How to Shop for Less Money at the Grocery Store

Don’t pay more money than you should for food and necessary household products when you shop at the grocery store.  Use these helpful tips to save some money.

Prepare for your trip to the grocery store by evaluating exactly which foods and household products you need to buy well in advance of visiting the grocery store.  Carefully planning the meals that you will prepare for your family is a very important first step to saving money.  Make a detailed list of all required items, but do not list them by popular brand names.  Use phrases like “laundry detergent, steel wool pads, and toilet paper.”  It is convenient to pick up brand name items at the store when you see them on your list and then look up and identify that same name on the shelf.  This is known as brand recognition and it does not happen by accident.  Only choose brand names if you are able to find a discount coupon for the product that makes the price comparable to generic or store-branded items.  This also applies to recipes.  Just because a recipe calls for a certain type of ingredient, there is most likely a cheaper alternative that will produce the same taste and the same results.

Do not go to the store on an empty stomach.  If you shop while you are hungry, you will be tempted   Visit the store in the evening after you’ve eaten supper and after the crowds have dispersed.  Anxiety over being surrounded by too many other shoppers or knowing that you have to hurry home to prepare a meal will impair your ability to choose the best items for your money.  You need plenty of time to stand still and calculate price versus quantity of each item before you commit to placing it in your cart.  If you have trouble performing mathematical calculations in your head, be sure to take a small calculator with you.  When you place the item in your cart, check the item off your list, but also write down the current price.  This information will be useful for your next visit to the store.

to buy unnecessary food items that you would not ordinarily want.

Choose the store where you will shop carefully.  Don’t shop somewhere just because it is convenient to do so or because you know other people who shop there.  Compare prices on as many items as you can and look for weekly specials.  If you have a membership to a store that sells items in bulk, evaluate whether the savings that you get from buying the larger quantity makes it worth buying that much.  If you know other people who use the same items, offer to split bulk items into smaller parts and each person chips in their portion of the price.

Shop alone if possible.  Having children or other people with you is distracting.  When shopping with friends, they often want to tell you which products are best and they will encourage you to buy things that you would usually avoid.  The exception to this is if you associate with individuals who shop aggressively for bargains.  These people are your allies.  Watch them closely and learn from their habits.

Sign up for one of the store’s “preferred shopper” cards.  These cards allow you access to discounts that are not available otherwise.  Most stores will post specials for card holders on each aisle beside the products.  If you do not have your card, many stores can search for your member number by referencing other information, like your telephone number.  If they cannot, ask the person in line behind you if they mind you using their card.  Most decent people have no problem with this.

Avoiding a Job Interview Scam

When you really need a job, it’s easy to overlook things that would normally alert you to a scam.  Here are some tips that may help you identify a fake job interview.

Send out resumes and cover letters to potential employers with job listings matching your area of expertise.  Keep a list of the ones you contact and record the date.  Follow up with them to improve your chances of acquiring an interview.  Be wary of employers who you have not previously had contact with who call or email a job offer or interview.

Do adequate research on any employer before you go on the interview.  Determine their location, what type of business they are, and what type of services they offer.  Inquire with the Better Business Bureau and see it they have registered complaints.  Ask friends if anyone is familiar with the company.

If everything checks out, agree to the interview and go prepared with copies of your resume, cover letter, and a list of references.  When you arrive, look closely at the property.  Is it in a safe area?  Do they have security guards or cameras?  Do they look well-established?  Only enter the building with the bare necessities and leave most personal belongings at home.  Turn off your mobile phone or pager before entering as well.

Do not give the interviewer any personal information during the interview, like your social security number, or any bank information.  You name, phone number, address, and then the standard list of past-experience type questions should be the only things they ask you.  If you do not want to answer a question, politely refuse.  It is your right.  You may fear missing out on possible employment, but you don’t want to give someone too much information until you know they are legitimate. 

Pay close attention to the requirements versus the compensation package that they offer.  Does it seem like a good match or does it seem a little far fetched?  Also be very cautious if they seem too eager to give you the job with minimal questions or interview time.  If this happens, do not agree right then.  Tell them that you would like to think it over and that you will contact them very soon with a decision.  Ultimately, you want to find the perfect job, but you should never get so desperate that you leave yourself open to a scam.

How to be Environmentally Friendly in the Workplace

Environmental consciousness is a hot topic at the moment, but the concept of protecting and preserving the world that we live in should be a part of everyone's daily routine. I've compiled some ideas that will help you to influence your employer to "think green."

If your goal is to influence your employer and co-workers to be kind to the environment it is important to not be afraid to make suggestions when you identify problems. For example, if someone constantly leaves lights on in rooms that are not in use, say something! If you don't want to confront them directly, speak to your boss and ask them for assistance. 

Be aware of devices and activities that waste energy and resources. Replace incandescent bulbs with fluorescent or LED and turn them off when they are not needed. Replace old toilets with new low-flow models to conserve water. Turn computers off when they are not in use or at least be sure to configure them to use "Energy Star" features if available. Only heat and cool areas of the building where it is necessary. If your business has a large roll up door that employees and visitors open and close as they enter and exit an air-conditioned area, consider installing a smaller door beside it so that the larger door can remain closed.  

Install weather strips or repair the seal on entrances where air freely flows through the cracks. Only water grass and natural areas outside the business as needed and try not to waste water. If several co-workers go to the same restaurant for lunch, be sure to carpool. Post friendly conservation reminders throughout the office to help keep the these important issues on everyone's mind. Set conservation goals and offer incentives to employees who meet them. Try to only do business with vendors who do their part to protect the environment. For instance, if your company has a website, use the services of a web host who is environmentally conscious. On your website, mention the things that you do to protect the environment. It helps to influence the visitors who read it and may give them some great ideas that they can adopt at work.

Learn to recycle. This includes sorting paper, plastic, and glass and sending it to the proper facility for processing, but there are plenty of other ways. In your shipping department, buy recycled cardboard boxes and reuse boxes and packing materials from incoming shipments. Use ozone safe, recycled bio-starch packing peanuts instead of Styrofoam. In your sales, marketing, and accounting departments, reduce your paper usage by sending advertisements, notices, and confirmations to customers electronically. When computers or office equipment is decommissioned, consider donating it to other local businesses or to schools. If the equipment is to be disposed of, do it properly. 

If your company manufactures parts, use non-hazardous components and recyclable materials. There is a directive called RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) which was adopted in the European Union in 2003 that addresses these issues. Please visit their website at http://www.rohs.gov.uk/ for more details. 

Saving the environment is an important job and all businesses should be enthusiastic about contributing. Everyone needs encouragement and a friendly reminder from time-to-time, so if you notice areas that need improvement, be sure to discuss them with your employer. Also, email a link to this article to your employer and ask them to read it. Most likely, they will appreciate your concern and take action.

Avoiding Online Money Making Scams

Supposedly, there are opportunities on the Internet for the average person to become a millionaire overnight with little or no effort. I have spent time and money "investing" in some of these opportunities and I want to help you avoid spending money on something that will offer you no return.

The first thing to consider when reading an article about making money online is, does the article sound believable? Does it sound legal? Does the program or system that you are buying into produce anything tangible or of any real worth to anyone? Does it offer a guarantee or trial period?

If everything seems to be legitimate at first glance, then it's time to do some investigating. Does the website offer contact information? Is there a phone number listed? If so, call the number and try to speak to a living human being. If you can't get through to anybody now, imagine how hard it will be to get a refund later if needed.

Visit the Better Business Bureau's website (www.bbb.com) and search for the website address (url) for the company that you are considering paying for services. Are they registered? If so, do they have any complaints against them? Do a whois lookup on the domain name. (ex. makelotsofmoneyovernight.com) Web sites like register.com are useful in performing a whois lookup. What name is the website registered under? If you search on this name, what information can you find online? If you find other web sites associated with the original website, search for them with the Better Business Bureau as well.

If you decide to make a purchase from a website, check to see if the "check out" page is on a secure server. If you are using Internet Explorer, look for the yellow lock symbol at the bottom of your web browser. Also be sure the web address begins with "https". When making a purchase, use a credit card rather than a debit card. Credit card companies usually cover fraudulent spending if someone obtains unauthorized access to your account.

Making Money Risk-Free Online Without Spending Your Own

I am going to share with you several easy ways that I have made money online over the last few months. They are all easy to do and best of all, they're all FREE. Not a scam or a sales pitch. I don't want anything from you other than your attention for a few minutes

After having tried and failed to make money using advertised systems, I decided that I wanted to make just a little money; just something for my troubles. It didn’t have to be a lot. I just didn’t want to have to pay anything to do it and I wanted to do something simple. I’m going to share this information with you. This is not a scam or some weird system; it’s just advice from me to you. Some of this advice may even be quite obvious for some of you, but if I can help just one person who is desperately in need of some money, then my job here is done. I don’t want your money or your personal information or anything like that. Also, I am not affiliated with the websites mentioned in this article. Using this advice won’t cost you anything other than your time. These are just several things that I’ve found lately that you can actually use to make some money online.

Set up a free checking account at your local bank using whatever their minimum deposit is. This should preferably be a new account that doesn’t contain your life savings. It will be used, for starters, to set up a PayPal account and then later it will be used to hold the money you make. That money can then be withdrawn as cash or transferred to another account for safekeeping.

Set up a free email account. I prefer Google’s Gmail (gmail.com). This is important because some of the following suggestions will result in SPAM and you don’t want that coming to your regular email account.

Set up a free PayPal account (paypal.com) This will require you to have a checking account (your free one) and you have to verify your account by confirming two small deposits that PayPal will make to you.

Set up a free account with InboxDollars.com (Survey website) using your free email address. They pay you to sign up ($5 currently.) Use your correct contact information. One of the offers under InboxDollars is to set up a free EBAY account. Do this and then place a bid on a $.99 item that you will more than likely not win. Currently, this ebay offer is worth an additional $6 in your InboxDollars account, but you have to go through with at least one bid. There are other legitimate survey websites out there, but this is the first one that I have actually received money from.

Now, find several of your friends who want to make money too. Have them set up free email accounts and then refer them to InboxDollars.com. For each friend that signs up and makes it to their payout ($30) you will earn $5. It took me a month to reach my $30 payout because I didn’t participate in any of the high dollar offers ($10 and up) that require me to share my credit card number. I only participated in daily surveys ($1 each) and also signed up for the free offers that paid for me to sign up. The free offers are things like signing up to receive information from schools or signing up to participate on other survey websites. As always, use your best judgment and don’t give away too much personal information. Keep in mind that when you do reach your $30 payout point, you have to wait 30 days from the end of the current month before they issue your check. This is done for security purposes and it is a little inconvenient, but hey, it’s free money. Also, they will take $3 from your total balance for fees, but it’s not money that you already had. Be sure to continue to read the emails you receive from InboxDollars daily to keep your account active. This is something that you can do on a continuing basis to generate funds. It’s not fast, but it’s consistent. Also, you will start to notice a healthy amount of SPAM showing up in your SPAM folder in your Gmail account. Just go through and select them all and delete them occasionally. Aren’t you glad you didn’t use your normal email account? :) Hits4Pay is another website that pays you to read email. They are similar to InboxDollars. See below for a link to their website.

In the meantime, I used my EBAY account to sell random items throughout my house that were taking up space and that I no longer needed. Some examples of things that sell very easily are video games and systems, DVD’s, die cast model cars (very popular!), and books. There are fees involved when you sell things on EBAY, but I’ve found that if you regularly pay off your EBAY account using your PayPal account, you will stay fairly well ahead and never spend any money out of your checking account. Just be sure to leave enough money in your PayPal account to cover these fees. If you do not have enough money in your PayPal account to cover the fees, it will be withdrawn from your checking account. Do some research on ebay fees to find ways of saving money. If you are considering listing an item for $1.00, the insertion fee is $.40, but if you lower the price by a penny to $.99, the insertion fee is cut in half to $.20. Also, if you happen to have a website of your own, you can set up a folder just for EBAY pictures and then use HTML to link these pictures to your auctions and save even more money. PayPal also has their own fees, but they’re not too bad.

Another useful online tool is the website Craigslist (craigslist.org) Craigslist is divided into different areas of the country and it is comparable to the classified section of the newspaper. The only difference is that it’s free! You can list items for sale or barter that you no longer need. Do you have some exercise equipment or furniture that you want to get rid of? Why not make some money from it and have someone else take it away for you? You can also find items on Craigslist that people are giving away for FREE! All you have to do is contact them and go pick it up. What are you going to do with all this free stuff? Well, remember that free EBAY account that you set up? Sell these items for profit. Friends and family are also good resources for free things. Offer to help them clean out their storage areas and get rid of old junk. You’d be surprised how much of that “old junk” is very valuable to someone in another part of the world.

True, using these methods will not make you rich overnight and I don’t expect to be featured in Forbes any time soon, but these ideas do help to make some money. For example, using the ideas mentioned above, I’ve made over $600 in just a little over a month, the majority of it from EBAY and Craigslist. Granted, you and I may not have the same type of personal possessions to sell, but yours may be worth much more than mine.

One last tip, set up a blog on blogger.com, write articles like this one. Sign up for Adsense and and configure the ads to display on your blog.  If your articles become popular,and someone happens to click on your ad, you will make money!

I hope these tips are helpful to you and that they make you as much money as they have for me!