BestAdvice

By Lou Carlozo, dealnews Green Dad columnist

These days, frustrated pump patrons spin various conspiracy theories as to what's "really" behind the high price of gasoline. Is it Big Oil, Russian cartels using Libya's turmoil as cover, or some price-fixing scheme cut behind closed doors? Or is it, perhaps, a more prudent, practical theory: Oil and gas are natural resources, now consumed in record quantities even as the planet’s non-renewable supply vanishes. Meanwhile the U.S. must compete with developing nations such as China and India that have an unquenchable thirst for the stuff.

These factors may loom far beyond our control — but we're not powerless. With gas starting to top $4 a gallon, we can use less in sensible ways or make the most of what we do buy. There's nothing wrong with using every means at our disposal to find the cheapest cheap gas, or save on gas expenses. Here's my Green Dad list of strategies, products and miscellanea to push the pump price back a bit, keeping your wallet and tank full at the same time.Read more

More people than ever before are filing their taxes electronically. Over the course of 2010, nearly 100 million Americans – 70% of the taxpaying population – used IRS e-file to lodge their tax return.

While the adoption IRS e-file continues to grow, most people still supplement their electronic submission with hardcopy documents such as W-2s, pay-stubs, and receipts – information that is typically both received and archived in many different formats, with at least one being physical paper.

Nitro PDF Software provided us with four easy-to-follow tips to help streamline your tax filing and leverage the efficiencies of digital documents in the 2011 tax season.

1. Future Proof Your Taxes – Tracking down copies of last year's tax statements or this year's lost W-2 can be frustrating, and time-consuming. Avoid the inevitable hours spent searching and create an archive of both physical and digital financial records that can be easily searched and opened by anyone using PDF/A – the digital archival standard.

Portable Document Format is lightweight, secure, and universally accepted – it can be opened by anyone from your accountant to the IRS. Convert almost any Windows file format to PDF – from spreadsheets to statements – and use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on scanned paper to create convenient, searchable PDF files that can be accessed for years to come. Read more

Tax deadlines are just around the corner, there's no better time to sort through the growing pile of papers in your home or home office than when you're preparing to file year-end taxes. While organizing paperwork and personal files can seem like a daunting task, it doesn't need to be. Here are five tips from Master Lock for organizing and safely storing important documents for a smooth tax filing process and more organized year.

1. Purge the paperwork
First things first - clear the clutter. Go through all paperwork and eliminate anything you no longer need, shredding identifying documents to protect against identity theft. Get rid of expired warranties and year-old receipts and bank statements.

2. Safely store crucial records
Designate a specific storage space for vital documents including birth certificates, marriage licenses, passports, wills and social security cards. These items, as well as any important memorabilia, should be stored in a locked, fire retardant box such as Master Lock's 7142D storage box. Not only will you always know where these items are, they'll be safe from home mishaps. Read more

7 Steps to Successfully Getting Your Bag Onboard

With the ever-increasing trend towards airlines charging to check even one bag it is tempting to carry onboard any and all bags for your flight. But, the airlines are keenly aware of your desire to avoid the fees and are on the lookout for passengers who want to stuff as much into carry-on baggage. Here are some simple steps you can take to packing a bag for carry-on and still stay within the airline rules.

Step 1 – Pack Light

Trust me, you don’t need to bring as much as you think. Consider how often you are going to be seen by the same people and realize that you don’t need to wear something different every day of your trip. Limit the number of shoes you bring. Remember you’re already wearing one pair on the plane. Read more

What’s in a name? Your check book, credit card and social security card all hold critical information, that in the wrong hands gives thieves the tools they need to assume your identity. In fact, some of the fastest growing financial crimes in America today are check fraud and identity theft, with check fraud growing at 25 percent each year (according to the American Bankers Association), and the Federal Trade Commission reporting the cost of identity theft to banks and businesses at $56 billion annually.

Despite living in a digital world, “traditional” methods of identity theft are more popular than ever, from dumpster diving to check washing. In fact, check fraud – the paper check’s evil twin – is the most dominant method of fraudulent payment, producing the greatest losses. Check fraud is also the least prosecuted financial crime, and every checking account holder, company, and organization is at risk of becoming a victim.

Consider this: a visit to your doctor’s office, a meeting with the mortgage company, and mailing utility bills can put you at risk. When you visit your doctor and fill out new patient forms, the receptionist copies your insurance card, which includes your Social Security number. You remit your co-pay with a check drawn on your bank account. You have just provided enough information for someone to become you. Read more

Which came first, the wallet or the money clip? A good question that I can not find the answer to at the moment. Wikipedia has a definition of the money clip, and the one sentence that stands out to me on this definition is, “Depending on the design, it may also be difficult to push the bills into the clip.” The MoneyClamp from beza has solved this problem.

I started using a money clip many years ago when I started to have pain in my right leg. I went to see my Doctor who asked me to hand him my wallet, and I handed it to him. The alligator skin billfold held my checkbook, membership cards, credit cards, IDs, receipts, cash, and probably a picture or two. The Doctor said, “use a money clip and your pain will go away.” The sciatic nerve pain was gone, and I have been with a money clip ever since. Read more

OK guys...no more excuses. Men are embracing grooming in record numbers. Your face and body need serious attention. Here are some simple guidelines and "must have" tricks to get celebrity skin. Remember look good=feel good=confidence=success. Read more

Hottest New Men's Trends For Skin
Anti-Age and reclaim your youth by maintaining a healthy look and uncover the best looking you. Here are some easy, necessary, intelligent suggestions to wow everyone that looks your way. It is your skin so take it seriously.

Generally, the ideal locations for home theater speakers will be: Left/Right front speakers located to either side of the TV screen, at least 1.5 to 2 feet away from the screen itself. It´s actually best to have the speakers a little forward of the screen and out away from the side and back walls. For the best audiophile performance it helps to be sure that the distances from the back and side walls to the speaker is different. The speakers should be placed with the tweeters as close as possible to ear height, when seated. You can try them 'toed in' towards the prime listening position or straight out into the room.

Center Channel Ideally located directly on top of or below the center of the TV screen. The center channel is arguably the single most important speaker in a home theater system, because up to 85% of the dialogue and 65% of the special effects come through it! Putting a speaker directly adjacent to the TV screen does, however, cause certain problems. Sounds that normally would radiate equally from the face of the speaker are immediately reflected from the screen. This causes undesirable sonic 'colorations' that make the center channel sound different than the left/right front speakers, even if they are precisely matched to begin with. Many Atlantic Technology center channel speakers include one or more controls to allow tailoring their sound to better match the L/R speakers. Additionally, these controls also allow you to match them to other brand L/R speakers should you be upgrading from a stereo system to a multi-channel set-up and want to add a center channel to your existing system. Additionally, most Atlantic center channel speakers come with an adjustable mounting base that allows precise aiming towards the prime listening position for better dialogue intelligibility. Read more

With gas prices high and still on the rise, everyone is looking for ways to save gasoline and to save money. Here, find 11 tips.

1. Drive smart: Aggressive driving (meaning quick acceleration, hard braking and speeding) wastes gas. In fact, it can lower your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds, and by five percent on the city streets.

2. Choose wisely: Don't assume that neighboring gas stations will have the same prices -- check around. Also note that gas stations near freeways and popularly-traveled roads, as well as those in high-income areas, will charge more.

Today’s business climate has forced most companies to operate in the “lean and mean” mode. This is probably evidenced most with everyday expenses such as business travel. While our willingness to help the company reduce necessary costs for travel and entertainment by securing the lowest possible airfare available, the reality is that oftentimes the lowest airfare is not necessarily a cost savings for the company but an additional expense.

Airlines, in general, rarely share all the possible fares or “fare buckets” that are available on any given flight on any given day. Many times travelers are faced with choosing between a full fare ticket and the lowest fare ticket, not knowing that there can sometimes be as many as 20 additional fare buckets available for that flight. At best, only the lowest fare in each fare category will be presented to the business traveler as options. Read more