Stop Paying Credit Card Debt and Stop Worrying About It

Every month thousands of Americans are forced to stop paying credit card debt simply because they are out of money. Half a million people in the US lose their jobs every month due to the deepening depression and it becomes a choice of food and shelter or make a credit card payment.

If you can't pay credit card debt, then what are you to do? First, you must completely change your thinking from "traditional economy" to "depression era" survival mode. Once upon a time, you had great credit, paid your bills on time and planned to live happily ever after.

Then the "big bad" economic depression formed and the sky began falling, raining pink slips down upon millions of people. Uncle Sam saw what was happening and with his infinite wisdom, he began the biggest "bailout" of banks and large corporations in the history of the world.

Your life changed from a fairy tale to a full-blown horror classic in a matter of months and now you're being chased by a credit card monster that is determined to eat you alive! Next month this scenario will repeat itself as another half a million people become unemployed.

The good thing is, the credit card monster can't eat us all. Some people will adapt to the debt collectors strategies and emerge to live a debt free life. Who are the survivors? You might call them the "action figures", the people who take action and defend themselves against collectors

As you begin to change your thinking about your credit-card-debt situation, you will need to realize that it was not you who caused the economic meltdown, it was the banking system. Further, you must know that after you stop paying credit card debt, the bank "wrote off" your debt and moved on.

After about six months of nonpayment, the bank sells your "debt" to debt collection companies and that is "the end "of the story for the credit card company. From that point on your account never existed with the original credit card company.

The debt collector paid a few cents on the dollar for your account information and he will now use your "moral obligation" traditional thinking to scare you into paying him instead of the original credit card company. The original credit card company will not receive a penny from the debt collector should you choose to give him any money.

The debt collector took a big risk when he purchased your account. His thinking is that he can scare you into paying him and reap a huge profit from you. He will use every legal means available to collect money from you, and many collectors will use "illegal" tactics to extort your money.

Most people don't know that they too have an arsenal of completely legal tactics to use against debt collectors. Once you show the debt collector that you have absolutely no fear of him, he will quickly move on to those who are sticking their head in the sand hoping he will go away.

You can easily make the sky fall on the debt collectors head by dropping bits and pieces of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act on his head one piece at a time and he'll quickly move onto the less knowledgeable, easy prey.

Arm yourself with knowledge and don't be a "cowardly lion". Follow the yellow brick road laid out for you by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and you can successfully end your credit card nightmare.

Hacksaw, Handles & Blades - No, You Don't Know How to Use One

Hacksaws are one of the most common hand tools. Nearly everyone owns one, and if you don't have one, you need to buy one. Hacksaws are inexpensive and very economical to use. But most of you never use it because the one time you tried to use it things didn't go well. You broke the hacksaw blade, the blade kept falling out of the handle, or it kept getting stuck in the piece you were trying to cut. If you did manage to get the piece cut, it took forever and the cut ended up crooked.

The main reasons most people have difficulty when sawing metal with a hacksaw are:

You have the blade in wrong

You aren't using a sharp blade

There is too much flex in the blade

The number of teeth is to low for the project

You are putting too much pressure on the saw

You don't clamp the work.

I will cover each of these difficulties as you and I go through this article.

Hacksaws and hacksaw blades are designed to cut metal (I will tell you how to use it to cut wood and plastic) and most people find cutting metal very difficult and frustrating. The reason, most of the time, is that they don't really know how to use the metal hacksaw.

What is a Hacksaw?

A hacksaw is a metal frame designed to hold a tempered metal blade. The blade is typically 1/2 inch high and the majority of them are 12 inches long. The blade has a hole on each end that fits into pins on the hacksaw. Hacksaws are designed to cut on the push stroke. The handle (grip) on a properly designed saw is angled just right so you put a little pressure on the blade when you push it through the material you are cutting. Even though some so-called "experts" will tell you that you can put the blade in the other way a hacksaw does not work well if you have the blade in backwards.

Do you need a Hacksaw?

You can cut almost anything with a hacksaw. Although it was designed to cut metal, you can use it to cut plastic, wood, metal tubing, aluminum, copper, and brass. It works very well to cut electrical tubing (conduit), BMX (flexible metal tubing), plastic water pipe, (PVT & CVT) and even nuts and bolts. You can use it to cut a 2X4 in a pinch and with the right blade porcelain tile.

Setting up the Hacksaw to Cut.

Step 1. Determine which blade you will use to cut the material. Use a 32 t.p.i. blade for conduit, an 18 tooth blade for cutting off a bolt or plastic pipe and an 8 tooth for wood. In practice you want at least three teeth in contact with the material at any time. If you are cutting deeper than the depth of the blade use a blade that has wavy teeth. The wavy blade leaves a wider slot (kerf) that keeps the blade from sticking in the groove you are cutting.

You can use it to cut wood. It will cut a lot slower than a wood saw, but it works if you don't have anything else. Use a 8 or 10 tooth blade and mark the cut line on the board both horizontally and vertically. Use the horizontal mark to make you initial cut (groove) and the vertical mark to keep your cut straight. Take your time and don't put a lot of pressure on the hacksaw.

Step 2. Insert the blade so that the teeth are pointing forward. If you can't see this, rub your finger gently over the teeth of the blade.

You will feel the teeth "grip" your finger. Put the blade so it grips when you push the saw. The holes of the blade go into the pins on the bottom of the frame. Many hacksaws are designed to take different length blades so if you have an adjustable frame you may have to shorten or lengthen the frame to fit your blade.

The teeth should try to "grab" your finger when pushed. If they don't feel sharp, the blade is dull and should be replaced. Blades are inexpensive so don't be afraid to replace it.

Step 3. Tighten the thumbscrew until you can't turn it with your hand (Hand tight) This amount of tension on the blade should keep the blade from bowing as you cut. Sometimes when I am have problems with the blade falling off, I will tighten it another 1/4 turn with a pliers.

Ok, Let's Cut Something.

I am going to use a metal pipe for this example. It is easy to cut and once you get a little experience using the hacksaw, cutting metal will be a breeze.

To really use a hacksaw well you need to clamp your work. I have a vise on a workbench that I usually use.

If you don't have a vise, screw a 2X4 onto your bench and hold the pipe against the 2X4 with your left hand. When possible use a vise or clamp to secure the metal you want to cut.

Step 1. To use a hacksaw properly, grip the frame with both hands. (I am right handed so I grab the handle with my right hand and use my left hand to hold the other end of the saw.) Hold the hacksaw so that your right hand index finger is pointing ahead to help guide the saw. As you push the blade (forward stroke) use your left hand to guide the saw so that it cuts straight. DO NOT use your left hand to apply pressure, just use it to guide your cut. Use most of the blade. If you apply pressure on the forward stroke with your left hand the teeth will usually grab too much and the saw will "stick". Again a hacksaw handle is angled to give you the proper down pressure on the blade.

Step 2. When you get to the end of the forward stroke, stop and pull the saw back with your right hand. As you pull back don't apply any pressure with your right hand. (It only cuts in the forward direction and putting pressure on the return stroke will just wear out the blade prematurely). A lot of teachers will make you lift the saw on the return stroke so you don't destroy the blade. Move your body forward and back as you cut, pressing on the forward stroke and easing off on the return one.

Step 3. Repeat this until you saw all the way through the pipe. With a little practice you will be able to cut at about 1 stroke every second. Don't stroke any faster than this because it will create too much heat and again wear out the blade prematurely.

Don't put too much pressure on the blade. You may have to break a blade or two before you get the feel of how much pressure you can apply. Don't worry, they are cheap. Don't saw too quickly as that can cause the blade to break as well. Always check to make sure that the blade is secured tightly in its frame.

Reviews. Or Don't buy one at Wally World

Believe it or not, I could tell you a lot more about using a hacksaw, but this is enough to get you cutting properly. Buy a good quality hacksaw I recommend on my website. Even the cheap one I recommend is good quality and will last you years. With a quality saw it won't take long before you get good at using one.

DON'T buy a cheap one at the local dollar store. Why? The hacksaw handle has to be strong enough to keep the blade tensioned correctly and the cheap ones will give you nothing but years of frustration. Also buy a hacksaw with the handle tilted like the Stanley 150565. Some hacksaws have a straight handle and are very hard to use for a beginner.

Blades are cheap, so buy a box of them in at least two "teeth" numbers (32 teeth for metal conduit and 18 teeth for solid steel, plastic pipe and general use. But don't buy cheap blades. The cheap blades are too brittle and you will end up breaking a lot of them. A good hacksaw blade cuts on it's own with very little pressure from you so change the blades as soon as they get dull. To tell if a blade is dull pull your finger over the blade. If it is still sharp the teeth will try to "catch" on your finger. A dull blade won't. I prefer Milwaukee blades because they will flex without breaking, and last a long, long time compared to the cheap blades. Better yet, buy two inexpensive hacksaws and keep different blades on each. Dull, worn blades take a lot of work to cut an item, so change them as often as you would a utility knife or razor blade.

Follow the link below for ToolBoxHero to buy your new Hacksaw, read reviews and get more information:

What Travel Agents Need to Know About Corporate Travel Today

This is rightly named as the age of traveler-centricity and with the evolution of the new era of personalized travel; it is leading to research and development of a host of new so-called intelligent services. The command-and-control perspectives of traveling have changed a lot from the past and the focus has shifted more on the traveler and the productivity of each trip. It has become essential to maintain that the travelers have the greatest return on investment on each trip. New generations of young employees and managers, who have been growing up and dwelling in a digital age, are moving up the ranks as travelers. It has become essential to recognize the need for greater flexibility acknowledging that the employees who travel on corporate trips also consider a percentage of their trip to be a leisure outlet. With increasing globalization and rise in companies sending their staff overseas to network and connect with their offshore prospects/customers/suppliers, corporate travel is a highly profitable tourism segment. Before we talk about how tourism companies can better cater to business travelers, let us first look at why they prefer to use specialized corporate agencies over traditional agents

Why do businesses use Corporate Travel Agencies?

This might be the most basic question for a travel agency as to why they need to use agencies specializing in corporate travel when there are plenty of regular travel agents in the market. Here is the importance of corporate travel agencies who have online systems which allow business travelers access to their complete itinerary.

The following information is at the fingertips of the CTAs:-

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  full business itinerary details






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  up-to-date tracking details of flights (including delays or rescheduling)






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  transparent details about additional costs such as baggage fees or in-flight fees






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  travel alerts, if any, in the destined area






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  complete and up-to-date details about the visa procurement policies and identification required






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  currency requirement and conversion rates

What do corporate clients expect from Corporate Travel Agencies?

Negotiated Fares

The Corporate Agencies tend to have tie-ups with hotels, car rentals, flights etc. giving them access to lower fares which can be used only by the frequent business travelers. Discounted prices are not the only advantage though as they also offer flight upgrades, room upgrades, and VIP check-in lines as required.

In-depth information about the travel industry

Corporate travel agents have access to many travel resources and most importantly, quickly, than any other leisure travel agent. Additional information helps to make the business trips convenient and comfortable.

Changes in Itinerary

When an airline ticket needs to get rescheduled or cancelled, chances are the airline or the online service provider will charge lofty fees. When booking with a corporate travel agent, most of the times schedule changes can be done at zero or minimal extra charges.

Viable emergency contacts

It is important for the business travelers to reach the correct person at the need of trouble. Corporate travel agents have the experience and professionalism to relieve stress for both the traveler and the company.

What you need to consider as corporate travel increases?

Business Travel Barometer reported that corporate travel is witnessing an accelerated growth. However, when poorly managed, it may be no longer an advantage to companies and may, in fact become a burden. There are some factors which the corporations and CTAs must consider to get the best out of the time spent traveling.

Adopting a travel policy

The corporate must define a travel policy which is applicable to and respected by travelers at all levels. This policy should be used to establish the standards which will help to track the improvement of business travel. It will eventually help to reduce the costs of the entire package.

Do not limit the traveler's autonomy

The management is responsible for budgeting the travel policy which helps to improve cost management however, it is also essential to give a degree of autonomy to the traveler. The policy should be flexible enough to allow the employee to adapt the trip as per the situation.

Traveler's security should be a major concern

Business travelers need to have security in place. The company needs to stick to its definition of standards to ensure the employee's integrity. The CTAs should have reliable partners (travel insurance, airlines, hotel chains etc.).

Mobility and automation

To optimize time and ease the processes, the administration of management platforms should have automated processes. This means they should adopt mobile solutions where search options, travel alerts, ticket reservations etc. can be accessed quickly, easily and on the go.

Corporate Travel Trends in 2016

Corporate travel trends tend to change regularly. 2016 has also not been any different and the travel management companies (TMCs) and corporate travel agencies (CTAs) are quite focused to provide steady if not strong axis all over. A growing MICE sector, investments in mobile and big data and enhanced focus on duty of care are some of their areas of focus.

Rising prices

The consolidated buzzword among global suppliers, airfares, hotel rates etc. is the rising fares. It is sometimes the move of the suppliers to generate discounts which encourage travel if there is a strong decline in demand. A positive 2016 world economy has been bringing an increase in air fares of a few percentage points, hotels are expected to see 4%-6% rise in average global rates and the competition will remain moderate in the car rental services.

Duty of care

Risk management is one of the major points of emphasis for corporations. Corporate customers are allowing new policies and improved technologies to monitor employees' location in case of an emergency, especially when they are travelling to foreign destinations. For instance, Concur Risk Messaging helps to identify the travelers moving around in the world and alerts them with alternate travel arrangement as and when needed.

Focusing on MICE

Meetings industry is a major growing sector and the corporate travel trend is developing on it. The corporate travel agencies should better start aligning the various meeting procurement methodologies with its transient travel sourcing. One of the ways could be to broaden the variety of meeting services by incorporating incentive trips within it.

Investing in technology

A sharper focus on increasing value and becoming more traveler-centric can be done by bringing in mobile friendly technologies. Mobile and big data are definitely the two most significant technological investments which any corporate travel agency must focus to make their platform more appealing.

Business travel analysis after Brexit

Following Brexit, ACTE and CAPA shared their speculations. According to them, the greatest short-term effects on the travel industry will come from the weakening of the pound against other world currencies. Greeley Koch, executive director for the Association of Corporate Travel Executives said that the business travel industry will trend on currency fluctuations; with some companies taking advantage of the weaker pound and traveling more, while others may withhold business travel until world markets find their own level.

Impact of terrorism on corporate travelers

Travel policy makers and administrators need to be guided by rising terrorism scare. For executives and staff undertaking travel on behalf of businesses, the travel agents and corporate travel agencies (CTAs) should prove the reassurance for their safety through the travel policies. It is more than likely that the surveys conducted over corporate travelers reflect the general concern of the global business travelers about the spate of terrorism. However, there is no denying the fact that terrorist threat is changing the patterns of business travel. The key impact of this is to keep in mind that the companies providing travel services for business travelers need to enhance their focus on security and the associated risks in delivering the services to corporate clients. According to a recent finding, travel managers have higher estimation of their policy's effectiveness in addressing risk compared to skeptical business travelers.

Concluding

Although the corporate travel sector has continued to progress, there are a plethora of challenges faced by the industry. A rapidly changing consumer market, the emergence of new business models, the impact of technology, man-made and natural crises are some of the fulcrum points that need to be considered before planning corporate trips.

Cutting Mat - The Power Of Purchasing A Good Quality Cutting Mat

Everyone who is active in the arts and crafts hobby knows the fact that the cutting mat is an extremely essential equipment to have when making crafting projects. The mat could also be used by those who are into putting together model kits similar to Gundams, RC Automobiles, Remote control jets and many more. Right now there are individuals who use this mat in most woodworking projects.

The primary purpose of the cutting mat is to try to make sure you do not unintentionally damage your furniture or otherwise worktops. It's well known that accidents can happen and our little ones (or perhaps us) might mistakenly damage a costly desk.

Almost all of the mats currently are actually imprinted with grid lines and various measurements that helps make highly accurate slices for regular sewing or even quilt making and many others. There are several forms of mats around and the cutting mats for sewing and quilt-making may demand surfaces which are a little sticky or rough to stop shifting the fabric a lot.

Mats also comes in almost all forms and dimensions. You will discover mats that happen to be constructed from wood or bamboo which are normally used to cook with or in your kitchen. There are actually those which are made of rubber as well as plastic. As a result of my past experiences however, a mat that would be self healing or a self healing cutting mat has always been the best option.

A good self healing cutting mat offers self healing hits that enable it to reseal on its own after every single slice like magic. This kind of mat is well known for its durability and also robustness. This specific mat is known to be friendly with the cutting blades helping it to minimize the blunting of the cutting blades in contrast to mats that contain tough surfaces. This allows you to cut costs down the road from having to buy and also change the cutting blades over and over again.

When acquiring a self healing cutting mat, it is important to pick one that is at least 3mm thick and is also a minimum of 12 x 18 larger. This specific dimension is perfect for different kinds of crafting projects. Never select a smaller or slimmer mat specifications since it is not going to offer you the best possible security which you¡¯re after.

Be cautious when picking a cutting mat and never ever go with the cheapest option. Poor mats will wear quickly and are definitely not worth the investment. It's best to opt for a high quality self healing cutting mat that could present your furniture durability and protection.

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The Importance of Heating and Air Conditioning Services

The home is one of the places where you are invited to experience total comfort at all times. However, there are times when environmental conditions threaten to compromise this comfort. These environmental conditions include:

• Extreme temperatures; when it is either too hot or too cold
• Humidity
• Dust particles and other allergens in the environment.

Good heating and air conditioning services do their best to regulate these conditions to make sure you are comfortable in the home. Here, are a few of the benefits that you will get when you invest in quality HVAC services.

To start with, installing heating systems in the house helps keep the house warm during the colder months. There is nothing that is more disorienting than going to bed in a cold house on a winter night. The most uncomfortable part is taking a bath with cold water in the colder months. Water and house heating systems help you keep warm and avoid infections that might result from the cold weather.

Secondly, AC is very beneficial when it comes to cooling down the temperatures during the summer months. Temperatures get quite high especially outside during summer. It feels good to step in the house and get refreshing cooler temperatures. A good air conditioning system in the house regulates the temperatures to what is suitable for all seasons.

Air conditioning systems have the ability to remove dust particles and all other types of allergens from the environment. There are people who are allergic to pollen, dust and other particles from the environment. Air conditioning services help purify the air and protect you from allergic reactions and illnesses such as asthma.

There are many more benefits that come with having heating and air conditioning systems in the home.

Tips in selecting the best HVAC systems

If you want to have a comfortable time in the house, you need to select quality heating and air conditioning system. The choices can be quite tricky especially with the many service providers and products in the market. However, the following tips should help you get top quality products and services.

1. When purchasing heaters and ac unit, always go for the brands that have been tested and proven to be leaders when it comes to air conditioning. The top brands usually cost more than the others. But by the end of the day, the service and durability you get is all worth the cost.

2. If for some reason your systems have stopped working, take time and select the most skilled heating and air conditioning services providers to repair the systems for you. DIYs are a good idea, but if it is an issue you are not sure about, avoid trying to do it.

Those are some tips to have in mind when going for HVAC goods and services. Lastly, remember that the comfort of your home greatly depends on the environmental conditions that surround it. Make your house a heaven by adding quality heating and air conditioning services. After all, if you are not comfortable in the home, where else will you be?

Gold-Silver Price Movement and Small Traders

Nowadays routine gold - silver Buyers and sellers are in big turmoil especially in countries like India, where most of the traders run business in traditional fashion. The price tracking methods of these traders are very poor because they are unable to rationalize the price movement of the precious metals and as an upshot they incur huge loss in business. The business and trading of precious metals has become highly arduous and full of intricacies, therefore traders require either high-tech enabled systems or advisers to stay in the business but sadly this is beyond their reach.

The small traders do not understand the various multi - dimensions of price movement viz. economies, investment demand, sovereign currency and safe haven demand. The prices of gold heading for $ 2000 / oz and silver prices also all set to test $ 50 levels. Given the fact that the beta or market volatility of prices has knocked record high level and the money of small traders is diminishing day by day. The situation becomes grimmer in case of those who know about Morning Stars and Evening Stars (candle stick patterns) because they are unable to defeat the emotional tide or presume the Japan's earthquake or Obama's mind. This shows the uncertainty in the system which affects the prices of precious metals so as small traders, who can not withstand the high variation in price in short span of time and as an upshot the incur small to huge loss.

Back home (India) the prices of gold and silver heading for record INR 30000 / ten gram and INR 70000 / kilogram respectively. The small traders generally known for jewelry making and bar trading have suffered due to wrong assumption of prices since the don not have access to the bunch of knowledge holder firms. People only know that the neighbor dragon or China is consuming this stuff more and more prices are shooting up but unfortunately they are unaware about the grand daddy united states of America's financial turmoil and poverty of European countries. At present the most of the stock markets in the world including India have given up 10 -20% of their recent high levels and still looks vulnerable but the interest rate hike cycle near its high emerging markets looks some investor attractive even though devil form of inflation looming large over the people's pocket especially in India inflation still hovering around double digit. The only hope for countries like India that if gold moves further up the crude oil prices may settle at comfortable level preferably in seventies, due to worldwide warranted scenario of poor economic growth.

Here forth the small traders are advised to trade or deal in very cautious manner to avoid self fiasco in the volatile markets. They should feel well advised or filled with sufficient confidence to trade or making any kind of deal especially in precious metals. In addition they should develop their own system for trading as well as for business. Try to stay in the market as long as possible. I wish you best of luck.