Fast Cash

Have you every got yourself in a pinch in need some fast cash? Maybe the your car broke down or the dryer blew up - whatever is was, where did you turn to get fast cash? A lot of people turn to their families for help when they need money. There is now an even quicker way to get fast cash into your hands when you need it - payday loans.

Now we have had payday loan stores around for the last decade or so, but now a whole new breed of payday loan company has popped up. Online payday lown sites have made it easier than every to get fast cash. Just how fast are these new pay day loan companies - well most of these companies offer instant approval and many will get you fast cash within 60 minutes while others will overnight the money to you.

These companies will give you a payday loan for $100 all the way up to $1,500. The pay day loan fees will vary, but typically you will be charged ~$10 for every $100 you borrow. These fees are quite expensive, but when you need fast cash in an emergency you will not be able to beat the speed at which these pay day loan companies can get you your money.

Note: Again I would only recommend getting a pay day loan in the event of an emergency and when you know that you will be able to repay the payday loan ontime. Otherwise, these types of fast cash can quickly leave you in worst financial shape than you started.

Safety Training

Safety training has become big business with lots of companies offering safety training courses and classes. It has even spawned a whole new field for consultants - now we have safety consultants, who go around helping companies comply with all the different regulations and OSHA requirements.

The cool thing is that now most of the information that you need can be found online. Many companies are now offering online courses that you can take either from home or the office - no more hauling yourself to another boring safety training seminar.

Here are some of the best sites that I could find that offer safety training materials and courses. Some offer free information, while others offer comprehensive safety courses:

http://www.safetyinfo.com/ - Offers an amazing amount of free safety training information and resources. This should be your first stop when looking for information on workplace safety and safety training.

http://www.puresafety.com/ - Offers some great online safety training courses, plus provide you with a 24-hr help line.

http://www.nsc.org/train/ - Training site for the National Safety Council. Offers some great free and paid safety training courses.

Find Someone

Have you ever needed to find someone and didn't know were to begin? Maybe you are looking for an old roommate, or an old lover, whoever it is the internet has made it easier than ever to locate someone.

You can find someone yourself with a little luck and some online research tools you can find anyone you want. Another way is to use one of the online services which will track down and find someone for you.

Here is a list of the best online people search tools to use when you need to find someone and find them fast.


ZabaSearch

This site offers free name searches and various paid premium searches to help you find someone. This service searches through public records so the results are very accurate and complete. The only problem I found was the search results contain every address that the person you are looking for has ever lived. This makes it difficult to determine which address is the current one. For me it brought up 5 previous addresses and my current address when I did a search on my name.

411

This site is a white/yellow pages site which allows you to search for people and businesses. The information on this site seems to be outdated. The site makes you select a state when doing a search, and for my name it only returned an old address from seven years ago.

AnyWho

This site is also a white/yellow pages site which allows you to search for people and businesses. The information on this site also seems to be outdated as it brought up the same 4 addresses for my name as 411.

Yahoo People Search

This site offers free name and email searches. Results are not as complete as other searches. I could not find my own address using my full name.

It seems that most of these services use outdate information, so if the person you are trying to find has moved recently they won't be able to help you. ZabaSearch and was the only service that showed my current address in the search results. So if you are trying to find someone, I would suggest using ZabaSearch.

Selling Time Share?

A few years back you signed up for what you thought would be a dream time share opportunity. And in the beginning the time share was everything you dreamed. But now you don't have time or like going somewhere else on vacation every now and then and don't use your times share as much. But you still are paying the maintenance fees even though you aren't using it. You really don't want to sell but are tired of the costs, well here are some things that you can do to reduce the costs and get the most out of your timeshare:

Rent out Your Time Share

Instead of selling your time share, try renting it out. Many real estate companies now manage time share rentals as part of their services. Just contact real estate companies in your time share's area until you find one that specializes in vacation rentals. Many times you will be able to find a company that will handle everything from finding and screening potential vacation tenents, to cleaning up after the tenents leave.

Or you could rent the time share out yourself to avoid these fees. A great way to rent your time share is to ask friends and family to see if anyone would be interested in renting it. This works our great for both involved because they will more than likely be getting a great deal, and you will be recieving rent to help offset the costs of the timeshare.

Trade Your Time Share

There are several services out there that will put you in contact with other timeshare owners looking to trade. You just need to determine where you would like to go and they will match you up with someone that has a time share in your preferred destination. In some cases, you might have to pay a fee becuase of the difference in value between to two destinations, but it is still a lot cheaper than letting your timeshare sit while you visit another vacation destination.

Natural Gas

It is coming up to that time of year again, where the demand for natural gas is going to start pushing up the prices just in time for winter. For those of us that use natural gas for heat or hot water, this means that it is going to be another very expensive winter.

Last year I was paying $400-$700/mo for natural gas, this year those figures will be even higher. So, I have done a little research to see if there are ways to save money on natural gas. Here are some tips that I am going to use to keep my natural gas costs under control this winter:

Keep Warm Air Inside Your Home and Cold Air Out

• Go through you home and find any small holes or cracks that warm air can escape or cold air enter the home.
• Caulk the wooden sill where the house sits on the foundation. Also, insulate the rim joist (the joist that runs around the outside of the home that sits on the foundation.)
• Caulk where dryer vents and fan covers pass through the wall.
• Caulk where plumbing pipes and telephone wires enter the house.
• Caulk where any two different outside materials meet.
• Caulk where the fireplace chimney meets the siding.
• Use styrofoam or foam rubber gaskets on all outlets and lightswitches located on outside walls.
• Seal air leaks into the attic by weatherstripping around edges of the attic door to reduce warm air leaking into the attic from the rest of your home.
• Insulate the back of the attic door (or hatch) with a piece of fiberglass or rigid board insulation.
• Make sure that you have adequate insulation in the attic (at least R30), if not add insulation.

Furnaces & Boilers

• Have your furnace or boiler serviced by a qualified contractor before the start of the heating season.
• Change or clean your furnace filter monthly.
• Vacuum around furnace motor and blower fan regularly.
• Keep heat registers, cold air return grills and radiators clear of furniture, carpeting, drapes, or any other items that may block them.
• Upgrade to a more efficient boiler or furnace - this is very expensive, but could save you quite a bit on natural gas.

Thermostats

• Install programmable thermostat, so that you can program a lower temperature during the day when you are at work or at night when you are asleep.
• Set your thermostat for 68 degrees during the day and as low as you feel comfortable at night.
• Set the thermostat to 55 degrees when you are going to be away from home for several days.

Fireplaces

• Make sure to close the damper when the fireplace is not in use - otherwise it will draw warm air up through through the chimney.
• Install a heat-circulating device in the fireplace to keep more of the fires heat inside the home. We did this toward the end of last year and started saving about 30% on natural gas.

Hot Water Usage

• Set your water heater to 120 degrees unless you are using a dishwasher that doesn't have a preheat mode.
• Turn your water heater to vacation mode when you go on vacation.
• Insulate the hot water pipes if they are in an unheated spaces (basement, crawlspace.)
• Drain a half-bucket of water from the bottom of your water heater every few months to remove impurities, rust, and sludge that can collect at the bottom.
• Replace or repair leaking valves.
• Install a low-flow shower head.
• Install a flow restrictor, which is slightly different from a low-flow shower head. A flow restrictor will decrease the amount of water flowing through the tap and save you energy.
• Use the correct setting on your washer for the size load you are washing.

Windows and Doors

• Use caulking around windows and doors to prevent air leakage.
• Install weatherstripping on windows and doors where you feel a cold draft.
• Install insulating window shades on windows that still feel drafty.
• Use draft blockers under doors and windows, if necessary.
• Close draperies at night to keep heat in and cold air out.
• Repair or replace cracked or broken window panes.
• Open blinds during the day to let the sunshine in.
• If you are replacing your windows, install the most energy efficient windows that you can afford.

Obviously most of use can't replace our furnace/boiler or windows, but a lot of this tips can be completed very cheaply and in one weekend. Yet they will save you money on natural gas for the entire winter and possibly the next. I know that I am going to button down my house this fall so that I am not shocked by my natural gas bills this winter.  Find more great tips and information at Smart Energy Today.