or finance your spending. Keep building equity in your home. Using your home equity to pay for a vacation makes no sense.
• Determine how much money you need to accumulate for retirement. Use buyupside.com calculators for help.
• Determine how much money you need to save each month to meet your nest egg goal. Use buyupside.com calculators for help.
• Set up a regular saving and investment program. Each month automatically transfer money from your paycheck to your saving and investment accounts.
• Make the maximum contribution to your-employer sponsored retirement account. Select low-cost stock index or exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Avoid all managed mutual funds; their fees can significantly reduce your total return. Do not load up on your employer’s stock.
• Make the maximum contribution to an individual Roth IRA. Set up the account at a low-fee online broker. Buy and hold at least ten dividend-paying blue chip stocks such as Colgate-Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson, Pepsico, Proctor & Gamble and Wrigley.
• Learn about prudent investing styles and sound investment products. For example, owning blue chip stocks makes sense, but owning an annuity does not. Very high fees and contractual restrictions make annuities among the worst investments.

Related Articles and Books:

Control Your Spending and Increase Your Savings
EAT YOUR SPINACH: Spend Less & Invest More (And How To Do It)
Dave Ramsey Books About Money and Financial Planning
Suze Orman Books About Money and Financial Planning

Here are 10 large Dutch companies with histories of paying safe dividends:

• AEGON NV
• Corio NV
• Heijmans NV
• ING Groep NV
• Koninklijke Wessanen NV
• Oce NV
• USG People NV
• Van LanschotNV
• VastNed Retail NV
• Wereldhave NV

More details…