What The U.S. Credit Downgrade Means To You

standard & poors lowers us credit rating, how this effects americansBy now we’ve all heard the bad news of Standard & Poor’s downgrading the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+. As a result stock prices are tumbling down hill faster than a rolling rock on Wall Street, but what does this mean to you and the other consumers out there? Well the outlook is that the consumer will be hit with higher taxes, inflation, and higher home buying costs. This will affect the spending, savings and retirement of many Americans.

Things are not going to be getting better anytime soon, so we all need to prepare financially by saving and by earning more money. It may seem very hard to do this but a little goes a long way. If you budget yourself and find ways to bring in additional income you can survive these tough economic times. You can try to get a part time job or work extra hours at your job but that can be very tiring and leave no time for family and yourself.

The ideal way of getting extra money would be if you can get a work at home job, or a way to earn money online in your spare time. You can be at home or anywhere there is an Internet connection and work at your leisure. Well there are such opportunities available, The Online Business System is a great way to make money online from home! They are trusted and used by many and you could start today. Why not take matters into your own hands and start bringing in the money you need to survive the recession.


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6 Ways To Save Money This Summer

save money during the summer seasonSummer is here and many of us will be traveling and going on vacations. It’s peak travel season and unfortunately airfares are up, hotel costs are up, and as we all know gas prices are up too. There are a lot of added costs that can sneak in during the summer season, so how do you stretch your dollar for the most fun in the sun? we have put together some tips to help you save money this summer.

1) Travel Midweek – With Airfares the best way to save a significant amount of money is to travel midweek. Travel from a Tuesday to a Tuesday or Wednesday to a Wednesday and you can save 5 to 25% doing this. Of course not everyone wants to travel midweek, so you can also look for discount coupons online at sites like airfarewatchdog.com

2) Prepay Hotel – You can save more by paying for your hotel costs in advanced rather than making a reservation and paying when you checkout, up to 10 to 15% savings.

3) Drive Smart – If you’re going to be driving, a good way to save gas is to not drive aggressively, if you don’t speed and keep your car well maintained it can help you save money on gas.

4) Food Coupons – Eating out can be costly, but you can save money on dining out by using coupons. Because of the recession many upscale restaurants have started to offer coupons and discounts, visit sites like coupons.com, restaurants.com, and groupon for restaurant deals and discounts.

5) Childcare – Many of us send our kids off to summer camps or sleep away camps for the summer and this can cost quite a bit. A great way to knock down this cost is to apply for childcare tax credit which the IRS gives up to 20 to 35% back on the cost of the camp. Also look for less costly camps, check with local town camps, YMCAs, and boy scouts girl scouts.

6) Air conditioning – If you upgrade your air conditioning with an energy efficient system you can save on electricity and you can also get a $300 tax credit for having an energy efficient system. Before you buy visit energystar.gov and look on there to see of what you’re going to buy meets their standards. With an energy efficient system you will also save money in the long term.

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How Much Should You Tip – Guide To Tipping

How much should I tipSo we all know it’s customary to leave a tip or give a tip for a service provided to you, but how much should you tip? You don’t want to over tip or under tip, 10% or 20% how much should you tip for a job well done… Recently the consumerist put together a guide for tipping, we have pulled out the main tipping points for you.

First the pizza delivery person, according to the consumerist you should tip between $2 and $5 depending on distance but find out if the tip was included in the price first and if there is a service fee not shared with the driver. If you’re getting a cup of coffee from a mom and pop cafe a $1 per drink is fine. For take out food is 10% of the total bill.

Having furniture delivered $5 is fine unless there is a lot of extra setup required then you may want to add a little bit more. Need a ride? customary tip for a taxi is 10% to 15%, if your driver helps with heavy bags go for 20%. When it comes to housekeeping services at a hotel $1 to $5 is perfectly fine and it’s better to leave the tip in a marked envelope.  And what about your tattoo artist? you should tip them 10% to 20%.

Bottom line is the holidays are not the only time you should tip for a job well done and even if you don’t have a lot of money a smile, a handshake, and even a thanks goes a long way.

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