Tag Archive for money

You are the Target

Scammers are always attacking us.  I wish they’d  get a real life, but apparently enough of us are taken in that they’re making a bundle of money.

I just read an AAPR article on scammers–how they draw us in by personalizing their pitch.  I thought you might  be interested in reading it.  It gives good information that may protect you or a loved one, especially that senior citizen you care so much for and who is in the age group most targeted by scammers.

It’s called “You are the Target”  and can be found at this AARP webpage.

Save on Car and Plane Trips

Unneeded items in your suitcase add extra weight which affects your car’s gas mileage (and your plane-ticket price).  There’s an iPhone/iPad app that facilitates smart packing for your family’s long or short trip.  See  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/packing-pro/id312266675?mt=8. It will help you save money and help the Earth at the same time.

 

[For more easy, money-saving, Earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]

She is MY Sunshine

This video is proof that children are born knowing the right thing to do. Add some nurturing from parents, and we have someone who may be very short but we can’t help looking up to.

How to Tell if that Organic is Worth It

Organic or not, always wash fruit and veggies before eating them. But first you have to buy them. There’s so much hype about how much healthier organics are.  Sometimes, though, paying for organic isn’t worth the money.

A rule of thumb is  whether or not the fruit or vegetable has a thick skin that chemicals can’t get through.  If so, call them the “Clean Ones.”  If not, call them the “Dirty Ones.”  Here’s a helpful list.

“Dirty Ones” (buy organic)

  1. Strawberries
  2. Spinach
  3. Nectarines
  4. Apples
  5. Peaches
  6. Pears
  7. Cherries
  8. Grapes
  9. Celery
  10. Tomatoes
  11. Sweet Bell Peppers
  12. Potatoes

“Clean Ones” (don’t waste $$$ on organic)

  1. Sweet Corn
  2. Avocados
  3. Pineapples
  4. Cabbage
  5. Onions
  6. Sweet Peas
  7. Papayas
  8. Asparagus
  9. Mangoes
  10. Eggplant
  11. Honeydew
  12. Kiwi
  13. Cantaloupe
  14. Cauliflower
  15. Grapefruit

Enjoy!

The Family Budget as a Weapon

Here, in the middle of the year, many of us are reviewing our family budget to make sure we’re okay until January.  This is a good time to take a close look, to see if our spending habits reflect what we say we believe.  For example, I believe in human dignity, so shouldn’t I stop buying at that huge discount chain that has been in the news often for mistreating and intimidating their non-documented immigrant employees?  I respect how hard local farmers work, so why not buy at farmers’ markets and through co-ops?  I may have to pay a little more.  But I can save money (and the environment) by walking or car-pooling sometimes.  Or by exchanging one night out a month for a family-centered game-night in.  I need to make my priorities clear to myself and to the stores and corporations I buy from.  They notice how we spend our money.  That makes our family budget a potential weapon of mass instruction!

 

A Day for Thanks and Appreciation

Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day. It’s a day to remember that teachers care for our kids a large portion of the day, keeping them safe and helping mold them into good, productive, caring adults.  To remember that their day doesn’t end at 3:00 and their work year isn’t just 9 months, because they spend so much outside-school-building time on such things as lesson plans, grading homework, creating projects and activities, working individually with students who need extra help, conversing with parents in person or on the phone, attending classes and in-services to improve their teaching, serving on school-improvement committees, planning open-houses/back-to-school nights, completing applications for government grants, then paperwork in compliance with those grants, preparing for accreditation, and shopping for supplies for their students.  And the money for those supplies comes out of their own pockets.

Today, remind teachers that they are appreciated.  Send a thank-you note with your child.  Bring a treat to the faculty room.  Call the principal to say how much a certain teacher has helped your child.  Use #TeacherAppreciationDay to post on social media.  I’m sure you  can think of something special to do today.

 

Get Money Back for Grandma

Do you have a grandparent or elderly friend who was deceived into sending money to a relative overseas to, say, keep them out of jail?  The elderly are the ones most often taken advantage of by such scams, sending part of the money they need to live on off to a scam artist.  And how do they send it?  Western Union usually.

Western Union has admitted to the federal government that they have been letting these scams happen–aiding and abetting fraud, which is a felony.  As a consequence, they’ve agreed to several measures they’ll take, including paying $586 billion  They will refund “fraudulently induced money transfers.”

For more details, go to https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/western-union-admits-anti-money-laundering-and-consumer-fraud-violations-forfeits-586-million.

If you know someone who got caught up in this, especially an older person who may find it difficult or confusing applying for a refund, keep going back to https://www.justice.gov/criminal-afmls/remission#wu to check on the progress of the settlement.  Right now, the Dept. of Justice is looking for a claims administrator to oversee the program.  Once a person is hired, it won’t be long before the website will have instructions for filing claims.  The DOJ moves slowly.  Don’t give up.

 

 

 

The 99%, or Where’s the Money?

Did you hear about the report (“An Economy for the 99%”) from Oxfam about where all the world’s money is?  According to that international poverty-fighting group, it comes out this way: Add the wealth of all of the world’s 3.6 billion poorest people and it roughly equals the $436 billion held by eight (8!) men–not women or families but 8 individual men.  Then add together the wealth of the 180 poorest countries  and it does NOT equal the wealth of the ten largest countries.

And this inequality is increasing.  Which widens the divisions in society.

Just something to think about.

 

 

Dead Trees and Money

Here’s something for my usual Sensible Saturday posting that is a slap across the brain…or wallet.

 

 

Try These Halloween Earth-Friendly Fun Ideas

Here it is, two days before Halloween, and you’re getting ready.  There’s a lot of waste (trash and your money) on this holiday.  Read 10 Tips for an Eco-Friendly Halloween and get some fun ideas.

Leaf 6

[For more easy, money-saving, earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]