Thursday, April 17, 2008

"Extreme" Commuting

When I speak I often talk about why we have so much "Stuff" and so little time. One reason we have less time is the amount of time that people spend commuting. People commute by bus, train, car, ferry, subway, bicycle and a lucky few walk to work. I'm in the New York area and I know that there are people who commute from the Poconos in Pennsylvania which is at least 2 1/2 hours away. So these people are spending 5 hours a day just commuting.

I recently found out that people who spend 4-6 hours a day commuting are called "extreme" commuters. I'm sure it is hard for extreme commuters to have a much of a life during the week. By the time they get home it's practically time to go to sleep to get up early for the next day's commute. So they can't spend much time with family let alone going through bills or getting things done around the house.

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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Taxes For 2008

I bet the title of this post has just made you cringe.

Why am I posting this since just yesterday was the day to get taxes in for 2007. It's because many people have trouble getting their taxes done on time. Often it's because getting the informatin together is such a hassle. Some of it is here, some of it is there, some is on the computer, some is paper, it's all over the place and not necessarily filed under anything or easy to find. And besides who wants to work on taxes anyway.

So for 2008 just get yourself one file or basket or something and put in everything that will have to do with taxes for 2008. If it's computerized either title it or somehow tag it or put in a cross reference for taxes 2008. This way you won't have to look all over for the stuff. You'll still have to do something about getting your taxes filed but this way at least you'll a have a head start.

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Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Disaster Preparedness, Yet Again (Photos)

As any regular readers know one of my real areas of interest is disaster preparedness. Leah Ingram who has a terrifc blog on how her family is living a green life just had a post about fire safety involving ashes from a fireplace and some other causes of home fires. The Lean Green Family (formerly Suddenly Frugal): Fire Safety for Everyone I never thought of fireplaces ashes causing a fire but this should be read by everyone who has a fireplace and uses it. She also writes about some other common household causes of fires such as candles.

I recently did a presentation about getting organized at my local library and briefly did a section on organizing photos. I also mentioned something that most peple never think about which is what happens if there is a fire or other catastrophe and their home is destroyed. If you read in the news about fires or floods the two things that people always mention losing are their jewelry and their photos. I used to suggest that people pick out some of the most important photos and make copies and store them with a friend or neighbor or a relative across the country. Today you can burn them into a CD and put it in a safe deposit box or send them to a friend or someone out of your area.

Many people store all of their digital photos on their computer and don't think that if their hard drive crashes or there is a catastrophe they will lose all the photos. It can be good to take a few minutes precaution and safeguard those photos. You can replace clothing or furniture or other things but you can't get the photos back.

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Sunday, April 06, 2008

Identity Theft

When it comes to identity theft some things are more important to the thief than others. One thing they want to get is your birthdate. People make that easy for them by publicly displaying their date of birth on the Internet. If you join Facebook, for instance, it asks for your date of birth which is displayed on your profile for everyone to see. Make up a fake birthdate. I know someone in their thirties who uses February 29, 1912. The farther it is from your birthdate the better off you probably are.

I have also seen people who use their full date of birth in their email addresses. I know a couple of people who use the month and year but I've seen others that have the month, day and year.

Be careful with your information.

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Saturday, April 05, 2008

Shredding

Identity theft is a big problem that will only get worse. I tell my clients to get a cross-cut shredder and one that will do 8 to 12 pages at at time. You can buy them at any big box office supply story such as Staples, Office Max or Office Depot. Usually there is at least one that is on sale or has a rebate.

What do you shred? Anything that could allow anyone to steal your identity. Credit card offers, credit card bills, utility bills, discarded checks, financial statements of any kind that you are throwing out, phone bills, utility bills and anything with a credit card number (including receipts).

Yes, people actually do go through garbage to find these things. That's why shredding them is so important.

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Friday, April 04, 2008

Eating "Healthfully"

I recently overheard a conversation between two women where the first one said that she gets food that is "organic" and "natural". The second woman said, "That doesn't mean that it's healthy." Woman number one was startled by this concept.

Realistically almost anything can be organic including white sugar or white flour. That certainly does not mean that things that are organic or natural are good for you or healthy.

Organic means that it was raised without pesticides and if it is an animal it may mean without antibiotics. Natural can mean just about anything.

Healthy or healthful has an entirely diffrent meaning. It means that somehow it is good for your body or at least not harmful. If you want to eat food that is healthy or healthful eat as close to natural foods as you can. Have fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, real dairy products, organic beef, lamb, poultry and eggs. But don't be fooled by labels that are just organic or natural. They are not necessarily healthful.

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