Tag Archives: earn cash and prizes

Simplify Your Finances

yoga at sunset #9Go on the web and you will find that there’s an official day, week or month for just about everything. “Talk Like a Pirate Day” (Sept 19) comes to mind.  This week, though, the Official Thing seems pretty useful – or has the potential to be. August 1-7 is “Simplify Your Life Week.”

As Thoreau said, “Simplify, simplify.” Personally, I have always thought it would be…simpler to say it just once, but what do I know? Anyway, you go to one of the semi-official Simplify websites and you will see gems like, “Place an artificial rose on your desk to remind you to stop and smell the roses.” Umm, yeah.

How about some real advice?!? Here you go… Woman’s Day offers “20 Moves to Simplify Your Finances.”

How can we possibly make our finances simple? By knowing the right tricks. Choose to become accountable, and then use every tactic you can to streamline—and destress— your financial life. If you can pare things down in the following areas, you’re well on your way. WomansDay.com

The article has a ton of ideas on simplifying and taking the stress out of Spending, Banking, Bill Paying, Taxes, Credit Cards, and much more. I won’t even excerpt it here.. you MUST check it out.

Do any of these tips speak to you? Got any of your own to share? Let us know at the MindFieldLive Facebook Page!

The Ways We Save

Unfortunately, that penny was dropped from the roof of the Empire State Building
Unfortunately, that penny was dropped from the roof of the Empire State Building

Unless money truly is no object in your family, then you have cut back like the rest of us in the past 5 years. The things we do or buy and places we go are a little more modest.

It’s no surprise that in a thriving economy, consumers don’t watch their spending and budget as closely. They splurge on…getting their hair done frequently…vacations and redecorating their home. When the economy took a turn for the worst, consumers cut back on those extra expenses and became determined to save on daily expenses such as grocery shopping and gas. The JaneDough.com

So, how are we doing it?

  • Postponing (indefinitely!) that dream vacation, that elective surgical procedures (get used to the crow’s feet!) And, the oddest item: not getting divorced. (Staying together because it’s cheaper…yay?)
  • Investing in energy-efficient appliances and home upgrades, security systems and… get ready… pregnancy prevention products. (No comment – read the article.)

And last but not least:

  • Thievery. Ask my wife the commercial property manager about the relentless Copper Wars. On second thought, don’t get her started. Other popular items include feminine hygiene, toilet paper and dogs. (Again, read the piece.)

Of course, your mileage may vary. In our house, it’s not a matter of cutting OUT certain things; we seem to do the same NUMBER of things, but each thing is scaled back. Except for thieving. Don’t touch my thieving! Anyway…how are you getting by? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page!

Organic Food Skeptics

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usda_organic_mediumBefore we begin, I am just starting a conversation here…

A recent poll found that, by and large, consumers were skeptical about the benefits of organic food and not eager to pay more for it.  In fact, the survey found that 59% of consumers believe labeling a food as “organic” is simply an excuse to charge more for it. Consumer Affairs

Now, that may be true or not. There are a LOT of health conscious consumers out there, and a lot of well-meaning vendors trying to serve them. But, even if organic food DOES provide greater health benefits than, well, whatever you call non-organic foods, this article suggests that the whole system is very much under-regulated and under-policed. “Where the food comes from” seems to be the biggest question.

 “It’s one thing to go out and find a farmer and buy directly but if you go to Whole Foods and buy something that’s certified organic, it could be from Turkey. You don’t know if it’s safe. How do you know that the farmer didn’t use Round-Up, that he didn’t cheat, that there weren’t human feces in his fields? (Editor’s note: that’s gross.)  Consumer Affairs

So, a bunch of people think that the organic thing is a waste of money and effort. A bunch of other people completely swear by organic. What do YOU think? Let us know at the MindField Online Facebook page. And have a great weekend!

Location, Location, Location

Apartment-For-Rent-Sign1Are you a renter in the big city – or want to be? Is it hard to find a decent place you can actually afford?  Apparently, the credit crunch means there are too many renters and not enough square footage!

Although the average rent across the U.S. is $1,231 per month, in certain areas it can be triple that number. Landlords can afford to charge such daunting prices because there are so few apartments available in high-demand cities.  CBS MoneyWatch

MoneyWatch averaged the costs of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments across the USA, and came up with the ten most expensive cities for rentals. I hope you’re not on this list! Here are the averages…

10. San Diego: $1,670 per month

9. Seattle: $1,718

8. Miami: $1,742

7. Oakland, Calif.: $1,812

6. San Jose, Calif.: $2,165

5. Los Angeles: $2,177

4. Washington, D.C.: $2,699

3. Boston: $3,190

2. New York: $3,344

1. San Francisco: $3,396

Bet that’s the only time New Yorkers AREN’T upset about NOT being number 1! So, if your town is on the list, so sorry. The good news is that they also figured out the CHEAPEST places to live.  That list is HERE, but be warned: some of these towns have more cattle than people. You get what you pay for!

Back to School “Creep”?

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Me.
Pictured: Me.

Does it seem like the Back to School sales are starting earlier and earlier each year? Apparently, you’re not imagining it, according to Ad Age magazine.

Instead of merely waiting until August and then hoping that shoppers spend a lot of money at once, stores are having sales now to sell certain items in June and July with the idea that they’ll come back in August and spend some more, most likely on apparel.  Ad Age

The phenomenon has a name: “Back to School Creep.” Sort of like how the stores start putting out their Christmas displays the week before Halloween! I didn’t know this, but Back to School is the second biggest retail time of the year, second only to Christmas, and accounts for $84 billion in sales.

When I was a kid, I had an odd mindset during the summer: gradually increasing dread. I saw the summer as a long weekend. The piece of June left after school let out was Friday night. July was Saturday. And August was Sunday, when I could really feel the last of the sand leaving the hourglass before school started again. (PS…I HATED school.)  And those obnoxious Back to School sales at the mall didn’t help my mood at all!  But at least they waited until August. Today’s kids have it rough!

How about you? How much do you spend on Back to School? How soon do you start shopping? Do you think the retailers start pushing it too early? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page. And have a great weekend!

Summer Survival with Bored Kids

Activities-to-Fight-Summer-Boredom-MainPhotoAs they say, “Insanity is hereditary – you get it from your kids.” That is never truer than the summertime. So, your kids have been out of school nearly a month…have you gone crazy yet? Spoiler alert: it’s coming.

Never fear – MindField Online presents ten links to help keep your little darlings occupied and out of your hair!

Did they miss any? What kinds of things do YOU do? Let us know over at the MindField Facebook page!

Bad Math, Bad Mortgages

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4-out-of-3-people-are-bad-at-math.american-apparel-unisex-fitted-tee.silver.w760h760How are your math skills? Back in school, mine were fine until 10th grade when I started paying more attention to the girl sitting next to me than to my homework. I stalled out in Geometry and never caught up.

And I guess I am not alone. Supposedly, Americans are at the bottom of developed world in math skills. And one study suggests that this deficit may be one cause of all the mortgage problems.

Americans who have trouble dividing 300 by 2 are much more likely to end up in foreclosure than consumers with average math skills, a new study has found. The research is among the first to directly link mortgage trouble and financial literacy, according to its authors. NBC Redtape Blog

Can’t divide 300 by 2? And here I was embarrassed because I never learned quadratic equations!

Anyway, these science nerds gave a test to various mortgage-holders. And their scores directly related to their ability to maintain a healthy credit score. Here’s the test:

  1. In a sale, a shop is selling all items at half price. Before the sale, a sofa costs $300. How much will it cost in the sale?
  2. If the chance of getting a disease is 10 per cent, how many people out of 1,000 would be expected to get the disease?
  3. A second-hand car dealer is selling a car for $6,000. This is two-thirds of what it cost new. How much did the car cost new?
  4. If 5 people all have the winning numbers in the lottery and the prize is $2 million, how much will each of them get?
  5. Let’s say you have $200 in a savings account. The account earns 10 percent interest per year. How much will you have in the account at the end of two years?

It’s alarming, but a LOT of people can’t solve these problems. Number 5 is the hardest. (answers below)

The takeaway is FINANCIAL LITERACY or, I suppose, NUMERACY. Learn your financial ABCs and don’t back yourself into a corner. So lean on your kids to do well in math, because there is always hope. I may have ended up as an English major, but that girl sitting next to me in 10th grade is now the head of the math department at an East Coast university!

Read the article – it’s really interesting. And happy Tuesday!

Answers: 1) $150 2) 100 3) $9,000 4) $400,000 5) $242 (compounded annually)

Outlaw Tipping?

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tipsFor me, when it comes to leaving a tip, dining out can lead to stressing out. There are so many factors. Like, service was poor, but I still have to leave 15%? What if the service was competent, but not particularly friendly? Or friendly but incompetent? Or, it was both friendly AND competent – so how high do I go?

Part of my confusion is that I never worked in the service (or  hospitality) industry. Someone who HAS, however, has written an article in Esquire entitled “Why Tipping Should Be Outlawed.”

The friendships I’ve formed with restaurant employees over the years have made me think seriously about why hospitality workers are singled out among America’s professionals to endure a pass-the-hat system of compensation. Why should a server’s pay depend upon the generosity – not to mention dubious arithmetic skills – of people like me?

The author lists a few reasons. Here are the highlights:

  • People don’t even understand what a tip is
  • Doctors don’t live on tips. Nor do flight attendants
  • The percentage basis makes no sense
  • Better service doesn’t actually beget better tips
  • It perpetuates racism and sexism
  • Smart people have been trying to end the tipping practice for a century

These are solely the opinion of the author, and he/she gives plenty of reasoning behind the bullet points, so check out the original piece.

Any hospitality workers out there, past or present? What do you think? Leave your opinion here or at the Facebook page. And have a great first weekend of the summer!

Summer of Savings

summersaveLast week, we posted a bunch of links to various articles about travel savings for your summer fun. But what if your summer fun pretty much looks like the rest of the year – feeding and clothing your family and trying to make ends meet? Well, you’re in luck. Here’s a collection of bargains you can snag in the summer months. So here is a Summer Savings Links Top Ten –

Wait, there’s 11? What a bargain!

8 Ways to Snag a Summer Bargain

Try the Summer Savings Quiz

Best Swimsuit Deals of Summer 2013

An Early Word on Labor Day Sales

Petite Ladies can Dress for Less

Bargains for Babies

Kid Clothes…for a Bargain?

June Bargains

July Bargains

August Bargains

September Bargains

What do you think? Any good ideas here? Any we left out? Let us know!

Facebook and Blog Fans Speak!

megaphone-kid-croppedHappy Friday y’all! Any big Father’s Day plans? Cookout maybe? Have fun!

It’s time once again to feature comments from satisfied MindField Online panelists, collected from our Facebook and blog comments. (Interesting that we heard from a lot of dudes this time!) You will find them at our “Panelist Feedback” page. Here’s a sample from Mary…

Mary says: I have been with MindField for over 10 years. They are one of my favorite survey panels. They are quick to pay and I love the new cashout options, i.e., PayPal, Amazon gift cards. I love their product tests I’ve done so many for them I can’t count. Just saying thanks again, MindField Online!

10 years! Thanks Mary! So take a look, and have a great weekend. Give Dad a hug for me!!!

(photo: southerncrescentsolutions.com)