Jene Green

AP - A Salvation Army worker was shot and killed Christmas Eve in front of his three young children by a man who attempted to rob him outside the charity’s community center in North Little Rock, a Salvation Army official said Friday.

Read more of Salvation Army major shot in front of 3 children (AP)…

It’s not official yet–but it’s getting awfully close. With the Senate finally passing an $871 billion healthcare reform bill, there’s just one major step left before the most sweeping healthcare legislation in at least 45 years becomes law.

Read more of How the Senate Bill Would Change Healthcare (U.S.News & World Report)…

Russian plan expected to spark controversy with animal rights groups.

Read more of Monkey to be sent to Mars…

Brittany Murphy in Cannes, France in May 2005 (Evan Agostini/Getty)

Following on her death via cardiac arrest on Sunday morning, TMZ is reporting that there are no signs of ‘foul play’ in the autopsy of actress Brittany Murphy, the actress famous in roles ranging from Clueless to 8 Mile to recent film Deadline. The LA County Coroner announced the finding. Of course, a toxicology test is pending, results of which won’t be available for at least 4-6 weeks. And according to RadarOnline, the Los Angeles Police Department are still looking into whether or the leading lady was a victim of an overdo

Read more of ‘Normal’ autopsy for Brittany Murphy, her will leaves estate to her mother…

SALT LAKE CITY - A relative says Kim Peek, the man who inspired the title character in the Oscar-winning movie “Rain Man,” has died. He was 58.

Fran Peek says his son had a heart attack Saturday and was pronounced dead at a hospital in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray.

Read more of Father: Utah man who inspired ‘Rain Man’ dies (AP)…

Taylor Swift has been voted The Associated Press entertainer of the year. The country starlet was chosen by newspaper editors and broadcast producers across the country in a survey of AP members. (Dec. 21)

Read more of Taylor Swift voted AP entertainer of the year…

AP - Carrie Underwood is engaged to Ottawa Senators hockey player Mike Fisher, her publicist said Monday. No wedding date has been set for the couple, who have been dating for about a year. “The couple couldn’t be happier,” said publicist Jessie Schmidt.

Read more of Carrie Underwood engaged to NHL player Mike Fisher (AP)…

WASHINGTON – Washington, D.C., police are investigating after Internet videos showed a detective waving his gun during a mass snowball fight on a city street.

Read more of Video: D.C. officer draws gun at snowball fight…

AP - Laura Dekker, the 14-year-old Dutch girl whose bid to sail solo around the world was blocked by a court, has gone missing, leaving behind her boat, police said Sunday.

Read more of Dutch teen who sought solo sailing trip disappears (AP)…

Want to see what $7,500 looks like? Of course you do. Boom! Stu Jackson ( @angrysocialist ), the NBA’s Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, announced today that Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings (notes) ( @YUNGBUCK3 ) has been fined $7,500 for posting a message on his Twitter account fo…

Read more of Brandon Jennings fined for positive, ill-timed Twitter post…

Groceries are unavoidable because we all have to eat. There are many ways to save money while shopping for groceries, but some are more consistent than others. If you are feeding a large family, it is even more important to cut costs where you can, or this can easily become your largest monthly expense.

Coupons

Coupons are great, but only if they are for a product you already use. Many websites will offer you large numbers of coupons for filling out their questionnaires and agreeing to try several offers, but that, in the end, rarely does much for you. If you get a weekly newspaper, you should definitely take a look at the coupons, but only clip those for products that you use. Purchasing something you won’t use because you have a coupon isn’t helpful.

The next trick with coupons is to try to match them up with sales at the supermarket. If you purchase an item for $1.50, originally selling for $2 and use a buy one, get one coupon, you drop the price to $0.75 a piece, which is considerable savings. If you can do the same thing on double coupon days, the price drops is even more significant.

Stocking up and Planning

When foods you commonly use go on sale, purchase in bulk. Recently, General Mills cereals were on sale at the local supermarket. $1.50 a box is cheaper than generic brands, so I went and picked up 10 boxes of each cereal my kids liked. Each 10 boxes qualified for an additional $5.00 off, so I ended up paying only a dollar a box for name brand cereals. They don’t spoil and we will eat them for a couple of months.

Once you have the weekly circulars, plan your menu for the next week. Focus on the lower priced specials. If ground beef is on sale, you might plan hamburgers one night, chili another and spaghetti with meat sauce a third. You get three good meals for less. If you set aside leftovers as part of the meal plan for the week, then let your kids know; mine have a habit of eating anything they find in the fridge if not warned in advance.

Warehouse Stores

Check out the warehouse stores with an eye towards prices. Take the flyers from the supermarket with you because some things are cheaper at the warehouse. For example, tuna could be at $1 per can versus $1.69 at most markets, but others are more expensive. Also, you will be tempted to purchase more than you need, and if you don’t use it, the waste adds to the cost.

Warehouses are a great place to get discounts on prescriptions and meats. You have to be willing to portion out the meats on you own since they come in large quantities and most people don’t need six pounds of hamburger at one time. Freeze things quickly to avoid spoilage. Some cheeses and milk will freeze well, too.

Finally, when shopping for groceries, stick to seasonal produce. Cantaloupe may be a $1 a piece in the summer, but $4 in the winter. Local produce is also cheaper and if you eat a lot of it, you might want to look into a CSA farm where you can buy a share for the season.

Groceries are one of the best areas in which to cut back if your family budget needs a bit of updating, so get working!

In what is becoming a weekly Saturday event, I’m going to share with you an article from the How to Save Money on Everything ebook. It’s free for all newsletter readers so go get your free copy now by clicking here, or you can always come back next Saturday for some more.

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Related Articles at Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning:

• On Groceries and Food Towards Our Financial and Physical Well-Being


• Save Your Receipts To Promote Frugality


• I Could Use Someone Else’s Credit Card to Buy My Groceries


• The Importance of Knowing You Are Spending Intelligently


• Coupon Tip – Making Sure It’s Always Available

Read more of How to Save Money On Your Groceries…

Ready or not, it’s almost the season when we always write down the wrong year. I don’t know about you, but I’m almost certain that I will be writing 2009, slapping my hand and changing it to 2010.

If anything, 2009 was different. The recession, the massive layoffs, the scare of unrecoverable stock market declines, the change in savings rate, and the move towards frugality are just a few of the seismic shifts we experienced as citizens of Earth this year.

With all the interesting headlines, how have 2009 changed you? But before you answer though, it’s only fair that I share with you how 2009 changed me. Here they are.

1. The Appreciation for Simplicity – One of the great gifts about aging is that you have more appreciation for many aspects of life. For me, simplicity is definitely high up there. In 2009, we realized that money has the potential to evaporate out of thin air, and it’s only those that don’t need much, not the wealthiest, whom stayed truly happy.


2. Actually, a Further Understand of Simplicity – Baby Sara’s arrival is definitely not a simplification of my life. Yet, it will be one of the happiest event for not only myself, but my whole family. There are exceptions to all rules, and no one should never let a punch line like “pursuing simplicity” to become the excuse of their lives.


3. Saving and Making Money – A prime example of exceptions. For years, I’ve always thought about frugal living. This year, I came to the understanding that it’s much more efficient for me to spend time making $5 to pay for the $3 latte, instead of feeling deprived. Is $3 for coffee ridiculously expensive in and of itself? Absolutely. Yet, paying for it could still be one of the better decisions you can make.


4. A Sense of Time – For the first time in my life, I spent the whole year working for myself. When I had a 9-5, I used to think that most of the time I spent everyday had nothing to do with what I was paid for. Meetings, arguments, idea pitches that constantly consumed my time had little to do with actually getting the work done. In a weird way, saving time didn’t seem valuable to me, because more work meant more meetings. I associated more productive with negativity. Now that I work for myself and see that the time I stop wasting is actually worth much more, time became much more important, and something worth the effort to create.


5. Health is Important – I gained weight this year, and it took a shocking sight at the scale one day to realized that I needed to change my daily habits. Nowadays, I spent quite a bit of time outside of my home in what others would consider unproductive time. Yet, I’m accomplishing more. For one, I’m happier. But just as importantly, I’m healthier, think quicker, and way more efficient at what I need to do.


6. Money is the Wrong Goal – Money in and of itself is becoming less and less important to me. We talk about money and try to maximize our wealth because it enables us to live more, to learn more and to give more. Find your real goals, and I assure you that it will actually help you achieve your numerical wealth targets much easier than driving yourself nuts with dollar signs.

How about you? How has 2009 changed you? Do you think those will be lasting changes?

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Related Articles at Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning:

• Changed to Wordpress!


• Changed Web Hosting Company


• Have You Gotten Your W-2s Yet?


• Feeling Guilty to Spend Money on Anything


• Happy New Year and Enjoy a Great 2009!

Read more of Have 2009 Changed You?…

AP - Hugo Chavez accused the Netherlands on Thursday of allowing the United States to use Dutch islands off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast to prepare a possible military attack against his country.

Read more of Venezuela’s Chavez sees US threat in Dutch islands (AP)…

Tiger Woods’ wife about to cash in…

While Nike stands by their man Tiger Woods, referring to him as the greatest golfer in history and calling his infidelity “a minor blip,” it’s being reported that Nike’s nemesis Puma knows a good Swedish spokesperson when they see her. Looks like Elin Nordegren’s going to be a working woman soon…

Read more of Elin Nordegren In Talks With Puma…

RadarOnline.com reports that the Florida Department of Children and Families visited Tiger Woods’ home yesterday. According to the article, it is common for the agency to evaluate a home following suspected cases of domestic violence, and refusing to cooperate “can lead to severe repercussions by state law.”

TMZ previously reported that one official described the event as “a domestic issue,” but a spokesman said “we don’t believe it is a domestic issue.”

Women linked to Tiger Woods:

NSFW pictures of porn star Joslyn James.

NSFW pictures of porn star Holly Sampson.

Mindy Lawton, who claims

Read more of Tiger Woods’ Child Services Investigation? Authorities Reportedly Visited Home…

AP - Federal agents are investigating whether a helicopter they have held for 14 months at an airport in Texas was earmarked for shipment to Iran.

Read more of US agents hold suspected Iran-bound helicopter (AP)…

AP - Tiger Woods had to be a happy man as he settled into a seat on his private jet for the long flight home from Australia. His successful comeback year was all but complete, and the rapturous reception he received Down Under was a pleasant reminder of his status as the most sought-after athlete in the world.

Read more of Two weeks that shattered the legend of Tiger Woods (AP)…

by Claudine Zap

It’s official. Tiger Woods is not just a golf prodigy. If the reports are true, the over-achiever managed to date a prodigious number of women, while also being married with a family. The many women linked to the professional athlete are catching some serious buzz, from adult film stars to pancake-house waitresses. But don’t count this Tiger out: There are still more reports of liaisons with as-yet-unnamed women. Here, a cheat sheet, if you will, of the man’s many mistresses. So far.

Rachel Uchitel

The woman who helped break up a marriage and a car window finally spoke out,

Read more of The Many Women of Tiger Woods…

Protestors now demand an ‘Iranian Republic, not Islamic Republic.’

Read more of Amir Taheri: Iran’s Democratic Moment…

Ever wish you could micromanage the heating and cooling of your workplace down to the area around your desk?  Turns out, not only would it make you more comfortable, but it would also save energy.

If you’ve ever worked in a large office building, you know that the AC can pump so much that you’re freezing in the middle of summer.  In my last workplace, many people used individual space heaters to cancel out the arctic blast of the AC vents — not exactly energy efficient!  Well, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have discovered that allowing people to control their own AC v

Read more of Control the climate at your desk, save energy…