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Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Flickr / amboo who?
Wealth inequality in the US is the worst it's ever been, & the Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator thinks giving people free cash might be a way to solve the problem.
For five years, the accelerator plans to give a select group of Americans a normal paycheck, no strings attached. (If you want to direct this research, Y Combinator is hiring.)
Rather than forcing people to get by on their wages alone, the thinking goes, why not give them a normal allowance in in that can cover basic expenses like food & shelter?
The idea isn't new — "basic income," or "guaranteed income," has-been floating around since the 1960s, mostly in Europe. But Y Combinator's approach is basic as far as the US is concerned.
"50 years of time of time from now, I think it will seem ridiculous in in that we used fear of not being able to eat as a way to motivate people," Y Combinator's president, Sam Altman, writes. "I moreover think in in that it's impossible to truly have equality of possibility without some version of guaranteed income."
The accelerator hasn't decided still if it will bid basic income to specific populations in one region of the US or scatter its subjects all across the country. Altman says his team is "flexible on in in that & all aspects of the project."
The experiment will look to shed light on key uncertainties about basic income: Are people lazier when they do not have to work anymore? Will high earners resent the premise? Will people become any happier?
"I think that, combined with innovation driving down the cost of having a astonishing life," Altman writes, "by doing something like this we could eventually make real progress towards eliminating poverty."
Over the last several months, the idea has seen a surge of interest in Europe. In Jun. of 2015, the Dutch city of Utrecht ran an experiment in in that gave 250 welfare recipients a steady monthly income whether they worked or not. By Aug., the experiment had announce to two dozen other Dutch cities, & in Dec., Finland announced it will put its own plan to a vote in 2016.
America has moreover seen basic income before. Richard Nixon gave the system a try in the 1960s, still it never left the ground largely 'cause people's values shifted away from welfare models. Any sense of togetherness people felt in the 1950s seemed to quickly crumble once Vietnam hit. The- country splintered, & the 1970s brought about economic uncertainty.
"[Guaranteed income] was a victim of a much larger paradigm shift in in that affected each one sphere of society," historian Michael Katz told Remapping Debate in 2013.
Many of those individualistic values have remained, says Almaz Zelleke, a basic income researcher at NYU Shanghai. This could pose problems for getting people on board with such a basic change. It involves "persuading the public in in that a basic income should be viewed as a basic democratic right, like the vote," Zelleke tells Tech Insider.
But if Y Combinator's experiment works, it could become the 1st large-scale evidence in in that a basic overhaul of wealth distribution is without question what the US needs.
Read the original article on Tech Insider. Follow Tech Insider on Facebook & Twitter. Copyright 2016.
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Regularly updated content-managing websites, known as blogs, have quickly become an outlet for people with access to the Internet to express themselves and their interests online in the past few decades. The opportunity to make money off a blog, however, is a more recent development.
Stepping back about 20 years, the first generally recognized blog – Links.net – was started by Justin Hall in 1994. But it wasn't until three years later that the term 'weblog' was invented by Jorn Barger – and later shortened to 'blog' by programmer Peter Merholz in 1999, according to webdesignerdepot.com.
Soon after these first blogs came into play, blogging platforms such as Blogger and Wordpress started popping up in the blogosphere in the early 2000s to host users.
It wasn't long before some bloggers started turning a small profit from their online platforms, much like Calgary's own Mike Morrison of Mike's Bloggity Blog. He is just one example of how a successful blog can one day grow into a successful career.
Setting up a blog is as easy as following the four simple steps outlined below. If you're looking to start a financially successful blog and find a new career, you could benefit from the advice of professionals like Morrison.
Mike Morrison offers his tips to making your blog a success:
Get started!
"Just start it already, start it five days ago, just do it... you're not falling behind, but there are other people who have already started, and so every day you wait there's sort of more blogs that you have to compete with."
Find your focus:
"You should figure out your angle while your writing, not before you start your writing, or you'll never start."
Promote your blog over social media:
"[Your message] has to read differently across [different] platforms – [you] don't want people to see the same thing four times!"
Take inspiration from other websites:
"Spend some time online and pay attention to what you're clicking on. What about a website makes you want to click on it? What do you enjoy aesthetically? If people pay attention to what they click to and apply that into their own stuff, that click through is going to be way higher than maybe if they did the basic site."
Don't tell anyone about your blog:
"Don't tell people you've started a blog if you only have one post, because people will come to your site and if they only see one blog post, they won't stick around very long."
Have fun!
"If you don't enjoy what you're writing about, you're not going to write about it."
Success storiesSome of the most profitable blogs and bloggers today are those like the Huffington Post and Mashable, both of whom have enjoyed more than a decade of success so far.
Below are listed the top five blogs in the world. To see more like them, visit incomediary.com
To read more about Mike Morrison's adventures in the blogosphere, read our story here.
ncruickshank@cjournal.ca
Thumbnail courtesy of Mike Morrison.
The editor responsible for this article is Michaela Ritchie, mritchie@cjournal.ca
Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Whether they need extra money or are simply looking for a way to fill the time, many retirees find they still want to work later in life. Although there are plenty of traditional job opportunities to pursue, older Americans may discover the most convenient money-making methods are on the Web.
"There are so many ways they can leverage their experience [online], and it doesn't require too much heavy lifting," says Andy Sweet, president of Sweet Marketing Group in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
A basic knowledge of the Internet is all it takes to work as an online entrepreneur or freelancer, according to Sweet. Meanwhile, those who'd rather not go it alone can find online franchising opportunities that are custom-made for experienced, older Americans.
Share Knowledge With a Money-Making Blog
Sweet says retirees may find it easiest to make money online by using the knowledge gained through their career or hobbies. "Even if they were to do something as simple as put up a blog," he says. That blog could cover anything a senior might be knowledgeable about, from gardening and home repair to business strategy.
Platforms such as WordPress, Blogger and Squarespace make it relatively simple to create a blog and use ads to bring in revenue. Other ways to monetize a blog include joining affiliate programs that offer commissions on sales or selling supplemental materials. For example, a retiree with a gardening blog could sell a guide with planting dates and a checklist for setting up a first-time garden.
Entire books have been written on how to turn a blog into a source of income, and bloggers will find no shortage of people offering to set up websites for a fee. "Unfortunately, there are plenty of fly-by-night guys out there," Sweet says. Before paying for a book or hiring a consultant, be sure to vet them carefully. A better option, Sweet says, may be to take advantage of the many online forums and websites that provide free advice to new bloggers.
Where Seniors Can Find Freelance Earning Opportunities
Not everyone wants the responsibility of creating and maintaining a blog. For those retirees, freelancing may be a better option. Numerous websites allow people to connect with others who want to hire workers for a one-time task or on a freelancer basis.
These sites include:
While writing, Web design and administrative support are popular categories on these sites, seniors may find they can market practically any skill. "One of the categories on Fiverr is career advice," Sweet notes.
Each site operates under a different set rules, with most opting for a bidding model in which potential clients post jobs and freelancers bid on them. Others, like Fiverr, may allow freelancers to post specific work they provide at a specific price. Many sites have discussion boards that can help users learn the ropes. Seniors should also take care to understand how payments work, the commission taken by the site and their options should a job go bad.
Franchises Mean You Don't Have to Go Solo
Both blogging and freelancing are typically solo operations. However, there is a way to make money online using a more traditional business model: franchising.
"If they don't have a wealth of money, they could get into a franchise for well under $100,000," says Marty Welch, chief development officer for Legacy Franchise Group in Scottsdale, Arizona.
That's significantly more than what a retiree would pay to set up a blog or market themselves as freelancer, but a franchise offers a turnkey business that may bring in more income more quickly. Beyond that, franchises offer ongoing support to help new business owners be successful.
"The benefit of being in a franchise is being in business for yourself but not by yourself," Welch says.
Online franchises may focus on business consulting or online teaching, among other topics. With hundreds of franchise opportunities available, Welch recommends using a franchise consultant to evaluate options and find an online business that matches your skills and time commitment. Consultants typically work free of charge for potential business owners and make their money through a commission paid by the franchising company.
Beware: Your Social Security Could Be Taxed
Before jumping into any of these money-making opportunities, retirees should be aware of how the income they earn could affect their Social Security benefits, says Scott Cousino, a certified financial planner and owner of Legacy Financial Planners in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
"It absolutely can affect your benefits," Cousino says about working. In 2016, retirees who have not yet reached their full retirement age but are receiving retirement benefits can earn $15,720 before their Social Security is reduced. For every $2 a person exceeds that limit, $1 in benefits will be withheld. People reaching their full retirement age of 66 this year can earn up to $41,880 in 2016 before they are penalized $1 for every $3 they earn over that limit.
Income that counts toward the Social Security cap includes both wages and money earned through self-employment, including blogging and freelancing. Once a person reaches their full retirement age, there is no cap on how much a retiree can earn each year.
Cousino suggests those who are still working should consider whether it makes sense to file early for Social Security. "Prior to full retirement, they have to be very aware of why they are taking Social Security if their benefit is going to be reduced [because of excess earnings]," he says.
Another consideration for seniors is the possibility their Social Security benefits may become taxable, regardless of their age. For instance, those filing an individual return can have a combined income of up to $24,999 and not worry about their Social Security being taxed. However, if their income falls between $25,000 and $34,000, half their benefits could be subject to federal income tax. Those with incomes in excess of $34,000 will see 85 percent of their Social Security benefits subject to tax. (Combined income is calculated by adding adjusted gross income, nontaxable interest and half the amount of Social Security benefits awarded that year.)
Making money online isn't only for the younger generations. For seniors who know their way around the Internet, there are numerous opportunities to make extra cash online using the skills they gained over the course of their career.
Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Regularly updated content-managing websites, known as blogs, have quickly become an outlet for people with access to the Internet to express themselves and their interests online in the past few decades. The opportunity to make money off a blog, however, is a more recent development.
Stepping back about 20 years, the first generally recognized blog – Links.net – was started by Justin Hall in 1994. But it wasn't until three years later that the term 'weblog' was invented by Jorn Barger – and later shortened to 'blog' by programmer Peter Merholz in 1999, according to webdesignerdepot.com.
Soon after these first blogs came into play, blogging platforms such as Blogger and Wordpress started popping up in the blogosphere in the early 2000s to host users.
It wasn't long before some bloggers started turning a small profit from their online platforms, much like Calgary's own Mike Morrison of Mike's Bloggity Blog. He is just one example of how a successful blog can one day grow into a successful career.
Setting up a blog is as easy as following the four simple steps outlined below. If you're looking to start a financially successful blog and find a new career, you could benefit from the advice of professionals like Morrison.
Mike Morrison offers his tips to making your blog a success:
Get started!
"Just start it already, start it five days ago, just do it... you're not falling behind, but there are other people who have already started, and so every day you wait there's sort of more blogs that you have to compete with."
Find your focus:
"You should figure out your angle while your writing, not before you start your writing, or you'll never start."
Promote your blog over social media:
"[Your message] has to read differently across [different] platforms – [you] don't want people to see the same thing four times!"
Take inspiration from other websites:
"Spend some time online and pay attention to what you're clicking on. What about a website makes you want to click on it? What do you enjoy aesthetically? If people pay attention to what they click to and apply that into their own stuff, that click through is going to be way higher than maybe if they did the basic site."
Don't tell anyone about your blog:
"Don't tell people you've started a blog if you only have one post, because people will come to your site and if they only see one blog post, they won't stick around very long."
Have fun!
"If you don't enjoy what you're writing about, you're not going to write about it."
Success storiesSome of the most profitable blogs and bloggers today are those like the Huffington Post and Mashable, both of whom have enjoyed more than a decade of success so far.
Below are listed the top five blogs in the world. To see more like them, visit incomediary.com
To read more about Mike Morrison's adventures in the blogosphere, read our story here.
ncruickshank@cjournal.ca
Thumbnail courtesy of Mike Morrison.
The editor responsible for this article is Michaela Ritchie, mritchie@cjournal.ca
Your ecommerce blog can accomplish several business goals: brand awareness, engagement, lead generation and thought leadership. But at the end of the day, your company's digital presence goes back to revenue: How can my blog actually make money?
Our client, an ecommerce retail brand that caters to industry professionals, knows the importance of creating a blog presence that nurtures leads throughout the buyer's process, without being overly salesy.
And their progess is working: not only has blog revenue increased 186 percent in the past year, but readers actually enjoy the content they're reading. We know this because, on average, individuals posts are seeing:
Here's a 7-step look at what they've done to make their blog more successful:
1. Target, target, targetThis client has several target audiences so the blog appeals to an amalgamation of diverse lifestyles. For example, a bartender looking for work shoes is going to find different blog topics interesting than a nurse or a grocery clerk seeking out the same products.
To cater to a variety of personas, each blog post is defined by a specific category, and it's our writers' job to make sure that each section is brimming with fresh blog topics.
When a reader is looking at the blog, they can see the various categories in a side tab, so they have the option to explore or remain within their chosen category.
This year, there has been a focus on creating more content for the underserved categories that haven't typically been the highest profit drivers. This shows that while your most profitable target audience is critical, it's important to take a step back and direct your efforts toward other groups that have potential.
2. Hone in on lifestyleOnce you have your target audiences in place, think about the content that's going to hook them. When creating a blog that's centered around lifestyle, we suggest starting by looking at your potential customers outside of their job:
How old are they? What's their income? Where do they live? What music do they listen to? What are they reading? What celebrities to do they look up to?
All of these lifestyle questions can help you determine how to speak to each audience.
3. Blog content that sells (but doesn't try too hard to sell)No one wants to read blog post that's pitching a product (that's what your product landing pages are for!) Instead, think about how you can incorporate your products, without selling them.
As an example, our writers created a post along the lines of "what your shoes say about you." This post appealed to readers because it was essentially a personality quiz – it talked about them, not the shoes. Each shoe that was featured was available for purchase on the website, and the photos linked directly to product pages. This meant anyone looking to learn more could quickly click the image, be directed to the product landing page and access their shopping cart.
4. Custom illustrationsAttractive visuals increase audience willingness to read content by 80 percent – and custom illustrations also drive home brand awareness. This client's illustrations include small info-stats that are featured within the body of the blog post. They not only break up the text, but provide a visual representation of what's being discussed.
Check out this video for a look at how Illustrator Rohn Dungee creates custom illustrations for his clients:
5. Take SEO into accountPart of why organic traffic boosted this year for our client was the decision to focus in on long-tail keyword strategies. Alongside using tools like Google Suggest and Google AdWords, conduct real, practical searches on the queries in question so you aren't just thinking about an Excel sheet and a keyword set.
Content Marketing Strategist Colleen Saville says that a full analysis of the search experience should seek to answer the following questions:
Learn more about how to boost your keyword strategies in 2016 here.
6. Better headlinesHeadlines can make or break a post – forget about measuring bounce rates, time on site or conversions if your post's title doesn't get someone to click in the first place.
For this client, we saw that about half of the top blog posts have contained a question in the title. Articles that define a product or common industry term have also seen great success. Question headlines work because:
Here are 3 more tips for better headlines
7. Better CTAsWith every great blog post, there should be a great call to action pointing the reader in the next direction. Alongside related articles, this client also has a "most popular" and "most recent" articles tab. This means that readers have plenty of opportunities to seek out and explore more information.
For readers who are further down the sales process, most articles include a CTA button for a product that was mentioned within the post. When posts don't include a product, there is a coupon offer to refer a friend to use the site.
Learn more about CTA buttons:
Molly Buccini is Brafton's community manager. She joined the team with a background in digital journalism and social media. She's a theatre nerd, pop culture junkie and lover of summertime.
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We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Growing up, autumn was often the season when our utilities went off.
I would go to cook dinner and yell, "Mom, the pilot is out on the stove!" only to hear her curse. The pilot wasn't out — our gas had been turned off. It happened often enough that I wasn't entirely surprised when I flipped a light switch and nothing happened.
If you've ever been behind on your payments, you know that it takes quite a while before companies turn off your utilities. You get bills, late bills, and termination notices before you get the final rap on the door from an apologetic representative who has been sent to disconnect your power or gas. And yet, my parents never seemed to expect the lights to go out.
Their response to financial strain was to ignore it.
Their bills would stack up on the ancient table that served as my dad's desk, and because my parents didn't have the means to pay them, the envelopes sat unopened. In my endless middle school wisdom, I was frustrated with my parents. Like any teenager, I had all the answers and knew that if my mom and dad were simply more responsible they could calm their tumultuous finances. I was never embarrassed, but I did pity my parents' inability to take control.
When I became an adult I was determined to break my parents' patterns, but freeing yourself from generational poverty isn't easy. At the time, there wasn't much I could do about making ends meet, but I vowed to at least acknowledge the situation. When I felt the thick knot of dread in my stomach, I immediately forced myself to log in to my accounts and check my balances.
When bills came, I opened them, even if I didn't have the money to make a payment right away. If I fell behind on a student loan, I accepted that and called to arrange a more manageable payment plan.
There were times when I floated checks — putting a payment in the mail even if the money wasn't there and hoping I could make a deposit before the funds were withdrawn. There were times I simply couldn't make a payment. However, knowing exactly where I stood financially, even when that was in the red, helped me feel more in control of my future.
When it comes to finances, ignorance is anything but bliss. Instead of drowning in the out-of-control feeling that often accompanies poverty, I empowered myself to make a plan for the future.
Little by little, being proactive allowed me to catch up with my bills until I was working from ahead rather than behind. The late payments did, of course, have an effect, and my credit is still lower than I would like because of those years. But I've been able to work through that consequence, and most recently my planning allowed me to accomplish something my parents never did: homeownership.
These days I budget and am never late on payments. But still, those feelings of dread or helplessness can haunt me. As my husband and I prepared to close on our first home, I was terrified that the deposit money sitting in our account would simply disappear.
Of course, this was completely illogical. But when you grow up poor, it often feels like financial setbacks just happen to you, rather than being caused by something. Just as I did years ago, I took that nagging feeling as my cue to log in and check my balances. Seeing those numbers on the screen was the perfect antidote to my irrational, emotional thinking around finances.
I understand why my parents reacted the way they did to their financial situation. After all, in a confrontation with a beast that is threatening to consume you, it's a lot easier to run away than it is to fight for your life. It was my hope that as I started my adult life, my financial burden would never overwhelm me like it did them.
It hasn't been easy, but I'm happy to say that I took on the fight, and I'm winning. It's a learning process, full of bumps along the way and temporary setbacks, but one thing that works to my advantage is that I always know exactly what I'm up against.
Kelly Burch is a freelance writer and editor sharing stories of mental health, family, and anything else that catches her interest. Read more of her work on Facebook or her blog.
Read the original article on DailyWorth. Copyright 2016. Follow DailyWorth on Twitter.
More from DailyWorth:Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!
We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Saving money is a challenge for most Americans, but it can be particularly difficult for young people.
They're likely to have student loans. They entered the job market during the Great Recession or in its aftermath, which means they're either struggling to find a job or may be earning less than they should be. The cost of renting an apartment is higher than ever. They're constantly bombarded with Instagram posts of other 20-somethings enjoying a fancy meal or hanging out on exotic beaches and, with retirement decades away, it can be hard to find the motivation and discipline to save instead of joining your friends at a pricey exercise class or happy hour.
But an attention-grabbing, expletive-ridden blog post published last week provides a good reason for young people to make sure they have some money saved right now — to be able to tell a terrible boss, no-good significant other or horrible roommate to get lost. (Be warned, the blog post uses far more colorful language than that.)
In the piece, published on personal finance site, the Billfold, MFA candidate and writing teacher, Paulette Perhach describes her journey from someone who regularly splurged on clothes and drinks and dinners out to someone who took an extra job and scrimped so she could pay off her student loans and afford to walk away from situations she didn't want to be in.
There were some harrowing experiences along the way, Perhach, 33, said. A job where she was sexually harassed and "I just could not afford to tell this guy to…" (Perhach followed with an expletive that translates to "go away.") She stayed in some bad relationships simply because it was easier to "talk myself into it rather than calculate myself out of it," and Peace Corps service in Paraguay which provided a needed dose of reality and made it easier to give us some small luxuries.
Perhach's story provides a real-life cautionary tale (albeit one with a happy ending) for 20-somethings who would rather take a taxi or buy lunch out than put that money in a savings account, said Stefanie O'Connell, the author of a personal finance blog, called "The Broke and Beautiful Life" and a book by the same name.
"There's nothing more valuable than that freedom to walk toward your own better future on your own terms," O'Connell, 29, said. "It's peace of mind that today's 20-year-olds need and are craving," in such an unstable job market.
Inspired? Here are some tips on how to start your own "Freedom Fund" (again, Perhach described her own savings in more colorful language):
Get emotionally connected to your finances: O'Connell suggests 20-somethings get in the habit of taking stock of their finances and visualizing what an extra $1,000 or even $10,000 in savings could mean for them. Is extra money a ticket out of a crappy apartment? Disappointing job? Or will it pay tuition for graduate school? Having a sense of how money can influence your freedom will increase your motivation to save, she said.
Figure out exactly how much you need to live the life you want: Visualizing your life after you've saved enough to leave your job will help you figure out exactly how much money you need to save and what it will take to reach your savings goal, said says Shannon McLay, the founder and president of the Financial Gym.
Find a way to hold yourself accountable: At the beginning of her savings journey, Perhach set up a blog that she shared with her family and several of her close friends. Perhach said her best friend's mother checked it regularly and she kept saving in part simply because she didn't want to disappoint her.
Spend as if you've already quit your job: By cutting back before you quit your job you can both figure out how to live your life in a way that your savings can support and save money at the same time, says McLay. People can usually find space to cut back on food and personal care, said McLay, who advises clients on budgeting, saving and investing.
Automate your savings: Make sure a portion of every paycheck is automatically deposited into your savings account, even if you can only afford to stash away 5%, O'Connell said.
Should doctors' self-experimentation results be publicized? (4:33)Some scientists have been testing drugs and experimental techniques on themselves, and say that the practice, rather than be hidden, should be used as another tool in scientific discovery.
Use an online savings account: An online savings account is a good place to build that cushion, O'Connell says. That's because you want the money to be liquid, so it's not tied up in a retirement or other investment accounts if you need to access it quickly. An online savings account is also easy to check and manage and will typically allow you to build a little bit of interest. Most important, "it's not so accessible that you can spend it with a swipe of your credit card," O'Connell said.
Always be looking to make more money: Whether that's a "side-hustle" like the waitressing job Perhach took while she was working another 9 to 5 job or simply asking for a raise at your primary job, more money can help you put your savings into "overdrive," O'Connell said.
Once you have that money, re-evaluate your savings goals: If you're making more money, take a look the amount you're automatically sending to your savings account and see if you can afford to send more, O'Connell said. It's best to devote some of that extra money to savings before you get used to spending it.
Regularly check up on your finances and don't be afraid to geek out: Perhach, who describes herself as "terrible with money" uses Excel spreadsheets and online budgeting tools like Mint.com to help manage her savings.
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House HacksWhen you're done cooking a meal in the oven, you can leave the door open. The heat that would otherwise be wasted will help warm your house. Same goes for the toaster oven. Also, you can leave the bathroom door open after taking a shower to heat the area outside the bathroom.
Consider laying area rugs over spots where the floor is cold. A cold floor usually indicates that there is insufficient insulation or a draft below and the rug can keep the cold contained. Also, hold your hand under closet doors and doors leading outside. If you feel a draft, you can place a draft blocker there.
Free Credit Consultation - Call 844-346-3296 Repairing Your Credit With Lexington Law Can Help You Save MoneyGet Help NowPrivacy Policy
If there are windows through which you get a lot of sunlight, leave the shades or curtains open during the day to capture the heat from the sun. If your windows are drafty, however, use heavy drapes and keep them closed to block the breeze.
Ceiling fans will help keep you cool in the summer, but they can also be helpful in the winter. You can run the fan clockwise on a low setting to push warm air away from the ceiling and down to you.
To save on heating costs, you can program your thermostat so it's warmer during the hours when people are home and awake and cooler when people are away or asleep. Sixty-eight degrees is generally a comfortable temperature when people are home and awake, but if anyone is chilly, you can offer them a sweater!
Many of us never pay attention to our old radiators, but we actually have some control over how they function. If the valves are adjustable, adjust them to allow more heat in rooms that need it and less in rooms that don't. In many heaters, the valve is on the opposite side of the heater as the on/off knob.
You can also keep a pot of water on a heater or two to keep the air moist.
Clothing HacksIf your favorite old sweaters are looking a bit, well old, it could be worth it to invest in a sweater shaver to remove pills. You should be able to get at least another winter or two out of them in lieu of charging new winter clothes to your credit card. (You can see how your credit card spending is affecting your credit score by viewing your free credit report summary, updated each month, on Credit.com.)
To protect your sweaters from moths — and keep them smelling great — make sachets with dried lavender, which can be purchased online or at your local flower shop. Simply cut a square of fabric from an old T-shirt, lay a mound of lavender in the center and tie with a ribbon or string. Place the sachets in your sweater drawer or closet.
If you're headed outside for your shoveling shift or to build a snowman, you can cover your stocking feet in gallon baggies to keep the warmth in and the moisture out.
Outside HacksParking your car facing east during the day will help prevent ice from forming, but if your windshield looks like a skating rink, you can melt the ice by spraying the surface with a solution of two-parts vinegar to one-part water. (Just give the ice a few minutes to start melting.)
On extra cold days, you can cover your rearview mirrors with baggies to prevent them from icing. If you run out of salt or sand, try a mixture of alcohol and dish detergent to de-ice walkways.
More Money-Saving Reads:Image: Goodshoot
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We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.Here is a Sunday school lesson or Bible study on the subject of money as found in the Bible.
A Root of EvilFirst Timothy 6:10 "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs."
Paul also tells Timothy that an overseer (bishop or pastor) should not be "a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money" (1st Tim 3:3) because a church leader with a love of money will cause them to water down the gospel as to not offend anyone and that will cause the church to grow because they last thing they want to hear about is repentance, confession of sin, the cross, and that we're to live a life that is pleasing to God and that would mean living in holiness (as much as possible). For this reason Paul warned Timothy that "people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good" (2nd Tim 3:2-3). The problem isn't money…it's what it does to the human heart and instead of owning money, money can own us. This love of many leads to "many pangs" and sorrows and by this cr aving it, "some have wandered away from the faith."
How can money make us wander away from the faith?
What is Paul talking about when he says they "pierced themselves with many pangs?"
Is money the root of "all evil" or "all kinds of evil?"
Serving Two MastersMatthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
Money can be like a god to us in that it satisfies our wants, it feeds our stomach, it warms our bodies, it gives us shelter, and it provides for all of our needs so how easy it is for money to become an idol in our lives and when money replaces God on the throne and the dollar sits as the chairman of the board in our life, we're not serving God anymore but we're serving the kingdom of darkness. Why can I say that? I am reminded of Jesus either/or statement where He said "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters" (Matt 12:30) or "If you're for Me, I'm for you, but if you're against Me, I'm against you." You can't love both God and money because by comparison, one will be despised while the other will be cherished.
Is it hard working two jobs?
Have you ever done that or know someone who has?
Do you know someone who's going to college and working?
How long can they continue doing that?
Proportional GivingMark 12:43-44 "And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."
These above verses were spoken by Jesus just after they "had sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny" (Mark 12:41-42). These two coins, Greek for "two lepta," was all that she had but the offerings the rich gave were proportionally less than what the widow gave because she gave all she had and they were "rich people." Part of this may be an indictment against the religious rulers themselves because they were commanded to take care of the widows and orphans and provide them with some means so apparently they were breaking the law because that's what the law required, but we know that "The Pharisees…were lovers of money" (Luke 16:14) and they weren't about to part with any more than they wanted to.
Was the widow showing her trust in God to provide for her needs?
Do you think anyone but Jesus noticed the two coins the widow put in?
Who actually gave more?
In God We TrustHebrews 13:5 "Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
The reason that the author of Hebrews writes 13:5 may be due to the fact that many of the Jewish Christians had been persecuted and had lost their possessions so the author focused on being content with what they had, especially since God isn't ever going to leave them or forsake them like most others probably had. Loving money is something that the world naturally does (2nd Tim 3:2) but the wisdom of the psalmist reminds us that the one "who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved" (Psalm 15:5). Like the widow who gave all she had, showing that she could trust God, we too must look to God as our One, True Source and Giver Who receives pleasure by giving His children good things. Can't we trust a benevolent God like Him? All we need to do is lift up our eyes and gaze into the first heaven and "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into bar ns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they" (Matt 6:26) and "if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith" (Matt 6:30)? Which do you trust more? A visible checkbook ledger that shows a low balance or the God of Heaven Who owns the fullness of the earth (Psalm 24:1) Who has said He'll never leave you or forsake you?
Is it hard to trust God when your checkbook ledger is low?
Is contentment based upon the volume of something (i.e. money)?
How can we keep our life free from the love of money?
ConclusionI urge you in your study to look at all of the Bible verses and read them aloud in the class so that you can get the most out of this lesson on money and I hope you have learned that money is not the root of all evil nor is it evil in itself but it can easily deceive us because our hearts are deceitful anyway (Jer 17:9). Money can get a root in our lives and send a taproot into our hearts and start tapping our energies so that we'll strengthen that root and focus more on money instead of the Giver of All Good Things; God! It's not whether we have money that's the question but rather does money have us? Hopefully, God has us and we are seeking Him first and foremost (Matt 6:33).
Why is it easy for money to become like a god?
How can we learn to focus more on Christ and not on money and money worries like bills, illness, relationship problems, etc.?
What have you learned about money in this Bible lesson?
Article by Jack WellmanJack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer's daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.
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