Premium WordPress themes often come with a premium price, so in the past I’ve tended to try to use inexpensive free themes and customize them to my liking. I broke that pattern when I purchased the very-flexible Thesis theme last year and have enjoyed having more options, less manual customization and tons of features at my fingertips.

I know the Thesis theme, currently priced at $87 for the personal version and $164 for the developer’s version (which is the version you really should get if you try Thesis at all and have more than one site) is out of the price range of many people. Free themes are nice because they’re, well….free. But what if you want the look and features of a “premium” theme and are on a budget?

Here are three “premium” themes. All have advanced features (an ePanel that lets you make customizations with clicks rather than your code editing skills) and come with the Photoshop ready files to customize to your exact specifications.

The difference is that these aren’t priced like most “premium” themes and you’ll want to keep reading below for more information on that. You’ll be shocked at what they cost considering how amazing they look!

Look at this one…

Modest. It’s so clean and simple and orderly. Exactly what I like in a theme.

I love the “fat footer” at the bottom and the sliding photos in the center (which you can turn on or turn off).

I love how clean and crisp the text is against the monochromatic background. (You can click on the thumbnail of it to open a new window with a live preview if you’d like).

Feather is also clean and simple but has an extra little bonus of having colorization options built right into the design.

See all of that beautiful green-blue? It can easily be made taupe, white, silver and many other colors with one click. You can also change the texture of the background just as easily.

Again, I love the fat footer and the elements of the design like the story summaries with thumbnails can be turned on and off to make the design even more simple if you like.

A live preview of Feather is available if you click on the thumbnail. You can even test out the colorization and texture changes too.

Aggregate…..man, do I love this one! There’s so much to it that I couldn’t even make a small thumbnail just so you could appreciate all of the elements of this design.

First of all, that lovely photo of the masked woman is one slide of several slides (that you change to your own, of course) that make this theme really stand out. You can turn this image slider off if you like as well, making this a super-customizable theme.

See those four gray blocks on the right side? That’s an advertising management area where you can upload 125px ads. Love how the designer planned ahead for monetization!

Again, we have the fat footer which I absolutely love AND this theme is also easily colorized and texturized with just a couple of clicks. Just like the last two, you can click on the thumbnail for a live preview of this design in a new window. You won’t be sorry! =)

I think this theme makes a wonderful choice for any site that’s BIG in content and is updated frequently. Switching out the highlighted content on the front of this site is super easy and the clean and organized design draw the eye into the different sections. I seriously LOVE this theme.

Remember when I mentioned, “colorization” and “texturization” (I may have made up that second word!)? In the live preview of Feather and Aggregate you can see this bar on the left side that lets you toggle between colors and texture overlays to try out the theme and see the different combinations you can create with each theme.

Be sure to test out the really subtle textures that look almost like parchment paper and stone….they look great no matter which color you choose, but I personally like those textures in the lighter colors and the very dark colors like the dark brown. Very rich-looking!

Pricing

Ok, I mentioned that these were “premium” themes on a budget, and I didn’t lie….you really won’t believe what these cost if you’ve ever considered switching to a premium WordPress theme.

All three of these are $39. That’s it. Package-deal.

But it gets better….

Not only do you get all three of these themes for $39 for one year, but you also get all of the other SIXTY (plus!) themes that Elegant Themes has created AND all new themes that they release during your membership term!

As of right now, they’re releasing about two new themes a month so a year-long membership would mean the sixty PLUS themes that already exist plus 24 additional theme releases in the next 12 months.

…I sense that people are clicking away to Elegant Themes right now so I won’t bother going on. =) Let me know what you think once you join!

Yes, it appears to be true: Dropbox users are saving millions upon millions of files to their (usually) free Dropbox account every single hour.

An article on Mashable titled, “Dropbox Users Save 1 Million Files Every Five Minutes” talks about Dropbox’s exploding usage.

I’ve been using Dropbox and have found the service to be invaluable as I shuttle between school drop-offs, doctor’s appointments and other errands. Having my important files on hand wherever I am via the Dropbox app on my phone has been incredible. In fact, I even listen to music and audio book files via my Dropbox on my phone with earbuds while waiting in a lobby or taking a walk!

Files on Dropbox are synced between your computer, the Dropbox service and your phone so you always have access to the same files whether you’re at your computer, a friend’s computer or on the road.

You can join Dropbox for free and receive 2GB of file storage! Earn more storage space by installing Dropbox on your computer, taking a tour, putting files into your Dropbox and other tasks! I have 8GB of free storage already earned just for using the service.

Join Dropbox now!

In my neverending quest for a real organizing plan for my home and my small business, I’ve examined all kinds of systems, tools and planners. Not one of these systems that was pre-made by someone other than myself ever felt right. It always seemed like planners, calendars and other checklists and guides were great for whomever made them, but not a good fit for me.

A few months ago, I purchased a membership to ListPlanIt and I can honestly say that this is the answer I was looking for! If you like lists, and calendars, and planners, and guides and all of that other cool organizing stuff, you’re going to love ListPlanIt. I’ve been tweaking and playing with many of the resources on the ListPlanIt site for the past few months and wanted to pass on my review.

My review: Whew, let me tell you, Jen Tankersley of ListPlanIt has thought of everything. In fact, she’s thought of lists and guides and checklists that you and I could probably never think we needed until we realized we needed them! That’s happened a few times as I’ve browsed through my “download membership” and come across a list that seemed unusual, but once I opened the file I realized it was really useful!

ListPlanIt offers three types of memberships: print, download and professional. The print membership lets you print the lists directly from the website and fill them in manually. The download membership allows you to download the lists and in some cases, fill them in with your computer (editable PDF files). The professional membership is geared toward organizers and other professionals who have clients who need to get organized.

I have a download membership and I am simply amazed at how comprehensive these checklists, shopping lists, calendars and planners are. There are financial planning sheets, home management lists, lists to help manage shopping and gift-giving, checklists for keeping track of family milestones and events and much more.

What’s great is that Jen shows you how you can create a “home management binder” which is in the works here at my house as we speak. She has a great video that shows her binder and how she has it organized. You should definitely check that out when you stop by.

Jen also has a variety of checklists and planners that are perfect for small business owners too. She even includes financial worksheets for small businesses that help with income and expenses, tax deductions and more. My personal favorites in the small business category are the lists that deal with keeping track of marketing tasks and social media!

The value is also really incredible! My download membership didn’t cost me $15-$20 a month…no way! She has priced her memberships very affordably so everyone can benefit and get organized! A one-year download membership is only $30! That averages out to only $2.50 a month!

I could go on and on about the literally HUNDREDS of lists and planners on ListPlanIt but why not take a look yourself?

Here’s to getting organized!!

My Swagbucks Review

I’ve been a Swagbucks member for a few months and must say that it’s pretty fun! I’m a member of some other points programs such as Mypoints and My CokeRewards, but Swagbucks is the one that keeps me coming back day after day to earn points fast!

Swagbucks is free to join and the points add up fairly fast, which was a surprise to me when I first joined. There are several ways to win “Swagbucks” ranging from the 1 Swagbuck you earn each day for answering a fun poll to the many hundreds of Swagbucks you can earn by doing searches, shopping through the Swagbucks site or answering surveys and offers.

I personally do the poll every day as well as funnel my searches through the Swagbucks search engine. Swagbucks earned from searching can range from a very small amount (6 or 7 Swagbucks) to as many as 50 Swagbucks for a single search. From what I can see, the Swagbucks awarded are random and you don’t earn Swagbucks for every single search. But if I can earn 20-40 Swagbucks a day from doing something I normally do anyway (search!) then, well why not?

Swagbucks members can also earn additional matching Swagbucks when people they refer earn them. Considering that everyone does searches, usually several times a day anyway, it’s easy to see how these can add up fast!

Swagbucks can be redeemed for sweepstakes entries, prizes or, my favorite: gift cards!! The gift cards range in value from very small ($5) to very high depending on the store chosen. I personally like the Amazon gift cards because they can be selected at a very low $5 amount which is a nice little bonus when shopping online. I imagine there are people who hoard their Swagbucks and save up for something really cool, but I’m just not patient enough to do that! After just 450 Swagbucks you can get a $5 Amazon card and for only 700 Swagbucks you can get a $5 PayPal reward.

More Swagbucks Tips:

1. Try to do some of your searches in the morning for maximum chance of winning. Some Swagbucks experts believe that the SB reward system is a little more loose in the morning.

2. Do the Daily Poll every day if nothing else. It may only be 1 Swagbuck, but after a month you have 30 of them for doing nothing more than a 2 second click.

3. Funnel all of your searches through Swagbucks! Use it for everything and anything!

4. If you’re planning to buy something online, visit Swagbucks first and click through to the merchant. You’ll earn 2 Swagbucks for every dollar you spend!

5. Check the Swagbucks blog for secret codes that can be entered for additional Swagbucks. These pop up pretty frequently so keep checking!

6. Consider downloading the Swagbucks toolbar which has instant access to the search feature for easy searching.

7. Tweet your wins! Swagbucks offers you the option of telling your Twitter followers about your wins! Each tweet generated by this has your referral link embedded too!

8. Tell your friends and family about Swagbucks! It’s a great way to earn some extra holiday cash too! Why not do points programs all year and save up for your holiday shopping at the end of the year?

9. Be sure to go Swagging on Fridays! Friday is Mega Swagbucks Friday where even MORE Swagbucks are given out!

10. Have fun with it! Brag about your wins!

All in all, I’d say Swagbucks is my favorite points program right now! I plan to save up these points for Amazon gift codes ($5 in Amazon credit for only 450 Swagbucks!) to help with this year’s Christmas shopping!

Join Swagbucks!

Good deal alert! Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 3-User version is on sale at Amazon for 58% off (normally $59.95, now only $24.99).

This is the same anti-virus software that I use and I love it! It’s the only software that successfully detected a root-kit virus I had this past spring. It also scans all of my email before it hits my in-box and monitors activity 24/7.

This edition is the “3-user” edition which means you can install it on three different computers. We have only two computers in our house, but I’m planning to install it on my mother’s computer as a thank you for all the free babysitting!

This also ships free if you have an Amazon Prime membership! Don’t have Amazon Prime? Join now and get free 2-day shipping on thousands of items with no minimum order required!

If you have a small business, be sure to save the receipt and write it off your 2010 taxes too!!

If you have some Swagbucks points, you might want to cash them in for a cheap Amazon code. Their $5 Amazon gift codes are only 450 Swagbucks! MyPoints also awards Amazon gift codes at only 3850 points for a $25 code.

If you aren’t a member of Swagbucks, click here to join! They add up fast!

If you aren’t a member of MyPoints, click here to join! I get tons of free points from the emails they send!

First off, let me say that I love Carbonite and have it installed on both of our computers. It’s a great way to really have a “set it and forget it” offsite backup. I’m a big believer in having redundant backup processes, so Carbonite as my “stored elsewhere” backup is a great comfort to me.

However, recently I was the victim of a very complex virus attack. Despite having every precaution in place, I caught an insidious virus that basically copied all of my important files (including a .doc file of passwords, my Roboform data folder, all of my photos, etc) and placed them in a separate user account where they were accessed remotely.

Excuse my language, but this past month has been hell on Earth for me computing-wise. Nearly 400 passwords needed to be changed (imagine doing THAT for a two weeks straight) and I still don’t know the extent to what was stolen.

Whew! Anyway, back to Carbonite. I wasn’t too concerned at first when my computer was basically haunted by this virus, would freeze up and shut down on it’s own. My theory was, “Hey, I have Carbonite so all of my files are safe!”

Well, ALMOST all of them were.

Remember how I called Carbonite a “set it and forget it” process? Not exactly….as much as I love Carbonite and religiously make sure it’s updated and working for me, I was not aware of a very important piece of fine print regarding file types that Carbonite will and more importantly, WON’T backup by default unless you specifically tell it to.

See, I was under the impression, as I think many people are, that if you select a folder for backup, then all of the sub-folders and files are automatically selected as well.

That actually is the case, UNLESS you have files of different file types (extensions) which Carbonite does NOT automatically backup. Among these, to my great surprise, VIDEO FILES!

How many of you have video files mixed into your Pictures sub-directory in your Documents and Settings folder? Probably many of you. I would imagine that most people who have a digital camera with a video mode have probably dozens or even hundreds of these files on their computers.

The kicker is….Carbonite doesn’t automatically back them up, even if they are in a “backed up” folder. It just skips over them. So you may THINK your video files are backed up along with your regular photos, but they aren’t…unless you tell Carbonite specifically to do so.

Luckily, I caught this before there was a major disaster. But how many people still don’t have their file types setup to include video files? Probably most. So here’s how to tell Carbonite to back up video files:

1. Go into a folder on your computer where video files are located.

2. Right-click on a video file and select, “Properties” and then select the “Carbonite” tab. Then select, “Back up files of this type within folders selected for backup”.

3. Then, make sure your upper-most level folders that have video files are selected for backup. By default, Documents and Settings in Windows is backed up, but if you are storing files elsewhere on your main drive, be sure to select a top-level folder to make sure everything below it is being backed up.

4. Check your folders and make sure there is an orange dot next to your video files. If you’re really in a panic over this, right-click on the video files individually and selected “back up this file as soon as possible” to push it up in queue.

Think you have Carbonite figured out now? Guess what? There’s more….I have two more SUPER IMPORTANT things you probably don’t know about Carbonite that I need to tell you in my next post so be sure to stay tuned for it. They both highlight two MORE exclusions that most Carbonite users don’t know about that could make or break your backup.

Come back in the next day or so for more….and pass this on because so many people use Carbonite and love it, but I think you can only truly trust your backup system when you know it inside and out.

P.S. For a “heads up” on my next Carbonite warning post, why not follow me on Twitter?
http://www.twitter.com/jenknox

So your school-aged kids have started school for the year! Great! But are your younger kids missing their older brothers and sisters? Are you already having a hard time occupying them now that their siblings are away at school all day?

Here’s a neat guide that might help. I came across this guide titled, “Fun Kids Crafts” which has complete instruction and supply sheets (with photos!) for over 700 craft projects suitable for kids three years old and up.

This downloadable guide has almost 400 pages full of craft ideas, templates, instructions and photos. There are holiday-specific crafts, crafts for very young kids and tons of unique crafts that can be done with common items found around the house.

Need something to occupy kids on a teacher workshop day or a snow day? These activities are perfect for those “crafting emergencies” when you need to keep the kids entertained and engaged for longer periods of time.

This guide is a downloadable ebook, so you can order it any time of day and have instant access to all of its contents. They even offer three free sample craft sheets so you can see what the instruction sheets are like! If you do nothing else, at least go and download those three free craft sheets, because you never know when you might need them! The cost of the book is so small compared to all of the sanity-saving ideas you get…just $24 and you also will receive three bonus books in addition to the book of 700 crafts!

Check out Fun Kids Crafts here and have it handy for the first teacher worshop day! You’ll thank me later!