You may have a single family home, second home, or apartment. And no matter what your abode sitchy is, there is no place like home. Whenever I leave, I miss my family, house, and stuff. When we go on vacation, we are always happy to go home. I hope your sitchy feels the same. And…
Laptops, desktops, Macs, mobiles, and tablets are on many people’s wish lists this holiday season. Once these shiny new devices are connected to the Internet, they will be under siege by malware created by criminals in order to steal identities. According to a recent McAfee survey, 60% of consumers now own at least three digital devices,…
On our way home from a recent family vacation, my two year old grew understandably anxious and uncooperative while waiting for a flight in an airport terminal. So I handed over my iPhone, hoping to distract her. Within seconds, she had launched the photo application and begun scrolling through the videos of our trip. She’d…
Sleazy Grinchy scammy conmen are also in the process of providing holiday gifts for their families. But the way they do it is by taking hard earned money from good people. Scammers know that almost 100 billion dollars is spent annually on gift cards and studies show that almost 2/3rds of consumers prefer to receive…
EMV, which stands for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, refers to the chip and PIN credit card technology commonly used in Europe and elsewhere around the world. Credit cards that incorporate an embedded microprocessor chip are far more secure than any other form of credit card currently available, including the standard magnetic striped cards that are…
The best thing about a recession is it smartens people up. It makes us tighten our belts and shed excess. I’m definitely guilty of piling on the debt circa 2004-8 in the irrational exuberance years. But as soon as the ball dropped I made significant change. Immediately I looked at all the monthly recurring fees…
Burglars know where you hide stuff. That key under the mat or in the flower pot or the jewelry in the dresser draw or the cash in the cookie jar. But there are better ways to do things. A heavy fire retardant safe bolted to the floor is best. And there are other options too.…
Your Social Security number was never meant to serve the various functions it is used for today. Over the past 70 years, the Social Security number has become our de facto national ID. The numbers were originally issued in the 1930s, to track income for Social Security benefits. But “functionality creep,” which occurs when an…
There’s no need to live in fear. And there is a need to take responsibility for your family’s security by investing in a home security system and take some control over your personal security. Convicted killer and home invader on death row Steven Hayes apparently wrote letters confessing to up to 17 murders of women over the…
My goal is to not enter a single mall this holiday season. If I can do the majority of my holiday shopping at trusted online retailers, and the rest at Costco, then I’ve done well. To me, malls seem to be places for people with lots of time on their hands to drive around looking…
