Money Category
You can cut your phone bill in half with a different service
Lizzie Tyner | RSS | Thu, Dec 31 2009 | 6 Comments
How many times have you gotten your phone bill and thought “We are spending way too much money on this?” We used to do that a lot. When you take your phone bill and add it to the fact that you’re paying for your cell phones and any other forms of communication, I know that sometimes you might think,”Is this land line even necessary?”
I have a love hate (but mostly hate) relationship with my land line. I really don’t want to get rid of it because I don’t always have cell phone service in my house and I don’t want to miss any important calls (and with my luck, the day I turned off the land line, I would get one of those important calls).
To help with my problem, I started looking into VoIP services. I’m sure that everyone has heard of Vonage. If you have cable, I’m sure at one point in time the company has tried to sell you on its digital telephone package (which is simply VoIP). There are many more providers than just this handful though.
After a brief Google search for VoIP providers, I found some really good deals out there. Most were cheaper than Vonage’s $24.95 a month.
You can choose what provider you want by the features you want. If you have friends or family outside the United States, then make sure you pick a plan that offers free calling to international numbers. Sometimes you can find services that offer calling for free to the UK and Europe. Most providers offer free calling to Canada and Mexico.
There are also some providers that offer a reduced price for service, but it requires you to leave your computer on all the time. The Magic Jack is the most popular form of that. I wouldn’t use one because I don’t want to have to leave my computer on for days and days at a time, and like I said before, the one time I have to restart my computer, I’m sure I’d miss the call I was waiting for.
I just feel like no matter what you pick, if you have a high speed internet connection, you can definitely save money with a VoIP service versus a traditional phone line. You just have to make sure that your connection is reliable and always on. Also, don’t forget, if you have DSL you may not be able to get rid of your land line.
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Tags: digital telephone, vonage, magic jack
If you’re looking for work, here is where you may be able to find it.
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Tue, Dec 29 2009 | 0 Comments
There are so many businesses out there that have hiring at a standstill with hiring and pay raise freezes. However, some industries are coming out as the places to work, where you can find a job and actually do alright.
The industries where jobs can be found include: Accounting, Information Technology, and even food service. This is all according to government data.
There are several surveys out now that are indicating that many companies won’t be hiring anytime soon, but a lot of the companies in the industries listed above will be looking for new recruits and are already out there actively seeking employees.
After shrinking for an entire year, four quarters in a row, the economy is expected to pick up a bit for the July through September quarter; this could lead employers to take away hiring freezes and start hiring people again. However, even with the new unemployment numbers out and showing a decrease in the total number of those who are unemployed, unemployment is expected to increase to 10% by the end of the year. Total job openings stayed steady through June according to the Labor Department.
Of course there are plenty of accounting jobs out there. The college I graduated from often boasts their 100% placement rate for accounting graduates. That number just seems crazy to me. After all, they just took a lot of the same classes I took to get through business school, yet most of them end up working in their field within weeks of getting their diplomas.
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Tags: jobs, accounting jobs, unemployment numbers
Don’t skimp on pet medicines
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Mon, Dec 28 2009 | 1 Comment
I’m sure you’ve all heard or seen a commercial from the website 1800petmeds, but there are actually a lot of pet pharmacies on the internet ready and willing to send you medicines for you beloved pets. I actually have three dogs and only buy my pet medications (this includes flea and tick treatments as well as heart worm prevention) from the vet.
The reason is because, even though places like 1800petmeds and other online pet pharmacies say that their medicines are 100% authentic and are the exact same as the medicines that you would buy from the vet, sometimes they aren’t. I have been told stories of pet owners who have purchased their dogs’ medicines from online pet pharmacies and ended up with the wrong prescription or medicines that were open, expired, or simply not genuine medicines.
Sure, I would buy pet supplies from these places, but never their medicines. The vets know that a lot of people are buying from these online pharmacies and are now matching prices with them to make sure that pet owners are getting genuine medicines for the same prices that they would be getting them for online. All you have to do is ask your vet if he or she will match the prices. My vet actually told us upfront that she would match the prices and we pay exactly what the online pharmacies are charging, except we pay sales tax.
I know that some vets won’t do this and they still enjoy charging outrageous prices for medicines that could easily be found cheaper elsewhere, but sometimes it’s better to call around and get the best price from local vets. I think the best way to measure how much a vet will charge for medications for your pet is to ask about heartworm prevention. You can see the cost at 1800petmeds and compare.
I don’t think medicines for animals or humans is something that people should skimp on. If you want to save money, try to cut it anywhere else first. I just don’t think most people would consider buying their child antibiotics from an online pharmacy, so why would you get your best friend’s medicines from somewhere similar?
And that is an actual picture of my dog when he was a puppy.
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Tags: heart worm prevention, 1800petmeds, online pharmacy
Maybe having a lot of money can bring happiness of a different kind
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Sun, Dec 27 2009 | 0 Comments
A report came out today that said up to 90% of the paper money in the United States has traces of cocaine on it. The group of scientists that tested the notes tested money from thirty different cities in 5 countries.
The United States and Canada came out on top with the highest levels of contamination of cocaine on paper money with between 85% and 90%. China and Japan ranked the lowest with only between 12 and 20% of their money being contaminated.
A similar study was conducted two years ago, and the new results prove that there is an increase of 20% from the previous study. Scientists have been aware of the contamination on banknotes. Paper money is used during drug deals and also when people are rolling it to snort cocaine. Then the money ends back up at the bank where it contaminates non-illicit drug money.
The levels of cocaine that showed up on the bills fell between .006 micrograms and 1,240 micrograms. As a reference, .006 micrograms is several thousands of times smaller than one grain of sand and 1,240 micrograms equals about 50 grains of sand. The scientists also noted that some of the cities tested definitely had higher contamination levels than others. Baltimore, Detroit, and Boston ranked among the highest contamination levels. Salt Lake City had the lowest in the United States.
If you were expecting to get something out of this you should probably move along. You’re not going to get high off a few dollars from your local bank. You won’t even have any health problems stemming from handling paper money.
It is also unlikely for any trace amounts of drugs that were on a bank note to end up messing up your drug test at work.
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Tags: drug deals, illicit drug, grains of sand
Wealth Distribution Around the World
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Thu, Dec 24 2009 | 1 Comment
This map basically means that the lighter color, the more equally the wealth in the country is distributed. You can tell where the most people suffer due to the darker shades of green seen throughout the map.
The countries with the biggest gap between poverty and wealth are the South American nations and some central to southern African nations.
Canada, Australia, much of Europe, and even some African countries all have fairly good wealth distribution throughout.
The United States falls into the same category as Russia, India, Italy, England, Portugal, and Uzbekistan to name a few.
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Tags: shades of green, UNITE, wealth distribution
