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Entry bubble The Pitfalls of Payday Lending

By: Nicole | August 22, 2008 | Category: Money

CashThe Gov Gab comment box has recently been flooded with spam promoting payday loans. Fortunately, we don’t post spam, but these messages gave me an idea for today’s topic.

If you gather more than five consumer advocates in any one location for more than five minutes they will commiserate about the pitfalls of payday lending. For cash-strapped consumers, a payday loan is one of the most treacherous ways to borrow money.

Here’s an example. A person borrows $100 until payday. The lender charges $15. The borrower cannot repay the loan on time, so the loan is "rolled over" for another two weeks with an additional fee of $30. Already, this person has spent $45 to borrow $100, and the borrower is not out of debt yet.

Most payday lending models actually intend to keep the borrower in debt indefinitely. More than 90 percent of these loans are given to borrowers who use more than five payday loans per year.

Payday lending is illegal in some states. Use this map to determine if your state has laws that protect you from payday lenders.

If you find yourself short on cash, look for alternatives to payday loans.

For more information about managing debt, read our publication on Financial Fitness.

Have you ever been solicited by a payday lender?

| View Comments [20] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: bankruptcy   debt   finance   lender   lending   loan   loans   money   nicole   payday   predatory_lending  

 

Entry bubble How Good is Your Hospital?

By: Nancy | August 21, 2008 | Category: Health

A hospital is one of those things you don't really think a lot about until you need it. But there's a research tool from the government that can help you figure out now, before there's an emergency, which hospital in your region can give you the best care and the best odds of survival whether you have a planned procedure or a medical emergency.

man in hospital bed shrugging

The US Department of Health and Human Services' Hospital Compare tool lets you search for and compare the ratings of hospitals by medical procedure or health condition or simply by location. USA Today took a look at the ratings of all the hospitals listed and developed a ranking of the hospitals around the country with the best and worst survival rates for heart failure, heart attack and pneumonia.

If a planned surgery is in your future, here's a list of questions to ask your doctor about the procedure and here's a checklist to use along with the Hospital Compare site to help you talk to your doctor and your insurance company about your hospital choices.

Have a concern or complaint about your or a loved one's hospital experience? Start with the doctor or hospital staffer involved and if you don't feel the problem's been resolved, move on to the hospital's administration, your state health department or state medical board.

I don't recommend anything to you without trying it out first. So I just did a search on Hospital Compare for my area and for my mom's in New Jersey and was pleased that all of our local hospitals rated well. Whew! Take a look—how does your local hospital measure up?

| Post a Comment | View Comments [7] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: hospital   medical   nancy  

 

Entry bubble Back to School!

By: Colleen | August 20, 2008 | Category: General

In the immortal words of Billy Madison, "Back to school, back to school, to school busprove to Dad I am not a fool..."

Hard to believe but it really is that time again. You can nearly hear the collective groan of kids packing their book bags and dashing to the library to finish up the summer's required reading list.

Back to school isn't just about the kids though. Parents and teachers need to be ready to get "back to business" as well. For kids just starting school, parents should be sure their children's immunizations are up to date and they get back into a normal bedtime routine. Thinking farther ahead, other parents might want to start thinking about saving for their kids' college education.

Teachers are always looking for new ideas and materials to use in the classroom. For educators, Kids.gov has a whole section just for you! Check out "Teacher to Teacher," a great site where teachers can share information electronically using e-mail, pod-casts, or other technology. Some states will even accept these online workshops as career development credit. Federal Resources for Educational Excellence is another great place for resources from federal agencies.

Any special tips for getting your little ones (or yourself) back on the school bus and ready for another year?

| View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: colleen   education   library   reading   school   teacher  

 

Entry bubble Ragweed Allergy Season – Achoo!

By: Joanne | August 19, 2008 | Category: Health

a mid adult man sneezing into tissue

It’s mid-August and my nose is running. Once again I face my nemesis…ragweed. Ambrosia trifida L., also known as great ragweed, is the species of ragweed that grows (abundantly) near me in Pennsylvania. It’s estimated that one ragweed plant can produce up to 1 billion pollen grains each wafting on the breeze directly towards my nose.

Apart from poison ivy, I’m lucky to be a person that doesn’t suffer from many allergies. But I’m allergic to ragweed, and every year my reaction seems a bit worse than the last. There are a few things you can do to minimize your suffering like stay indoors with the windows closed and the air conditioning on, but those types of solutions never appeal to me so I’ve been looking for other ways to manage my allergy symptoms.

Last year I was dependent on an over-the-counter allergy medication for the entire ragweed season. I didn’t like that. This year I’m trying nasal irrigation, which is simply a method of rinsing away the pollen in your sinuses. It feels like a strange thing to do, but I’ve found that it’s so effective that I’m now devoted to my neti pot. As ragweed season progresses we’ll see how my experiment goes. Yesterday I was working in the garden, clearing away big ragweed plants and I had to take some allergy medication, but I’m hoping that on normal days I’ll be able to do without.

If you have ragweed, there are a few things you can do to control the growth, but they say that the pollen can travel over 100 miles on the air, so it’s almost impossible for many of us to eliminate our exposure.

I’m really going to ask for one of those garden flame throwers for Christmas. I think it’s my only hope! Anyone have additional advice for allergy sufferers?

| View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: allergy   health   joanne   ragweed  

 

Entry bubble Digital TV Transition Update

By: Jake | August 18, 2008 | Category: General

I was watching the Olympics this weekend and saw one of those DTV transition commercials. It made me realize that we are less than six months away from the full digital television transition.

What this means is on February 17, 2009 broadcast television stations will only air on digital frequencies. If you live in the Wilmington, North Carolina area you've only got three weeks to prepare. Local TV stations will switch over to solely digital transmissions on September 8 as a test market for the transition.

If you don't have a digital or High Definition (HD) TV, the chart I've included will tell you what you need to do. If you have cable, you should check with your service provider to see if there is anything you need to do. Those of you with an analog television (no cable) will need to get a signal converter box (you can get a coupon for it) to receive the digital television signals. If you don't have paid service and aren't sure if your television is digital or HD, there are ways you can tell.

The Federal Communications Commission's digital tuner rule specifies that as of March 1, 2007, all new TVs must include digital tuners. Many DTVs and digital television equipment have labels or markings on them, or statements in the informational materials that came with them, to indicate that they contain digital tuners. These labels or markings may contain the words “Integrated Digital Tuner,” “Digital Tuner Built-In,” “Digital Receiver,” or “Digital Tuner,” “DTV,” “ATSC,” or “HDTV” (High Definition television).

Do you own: Get your programming from: By Feb 17, 2009 you’ll need:
Analog TV Over-the-air or an antenna A Digital-to-Analog Converter box or to purchase a digital TV.
Analog TV Cable, satellite, or other paid service You DO NOT need a converter box. Contact your service provider.
Digital or High Definition TV Over-the-air or an antenna Do nothing.
Digital or High Definition TV Cable, satellite, or other paid service You DO NOT need a converter box. Contact your service provider.

The transition is happening because digital airwaves allow for better picture and sound quality. I must admit I've been impressed with the digital television I've seen. My girlfriend was able to get a used one from a friend that was moving last fall.

The digital picture and sound are a lot better than analog television sets, even when an analog set has cable. If you have cable for your digital television, the picture is much better. Of course buying a digital television takes some research and a little extra money, but the Digital TV website and Pueblo have resource pages that can help you find one.

I've given you my take, what is your take on digital TV?

| View Comments [13] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: digital_television   digital_tv_transition   jake  

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