Many of us end up printing out documents, presentations, or what have you, only to have to reprint them again. This in itself is wasting paper and costing you or your company money. Why not turn those printouts into scrap pads. Take a stack of paper and cut it into quarters. You’ve not got a stack of scrap paper to jot notes on. But be careful. If what you’ve got up has sensitive information on it, this could pose a problem if they just get thrown in the trash. That’s why it’s best to either shred or burn them. Just another quick and easy way to help the planet and your wallet.
There are many commercial products available to clean your vinyl records. If you’re looking to clean hundreds or even thousands of records than a vacuum record cleaning machine is the way to go. But to keep your records clean as you play them is pretty easy.
The materials needed for this product are scrap 2″ x 4″ , scrap 1″ x 2″ and velvet.
The total cost of this project was around $3. I first cut my scrap into into approximately 5″ lengths. Sand down the edges of the 2″ x 4″, eliminating the possibility of damaging the record. Cut the velvet and wrap the 2″ x 4″ with it. Now, I’m no upholstering guru, so I looked at the 2″ x 4″ as if it were a present and wrapped it that way. Using a staple gun, fasten the cloth to the wood. Repeat this process twice as it gives enough cushion not to damage the record.
Then take the 1″ x 2″ and nail it to the to creating a handle. And that’s it, you’re done.
In terms of cleaning solution, I use distilled water which is available at grocery store. It works fantastic and won’t damage your precious vinyl. Make sure that your albums are completely dry before playing them. If played wet, you’ll grind any remaining dirt farther into the grooves permanently damaging the records.
If you’re part of the corporate world, or any bigger business for that matter, you know that you’re told to leave your computer on all of the time. This is to allow your company’s IT department to push updates to your computer as necessary. In reality, how often does a business do this. I’m pretty certain that it’s not terribly often.
If updates are done at regular intervals, having people leave their computers on once a week for example would be more than sufficient and would dramatically reduce the use of energy and in turn, save the company a boatload of money. But, at times, the company must push important fixes to computers and trying to coordinate this with thousands of employees would be a nightmare. So what else is there?
Wake On Lan (WoL). It’s a feature that is built into almost all motherboards built after 2002. In short, it allows your computer to hibernate, and wake up when it receives a Magic Packet telling it to turn back on. So I propose using something like WoL. The IT department can set all computers to turn off after say 45 minutes of non-use and then wake up when updates need to be implemented, thus saving millions for the company. Not only does this save money, but it also saves the use of fossil fuels which are becoming more scarce every day. A little change like this can go a long way in my opinion.
Have your own idea on how to reduce energy? I’d love to hear it.
Many Americans have gotten themselves caught up in credit card debt and often have to take drastic measures in order get out of the hole that they’ve dug. Many will contact services that offer to consolidate your credit card debt into one monthly payment by cutting monthly interest rates the card companies charge. These are known as debt management programs. They will negotiate with your credit card companies to get you a lower rate. You then make a monthly payment to the debt management program and in that monthly payment is a fee that they charge. Typically around $50. These programs are great for people who need a structured monthly payment to help get them back on track. But this can be done on your own. All it takes is a phone call to your credit card company.
Take a look at your monthly bill and look at the interest rate they’re charging. Now find your credit card’s customer service number and give them a call. Tell them that what you’re looking to do is pay off the revolving balance you have and would like a lower interest rate. What they will then do is look at your payment history. They want you to typically have 3 - 6 months of on-time payments and from there they will lower your rate. Now this is great even for people with very little balance or zero balance at all. But there’s more you can do. After getting your lower rate, ask for their account services number. Now these are the folks that can really help. Explain your situation to them saying that you just called the regular customer service number and got a little break on your rate but that you’re really looking to pay off the card as fast as possible. These folks will then be able to offer you an even lower rate and can even setup payments plans to get that debt paid off. With this you’ll be on your way to being debt free in no time.
But a few tips you want to watch out for when applying for a new credit card. Most “new cards”, and by that I mean ones you typically see commercials for. Something like American Express has some sort of new special deluxe rewards card, will typically have a very high interest rate for the first year that cannot be lowered. These cards are part of special programs offered by the companies just to get you to sign up. Also, beware of store branded cards. These can lower your credit score by 20 points each for every one you have. Most offer you some sort of discount to sign up by in the long run it can cost you more when attempting to make big purchases like a car or house. If you can use cash, because that’s everyone’s best friend.
These are just a few tips I have but if you have any I’d love to hear them.
Lately, I’ve been receiving a bunch of phonecalls on my cellphone that are completely unrecognizable when I look at the number. All of which have had Unknown ID for their caller ID title. With the help of the following two websites:
http://www.800notes.com
http://www.whocallsme.com
I was able to determine that these folks are scammers. Just trying to trick you into giving your personal info. to them in the hopes they can rob you blind. Most of the numbers are disconnected in a few days so there’s no way to know where they’re really calling from. What’s even more disturbing is that everyone can do this. It’s called Caller ID spoofing. You can pay for an ID spoofing card which will mask your phone number and display and name and number you want onto a person’s caller ID. Most companies have a section of their website dedicated to their practices and say that they’ll never call and ask for personal information over the phone. Take a look at your credit card, bank, cell phone, and basically any other business that you deal with regularly to see what their policies are. Most offer numbers to call if you’ve been contacted by someone that is mis-representing themselves.
What should you do if you get one of these calls? First, start by asking questions - things like the person’s name, phone number to call back, etc. Some scammers will immediately hangup when you start asking questions. Next is to use one of the website listed above to test both the number that the rep. gave you and the one that’s on the caller ID, if they don’t match. Now it’s time to give the company a call. Call their hotline and report the number. This will allow them to track the number and help others from getting scammed. If you have given out information, you’ll be able to ask them what steps need to be taken so that the information does not get used. You can also sign up to get monthly credit reports and credit watches. With all of the calls I’ve been getting recently, this is definitely something I’m going to do. It’s worth the money to keep my identity.
