If you are like me, you want to give back to the community and help others, but have more than a little trouble just giving your money to an organization not knowing where the money is being used. In some cases, you simply want your donations to serve a specific purpose. Sometimes, getting an answer on how your donation is being used is like speaking in symbols. Some instances are just a matter of not trusting the charity like with several of the American Red Cross’s purported misappropriations of donations, and Alonzo Mourning Charities and other celebrity foundations are spending money flying and putting up their celebrity friends rather than using the money for programs. In these cases, the news is very disheartening and can cause one to lose trust in those organizations. Then of course, there are those of you who may have the desire, but not the monetary means to help out, which in this economy is not a very rare thing. Fortunately, there are several other ways to help others without ever touching your checkbook or wallet.
About Eric J. Nisall
Website: http://www.dollarversity.com
Eric J. Nisall has written 155 articles so far, you can find them below.
Better Alternatives To Making Cash Donations
Quick Tip: Get Rid Of That Landline For Extra Savings
These days everyone has a cell phone (and if not, odds are you can get a free cell phone if you wanted one). If you are reading this, then I am almost willing to bet my house (pay attention, I said almost willing 
) that you have one since you are technologically inclined. It needn’t be the most cutting edge device, but a cell nonetheless. And, I’m going to guess that you have enough minutes on your plan so that they cover your needs fairly well. Additionally, consider the July–December 2010 National Health Interview Survey results which found that 29.7% of US households used only cell phone service. That means one in every three of you don’t have a landine at home. So, taking all that into consideration, why don’t the rest of you cut the cord on your landline already? (more…)
I’ve Just Joined The Yakezie Challenge
I’m excited to announce that I’ve just sign on to take the Yakezie Challenge! This is a chance for me to interact and learn from the best personal finance bloggers in the world, and in turn allow me to produce better content for the most important people: the readers.
Quick Tip: More Reasons To Fix Your Withholding Today
I know I say this a LOT, but it bears repeating over and over again: it is ridiculous for people to leave money in their withholding acount and wait until they file their taxes to get it back. I’m not going to go through all of the reasons why here (you can read a bunch of them for yourself in Withholding Too Much From Your Pay Is A Waste) but I am going to mention something that isn’t in the other post.
I Love My Credit Cards: 5 Reasons Cash Sucks And Plastic Rocks
Before I even get into this post, let me say this, I know I may in the minority when it comes to the credit vs. cash debate in the personal finance community, and I’m perfectly ok with it. I have no problem saying that I like my credit card and the benefits it brings me, many of which I have used and was thankful for after I needed them. And, I figure if J. Money can say I’m a Bottled Water Drinker & I’m Not Afraid to Admit It, and not care about what the feedback will be, then I guess I can do the same about credit cards. So without further delay, I’ll get to my points….
Quick Tip: Save On Your Internet Bill
No, this is not an advocacy for piggybacking on your neighbor’s wifi signal (that would be illegal by the way 
). It’s a very simple way of saving at least $7-$10 a month on your internet bill without much hassle or effort. In all truthfulness, it may not even be a savings tip right away, but in the long run, you’ll certainly save quite a bit. Simply go onto Amazon, eBay, Buy.com, Overstock or anyplace that sells deeply discounted electronics and pick yourself up a modem. It’s that simple. You make a one-time payment, call the internet provider and read them the MAC address from the back of the new unit, deliver the old one back to them, and viola, you’re done.
The Costs of Home Ownership: What They Don’t Tell You
Yeah, I know there has been a lot of debate about real estate being a good investment, and how in recent years, values have plummeted to historically low levels, but that’s not what this is about. This isn’t about weighing the merits of ownership versus renting in terms of cost-value analysis either. This is simply an informational summary of the total costs of owning a home; the costs that no one talks about when people tell you what the mortgage payment will be or when people talk about the tax benefits of home ownership. You see, there are a bunch of things that you will be responsible to pay for in addition to pay for outside the mortgage, and not everything will be a deduction when it comes time to file your taxes.
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