Volunteer Your Child For Success Later In Life

Volunteering is one of the most selfless acts a person can do. It’s all about experiencing things as someone else experiences them, and making life a little better for the both of you. Some parents would rather their children spend that time studying instead of doing something selfless. Volunteering, to them, is nice in theory, but just not worth it. What if, though, volunteering could help you as much as it helps your community? There’s nothing selfish about seeking a win-win.

Here are three excellent (if slightly selfish) reasons to volunteer:

1.) Do it for the money

The Corporation for National and Community Service estimates that, in the last year alone, volunteers across America have provided an estimated $184 billion in the value of their service. At first glance, that might seem impossible, but if we take it down to each individual person, it starts to make sense. Let’s pretend a volunteer at a soup kitchen got paid. Let’s say their minimum wage is $7.25 and they worked three hours every week, times 10 different volunteers at that soup kitchen. That’s $11,310 each year that the soup kitchen can spend on countless other things: fresh or canned food, extra for patrons to take home, or even something as simple as more comfortable chairs. The more time your child spends volunteering, the less money your city (and you as a taxpayer) have to spend on keeping that city clean and healthy.

2.) Do it for the job

Though some might see volunteer hours as less time your child could spend at a job, statistics show that volunteering helps a lot in the long run. The Corporation for National and Community Service says that volunteers have a 27% better chance of finding a job than non-volunteers. On a more long-term note, volunteer hours are always on a college’s top list of things they look for on an application. Volunteering may mean lots of hours and transportation right now, but the shining spot on your child’s resume in the future makes it all worthwhile.

3.) Do it for growth

Volunteering, in the end, is all about two things: making a difference and growing as a person. If your child has the opportunity to impact someone else’s life, it will always change their own. Even the thanks they get from something as dull as collecting trash or shelving books is enough to show them the impact they can have.

SOURCES:

https://students.ucsd.edu/student-life/involvement/community/reasons.html

https://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-third-age/201403/5-reasons-why-you-should-volunteer

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-in/applying-101/character-counts-what-are-colleges-looking-for

Supercook

Remember, as you were growing up, when you’d open the refrigerator and remark “There’s nothing to eat in here!” only to turn around and find your mother had cooked a four-course meal from that same refrigerator? Wouldn’t it be nice to harness that same power to be able to turn a bare-looking pantry into everything you need to eat in a day? Wouldn’t it be nice if your cookbook knew what you had in your cupboard, and could rewrite itself using just those items? Perhaps it’s time you heard about Supercook.

Supercook is a recipe site unlike any other. Instead of just suggesting any random recipe, it recommends recipes based upon the ingredients you have available. Supercook is being hailed in Time Magazine, the Washington Post and on the “Today Show” as an invaluable tool to someone who is cooking on a budget. It’s more like a search engine than a traditional recipe site. It browses all the most popular cooking websites to find recipes that match the ingredients in your cupboard. Even if all you have is rice, eggs and butter, Supercook can suggest over one hundred recipes for you to try.

Supercook is also user-friendly and well-designed. You can start by typing your ingredients into the search bar, but it also lists popular ingredients that you most likely have. For example; sugar, vegetable oil and pasta were suggested when I visited the site to write this review. To assemble your virtual kitchen, just click on any ingredient you see that you have, and type in those that don’t pop up automatically. The list of things you can make populates in real-time, so the more ingredients you add, the longer the list of recipes. Each recipe also comes up with a picture. You’re also able to filter your searches by diet restrictions and specific types of meals until you find the dinner that’s right for you.

For some people, Supercook is just a handy tool for inspiration to spice up their next dinner. For anyone who’s trying to stretch their grocery dollar, it’s so much more. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut if all you’ve got to make it to the end of the month are eggs, rice, and beans. Supercook allows you to change it up a little every day, to the point that you can even create a meal plan using a few cheap staples.

Whether you have a full pantry or an almost-empty fridge, Supercook is there to help you make the best meal possible. Even just the action of going through your food to put it into your virtual kitchen can make you realize how much you actually have. Even if it’s not that much, Supercook can be there to point out that you still have the potential for an incredible meal.

SOURCES:

http://www.supercook.com/#/recipes

http://www.cnet.com/news/supercook-short-on-actual-cooking-long-on-usefulness/

http://frugalitygal.com/2013/09/meal-planning-on-a-budget-tutorial.html

Asian Drumsticks

This tasty chicken dish can be grilled in the oven, too. Tastes great cold the next day, so pack any leftovers for a healthy lunch!

Ingredients:

• 8 chicken drumsticks
• 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder

Preparation:

Pre-heat barbecue grill to medium. Lightly oil the grill. Meanwhile, mix all ingredients except drumsticks together in a small mixing bowl, and brush over chicken drumsticks. Place drumsticks on the grill and heat 10-12 minutes. Turn over, and grill an additional 10-12 minutes. Serve with rice.

Trust Your Intuition To Shop Online (And Offline) Safely

In one way, shopping online is very similar to shopping at kiosks, in shops and in malls. Personal and financial safety is always of great importance, but it’s easy to forget about safety when we’re distracted or in a rush. Either way, online or offline, searching for the best item at the best price can be very distracting, and distraction can be a real problem.

Think about the actions of a pickpocket for a moment. Professional pickpockets are looking for victims who are distracted, making it much easier to lift wallets, phones, purses and bags from preoccupied shoppers. Victims in hectic airports and on busy sidewalks are often distracted by the crowd, and they might be talking or texting on their phones at the same time, too.

How many times have you passed through an airport and consciously thought about a pickpocket or a thief? And whenever you’re making your way through a downtown crowd or attending a special event, are you thinking about your personal and financial protection?

If you’re not inclined to think about your safety while in a crowd, you’re probably not thinking too much about your safety online either. Sadly, unscrupulous online vendors are well aware of that fact. They may set up a website, or a Craigslist or eBay listing, based upon the fact that most shoppers are too busy and too distracted to take a moment to consider their personal shopping safety.

Trusting your intuition is a very useful safety measure … assuming you pay attention to it.

If you just don’t feel right about a particular brick-and-mortar store, you probably avoid it, right? That’s natural. But do you avoid a website or auction listing just because something doesn’t look or feel right about it? If so, good for you. You are ahead of many folks in this area.

Most people who have used online dating sites become well-acquainted with profiles that don’t seem to make sense. It’s not always easy to identify the problem, but something just seems off, so they click away and check out other profiles as they shop for a possible date. Maybe it’s just a feeling, but they learn to trust it.

Online dating can teach you a lot about using your intuition when you shop online. Even if you haven’t explored online dating yourself, no doubt you’ve heard stories about fakers and scammers who compromised the personal and financial safety of someone they met online. Sadly, it’s not an uncommon experience.

That’s why internet shopping safety is primarily a matter of considering the real person or company behind every website and each listing you visit. Trust your intuition to guide you. To do this, you have to set aside distractions and you can’t be in a rush.

Look for:

• Product descriptions that are too short, clipped and inadequate. If a normal person needs more information to make an intelligent purchase, move on to another site to make your purchase. Something may not be right.

• Spelling and grammar errors that stick out and detract from your shopping experience. Reputable companies hire experienced copywriters and editors to eliminate basic spelling and grammar mistakes. Scammers, many of whom are not located in the United States, skip the expense and try to do it themselves.

• A physical address in the United States. If you can’t find a physical address at the bottom of a website, or on the About or Contact pages, there’s a problem. The CAN-SPAM Act requires commercial emails to include the physical address of the sender in the email and on the website to which any commercial email is linked. But, CAN-SPAM does not require websites to list a physical address, and it does not impose a fine as it does on commercial emails without physical addresses.

In other words, the law does not protect you by requiring a physical address on every website, but your own intuition can protect you by raising a red flag whenever you can’t locate a physical address. Reputable sellers are eager to provide the information buyers need to identify and verify them. Go elsewhere to shop if you don’t find a physical address you can verify online by making sure it matches the business you found on the web.

• A secure payment portal. Look carefully at the website address in the address bar at the top of your browser screen. It should begin with https:// because the “s” indicates a level of security you need whenever you’re going to enter credit card or other personal information.

However, you may visit a site with an address beginning with http:// (without an “s”) and it can also be safe because it will direct to a secure site for credit card or checking account information when you check out. Usually, you’ll need to begin a purchase transaction before you know how a merchant is set up to collect your data. So, it’s not a bad idea to select one item and simply begin the checkout process, stopping short of clicking, “confirm”. That way, you’ll know what to expect with your real purchase.

Your Turn: Do you trust your own intuition when you’re shopping online? Do you make sure to pay attention and take the time to protect your personal and financial safety wherever you shop? Share your experiences – good or bad – here.

SOURCES:

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/online-dating-scams

https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-complianAce-guide-business

Savings Certificates: How To Keep Your Money Spinning

A share savings certificate is much like the familiar certificate of deposit (CD) offered by banks. It acts like a traditional savings account in that you deposit money to collect dividends over time. It differs from a traditional savings account, though, because you cannot withdraw or deposit money at will.

Instead, you agree to place your money on deposit for a preset period of time, called the “term length,” during which you may not make withdrawals without a penalty. Because you trust your money with the credit union for a longer period of time, longer term CDs are likely to have much better rates than a savings account.

You can deposit your money for as few as several months or as long as several years, but the longer you keep it on deposit, the better your rate will be (in most instances).  Also, this rate is usually locked in, meaning it is not subject to change based upon how well the economy is doing at any given moment. In general, share savings certificates offer a much higher return than savings deposits, if you’re willing to wait the time it takes to get your money back.

What are the risks involved?

First, if you decide to withdraw your money earlier than the term you’ve chosen, a penalty typically applies. On average, these will cost you between three and six months of earned dividends. Depending on when you decide to withdraw, this can cost you more than you’ve made in dividends if you deposit in a certificate and then immediately withdraw it.

There’s also the risk of inflation. Should you choose to keep the money in the account for years at a time, you could actually end up losing money when taking inflation into account. Unfortunately, the only way to avoid that is to withdraw your money and take that penalty. Of course, inflation applies to all savings strategies, even the “tin can buried in the yard” approach. Other than inflation and penalties, your money is safe.

What insurance do I have against loss?

At for-profit banks, all certificates of deposits are backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC insures them for up to $250,000. At a credit union, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) or a private insurance corporation (sometimes both) will insure your certificate for the same amount. The insurance works the same way, for the same amount, regardless of who provides it. This insurance for your money happens automatically and requires no action on your part.

If you’re unsure, look for stickers near the teller windows with the letters FDIC or NCUA. If you see these letters, your deposit is secured. If you don’t, be sure to ask the representative assisting you with your account about insurance for your deposit. They’ll be able to tell you the name of the institution that provides it. The FDIC and the NCUA will automatically back you and keep you covered through the worst of economic disasters.

What are some different options of certificates I can have?

Though people tend to stick with the traditional certificate option, there are many more to choose from.

• A high-yield certificate is more or less an advertising gimmick for one institution competing with another one for higher rates. Sometimes, they do have the higher rates promised, but they usually come with loopholes or very high minimum deposit requirements to secure the higher rates. Rates also change frequently, so be sure to ask your representative what the current rates are.
• A bump-up certificate allows your rate to rise. This means that, if the institution offers a higher rate after you’ve purchased your certificate of deposit, you can request to change your rate to the higher one. The downside is that they may offer lower initial rates.
• A certificate sold through a brokerage is called (as one might guess) a brokerage certificate of deposit. These are less like traditional CDs or certificates and are more like stocks. These notes can be bought and sold on a secondary market.
• A liquid certificate allows you to withdraw money at any time without penalty. Unfortunately, the rates are often much lower than the rate on a traditional certificate of the same value would be.
• One to watch out for is the callable certificate. In this, the institution can “call” your deposit back. Typically these have much higher interest rates, which is a positive. On the flip side, your institution retains the ability to shorten the term and give you your money back without the interest you would’ve earned.

Is a certificate right for me?

There are many good reasons why a certificate would be the right choice. Certificates usually have minimum deposit amounts, so be sure you’ve got enough savings to spare that you can lock away a few hundred dollars, at least. If you’ve got trouble with impulse spending, certificates can be a great choice to lock your savings away from yourself. They also make an excellent vehicle for an emergency fund. Using a technique called “laddering,” you can take advantage of the higher rates offered by longer-term certificates while preserving the flexibility of shorter-term ones. If you’ve got the discipline to keep your money locked in a certificate for its term, you can seriously muscle up your savings. Stop by CGR Credit Union to get the details on the account that’s right for you!

SOURCES:

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/banking/cd-certificate-of-deposit/

https://consumerist.com/2009/03/02/certificates-of-deposit-arent-risk-free/

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/cd/what-type-of-cd-is-best-1.aspx

How Can You Get The Most Out Of Your Investment In Your Home?

I want to increase the value of my home this summer. What can I do?

Regular home maintenance is essential to protecting your largest investment.  Before you worry about luxury amenities like a swimming pool or marble countertops, go through the house and do some preventative maintenance.  You can start by printing out a home walkthrough sheet from an article on buying a home - after all, that's what buyers are going to do.  You can use this checklist from RealtorMag or find your own.  http://realtormag.realtor.org/tool-kit/closing/article/walk-through-checklist
Make sure everything on the list is up to snuff.  If anything needs work, now's the time to do it.  Remember: If it costs a dime today, it may cost a dollar after it breaks.

You're not renovating your home from the next owners.  It's a great idea to invest money in improving your home.  You can increase the value while getting to live in a nicer house, but it's also easy to go too far down the path of building for the next buyer.  Don't pay for a patio, pool or three-car garage you don't need because you think it will improve the value of the house.  The next buyer might not want to barbeque, prefer a big yard to a pool, or not own cars.  Build what you want, so that even if you don't get all your money back, you get to enjoy your house.

Don't pay for home improvements by using your credit card.  That will get expensive fast.  Instead, see if you can secure a home equity line of credit.  The rates on those tend to be much lower than credit cards because you have collateral to secure the loan.  You can get started here:  https://cgrcu.org/products/loans/homeequity.php

Leading a Healthy Lifestyle