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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Which cable TV option is best?
Dayton-area cable TV providers are not created equally.
From price to service to reliability to ease of use, sometimes you don’t really know what you are getting until you have committed to a comprehensive package.
And sometimes — if you opt for a cable, phone and wireless bundle — you don’t find out you don’t like it until after you have changed your e-mail address or phone number, making your choice more complicated to undo.
To prevent others from signing up for cable TV they really wouldn’t want, and to get the real scoop on what cable TV option is best, let us know your experiences and what option you think is best.
Your responses, combined with data from cable companies and consumer advocate feedback, will help us advise Dayton-area residents as to what option is best for cable TV viewing. (See also, U-verse’s response.)
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Treadmill safety tips for children
In light of the horrible treadmill accident that claimed the life of Mike Tyson’s 4-year-old daughter on Tuesday, May 26, Consumer Reports has put together a guide to help keep your children safe around treadmills and other exercise equipment.
CR noted that hospital-treated treadmill injuries are on the rise, adding that the greatest percentage of injuries have been among toddlers who were hurt while a parent using the machine didn’t see the child playing behind or beneath it.
A report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimated that more than 25,000 children younger than 14 are injured by exercise equipment, including stationary bikes, treadmills, and stair climbers, each year.
Here is a synopsis of CR’s safety tips:
Keep your child away from the treadmill while it is in use.
When the treadmill is not in use, unplug it, and if possible, lock it up to keep out of your child’s reach. Consider surrounding it with a safety gate.
If your treadmill has a safety clip, remove it when the machine is not in use. This switch poses a strangulation risk. Removing it can also prevent accidental operation of the machine.
Keep young children away from all exercise equipment without safety locks.
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Trick yourself into saving money
Tip Hero, a savings-oriented dispenser of common sense, has passed along a list noting 10 ways you can trick yourself into saving money.
The list, originally from LifeHacker.com, helps set up rules so that you keep more money in the bank.
Among their top ideas:
Setting up an automatic savings plan — out of sight, out of mind.
Making a list of “Crap I Just Don’t Need.”
And, setting up a standard waiting period (like the cooling off period for guns) before committing to more expensive purchases.
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Freeze foods — even milk and butter — and save
When you are trying to save money, it can be advantageous to buy food in bulk and to make those purchases last.
In that vein, About.com put together a list of food that you may not realize you can freeze. By doing so, you can stretch your grocery dollar.
Among the items you can freeze are milk, butter, bananas, celery, fresh tomatoes, fresh herbs, nuts, zucchini, squash and apples.
For more information on how to freeze these items, visit the About.com site.
On the flip side, their experts recommend you do not freeze delicate vegetables, fruits with high water content, cooked egg whites, mayonnaise, cooked pasta and cream cheese, among others.
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Don’t get hit with tax surprise
Frederick Bennett, owner of Bennett’s Tax Service, 17 N. Belmont Ave., called recently to let me know about an important potential problem relating to the recently enacted Making Work Pay provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Through 2010, Making Work Pay will provide a refundable tax credit of up to $400 for working individuals and up to $800 for married taxpayers filing joint returns.
The tax credit will be calculated at a rate of 6.2 percent of earned income and will phase out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income in excess of $75,000, or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly.
All working Americans who receive a paycheck and are subject to withholding may have already seen an increase in their take-home pay because in most cases, the credit is being handled by employers through automatic withholding changes.
That’s where the problem may lie.
As a result of the program, all working taxpayers’ withholdings will be lowered, even if that’s not optimal for individual situations.
Married couples filing jointly, Bennett said, need to be sure they aren’t having too little taken out of their collective paychecks to cover their taxes.
“If that happens,” he said, “when married couples file their income taxes, they may lose up to $800 of what they would have received as a refund.”
His advice — begin by checking your withholding status with your employer. “Some people may not have changed that for 15 or 20 years and may have had changes like kids growing up, marriage, divorce,” he said.
Then, make any necessary changes to be sure you are paying enough now so you don’t get hit with an unpleasant surprise next April.
Tax professionals can offer advice about appropriate withholding levels or you can use the Internal Revenue Service’s withholding calculator at irs.gov.
Bennett said others who might need to check their withholding status include married couples with one person working part-time, pension recipients, self-employed people or people with more than one job.
“People rely on their refunds, so it’s important for them to be sure they’re paying the right amount now,” Bennett said.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Consumer interest, Good ideas, Helpful information, Savings
