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8 Ways To Cut Your Cell Phone Bill
A Costly Expense: Your Cell Phone Bill
Here are some excellent ways to cut your cell phone bill:
1. Check your minutes. Take a look at your bills over the past six months to see how many minutes you actually use and if you have minutes left over every month. (Or, of course, if you go over the minutes allotment.) As this New York Times story notes, unlimited calling plans may not be the best deals for most families, even as major providers like AT&T and Verizon have cut their monthly unlimited calls option from $100 to $70. An analysis by Validas LLC found that unlimited calling plans are the most cost-effective for only 7 percent of mobile phone users. Most teens rarely make calls on their phones–to friends at least; they text.
2. Make good use of the family cell plan. If you’ve got a multi-line family plan, use it. Don’t call your spouse or kids using the home phone. Stick to your cell phones because your calls are included in your monthly bill.
3. Use freebies well. If your carrier offers unlimited free minutes to designated phone numbers, register your most-called numbers but be sure to make the most of this money-saving feature by limiting your list to land lines and cell numbers outside your network.
4. Choose the right text package. Paying for individual text messages quickly becomes ridiculously expensive, and if you’ve got a teen in your plan, you probably wouldn’t even think of trying an a la carte approach. Unless you plan to block all texting, take an honest look at your (and family members’) texting habits so you choose the right bundle of text messages (or unlimited) so there are no surprises when your bill arrives.
5. Pick up the phone. If you happen to get one of those shockingly high bills because habits are out of line with your payment plan, call your carrier, discuss the changes, and be a squeaky wheel to get a break on that month’s bill while you change your plan to accommodate your family’s true habits.
6. Think about a data plan. If you end up emailing and surfing the Web more than you anticipated, consider adding a data plan to your monthly bill so you don’t incur expensive per-use charges that add up to more than a monthly data plan. Or: save your Web-surfing for your computer and use your phone to call and text only.
7. Shop around. Spend some time comparing plans on the Web sites of the major cell phone carriers. You can also use a service like billshrink.com for free or pay for one, such as myvalidas.com (starting at $5) to sort through the major plans based on your usage and needs to recommend phones and plans to go with them.
8. Avoid termination fees. Make an informed decision and stick to the contract time limit to avoid paying up to $350 per line if you switch carriers mid-contract. A few months before your contract is up is a good time to do some serious soul-searching and shopping to find the best phone and service plan to fit your budget.
We’ve all stared at our cell phone bills in disbelief at one time or another. How have you managed to cut yours to a manageable size to fit your needs and budget?
The Secret Life Of A Resume
Where Does Your Resume Go?
CNN.com has published a fascinating article on the common journey of a resume:
Just where does your resume go after you hit the submit button on a job application?
Turns out, it’s not into a big black hole.
After hearing repeated complaints from the unemployed about their job applications disappearing into the void, CNNMoney decided to examine how a company fills a job posting.
We selected global technology giant, Siemens, which is currently looking for more than 3,000 engineers, salespeople, technology professionals, field service representatives and others across the United States. The company is returning to its pre-recession hiring levels, filling 10,000 positions this year.
Siemens typically advertises its openings on job boards, such as Monster and CareerBuilder, as well as on its company Web site. Employees are also notified about available positions through Siemens’ intranet in case they want to apply or refer a friend. (About 40% of Siemens’ jobs are filled from within.)
The company employs about 80 recruiters to sift through the more than 65,000 applications that Siemens typically receives each month. Each staffer usually has a portfolio of 30 to 35 open posts to fill.
Increasingly, the recruiters are turning to networking site LinkedIn to hunt for professionals who fit a position’s criteria, even if they aren’t looking for a job. Siemens pays LinkedIn for the privilege of being able to recruit on the site, allowing it to search member profiles by job function, title, location and even professional affiliation, such as the Society of Women Engineers.
“We can go from 100 million to 100 or 10 [candidates] fairly quickly,” said Mike Brown, Siemens’ senior director for talent acquisition, of the LinkedIn community.
The search for a civil engineer
On Feb 24, the company began looking for a civil engineer for its Orlando, Fla., headquarters of its energy division.
The job was advertised on Monster and CareerBuilder, as well as Siemens’ internal and external Web sites.
Some 44 candidates applied for the position within 12 days, and a recruiter was assigned to sift through the resumes to find the best candidates.
Since it’s tough to review every single resume, the recruiters depend on technology that allows them to search for applications that meet the requirements of the job.
For its civil engineer position, Siemens was looking to hire someone with five to eight years of experience and was adept at “complex material specification” and “schematic preparation.” It wanted someone who is a problem solver, but also refers complex, unusual problems to others.
During those first 12 days, the recruiter found two people who fit the bill and called them on the phone to confirm the information on their resumes and get examples of their on-the-job experience. She was also trying to get a sense of whether they’d fit in at Siemens, what they expected in terms of salary, and whether they’d be willing to relocate and travel for the job. The conversations usually last between 15 and 45 minutes.
Satisfied, the recruiter sent their names to the hiring manager.
As for all the others? They get an email acknowledging their application was received. That could be the last they hear from the company if they aren’t a good match. But they remain in Siemens’ database, so they might be surprised with a call months later, if they turn out to be a good fit for another position.
By mid-March, another 54 people had applied for the civil engineer post, and the recruiter sent an additional four applicants to the hiring manager for review.
Of the six people presented to him, the hiring manager selected three to interview face-to-face by month’s end. During that time, another 53 candidates sent in resumes.
0:00 / 2:19 Sarahneedsajob.com: Does it work?
At the interview, Siemens managers ask a lot about a candidate’s previous experience. The prospective employees will likely be prompted to describe a situation and how they handled it. The interviewers want to know what candidates learned from the episode, while listening for mention of traits important to the company. Teamwork, for instance, is key at the tech firm, so managers may inquire about a time when the candidates had to rely on other people to be successful.
The Siemens managers are also looking to ascertain an applicant’s capabilities and leadership potential. For example, if the job requires that the person deal with clients around the world, then the managers may ask questions that would gauge the jobseeker’s cultural sensitivities.
“It’s not only to fill the position that is being advertised, but it’s also to look at that talented individual joining the organization [and] where can they go in the future,” said Mike Panigel, chief human resources officer for Siemens.
By early April, another 36 people had sent in resumes, too late to be considered. One person had already been selected by the hiring managers.
The successful candidate was offered the position on April 8, beating out 186 other applicants. 
A Fight Back! Guide To Vitamins
A Smart Guide To Vitamins
Americans shell out $23 billion every year on multivitamins and other dietary supplements. However, is this money well spent? When taken wrong, believe it or not, some vitamins and supplement may be doing more harm than good. Done right, vitamins are critical to maintaining good health. It should be stated that when buying vitamins, it is important to get them from a trusted pharmacy or distributor. Most doctor’s agree that when taking the correct dose and when taking vitamins that come in a sealed bottle, they are both incredibly safe and quite effective in increasing our quality of life.
It is important that you take the right vitamins for you. To make sure that you are taking the right vitamins, I have broken down what each of them do. Ask your doctor which ones you should take. It is important to know what vitamins do, and which ones are right for you. Once all of this is taken into consideration, taking vitamins are great way to improve your health.
Popular vitamins and what they do:
● Vitamin C: The most popular vitamin, is a powerful antioxicant that prevents cell damage and free radicals that may cause heart disease and cancer. Vitamin C also boosts your immune system and can prevent getting sick from the common cold. For optimal effect, an average dose of Vitamin C is 500mg to 1,000 mg daily.
● Vitamin B: Often touted for heart health, they lower toxic amino acids. However, recent studies indicate that Vitamin C does lower homocysteine, but do not lower heart attack risk. Studies all agree that folic acid found in Vitamin B can help prevent birth defects. For optimal effect, take B vitamins together in a B-complex vitamin.
● Beta-Carotene and Vitamin A: Virtually all studies indicate that smokers who consume the most beta-carotene-rich fruits and vegetables have the lowest levels of lung cancer. Vitamin A helps your eyes adjust to light changes when you come in from outside and also helps keep your eyes, skin and mucous membranes moist. It also has antioxidant properties that neutralize free radicals in the body that cause tissue and cellular damage. Vitamin A is a great supplement to your daily diet.
● Calcium and Vitamin D: Many people are incredibly deficient in Vitamin D. Vitamin D helps a person absorb calcium, which is essential to forming and maintaining strong bones. Many doctors advise taking both Vitamin D and Calium to prevent kidney stones. Taking both Calcium and Vitamin D, which complements one another, will help you maintain strong bones. Doctors advise 2,000 IU of Vitamin D daily.
● Vitamin E: A popular vitamin, Vitamin E helps maintain healthy skin and prevents the damage aging can do to one’s skin. It has also been said that Vitamin E can help promote heart health and respiratory health, supports circulation, prostate and breast health, and is apparently good for your brain. For optimal effect, use Vitamin E that contains both tocopherols and tocotrientrols, as they work together synergistically.
● The Multi-Vitamin: A multi-vitamin helps prevent vitamin deficiency. They help reduce stress, as well as reducing your risk for cardiovascular disease and cancer. Taking a multi-vitamin helps you obtain all of the vitamins listed above, and increase overall health.
Tips to Buying Vitamins:
While Vitamins clearly help to maintain and enhance overall health, it is important that you purchase safe vitamins. Here are some tips on how to buy vitamins safely:
● Know the Ingredients: When you’re buying vitamins and supplements it is important to look at the ingredients. Avoid products which are made with lots of preservatives and fillers or additives. While most of these products are used to make the vitamins and supplements more soluble and easy to digest, they can also cause your vitamins to lose some of their potency. You can offset this problem by purchasing vitamins that are all-natural.
● Read the labels: Read up on the supplements you intend to buy. So, hopefully you know what products are considered safe and what potency you should be using. When you read the label of your vitamins, it will list the supplement you’re taking and the “potency” of it. Be smart and do not hesitate to buy vitamins, as your body likely depends on them.
● Buy from a trusted distributor: Buy your vitamins from a store that you trust. Ask the important questions, and armed with the knowledge you have, make sure to buy safe and natural vitamins from a trusted source.
Overall, vitamins can drastically improve your health and are important to add to your diet. Take natural rather than synthetic forms of vitamins. The bottom line: vitamins are good for you and will dramatically improve your overall health. Be smart, buy from a store that you trust, know which vitamins you may need and which ones you don’t, and ask your doctor as to what he or she recommends.
5 Ways To Keep Emergencies Off Your Credit Rating
Keep Emergencies Off Your Credit Score
Late with your credit card payment, even by a few days? Your procrastinating could prompt a new “penalty rate” of up to 29.99% if your Visa or MasterCard has the Bank of America logo, the bank confirmed late last month.
While this rate will only be applied to new purchases made after the penalty is applied (and “an account will be reviewed before it is implemented,” according to the bank), it could be the new trigger for a cascade of bad credit experiences. For one of my good friends, the day her credit card rate jumped to 24.99% was the signal of a downturn that didn’t end until she’d gone through bankruptcy — all the more reason to find ways to (a) avoid being late on your credit card payment and (b) avoid using credit at all.
In 2003, I closed the last of three credit cards I had and have since had to live a life full of crises but without credit. While not everyone would choose to live like this, there’s no reason not to experiment with a credit-less life now, while your interest rate is still low and penalty-free.
Since one of the biggest reasons people have credit cards is for those “emergencies” that pop up from time to time, let me offer some suggestions about how to get creative when you have no credit cards to fall back on but need cash fast. Even if you’re not willing to go “credit card free,” these tips can help you keep some of those new expenses off your credit card — and keep the penalty rate as close to “zero” as possible.
1. The Appliance Emergency
We’ve all had them: those major appliance breakdowns that always seem to happen right before a holiday or right after we’ve just sent out our mortgage payment, gas bill and bought groceries for the month. It’s an emergency, yes? Time to go out and buy a new one, stat! Not so fast, Will Rogers: Unless this emergency involved your whole range bursting into flames right before you’re about to cook Christmas dinner, see if you can figure out a workaround. I cooked my just-defrosted tenderloin roast on the stove top when my oven igniter suddenly went out the day before Christmas Eve, and I cooked Swedish pancake balls instead of cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast. (It cost me $145 total to fix the stove, and I paid cash, when the next paycheck came in a week later. Oh, by the way, the tenderloin was delicious!)
Dryer dead? Hang the laundry outside (or inside on drying racks if it’s rainy) until your handy in-laws can come over and check it out. Dishwasher on the fritz? Believe it or not, it is possible to wash your dishes by hand until you have enough money for a new machine or the cost of a repairman. For most appliances, you can figure out a temporary solution until you either have the money or can find a cheap used replacement or an inexpensive repair. I use the emergency card only for true emergencies, such as a broken refrigerator or a busted heater in the winter.
2. The Car Repair
For the time being, let’s just assume you don’t have a personal escrow account for those inevitable car repairs or new tires or new brakes your vehicle suddenly needs. So what do you do if your car is in the shop and you can’t pay for the repairs with the cash in your checking account for 10 days or three weeks or some interminable amount of time? Emergency? You bet!
Well, what do most of us do when our cars are in the shop? We find a cheap workaround, such as catching a ride with a spouse or a co-worker, taking the bus or, if we live just a few miles from work, walking or biking. If you can do that for a few days, why not for several or for a week? While it may be an inconvenience for your family, friends or yourself, a little inconvenience is preferable to a credit crisis that could cost you a lot more than a little spousal goodwill (or wear on your shoe leather, as the case may be).
If you’re like 99% of the people I know, a credit card expense won’t be paid down right away and may not be for years. But if you have to pay the money in cash, you’ll simply adjust other expenses like groceries, entertainment and clothes to make room for the car repair — a smart approach in a month of unexpected expenses.
3. The Medical Bill
For the purposes of this piece, I won’t touch the enormous emergency expenses, the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars that major illnesses or accidents cost. Instead, we’ll talk here about the less shocking costs: a few hundred dollars for a test not covered by insurance, or a series of co-pays for treatments that end up costing you several hundred dollars, or the cost of seeing a specialist or getting dental surgery. You could put it on your credit card at the point of service, where it will fester. Or you could make a payment plan.
While some billing office workers can be extremely difficult to negotiate with, most people who work at medical practitioners’ billing offices are reasonable people. They understand you need the service; that they’ll get far less from you if they send you to a collections agency where they’ll end up getting just 30% to 60% of the total billed, if they’re lucky; and that they make most of their money on repeat business. Keeping a customer solvent and able to face the office staff means, in the end, less paperwork for them.
So tell the office how much you can afford to pay each month; most will accept payments of $25 or $50 on small bills, and $75 or $100 on larger ones. They’ll usually charge you a “carrying fee” or some similar small monthly amount, but it will almost certainly be less than you’d pay if you ended up with that penalty rate from your credit card company. In my experience, the costs range from 50 cents to two dollars — nothing a credit card interest rate can’t beat with its eyes closed.
4. The Groceries
This is a touchy one, and boy, have I been there! You have time on Saturday for a grocery run, but you’re almost out of cash and won’t be paid until Thursday. You need shampoo and toilet paper and peanut butter and steak and artichokes and lemons and mustard and potato chips and they’ve got to be organic. Nearly $150 later, you’ve got what you “need” and you’ll pay it off soon, won’t you?
I did it this way for my first 10 years out of college, and $22,000 in credit card debt later (not all from groceries, mind you, but still), I learned the hard way that I will not pay it off soon. You always “need” more groceries. When I went without credit cards and through a couple of very lean times, I learned that my “needs” could easily expand and contract based on the balance in my bank account.
Yes, there are times which you legitimately might go hungry (or shockingly dirty) without using your credit card. But use it with caution. And don’t use it without checking your cupboards and the back of your freezer first. There were a few times I had to dig in the cabinets for old lentils or cans of tuna; make salad dressing with yogurt instead of olive oil; go entirely without snacks for a few days; make my own cookies instead of buying a box. I’ve made shampoo last a few extra washes by filling the bottle with water and shaking.
if you don’t give yourself the wiggle room, you won’t end up buying that extra-special conditioner to go along with your must-have shampoo. Life will go on without conditioner. Trust me.
5. Vacation
I’ll bet if you stood a dozen people in a row and asked each one of them in turn, “Is taking a vacation an emergency expense?” they would all, affronted, say “Of course not!” in reply. And I’ll bet, if you were to review the credit history of those dozen people, you would find that at least 11 of them had put vacation travel expenses on their credit card many times. We all believe that a vacation savings account is a good idea, but when it’s time to take our vacation, we’d rather just count on paying these bills off later, right?
I’m all for living in the moment — in fact, I pay several hundred dollars each month for all those past moments in which I lived. But when you see those flash weekend fares or that fun opportunity to go with your friends to a sunny climate in the middle of winter, think about the you that you’ll be in 10 years. Sure, you’ll love looking back on the memories of that exuberant time in Cancun/Paris/India/Las Vegas. But will you love it enough to still be paying for it? To have it prevent you from taking a lower-paying job that makes you truly happy? To have it stop you or your partner from staying home with young children or having good enough credit to qualify for a mortgage? Well, you get the picture.
In the end, it’s hard for me to sit here looking out from my chair of experience and tell you, “This is not an emergency.” Because you are (probably) young and you (probably) believe that your life is still ahead of you, with many years of always-increasing income and, perhaps, your life partner, too. I was that young person; I knew I’d always make a little more money each year. Indeed, I could have kept being that person, but I chose a different path that makes me happier — and wiser and poorer and very, very much wishing my young self would have only used her credit card for emergencies
Do you have a low credit score? Do you need help improving it? Fight Back! @ www.fightback.com/ask-david