If you don't feel alert and awake after 12 hours of sleep you might be getting too much. When you either don't get enough sleep or get too much sleep you can feel groggy the next day and the cycle is likely to continue. Most individuals after sleeping long hours feel tired and groggy all day so they go to bed at 10 p.m. and sleep for another 12 hours.

Either way, a messed up sleeping pattern can affect your health. Experts for decades have been warning about not getting enough sleep. They have warned that not getting enough sleep can put you into a type of drunken state. In this state individuals are incapable of making decisions and have a higher chance of getting into car accidents and dying earlier.

It seems that nowadays few people are getting the recommended amount of sleep during the week so they try to catch up on weekends. It's fine to do this but usually it doesn't make the person feel a whole lot better. Now if you're on the opposite side of the spectrum and you sleep for longer periods you don't need to start panicking yet but experts are also starting to warn about oversleeping.

Experts recommend that individuals sleep between 7 – 8 hours per night. If you're spending that much time sleeping its important to understand sleeping. The average sleep cycle is 90 minutes. It begins with stage 1 the lightest sleep and then goes through progressively deeper sleep levels through stage 4. Then it continues with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep while the person is dreaming.

Now if you sleep a lot it could be a result of the poor quality you are getting. Having a crappy night of sleep will make you want to sleep longer because you spent most of the night in the first stage. But if you consistently sleep over nine hours on a regular basis and the quality is fine then you may want to see a doctor. Sleeping a lot can be a sign of serious health risks like sleep apnea, narcolepsy or restless legs form of sleep disorder and not even know it.

Sleeping is essential for our bodies and it's important to get the right amount. Studies have shown that if you get less than five hours of sleep or more than 10, it increases your mortality. A 2007 Finnish study showed that mortality risks increased by almost 20 percent for individuals sleeping more than eight hours. Another study showed people getting more than eight hours a night are at greater risk of a stroke than others that sleep less.

Experts also believe that when it comes to sleeping it's partly genetic. A study in the Journal of Science identified a mutated gene in a mother-daughter pair that allowed them to fully function on six hours of sleep. Experts believe this gene regulates sleep length.

Scientists have yet to fully understand why some people require more sleep than others, but believe genetics plays a role. For optimal sleeping experts recommend 7 – 8 hours and warn against not getting enough sleep and oversleeping, because they increase your mortality.

If you've done the time and earned your degree but you still don't have a job; there's a problem. Student loans will arrive whether you're ready or not. If you graduated in May of 2009 the six month grace period is almost over and you will soon have to start making monthly payments.

One tactic that you can try is by going to the financial aid office and speaking with a counselor about deferment or forbearance. This isn't guaranteed, but it may allow you to postpone your payment if you meet specific circumstances. Even though there might be some consequences, none will be as harmful to you as late payments or defaulting.

A deferment is better because federal loans take into consideration if you're in the military, graduate school, or facing economic difficulty. If you're trying to qualify for a deferment you must earn less than $16,245 a year in the continental U.S. Plus you are eligible for public assistance like food stamps. Depending on if your deferment is based on economic hardship it's granted one year at a time but unemployment deferments are granted in six-month increments. But students can reapply for these for a total of three years each.

Deferment is a great option if you can't afford the payments. But in case you don't qualify you might be able to postpone payments if you're having health problems. This type of postponement is called a forbearance. Although in order to qualify you most likely will need to be interviewed in order to determine if forbearance is the best solution.

Even though there are these options out there if you're struggling and worried about how you're going to make your student payments remember that delaying it isn't necessarily the best thing. It's important to realize that even though you defer these payments the interest is still accruing on the loan whether you're making payments or not. So the amount will be larger when you finally start making payments. But if you do get a deferment or forbearance it's a good idea to pay the interest costs in order to minimize the financial impact later on.

If you don't qualify or choose not to get a deferment or forbearance then try picking a payment plan that reduces your monthly payment. By reducing the payments it will take longer to pay off the loan but  it may be worth it. Another option is the Income-Based Repayment Program for federal loans. The program caps monthly payments at 15 percent of your earnings. Then if the debt isn't paid off in 25 years it is forgiven. To be eligible for this program officials weigh your debt level against your income.

Even though it's a difficult time and many grads are facing student loan payments with no job, there is hope. Just remember that you want to keep your credit report as squeaky clean as possible. If that means you need a deferment or forbearance then get it but don't ignore the payments. Defaulting on your loan will cause serious problems today and throughout your life.

New census data just published shows that stay-at-home mothers tend to be younger, poorer, and Hispanic or foreign born. Whereas mothers that are working tend to have higher income levels because they are a part of a two income family and typically have higher education levels.

Stay-at-home moms tend to have younger children and less education than working moms. It also showed that 5.1 percent of working moms and 12.3 percent of stay-at-home mothers were below the poverty line. Stats also showed that two parents in the labor force were most common in the Midwest and Northeast and least likely in the West and Southwest.

If you are a stay at home mother or a working parent but want to improve your education then there are great options for you. It doesn't matter if you are working right now and want to improve your education or prepare yourself for reentering the workforce. The benefits are the same. You can study from home at anytime online. Classes are pretty flexible which allows moms to earn a degree that fits around theirr schedule.

There are even benefits the government is giving to stay-at-home mothers that return to school. Financial counselors at your school can help you figure out financing.Don't let money stop you from earning a degree, because it will not only improve your life but your children's.