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Entry bubble How Are You Saving Money These Days?

By: Nancy | July 31, 2008 | Category: Money

Has your credit card been seeing less daylight lately? According to a new study on how Americans are handling their money in the current economic downturn, 37 percent of people surveyed said they're cutting down on how often they use their credit cards. They're either going to a cash or debit card basis or are just plain spending less.blog wallet The same survey says that 57 percent of respondents are being more careful about dining out and 46 percent are shopping more at discount superstores.

Some people I know are even going back to the old fashioned, pre-credit card era practice of envelope budgeting. It's low-tech wonderful. After working out their weekly and monthly budgets to find out exactly what their expenses are (and finding "leaks" in their budget—expenses that they weren't really aware were adding up) they take out cash and divvy it up into envelopes for each expense—insurance, rent or mortgage, food, utilities, etc. And when that money's gone at the end of the month, it's gone. No borrowing from another envelope and going into debt.

There are so many other ways you can save by auditing your lifestyle:

  • What are your phone habits? Are there cheaper plans that meet your calling needs better?
  • When you go grocery shopping, are you making a list before you go, sticking to it and shopping on a full stomach or do all the displays and smells get you to fill your cart with things you hadn't planned to buy?
  • Once you've paid off your car, are you setting aside some money every month to help pay for your next vehicle so your car loan will be smaller? If you're shopping for a car right now, are you armed with the info you need to get the best deal?

I could write a 10,000 word blog entry on all the ways to save. But my bosses nudge me nicely when I go over Gov Gab's 300ish word limit. And I'm over it now. We don't have any limits on blog comments though. So please help me out and share what you're doing differently these days to save more and spend less.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [10] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: cars   credit   nancy   phone   saving   shopping  

 

Entry bubble Smoke-free Establishments

By: Colleen | July 30, 2008 | Category: Health

no smokingDuring a recent trip home, I woke up one morning feeling different. It had nothing to do with the sunshine streaming though my childhood window or the buzz of suburbia's lawnmowers interrupting my slumber. No, I felt different because ... I stunk.

Some friends and I spent the previous evening at the local watering hole, and in the morning I was greeted by the stench of cigarette smoke—trapped in my fabulous recently cut hair and in the clothes I'd thrown in a pile on my floor. How quickly I forgot that even though many major cities (Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Los Angeles...) have banned smoking in all public establishments, many small towns and cities have yet to follow.

A quick shower and bottle of Febreeze later, my problem was solved. Unfortunately, it's not quite so simple to avoid secondhand smoke on a regular basis. Many business owners fear that prohibiting smoking will result in a loss of clientele and revenue. Although, since some cities' smoking bans have been in place effectively for a few years now, that argument is becoming less credible.

By now, most people are well aware of the dangers of smoking. For those looking to quit, there are many resources available to help you.

Want your town, city, or state to ban smoking? Write to your elected officials, and let them know your opinion.

A Gov Gab shout-out to office buddy, Walt, who is on his way to being smoke-free!

| View Comments [10] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: ban   cigarettes   colleen   secondhand_smoke   smoke free   smoking  

 

Entry bubble Keep Food Safe During a Power Outage

By: Joanne | July 29, 2008 | Category: Health

stainless steel refrigerator doorsI woke up this morning to a power outage. Naturally my first instinct was to panic – I can’t make coffee! Then I collected myself, found an electric bill and reported the outage to the power company and within an hour I was grinding coffee beans.

I’m lucky that I’m rarely without power and if it does go out, it’s only for a short time. What concerns me most during a power outage (after coffee) is the food in the refrigerator and freezer. Summertime is when you have to be the most careful about handling food – the heat, humidity and power outages caused by summer storms can all make your food bad, and worse, make you sick.

I know we all hate the idea of throwing food away – it’s so expensive these days and we hate to waste it. But remember it’s better to be safe than sorry. Salmonella and other food-borne illnesses are not to be taken lightly.

The good news is that it’s pretty easy to take care of your food for a short power outage, and there are steps you can take to save your food for a longer outage too. Keep your refrigerator and freezer doors closed. An unopened refrigerator will keep foods cold enough for a couple of hours at least. A freezer that is half full will hold for up to 24 hours and a full freezer for 48 hours. When the power comes back on, use a thermometer to check the temperature of your refrigerator and freezer. If the refrigerator is 40° F or colder, and the freezer is still colder than 40° F, the food is safe.

| View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: electricity   food   joanne   outage   power   safety  

 

By: Jake | July 28, 2008 | Category: Fun

The other day as I was walking down the street, someone called "Jacob," and I turned to see a little boy running to the person who said my name. This happens to me a lot since Jacob is no longer a rare name—it has been the most popular male baby name for almost a decade.

RolodexEver year the Social Security Administration tallies up the Social Security card applications from the previous year and releases the most popular baby names list around Mother's Day. Though there are some limitations to their method, the most popular boy name since 1999 has been Jacob. Baby Jacob, along with most popular female name (11 years running) Baby Emily, are currently promoting SSA's retirement calculator and other SSA programs on their webpage.

If you've never checked out SSA's most popular baby name website, take a gander. You can search your own name and see how popular it has been over the years. You can search popular baby names for each year back to 1880, find popular names by state, popular twin names and look at what cities parents have named their children after. You can also find information about children's benefits and other programs benefiting children.

If you are expecting a baby, it's a great resource to consider various names. When you search on a name, SSA also shows you the popularity of spelling variations of that name (e.g., Rachel vs Raechel, Jeffrey vs Jeffery). While you are picking out a baby name, you can also check out other parenting resources available from the government.

And after all this talk of names, if you feel like changing yours, Nancy has that covered for you.

| View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: baby   jake   names   popular   security   social  

 

Entry bubble Privacy Protection

By: Nicole | July 25, 2008 | Category: General

Shred Personal DocumentsYou know it’s important. Everyone is talking about it. But you’re not sure exactly what you're supposed to do. No worries. We’ve developed a new Privacy Resources page just for you.

The idea of protecting your privacy can be a new and strange concept for many people. While there have always been restrictions on how companies can use and share your personal information, today individuals must be more active in protecting themselves. The first step is learning about your privacy rights and responsibilities.

Our new privacy page brings together government and non-government resources to provide a comprehensive look at privacy issues. There are several major areas of concern, including financial privacy, medical privacy, and online privacy.

While technology has made everything from shopping to booking a flight easier, it has also become a dangerous tool for con artists and criminals. Identity theft is a very real problem, but you can take steps to minimize your risk.

In addition to these concerns, parents must think carefully about how to protect their children’s privacy. Talking to children and family members about how to protect personal information might sound like a chore, but it’s absolutely necessary.

So, check out our new page, and let us know what you think.

| View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: identity_theft   nicole   privacy   privacy_rights   protect  

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