A Dollar Saved is Two Dollars Earned

Benjamin Franklin is famous for saying that a penny saved is a penny earned. With all due respect to Mr. Franklin, it is possible that he has under-estimated the return from saving. The reason for this miscalculation is the fact that you must pay taxes on every dollar that you earn before you have the opportunity to spend it. (Remember the parable about death and taxes) When you add-up Federal + State + Social Security + Sales Tax + other government fees & taxes, most people pay somewhere in the neighborhood of 30%-50% of each incremental dollar that they earn in taxes. This means that if you go out and work hard to earn an extra $100 this month, you will probably end up with $50-$70 after the tax man has gotten his piece.
Since taxes must be paid before we spend our hard earned money, we actually enjoy a greater benefit by saving an extra dollar than earning an extra dollar. The reason for this is because you need to earn $1.50-$2.00 first, and then pay 30%-50% of it to the government in the form of taxes before you have $1.00 that is available to spend. Because of this dynamic, it often makes sense to be discriminating in the way you choose to spend your money since it will take a lot more work to replace money that is wasted than to avoid spending it in the first place.
Does this mean that you should become a penny-pinching tightwad? I would certainly hope not... the reason why we all work so hard to earn a living is so that we can enjoy the fruits of our labor. Saving and investing is important because it focuses us on the most important things in our lives so that we can spend less time working for the things we enjoy, and more time enjoying them. The easiest way to see this principle in action is to track your spending for 2-3 months, and then rank you're spending decisions from highest to lowest in terms of importance. I have a hunch that a significant percentage of the total dollars spent will be in the lower half of your 'importance curve.' (Every time I look at my credit card bill, I am amazed at how many transactions are on there for less than $50 dollars... it is likely that I could have done without quite a few of those purchases) The key point is not to cut every 'low importance' purchase out of your life... but rather to ask yourself whether there is something more important that you should doing with the money that is being spent.

A Dollar Saved is a Dollar Earned

You have no doubt already heard about the "A penny saved is a penny earned" phrase that Benjamin Franklin popularized so many years ago. The saying has experienced an upgrade though to "A dollar saved is a dollar earned."
Did you know though that a dollar saved is far better than a dollar earned? Surprised? Don't be. A dollar earned will be taxed and in some cases, taxed highly too. A dollar saved will be earning interest and thus, generating you money. And have you considered the fact that you tend to spend more when you earn more? This is like a law of nature for many people. Earn more, spend more. There are the wise few who, instead of spending more, save more. These people are well into their way of building wealth.
Have you ever considered yourself a banker or a banking institution? Most people haven't, not really. If you think about things, you do act like a banker. You are in charge of hundreds to thousands of dollars each month. Nowhere near even the smallest bank's scale but the principle is the same.
If you would like to make more money, you will have to learn to save. You can start investing once you have enough money saved. But what a lot of people forget is that to truly build wealth, you have to create and protect what you have first.
Know what you want to do with your saved dollars. Are you saving for a specific reason like college funds or retirement? Are you building a nest egg so you can play the market? Your reasons for saving give you the added incentive to keep on saving even if the act of saving will require many a sacrifice.
How will you earn more dollars? Are you going to get a part time job and use the money you earn from that to jumpstart you're a dollar saved is a dollar earned plan? Or will the money go to augmenting your income because your expenses are spiraling out of control?
How do you plan to make your dollars earn more dollars? Are you going to be conservative or do you have the nerve to take serious but highly rewarding risks? The pay off will vary depending on the method and amount of risk you take. Know as much as you can before you invest in anything. Take care not to be scammed in dodgy deals. Seek a financial adviser if you would like information or advice. Read up on how to invest wisely.
Take advantage of tax savings opportunities. A big chunk of your income goes to taxes so do your homework. Find out what tax savings opportunities are available to you. The less you pay in taxes, the more cash in bank you have. You can pay off debts faster, save more, invest more, do more with the extra cash. Find out what options are available to you and make use of them.
A dollar saved is more than a dollar earned in the long run. So keep on saving those dollars.

Dave Stack is a huge fan of saving money and using coupons, coupon codes and promotional codes. He operates http://www.couponsaver.org which has been saving people money since 2007.

What's The Right Thing to Do After You Hit an Animal With Your Car

Hundreds of thousands of animals get hit by cars each year, and some of them survive, if proper medical care is provided in time, but a lot of them end up dead. Of course, no one hits an animal with their cars on purpose, but there are cases when you just can't avoid it and you run into a dog, cat or a deer, through no fault of your own. But, even if it's not your fault, if you ever hit an animal, you should try and make sure that you take care of it and save its life. So, a couple of tips can come in handy if you ever find yourself in a situation like that.
The first thing you should do after you hit an animal, is stop right away and see what condition it's in and whether it's still alive. But, remember not to leave the car in the middle of the road, but pull over to the side. Get close to the animal, but do it slowly, without any sudden moves, since you might scare it off and it may try to kick or scratch you. If you establish that it's dead, all you can do is take it off the road and put it on the side of the road. Then, immediately call the police and they will take care of the transportation of the dead animal.
If it's still alive, call a veterinarian's office, or the police, if you don't have a phone number of any veterinarian hospital. After you've made that call, grab a towel or a piece of cloth and wipe the blood off the injured animal. Then, you can try to cover the wound with a bandage, so that it doesn't lose too much blood. You have to do this as soon as possible, since an animal can live with a broken leg, but excessive blood loss is fatal.
While doing all this, try not to move the animal's neck or the area around its spine, since it might have sustained fractures and even the slightest turn or twist in the neck or spine can also be fatal.
Now, after you've given first aid to the animal, you can cover it with a blanket, if by any chance, you keep a blanket in your car, or you can use your jacket or other piece of clothing, to keep it warm, and then just wait for the veterinarian or the police to come and do their job.
However, the most important thing that I want to point out is: Please give your best shot to avoid the animal accident. You will spare yourself and the victim from big troubles

A Few Benefits of Hiring Professional Janitorial Services

Janitorial services cover a whole range of cleaning services for both residential and commercial consumers. The wide range of cleaning services cover services such as furniture dusting, floor sweeping, bathroom cleaning, kitchen detailing, window and blind cleaning, carpet vacuuming, trash disposal, carpet and sofa cleaning, and other such cleaning services. In addition to these typical janitorial services some of these companies specialize in water damage restoration services. This is a specialized service and requires special training and technical knowledge of treating water damage and related preventive measures.
Here are a few benefits you can derive from hiring professional janitorial services.
In house cleaning staff versus outsourced cleaning services
Most businesses prefer hiring services of companies offering cleaning service due to the simple reason of low cleaning requirements. For instance if you are a small business with limited staff you may not need permanent cleaning staff, or you may not need cleaning service on a daily basis. This is where these cleaning companies can help you. You can opt for signing a weekly, or a fortnightly cleaning contract.
Secondly some businesses prefer to have minimum employee strength on their payroll; mostly due to minimize their employee related tax and legal obligations.
Another benefit of hiring cleaning companies is that they can perform their duty after office hours without hampering the office working within the routine working hours.
The biggest benefit of hiring professional janitorial services is that these people are specialized and have the experience of carrying out the work in a more professional and detailed manner.
Specialized cleaning Services
Although most of us when home and with some spare time like to engage ourselves in some daring DIY endeavors, but there are some things that should be best left for professionals to deal with. Residential carpet cleaning is one such area where it is better to hire a professional than stand a chance of damaging your carpet or for that matter putting some good money to waste by experimenting. Residential carpets are the most used rather walked over things in your home. With kids in the family food spillage is something that is bound to happen. Overtime things can be quite messy, and you never know what caused that nasty spot on your carpet. Professional residential carpet cleaning companies through their expertise in this field can identify the type of stains and use the removers that not only remove the stains without damaging of your carpet.
Another area that needs specialized services is water damage restoration. Flooding and water line leakage are two most probable reasons for water damage. Water damage can not only damage the structure of your property it has a health related to it as well. You may have come across a situation where in spite of any visible leakage you get to notice dampness or moisture accumulation. For instance a damp room wall or a damp basement floor without any apparent leakage can be concern. This calls for professional janitorial services to help you in restoring the water damage. These people use high-tech equipment such as humidifiers for getting the job done. If the water damage goes unchecked for some time it may host mold formation, which again need specific procedures for chalking out and sanitizing the infected areas.

Whether it is general cleaning services or specialized janitorial services Virginia such as water damage restoration Leesburg, you can hire a janitorial services company as your one stop solution to all your cleansing needs.

Julianne Hough Hits The Beach For Friend 'Therapy' After Split From Ryan Seacrest

Julianne Hough with Nina Dobrev …

Julianne Hough is combating the breakup blues with the help of her friends.

The 24-year-old, who split from Ryan Seacrest this week, stepped out with gal pals on Saturday for a little fun in the sun.

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"Beachin' with my bitches," Julianne Tweeted, along with a photo of herself with four female friends, including, stylist Riawna Capri and "The Vampire Diaries" star Nina Dobrev. "#friendsarethebesttherapy."

Prior to their beach day, the ladies were photographed heading to a salon in Beverly Hills.
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Since news of Julianne's split from Ryan (her beau of nearly three years) emerged on Friday, the former "Dancing with the Stars" pro has been posting inspirational quotes on her Twitter and Instagram pages.

"It gets better," she posted on Friday.
She later added a photo of an Ed Sheeran quote written on a chalk sign at a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf that read, "I can't tell you the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone."
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"Love when these things catch your eyes in the most unexpected places," she captioned the photo.
As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, a source confirmed to Access that Julianne and Ryan had broken up on Friday.
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The couple's hectic schedules are reported to be the cause of their split, as Ryan, 38, is busy with multiple jobs including hosting "American Idol" and his own radio show, and producing numerous reality TV shows for E! and Bravo.

Julianne has been on a whirlwind publicity tour of late for her new film with Josh Duhamel, "Safe Haven." She and her "DWTS" pro brother, Derek Hough, are also working a ballroom dance-themed drama for Starz, titled "Blackpool" (in reference to the legendary dance competition held in England).

-- Erin O'Sullivan

Copyright 2013 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Kim Kardashian: Pregnancy Is 'Painful,' Not As 'Easy' As Kourtney Made It Look!

• view PhotoKim Kardashian cradles her baby …

Kim Kardashian walked the red carpet (in heels, of course) at the Atlanta premiere of her new Tyler Perry movie on Saturday night and dished on her pregnancy.

"Being pregnant, I will say, is not as easy as my sister [Kourtney] made it look or as my mom [Kris Jenner] has made it look," the 32-year-old star told E! News at the "Tyler Perry's Temptation" premiere. "It's a little painful. I've gotten sick a couple times. It's getting a little bit more difficult [to get around]."
PLAY IT NOW: Ryan Seacrest Talks Idol Across America, Kellie Pickler On Dancing & Kim Kardashian’s Baby
Kim got a wakeup call from her doctors just last week after the globetrotting mom-to-be had a miscarriage scare, and though taking a breather is a challenge for the reality star, she said she's learning to take it slowly.
"I love being active," she said. "But I've been chilling out. I took a week off just to rest and it was amazing."
VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Many Men Of Kim Kardashian
Kim, who is due in July, isn't craving any bizarre foods. If anything, she's lost her sweet tooth.
"I'm not really craving a whole lot. I'm craving carrots and ranch dressing," she said. "I used to love sweets, I used to love chocolate, [now I] can't even eat chocolate."
As for how she and beau Kanye West make time to see each other, Kim said it can be a struggle, but they "make it work."
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hot Mama! The ‘Dash’-ing Kourtney Kardashian
"We have a really good system. He's working, I'm working. He's trying to finish his album, I'm trying to finish this season of the show," she said. "We see each other like every week or so."
Adding, "We don't let that much time go by without seeing each other - even if it's for a night or two. We'll fly to each other."
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Celebrity Baby Bumps
"Tyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor" hits theaters on March 29.
-- Erin O'Sullivan
Copyright 2013 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

U.S. restarts plutonium production for space probes

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The Department of Energy has produced its first batch of non-weapons grade plutonium, used to power space probes, since a nuclear reactor shutdown 25 years ago, NASA officials said on Monday.
The U.S. space agency turned to buying radioactive plutonium-238 from Russia after safety issues prompted the Department of Energy to close its Savannah River Site in South Carolina in the late 1980s.
The Russian supply line ended in 2010, leaving NASA with a small and aged supply of plutonium for space probes flying missions that are ill-suited for solar power.
Plutonium naturally radiates heat, which can be converted into electricity by a device called a radioisotope thermoelectric generator.
NASA has been flying nuclear-powered probes since the 1970s. Ongoing missions using such probes include the Mars rover Curiosity, the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft, Pluto-bound New Horizons and the twin Voyager probes, which are leaving the solar system.
"The new plutonium is very important to us," Jim Green, the head of NASA's planetary science division, said during a briefing at a Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston.
In partnership with NASA, the Department of Energy irradiated the radioactive metal neptunium-237 with neutrons at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee for about a month and successfully produced a small amount plutonium.
"This is just a test," Green said, adding that a report from the Energy Department on production plans and costs should be finished before the end of the year.
NASA is looking for the department to produce about 3.3 to 4.4 pounds (1.5 to 2 kg) of plutonium-238 per year.
Newly made plutonium has the added benefit of reviving older plutonium that has decayed past the point of being viable for deep space probes.
"The new material when we add with our old plutonium, which is more than 20 years old in some cases, really allows us to get the appropriate energy density out," Green said.
NASA also has been working on a more energy efficient generator, called the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator, which can produce four times more electrical power per kilogram of plutonium-238.
Green said two such flight-ready generators are on schedule for completion in 2016. Neither has yet been assigned for a specific mission.
(Editing by Christopher Wilson)

New York mayor wants to ban stores from displaying cigarettes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday proposed requiring that cigarettes be hidden from view in retail stores as a means to reduce smoking in what he said would be the first law of its kind in the United States.
Bloomberg plans to introduce to the City Council on Wednesday two bills that would require retailers to keep cigarettes in a drawer, behind a curtain or in some other concealed location.
Some retail trade groups and tobacco companies criticized the proposed display ban as an unnecessary burden.
Bloomberg, a former smoker, is accustomed to industry opposition from previous measures to improve the health of New Yorkers, including bans on smoking in most offices, restaurants, bars, parks and on beaches.
Bloomberg has also taken steps to curtail the use of trans fats and salt in the city's restaurants. Last week a court unexpectedly struck down his attempt to limit the size of sugary drinks, in part because it did not go through the City Council. The city is appealing that ruling.
"These laws would protect New Yorkers, especially young and impressionable New Yorkers, from pricing, discounts and exposure to in-store displays that promote tobacco products," Bloomberg told a news conference at a city hospital.
"Such displays suggest that smoking is a normal activity and they invite young people to experiment with tobacco. This is not a normal activity," he said.
Stores would still be allowed to advertise and display pricing information but the actual tobacco products would only be visible during a sale or restocking.
Under current federal and state laws, cigarettes must be accessible only to a store's cashiers, and in many city stores they are prominently stacked on a wall behind the cash register.
The proposal would also increase penalties on stores that illegally resell cigarettes smuggled in from states with lower tobacco taxes, which Bloomberg said cost the city $30 million in lost tax revenue every year.
Over the last 18 months, inspectors visiting 1,800 cigarette retailers found 46 percent were selling untaxed or unstamped tobacco products, city officials said. New York City cigarettes are the most expensive in the nation at around $12 or $13 a pack after federal, state and city taxes.
The legislation would also prohibit retailers from redeeming discount coupons on tobacco sales.
The Food Industry Alliance of New York State, a trade group representing groceries and convenience stores, said the display law would be an unnecessary additional and potentially costly burden on retailers without any proven effect.
"I'm not a proponent of smoking. I am a proponent of retailers who are licensed to sell a legal product being able to do so without undue government interference," said Michael Rosen, the alliance's vice president for government relations.
Altria -- the parent company of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette manufacturer -- also said it opposed the display ban and that it should be left to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco sales.
"We believe it goes too far," said David Sutton, an Altria spokesman.
The company still needed to see the details of the legislation but suspected it could breach free speech rights, Sutton said.
Bloomberg expected to have the council's support, although a vote was not expected immediately, a spokeswoman for the mayor said.
Christine Quinn, the council speaker and a leading candidate to replace Bloomberg in the November election, supported the goals of the bills but needed to review details before commenting further, a council spokeswoman said.
Bloomberg's previous bans on smoking in public places have corresponded with a decline in the number of New Yorkers who smoke, from 21.5 percent in 2002 to 14.8 percent in 2011, according to the city's health department.
Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death among New Yorkers, the department says.
(Editing by Daniel Trotta, Leslie Adler and Andrew Hay)

Simpler inauguration planned for a more modest pope

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis celebrates his inaugural Mass on Tuesday among political and religious leaders from around the world and amid a wave of hope for a renewal of the scandal-plagued Roman Catholic Church.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to cram St. Peter's Square and surrounding streets for the Mass on Tuesday to formally install Francis as the new leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.
Six sovereigns, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and other leaders as well as heads of many other faiths will be among the 130 delegations on the steps of the famous basilica.
Among them will be Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew from Istanbul, the first time the spiritual head of Orthodox Christians attends a Roman pope's inaugural Mass since the Great Schism between western and eastern Christianity in 1054.
The former Buenos Aires Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio has aroused enormous enthusiasm and interest in the Catholic world by the modest way he has assumed a post that was modeled after a Renaissance monarchy and carries titles such as "Vicar of Jesus Christ" and "Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church".
In the six days since his election, he has referred to himself only as Bishop of Rome, the position from which his authority flows, and hinted he plans to reduce Vatican centralism and govern in consultation with other bishops.
SIGNALS OF CHANGE
Vatican watchers expect him to send further signals of change by using a simpler liturgy than retired Pope Benedict, who preferred a more baroque style.
The ceremony has also been shortened to two hours after a three-hour service in 2005 when Benedict began his papacy.
Francis will start the day with a ride around St. Peter's Square to greet the crowds. He will receive the visiting political leaders in the basilica after the Mass.
On Wednesday, Francis will receive more than 30 delegations representing other Christian churches, as well as the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain religions, a Vatican spokesman said.
He will address foreign ambassadors to the Vatican on Friday and have lunch with Benedict -- their first meeting since the conclave -- on Saturday before leading celebrations the next day for Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week leading to Easter.
Francis had his first taste of the diplomatic challenges of the papacy when on Monday, Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez asked him to support Buenos Aires in a dispute with Britain over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.
A Vatican spokesman had no comment on the request.
He will also find himself greeting an international pariah, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, who has been under a European Union travel ban since 2002 because of allegations of vote rigging and human rights abuses.
The Vatican is not part of the European Union, allowing him to bend the rules.
(Editing by Giles Elgood)

Antarctic's First-Ever Whale Skeleton Found

For the first time ever, scientists say they have discovered a whale skeleton on the ocean floor near Antarctica. Resting nearly a mile below the surface, the boneyard is teeming with strange life, including at least nine new species of tiny of deep-sea creatures, according to a new study.

Though whales naturally sink to the ocean floor when they die, it's extremely rare for scientists to come across these final resting places, known as "whale falls." Discovering one typically requires a remote-controlled undersea vehicle and some luck.
"At the moment, the only way to find a whale fall is to navigate right over one with an underwater vehicle," study researcher Jon Copley, of the University of Southampton in England, said in a statement. The team's chance encounter with a 35-foot-long (10.7 meter) spread of bones that belonged to a southern Minke whale came as they were exploring an undersea crater near the South Sandwich Islands.
"We were just finishing a dive with the U.K.'s remotely operated vehicle, Isis, when we glimpsed a row of pale-coloured blocks in the distance, which turned out to be whale vertebrae on the seabed," Copley explained.
When whales die and sink to the ocean floor, their carcasses provide nutritional boosts and habitats for deep-sea life. Though their flesh decomposes within weeks, whale bones can last anywhere from 60 to 100 years, supporting bacteria and strange creatures like zombie worms, which are mouthless, eyeless animals that feed off the skeletons.
"The planet's largest animals are also a part of the ecology of the very deep ocean, providing a rich habitat of food and shelter for deep sea animals for many years after their death," said Diva Amon, another University of Southampton researcher. "Examining the remains of this southern Minke whale gives insight into how nutrients are recycled in the ocean, which may be a globally important process in our oceans."
The Antarctic whale fall, thought to have been on the seafloor for several decades, was surveyed using high-definition cameras, and samples were collected to be studied back on land. The team encountered several new species of sea snails and worms that were living off the bones. They found a new species of isopod crustacean, similar to woodlice, crawling over the skeleton, according to a statement from the U.K. National Oceanography Centre. The researchers also found an undescribed species of zombie worms (Osedax), which could help scientists study how the mysterious species has managed to become surprisingly diverse and widespread. (They've been found in whale falls in the eastern and western Pacific as well as the North Atlantic.)
"One of the great remaining mysteries of deep ocean biology is how these tiny invertebrates can spread between the isolated habitats these whale carcasses provide on the seafloor," Adrian Glover, a researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, said in a statement.
A recent study suggested that the sex strategy of zombie worms is the key to their success. Females of the species Osedax japonica quickly mature and then constantly produce eggs that harems of dwarf males fertilize, scientists found. What's more, zombie worm larvae can swim actively for at least 10 days before settling on bones on the ocean floor, according to the new research, detailed last month in the journal Naturwissenschaften.
The study of the whale fall was recently published online in the journal Deep-Sea Research II: Topical Studies in Oceanography.