Smart Spending

In this difficult economic time, the solution is to tighten our belts and stop the spending spree. After seeing our net worth reduced by a large percentage, my husband and I seriously reconsider our budget. We've cut out over 30% of our spending and will be extremely careful until the financial crisis is resolved. We give up things when the price goes too high. When milk hit 2.80 a gallon, we started to buy it less. It's not close to $4, and we just don't buy it. The heat in the house is set at 62 all winter, day and night.

We combine trips—I rarely do an errand singly—when I go to the bank, I hit the seconds grocery and the country store on the same trip, walk or bike to do errands when we can. I buy second-hand whenever it makes sense. We go out less. Before we go out like 2 to 3 times a week, but we go less frequently now.

We rarely purchase "wanted" items any more. We buy only "needed" items. Needed items like eyeglasses. By not getting expensive glasses from the optometrist office anymore, we just ordered a pair of eyeglasses for only $8 and $12.95 frames from Zenni Optical. We brought it to our doctor and asked him about the quality, and they were high quality, perfect Rx, just like you'd get for $300+ elsewhere. We saved a lot on this item, prices are low because they sell only their own manufactured frames direct to the customer, with no middlemen and virtually no advertising budget. In fact they were even mentioned in a book here http://books.google.com/books?id=IizPul2vifUC&pg=PA119&dq=zenni+optical&client=firefox-a#PPA119,M1

With this, their product offerings meet our goals, that is to save money.

Chicken Enchiladas

I created this simple recipe one day by accident and it's now our favorite. I marinated the chicken in lime juice, chili powder, garlic, salt, pepper, diced green chilies and jalapenos(if you want a more flavor) and a bit of tequila few hours before cooking. I sauteed the chicken meat real good (sangkutsa) in onions with a little bit of cumin. And I put cheddar jack cheese and cilantro on top of the fillings with a lot of enchilada green/red sauce. Of course I ate mine with rice.

My.Suit Men's Professional Fashion

I love seeing a man wears a suit. The guys at my workplace wears suits and ties, and it is such a turn on when men dress up because most of them hardly ever do it. Oh and maybe that's why I love weddings so much. Prom wasn't bad either.

For suit colors, I think navy blue and mid-grey are nice, because they go with the greatest number of shirts and ties, can be anything from casual to wedding attire, and suit most colorings. And for the fabric, for Northeastern US residents, both should be wool or flannel to survive in a cold winter. My friend who is tall and slim loves to wear four button suit, and he really looks best on it. He told me about his Made to Measure experience.

"The overall experience with My.Suit is amazing. After making an appointment to be measured, you are able to select a style, fabric, color, and any number of features available, or that you can think of. The accuracy is unparalleled; anything I haven't expected is due to my own oversight. And to make things better, their service is great, prices are very reasonable (save at least $100 on a department suit) and they are very good about deadlines and letting you know when to expect your order; and yes, they'll even speed it up for you to meet that special occasion, which they've done for me before. I plan on only owning their clothing in my future work wardrobe. Highly recommended. The suit that came from My.Suit is much better. I wanted the front of the jacket hand basted instead of any fusing. Working sleeve buttons, hand picked lapels and pockets. The pants and the vest are both perfect fits.The overall fit and quality is great for the money even for many hundreds more."

And for a person whose measurements do not fit off the rack clothes, this site will help. Make an appointment to be measured now here http://www.mysuitny.com/make_an_appointment.asp.
My.Suit is a global company with over 40 years of manufacturing and retail experience. It is a division of one of the largest suit makers in the world. They sell made-to-measure suits at close to off-the-rack prices.

Understanding Unemployment Benefits

People are always reluctant to take something that perceived as welfare or handout. It's important for citizens to understand that unemployment benefits is not a welfare. Losing a job sucks, when we moved out and lose my job, I have been thinking of filing a claim but, my pride won't let me. Another reason, I thought it would affect my credit history too. After my last paycheck slip on my hand, I know I need to do something. I was shopping when I bumped to this ex-coworker, and told me she's getting unemployment insurance benefits. And she advised me to file as soon as possible because I might be eligible. If you were discharged because of misconduct, you will be denied a claim for sure. Not sure though, if quitting a job is eligible for unemployment. I quit my job because we move to different state. Well, there's no harm in trying, I went online and filed. I found out it's not welfare, it’s unemployment insurance your employer has been paying for. And it’s a program you’ve been indirectly paying into with each and every paycheck. Your employer has to pay an unemployment insurance tax that you make claims against if you are eligible (and unemployed). You indirectly pay for the insurance because in the absence of that tax, you could theoretically be paid more, either way it's money that RIGHTFULLY YOURS, if eligible.

The process was quick, they sent me a note stating that I am eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits as long as I meet the other eligibility requirements (what other requirements na naman?). They have a records indicating I earned ten times in insured work after the disqualifying separation from my previous employers. I think the eligibility requirements and benefit payouts vary from state to state. Here in state of Iowa, you must have worked and earned a certain amount of wages in work covered by unemployment insurance in the last 15 to 18 months, have lost your job through no fault of your own, be able to work and available for work and be actively seeking work by in-person contact with employers.

The workforce center interviewed me by telephone, it's an informal meeting between claimant and employer and the workforce center representative. The purpose of this fact finding interview is to obtain information about the issue to be resolved (my issue is QUITTING). Following the interview, a decision was made based on the available info they obtained from me and my former employer. The workforce representative informed me that I will be receiving my first payment on this() date and check it with my bank institution, then instructed me to continue filing weekly. Receiving a payment for $200 plus weekly is like a bonus for me, but it doesn't mean I will stop searching for work. In fact, I was done with my job interview in the hospital and looks like I will get the job (hopefully). And Diamond JO Casino called me for an interview on Thursday. I'm not sure if I want to be a cocktail server but I heard the tips is good. Well, wish me luck. So for you unemployed people out there, we live in the land of opportunity and there’s always something around the corner, so until that corner turns you should consider filing for unemployment benefits.

The Unemployment Benefits

Credit Card Processing Service

Credit card acceptance is an important step towards building and operating a successful business on the Internet. It is a must if you are selling products on your website. Using credit card online is now so widespread that you will lose customers if you can't accept payments directly to your site.

So, if your online business or retail establishment needs a reliable credit card processing services or new to accepting credit cards, sign up for credit card processing at merchantacceptance.com today. A merchant account allows your business to accept credit cards. You can find in their website the Free services they offer to their merchant customers. They provide flexible and reliable products and services that enable merchants across the nation to accept nearly all types of electronic payments.

NO smoking bill

It's been a week since we moved back here in Dubuque. It's still the same, except when we went to the bar,, I noticed no one smokes inside and we found out that the law on no smoking took effect last July, well, good for me, coz I hate cigarette smokes. I remember before we move in Wisconsin, it's still a debate whether smoking ban should be imposed or not in Iowa. As far as health and health care and bringing down the price of insurance, it’s good. But, the fact that casinos are exempted, and bars not, I have mixed emotions on that. I thinks its unfair for small businesses like bars, people go to bar to unwind and smoke, I know because, hubby and me frequents to the bar, and one of our friend is a bar owner. I think it’s quite clear that the state has said it’s OK to smoke as long as you keep dropping money in the one-arm bandits. Unfortunately, they’re going to force more people to go to casinos, where they’re going to spend money, drink and drive home.

Free People Search

Yes, it is free! And does not pretend to be free like some of the services out there that pretend to be free, but if you really want more information they will charge you an expensive fees. When I first came here in the State, the first thing I did is to look up some friends and classmates that immigrated here. I used a lot of free people search services but they will just inform me that they found the one that I've been looking for but they will not show you the complete address and phone number, if you want to know, there is a charge.

Now, there's a great way to find them, I used people finder and was very happy with the outcome, the searching is so easy, the complete address and phone number showed up without charging me anything. I contacted my long lost friend in California right away and she was surprised how I found her. Well, I told her about how I've been searching her for a long time now and uses a lot of search engine, until I found out about this lookupwho.com site that offers free search. Then we made a deal of searching for other classmates in high school who now lives here in the States and in Canada. The services is open to USA and Canada as of the moment.
Just enter the person's name, and state and they will provide you with more information about that person your looking for.