Hello Vlad,
You have a great site however I have a suggestion. Could you possibly describe the item in the sentence so we know what the free thing is. Sometimes it’s very difficult to know a product just by the manufacturer’s name (ex: Poise??). This would be very helpful. Also, please watch your use of grammar and spelling. This would improve the credibility of the site. All in all, it’s great and I do appreciate all your efforts to make it work!
Thanks so much for listening to my feedback.
Jane
Posted
on August 5, 2009, 12:33 am,
by Vlad,
under Personal Finance.
While reading “The 12 biggest reasons we fight over finances” article by Dunleavey, where she describes three main sources of money conflicts: communication, control and family, I was thinking about my friend who just got divorced. This couple had constant fights over the money. (“Many studies found that finances are the number one reason for divorces in the United States, and also one of the main reasons married people fight”moneyallocator.com) Please note that the money was not the only reason for the divorce, there were other factors as well. I knew that the divorce was inevitable because their overall family budget was wrong. They had two separate checking accounts and were splitting all their expenses in half. He was paying for the school (they have 3 kids), she was paying for the mortgage and so on. To make the story short, she lost her job recently (What to Do If You Get Laid Off) and their relationship got worse, following by a lot of stress and divorce. I just can’t imagine how hard it is on kids.
From my experience “the split in half” financial system never works. What will happen if your spouse lose the job? (What To Do If You or Your Spouse Lose Their Job) Then you’re gonna have to cover all expenses in the family. What is the next logical step? Are you going to ask for your money back when your spouse find a new job? It’s just nonsense. In my opinion it doesn’t matter who pays the bills, as long as couple communicate and have a mutual understanding and goals.
Got an email form Jenessa about her interesting project:
“Dear Sir, I am interested in having you put a link to my website. When I was eleven I started a project called Harmsway4kids. I make free handmade bracelets for the troops, their families and supporters. There is no charge for the bracelets although I accept donation. My web address is: www.harmsway4kids.com
As of June 2009 with lots of help and love from over 40,000 volunteers across the U.S. I have been able to make and ship over 387,000 bracelets. I am in desperate need of your help. I have been chosen as one of ten finalists in the energizer hall of fame awards. The winner is chosen through a voting process which will end Aug. 7, 2009 If you could also put up a link for people to vote for me when they order bracelets through your website I would greatly appreciate it. I will win 5,000 dollars for Harmsway4kids which will help me send out many more bracelets. The web address for the award voting is: www.energizer.com/halloffame All they have to do is click on my name press the vote button and they are on their way. You can vote once a day on all comps, iphone or ipod. You will be helping me so much as well as getting me bracelet orders. I have vowed that I will continue this project as long as there are deployed troops serving and family members waiting back home.”
I just want to say that I love your project Jenessa and you are making a good thing for our troops. Also, just recently I saw on the news about elderly lady who motivate kids to make small pillows for the soldiers. Neat ideas. Thank you all for supporting our troops!
If you’d like to request free bracelets, please visit harmsway4kids.com
Posted
on August 1, 2009, 2:57 am,
by Vlad,
under Personal Finance.
An interesting study by Demos, shows that low- and middle-income consumers 65 and older carried $10,235 in average card debt last year, up 26% from 2005. Card debt for all borrowers surveyed rose 3% during that time, to $9,827. (”Credit card debt rises faster for those 65 and older“)
It is clear that baby boomers are in trouble right now. Many lost their big portion of savings and now can’t even afford to retire. I can easily predict a huge spike of people over 65 on the job market in the next couple of years, but will they find a job without needed skills set in the 21 century? This time is going to be hard not only for baby boomers but for their adult kids, who will have no choice as to support them.
Posted
on August 1, 2009, 1:50 am,
by Vlad,
under Misc.
“It takes 43 muscles to frown, but only 17 to smile”
There are no official research found about how many muscles it takes to smile or to frown, but the most popular saying is “It takes 43 muscles to frown, but only 17 to smile.” One thing obvious for sure, it takes more muscles and energy to frown than to smile.
Some people may assume when you frown you consume more energy and burn more calories. That might be the case, but I think the amount of calories you burn so small, that if you’ll frown all the time, you don’t even loose a pound.
If you still debating whether to smile or frown, consider in addition another top 10 reasons to smile:
Smiling Makes Us Attractive
Smiling Changes Our Mood
Smiling Is Contagious
Smiling Relieves Stress
Smiling Boosts Your Immune System
Smiling Lowers Your Blood Pressure
Smiling Releases Endorphins, Natural Pain Killers and Serotonin
Posted
on July 29, 2009, 11:40 am,
by Vlad,
under Saving Money Tips.
Stats from my recent poll showed that most of you are interested in the grocery coupons. There are some experienced coupon clippers who already saving tons of money. I want to share this good short video I found for those who just starting or thinking about saving with coupons.
Posted
on July 29, 2009, 1:53 am,
by Vlad,
under Reviews.
I assume everyone heard about VistaPrint.com, they are all over the internet. So I decided give them a shot. I ordered two t-shirts with ILFT logo, hoping to check the quality and maybe order more to give them away for free. I was disappointed when my t-shirts arrived. The overall t-shirt quality is acceptable, but they failed to print light gradient color on the splash, instead they printed to colors and it doesn’t look good at all. Here are the photos, so you can get the idea what I am talking about:
Errors are happening from time to time and I understand that, so I contacted them, e-mailed them photos as a proof to investigate this issue. They reordered new t-shirts for me at no charge. A week later I received new t-shirts with the same problem. After spending some time on the phone with customer service representative, I was told that they can’t print my logo correctly and they don’t know why. I was issued credit to order something else or try a different logo.
I am not saying Vista Print is a bad company, but in my case they failed to do a job correctly and probably lost me as a customer.
When was the last time you checked rates for your car insurance? I do it every 6 month. I love Geico company, but 2 years ago I switch to Progressive because they had a better price. Now I am back with Geico. I picked up the phone and called them. I said that I was their customer for a long time and left because Progressive gave me a better rate, now If you want me back as a customer let’s see if you can beat my current auto insurance rate at Progressive. We settle on about $200 cheaper per year and I gladly switched back to Geico.
Don’t be afraid switching between insurance companies, but also make sure you have your current coverage printed on hand, so you can be sure you get the same coverage when you talk to a customer service representative or filling out the quote forms.
Came across this interesting story about man Suelo in Utah, who 9 years ago decided to stop using money. He just quit it, like a bad drug habit.
“When I lived with money, I was always lacking,” he writes. “Money represents lack. Money represents things in the past (debt) and things in the future (credit), but money never represents what is present.”
Posted
on July 22, 2009, 2:15 am,
by Vlad,
under Misc.
Googles future plans are revealed in this 8 minute history documentary EPIC 2014. I’ve seen it couple years ago and it was hard to believe, but today, I see news about google’s new inventions everywhere such as recently launched Google Voice, Google Wave that will go public in September and Google plans to make Chrome OS available for consumers in 2010. Not to mention all other services google already has. Isn’t it obvious Google is trying to take over the world?
While reading “
