FDA Considering Acetaminophen Ban in Cough, Cold Meds

Liver damage is possible

When people have a bad cold or cough, many resort to over-the-counter medications in order to feel normal again. I’ve done it before. I use cough syrup, Vicks, Sudafed, Advil and even whole room evaporators to stem the tide of  snot. Yes, it’s disgusting, and no, I don’t use all of those at once. And now, I’ll think twice about using products with acetaminophen (Tylenol, cold and cough syrups, et al). If I need to spend more on something else, I will. I’ll even take out unsecured loans for quick cash if I have to do so.

Considering that too much  acetaminophen can cause liver damage, I’ll take the safe route. Now that the FDA is considering banning it in cold and cough medications - for fear that people were ingesting too much - perhaps people will start to believe the warnings about acetaminophen. They’ve been around for years.

“A clear public health benefit”

Susan Heavey reports for Reuters that Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and other manufacturers are all begging at the FDA’s doorstep. Their plea is to keep cough and cold drugs with the pain reliever acetaminophen on the market, despite the risk of overconsumption they pose. Too many people chug cold and cough syrup when they’re sick, which could be killing them. An Obama-empowered FDA may take the matter into their own hands. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "FDA Considering Acetaminophen Ban in Cough, Cold Meds"

For the Love of Useless Junk, Adventure

A trash odyssey sorts it out

Are you a pack rat? Do you collect piles and piles of things that have no real purpose, other than to sit in their proper places and be yours? Sometimes people form sentimental attachments to their things that no garage sale can remedy. Once they run out of room in their homes, some even go to the expense of renting a storage unit for their useless junk. Some people are beyond hope, spending more money on trinkets than their budget can easily bear. Payday loans and cash advances become a part of their daily li ves, but for the wrong reasons.

If you’re in this situation, it could be that your possessions own you, rather than the reverse.  If you aren’t able to get it in check yourself, I suggest professional help. However, one of the benefits of being a purveyor of useless junk is that Karen Hawes might pay you a visit. She is a self-proclaimed “trashtronaut.”

Blasting off for adventure

Jeff Richardson of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that the 40-year-old Hawes decided it was the right time in her life to embrace trash. In an effort to see all the trash this nation has to offer, she opted to begin a great journey. Alaska, her state of birth, would be the jumping off  point into a filthy world of fascinating, useless junk.

So she loaded up her Honda Element and struck out north from California. This was in May. For the next 10 months, Hawes will explore dumpsters, landfills and salvage yards in order to learn about people and the things they leave behind. The journey will span two continents, ending in Argentina. Will that be in Maria Belen Chapur’s yard? Perhaps Mark Sanford left his sanity there. If so, a trashtronaut can find it. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "For the Love of Useless Junk, Adventure"

Billy Mays' Cause of Death: Hypertensive Heart Disease

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mays-autopsy30-2009jun30,0,3463271.story

UPDATE: it was heart disease

Sadly, America lost a big-voiced original pitchman this past weekend when Billy Mays passed away. Now it has been revealed that heart disease was the culprit. Not OxyClean, not payday loans or fast cash and definitely not foul play.

Michael Muskal reports for the Los Angeles Times that the man who “elevated the art of the television sales spiel to a fevered pitch,” died due to hypertensive heart disease.  It was a heart attack, Hillsborough County, Florida Medical Examiner Vernard Adams determined.

A killer that stalks many

The preliminary results of Billy Mays’ autopsy indicate that hypertensive heart disease symptoms such as shortness of breath, nausea, bloating and difficulty sleeping flat in his bed could have all been likely signs that something was going wrong. Remember, however, that the results so far are only preliminary. Much like in the autopsy of Michael Jackson (where results were leaked), the final results will take a few weeks. So we won’t know for sure exactly what it was that killed Billy Mays, although the preliminary findings may very well be accurate. Toxicology and tissue tests results will be analyzed in due time, once the results are clear. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Billy Mays' Cause of Death: Hypertensive Heart Disease"

Not Settling for Mediocrity

Good Morning!

• I feel uninspired at the moment.
• I wrote and deleted and wrote and deleted.
• My ink is dry.
• There is no post today.

Speaking of this, what happened to refusing to deliver mediocrity when you aren’t at your best?  I miss that in people.  How about you?

—
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• The Government Should Just Be Like Another Company
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Read more of Not Settling for Mediocrity…

Passing It On

I had a friend in California who died at age 34 of congestive heart failure secondary to a congenital heart disease called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. My friend had known since high school that she had the disease. Her doctors recommended that she not have children because they were likely to inherit the disease and because pregnancy would probably kill her. She had one child, and thence began her downhill struggles. Her doctors continued to warn her that she should not have any more children. She had a second child and just six years later she died of congestive heart failure. It wasn't fast, and it wasn't pretty.

I was very close to her children, but have since moved away. The children moved away, too. After their mother died, the oldest boy, whose biological father died before he was born, went to live with a maternal uncle in Nevada. The younger boy, who had a different father, went to live with his biological father. I've lost touch with the younger boy, but yesterday I got this email from the older one:

"How are you? Haven’t talked to you in awhile. And I was looking at my emails and decided to write you. And wanted to tell you that I graduated finally and I’m doing okay and that I will be doing great after friday, cuz I’m getting surgery. It’s not major I’m just getting a pacemacker/dephibulater. I wont be going into the Marine Corps anymore cuz they wont accept me. And I have what mom haved Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy/HCM. Hope to hear from you soon."

Getting a pacemaker at 18 is, in fact, major.

Michael Jackson autopsy

Fans mourning the recent loss of the King of Pop are eagerly awaiting results of the Michael Jackson autopsy. The Michael Jackson autopsy is proving to be a point of intense interest and discussion, as a death from heart attack does not befit a man of only 50 years of age. Michael suffered from vitiligo and lupus during the last 15 years of his life. Lupus is an autoimmune disease in which the cells of the body stop recognizing each other and attack themselves, and the condition is potentially lethal without treatment. Many fans ponder just what happened, and would give quick cash to see the results of the Michael Jackson autopsy.

Michael Jackson Children Photos | How Will They Live?

Never too late for a happy childhood?

On June 25,2009, the King of Pop died. The outpouring of emotion from Michael Jackson fans everywhere slowed the World Wide Web to a crawl and showed just how much he will be missed. Nobody will miss him more than his own children, Prince,12, Paris, 11, and Blanket, 7. According to Nick Graham of The Huffington Post, the likely caregiver of the children will be Michael’s mother Katherine. However, godfather and osteopath Mark Lester has yet to determine exactly how custody will be handled. By legal agreement, Debbie Rowe (mother of Prince and Paris) is not an option. The mother of Blanket has never been revealed publicly.

At the height of his music career, Michael Jackson was without a doubt the most successful recording star on Earth. Unfortunately, recent years have proven that regular life off the stage and out of the studio has been more than a challenge for him. Medical conditions, personal eccentricities and accusations of child molestation swirled around him, and a large number of people believed that the former Jackson 5 star brought it on himself.

Financial and emotional debt

Whatever the case, Michael Jackson became increasingly reclusive over the years. He became more reclusive as time went by, perhaps as a way of hiding not only from the media, but from his tremendous debt. $500 million is the price tag on Jackson’s debt at the time of his death, while his annual income was $19 million from royalties. All told, Michael Jackson supposedly had been worth $1 billion in total assets. How the debt will be handled and the estate distributed remains to be seen, but one would hope that his children will be taken care of for the rest of their lives. They should never need to rely upon pay day loans or any other form of cash loans, assuming their possible fortune is handled reasonably. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Michael Jackson Children Photos | How Will They Live?"

iPhone 3GS Accident Insurance Makes Sense

Smashing sleek smartphones is bad

The iPhone is all the rage these days. It’s that cool multifunction device driven by the most powerful smart phone advertising campaign on the market. Sure there are Android phones, Blackberries, Palm Pre, Treo and the like, but you can’t tell me that the first high-tech phone that comes to the minds of most people ISN’T the iPhone. Now that the iPhone 3GS has hit stores, the fever rages on.

What do you get with any iPhone? I am a happy owner, so I’ll tell you that the merger of cell phone, handheld E-mail/Internet device, iPod, gaming system and personal assistant is an unbeatable combination. It also looks cool, which for better or worse is a strong selling point. I don’t exactly care for AT&T, but I understood and agreed to swallow the evil when I entered into my contract. I haven’t needed a payday loan or quick cash to help me pay the bill, but only because I’m budgeting well.

Yet there is an even deeper evil buried with the iPhone that I thankfully have not experienced and hope that I never will. According to Jason Kincaid of TechCrunch, that piece of hardware is an “accident magnet.”

Like a “Slip n’ Slide”

The iPhone 3GS, 3G or first generation 2G can easily slip out of your hands and onto the ground. The slick design looks sexy, but it doesn’t exactly provide a lot of safe gripping surface. If you go with a protective case (I do), you protect the unit but sacrifice the sleek curves that have made it the phone to die for. Many people don’t want to let go of those looks, so accidents do happen.

Kincaid reports that SquareTrade has released study results that indicate that over 20 percent of iPhones have suffered damage in the past 22 months. Most often, it is a cracked screen. From a manufacturing standpoint, the iPhone fares better than its smart phone competitors. Compared with the iPhone malfunction rate of 9.9 percent over the past 22 months, Blackberry had a 15.3 failure chance and Treo had a whopping 19.9 percent. And with each iPhone generation, internal failure has decreased.

But those dropsies are fatal

When the iPhone meets the pavement, it doesn’t usually fare well. Two-thirds of all dead phones resulted from drops per SquareTrade’s findings. Of those, 25 percent came from water damage (dropping the phone into a toilet or pool). In total, at least 80 percent of iPhone failure is due to accidental mishandling, per the study.

I’ve already discussed why the iPhone is accident-prone. It’s a slippery fish. About half of the surface area is the glass screen, which you don’t exactly want to squeeze tight. Thus, it could be said that this is a design flaw in the product. Is this intentional? In my opinion, it certainly is. The automobile industry designed the parts in their vehicles to break down over time so that you’d have to replace them (and eventually, buy a new car). The same principle holds true with any other kind of product. It drives revenue.

And AT&T doesn’t help matters

Their replacement programs are expensive. Depending upon where you look, replacement screens can be had for as little as $50 to $80, but it can be as much as $200. It pays to shop around. AT&T charges you based upon how much time you have left until you’re eligible for an upgrade, but this isn’t unique to them. That carriers subsidize the cost of the phone as part of a contract is great… until you want or need an early replacement!

Kincaid clues us in to a great resource if you’re looking for a warranty for your iPhone. SquareTrade has an inside track on the data for their studies because they are actually in the business of selling these warranties. But you could also say that they’d be biased toward selling their product to iPhone users. SquareTrade’s charges around $77 for two years, says Kincaid. This includes accident coverage. I’m betting on my protective case as insurance, but if you’re less daring than I am, this could be a great deal to protect your investment. Otherwise, you’re going to need a payday loan for quick cash when an elephant sits on your iPhone 3GS.

Related Video:

iPhone Crash Test

Farrah and Michael Die, Ark of the Covenant Revealed

Breaking the seventh seal

In a single day, America lost two titanic pop culture icons in Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. For one, release came after a painful, protracted battle with cancer. For the other, death came without warning in the form of cardiac arrest. For both the deceased, friends, family and legions of fans worldwide have taken time to remember the legends - and the private people who lived them. Such ultra-celebrities have scant room for private lives. If they needed unsecured loans for fast cash, everyone would know.

Even bishops in Ethiopia know something is up. That must be why they’ve chosen now of all times to reveal the Ark of the Covenant to the rest of the world.

“…dogs and cats, living together…”

Hillel Fendel reports for Israel National News that an Ethiopian church leader claims the Ark of the Covenant has been concealed within his church in the city of Axum for centuries. Rumors of it being located in the city have circulated for some time, but this is the first time there has been talk of someone revealing it there. Copies of the vessel have been found in many other Ethiopian churches.

Abuna Pauolos, the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, paid a recent visit to Rome and Pope Benedict XVI. While in Rome, Pauolos made his announcement to news media. He announced his full intentions at a press conference this morning in Rome. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Farrah and Michael Die, Ark of the Covenant Revealed"

I think I get to buy my first house here soon

I am so excited about it. I am going to have it built. I have already designed the way that I want the house built. It is going to be so exciting. The best thing about having a house built is that you can decide where you want all the rooms to be. You can decide where you want the bathrooms to be. I think I am going to have a bathroom between the bed rooms so that you don't have to walk very far. I also would really like a big dining room separate from the living room. I also want there to be a sitting room right next to the front door. It should be really nice once we get it all finished up.

When I was a kid I had a friend whose name was Dude

We all thought it was just a nickname that his parents had given him. I guess when he was born his parents didn't know what to name him. They went a couple of years waiting to name him. During that time they just called him Dude because he didn't have a name. After a couple years he answered to Dude and they decided just to make that his official name. I thought it was pretty funny that they named a little boy Dude. They didn't even give him a middle name. They just called him Dude and gave him their last name. It was pretty funny.

Shaq Challenges Hong Man Choi to Big Money MMA Brawl

Personal Money Store Videos on Youtube

According to Bleacher Report, ONeal has been training in MMA for years and has used his finely honed knowledge to spot a flaw in the combat style of Hong Man Choi. Apparently akin to Bruce Lees near-telepathic ability to read the movements of opponents split seconds before they make them, ONeal feels confident he can defeat the dangerous Korean kickboxer.

For more information on this article and others like it, please click on the following link:Personal Money Store: Shaq Challenges Hong Man Choi

Virgin Mobile Free Fest Tickets Available Soon

Virgin Mobile Free Fest is free

The 2009 Virgin Mobile Free Fest tickets will be available on Saturday, and guess what — they’re free! If you pick up your tickets instead of having them delivered to you, they are totally free.

There’s a $5 delivery free if you want your tickets mailed to you, If you pick them up at Merriweather Post Pavillion or the 9:30 Club, there’s no cost at all.

Word from Virgin

The Virgin Mobile Free Fest is Aug. 30, and it features several popular bands — bands that could probably charge $60 to $100 for tickets. The Virgin Mobile Free Fest is at Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, Maryland.

Taking care of our loyal customers comes first," said Seth Hurwitz, chairman of I.M.P., promoter and producer of the Virgin Mobile Festival. "And when we say free, we mean it. The tickets are free. The parking is free. Ticketmaster really stepped up on this. Everybody just wants to make this the party of the summer. It's gonna be nuts."

So, there’s no need to take out instant cash payday loans. There’s plenty of time to save up and plan for any travel expenses. Here are some of the big names who will perform at Virgin Mobile Free Fest next month:

Weezer

Weezer has been around for 17 years. It formed in 1992. Weezer’s first album was called “Weezer,” but the band has released 3 self-titled albums, so it’s usually called The Blue Album. Tickets to Weezer concerts nowadays go for more than $60.

Weezer has had several platinum albums. Weezer is the headliner at Virgin Mobile Free Fest. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Virgin Mobile Free Fest Tickets Available Soon"

Some knowledge about elephants

Elephants have large ears, but not all kinds of elephants have the same size of ear. Elephants that live in very hot and dry climates have larger ears than those that live in cooler climates. Why is this? Elephants have very large volumes, and as volume increases, they’re ability to produce heat increases. But we know that as volume increases, surface area doesn’t increase nearly as fast. In order to give off all the heat that they are producing, they need more surface area. So, elephants in hot climates have larger ears because they need to give off more heat in order to stay cool.

Our caliper measured to one-hundredth of a millimeter

When we calculated the volume, we could only use 4 significant figures because that’s how many we had to begin within our width and length measurements. As it turns out, the cube was slightly deformed; one side was slanted and irregular. This means that the measurements weren’t as accurate as we thought they were. In one instance (the first measurement for width 1), we think someone might have misread the measurement. The reading was 19.8 mm, while all the other quantities were at or near 19 mm. We also reused the value of 19.00 mm four times for width 1. This as an effect on the value we got for the average.

In science, we don't prove things

Rather, we try to prove that the opposite of our hypothesis is wrong. We try to rule out all other possibilities so that our hypothesis is the only option left. For example, let’s say that I think the refrigerator smells bad because of the old cottage cheese in there. If I take the cottage cheese out and it doesn’t smell bad anymore, I got my desired result. That does not prove that it was the cottage cheese making the fridge smell bad, but it proves that wasn’t not the old cottage cheese. If I had taken the cottage cheese out and the fridge still smelled bad, I didn’t get my desired result. This proves that my null hypothesis, that it was not the cottage cheese causing the bad smell, was correct.

Snoring is so interesting

People can snore really loud or really quietly. Sometimes people don't snore at all. Sometimes people have really loud snoring like my dad. My dad snores so loud. Sometimes I think that the whole house is shaking because of the snoring that he is doing. It is pretty much awesome. Some people sound like they are choking when they snore. That is usually a little worrisome. You don't want people to choke and you are scared that they are dying. Sometimes people snore just breathing out or just breathing in. It is really funny to listen to people snore.

Future Pranks - Wake Up

Personal Money Store Videos on Youtube

Went back in time to wake myself up after dosing off at work…

Late last night I needed to pick up some medicine at Walgreens

It was about one in the morning. When I stopped in the parking lot with my friend I asked him what he thought was going on in the car next to us. Of course he said they were three teenagers in a car at Walgreens and were probably getting high. When we came out of the store the car was all smoked up and we could see them passing around something. I was very disappointed in them. I don't know why teenagers have to do this to themselves. I wish they understood what they were doing to their bodies. I hope my nieces and nephews aren't that unintelligent.

Isn’t it interesting how weight is so important in so many aspects of life?

You have to be a certain weight to be considered healthy. The weight of a package or letter determines how much you are going to end up paying for that package to be sent. You have very strict weight limits for going anywhere on a plane. The weight of everything is measured very carefully. The weight of how much chemicals you have in certain things will make a huge difference. As a child you first learn to measure the weight of things. I just think it is interesting how weight is so important to the world.

Still Jobless? Need Money? Visit www.PersonalMoneyStore.com!

Personal Money Store Videos on Youtube

Are you still looking for a job? Do you feel that despite how many times you go out on your job-hunt you keep coming up empty-handed? Do you enjoy writing or at least enjoy socializing with others? If yes, then we have a perfect job opportunity for you! Personal Money Store has several employment opportunities available to most anyone in the World. It does not matter where you are from or who you are. With these job opportunities you can make money online. The economy has not slowed down internet job growth.

For more information on this article and others like it, please click on the following link:Personal Money Store: Still Jobless?

Bodybuilding Supplements

Those who are athletes and players must build up their bodies so that they can take the overload of the work pressure. To build the healthy body, there is the requirement of the bodybuilding supplement to enrich the muscles and tissues of the body. It is seen that bodybuilders like to take protein in the form of powder. Protein powder is generally taken before and after the regular exercise.

According to the healthcare consultants, the bodybuilding supplements enhance the proper growth of the muscles. In this connection whey protein is considered to be one of the most vital components in the body. It contains high graded amino acids. In addition, the Casein protein is enriched in glutamine. It is a sort of amino acid which is loaded with casomorphin. It is very effective to help the body to collect amino acid. On the other hand, Soy protein is also loaded with important amino acids and this is the alternative protein for those who are vegans or vegetarians. Soybeans are fully laden with isoflavones. In addition, egg has also good quality protein which is free from lactose.

There are many bodybuilding supplements like Creatine, Mega Amino Acids, Calcium, Folic Acid and so on. These produce much impact on the body. However at the same time, people feel it urgent to make proper utilization of the Super Supplements which help guys to appear physically strong. On the other hand, Fish Oil, Flaxseed Oil Supplements inclusive of Acai Berry are also much competent to bring the elegance and strength to the body. Frankly speaking, these vital supplements check the speedy muscle wasting. They rebuild the muscle and the tissues.

Athletes must require these nutritional products in adequate quantity. In this regard, a person will be much benefited by consuming Pro-Anabolics supplement to repair the muscles. The importance of the Critical Five Amino Acids like glutamine, Arginine and BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine and valine) is palpable in the matter of re-constructuring body. Finally the qualitative health drinks will be much efficient to make someone healthy and bold. Good nutrients will certainly revitalize every inch of muscles and cellular structure of the body. If someone is interested to search for the various bodybuilding supplements, he must browse the internet to make an online comparison study to opt for the suitable medication to serve the purpose.

Turning On and Off Process of ZBP-1

A team of scientists researching at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have done a lot of experimenting and studying to invent a new mechanism which owns up the responsibility to turn on and off a gene which assists the speedy growth of breast cancer of females. Earlier, researchers have traced a gene in the name of ZBP1 or Zip code Binding Protein-1 which is very active to let cells to grow and move spatially. This ZBP1 helps the improvement of the embryo and it is much silent in the matured tissues as per the report given by Dr Robert H. Singer, a well known researcher at Gruss-Lipper Biophotinics Center at Einstein. This gene also produces adverse impact on the breast and colorectal inclusive of lung cancer. The turning off process of the ZBP1 happens after the attachment of the CH3 to ZBP1's promoter segment. This CH3 debars the promoter from fixing to beta-catenin. ZBP1 can't be active without beta-catenin. Due to the ZBP1 silencing process , the ability of the cancerous cells to speed up the metastasis process increases. Therefore if it is possible to stop the ZBP1 silencing process, there is higher possibility of the prevention of the metastasis.

I’m listening to bagpipe music right now

It's so cool! I wish I could play the bagpipes. Maybe I should learn how. But I don't have any bagpipes and I don't know where to get any, so I guess for right now I will just be content with my violin and piano playing skills. And I can still play Celtic music on my violin. I just need some music. Oh how I wish I had some. How do bagpipes work? There are the drones, that are a continuous sound and they have to be tuned to the right frequencies. Their air supply comes from the bag. Then there is the part that looks like a recorder, and the player plays it with his or her fingers. I’m pretty sure it’s air supply comes from the bag as well. The bag gets its air from the player, who blows air into it through a little tube. Bagpipes are fascinating.

Landlord and Home Repairs

I own a house that I can barely afford to maintain. Sometimes I think back to the days when I rented and wish I was renting again so that I could just call the landlord to fix things that break. And then I try to think of an example of when the landlord came to my rescue and I can't come up with anything. What I remember is the house in the woods in Vermont where the spring dried up and the landlord still thought I should pay my rent although there was no water and I couldn't stay there.

And the cute little cottage in the cute little Northern California wine country town where the gas wall heater never worked and I heated with the gas oven. The same place where the toilet never flushed right and I finally replaced the whole thing myself. The same place where not one interior door ever latched closed. The same place where the electrical outlets were so worn that cords would not stay plugged in and I replaced them all. The same place where the water heater fell through the molded out floor in the laundry room one day and I had to hire a contractor to fix it all and I withheld two months' rent over the vehement protest of my landlord.

Or the apartment in Orange County California where not one window would open or close. Or the historic garden-court cottage in Orange County where the water never ran in the tub so I had to hook a hose to the sink and run it up into a shower head whenever I showered. Or the house in Arizona with the leaking roof, and the four or five layers of roofing material that would come down in chunks whenever the wind blew. Or the place in Wyoming where broken window panes had been placed with bathroom caulk and roughly cut pieces of Plexiglas.

The pleasures of renting go on and on. I've forgotten a lot of the things that didn't work and that the landlord wouldn't fix. And it's possible that I've forgotten some things that didn't work and that the landlord did fix. But I honestly can't think of any.

So on my way home tonight I'll stop by the hardware store and get a light fixture for the basement. I'll figure out how to replace it and be done with it. And I'll keep in mind that as incompetent as I may be at fixing things, and as little money as I have, I'm doing a better job of maintaining my house than any landlord I've had the pleasure to know.

Obama Press Conference | Iran, Healthcare and Stimulus II

The gloves almost came off

President Obama has a lot of things on his plate these days, what with an economy in shambles, multiple wars being fought and post-election rioting and death in Iran. What did he have to save in today’s press conference? Helene Cooper and Sheryl Gay Stolberg live blogged the Obama press conference for the New York Times. Click through and you’ll also find a transcript of the president’s opening remarks, too.

What I have here for you is highlights and comments. Considering that Cooper and Stolberg considered the president to have appeared “angrier” than he normally does, I’m sure you’ll want to know why. Perhaps coming to him right now with a bill that would remove restrictive caps on payday lending and same day loans. I’ll bide my time.

Iran dominated the opening statement

The president opened up with comments on what’s happening in Iran, saying that “The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, beatings, and imprisonments of the last few days. I strongly condemn these unjust actions, and I join with the American people in mourning each and every innocent life that is lost.” That definitely makes his position clear, but he added that the U.S. respects Iran’s sovereignty, which seems to indicate that America isn’t going to swoop in and force them to do a recount. That is as it should be. But Obama calls Iran’s bluff when they say that the U.S. instigated the post-election protests: “This tired strategy of using old tensions to scapegoat other countries won’t work anymore in Iran.” ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Obama Press Conference | Iran, Healthcare and Stimulus II"

Game theory is really interesting

I just learned about it the other days. It is kind of like the butterfly effect but a little different. Basically game theory says that the success of one person in a business depends highly on the success and choices made by the other people in that business and other businesses. It is pretty accurate I would assume. If someone makes a decision to sell something to you at a higher price than you will be making less money and in turn will have your success in that business not be as good as it could have at the lower price. I just thought it was really interesting.

An obvious sign of ODC

I have a friend who has to touch her nose every time anyone around her touches their noses. I think it is so weird. If I go and itch my nose she will automatically go and itch her nose. Usually when I am around her, I will touch my nose a lot just to watch her follow me. It is so unusual. I guess that a lot of people have weird things like that. I bet a lot of people have unusual weird things that they do that they have to do every time or else they go crazy. I bet it is kind of a sign of OCD. That to me would be an obvious sign of ODC.

Yawning all morning

I have been yawning all morning so I decided to look up how a yawn actually occurs. I guess yawning can come from many different things. You can yawn because you are stressed, tired, or bored. You can also yawn because of something as simple as being nervous. Some studies have shown a correlation between the two. I guess there isn't any kind of chemical release or anything. It is just a reflex that humans have. It can have several meanings. Nobody really knows enough about it to actually give a solid answer as to why we yawn. It is mostly just guesswork and theories.

Yesterday I had some friends make me some banana bread

It was really good. I really love different kinds of bread. Banana bread is probably one of my favorites. I really love it while it is still warm with some butter on it. It is the most amazing taste ever. You have to have the butter or else it won't have the right flavor to it. Banana bread is pretty good by itself but the butter is what really makes it delicious. I had to ask them for their recipe. It already tasted like there was butter on it which was awesome. They said they just printed it offline. Interesting how that works.

Tonight I realized what a horrible cook I really am

For dinner it was just me and my niece. I ended up making hot dogs and ramen. It was pretty much disgusting. My niece probably did more to cook it than I actually did. In fact, the whole meal was her idea. She thought they would go well together. I thought it was disgusting but apparently she liked it a lot. I am glad that she can cook for herself at such a young age. That will make the college experience a lot easier for her. Maybe I should take some cooking classes or pay better attention when my spouse cooks dinner.

My Myspace is kind of useless

Today I was on Myspace when I realized that there is no need for me to even have a Myspace anymore. I realized all of my friends that I cared about also had a Facebook making my account on Myspace pointless. I did have one friend that I would email through there but she just recently informed me she got a Facebook. That makes it so much easier. If I only have one thing to check along with my email every day, it will make things so much easier. That is just one less password I have to remember and one less website I have to access every day.

Cancer is a pain in the butt

I have two friends right now who have cancer pretty bad. Last Friday my friend called me up and asked me to take her niece to babysit while she was in the hospital with her other niece who has cancer. It is awful. A young girl should never have to duffer cancer like that. I don't know why it happens but I understand that it does. I wish it didn't have to hurt people so much. It is such an inconvenience in life. If there was a way to avoid it then I'm sure it wouldn't be as prominent. I am almost positive there is no way to avoid it. I just want to help the families of the people who have the cancer raging in their body. Sometimes it goes away really quick and sometimes it stays forever.

Cartoons are ridiculous

I can't stand them. I used to love them as a kid. When my kids watch Saturday morning cartoons it makes me so angry. It takes way more work to do animation than normal movies or TV shows. I don't know why people decide that it is worth all the work to do animation. I wish that people just kept all the old cartoons that were less annoying. The worst is the Japanese animation. I get so angry whenever I have to see it. The skills used in making those must not be very good because they are not fun to watch let along listen to. People should make movies that I have to approve of.

Taste of Chicago 2009 Will Bring Big Money to City

Taste of Chicago features fireworks and food

A traditional Chicago Dog: all beef Hot Dog, yellow mustard, relish, onions, tomato wedges, pickle spear or slice, peppers and a dash of celery salt on a steamed poppyseed bun.

Taste of Chicago 2009 promises to be as big as ever, which is pretty big. In fact, Taste of Chicago is the largest outdoor food festival in the world.

It started out smaller in 1980, when the Taste of Chicago was held for the first time. At first, the festival was on the Fourth of July, but Taste of Chicago 2009 is a 10-day extravaganza that is sure to bring tons of traffic, tourists and, of course, money to Chicago.

Inexpensive cuisine

Taste of Chicago 2009 isn’t all about money. In fact, the food is pretty cheap. The hundreds of booths at Chicago’s famed Grant Park serve up all kinds of cuisine in exchange for tickets. Don’t dream of going up to a booth at Taste of Chicago 2009 and saying “Take my cash now!” Food vendors only exchange food for tickets.

Tickets cost $8 a dozen, making each ticket only about 66 cents. Most of the booths offer “taste” options for 2 or 3 tickets. There are so many booths, you could hit only a tiny percentage of them and chose the “taste” option, which adds up to between $1 and $2 and be stuffed.Think of it this way, if you buy your dozen tickets for $8, you will be able to sample food from four places, possibly six. Regular-size portions cost about 10 tickets ($6.60) and most booths serve half-size portions for six or seven tickets. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Taste of Chicago 2009 Will Bring Big Money to City"

The Personal Finance Hour, Episode 13: Credit Scores with Liz Weston

Join us this afternoon for the 13th episode of The Personal Finance Hour. Today, Jim and I will be joined by a special guest, money writer Liz Pulliam Weston. Weston, “the most-read personal finance columnist on the Internet”, writes regularly for MSN Money, and is the author of Your Credit Score: Your Money and What’s at Stake.

We would love to have you call with questions and share your own experiences! There are four ways to hear the show. You can listen through an audio feed at the show page, or you can dial the call-in number at (347) 327-9144. You can also listen through this widget:

Note that the widget always holds the archive of the most recent episode. So, right now it contains last week’s episode about earning extra money. Later this afternoon it will contain episode number thirteen.

We’re also on iTunes! You can subscribe to The Personal Finance Hour as a weekly podcast by following this link (which will open iTunes).

Jim and I do this every Monday — and we hope you’ll join us. We think this is a fun way to connect with readers and to help everyone learn more about money management. You can catch The Personal Finance Hour live at 3pm Pacific (6pm Eastern) every Monday.

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Related Articles at Get Rich Slowly:

• The Personal Finance Hour, Episode 11: Frugal Weekend Fun
• The Personal Finance Hour, Episode 12: Earning Extra Money
• The Personal Finance Hour, Episode 4: Couples and Finances
• The Personal Finance Hour, Episode 3: Finding Balance
• The Personal Finance Hour, Episode 8: Pets

Read more about The Personal Finance Hour, Episode 13: Credit Scores with Liz Weston…

Have you ever noticed how there are so many cultural barriers between cultures

I wish people were more understanding of others. It is our job not to be offended by the things that people say. If people were less offended by others, they would probably not have such a difficulty understanding others of different cultures. I wish that people would try harder to make the world more united rather than trying so hard to keep themselves different from everyone else. It is a good thing to be united. I wish other people just understood that a united world means less contention and more problem solving.

I hate it when people protest

It is one of my biggest pet peeves. People think that protesting is going to get them what they want. What it really does is make them look bad on the side of the road. If people really wanted to make a difference they would be a productive member of society with a job and life. Obviously people who have time to protest have too much money and not enough work. They are being the productive members of society they should be. They also could write up a bill to be voted on. That would be more productive than shouting for other people to make a change.

I just learned a little bit about what absolute zero is

I learned that absolute zero is what exists when there is no heat or warmth. It is the coldest that it can get. It is theoretically impossible to get to because it is impossible to keep heat from being a small part of everything. I thought it was really interesting. Absolute zero has no energy at all. If you think about all the energy going on in the room just because you are sitting there in a room, it is hard to imagine no energy working at all. Even when the sun is down, there is still so much energy around us that it makes absolute zero impossible.

Insurers Revoke Policies To Avoid Paying High Costs

Rescission, the act of retroactively canceling health insurance, is fairly common, a new congressional report finds. Companies can cancel policies right before a patient is scheduled to have major surgery if the patient failed to tell the company — either deliberately or inadvertently — of a pre-existing condition.

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Get Freshness That’s Easy!

Are you looking for a surefire way to protect the taste, texture, and quality of your food? Then Saran has the answer. From your freezer to your microwave, everything from just-picked vegetables to last night's leftovers has never tasted so fresh! I copied that title and those first two sentences from the saranbrands.com website because I was too lazy to think of a better way to express my feelings for Saran plastic wrap. I'm a compulsive editor, so I had to make several grammatical corrections in case anyone should think me illiterate. But I copied and pasted (and corrected, of course) because I want the whole world to know how well Saran plastic wrap seals in odors. The website didn't mention the part about sealing in odors, so I'll have to write about that first-hand instead of cutting and pasting.

Every morning I make a fruit smoothie in my blender, pour it into a big, clear glass mug, cover it with Saran wrap and take it to my office where I drink it mid-morning. Yesterday morning, when I went to pour the smoothie out of the blender, I couldn't find my smoothie cup. So I used some other glass. When I went to put yesterday's smoothie in my car to take it to work, I found the missing smoothie glass. There it was, sitting on the floor of my car behind the driver's seat where I always carry it, still filled with yesterday's smoothie and securely covered with Saran plastic wrap. I hadn't even realized that I didn't have a smoothie at work yesterday. I didn't have time to deal with it before I left for work, and although it's June and the weather is warm, I couldn't smell anything, so I just left it sitting there and drove off to work.

I brought my fresh smoothie into the office and left the old one in the car, intending to get rid of it somehow on my lunch break. I drank the fresh one mid-morning. At noon, when I got in my car to go to lunch, I had again forgotten about yesterday's smoothie behind the back seat.

Driving home after work yesterday, I thought about the smoothie behind the back seat. I don't have a garbage disposal, so I decided I'd pour the smoothie out in the yard and water it into the ground when I got home. But I forgot.

Late last night I was driving to a friend's house and I remembered the smoothie again. When I got to the friend's house, I opened the back door of my car and saw that the Saran wrap and the smoothie had bulged up over the top of the glass like ice cream in a cone. My friend has a garbage disposal in his sink, so I decided to take the smoothie into his house and send it down the disposal. The smoothie still looked fresh, except for the suspicious, gaseous bulge. When I peeled off the Saran wrap, I realized that the fruit really had been fermenting in the heat of the car for more than forty hours, but I hadn't detected the slightest effluvia. Not until I removed the Saran wrap barrier. I sent the smoothie down the disposal with plenty of water, while musing on the very impressive impermeability of that thin, clear plastic membrane.

Sunflowers are my favorite flowers

They are pretty and useful. Sunflowers are large orange flowers that I think are awesome looking. Not only are they nice looking flowers but they also give us sunflower seeds. It is so awesome. Lucky for me they are native to the Americas. That means it would be easier for me to grow them when I decide I have the time to do it. In China they sell the whole head of sunflowers for snacks to people. It's not just the seeds that they eat but the whole head. I thought that was crazy. I might have to try eating the whole head one day just to see what it's like.

A few days ago I went to a barbeque with my friend

Another couple had invited us over because of some things my friend had done for their family. When we got there the place was a disaster. I was so appalled that anyone would allow their home to get to that point. I know that sometimes a house just gets really messy and then you give up. I understand that concept of things. I just couldn't believe they would just allow their home to get like that. A home should be clean and comfortable in my opinion. They had a glass table that she said was hard to keep clean and I just thought that yes it is hard to keep clean when you don't clean it. I probably shouldn't be so judgmental about it though. I have my own flaws.

Night at the Museum two

My sister and I went and watched Night at the Museum two tonight and it was really good. It was really nice doing something with just the two of us. We would usually take my nieces and nephews with us but the last few times we did that they either slept through the whole movie or they had to go to the bathroom every thirty minutes and I’m not going to pay for another movie that I don’t get to see or that my nieces and nephews will sleep through. Anyway, it was a very entertaining movie. We both enjoyed it thoroughly and it, like the first one, had a lot of comedy in it. Sequels usually aren’t that good but this one was just as good as the first one. It had a good plot and it was pretty much action through out the whole movie. Also, there are a ton of new characters that add to the new story line and it still had all the old ones as well. If you liked the first one then you should see Night at the Museum two.

I would love to work there

My sister and I just got back from watching Night at the Museum two, which was really good by the way, and it got me thinking about how awesome it would be to work in a museum where that would happen. I would love to work there. Sure it would be freaky at first and probably a little scary but after you learned the ropes it would be amazing. Watching everything come to life every night and interacting with them would be so much fun. It would be incredible learning all that they know and all that different culture from all around the world. But that’s just me; I would love to learn about different cultures directly from someone who has experienced them. It would also be interesting interacting with all those different animals and creatures, but I’m sure some of them would be hostile. Anyway, it’s a fun idea and a good movie.

A picture is worth a thousand words

I put my oldest niece to bed last night and while I was walking out I noticed that there was a stuffed batman toy in my baby niece’s crib. Now this toy is as big as her playpen so it was taking up most of the room in her crib and she was cuddling up to it. I thought it was really funny because sometime between putting my nephew to bed and my oldest niece my nephew snuck that toy into her crib. It doesn’t seem that funny right now but last night my roommate and I were laughing about it for a while. I should have taken a picture of it, and then I could show others how funny it really looked. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Every morning my nieces and nephews wake up and get to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse after breakfast and at the end of every show all the characters sing this song called Hot Dog. Now anyone who’s seen Mickey Mouse Clubhouse knows what I’m talking about. Anyway, my brother in-law absolutely hates that song. He says the whole show has nothing to do with hot dogs so why are they singing about them. He is so funny. Whenever he hears that song or my nieces and nephews start singing it he freaks out and tells them to stop singing. No one is really sure why he hates it so much and I don’t think he really knows why he hates it so much either.

I love superman.

He is a guy who can't control whether or not he has his powers but decides to do good anyway. It is sad that he has such a lonely life. He makes sure that everyone else is safe.

He is lonely and sad yet everyone else is safe because of his efforts to protect them. He doesn't know where he came from or why he has the powers that he does. All he knows is that he is some sort of alien to the planet earth but has been sent to protect it.

He could just as easily be a bad guy. Luckily he decided that he wanted to be a kind protective person than an evil guy. I'm sure if he turned evil he would kill everyone who he came in contact with. That would be a bad thing.

A Comedy Original Dies: Michael Chicken Roof

Personal Money Store Videos on Youtube

If you think fast loans and quick loans are stigmatized, you dont know the meaning of the word. Mental illness is truly stigmatized by society. Its understood that the afflicted is ill in some way, but the general level of discomfort on the part of others, as well as their tendency to write the person off as crazy, proves that the level of acceptance of the mentally ill is still extremely low in America.

For more information on this article and others like please visit us by clicking the following link: Personal Money Store: Michael Chicken Roof

Thinking about water

I love water. I don't drink it with ice usually. I realized after watching a movie that it is probably a good thing. In the movie a young boy is a spy. He discovers that someone is trying to put little engineered bacteria in all the ice cubes of the world in order for them to slowly kill everyone.

I figured out that if he could put those bacteria in all the ice cubes in the world, I still wouldn't die because I don't drink my water with ice. I also kind of figured there was no possible way for him to get into people's homes and put bacteria into their ice cube trays.

Maybe if they could find a way for the bacteria to travel through water it would work but by that point you would just leave it in the water. It's very interesting.

5 Financial Tips for Expecting Parents

Foxtongue

If you’ve just received the news that you’re pregnant, one thing’s for sure, life as you know it is over. But that’s a good thing. The joys of parenthood far outweigh the cons but you’ll need a solid financial plan if you hope to make it through the next nine months.

So after you’ve shared the news with your parents and 500 of your closest friends on Facebook, you’d better start thinking about how this is going to affect your wallet.

You want the best for your family of course but who should you listen to? When it comes to giving new parents advice, suddenly it seems everyone is an expert: don’t get this brand of diapers, make sure to get that kind of car seat, don’t rush to get the baby the first time it cries, and so forth. The good news is that you will have nearly nine months to prepare your home. Make sure to use a few of those hours to get your financial house in order too. Both are about to go through major changes.

No matter your fiscal discipline, there’s about to be another mouth to feed. Many couples will want or need to move into a bigger space. The extent of many of your baby-related expenses will be controllable, as your and your partner’s expenses are today. However, even with maximum restraint, you’ll still be walking down new grocery aisles and visiting new stores, ultimately spending money on products and services you never considered previously.

If you’re financially unprepared for your new baby, you could end up financing diapers. Here are the top 5 things you should do when you’re expecting:

Tip 1: Communicate With Your Partner

The theoretical conversations you may have had a few times previously will now become real. Decisions will have to be made. Nothing should be assumed, Talk about them.

• Will one of you stay home? If so, for how long? Things may change. That’s okay.
• Could all of you live on just one income? If you think so, what makes you so confident? Have you ever done so before?

Tip 2: Live Within Your Means

It’s as important as ever to make sure to live within your means. Resist the temptation to use your new arrival as an excuse to purchase things you can’t afford and don’t really need. If you have a car with four doors and four tires, you already have a “family car.” Your apartment or existing abode is probably big enough to accommodate the baby. Try to put off a major move for as long as possible. Not everything has to fit the stereotype. Spend on what’s important to you within the constraints of what you can actually afford.

Tip 3: Establish An Emergency Fund Now

If you haven’t already done so, there’s no time like the present to establish an emergency fund. The traditional three to six months sounds like a lot. It is a lot. But it’s better to have some money socked away for this purpose than none at all. Do what is possible. Remember you’re trying to set aside three to six months of non-discretionary living expenses only, not your full monthly income. If you aspire to have one partner stay at home for an extended period, one easy way to enhance your emergency fund is to practice living on one income while both spouses are still working.

Job security still have feeling confident you’ll never need to tap an emergency fund?  It’s not just about your job.  When you first hold your baby in a few months, it will be so obvious- there’s another person in the picture now.  The more people in the family, the greater chance there is for some kind of emergency. Be prepared.

Tip 4: Get Life Insurance

Many young adults without children can actually spend their money more wisely than on life insurance. That concept changes immediately upon conception. Now, someone will be depending on your income for years to come. You’ll need to be sure that if something unfortunate happens to you, your child can still maintain the lifestyle you’ve been providing. Only life insurance can provide that financial security.

Tip 5: Sign Up for the Health Care Reimbursement Account at Work

Also known as a flexible spending account (FSA), this account requiring minor paperwork can effectively save you 25% or more (depending on your tax rate) on your medical expenses. When you’re expecting, you’re going to have big medical bills, including pre-natal care and delivery.

Your next annual enrollment date presents the perfect chance to increase your contribution rate to reflect your new medical spending and to reduce your after-tax costs in the process. If you won’t reach an enrollment date prior to delivery, remember that your child’s birth constitutes a “life event” and will give you a special one-time opportunity to increase your contribution rate.

Be prepared, don’t overspend, and remember that what really matters is not the brand, design, or expense of your child’s bedding, stroller, or Onesie, but rather your love and care for them.

Michael B. Rubin is the author of Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck and the blog of the same name. He is the President of Total Candor, a financial planning education company.

Read more about 5 Financial Tips for Expecting Parents…

Will National Sushi Day Make a Mint for Restaurants?

When is National Sushi Day?

Today is National Sushi Day! Or is it? When I first heard that today is National Sushi day, I had the same thought as Jeff Schmitt from OregonLive.com:

It seems to be yet another in a series of made-up internet holidays that are circulated to and fro, searched for on a specific day (today), hopefully capitalized upon by us.

I assumed, and still do, that the inventors of National Sushi Day were either sushi-loving connoisseurs or, more likely, sushi peddlers seeking a way to make a few extra bucks. Can’t blame them for trying, right?

National Sushi Day, show yourself!

But I figured I’d give National Sushi Day a chance to prove itself a legitimate holiday. I used a couple of time-tested internet techniques to uncover the mystery of the origin of National Sushi Day. I mean, if I can use the internet to get payday advances, I should be able to find out how long a holiday has been around, right?

What I uncovered might shock and astound you: Today might not be National Sushi Day at all! It might be on a different day.

The Wikipedia search

Everyone know that Wikipedia is a malleable database that contains some debatable information. Everyone also knows that everyone who’s anyone and anything that’s anything is in there. A search for National Sushi Day on Wikipedia came up with zilch, nada, nothing.

Well, of course, we all know that’s not true. A Wikipedia search for National Sushi Day came up with a lengthy list of results, including: National Cherry Blossom Festival, Sweden, Mark Dugdale and Mexican Cuisine.

The Google search

If you search for something on Google and don’t find it, you know it doesn’t exist. Luckily for National Sushi Day, I came across a little something called the National Sushi Society. The site for this very official-sounding organization says Sushi Day was started in 1997. It also says it’s on Nov. 1! ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Will National Sushi Day Make a Mint for Restaurants?"

Good Debt and Bad Debt

I don’t believe in “good and bad debt”. Debt is debt is debt is debt. Whether it’s out of necessity or due to a sudden lost of sanity, borrowed money is a liability that needs to be paid back.

The granddaddy of “good debt” is, of course, a mortgage. Most home buyers couldn’t buy a house without one, so it made sense to justify it by shedding a good light in this type of borrowing. Unfortunately, so many people take it the wrong way and end up buying a house that’s unaffordable. Debt is debt is debt is debt no matter how you look at it. Remember it on your road to financial independence.

Personal Finance Article

• My Two Dollars however, thinks there’s debt he’s okay with. What do you think?
• Want to profit in the stock market? Perhaps a read through several practical advise for the stock investor is in order for you this weekend!
• Frugal Dad needs your help! He is planning a vacation to Disney World and needs your help in having fun and staying frugal (of course)!
• Bible Money Matters wrote a pretty comprehensive article on watching TV online. If you’ve been thinking about cutting your TV bill, this is a must read!
• Looking at the Everbank CD rates, we won’t get a 3%+ rate until we lock in a 5-year CD! With rates this low, do you think it’s worth it to dip back into the market?
• There are tons of inflation indicators out there but I learned of one last week that I wrote about on Investing School. Check it out!

Carnival

• Money Hacks Carnival
• Carnival of Personal Finance
• Carnival of Debt Reduction
• Best of Money Carnival
• Best of the Best in Money and Personal Finance

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Related Articles at Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning:

• Getting Used to The Debt Situation
• Debt to Income Ratio
• Debt is All Around You
• Possibly Avoid Bankruptcy with Debt Consolidation
• Debt Snowball - Highest Interest vs Smallest Loans First

Read more of Good Debt and Bad Debt…

Turbocharge Your Savings with Certificate of Deposits (CDs)

Certificate of deposits, or CDs, are offered by banks as a way to attract additional deposits from customers in exchange for a higher yield. It works out for the banks because CDs have a fixed time period where there are penalties for early withdrawal, giving institutions a high confidence that the deposits can be used for lending. On the other hand, it works for customers as well because of the guaranteed (and often higher) interest rates.

Sounds great. Yet, it’s been a decade since I purchased one. Back then, I bought GICs (it stands for Guaranteed Investment Certificate, the equivalent of CDs in Canada) so technically, I have never purchased a CD before.

“But being FDIC insured, it’s covered up to $250,000!” I know I know, it’s got great rates as well, but I have instead opted for online savings accounts since it offers a similar yield. My reasoning was that since CDs are inflexible because it lock my money up.

I bet that turns some of you away from it too.

Inflexibility of a CD Isn’t Necessarily Bad

Being too flexible isn’t always good. Since I sold half of everything I invested in the stock market several weeks ago, I actually made more trades with my added purchasing power. Sure, the last few weeks were quite profitable but I found myself checking my stock performances and CNBC ALL THE TIME. Instead, I much rather be spending time on what’s more important like:

• Working on My Websites
• Spending Time with Emma
• Enjoying Life

Sometimes, not having access to your money isn’t always a bad thing. You won’t be spending as much, or more importantly, worry as much. Without the ability to overdraw your checking account into savings, you might even save more money. Funny how inflexibility can work in your favor…

Of course, you can always ask me to hold onto all your savings to get the same effect, but if you rather get some interest rates along the way, certificate of deposits might be the ticket.

Aside:
Here are a few places that offer great certificate of deposits rates.

• Ally Bank
• EverBank

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Related Articles at Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning:

• Ally Bank Review
• Child Trust Funds in Nine Baby Steps
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Read more of Turbocharge Your Savings with Certificate of Deposits (CDs)…

Jon and Kate Announcement a Money-Making Ploy

Jon and Kate announcement generates buzz

One of Jon and Kate's best-selling books.

If you watch TLC, there’s no doubt you’ve seen the teases for the one-hour special “Jon and Kate Announcement” that will air in place of a regular “John & Kate Plus 8″ episode on June 22.

With the insane amount of media attention this family has gotten lately, this John and Kate announcement is sure to get tons of viewers — and tons of advertising dollars. Any advertiser seeking money to fund a commercial during the Jon and Kate announcement no doubt got some easy loans.

An opinionated public

Viewers, who will no doubt tune in to the John and Kate announcement Monday, have plenty of opinions about the Gosselin family. One of the big controversies has been whether the TV show exploits their children.

With all of the money the show draws, it is a full-time job for Jon and Kate, so it can certainly be argued that it is a full-time job for their children. With the kids on camera all the time, generating all kinds of money and paychecks for all kinds of people, it certainly can be argued that their kids are working a pretty rigorous schedule.

Connecting the dots

So, if the TV show generates tons of money through what some might argue is “child labor,” is that legal. Well, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor is currently investigating that. So, if the Jon and Kate announcement is an extension of that, should you tune in?

I don’t know whether the children will be in the special Jon and Kate announcement episode, but the fact that it’s an hour long makes me think that they probably will. What are Jon and Kate going to announce for an hour? ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Jon and Kate Announcement a Money-Making Ploy"

What is a Necessity

Emma and her coworkers were at Costco the other day and a discussion brought up an interesting question - what actually is a necessity?

The conversation came up when one of them decided to buy trash bags. “Trash bags”, Emma said. “Why do you pay for something like that?”

It turns out that her coworker always treated it as a necessity, while Emma and I have never bought these bags before (and never plan to). We’ve always just used the left over plastic bags from grocery shopping.

What Do You Consider a Necessity?

From writing about money everyday, I think about frugal living more often than most people. Yet, I rarely think of ways to save on what I would classify an necessary expense.

When we run out of sugar, we go get some. When our car breaks down, we get it fixed. We seldom think much about paying in these cases, but perhaps there are some ways to use less sugar and maybe there’s a secret to making our car last longer too. If we think hard enough, there’s a chance that all those expense aren’t necessary anymore.

My glasses broke the other day and I wrote about getting it fixed. A couple of days ago, it broke again, so I taped it. By all measures, buying a new pair is definitely a necessary expense. I can afford it, and most people will buy a pair even if they couldn’t. “It’s my glasses”, they would claim. Yet, I still have it taped. It looks and works fine, I can still write and read without feeling any difference. Why is it a necessity?

Necessary or Not, It’s in Your Head

Many wonder how others survive without much income when they couldn’t keep afloat even with a decent salary. “There are just too many expenses to deal with”, they say. Child care, groceries, car payments, mortgages, student loans etc already eat up so much of the monthly expenses. How can you survive?

What to buy, how much to buy and when to buy is, when it’s all said and done, just a personal choice. Perhaps there’s no such thing as a necessary expense.

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Related Articles at Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning:

• Stop Thinking About True Value and Just Buy What You Need
• Motivation Monday - Rewarding Ourselves For Accomplishments
• What Would Happen if You Plan and Budget for All Spending
• Good Debt and Bad Debt
• Toilet Train Yourself to Become a Personal Finance Expert

Read more of What is a Necessity…