Gas money.
The inevitable question for carpools, shared rides, and mooching roommates. Do you give your friend who picked you up for the movie a couple of bucks for gas? Do you hand your sister $5 for driving you out to the family reunion? Is it even appropriate? Will they be offended if you offer?
As a person who doesn’t have a vehicle, I often have to ask others for rides. When I go out for drinks with friends, I almost always get a ride. When I am headed somewhere, I often get picked up or dropped off somewhere. I am lucky to have such generous friends who are willing and able to give me a lift, so I try to give them gas money when they are inconvenienced.
The other day when my wife and I suddenly had to hop into our friend’s car and beg to get a ride home, I started to wonder whether gas money is always required, or if it should be reserved for certain situations. I know some people who would never even offer gas money as they feel as though they don’t have the responsibility to. After all, it is not as if they are the one driving the car, and with the benefit of the car comes the cost of transportation. Is th
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A few weeks ago, I went to the grocery store in the afternoon to take care of grocery shopping for the week. Sarah had written a list for me (in all fairness to her, it was actually closer to a set of notes for a meal plan rather than for grocery shopping; it wasn’t really a complete and finished list), but I hadn’t looked at it very carefully. However, I did know from what she told me that I would have to do at least some of the grocery shopping at a different grocery store than our usual one because there were a few unusual items on the list for special meals. As a result, I decided to pick up most of the stuff at a different grocery store than our usual one, in order to save some time.
After the shopping was over, though, I left the store in a painful daze. It had actually taken far longer than it ever should have – and the shopping list was the big problem.
First of all, the items weren’t categorized well. There were several fresh fruits and vegetables on the list, but they were often separated by things like flour and spices and eggs and milk – items in completely different parts of the store.
Second, some of the items were simply names of complete recipes that we knew well. In a rush to complete the list (which, as I mentioned above, was closer to notes for a meal plan), Sarah simply jotted down two complete recipes by name that we both know cold. Of course
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In previous years, Canadian readers may have completed their taxes with QuickTax
or Ufile. Both of these are great programs and I plan to look at them in more detail later this month. However, there are a couple of free programs for preparing your taxes that I wanted to quickly share with you. While this tax software may not have all the bells and whistles of the bigger titles, they work as expected, especially for those with uncomplicated returns.
StudioTax
I used StudioTax for the 2008 tax year and was happy with it. StudioTax has a great wizard that will get you through most of the forms. You then have the option to add any specific forms you require and fill then out one field at a time.
Udotaxes
I haven’t tried Udotaxes yet, I believe it might be the first year it’s been out. I have installed it and looked around and it’s very polished for a free program.
Once I have all the forms for my personal taxes, I’ll try these programs out an provide a more detailed review. In the
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Concerns about nations’ debt levels are spooking global market investors.
Greece, of course, has made headlines in recent weeks for its sovereign debt woes. The country’s budget deficit is 12.7 percent – more than four times the 3 percent limit to which European Union member states agree – and the Greek government’s announcement that it would slash public-sector pay was met with strikes and protests in the street.
Fears about either a Greek default or the ramifications of a euro-zone bailout sent the euro lower in the past four trading days. Tuesday could be the fifth, as investors hoping for guidance on the Greece situation may be disappointed by EU finance ministers’ refusal to give details on the nature of a potential bailout.
Greece will report on the effectiveness of its debt-cutting measures on March 16.
Dubai, too, is still struggling with debt. Read more…
You may know how many credit cards you have in your wallet, and how much you owe on each. But do you know what your credit rating is? Or why it might be important? Here’s the low-down on high credit scores.
Credit history matters
Your credit history is looked at by lenders to determine if they want to lend to you or not. The three major credit bureaus in this country (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian) compile your credit history and share it with the credit card companies and lenders you have submitted credit applications to.
Credit scores are based on your credit history
If you have credit history, you have a credit score. Or credit scores, I should say. There are many different credit scoring formulas out there (the well-known FICO score is just one variation). All credit scores are based on the information on your credit reports, and weigh the same important factors. Namely:
Do you pay your debts back each month? How much debt do you have? How frequently do you apply for new credit? How long have you been a responsible user of credit? Read more…
