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I am surprised and satisfied with the poll results about credit card debt. Considering that 80% of ILFT subscribers and visitors are women, I’ll assume 40% of them doesn’t have any credit card debt. Congratulations! So the rumors and facts you hear about women spending more than men and often have more debt on their credit cards are not always true. Take a look at the following screenshot of the poll results:

What I am not happy about is that 30% of my subscribers have over $5,000 in debt on their credit cards. What to do? – Start digging out! I think this woman who had $80,000 in debt might be a good example:

I know how debt can influence every corner of your life, even your health. According to researchers at Ohio State University people who reported higher levels of stress about their debt showed higher levels of physical impairment and also reported worse health than those with lower levels of debt.

Bankruptcy is not always a good thing, but if the minimum payments on your credit cards are more than left overs from a paycheck (especially now when all major banks raised APR’s on credit cards to their existing customers) then consult any local bankruptcy lawyer (consultation is usually free) and decide if the bankruptcy will be a good option for you.

I suggest everyone who have a credit card balance to use the Federal Reserve’s Credit Card Repayment Calculator, it will give you an estimate of how long it will take you to pay off your credit card balance and best of all you will be shocked by the numbers you’ll see, but don’t worry, what you’ll see should motivate you to pay off your debt as soon as possible and become healthy and debt free individual. Start digging out of debt today, don’t wait!

I am just about halfway to my retirement (I hope it’ll be sooner), and I caught myself thinking about place where I want to live my last days. I am not going to tell you where you should live when you retire. This should be your personal decision, besides it involves many factors such as your financial situation, relatives, friends, climate, etc. I just want to share this map I found today. Click on it and take a closer look, maybe you already live in the “perfect” State and don’t need to look anywhere else. Share it with us.

I am also attaching link to the article Retirement: State by State

I recommend to download these four free ebooks packed with useful information related to your personal finance.

TIPS FOR CHANGE – This recent eBook is on top of my list. It has tons of helpful tips from different people on how to save money. Nice modern layout and easy readable. Published by Money Management International (MMI)

Building Wealth: A Beginner’s Guide to Securing Your Financial Future offers introductory guidance to individuals and families seeking help to develop a plan for building personal wealth. An overview of personal wealth-building strategies that includes setting financial goals, seeking guidance, budgeting, saving and investing, and managing debt.

Money Tips for All Ages No matter how old or young you are, there are some basic things you can do to better manage and protect your money. Here are recommendations from FDIC Consumer News.

Taking Control of Your Finances: A Special Guide for Young Adults Very informative book, also published by FDIC: “Everybody makes mistakes with their money. The important thing is to keep them to a minimum. And one of the best ways to accomplish that is to learn from the mistakes of others. Here is our list of the top mistakes young people (and even many not-so-young people) make with their money, and what you can do to avoid these mistakes in the first place.”

Children who view adult-targeted TV may become sexually active earlier in life

Longitudinal study tracked content viewed during childhood and adolescence

Boston, Mass. — Early onset of sexual activity among teens may relate to the amount of adult content children were exposed to during their childhood, according to a new study released by Children’s Hospital Boston. Based on a longitudinal study tracking children from age six to eighteen, researchers found that the younger children are exposed to content intended for adults in television and movies, the earlier they become sexually active during adolescence. The findings are being presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies meetings on Monday, May 4 in Baltimore.

“Television and movies are among the leading sources of information about sex and relationships for adolescents,” says Hernan Delgado, MD, fellow in the Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston and lead author of the study. “Our research shows that their sexual attitudes and expectations are influenced much earlier in life.”

The study consisted of 754 participants, 365 males and 389 females, who were tracked during two stages in life: first during childhood, and again five years later when their ages ranged from 12 to 18-years-old. At each stage, the television programs and movies viewed, and the amount of time spent watching them over a sample weekday and weekend day were logged. The program titles were used to determine what content was intended for adults. The participants’ onset of sexual activity was then tracked during the second stage.

According to the findings, when the youngest children in the sample–ages 6 to 8-years-old–were exposed to adult-targeted television and movies, they were more likely to have sex earlier when compared those who watched less adult-targeted content. The study found that for every hour the youngest group of children watched adult-targeted content over the two sample days, their chances of having sex during early adolescence increased by 33 percent. Meanwhile, the reverse was not found to be true–that is, becoming sexually active in adolescence did not subsequently increase youth’s viewing of adult-targeted television and movies.

“Adult entertainment often deals with issues and challenges that adults face, including the complexities of sexual relationships. Children have neither the life experience nor the brain development to fully differentiate between a reality they are moving toward and a fiction meant solely to entertain,” adds David Bickham, PhD, staff scientist in the Center on Media and Child Health and co-author of the study. “Children learn from media, and when they watch media with sexual references and innuendos, our research suggests they are more likely to engage in sexual activity earlier in life.”

The researchers encourage parents to follow current American Academy of Pediatrics viewing guidelines such as no television in the bedroom, no more than 1 to 2 hours of screen time a day, and to co-view television programs and have an open dialogue about its content with your children. They also suggest that–while the results demonstrate a longitudinal relationship–more research needs be done to understand how media influences children’s growing awareness of human relationships and sexual behavior.

“Adolescent sexual behaviors may be influenced at a younger age, but this is just one area we studied,” adds Dr. Delgado. “We showed how adult media impacts children into adolescence, yet there are a number of other themes in adult television shows and movies, like violence and language, whose influence also needs to be tracked from childhood to adolescence.”

Source: Eurekalert

This week I finished developing my first custom Google Gadget for I Love Free Things. It shows my latest updates from the website with the ability to use my new site search. It was a learning curve for me. I forced myself to do it because I didn’t want to outsource this task and spend money. I had to do some research, study the developer’s guide from Google and learn specifics of the code. I also did a few mistakes at the beginning and created wrong gadget, it was a gadget for Google desktop and not for the website. It took me almost a day to complete a full working version and submit it to a gadget directory. There are still more stuff to learn, more room for upgrades and improvements of this gadget that I plan to do some time in the future. Feel free to use it, just click here and add it to your iGoogle homepage.

I never cared much about the ice cubes in my freezer until I found this video. A very simple trick that anyone can do it, yet you don’t need any special tools or ingredients, it is free. The result is stunning and I bet it tastes different too. You don’t have to do this every time, but if you having a party or invited some friends over, you can impress them or maybe raise someone’s curiosity when serving iced drinks. Don’t forget to mention my name when you reveal the trick =).

It is a Labor Day Weekend and I hope you are enjoying it very much. I also understand that some people (including my wife) can’t fully enjoy this holiday because they need to go to work. Try to relax after work and enjoy the holiday as much as possible.

Did you know that Labor Day holiday is 127 years old? The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union.

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. (The History of Labor Day)

Some merchants celebrating this holiday by offering free stuff:

Kids eat free at IKEA (Spt. 5-7)

Chik-Fil-A Original Chicken Sandwich Giveaway on Sept. 7

Free Blue Bunny® Frozen Yogurt (after rebate)

Free coffee from Borders (Coupon)

Are you Cooking? Check out this website with many Labor Day recipes.

Free Labor Day ecards

Send a Free Hope greeting card at Cardstore.com

In addition check out this list of great free stuff I posted this week in many categories such as free posters, beauty, food, stickers and more.

Famous Labor Day Quote: A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. – Albert Einstein

Happy Labor Day!

Just got back from the Target store empty handed. This is the third time I caught myself on using a different approach to shopping. Two shirts on sale for $11.99 each got my attention, I decided to try them on and went to the fitting room. While looking at myself in the mirror, I began talking to myself (inside my head of course): “Do I really need these shirts? I have plenty shirts in my closet already. Maybe I just put $23.99 into my savings account or apply them towards my credit card debt?”

Many people tend to buy stuff they don’t really need. Marketing labels, sale tags and different advertisements that we see are really working and may confuse our minds for a minute or two, just enough to make us say “YES, I want to buy it!”. How many times you bought something that ended up laying around for some time before it gets to the storage room or your garage? Just open your closet or garage and I think you’ll find the answer.

Next time you at the store and you see a good deal (some deals are misleading) or you see something that you want to buy, stop for a minute and ask yourself a question: “Do I really need this thing?”

1. How to Remove Scratches From Any DVD

2. Tips To Getting Stains Out

3. Simple Energy Saving Tips

4. Freshen up Pillows

5. How to Remove Hard Water Stains on Glass Shower Doors

6. How to Clean Carpet Stains

7. How to Organize your Vital Paperwork

I found an excellent tip from Michigan’s most frugal mom: When you do your grocery shopping don’t forget to take a calculator with you. Here is why – with all the sales and special offers leaping off the shelves, it’s tough to decipher what is actually a good deal. It takes only a little extra time to figure out the best deal by dividing the price by units (oz, gal, liters, lbs, etc.)

You’ll find some brand-name products on sale with a coupon are still more expensive than the generic. Sometimes the generic on sale is more expensive than the fancy brand in a bigger container.

Happy shopping on your next trip to the grocery store