Carnival of Pecuniary delights

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Carnival of Personal Finance # 206:  The Memorial Day Stars and Stripes Edition

Carnival of Personal Finance # 206: The Memorial Day Stars and Stripes Edition

It was at Wisebread last week, and it’s at Funny About Money next week. And this week it’s here. Welcome! I hope you have a pleasant Memorial Day Weekend. Nice to have a day off, but also, to take a little time to think about what Memorial Day is all about.

Editor’s Picks

Dividend Growth Investor from Dividend Growth Investor presents $500 E-Trade Brokerage Bonus.

Glblguy from Gather Little by Little presents Six Withdrawal limit on savings accounts.

Chance from Personal Finance Software Reviews presents Moneystrands Review, and says, “This is a very in-depth review on the very new personal finance application moneyStrands.”

Spend on Life from Spend on Life presents Twitter Name Game, and says, “Seemingly innocuous, the game will gather things like your mother’s maiden name, the street where you grew up, and your first pet’s name and spit out a “porn name.”

Budgeting

Canadian Finance from The Canadian Finance Blog presents Keep Track Of Your Money With Wesabe, and says, “Wesabe is a free website that allows you to track your expenses and savings. Similar to desktop programs like Quicken or Microsoft Money.”

The Happy Rock from The Happy Rock presents Revealed: The Happy Rock’s Monthly Expenses .

Pinyo from Moolanomy Personal Finance presents Earn More And Spend Less Is Your Ticket To Financial Freedom, and says, “Personal Finance is not that complicated. If you think about it, you can boil down the whole thing to this: Earn More and Spend Less.”

Career

Studenomics from Studenomics presents Planning For Life After Your College Graduation, and says, “Do we really know what we want to do after college? Many of us think so but the truth of the matter is that we have no clue what’s in store for us.”

Todd Metheny from The Personal Finance Playbook presents I Hate the Word Networking.

Super Saver from My Wealth Builder presents My Epiphany about being Self Employed.

Credit

Tony from Bad Credit Advisor presents Credit score scale range and guide.

Barbara Bryn Klare from The UpSide of Money presents Hello Kitty Credit Cards - Say Hello to the New Credit Card Industry, and says, “The face of the credit card industry is changing - to pink, white and yellow. Credit card companies to start going after previously “off-limits” targets - like children and those with sterling credit.”

Jim from Bargaineering presents How Secured Credit Cards Work.

Olivia from Independent Beginnings presents Attention Students: You Are Gonna Need Permission to Open that Credit Card.

Frank Curmudgeon from Bad Money Advice presents Credit Cards and Our Nation of Children.

American Consumer news from American Consumer News presents How the New Credit Card Laws Will Affect You.

Jeremy from Taking Charge presents Am I a lab rat in the credit card industry’s psychology experiment?.

Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life presents On Travel Credit Cards: How To Travel With Money.

Manshu from OneMint presents Prepaid Cards: Pros and Cons.

Mr Credit Card from Ask Mr Credit Card presents Credit Card Bill of Rights is Law.

vh from Funny about Money presents Credit Card Companies to Penalize “Freeloaders”: What’s Your Plan?.

Debt

Bret from BretFrohlich.com presents The 10-20-70 Plan for Paying Off Debt, and says, “This is the simplest and most effective plan I have ever seen for paying off debt.”

DJ from Corvus Financial News Wire presents Bankruptcy Alternatives To Consider, and says, “Bankruptcy is obviously in vogue these days , but there are alternatives “.

Baker from Man Vs. Debt presents Debt Tsunami: The Ultimate Method for Paying Off Debt.

Brad Chaffee from Enemy of Debt presents A Destructive Mindset: Is This What You Believe Too?.

memorial-day-flags-in-2004-003

Memorial Day honors those men and women who have died for their country. Originally called Decoration Day, the first Memorial Day was on May 30th, 1868.  It was a day set aside to decorate the graves of soldiers who had died in the Civil War.

Chris Holdhiede from Stumble Forward presents 3 Ways You Can Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone And Get Debt Free, and says, “Can You Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone?”

Economy

Miss M from M is for Money presents I Don’t Want the Recession to End.

Money Beagle from Money Beagle presents Note To Credit Card Companies: We’re ALL In A Recession.

Finance

Peter from Bible Money Matters presents If You Were Strapped For Cash, How Far Would You Go To Make Money?, and says, “Times are tough, how far would you go to make a buck?”

Ray from Financial Highway presents How To Find A Good Advisor?- Ask These Questions, and says, “A list of questions to ask a Financial Advisor before hiring. ”

Bob Vineyard, CLU from InsureBlog presents Wrong On So Many Levels, and says, “Summary: InsureBlog’s Bob Vineyard has some potentially bad news for folks taking advantage of Health Savings Accounts to lower their health insurance costs.”

TStrump from The Strump - Financial Blog presents Maximizing Your Personal Revenue, and says, “Are you making the best use of your time when it comes to earning money?”

DR from Doughroller presents Credit Card Legislation: The “Winners” and “Losers” May Surprise You, and says, “The new credit card legislation, while designed to protect consumers, may end up hurting us as much as helping us. Here’s why.”

Frugality

Madison from My Dollar Plan presents 11 Ways to Save Money This Month.

Debt Ninja from Punch Debt In the Face presents You’re only gettin’ older, and says, “Wanna know why now is the best time to figure your life out?”

FMF from Free Money Finance presents 14 Ways to Save Money, and says, “14 money saving tips and my take on them.”

FruGal from FruGal presents Budget sideboard make-over (Fall in love again with an old piece of furniture).

pfincome from Passive Family Income presents 10 Cheap Summer Vacations - Ideas for Staying at Home with the Family, and says, “10 ideas for taking a “day” vacation with your family this summer.”

Curt from PennyJobs.com presents Old Money Becomes Treasure as New Money Sources Have All But Dried Up.

Michal from Energy Saving Gadgets presents How to Save Money with a Monster Power Strip, and says, “Save money and protect your equipment with this Monster Power Strip.”

Tisha Tolar from Leave Debt Behind presents Top 10 Tips to Help You Save Money.

prayer-for-peac-memorial_day_2

A prayer for peace.

Kyle from Amateur Asset Allocator presents To Really Save Money, Cut Recurring Monthly Expenses, Not Daily Splurges, and says, “Bringing your lunch to work and cutting out the daily Starbucks are great ways to save money, but the biggest potential to cut the fat from your budget lies in your recurring expenses.”

Investing

The DIV-Net from The Div-Net presents The World is Bigger than Canada and the U.S..

FIRE Finance from FIRE Finance presents What is the current inflation rate?.

Joe Light from Invest Wisdom presents Why inspiration has no place in investing, and says, “Paying down debt, opening your first IRA, starting 401(k) contributions…these are all positive steps that a little bit of inspiration can make happen. But unfortunately, when it comes time to invest, that same kind of empowerment can get you into trouble.”

D4L from Dividends Value presents Ten Dividend Stocks Beating The S&P 500, and says, “Dividend stocks have long been considered defensive stocks - those that you buy when the economy and the market go south. While everyone else is panicked about their portfolio’s decline, dividend investors see a downturn as an incredible buying opportunity.”

Dan from Darwin’s Finance presents Start an Investment Club: How To, Rules and Reality Checks, and says, “This article provides a comprehensive reality check on the benefits and burdens of starting an investment club.”

Investing School from Investing School presents Volatility and Market Fluctuations are Great for Retail Investors, and says, “Volatility is not just good for traders. Know what the consequences are and you will make more money.”

RC from Think Your Way To Wealth presents Is Buy and Hold Investing Dead or Just Misunderstood?.

Saj from Barel Karsan presents Of Swine And Men, and says, “Stock analysts are focused on the short term, but investors should focus on the long term for investing success.”

Bob from ChristianPF presents 3 keys to safe investing, and says, “In order to keep your investments safe and successful, these are three things you should be doing… ”

Don from Keepmydollar presents Increasing your returns, and says, “Investment returns can be increased by keeping your costs down. Using index funds and some simple asset allocations you can run your own portfolio for less than having an advisor.”

Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck from Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck presents Yet another reason why you shouldn’t even try to time the market, and says, “If Warren Buffett succeeds without timing the market, why do we feel the need to?”

Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents The “Super IRA” Strategy, and says, “Consolidating old retirement plans and IRA’s can help organize your life and investments. ”

Wealth Pilgrim from Wealth Pilgrim presents Graduation Gift Dilemma…..Is $9.90 Too Much To Spend?.

Todd from Harvesting Dollars presents Simple Portfolios Are Best

ElizabethG (Modern Gal) from Modern Gal presents My Biggest Investment Mistakes (to date).

Money Management

Super Saver from My Wealth Builder presents This Recession has been a Wake Up Call.

David R. Lampsen from Personal Finance Analyst presents Why Good Advice May Not Help Your Personal Finances.

MoneyNing from Personal Finance Blog by MoneyNing presents How to Dispute Unreasonable Charges on Your Bills, and says, “If reason is on your side, don’t give up and dispute that charge!”

Matt from Finance for Physicians presents Improve Your Financial Situation by Decluttering, and says, “With many young people moving in the near future for school or professional reasons, now is a great time to declutter. The article talks about how to declutter and, more importantly, how to improve your finances by tracking and deducting donations and selling stuff around the house.”

Single Guy Money from Single Guy Money presents Financial Tips For Upcoming High School Graduates.

The Smarter Wallet from The Smarter Wallet presents How To Be A Millionaire: Secrets To Success.

FFB from Free From Broke presents 25 Traits Of The Not So Well To Do, and says, “I’ve found that people who are cash strapped tend to have a lot of these traits in common.”

Aryn from Sound Money Matters presents What Do You Do When the Bank Makes an Error in Your Favor?, and says, “Do you notify the bank or take the money and run?”

mbhunter from Mighty Bargain Hunter presents Personal finance will not crawl away and die, and says, “Personal finance is alive and well, but we need to make it our own responsibility.”

477px-graves_at_arlington_on_memorial_day

As you enjoy your long weekend, cookouts, and parades, please take a moment to think about those courageous victims of conflict - of those that have given their lives for their country, so that we may live with freedom and peace.

Real Estate

linke from Man and his Money presents Renting vs. Buying, and says, “Due to the current economy and tenuous nature of my employment, et cetera, I discuss why my wife and I are currently choosing to rent a home. Typically, I am a strong advocate of home ownership, but I am not right now.”

Debt Freedom Fighter from Discover Debt Freedom presents The Most Common Reasons to Refinance a Home.

Matt Paulson from Fine Tuned Finances presents How Much House Can You Afford?.

Reviews

Dan Melson from Searchlight Crusade presents Student Loans and Real Estate Loans: Default, Repayment vs. Nonpayment and Consolidation.

Saving

Jason Unger from Automatic Finances presents 3 Tips for Easy Short-term Savings.

Kacie from Sense to Save presents Break your big goal into chunks, and says, “Thanks for considering my post!”

Mike from Four Pillars presents Never underestimate (or overestimate) small savings or income, and says, “Compare savings to your disposable income to get a better idea is it’s worthwhile.”

Wojciech Kulicki from Fiscal Fizzle presents Creating Graphic Tools to Motivate Your Finances.

PT Money from Prime Time Money presents The CD Ladder: A Different Way to Save, and says, “All about the CD laddering strategy.”

Other

The Weakonomist from Weakonomics presents Six Lessons Star Trek Can Teach You About Money.

MoneyEnergy from MoneyEnergy presents If You Want To Feel Rich, Count the Things You Have That Money Can’t Buy.

The Incidental Economist from The Finance Buff presents An Illustrative Welfare Analysis of Google Reader, and says, “Using Google Reader as an example, this post explains how economists think about the economic value to consumers and producers of the purchase of a product. ”

MLR from My Life ROI presents Roadside Emergency Kit: What to Include, and says, “Preparing a fully stocked roadside emergency kit is a safe and smart thing to do. The kit should follow Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: You need to cover food, water, warmth, light, and health. A detailed overview of what to keep in the kit!”

J. Money from Budgets Are Sexy presents “Goodness Is The Only Investment That Never Fails.”, and says, “Giving back to the community is key for a happy life - this is my attempt to promote the charities closest to your hearts :)”

Rags from From Rags 2 Riches presents Time is Money, But Just Exactly How Much is It Worth?, and says, “Is your time really worth as much as you think it is?”

God Bless America

soldiercrop1

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The Carnival of Pecuniary Delights, #6 - Are You Cashing in on Going Green?

The Carnival of Pecuniary Delights, #6 - Are You Cashing in on Going Green?

bigstockphoto_dollars_fly_concept_436737Welcome to the still brand spanking new Carnival of Pecuniary Delights!

You can check out last week’s carnival at MoneyNing,  and next week’s carnival at I Pick Up Pennies.

And if you’re interested in hosting, or reading more about the carnival, get the scoop at Penny Pince’s Blog Carnival page.

We had 34 great entries this week.  Well, really 36 great entries, but someone, ahem, I won’t say who - but you know who you are - tried to slip more than one entry under the radar.  Naughty blogger.

Please link back, and if you enjoy the carnival, stumble, fav, twitter and anything else you’d like to do.

If you like my blog sign up for my feed.  I’m trying to get to 200 subscribers and it ain’t easy.  And if any of those google ads are calling you, click it.

Now, to the carnival.

The world is going green.  And for us personal finance bloggers, there’s money to be made!  There’s a plethora of ways to cash in. clunker_1

For instance, have you heard of the revamped up and coming “Cash for Clunkers” Program making it’s way through the legislature?  It’s designed to assist both the auto industry and the environment, as well as you!

Favs

FMF from Free Money Finance presents Getting Started With Investing.

J. Money from Budgets Are Sexy presents What makes a job a truly enjoyable place to work?

PT Money from Prime Time Money presents AnnualCreditReport.com and Your Free Credit Score. The only place to get a true credit report.

Charlie from PayLessForFood.com presents How to Buy Bread and Bakery Products So Cheap You’ll Think You’re Stealing.

Prune Danish from Frugal Luxury presents The Perfect Frugal Quiche.  Frugal, to me, means ‘without waste’. This recipe is inexpensive to prepare…but it also saves time, and uses up leftovers.

Career

Writer’s Coin from The Writer’s Coin presents Turning Down a Promotion: A Baseball Lesson.

Debt and Credit

Bob from Christian Personal Finance presents Debt Snowball software. YNAB actually comes with a great debt snowball software tool as a bonus!

Pinyo from Moolanomy Personal Finance presents Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps To Financial Freedom.  An in depth look of Dave Ramsey’s famous Baby Steps To Financial Freedom plan.

Matt from Taking Charge presents You are your own best credit repair company.

Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life presents Prevent Identity Theft: Some Credit Report Monitoring Services and Options. He discusses a variety of ways to monitor your credit status and history. There are both free and paid ways to do it and he reviews the pros and cons of these options.

Madison from My Dollar Plan presents Making Home Affordable Second Lien Program.

Mr. ToughMoneyLove from Tough Money Love presents Reasons to Monitor Your Net Worth, not Your Credit Score.  There are some very good reasons to pay more attention to your net worth and less to your credit score. This post lists some of them.

Canadian Finance from The Canadian Finance Blog presents Borrowing for the Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC). The HRTC is a Canadian 15% credit on money spent for renovations over $1,000 and no more than $10,000.

Rajeev Kumar Singh from Money For Investment presents Benefits of using your credit card wisely.

Matt B from Financial Methods presents Debt Statistics-How do you Stack Up?.  Where do you stand when compared to the “average” American Adult when it comes to debt?

tax_reliefYou’ll want to pay attention to the 2009 tax breaks available for insulating your home, or buying a hybrid, too.

Frugality

Online Banks from Online Banks Blog presents New Hybrid Cars - Save Money On Gas.

Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents Easiest and Simplest Chicken Pasta Recipe You’ll Ever Make.

Penelope Pince from Pecuniarities presents Language Lesson ~ Frugality is a Virtue.  A look at the origins of the word frugality and why it’s a trait to be proud of rather than ashamed.

Jim from Bargaineering presents How to Become a Coupon Ninja in 15 Minutes A Week.

kyle from Suburban Dollar presents Why Budgets Fail.

Insurance

MLR from My Life ROI, Getting the Best Return on Life presents What is Dental Insurance & Who Has It? A synopsis of what dental insurance is, who has it in America, and reasons why you should.

Miss M from M is for Money presents FSA vs HSA.obama_energy_policybmp

Investors will benefit from all the money Obama is throwing at alternative energy companies.  Here’s where the money is going.

Investing

Ray from Financial Highway presents Investment Club- Learning About Investing.  Investment Clubs can be a very powerful educational resource to learn about investing and money management.

SVB from The Smarter Wallet presents Investing In The Stock Market? Rules To Help You Sleep At Night.

Money Management

pfincome from Passive Family Income presents How to Create Passive Income Through Affiliate Marketing.  Creating a new income stream through affiliate marketing can be an excellent way to pay down your debt or increase your net worth.

Mr.GoTo from Go To Retirement presents Building a Retirement Emergency Fund.  A retirement emergency fund serves a purpose that is different from a conventional emergency fund. Read more about it.

B Simple from Simplifed Financial Lifestyle presents Financial Delegation will lead to Financial Simplification.

mfd from My Findependence day presents Fancy Tax Software - Should You Be Afraid?.

p7-smart-meter-3mainSmart meters will soon help you locate the energy sinks at home.  The claim is that you can save as much as 20% on your energy bills.

Other

Kelly from Almost Frugal from Almost Frugal presents Living With A Chronic Condition.

Sun from The Sun’s Financial Diary presents Ohio CollegeAdvantage Named One of the Best College Savings Plans.

The Happy Rock from The Happy Rock presents Reader Stories - Doing What It Takes.


Get green going green.

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Bottled Water Equals Tap Water?

Bottled Water Equals Tap Water?

Americans spent $22 billion dollars on 9 billion gallons of bottled water in 2007, reports Web MD.  That’s 29 gallons per person.

That’s not too frugal, but I’m embarassed to say that I’m one of them.

I love Poland Springs carbonated water.   But in my research for this post, I found out some startling information about all carbonated water: that, because it’s carbonated, the FDA deems it a soft drink. And because it’s a soft drink, it’s subject to less stringent testing.

Life gets complicated, even with bottled water.

The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) did a study comparing the testing done on bottled versus tap water.

The results are disturbing. You can look at them in a table at the link below:

Key Differences Between EPA Tap Water and FDA Bottled Water Testing Rules

What the table says:

  • Municipal water is required to be tested for E.Coli, other bacteria, and toxic chemicals regularly.
  • Bottled water has to be tested only sparodically, if at all.
  • Soft drinks don’t have to be tested for anything.

Here’s other pros and cons I came up with.

Pros

  • Some bottled water distributors might argue that because of their water source, it doesn’t need to be tested as much as municipal water. Could be.
  • Convenience.
  • Most water distributors do more than the mandated microbiological testing to ensure that none of their customers become ill.
  • There’s a phone number on the label that can be called to obtain detailed information on where the water comes from, and how it is purified and tested.

Cons-

  • 25% of all bottled water starts as municipal water, says the NRDC.  Products such as Aquafina are made by filtering municipal water through complex reverse osmosis filtration systems (RO).    Activated carbon filters may be used before the RO system to remove organic impurities that can affect taste, and also the life of the RO filters. Why is this a con?  RO treatment is already used extensively at municipal water plantsSo the procedure is redundant.
  • For tap water- using a home filter, such as a Brita filter, should remove any further taste affecting contaminants added to the water while traveling through pipes to your home.  So for pennies of day, you have the exact same water.
  • Toxicity tests run on tap water screen out hundreds of carcinogens, and other compounds which effect development of children both before and after birth.
  • Cost. Why buy something you can get from your tap?
  • The bottles! It takes 140 yrs for most plastics to break down.  We’re being buried in plastic. 90% of all plastic bottles never make their way to the recycle bin.  The bottles can also have toxic leachables.

What choices do you make regarding bottled water?

As for me-

  • I’ll probably never give up my carbonated water.
  • I’m going with the Brita filtered tap water where I can, otherwise.
  • When I do buy bottled water, I’m choosing filtered over non-filtered.
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Alternative Energy Stocks: Their Time Has Come

Alternative Energy Stocks: Their Time Has Come

Though we certainly have a long way to go, most will agree that the economy is looking up.  Just a few weeks ago, Jeffery over at Queercents wrote about positive signs in the real estate market.

In this article, I’d like to share with you my optimism on alternative energy stocks.

Both legislative and public sentiment has shifted.  Alternative energy is “in.”

  1. People like the idea of not being at the mercy of companies like Exxon-Mobil and the like for their energy needs. When it cost over $100 dollars to fill up your SUV every week, you start believing in alternative energy.  For a few quarters of excessive profits, oil companies will pay dearly.
  2. Obama is definitive in his support, both verbally, and with lots of cash. Some of his goals : supplying 10% of all electricity used in the US with alternative energies by 2012, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050.
  3. The success of products such as solar panels, windmills, and the Prius is snowballing.
  4. Much as many will never admit in the USA - global warming is a given.  Ask the polar bears.

Here’s some great reading - should you be inclined.  As always, buy stocks only after extensive research.

To all of us Treehuggers:  We have climbed the mountain.  Let’s enjoy the view.

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Introducing a New Magazine Theme

Introducing a New Magazine Theme

Welcome to the new Greener Pastures!

If you’re enjoying this theme, and would like to learn more about it, head over to the Solostream website.

Click here to view more detailsbanner ad

Passive Income Review - April 2009.  May Goals.

Passive Income Review - April 2009. May Goals.

Goals Review for April

1)  Blog

  • Increase monthly blog income to $75

Result:

  • The bad news - I played around with the Google ad positioning at the sacrifice of some revenue for the month.  I did not reach my target of $75 total blog revenue.
  • The good news - I’ve optimized Google ad positioning.  It should do well going forward. And I made some money on Amazon ads - first time.

2) Credit Card

  • Find new best credit card cash back option.  My credit card earning 2% cash back is being converted to one that earns 1% cashback.

I’ve been unable to identify a better card, except possibly the Discover Card.  Does any one out there use this card?  When the fine print says “up to 1 % cash back” what does that mean exactly?  Is it 1% or not?

3)  Identify 1 new passive income stream.

Amazon associates ads may be it.  I’ve positioned the ads into articles.  This proved more successful than just having links in the sidebars. 

4)  Research a stock to add to my portfolio.

I’ve added the following stocks to my portfolio:

Speculative:

  1. General Motors (GM).  220 shares @$1.89.
  2. Ford (F).  100 more shares @ $3.85.  Add these to my original 150 shares purchased last month @ $2.00.

Growth/dividend:

  1. Trinity Industries (TRN).  100 shares @ $12.93 and an additional 50 @ $12.65.

Growth:

  1. Marvel Entertainment (MVL).  100 shares @ 29.87.

Portfolio Summary April 2009
(to view click on the links)

Table

Chart

Passive Income Summary April, 2009

Table


Goals next month

  1. Get the blog income up.
  2. Continue learning about stocks and monitoring portfolio, with a focus on alternative energy stocks.

How’d your month go?  If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, I look forward to hearing from you.

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Save Some Green This Earth Day - Sales at Amazon All Month. Plus 5 More Money-Saving Links

Save Some Green This Earth Day - Sales at Amazon All Month. Plus 5 More Money-Saving Links

Earth Day Savings Pro-Planet and Pro-Walletwise!

Amazon Celebrates Earth Day April 22nd With Green Sales All Month!

earthdaysavings

More Green Savings

Join the eBay Green Team

ebay

30 Daysof Green Deals at The Daily Greendailygreedailygreen

The National Enquirer of Green
ecorazzi1

Go Green With Oprah
opr_cvr-med

The Official Earth Day eStore

2009image

Eating Healthy Without Being Wealthy - Dark Chocolate and Red Wine Have More in Common Than You Think

Eating Healthy Without Being Wealthy - Dark Chocolate and Red Wine Have More in Common Than You Think

Dark chocolate and red wine have more in common than you think.  It’s all about their Flavonoids - a clan of polyphenolic compounds that pack a powerful antioxidant punch.  Antioxidants eat free radicals, and free radicals cause many age related degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

Dark Chocolate - The darker the better.

Dark chocolate, but not milk chocolate, or dark chocolate eaten with milk, according to a recent Web MD article.  Recent evidence shows that milk puts a roadblock on much of the adsorption of the powerful antioxidants that chocolate is laden with.

Also, milk chocolate typically has only 15 percent to 25 percent cocoa.  Dr. Sheeler of the Mayo Clinic says that to gain the health benefits, the chocolate must contain at least 60% cocoa.  Dark chocolate tends to have 50 percent to 80-plus percent cocoa.

“No need to eat a whole chocolate bar,” says Dr. Sheeler.  “30 calories of dark chocolate per day provide you with all the health benefits.  And no need to buy the priciest brands.”

You just want to stay away from the really cheap brands which are stripped of the flavonols during processing.

Web MD describes one example of how flavonols work in A Dark Chocolate a Day Keeps the Doctor Away::

“Epicatechin is a particularly active member of a group of over [6000] compounds called plant flavonoids. Flavonoids keep cholesterol from gathering in blood vessels, reduce the risk of blood clots, and slow down the immune responses that lead to clogged arteries.”

So be a good do-be, and eat your fruits, vegetables and chocolate.

Red Wine - It’s in the red.

White wine is called the “white bread” wine when it comes to health benefits.

From Science Daily, Mar,2008:

“Researchers showed for the first time that a natural antioxidant found in  purple grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells by reaching to the cell’s core energy source, or mitochondria, and crippling its function.”

Graph of Antioxidant Activity

Antioxidant Activity is reported as Oxygen Radical Adsorbance Capacity (ORAC) of various foods. Note that since this chart was published in 2004, milk chocolate has been removed from the list due to the negating milk effect and low cocoa content.

Where else are flavonoids found?

In a ubiquitous  variety of inexpensive common foods such as tea, soy products, and many fruits and vegetables.  Western populations consume an average of 150-200 mgs per day.  Mediterranean diets top the list of cultural diets containing higher levels.

Here’s the top ten fruits, vegetables, and legumes:

Apples, apricots, blueberries, pears, raspberries, strawberries, black beans, cabbage, onions, parsley, pinto beans, and tomatoes.

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Seventeen Best Links to (Really) Free Stuff

Seventeen Best Links to (Really) Free Stuff

“Free stuff?” “Free Education?” Sure…..
Well, I’ve done some checking, and these sites offer really-truly-for sure-no kidding free stuff, or free college courses at major universities.

Have fun!!!! Bookmark this post- you can’t take it in all at once. Please feel free to add any favorite sites of your own in the comments.

Stuff

Updated Daily Free Stuff

Free Stuff Times

All Kinds of (Really)Free Stuff

FreeSite

That Freebie Site

Freebie Fanatic

Only Really Free Stuff

Best Free Stuff (lots of baby stuff on this one)

Totally Free Stuff and Freebies Directory

Freaky Freddie’s Fun House of Free Stuff

A Reference Desk to Free Sites

Free Software Directory

Freeware

Major Universities Around the World Providing Free On-line Classes.

Universities With the Best Free On-Line Courses

Free On-Line Courses From Great Universities

Other Free Educational Sites

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence

Free Maps

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