Camp Lejuene, NC (PRWEB) June 27, 2011

On July 3, 2011, Collin Morgan, the founder of Hip2Save.com, a highly regarded and hugely popular frugal living and couponing website, with a strong commitment to family and community values, embarks with her family on a charitable trip to Atlanta, GA. There they will join other Hip2Help Benefit Tour organizers, six adults and nine children under the age of 11, and set out in a leased tour bus on an 8-day journey to offer support, assistance and hope to families devastated this spring by tornadoes in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee.

While Hip2Save has always been generous in its commitment to giving and to reaching out and supporting others when they need it most, this is its first benefit tour. Thanks to the input of many Hip2Save readers who have identified families and communities in need, the tour will visit four locations in 3 states over the 8-day period. Benefit activities include community events, service projects, and direct support of selected families.

The goal of the tour is to share resources and hope with families in tornado ravaged communities who have experienced significant hardship. The tour’s mission is to demonstrate that it is possible for everyone, regardless of position or circumstance, to give back in big and small ways… one person, one event, one coupon, one contribution at a time.

In addition to a large and enthusiastic group of Hip2Save readers, corporations are also supporting and contributing to the Hip2Help tour, including Procter amp; Gamble, Fruit of the Loom and Philosophy.com. Each of these companies, along with local businesses, are providing much needed goods and donations to impacted families and the communities in which they live.

In Collin’s words, “This tour is all about helping families just like mine and my readers. No one knows when tragedy will strike. When it does, we all benefit from a helping hand and a warm smile. This tour is our first effort to give back in this way. We wanted to provide our readers with a fun, inspiring and HIP way to contribute and to be an example that encourages everyone to help those in need however and whenever they can. I’m so touched and motivated by the generous response of our readers. This benefit tour would not have happened without them!”

The group’s first tour stop is the tornado ravaged town of Griffin, GA. In Griffin they will take part in community events that local Hip2Save readers have coordinated and organized. After spending July 4th in Griffin, the Hip2Help Tour travels to Elmore County and Lake Martin, AL, July 5th and 6th, and to Memphis, TN, July 7th. The tour concludes July 8th and 9th in Calhoun County, AL.

The Hip2Save team invites everyone in these communities to join Hip2Save readers in person and participate in all sponsored events and activities. More broadly, everyone, regardless of where you live, is encouraged to support the Hip2Help tour. The Hip2Save website details dates and times of local activities and events, donation needs, drop-off locations and local charitable organizations that are accepting cash and in kind donations to support their own relief efforts.

Hip2Save.com is very proud and appreciative of the strong core of Hip2Save readers and corporate sponsors who have enthusiastically and generously come forward to support this charitable effort, including over 110,000 Facebook fans.

We give little when we give of our possessions. It is when we give of ourselves that we can truly touch another persons life. (Anonymous)

About Hip2Save.com

Founded in 2008,Hip2Save.com is a frugal living blog that shows by example how to live a more fulfilling and rewarding life by saving money with coupons, taking advantage of the best online deals, and shopping stores with confidence! Who says living a frugal lifestyle cant be fun, wholesome and hip? If this appeals to you too, check out Hip2Save.com.

Hip2Save is a blog started by Collin Morgan, a stay-at-home mom of 3 young kids and married to a Marine. She began the site as a way to make herself more financially accountable and to share savings tips with family and friends. After a while, she recognized how much fun and rewarding saving money and sharing ideas can be. She also began to realize that saving money was essentially the same as making money. Creating and maintaining Hip2Save.com has empowered Collin and her readers to budget and save money in order to live more fulfilling and rewarding lives. And as far as Collin is concerned, nothing is more “HIP” than that!

Hip2Saves mission for its staff and their readers is to live more fulfilling and rewarding lives by saving money with coupons, taking advantage of the best online deals, and shopping stores with confidence – the “HIP” way to shop, to save and to live.

You can find Hip2Save on Twitter @Hip2Save, Facebook/Hip2Save and YouTube/Hip2Save

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Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/6/prweb8601919.htm

Ahead of tomorrows resumption of plenary session of the 7th Senate, President of the Senate, David Mark yesterday promised a more mutual collaboration with the executive arm of government for genuine transformation of the nation.

In this vein, he stated the Senate would introduce radical changes in the budgeting system to meet the needs and aspiration of all stakeholders.
Rolling out his legislative agenda, Mark said, there was need for collaboration with the executive arm of government to truly transform Nigeria. Mark noted we need to be transformational in depth and content of our work, legislative representation and oversight functions. Our legislative agenda is enormous.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh quoted the Senate President as advocating for a radical budgeting system that would ensure effective implementation of appropriation Acts, and end the perennial excuses of inability to implement budget.

According to him, our budget system needs a radical change. There is a need for collaboration between the executive arm of government and the National Assembly to ensure that Nigerians get a budget that can be effectively implemented.

To achieve the goal, Mark called for passion, patriotism, diligence, team spirit and hard work on the part of each and every Senator. He poined out that though we come from different constituencies but we are united in our quest for the provision of basic needs like electricity, food, good health, roads, education, security of lives and property, shelter and transport system.

Our Federation and economy need strengthening. Our youths need Jobs. To achieve these; we need appropriate laws and legislations.
The 7th Senate, he promised, would build on the gains of its predecessors by consulting widely with all stakeholders including civil society and organized private sector in order to make laws that would meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.

He then expressed appreciation to his colleagues for the confidence reposed in him, assuring that your mandate is a sacred trust. I promise to hold it in trust for you, work with you and together, we shall work for a greater Nigeria of our dreams.

Senator Mark reminded his colleagues that the expectations of Nigerians from the 7th Senate were high, saying, we must be guided by National interest, peace and unity of Nigeria in our actions and utterances at all times.

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Finding more money for a portfolio begins with carefully managing expenses and investors can take a page from business. Many of them use a system called Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB), which has a philosophy and approach that investors can adopt.

A major advantage of ZBB is that it focuses thinking on expenses line-by-line, going forward. A budget is built from zero according to what needs to be spent, not by what has been spent. It’s an important distinction.

The process begins by carefully examining existing expenditures in detail to reveal waste and provide a starting budget figure to avoid recurrence. It’s easy for money to dribble away unnoticed, a little bit at a time, but ZBB shows how the small numbers add up to large ones.

Another advantage of Zero-Based Budgeting is its recognition that the budget in any year will be different than the last because conditions change. ZBB is always on a going-forward basis so it ensures thinking about predictable events that will affect the budget.

This focus on forward analysis provides the important advantage of reducing surprises. When there is advance planning to deal with known but unavoidable cost increases there is time to think about ways to reduce their size or determine how other planned expenses can be adjusted to lessen the impact.

When CEOs and CFOs implement ZBB they sometimes meet with resistance to the change but they press on because they know that it is a superior process for managing money. Investors may find that ZBB can help them generate surpluses for redirection to portfolios.

Kim Inglis is an Investment Advisor, CIM, PFP with Canaccord Wealth Management, a division of Canaccord Genuity Corp., Member – Canadian Investor Protection Fund. www.reynoldsinglis.ca.

Translated by Chan Li Lin
Sin Chew Daily

PRAI, PENANG: Housewife Lu Bao-zhen is one of very few people who manage to fulfill 10 green initiatives to become “green citizens”, a programme introduced by the Penang state government.

In the past decade, not only did she adhere to the environmental principles, her protection of the environment is also reflected in her daily lives. She uses bicycle to travel around whenever possible, buy new clothes only once a year, as well as cut down the use of oil, salt and sugar when preparing meals for her family.

“Every month, rubbish from our house weighs only 1kg,” she claimed. This is her greatest achievement in applying the principles of environmental protection. It is also the biggest driving force for her to protect the environment tirelessly.

Garbage classification

All these years, almost all “rubbish” produced by the family of three is categorized into several types. It is either recycled or made into enzyme that serves a useful purpose while doing laundry, floor cleaning and dish washing. Even plastic bags covered with grease will not slip through Lu’s hands. She will wash and subsequently recycle the items as she treasures every resource found on earth.

To prevent wastage, 46 year-old Lu only purchases new clothes during the Chinese New Year. According to her, a T-shirt can last for a few years before it becomes unwearable. Following Lu’s footstep, her only daughter also develops a frugal lifestyle.

Clothes being soaked in enzyme, washed manually

In order to save water and prevent chemicals found in detergent from polluting the earth, Lu normally washes the clothes with hands after soaking them in enzyme. She only uses washing machine for spin-drying purpose.

Lu is against the idea of using items made from chemicals, believing that once the chemicals get absorbed into the soil, it will be contaminated. Therefore, from detergent to shower gel to toothpaste, she will try her best to select the environmental-friendly products.

Preparing meals for family all year round

Almost 365 days a year, Lu cooks for her husband and daughter. She grows vegetable using fertilizer made by herself, besides trying her best to choose only organic and unprocessed foodstuffs. She insists on having lesser intakes of oil, salt, sugar and meat.

Saving electricity and water

Working to save water and conserve electricity, the family spends surprisingly little on electricity and water. Averagely, the family spends RM45 per month on electricity and the amount only slightly increases to over RM50 during Chinese New Year.

Meanwhile, the family’s water bill only costs RM5 every two months, indicating that three of them only use 105 litres of water per day on average.

Riding bicycle everyday

Previously, Lu and her husband avoid driving by walking to the market. Recently, the couple bought a bicycle.

Lu stressed that having a frugal lifestyle is also an act of environmental protection. After having a bicycle, she seldom travels by car and even when she wants to visit Penang island, she will ride the bicycle to a nearby bus station and take a bus to reach the destination.

She said, her family once made a trip to Penang island by taking bus. After her daughter shared the experience with her friends, many of them tried to take a bus ride and learnt to make good use of public transportation.

Promoting enzyme and fertilizer making

Lu started advocating environmental protection in 2001. Initially, she worked on recycling resources at her Prai apartment. Three years later, she assisted Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) to manage a centre which produced enzyme and fertilizer. She was promoting environmental protection by actively engaging in practical activities.

Years ago, she placed recycle bins at her apartment building in a bid to call for environmental protection and urge the residents to avoid wastage of resources. She would then turn the collected food waste into fertilizer, which was subsequently used to grow organic vegetables and fruits. At the same time, she would make enzyme from disposed fruits and their skin at regular intervals. She shared some of the enzyme with friends and kept some at home. Whenever there was a talk, she would take the opportunity to distribute some enzyme to schools or participants to encourage environmental protection.

Currently, she is managing a nearby centre that produces fertilizer. She is also growing several types of vegetables and fruits, including sweet potato leaves, bitter gourd and cucumber, on a plot of empty land next to her apartment’s hall. Everyday, she spends at least two hours making fertilizer. She is seemingly kept busy everyday by her environmental protection activities.

Frequently invited to give talks

Lu is frequently invited to give talks on environmental protection. In May alone (as at 16 May), she had received 17 invitations to give talks during MPSP activities and in schools.

Despite having her hands full with environmental protection activities, she is happy because at least, she has put in efforts to care for the earth.

Lu’s tips in protecting the environment
1. Cut down the use of high voltage electrical appliances. Switch off the main power button or unplug the cable when electrical appliances are not in use for several hours
2. Pour enzyme onto greasy plastic bags, then sprinkle with wheat flour so that the grease can be easily removed by using a sponge.
3. Keep the stems of vegetables. When you want to clean an oily wok, put in the stems to absorb the oil. This can reduce the use of cleaning agent.
4. Put natural sunlight to good use, reduce the use of lights during broad daylight. Before going out, turn off the lights if possible.

Few commentaries here at Sense on Cents have received as much attention as that which I wrote a few months ago highlighting issues within the student loan market and questioning the value and integrity of higher education. That commentary, Are Student Loans an Impending Bubble? Is Higher Education a Scam? hit a nerve on many fronts.

Today, our focus on this segment takes a new twist and we get a behind the scenes look at the intrigue and innuendo encompassing a hedge fund which would seem to believe that the student loan market may be a bubble and higher education for profit may just be a scam.

Potential of insider trading, investigative hedge fund research, prospects for increased regulation of the for profit education industry. This story would seem to have it all. 

Lets navigate as the Project on Government Oversight released just yesterday a scathing commentary entitled POGO Investigation Provokes Probe from Private Dick, (interesting choice of words!!),

If only Id seen it coming. With barely a hello after I picked up the phone last week, Diane Schulman launched into a slew of questions about an item Id just written for POGOs blog, an item about arguably inappropriate, possibly illegal information-passing between the Department of Education (DoED) and Wall Street short sellers.

Never having spoken to Schulman before in my life, I asked her who she was working for. She told me that she did research for some outfit called The Indago Group on behalf of investment companies and law firms.

I didnt realize that Diane Schulman was actually a licensed private investigator in league with a troubled New York hedge fund.

Specifically, Schulman has been helping out one of Wall Streets biggest short sellers, a guy named Steve Eisman. But she didnt mention that.

Eisman won fame and especially fortune betting on the collapse of the housing market. Id cited him in my piece last week because of his latest target: the for-profit education sector, which includes firms like giant Phoenix University, that the Dept. of Education is trying to regulate. Harsher regulation, which Eisman had been lobbying the DoED to endorse, would have meant bigger profits for him and other short sellers.

According to emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Schulman personally assisted Eisman in his many contacts with only-too-willing top officials at the Department eager for the dirt he (and Schulman) had dug up on for-profit companies.

And, for some of those companies, there was a lot to dig, especially dirt on how firms reaped tens of millions of dollars in federally guaranteed student loans, leaving many of their graduates in debt and unable to find jobs.

Eisman and Schulman are not credentialed education experts, and neither seems to have shown any particular prior commitment to working in the field. Yet emails show Schulman personally importuning DoED on behalf of Eisman and others connected to his FrontPoint Financial Services fund (owned by Morgan Stanley).

Some of the officials she targeted were in the process of formulating rules from which short sellers stood to profit. At least one such meeting actually took place last year. (FrontPoint is currently in reorganization amid charges of insider trading–none of which involve Eisman specifically. He recently indicated he is leaving the fund.)

In her phone call to me, Schulman labeled the widespread criticism of short sellers a red herring. Then she got down to business, repeatedly asking me to provide evidence I might be aware of that short sellers (presumably like her client, and possibly herself) could have received leaks of confidential, market-sensitive information from the DoED, a central point of my article.

If short sellers had gone on to buy and sell stocks based on confidential information from DoED, it could amount to insider trading, subject to civil and criminal penalties.

Not grasping that she might have a distinctly personal stake in the matter, I told Schulman that Morgan Stanley–owner of Eismans fund, FrontPoint Financial Services–had issued a report to investors in the spring of 2010 that specifically refers to a leak about the timing and substance of the Education Departments impending actions.

That provoked a strong objection from Shulman. I thanked her for being in touch, ending the increasingly weird phone call.

Schulmans bio mentions that some 20 years ago she worked as an investigative producer for CBS and ABC affiliates in Boston. Helping out a New York hedge fund probably pays better.

While the POGO writer clearly takes serious exception to the manner in which Ms. Dick Schulman engages him, I welcome bringing attention to this story for a number of reasons including:

1. To highlight an investigative practice of a high profile Wall Street hedge fund manager.

2. The potential for insider trading activity as alleged by the writer.

3. Perhaps most importantly, further confirmation of the fact that the student loan market likely is a bubble and for profit education likely has elements of being a scam.

You can not make this stuff up.

Navigate accordingly.

Larry Doyle

Isn’t it time to subscribe to all my work via e-mail, an RSS feed, on Twitter or Facebook?

Please get your friends and colleagues to do the same. Thanks!! I have no affiliation or business interest with any entity referenced in this commentary. The opinions expressed are my own. I am a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.

Read more posts on Sense on Cents »

Craig Mundie, Microsofts chief research and strategy officer, demonstrated some applications on Thursday that apply current technologies to problems facing the health care industry.

Handling money is something we all have to learn to do in order to survive. And the basic concept of budgeting – spend less than you make – seems so, well, basic that we fail to look closely enough at how budgeting can help us handle our finances well. If you think you know everything there is to know about setting, maintaining and succeeding with a budget, think again. These tips are less obvious, running counter to our commonly held intuitions about money.

TUTORIAL: Budgeting Basics

1. Indulge in what matters to you.
Quick: whats the first thing you do when you start making a budget? Usually its make a list of your expenses, add them all up, grimace painfully at the total amount, and then start figuring out which expenses you can eliminate. Theres no point in spending money on things you dont want or need. However, common budgeting technique often has you cutting out absolutely anything that could fall into an optional category. The $5 latte from the coffee shop is a favorite example; cut that daily or biweekly or weekly expense out, budgeting experts say, and youll save X dollars per year for your savings account! (For related reading, see How Budgeting Works For Companies.)

The problem is that cutting out every optional expense may lead you to meet a new and bigger foe to your budget: the feeling of deprivation. Its the same concept that makes you want to cheat on your diet, even though you really do want to fit into your skinny jeans again. You start a diet, or a budget, and cut out all the eating or spending you enjoy (but dont necessarily need), and soon all you can think about is what you cant have.

Do go ahead and make your list of expenses, and definitely get rid of the optional things that dont add value or enjoyment to your life. But dont just get rid of the optional stuff that you do really value; instead, make it part of your budget, even if it seems like a luxury. Youre much more likely to stick with a budget that allows you the little luxuries you do enjoy than one which leaves you feeling continually deprived.

2. Dont automatically choose the cheapest option.
Choosing the cheapest option, whether its for food or a car or clothes or a vacation, will certainly save you money in the present. But spending a little less for the cheapest choice isnt always smart. The old adage of you get what you pay for should be echoing through your memory right about now, and thats the point. When you always get the cheapest option, you end up with lower quality items.

In some cases, it doesnt really matter: disposable items, or name-brand versus big-brand. You cant always tell the difference beyond the packaging. But sometimes if you save a few dollars on the initial purchase but end up with a much lower quality item, youll end up having to spend more to maintain it and then spend again, sooner, to replace it because it wont last as long as the higher quality option. (It appears that the overwhelming majority of Americans do not have or correctly use a personal budget. For more, see The Beauty Of Budgeting.)

3. Skip the coupons.
If youve watched an episode or two of Extreme Couponing, you may have visions of free groceries dancing in your head. And what could be better for the budget? If you can save all that money on groceries and household supplies, youll have more money for paying off debt, saving or, um, indulging in that latte.

However, coupons arent always a boon to your budget. In fact, many of us end up clipping coupons for stuff we wouldnt normally buy, and then spending our money on grocery and household items we really dont need just because we happen to have a coupon handy. Its tempting, and you feel good about your purchase because you just saved $1 off the normal price! But wouldnt it be better to save the total price by not buying that item at all?

Canadians are prepared for a hike in interest rates and are budgeting accordingly, says a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. survey published Wednesday.

The Crown corporation says 80% of Canadians follow a household budget and, when calculating that budget, 71% considered the impact higher mortgage rates would have on their finances.

We didnt ask the 20% what they did, Pierre SerrÃ, vice-president insurance product and business development, said of Canadians who dont have a budget and perhaps are unprepared for a coming interest-rate hike.

But of the group budgeting, another 69% have prepared for the impact of a loss of income and 79% have set themselves up for rising expenses. The survey also found 81% of respondents have set aside some money in their budget for additional savings.

Canadians are also trying to pay down their mortgages as fast they can; 75% of respondents said it was important to pay off the debt as soon as possible. To that end, 39% of recent buyers say they set their mortgage payments higher than the minimum required while 20% have made a lumpsum payment since taking out their mortgage.

CMHC says there is still plenty of opportunity to im-prove education for mortgage consumers. It reports only 23% of first-time buyers received advice on budgeting while 18% received advice on managing debt. As well, 25% of recent buyers say they are unsure where to go to get advice in case of financial difficulty.

Weve been doing the survey for over 10 years now. Its not brand-new news; the trend lines are about the same, Mr. Serrà says.

The survey found the Internet continues to be an important tool of consumers, with 65% saying they searched online for a home. Of those using the Web, 86% used it to look at interest rates, 76% for mortgage options and 69% for a mortgage calculator.

Even those using the Internet to buy a home still need to print out their information, with 56% reporting doing that. One of things that surprised me is they love to print stuff, Mr. Serrà said. If you are printing stuff it means you must be putting together some stuff to help you manage your big decision.

On average Canadians are taking about 11 months to plan the purchase of a home, with 88% indicating they had a good idea of what mortgage they could afford before they purchased.

The online survey polled more than 3,500 active mortgage consumers who had conducted a mortgage transaction within the previous 12 months.

gmarr@nationalpost.com

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• When I first started the site, it was about making some money, but now I love the process of creating. I love the hustle of starting a business.

  UB Entrepreneur Alexander Levine

By CHARLOTTE HSU

Published: June 23, 2011

At the age of 10, while other children fretted over how theyd fit in at middle school, Alexander Levine was trying to start an online business.

He created three or four websites, including one that offered web design services and another that reviewed free Internet service providers. Then he launched the site that would fund his college education: OldVersion.com, a clearinghouse for old versions of computer software.

Levine is now a senior at UB, but the idea for OldVersion.com came to him in 2001 when he was just 11 years old.

He and his father were using Napster to download Russian music. When they tried to upgrade to a newer version of the file-sharing service, their computer crashed. After scouring the Web for about 45 minutes, Levine managed to locate the old version of Napsterthe one they had been using.

He found the software only by luck, on an outdated website whose owner had clearly stopped updating content some time before.

Thats when it struck him: If he was having this problem, maybe others were experiencing it, too. Soon afterwards, at age 12, he registered OldVersion.com with partner Igor Dolgalev, who left the project a few years later.

Today, 10 years later, users download between 10,000 to 15,000 copies of software a day from the OldVersion website. As its name implies, the site offers old versions of nearly 300 programs, including LimeWire, AOL Instant Messenger, Opera, Acrobat Reader, RealPlayer and, of course, Napster.

Levine says some people use the service because their computers dont support new versions of software, while others simply prefer the old versions.

The sites success has made Levine into an entrepreneur. Advertising revenue has paid for his education at UB, and he has ideas for other software-related startups he would like to launch after he graduates next May.

I just love the process of creating something, says Levine, who has taken several entrepreneurship courses at UBs Millard Fillmore College.

When I first started the site, it was about making some money, he says, but now I love the process of creating. I love the hustle of starting a business.

The son of economists who emigrated in 1995 from St. Petersburg, Russia, to the Syracuse suburb of Liverpool, Levine created his own major at UB: theatre anthropology, with a focus on the Russian experience. He studies how different cultures approach theater, with an emphasis on his native Russia, where he studied for a semester.

While theater and business may seem to have little in common, Levine says that for him, Its all connected.

He explains that studying and observing theater has enabled him to become a more confident public speakera useful quality for an entrepreneur. In addition, he says that learning about different cultures and spending time overseas taught him that companies will be more likely to succeed if they respect the unique cultures of the markets they hope to enter.

This month, Levine and his British business partner Travis Dane celebrated the 10th anniversary of OldVersion.com with a redesign of the site.

The new look expands the site to include abandonware games, such as versions of Mortal Kombat, Superfrog and Lemmings. Abandonware is a term used to describe discontinued products for which no product support is available or whose ownership may be unclear for various reasons.

Another new OldVersion feature: Visitors who want to upload software now can fill out an easy-to-use form and win points for prizes by providing the site with clean files and accurate information. Levine screens all uploaded software for viruses on multiple operating systems, by the way, before releasing the software to the public.

Since the redesign, OldVersion.com receives about 100 new registrations per day. To further increase the sites reach, Levine hopes to translate it into several languages.

Im really excited to work on the new phase of OldVersion.com, Levine says, noting the irony of OldVersion.com launching something new. He points out, however, that users whose browsers dont support the new site will be redirected automatically to the old one.

Chart shows how much additional state aid area school districts
would receive under the Democrats’ proposed fiscal year 2012 budget
bills. For most districts, the extra aid is dependent on
legislative passage of the “millionaire’s tax” bill.