Dave--I don't think it's legitimate to collect while staying out of country. The point of unemployment is to give you money while you search for another job. Going away defeats that purpose. I don't know if you could get caught while being out of the country, but it would certainly be unethical.
Solid advice-- I follow this approach myself with every purchase decision.
When I spend my money, besides the end benefit of the product or service, I always try to get two other elements in my purchases and expenditures:
Quality
Value
How do I secure these traits? I ask myself some questions:
Is it well made?
Is it built to last?
Is it a good exchange for my money?
Is it a time saver?
Is it a money saver?
Is it a money maker?
Is it warrantied?
Is it guaranteed?
What else am I getting? (
Johnny, thanks for that post! The misinformation that gets put out there about diet is out of control. And the truth about the hormones placed in cows and dairy are grossly under reported and ignored. It is more likely that the large amounts of meat and milk produced with questionable chemicals and hormones and feeding (and sometimes processes that have been declared completely illegal in other countries) are contributing to the sexual fertility and cancer issues we are seeing in our population. Soy is likely not anywhere near being a culprit. (Along with environmental toxins)
I feel the key here is to follow the thumb rule of spending less than what one earns. Prioritise whats things into necessities and desirables and spend more on necessities and less and desirables if the budget permits...
@Guest re: above - Although you are certainly thinking outside of the box with regards to creatively avoiding fees (good for you!), I encourage you to be incredibly careful about utilising a credit card too much. If your finances are tenuous enough that you are regularly getting slapped with NSF charges (even though it is due to timing issues), you could run into long-term trouble with "one charge here" and "one charge there" on the card that doesn't get paid off each and every month.
So only you will know best if using a credit card will be a license to print money, or if you can use it legitimately to balance the proper spending and budgeting of your monthly expenses with the timing of income payments.
I would be happy to take a few thousand for my '78 van. Problem is I don't think I could find a new car for under my spending limit of two thousand. Only had the van 15 years, still works and does what I want it to do.
Despite generally being fairly careful about my banking, I too managed to overdraft my account recently and was hit with 5 fees of $25 for additional debit card uses. I just called my bank to ask why they didn't just pull money from my LINKED savings account (as opposed to the UNLINKED savings account that I also have with them) and they said "we don't do that". Then I asked if they could refund me the overdraft fees and the gal claimed to not see any overdraft on my account (I called from a place where I could not simultaneously look at my account online). Argh.
So, I guess I'm in the market for a new bank, because, despite very rarely needing this service, I find this to be massively annoying!
My experience has been that for an entry level school teacher, in Massachusetts at least, there's no way you can make ends meet without picking up a second job. Your salary is also determined to a large extent by which town you work in. My wife works in Brookline, where they pay a much better salary than most towns.
Also, if you calculate the pay per hour of a school teacher, it's pretty low. Most teachers work quite long hours during the school year.
I've got two vehicles that are both 20+ years old. A Corolla with 265k miles on it and a Suzuki Samurai. Currently, they are both eligible for the California buy back program for $650 each. If I was able to get additional incentives, I would certainly buy a new car. Even though my typical car purchase is a vehicle that's at least 4 or 5 years old (to lessen the depreciation expense), I'd buy new since it would be a good time to upgrade these vehicles.
Fortunately, I'm in good financial shape with a stable job situation so I could finance it (if rates are good) or buy it outright if additional discounts are available.
Seems like I'm in the minority amongst those posting comments.
"How about slashing the UAW's salary in half as a condition for this incentives?"
Union wages are already on par with the wages of Japanese factories in US. The bigger difference is NOT hourly wages. The big labor related cost for US auto makers is the cost of pensions and medical care for the 100's of thousands of retired US auto workers that the foreign makers do not have to pay.
Assembly line labor accounts for around 10% of the cost of new cars.
I'm also a proponent of driving my car into the ground, and then buying used when the time comes. Who needs the stress of trying to keep a new car "new"? But I read yesterday in the Globe and Mail about an insurance policy that lets you simply return your car to the lot and stop making payments on it should you lose your job. The Walkaway program is available at many dealerships in the US and Canada. But I wouldn't use it, or any of these other stimulus deals, as an excuse to rush out to the dealership.
This is too close to the truth to be funny. Right now, the Fed is manufacturing dollars to buy up treasuries. Unfortunately, 99.99% of Americans don't have a clue what that means.
Great advice for all women! Women should not be afraid to ask for their worth. We are much more valuable than we realized.
Being raised in the Asian culture, I had to learn to "come out of my shell" and become assertive especially if I want to be successful professionally.
Currently, I'm looking for another position (as a Program Analyst in the Washington, DC area) that is more challenging and will provide me with a bigger paycheck (40 - 50% increase). Fortunately, the human resources (HR) called me regarding an opening (my resume was found through Monster.com). When the conversation came to my expected salary, I asked the HR for the salary range. She quoted me with a $75K max. A few minutes later, I called HR and stated that I am not interested unless the position pays $85K + and that I do have other offers on the table. HR stated that they will discuss with the Accounting Manager. I'm assuming the new rate was approved since I just had a phone screening with the hiring manager, which went well and I now have an interview this Friday. Once I've convinced the hiring manager that I am the right person for the job, I will then negotiate a 10% increase.
As a sufferer of the Super Mom Syndrome (that's what I call it) even though the at home spa thing sounds good in theory, it may be worth the $25 to go out to the salon to get your treatments. When you have that "super nurturing" stress thing going, you will allow anything and everything to interrupt your spa time. If you go to the salon. You are committed to sitting there and doing nothing while they work on your various body parts.
Dave--I don't think it's legitimate to collect while staying out of country. The point of unemployment is to give you money while you search for another job. Going away defeats that purpose. I don't know if you could get caught while being out of the country, but it would certainly be unethical.
Solid advice-- I follow this approach myself with every purchase decision.
When I spend my money, besides the end benefit of the product or service, I always try to get two other elements in my purchases and expenditures:
Quality
Value
How do I secure these traits? I ask myself some questions:
Is it well made?
Is it built to last?
Is it a good exchange for my money?
Is it a time saver?
Is it a money saver?
Is it a money maker?
Is it warrantied?
Is it guaranteed?
What else am I getting? (
My experience is that teachers as a group are very frugal and have great benefits-- not a bad gig!
Just paid one off and the other will be paid off by year end. They can keep the new ones . . .
Johnny, thanks for that post! The misinformation that gets put out there about diet is out of control. And the truth about the hormones placed in cows and dairy are grossly under reported and ignored. It is more likely that the large amounts of meat and milk produced with questionable chemicals and hormones and feeding (and sometimes processes that have been declared completely illegal in other countries) are contributing to the sexual fertility and cancer issues we are seeing in our population. Soy is likely not anywhere near being a culprit. (Along with environmental toxins)
I feel the key here is to follow the thumb rule of spending less than what one earns. Prioritise whats things into necessities and desirables and spend more on necessities and less and desirables if the budget permits...
Hi, does anyone know how to do the reverse? Turn brass into Silver looking color? I don't need the copper part.
Thanks, Peter - and all the commenters (both pro and con) thus far - great advice all and all. Keep it coming!
@Guest re: above - Although you are certainly thinking outside of the box with regards to creatively avoiding fees (good for you!), I encourage you to be incredibly careful about utilising a credit card too much. If your finances are tenuous enough that you are regularly getting slapped with NSF charges (even though it is due to timing issues), you could run into long-term trouble with "one charge here" and "one charge there" on the card that doesn't get paid off each and every month.
So only you will know best if using a credit card will be a license to print money, or if you can use it legitimately to balance the proper spending and budgeting of your monthly expenses with the timing of income payments.
I would be happy to take a few thousand for my '78 van. Problem is I don't think I could find a new car for under my spending limit of two thousand. Only had the van 15 years, still works and does what I want it to do.
Despite generally being fairly careful about my banking, I too managed to overdraft my account recently and was hit with 5 fees of $25 for additional debit card uses. I just called my bank to ask why they didn't just pull money from my LINKED savings account (as opposed to the UNLINKED savings account that I also have with them) and they said "we don't do that". Then I asked if they could refund me the overdraft fees and the gal claimed to not see any overdraft on my account (I called from a place where I could not simultaneously look at my account online). Argh.
So, I guess I'm in the market for a new bank, because, despite very rarely needing this service, I find this to be massively annoying!
The subject of location, type of school, and tenure came up in our interview. I agree that teacher pay can run the gamut!
Thanks for your comment.
Linsey Knerl
My experience has been that for an entry level school teacher, in Massachusetts at least, there's no way you can make ends meet without picking up a second job. Your salary is also determined to a large extent by which town you work in. My wife works in Brookline, where they pay a much better salary than most towns.
Also, if you calculate the pay per hour of a school teacher, it's pretty low. Most teachers work quite long hours during the school year.
I've got two vehicles that are both 20+ years old. A Corolla with 265k miles on it and a Suzuki Samurai. Currently, they are both eligible for the California buy back program for $650 each. If I was able to get additional incentives, I would certainly buy a new car. Even though my typical car purchase is a vehicle that's at least 4 or 5 years old (to lessen the depreciation expense), I'd buy new since it would be a good time to upgrade these vehicles.
Fortunately, I'm in good financial shape with a stable job situation so I could finance it (if rates are good) or buy it outright if additional discounts are available.
Seems like I'm in the minority amongst those posting comments.
Oh you totally had me. I was just coming over her to ask WHO this would be good for.
Thanks.
....picks this up and starts circulating it as the truth.
Seriously, I love it. A great April Fool's post.
"How about slashing the UAW's salary in half as a condition for this incentives?"
Union wages are already on par with the wages of Japanese factories in US. The bigger difference is NOT hourly wages. The big labor related cost for US auto makers is the cost of pensions and medical care for the 100's of thousands of retired US auto workers that the foreign makers do not have to pay.
Assembly line labor accounts for around 10% of the cost of new cars.
I'm also a proponent of driving my car into the ground, and then buying used when the time comes. Who needs the stress of trying to keep a new car "new"? But I read yesterday in the Globe and Mail about an insurance policy that lets you simply return your car to the lot and stop making payments on it should you lose your job. The Walkaway program is available at many dealerships in the US and Canada. But I wouldn't use it, or any of these other stimulus deals, as an excuse to rush out to the dealership.
This is too close to the truth to be funny. Right now, the Fed is manufacturing dollars to buy up treasuries. Unfortunately, 99.99% of Americans don't have a clue what that means.
Great advice for all women! Women should not be afraid to ask for their worth. We are much more valuable than we realized.
Being raised in the Asian culture, I had to learn to "come out of my shell" and become assertive especially if I want to be successful professionally.
Currently, I'm looking for another position (as a Program Analyst in the Washington, DC area) that is more challenging and will provide me with a bigger paycheck (40 - 50% increase). Fortunately, the human resources (HR) called me regarding an opening (my resume was found through Monster.com). When the conversation came to my expected salary, I asked the HR for the salary range. She quoted me with a $75K max. A few minutes later, I called HR and stated that I am not interested unless the position pays $85K + and that I do have other offers on the table. HR stated that they will discuss with the Accounting Manager. I'm assuming the new rate was approved since I just had a phone screening with the hiring manager, which went well and I now have an interview this Friday. Once I've convinced the hiring manager that I am the right person for the job, I will then negotiate a 10% increase.
Yes, Kudos to you... My April Fool's Post failed miserably! Why couldn't I think of this?
One of the best April Fool's posts I've seen all day long!
Great April fools post!
lol
As a sufferer of the Super Mom Syndrome (that's what I call it) even though the at home spa thing sounds good in theory, it may be worth the $25 to go out to the salon to get your treatments. When you have that "super nurturing" stress thing going, you will allow anything and everything to interrupt your spa time. If you go to the salon. You are committed to sitting there and doing nothing while they work on your various body parts.