James Stabile Informational Newsletter
June 2005
Technology and Business...
Summer is a coming. Gas prices are still too high, although in my region of the world, they are starting to come down a bit. In any case, conservation of fuel is a wise plan of action. How does one save money on gasoline. Here are some gas saving tips from the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, appearing in a recent Sunday edition:
Buy the appropriate grade of gas necessary for your vehicle. Ask your mechanic which is the optimum grade of fuel for your particular vehicle. Most cars take regular unleaded fuel. Higher grades of fuel may not be appropriate for your car. In fact they may be ineffective and counterproductive for your car's optimum performance. Don't pay for the higher price gas if it is not appropriate for your car. Higher price does not always mean better quality or better performance.
Maintenance. Follow the maintenance schedule that came with your car. The number one maintenance item for optimum performance is oil maintenance. Again, check with your mechanic.
Tiers and inflation. Check your tires monthly. Under inflated or over inflated tires can be dangerous and costly.
Smooth starts and stops. Remember what your father told you when your were learning to drive - start smoothly, slowly. Stop in the same manner. Speeding, reckless operation of your vehicle will cost you in gas and maybe in loss of life.
Use cruise control. Set a speed and stick to it. Do not speed, stay within the speed limit, do not make sudden accelerations or decelerations. On the Florida (any state) Interstates and Turnpike, slow down. Yes, the sped limit in Florida on I95 is 70 mph, but you are allowed to go slower. Yes, 55 mph will conserve gas. The minimum speed on an Interstate is 45 mph. Don't haul "ass" you are too old for that anyway, or too young and you may not be experienced to drive that fast. Speed kills at any age.
Un-idle. Do not idle the engine, turn off the engine if you are not moving. An idling engine uses unnecessary gas. If you are idling the engine, then you are not moving, why do you want to waste all that gas. Of course a certain degree of intelligence is needed here - if you are in the northern US and it's winter, you may need the warmth of an idling engine for sustaining your life. Or if you are in the south and it's summer, you may need an idling engine to provide the means for the AC to sustain your life. Be real.
Think diesel. Diesel engines are another option. Diesel fuel mileage is usually more economical than gas. Also, you may think about a smaller car or newer car that provides for a higher gas mileage ratio. Who are you trying to impress with that big Cadillac or fancy foreign import. You just might be on the road to the poor house.
Efficiencies. Get rid of that big old car of yours. Get a newer car, one with efficiency ratings. Come on get with it. You may save a dime with that old car, but I bet in the long term it will end up costing you more in gas and maintenance. Stimulate the economy, buy an efficiency car.
Virtual Banking
Is virtual banking for you? Be careful when you answer that question. I wouldn't give up your traditional banking account just yet, but maybe you should consider the pro's and con's of banking online. All financial institutions, well, I say most financial institutions have online options. Most accounts are available to you online. Many traditional banks and other financial institutions allow their patrons to access accounts online and perform such services as checking balances, transferring money, monitoring account transactions and paying bills electronically. As I've said many times, checking and monitoring your account transactions on a regular basis may help you monitor such things as identity thief, etc. But what about the rate of interest and other incentives to doing business with a particular financial institution?
Virtual banks, that is doing business with a bank or other financial institution exclusively online have many incentives for doing business with them. Many times the interest rates for checking accounts, saving accounts, money markets, CDs and other services are significantly higher than traditional financial institutions. Service fees are markedly lower than your neighborhood bank. Many times the virtual bank has options for you to transfer funds from your regular or primary institution to the online bank. Many times virtual banks have convenient options to withdraw funds from the online account. Maybe an virtual bank would be a good secondary account for you.
Once again, Internet user beware. Check out the security of the virtual bank. Explore all of the options available from that online financial institution before you deposit your hard earned money in it. In other words, do your homework.
Make sure the online bank is legitimate. Go to www.fdic.gov to determine the legitimacy of your online bank. www.bankrate.com is a good resource to search for the best online financial institution for you.
By the way, many well known traditional financial institutions have online branches so to speak. In all cases, be careful.
How's the Spam? No, not the sandwich meat in a can, the email Spam. If you have never given your email address to any person, business or Internet site, then you may be safe and not receiving email Spam. In this case you probably have a pretty dull, uneventful and non-practical Internet experience. If you are online, you have given out your email address.
Most of you can be fairly assured that your friends and family would never divulge your email, right? Wait a minute. Have you ever received one of those birthday e-cards from one of your family members? How do you think that e-card found it's way to your email client? Someone entered your email address after they selected your e-card. Guess what, Hallmark or Gibson's Greetings or any one of the hundreds of e-card companies has your email address. Oh they will protect it. Yea, right. Have you ever ordered anything on line? They've got it. Have you ever received an email form one of your dear friends or family member and notice all those other email addresses in the "to" category. Each and every one of those email address owners now has your email address. There are numerous ways of providing other people access to your personal email address. This starts the Spam and helps it flourish throughout the informational highway, the Internet.
One way of reducing Spam - guard your personnel and main email identity. Do not give out your main email address unless you are positive, at least 99% positive that the person or persons that you give your email address to will not share it with others in any non-malicious or malicious manner. For those times that you must give an email address to businesses, companies, etc. create alias addresses or open web based email accounts. You do not have to invest any money to accomplish this protection. Yahoo, as well as other online companies, offer minimum email accounts for free, no cost. Most email clients, Outlook Express, etc. have mail filtering capabilities included in their email software. Make use of those options. When you do set up email accounts or surrender your email address to an online company or business, always request that they do not share your email address. Sometimes you have to read the fine print to opt out of email sharing, but the option is usually available. Use it.
Spam is a nuisance and a bother. It can also be much more - it can be dangerous to your computer. Viruses and malicious codes are sent over the Internet by way of email. Always, religiously use Spam, Virus and Firewall protections. All of these protections are available from your Internet access company. Most of the time they are free of charge. Protect yourself and your computer.
Free credit report. Yes, June 1, 2005 the Americans who live in southern states are eligible for their free credit report from the three credit reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The law allows for the three consumer reporting companies to provide Americans with a copy of their credit report once in a calendar year period. This is a free service, but you will be charged $4 to $9 for the FICO score used to determine credit worthiness. It is advised to request your credit report from one of the agencies, then from the other two agencies quarterly. The next calendar year, do it again. Accessing your credit report and scrutinizing it thoroughly will allow you to discover and correct any mistakes. Also, the investigation on a regular basis may uncover any attempted identity theft. I think this is a valuable tool in ones financial well-being.
I don't have any first hand comments on the procedure and operation of this request, but after June 1, I will be able to offer comments and recommendations. June 1 all parts of the US will have access to free credit reports except the eastern states. The option will be available to Americans who live in the eastern states on September 1. Go to Annual Credit Report for more information. You can access the credit report from the 3 reporting firms websites, but https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp may be easier and faster since the traffic at the firms' web pages will be extremely high. Or you may call 877-322-8228 to make your request. Your credit report and rating is most important in maintaining financial well-being. Stop identity theft.
June
2005 Newsletter
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