I can see both your points. Something I neglected to mention was that this service was actually promoted by our insurance company to use, as an option. We just received thank-you letters from our insurance company for trying the service out. Since writing this post, a friend in California told me about a program called Tele-Nurse, which also uses a web cam and computer. In her words, " . . . and it works very well." So, I guess, I am still open to the idea, even though there were cons. Thanks both, David and Spaces, for chiming in.
I have been coming to these same conclusions in my own life for quite some time now and your post is just one more verification to me that my own discoveries are right on track. I loved this article so much that I passed it along to a bunch of my friends.
I don't think that $10 to learn a fancy word for "bruise" is a good use of money. Especially when your spouse patently did not have a contusion! I'm not sure how one could find a clearly incorrect diagnosis comforting.
Rather, the entire scenario seems quite reckless, a waste of $10 and a waste of the $50-$100 real cost that was paid by medical insurance.
I have been a NetSpend customer since 2004. There's no risk to receiving one of these, they are a debit card with no balance. While yes, they do charge a fee for a phone acquired balance, most services are free via the website itself (which I use almost exclusively). They allow direct deposit, and have savings accounts attached that pay far better interest than most of your brick & mortar banks do. I get SMS messages sent to my phone for every transaction, within minutes, if not seconds of the transaction (this once let me stop fraud at a restaurant, before the waiter even returned with my card). Sounds like a commercial for them, no? I am a very happy customer of theirs certainly, but here's some of the drawbacks:
1) You can choose either a $1.00/transaction fee or unlimited for $9.95/month (yearly one avail. too).
2) $2.50 ATM withdrawal fee (+ the ATM's fee).
3) It can be hard to get a real person for cust service (though by no means impossible), and it's quite clear they outsource outside the USA. However, when you do get one, they do tend to solve the issue.
One of the biggest features, and something that no bank I know of does, is they let you intentionally go as much as $10 in the red on a debit transaction -- most banks charge a $35+ fee if you do this, NetSpend does not. It's free, and you have up to *90* days to pay it, unlike, say US Bank, charges a negative balance fee. PER DAY. I'm crappy at remembering my balance. Paying $10/month vs. $35/each negative transaction (for me, that's about 2-3x/month), they are actually cheaper.
Another disadvantage? No physical location to cash checks to you, nor can you send such checks in.
While their services may not be for everyone, there are millions in the USA who this card appeals to greatly. If you find yourself getting a negative balance fee more than once every 3 months on your present debit card, it's probably cheaper to use NetSpend.
I'm sorry receiving one upset you, but there was no harm to it. And to the person that commented about sending unsolicited credit cards, this isn't, it's debit. Totally different concept.
thanks! i never thought of those. my grandma told me if you mix it with mouthwash and spray it in your hair (then shampoo it out), it can help it grow longer.
i appreciate the info (i get bruises all the time). way to go!
<3
Go with distiller's yeast (i.e., Turbo Yeast) with your basic sugar wash, and forget about settling for 15% fermentation! Also, be confident that you are not producing methanol when you ferment and distill sugars. Methanol is produced by anaerobic metabolism of bacteria, like in compost piles, decaying cow manure, and landfills. It is also produced from pyrolytic distillation of wood. Fusel alcohols (often referred to as fusel oils) are the major undesirable products resulting from fermentation of sugar. As I have mentioned before, these include primarily acetaldehyde, 1-propanol, 2-propanol (isopropyl alcohol), 2-methyl-1-butanol, and 3-methyl-1-butanol. These compounds are the culprits of the yeast-like odor of the distillate. Their presence in vodka is considered to be an indication of poor quality. However, in some specific beers the flavor is acceptable, and even desirable and intentional. The most dangerous impurities typically come from whatever equipment is used in the process. Lead is a prime example. Don't be concerned about methanol. That is simply just not an issue based on anything other than rumor and ignorance. I am not advocating that anyone should distill their own liquor, but if you decide to, you should educate yourself on basic principals of Organic Chemistry. If you rely on what you hear, even from me (a chemist), then you really only have a vague idea of what you are doing. That isn't exactly the best recipe for success. Don't be afraid to pick up a textbook!
My dog Boots a Queensland healer is 14 years old and has Arthritis. I give her a joint enhancer daily and that's going on 3 years. At times it's painful and still so hard for her to walk. My grandmother used it all her life and I have used Witch Hazel for 55 years for everything. I keep 4-5 bottles in my house all the time. So I have been rubbing Witch Hazel on her hips and legs twice a day and surly as I'm sitting here she is walking so much better.OMG!! what a joy for her. Thank you Witch Hazel.
Reading all of the responses, it's clear that everyone's personal situation and experience influences their view and that should be expected. In my case, I've put many years into a business and was instrumental in developing it from nothing to a booming enterprise.
Now after an internal merger, I find myself marginalized by new management and their cronies, working for a jerk in a job I was never hired to do with no prospects of career growth. They still pay me like they did when I was in a more important role, but I'll never see another raise as I'm overpaid for my position due to the change.
They have been laying people off quarter by quarter and are destroying the company I helped built through poor decision making. My only real career move is to go start a business, but it will take years to build up to the income level I enjoy now. A severance gets me a years pay to help me get on my feet while quitting puts me into the great unknown of a start-up with no net. In my case I'd love to find a way to get laid off, but I'm finding this to be difficult. Doing a poor job is so common, it won't get you noticed in this place! I believe the political approach is likely the best as the management is more concerned with how they are perceived than reality..... I'm going down that route now. I'll let you know how it turns out!
i What we currently have _is_ a form of Gov't health care. I can buy car insurance from any company I want, based in any state, as long as it meets 2 conditions. 1) It's licensed to do business in my state. 2) It meets state required minmums.
If I want health insurance, It has to be licensed in my state, which restricts the number of companies that can sell it. There is *no* competition, unlike car insurance. The state even decides what I can buy, as far as "coverage." Fully Gov't run insurance can only be worse.
Competition guarantees that the products are supplied at the least cost, and best quality. Compare the USPS and FedEx/UPS. FedEX/UPS have to compete against each other and the USPS. The USPS doesn't have to compete against anyone. They are guaranteed a profit, and monopoly service. Is that the health care you want?
I use ATSKO Sport-Wash to remove odors--it's marketed to hunters (I get it at the hunting department at Walmart) to keep their quarry from scenting them but it works really well on just about any smell. It even removes cat pee(don't ask)! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DLF6C2/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_...
I disagree about not donating garments with holes, broken zippers, etc. I will buy just about any 100% wool woven garment--I machine wash and dry them, strip them up and make them into rugs. People want them for braided, crocheted, knitted, hooked and woven rugs. Woven cotton is also valued for the same purpose and I have found cotton t-shirts work extremely well for crocheted bath mats. Cut it into one long spiral from the bottom up to where the sleeves are set in. If you pull it tight, the strip will turn itself into a perfect coil with no raw edges showing and makes a soft, absorbent, machine-wash-and-dry rug or hot pad. Even completely shrunk, unwearable sweaters have their uses. I made a lovely, soft, warm pillow for my cat's basket out of a shrunken sweater and crafters use them for a variety of projects. My daughter wears a pair of pink, cable-knit cashmere leg warmers made from the sleeves of a shrunken sweater--it was so completely felted that I didn't even have to do any sewing. I just cut them off the sweater, trimmed the top to make it even and the right length and voila! Unless the fabric is completely rotten, somebody, somewhere, probably has a use for it!
I don't think I have ever heard of the myth that you NEED a home for the tax advantages but when you are comparing two different types of debt and one type of debt has tax benefits and the other doesn't then obviously the tax consequences should be mentioned.
Additionally, as illustrated above in the article and in various comments a paid for home is NOT "always a better bet" - maybe for some this is the case and in fact maybe for the majority of people this is the case but be careful about extrapolating numbers from your personal circumstances and projecting them as a "one size fits all" approach to anyone and everyone because it simply doesn't work.
There are two things that are non-negotiable in my budget: Diet Coke and magazines. Everything else is pinched and scrimped to death. I didnt really pay attention to those coke reward points until i realized i could redeem them for magazine subscriptions! For every 120-200 points you redeem, you can choose from instyle, marie claire, lucky, etc! I love it! I buy 12 packs and you get 10 points for each pack, so for every 50 or so dollars i spend on drinks, i get a free sub!
global warming. lol. what a crock. It's like saying Al gore invented the internet. Also not true. :0
we set our heater low to save money. not because of global warming. no such thing. We had record breaking snow fall this year. 50+ inches. Dont tell Al.
The myth is that you need a mortgage for the tax advantages. What a crock. A paid for home is always a better bet. Frees up more money in the budget, and 100% of the time can't be foreclosed on.
That recipe looks awesome! Once I get a pasta maker, I'm going to try this out.
In response to Lucille's comment about the cost of rice noodles, I have seen them at the asian grocery for a really reasonable price in traditional "western" shapes (like shells and elbow macaroni), as well as the flat, wide pad-thai shapes.
You can substitute the soy flour in the blend with sorgum glour, which doesn't have casein. I know it's a life change and can be overwhelming, but once thiings find their rhythm everything seems to get a lot easier.
I hope I can help more!
Sonja Stewart
Gluten-free as a way of life can be easy, fun and inexpensive!
Just wanted to say thank you for this series. My family is giving a gluten/casein free diet a try in hopes that it will clear up some tummy troubles that plague my daughter. It is a huge challenge. This has been very helpful. Thanks!
Right! One of the big benefits of contingency planning is that just doing the thinking shines a light on your default plan.
Every time you think, "Well, if prices go up (or my hours get cut), I'll just buy less X," it's a signal that you should at least consider buying less X right now. That's not automatically the right thing to do—no doubt you really enjoy the X that you buy, or you wouldn't be buying it—but these things are all connected to one another. If you bought less X you could do something else with that money—boost your savings or buy more Y.
Making a contingency plan certainly doesn't mean you have to activate it, but it does give you a framework within which to think about what among the things you spend money on are more or less important to you.
I frequently hear the "foreigners will work jobs Americans won't" argument. However, as someone who works with the very people who are often forced to make choices between going on public assistance versus taking a job washing dishes, cleaning toilets, or shoveling manure, the issue is almost never one of "this job is beneath me" and ALWAYS an issue of "after I pay my taxes, a tank of gas to drive to work, and child care for my X number of kids, it's going to COST me $80 per week to go to work, and I'll lose my public health insurance to boot."
Big corporations depress wages by outsourcing jobs, bringing in cheap foreign temporary "guest workers" to undercut wages, then playing games such as keeping their workers just under the number of hours it would take to be obligated to pay them health insurance, undercut and shut down small businesses, and then to compete the small businesses have to play the same low-wage game. When are we going to wake up as a nation, reclaim Congress, and just say NO to these practices?
Or is it going to take China invading us with all their newfound military might, funded by Americans buying cheap goods at Walmart and interest on those $700B TARP wall street bailouts, to get us as a country to WAKE UP and recognize the crap coming at us down the pipeline?
What about your last post- the one about NOT making a plan?
I can see both your points. Something I neglected to mention was that this service was actually promoted by our insurance company to use, as an option. We just received thank-you letters from our insurance company for trying the service out. Since writing this post, a friend in California told me about a program called Tele-Nurse, which also uses a web cam and computer. In her words, " . . . and it works very well." So, I guess, I am still open to the idea, even though there were cons. Thanks both, David and Spaces, for chiming in.
I have been coming to these same conclusions in my own life for quite some time now and your post is just one more verification to me that my own discoveries are right on track. I loved this article so much that I passed it along to a bunch of my friends.
Please advise on how one makes homemade rocks. I must know!
I don't think that $10 to learn a fancy word for "bruise" is a good use of money. Especially when your spouse patently did not have a contusion! I'm not sure how one could find a clearly incorrect diagnosis comforting.
Rather, the entire scenario seems quite reckless, a waste of $10 and a waste of the $50-$100 real cost that was paid by medical insurance.
I have been a NetSpend customer since 2004. There's no risk to receiving one of these, they are a debit card with no balance. While yes, they do charge a fee for a phone acquired balance, most services are free via the website itself (which I use almost exclusively). They allow direct deposit, and have savings accounts attached that pay far better interest than most of your brick & mortar banks do. I get SMS messages sent to my phone for every transaction, within minutes, if not seconds of the transaction (this once let me stop fraud at a restaurant, before the waiter even returned with my card). Sounds like a commercial for them, no? I am a very happy customer of theirs certainly, but here's some of the drawbacks:
1) You can choose either a $1.00/transaction fee or unlimited for $9.95/month (yearly one avail. too).
2) $2.50 ATM withdrawal fee (+ the ATM's fee).
3) It can be hard to get a real person for cust service (though by no means impossible), and it's quite clear they outsource outside the USA. However, when you do get one, they do tend to solve the issue.
One of the biggest features, and something that no bank I know of does, is they let you intentionally go as much as $10 in the red on a debit transaction -- most banks charge a $35+ fee if you do this, NetSpend does not. It's free, and you have up to *90* days to pay it, unlike, say US Bank, charges a negative balance fee. PER DAY. I'm crappy at remembering my balance. Paying $10/month vs. $35/each negative transaction (for me, that's about 2-3x/month), they are actually cheaper.
Another disadvantage? No physical location to cash checks to you, nor can you send such checks in.
While their services may not be for everyone, there are millions in the USA who this card appeals to greatly. If you find yourself getting a negative balance fee more than once every 3 months on your present debit card, it's probably cheaper to use NetSpend.
I'm sorry receiving one upset you, but there was no harm to it. And to the person that commented about sending unsolicited credit cards, this isn't, it's debit. Totally different concept.
thanks! i never thought of those. my grandma told me if you mix it with mouthwash and spray it in your hair (then shampoo it out), it can help it grow longer.
i appreciate the info (i get bruises all the time). way to go!
<3
Go with distiller's yeast (i.e., Turbo Yeast) with your basic sugar wash, and forget about settling for 15% fermentation! Also, be confident that you are not producing methanol when you ferment and distill sugars. Methanol is produced by anaerobic metabolism of bacteria, like in compost piles, decaying cow manure, and landfills. It is also produced from pyrolytic distillation of wood. Fusel alcohols (often referred to as fusel oils) are the major undesirable products resulting from fermentation of sugar. As I have mentioned before, these include primarily acetaldehyde, 1-propanol, 2-propanol (isopropyl alcohol), 2-methyl-1-butanol, and 3-methyl-1-butanol. These compounds are the culprits of the yeast-like odor of the distillate. Their presence in vodka is considered to be an indication of poor quality. However, in some specific beers the flavor is acceptable, and even desirable and intentional. The most dangerous impurities typically come from whatever equipment is used in the process. Lead is a prime example. Don't be concerned about methanol. That is simply just not an issue based on anything other than rumor and ignorance. I am not advocating that anyone should distill their own liquor, but if you decide to, you should educate yourself on basic principals of Organic Chemistry. If you rely on what you hear, even from me (a chemist), then you really only have a vague idea of what you are doing. That isn't exactly the best recipe for success. Don't be afraid to pick up a textbook!
My dog Boots a Queensland healer is 14 years old and has Arthritis. I give her a joint enhancer daily and that's going on 3 years. At times it's painful and still so hard for her to walk. My grandmother used it all her life and I have used Witch Hazel for 55 years for everything. I keep 4-5 bottles in my house all the time. So I have been rubbing Witch Hazel on her hips and legs twice a day and surly as I'm sitting here she is walking so much better.OMG!! what a joy for her. Thank you Witch Hazel.
Reading all of the responses, it's clear that everyone's personal situation and experience influences their view and that should be expected. In my case, I've put many years into a business and was instrumental in developing it from nothing to a booming enterprise.
Now after an internal merger, I find myself marginalized by new management and their cronies, working for a jerk in a job I was never hired to do with no prospects of career growth. They still pay me like they did when I was in a more important role, but I'll never see another raise as I'm overpaid for my position due to the change.
They have been laying people off quarter by quarter and are destroying the company I helped built through poor decision making. My only real career move is to go start a business, but it will take years to build up to the income level I enjoy now. A severance gets me a years pay to help me get on my feet while quitting puts me into the great unknown of a start-up with no net. In my case I'd love to find a way to get laid off, but I'm finding this to be difficult. Doing a poor job is so common, it won't get you noticed in this place! I believe the political approach is likely the best as the management is more concerned with how they are perceived than reality..... I'm going down that route now. I'll let you know how it turns out!
i What we currently have _is_ a form of Gov't health care. I can buy car insurance from any company I want, based in any state, as long as it meets 2 conditions. 1) It's licensed to do business in my state. 2) It meets state required minmums.
If I want health insurance, It has to be licensed in my state, which restricts the number of companies that can sell it. There is *no* competition, unlike car insurance. The state even decides what I can buy, as far as "coverage." Fully Gov't run insurance can only be worse.
Competition guarantees that the products are supplied at the least cost, and best quality. Compare the USPS and FedEx/UPS. FedEX/UPS have to compete against each other and the USPS. The USPS doesn't have to compete against anyone. They are guaranteed a profit, and monopoly service. Is that the health care you want?
I don't know--sounds like a waste of money to me.
I use ATSKO Sport-Wash to remove odors--it's marketed to hunters (I get it at the hunting department at Walmart) to keep their quarry from scenting them but it works really well on just about any smell. It even removes cat pee(don't ask)!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DLF6C2/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_...
I disagree about not donating garments with holes, broken zippers, etc. I will buy just about any 100% wool woven garment--I machine wash and dry them, strip them up and make them into rugs. People want them for braided, crocheted, knitted, hooked and woven rugs. Woven cotton is also valued for the same purpose and I have found cotton t-shirts work extremely well for crocheted bath mats. Cut it into one long spiral from the bottom up to where the sleeves are set in. If you pull it tight, the strip will turn itself into a perfect coil with no raw edges showing and makes a soft, absorbent, machine-wash-and-dry rug or hot pad. Even completely shrunk, unwearable sweaters have their uses. I made a lovely, soft, warm pillow for my cat's basket out of a shrunken sweater and crafters use them for a variety of projects. My daughter wears a pair of pink, cable-knit cashmere leg warmers made from the sleeves of a shrunken sweater--it was so completely felted that I didn't even have to do any sewing. I just cut them off the sweater, trimmed the top to make it even and the right length and voila! Unless the fabric is completely rotten, somebody, somewhere, probably has a use for it!
@FinancialBondage
I don't think I have ever heard of the myth that you NEED a home for the tax advantages but when you are comparing two different types of debt and one type of debt has tax benefits and the other doesn't then obviously the tax consequences should be mentioned.
Additionally, as illustrated above in the article and in various comments a paid for home is NOT "always a better bet" - maybe for some this is the case and in fact maybe for the majority of people this is the case but be careful about extrapolating numbers from your personal circumstances and projecting them as a "one size fits all" approach to anyone and everyone because it simply doesn't work.
Thanks for the comment!
There are two things that are non-negotiable in my budget: Diet Coke and magazines. Everything else is pinched and scrimped to death. I didnt really pay attention to those coke reward points until i realized i could redeem them for magazine subscriptions! For every 120-200 points you redeem, you can choose from instyle, marie claire, lucky, etc! I love it! I buy 12 packs and you get 10 points for each pack, so for every 50 or so dollars i spend on drinks, i get a free sub!
global warming. lol. what a crock. It's like saying Al gore invented the internet. Also not true. :0
we set our heater low to save money. not because of global warming. no such thing. We had record breaking snow fall this year. 50+ inches. Dont tell Al.
www.half.com
I get used books cheap all the time here. the best place for used books.
The myth is that you need a mortgage for the tax advantages. What a crock. A paid for home is always a better bet. Frees up more money in the budget, and 100% of the time can't be foreclosed on.
You bet it is. Way too commercialized. Over rated. Just like Halloween. it's something retail does to make more $$ in my view. I could be wrong.
bad idea, giving a teen credit cards. Teach them to say no. use cash or you don't buy.
That recipe looks awesome! Once I get a pasta maker, I'm going to try this out.
In response to Lucille's comment about the cost of rice noodles, I have seen them at the asian grocery for a really reasonable price in traditional "western" shapes (like shells and elbow macaroni), as well as the flat, wide pad-thai shapes.
You can substitute the soy flour in the blend with sorgum glour, which doesn't have casein. I know it's a life change and can be overwhelming, but once thiings find their rhythm everything seems to get a lot easier.
I hope I can help more!
Sonja Stewart
Gluten-free as a way of life can be easy, fun and inexpensive!
Just wanted to say thank you for this series. My family is giving a gluten/casein free diet a try in hopes that it will clear up some tummy troubles that plague my daughter. It is a huge challenge. This has been very helpful. Thanks!
@Richard van Seenus:
Right! One of the big benefits of contingency planning is that just doing the thinking shines a light on your default plan.
Every time you think, "Well, if prices go up (or my hours get cut), I'll just buy less X," it's a signal that you should at least consider buying less X right now. That's not automatically the right thing to do—no doubt you really enjoy the X that you buy, or you wouldn't be buying it—but these things are all connected to one another. If you bought less X you could do something else with that money—boost your savings or buy more Y.
Making a contingency plan certainly doesn't mean you have to activate it, but it does give you a framework within which to think about what among the things you spend money on are more or less important to you.
I frequently hear the "foreigners will work jobs Americans won't" argument. However, as someone who works with the very people who are often forced to make choices between going on public assistance versus taking a job washing dishes, cleaning toilets, or shoveling manure, the issue is almost never one of "this job is beneath me" and ALWAYS an issue of "after I pay my taxes, a tank of gas to drive to work, and child care for my X number of kids, it's going to COST me $80 per week to go to work, and I'll lose my public health insurance to boot."
Big corporations depress wages by outsourcing jobs, bringing in cheap foreign temporary "guest workers" to undercut wages, then playing games such as keeping their workers just under the number of hours it would take to be obligated to pay them health insurance, undercut and shut down small businesses, and then to compete the small businesses have to play the same low-wage game. When are we going to wake up as a nation, reclaim Congress, and just say NO to these practices?
Or is it going to take China invading us with all their newfound military might, funded by Americans buying cheap goods at Walmart and interest on those $700B TARP wall street bailouts, to get us as a country to WAKE UP and recognize the crap coming at us down the pipeline?