Saving energy with electronics

According to the buzz, electronics are part of an energy-savings solution. Electronics increase control over home heating, cooling and lighting systems and make it possible to telework and to access information and entertainment from home-saving you money and gas and protecting the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

What does the industry recommend you do to help save energy for America and maybe some money for yourself? Here are some hints:

• Look for the Energy Star label. It can help you identify products that use less energy. Check out energystar. gov for a searchable database of Energy Star products.

• Go digital with your thermostat. Home heating and cooling systems use a significant amount of energy. Most digital thermostats quickly pay for themselves in energy savings. Programmable thermostats save energy while you're away or asleep by adjusting temperature settings.

• Unplug mobile phone or PDA chargers when batteries are fully charged or when the chargers are not in use.

• Be power-wise with your PC. Most personal computers have power management features that control energy use.

• Check owners' manuals to make sure you're taking full advantage of any energy-conservation capabilities of your electronics.

• Plug electronics, such as TVs, DVD players and audio systems, into power strips, and turn the power strips off when the equipment is not in use, especially for long periods of time. Just be sure to read the manual first to make sure you won't affect the product (for example, TVs that need to remain plugged in so that they can download program guides).

• Investigate home networking and automation products and services that let you control heating, lighting and cooling from a central location in the home.

• When in the market for home office products, consider a multifunction device, which combines printing, copying, scanning and faxing.

• Save fuel by shopping and banking from home on your computer.

• Ask your employer about working from home or a satellite business location to cut your commute.

Land on your feet. every time

We always exist in a state of grace. Grace is our benevolence of heart, and our generosity of spirit. Grace is unconditional love and the beauty that is our humanity. When we know that we are blessed with grace, we can't help but want to live our lives in grace ...grace is a permanent part of our being. Knowing we are graced gives us hope, makes us more magnanimous, and allows us to trust that we are taken care of.

No matter what situation has arisen for me, when faced with a crisis of minimal or biblical proportions, some unexpected curve ball of a blessing (grace) has popped up out from left field. I never see them coming, but every time they are there. The blessings can be something as small as hearing a phrase that has stuck in my head so long that it reveals a new perspective. Or, it can something as big as finding funds for paying financial commitments.

No matter how bad it seems, life just has a way of gliding on. Every time. Believe me, it has happened often enough that I have let go of any skepticism! Life works out without me being at the wheel every minute. I know I can comfortably take a deep breath, hand my fears over, and just go with whatever happens, trusting that I'll land on my feet. Every time.

The trick comes in letting go of a personal blue print for how things should work out. The ability to accept what is happening and letting go of ones original expectations is key when dealing with these unexpected turns of fate. We have a tendency to get stuck in our heads, clinging to an idea of how we think life should go, and we can have a hard time accepting anything that doesn't comply with that idea. The fact is that life is unpredictable.

Even positive turns of fortune - an unexpected influx of cash or falling in love - require us to be flexible and to reconsider our plans and priorities, sometimes in the blink of an eye. Consider this: your car breaks down, and you are late for an appointment. And, while it's true that you never arrive at the scheduled meeting, you end up spending a few relaxing hours with people you would never have met otherwise. Or, the trip you thought was for business; and when the deal fell through you got depressed. However because of changes in your undertakings, you landed at the airport two days earlier than planned and you met the love of your life!

Joseph Campbell said "We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to accept the one that is waiting for us." So, next time a curve ball comes your way, take a deep breath, say thank you, and open your mind to a new opportunity!

Online credit cards finding best deals available online

People spend a lot of money on credit and with consumer debt levels continuing to rise dramatically, people are spending a larger and larger proportion of their incomes on credit and financing charges in particular. Car payments, mortgage payments, credit cards, store cards, personal loans, all forms of debt and bank overdrafts; they all combine to take up and eat away at an ever-increasing proportion of our income. Therefore it is more important than ever that we make sure we are getting ourselves the best deals possible when we shop for credit.

Shopping Around for Your Credit

The cardinal rule when seeking to take out new credit, especially for credit cards, is to shop around; this should be a prerequisite for almost any product that you buy, be it financial or not. Shopping around for credit cards is made even more important because of the fact that interest rates can vary so much between lenders. While some credit cards offer rates of around ten per cent, others are up in the region closer to thirty per cent. You do not want to be paying more than you have to for anything, and especially not for your credit card.

What is APR?

The APR is a useful figure for using when comparing rates as it is a standard figure calculated in the same way by all lenders and means you can use it to compare the true cost of credit no matter who you are borrowing from.

Use APR to Compare the Credit Cards on Offer

Using the APR is a very powerful tool; in fact the majority of the population owe the credit card company and are currently paying these exorbitant rates of interest. If you are with the majority and know that you can’t pay your balance in full then you should be seeking the cheapest credit card deal available.

By comparing all the interest rates available from different lenders, you will not only find which card is cheapest, but also which has the best extra incentives, and other advantages which I will explain briefly below.

But There’s More - Reward Credit Cards

The APR, as we have mentioned, is a very important factor in the credit card comparison process. However, other important factors to consider are whether you will gain from any promotional benefits that the credit card company is providing. This can be a personal matter, but your interests can be catered for with many of the various reward credit cards available. You can earn reward points or cash back with many of the deals available online, basically getting some of the benefits that the credit card company make from you returned to you. However please note, that many of these reward deals do have a higher rate of interest and if you don’t clear your balance every month then these ‘free’ gifts could turn out to be extremely expensive.

Online Credit Card Deals

Luckily, shopping for credit cards online has become far easier than it used to be. Today, you can visit the websites of lenders and find all the relevant information right there. You can even fill out online application forms and get a quote instantly, and find out if you qualify for their offers or not. This is a major benefit of shopping online as the more card providers you check out, the better chance you are giving yourself of finding the absolutely best deals available online.

Get To The Credit Card Comparison Site

Another advantage of shopping for credit online is that you can visit a website that provides rate comparators and will tell you all the offers currently on the market and all you have to do is choose the one with the best rates. The link will be provided so you can go straight to the lender from the website you are visiting and in some cases you will even be able to apply for credit from various providers at one easy to use site.

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