As a former, serious eBay seller I used Endicia to print and manage my USPS shipping.
Over a period of 3 years and approximately 3,000 packages sent via USPS I observed the rolling 30 day average for Priority Mail package deliveries stayed under 2 days. The overall average was 1.8 days.
Here's a major tip. Don't ever ship PM unless you print off your own label from the USPS website. The uniformity of the label lends itself to less hand sorting needed, thereby ensuring faster processing. (This is on an average, not necessarily on a single package.)
That does require a scale though.
As an added bonus you get delivery confirmation for free.
PS. My personal record? Next day from NC to NM for a PM package. That package was smoking.
PPS. My personal record for the Flat Rate Box? 65 pounds! Yeah baby! I got my money's worth that time. (70 pounds is the limit.)
It seems so wrong, that we're fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over oil, and our homeless population is growing, and now these developers demolish new homes.
My husband and I just had our 19th wedding anniversary two days ago and I think the "don't go to bed angry" advice doesn't work for everyone. (What does?!)
I think the definition of "angry" is where this one breaks down. Totally subjective.
I had to laugh when you mention the advice vs, venting issue. When we were first married I remember coming home and complaining about work (very light venting) and after *maybe* 2 minutes my husband looked at me and said "Well then quit".
Now, 19 years later, whenever he complains about something I say "Well then quit" and it just cracks him up :)
Actually, an even BETTER place to get cheap construction materials is Habitat for Humanity's Restore. It's all the donated construction materials they don't use on their homes, plus more! All of your money goes to building more Habitat Homes, and everything there is dirt cheap. Here's a link to their US locations: http://www.habitat.org/cd/env/restore.aspx
Great list. I agree with most of them, but there's one piece of "marriage advice" that people always throw out that I personally can't stand.
"Don't go to bed angry." (I hate it when people take this uber literally.)
That just doesn't always work. Sometimes IT IS OKAY to go to bed angry. Humans are human and it happens. Period. Just have enough common decency to say "I love you, but we'll talk about this in the morning." Frankly, if it's the wee hours of the morning and we've gotten into an argument, it's probably best to hash it out later because one of us is likely to say something regrettable due to the stress of being so tired!
My husband and I received an Irish wedding bell as a gift. The way it works: When you're having an argument and you just want it to END, no questions asked, one person out of the couple gets to ring it. The catch is that that same person can't ring it again until the other person has had a turn. Sometimes it comes in handy!
If you have non-working electronics, there are a few other sites reviewed here: Gazelle, VenJuvo, and MyBoneYard. Kijiji and Earth911 are also helpful resources to find things or donate/recycle locally.
Interesting post. Income taxes are complicated, especially in the U.S. Because the government does so little for the citizens directly, legislators are constantly trying to help out their special interests indirectly through provisions in the tax code. Thus, exemptions for children, deductions for interest on home loans, tax sheltering for retirement funds, etc.
But one thing about the nation's income tax is clear. The period of America's greatest progress in science, growth in technology, educational attainment, and probably its period of greatest optimism and satisfaction was during the period from about 1945 to the early 1960s. This was when our top marginal tax rates were at their highest--around 90% or even a little higher through the whole period.
Current top marginal tax rates are very low. But what is the state of the nation?
Yes, I know why Germany and Japan don't have standing armies. And that allows them to spend their spare money on making good cars and improving technology. Bully for them at this point. I'm just pointing out that if this military spending were freed up for us, we could pour it into things like health care, making universities affordable, and updating crumbling infrastructure. Whenever I hear Germans saying ,"Well, just look at us - our health care is so fabulous!", I have to say "Yes, because spend our money on your defense." This is not to say that Germany had any say in that arrangement early on, but I don't think it's a factor that should be overlooked when discussing fabulous benefits that Western European countries have. The same goes for Canada. I'm certainly not asking for gratitude on this issue, but c'mon, these countries would be spending a lot more of that money on defense if the US wasn't providing it.
I don't think Americans are much more productive than anyone else in the world, except maybe Andorrans, who are incredbily lazy (go ahead, find an Andorran to argue against this point). Mind you, America had a pretty good jumping off point - a huge country just bursting with natural resources (and no one that we considered "person" enough to qualify as legitimate owners of said resources), and cheap labor in the form of imported slaves that allowed unprecendented growth for centuries.
This isn't to say that Americans aren't hard workers, but I refuse to believe that there are many Americans today who work themselves as hard as, say, someone who lives in Vietnam or India. It's naive to think that America's success is based solely on a good work ethic, a democratic government, and upward mobility. It's much more complex, and insidious, than that.
Trouble is, we've been *willfully* ignorant for too long. We fail to recognize how much going "a la carte" is costing us:
- We're bailing out GM and Chrysler to the tune of billions of tax dollars. Yet one reason why Detroit cannot be competitive is ... the cost of health care. Granted, the UAW worked itself a pretty sweet deal over the years. But when GM estimates that there's about $1500 in health costs (for workers and retirees) on the hood of each car they make, you have a very clear cost of employer-provided health insurance. (And even if that figure is off by *half*, that's still money every buyer of a UAW-built vehicle shells out, even if they don't have their own health coverage.) (BTW, I'm not slamming the UAW. They did their job in getting the best benefits they could for their workers. I'm also aware there are lots of other good reasons people don't buy UAW-built models.)
- Because being without a job in the U.S. typically means being without health coverage, lots of work rules and even state and federal laws impede needed change. I think workers would be far more willing to transfer to another job, another company, or even another field if they knew they weren't kissing their health coverage and pensions goodbye.
- The last 20 to 30 years of American politics have fostered an "I've got mine" attitude that's quite unlike the America of our grandparents' generation. We like to think we're buying the best health care around. But the U.S. is the *only* large developed country that does not provide routine health coverage to all of its citizens. And this is starting to show in statistics like infant mortality (the U.S. ranks 29th (!) in the world) and expected lifespan (the U.S. is 14th, according to the OECD). We *like* to claim that Americans have the highest standard of living in the world. How can we, with statistics like that?
If we realized just what all this was really costing us, changing it wouldn't be hard. At least not for the general public. But there's an entrenched framework in place which will have to be dismantled. And it will not go quietly.
These films are very effective. In fact, they make my skin crawl!
I am so often out in public places -- lately, airports -- with 2 little kids in tow. I am *very* distracted and usually carrying too much junk. I have a hard enough time just hanging on to our stuff... not leaving a trail of sippy cups and mittens behind... I can only think of how easy it would be for someone to "relieve" me of my posessions. Going through airport security, when you have to put everything on the belt and then leave it to go through the metal detector, is an especially vulerable time. I have "lost" things going through security -- including my passport -- and I will never know for sure if it was lost or stolen. TSA was *no help* and didn't even take seriously the potential theft of a passport, which you would think would be a security issue!
Present yourselves to the world as a team. Cover for each-other in public, instead of calling each-other on your blunders. Don't ever humiliate or bad-mouth your spouse in public.
This is off topic, but I really think it's kind of ignorant for Americans/westerners to criticize wages of 50 cent or 1 dollar per hour in other countries. In China a lot of rural workers are happy to get a job that pays that much because if they stayed in their villages some would make less than $1 a day. The purchasing power is very different in China. 50 cents here may be nothing to you, but it's enough for a couple days of fairly good food in China if you are frugal enough. There is nothing wrong with paying for the schooling of a younger family member. In the past most people died where they were born and stayed the same as what their parents were, but at least now they have more opportunities.
I'd like to second this suggestion. I've been using them for years, both giving and receiving. It's easy and fast, with lots of local groups. People can literally be at my door within the hour to pick up my stuff, a really good way to help your neighbors.
I think of relationships as having a significant effect on money issues, and vice versa though I realize that not everyone may think that way. One thing that made an impression on my husband (and me) was a talk that one of his co-workers had with him early in our marriage -- he mentioned that his divorce was the single most devastating financial incident that had happened to him. I've heard others say the same thing since then, though, of course, there are many factors at play in losing net worth. (Sometimes divorce happens and is the best outcome, as Tyg mentions in abuse cases, for example, regardless of financial ramifications).
Fighting fair is a good one -- I got great advice on that one when we went through premarital counseling. Not saying "you always do..." and keeping the focus on the issue at hand leads to quicker resolution -- this can be applied in other settings as well.
Yes, now they have the "freedom" to move to Guangzhou and work
in a sweatshop for 50 cents an hour (or less), in order to pay the school fees or medical bills of a younger family member.
First of all it is not a "ATM machine" as they state over and over again in the video. It is an ATM or an AT machine. ATM machine is like calling it an automated teller machine machine.
And second it is not "PIN number"!! It is a PIN or a PI number.
I would say you need to respect each other. Respect is important to men and women and research shows that a lack of respect (or specifically the presence of contempt) is a clear early indicator of future divorce (see Blink for reference). I respect my husband even when he drives me nuts and I really angry with him. He respects me even when I'm irrational and driving him nuts.
Plus we avoid serious discussion before morning coffee. That's been critical.
Enjoyed this post. Thought you might want to check out FreeCycle for your list. I've been using this group lately and it is amazing the amount of stuff exchanging hands. Local community driven and always free.
I did not ship that many parcel Post packages but they averaged 4.3 days. First Class (which I did ship a lot of) averaged 3.2 days.
As a former, serious eBay seller I used Endicia to print and manage my USPS shipping.
Over a period of 3 years and approximately 3,000 packages sent via USPS I observed the rolling 30 day average for Priority Mail package deliveries stayed under 2 days. The overall average was 1.8 days.
Here's a major tip. Don't ever ship PM unless you print off your own label from the USPS website. The uniformity of the label lends itself to less hand sorting needed, thereby ensuring faster processing. (This is on an average, not necessarily on a single package.)
That does require a scale though.
As an added bonus you get delivery confirmation for free.
PS. My personal record? Next day from NC to NM for a PM package. That package was smoking.
PPS. My personal record for the Flat Rate Box? 65 pounds! Yeah baby! I got my money's worth that time. (70 pounds is the limit.)
Sadly my husband blew all his paper route money on Ring Dings, not comic books. There's a lesson in there somewhere.
Cool that you encourage swinging ;)
Used Fish tank water has lots of nitrogen in it which can be poured into the garden/lawn and makes for a great natural fertilizer.
It seems so wrong, that we're fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over oil, and our homeless population is growing, and now these developers demolish new homes.
My husband and I just had our 19th wedding anniversary two days ago and I think the "don't go to bed angry" advice doesn't work for everyone. (What does?!)
I think the definition of "angry" is where this one breaks down. Totally subjective.
I had to laugh when you mention the advice vs, venting issue. When we were first married I remember coming home and complaining about work (very light venting) and after *maybe* 2 minutes my husband looked at me and said "Well then quit".
Now, 19 years later, whenever he complains about something I say "Well then quit" and it just cracks him up :)
Actually, an even BETTER place to get cheap construction materials is Habitat for Humanity's Restore. It's all the donated construction materials they don't use on their homes, plus more! All of your money goes to building more Habitat Homes, and everything there is dirt cheap. Here's a link to their US locations: http://www.habitat.org/cd/env/restore.aspx
probably would love the Dutch system, as more of their health care costs would be subsidized by others.
Still, someone has to pay for those generous benefits.
Here in the U.S., a family with a household income in the low six figures could pay an effective federal tax rate of as little as 10%.
When one has the resources to fund the deductible, high-deductible policies are an inexpensive way to cover health care needs here in the U.S.
Great list. I agree with most of them, but there's one piece of "marriage advice" that people always throw out that I personally can't stand.
"Don't go to bed angry." (I hate it when people take this uber literally.)
That just doesn't always work. Sometimes IT IS OKAY to go to bed angry. Humans are human and it happens. Period. Just have enough common decency to say "I love you, but we'll talk about this in the morning." Frankly, if it's the wee hours of the morning and we've gotten into an argument, it's probably best to hash it out later because one of us is likely to say something regrettable due to the stress of being so tired!
My husband and I received an Irish wedding bell as a gift. The way it works: When you're having an argument and you just want it to END, no questions asked, one person out of the couple gets to ring it. The catch is that that same person can't ring it again until the other person has had a turn. Sometimes it comes in handy!
Freecycle is great!
If you have non-working electronics, there are a few other sites reviewed here: Gazelle, VenJuvo, and MyBoneYard. Kijiji and Earth911 are also helpful resources to find things or donate/recycle locally.
Interesting post. Income taxes are complicated, especially in the U.S. Because the government does so little for the citizens directly, legislators are constantly trying to help out their special interests indirectly through provisions in the tax code. Thus, exemptions for children, deductions for interest on home loans, tax sheltering for retirement funds, etc.
But one thing about the nation's income tax is clear. The period of America's greatest progress in science, growth in technology, educational attainment, and probably its period of greatest optimism and satisfaction was during the period from about 1945 to the early 1960s. This was when our top marginal tax rates were at their highest--around 90% or even a little higher through the whole period.
Current top marginal tax rates are very low. But what is the state of the nation?
Yes, I know why Germany and Japan don't have standing armies. And that allows them to spend their spare money on making good cars and improving technology. Bully for them at this point. I'm just pointing out that if this military spending were freed up for us, we could pour it into things like health care, making universities affordable, and updating crumbling infrastructure. Whenever I hear Germans saying ,"Well, just look at us - our health care is so fabulous!", I have to say "Yes, because spend our money on your defense." This is not to say that Germany had any say in that arrangement early on, but I don't think it's a factor that should be overlooked when discussing fabulous benefits that Western European countries have. The same goes for Canada. I'm certainly not asking for gratitude on this issue, but c'mon, these countries would be spending a lot more of that money on defense if the US wasn't providing it.
I don't think Americans are much more productive than anyone else in the world, except maybe Andorrans, who are incredbily lazy (go ahead, find an Andorran to argue against this point). Mind you, America had a pretty good jumping off point - a huge country just bursting with natural resources (and no one that we considered "person" enough to qualify as legitimate owners of said resources), and cheap labor in the form of imported slaves that allowed unprecendented growth for centuries.
This isn't to say that Americans aren't hard workers, but I refuse to believe that there are many Americans today who work themselves as hard as, say, someone who lives in Vietnam or India. It's naive to think that America's success is based solely on a good work ethic, a democratic government, and upward mobility. It's much more complex, and insidious, than that.
Trouble is, we've been *willfully* ignorant for too long. We fail to recognize how much going "a la carte" is costing us:
- We're bailing out GM and Chrysler to the tune of billions of tax dollars. Yet one reason why Detroit cannot be competitive is ... the cost of health care. Granted, the UAW worked itself a pretty sweet deal over the years. But when GM estimates that there's about $1500 in health costs (for workers and retirees) on the hood of each car they make, you have a very clear cost of employer-provided health insurance. (And even if that figure is off by *half*, that's still money every buyer of a UAW-built vehicle shells out, even if they don't have their own health coverage.) (BTW, I'm not slamming the UAW. They did their job in getting the best benefits they could for their workers. I'm also aware there are lots of other good reasons people don't buy UAW-built models.)
- Because being without a job in the U.S. typically means being without health coverage, lots of work rules and even state and federal laws impede needed change. I think workers would be far more willing to transfer to another job, another company, or even another field if they knew they weren't kissing their health coverage and pensions goodbye.
- The last 20 to 30 years of American politics have fostered an "I've got mine" attitude that's quite unlike the America of our grandparents' generation. We like to think we're buying the best health care around. But the U.S. is the *only* large developed country that does not provide routine health coverage to all of its citizens. And this is starting to show in statistics like infant mortality (the U.S. ranks 29th (!) in the world) and expected lifespan (the U.S. is 14th, according to the OECD). We *like* to claim that Americans have the highest standard of living in the world. How can we, with statistics like that?
If we realized just what all this was really costing us, changing it wouldn't be hard. At least not for the general public. But there's an entrenched framework in place which will have to be dismantled. And it will not go quietly.
These films are very effective. In fact, they make my skin crawl!
I am so often out in public places -- lately, airports -- with 2 little kids in tow. I am *very* distracted and usually carrying too much junk. I have a hard enough time just hanging on to our stuff... not leaving a trail of sippy cups and mittens behind... I can only think of how easy it would be for someone to "relieve" me of my posessions. Going through airport security, when you have to put everything on the belt and then leave it to go through the metal detector, is an especially vulerable time. I have "lost" things going through security -- including my passport -- and I will never know for sure if it was lost or stolen. TSA was *no help* and didn't even take seriously the potential theft of a passport, which you would think would be a security issue!
Here's one:
Present yourselves to the world as a team. Cover for each-other in public, instead of calling each-other on your blunders. Don't ever humiliate or bad-mouth your spouse in public.
--------
Congratulations, Julie!
This is off topic, but I really think it's kind of ignorant for Americans/westerners to criticize wages of 50 cent or 1 dollar per hour in other countries. In China a lot of rural workers are happy to get a job that pays that much because if they stayed in their villages some would make less than $1 a day. The purchasing power is very different in China. 50 cents here may be nothing to you, but it's enough for a couple days of fairly good food in China if you are frugal enough. There is nothing wrong with paying for the schooling of a younger family member. In the past most people died where they were born and stayed the same as what their parents were, but at least now they have more opportunities.
I'd like to second this suggestion. I've been using them for years, both giving and receiving. It's easy and fast, with lots of local groups. People can literally be at my door within the hour to pick up my stuff, a really good way to help your neighbors.
I think of relationships as having a significant effect on money issues, and vice versa though I realize that not everyone may think that way. One thing that made an impression on my husband (and me) was a talk that one of his co-workers had with him early in our marriage -- he mentioned that his divorce was the single most devastating financial incident that had happened to him. I've heard others say the same thing since then, though, of course, there are many factors at play in losing net worth. (Sometimes divorce happens and is the best outcome, as Tyg mentions in abuse cases, for example, regardless of financial ramifications).
Fighting fair is a good one -- I got great advice on that one when we went through premarital counseling. Not saying "you always do..." and keeping the focus on the issue at hand leads to quicker resolution -- this can be applied in other settings as well.
To guest #15:
Yes, now they have the "freedom" to move to Guangzhou and work
in a sweatshop for 50 cents an hour (or less), in order to pay the school fees or medical bills of a younger family member.
I get your point, but as long as you take away the information, that's the most important thing. By the way, wouldn't that be AN ATM machine? ;-)
First of all it is not a "ATM machine" as they state over and over again in the video. It is an ATM or an AT machine. ATM machine is like calling it an automated teller machine machine.
And second it is not "PIN number"!! It is a PIN or a PI number.
Producers = FAIL
Yes, cheap dates are mentioned but that is not enough of a tie to financial content. I enjoy Wisebread but I don't come here for marriage advice.
18 years together this spring...
Sarah:
I would say you need to respect each other. Respect is important to men and women and research shows that a lack of respect (or specifically the presence of contempt) is a clear early indicator of future divorce (see Blink for reference). I respect my husband even when he drives me nuts and I really angry with him. He respects me even when I'm irrational and driving him nuts.
Plus we avoid serious discussion before morning coffee. That's been critical.
Enjoyed this post. Thought you might want to check out FreeCycle for your list. I've been using this group lately and it is amazing the amount of stuff exchanging hands. Local community driven and always free.