Welcome to the winter wonderland of debt reduction techniques!

by Kam Shots

We aren’t getting any winter weather around here. However, when you talk about debt reduction, you get your very own frozen fun.

• Debt Snowball
• Debt Avalanche
• Credit Card Popsicles and Other Tips
• Mint.com – One Site to Rule Them All!

Debt Snowball

Despite fun mental images to the contrary, the Debt Snowball approach does not involve making giant spitballs out of your credit card billing statements and bombarding company executives with them.

Instead, for Debt Snowball approach, you: Read the rest of this entry »

Resolutions #2 and #3 can be tied together: Save Money and Pay Off Debt. Extra cash on hand can go to savings or the credit card bills. But, in the interest of scan-ability, they each get their own post!

• Spending Cuts
• Finding the “Cheap” Stuff
• Make Your Own Sale
• Best 4-letter “F” Word

Spending Cuts

Everyone knows that the best way to cut spending is to mount a targeted attack against any purveyor of coffee-like beverages.

But if you cannot live without, here are a few other ways to cut back your spending. Read the rest of this entry »

In the highly scientific poll in my New Year’s Blog, the most common general resolution (as of today) was “Exercise More.” Excellent choice–let’s get on that!!

There are plenty of websites and apps out there with ideas on different ways to accomplish your exercise goals. Of course, no one way or one approach will work for everyone. In fact, one approach may just be many little approaches to find that great fit to support your goal.

So here are just a few ideas and tools to help you start.

• Make It Fun
• Make It Inspiring
• Make It You
• Track Your Progress – Websites & Apps

Exercise Ideas

There is an exorbitant amount of ways to exercise–it truly boggles the mind.

So start at the beginning. What do you want to do? What do you want to accomplish?

Read the rest of this entry »

What are those weird black & white squares that have started popping up all over? They are called QR codes and they can open a world of data for you.

What is a QR Code?

The ‘QR’ in QR codes stands for ‘Quick Response’. Remember those tricorders from Star Trek? QR codes can make your smart phone act like a tricorder – one scan of a QR code and instant information to your phone!

Read the rest of this entry »

So we survived an earthquake and now Hurricane Irene is bearing down on us. What’s a techie to do? Track everything, of course!

• Earthquake Ideas
• Hurricane Help

Earthquake Ideas

Growing up in Northern Virginia, the extent of my earthquake experience (before Tuesday) was that Tori Amos album’s title track (“Little Earthquakes”). Now I can cross “standing in a doorway during an earthquake” off a list I never knew I had: Experiences I only want to do once!

The Trinity community gathers by the soccer fields in front of the Trinity Center, post-earthquake.

Read the rest of this entry »

What is twitter?
And why should I care while I’m at Trinity?

Twitter is a free website that allows users to send very short (140 characters or less) posts called “tweets” out to the world. It is a happy marriage of online social networking (like Facebook) and microblogging (like, well, twitter).

Trinity a-twitter

Trinity uses twitter for general notifications as well as emergency communications. President McGuire also tweets. Those twitter feeds are: Read the rest of this entry »

President McGuire had some wonderful words of encouragement for Trinity’s newest students during the Freshmen Medal Ceremony on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. (If you were not there on Tuesday, you can view highlights from the ceremony online or read President McGuire’s complete remarks.) In her speech, President McGuire talked about staying focused, that “graduation is the goal!” To that end, she recommended downloading “Pomp & Circumstance,” the ultimate graduation song, as a ringtone for your phone.

I love that idea. My phone is ancient (almost five years old!) with no keyboard and no data capabilities, but I bet you have a better phone. So I hunted down a few sites that offered free ringtone downloads of “Pomp & Circumstance”:

• http://www.phonezoo.com/ringtone/28547072/pomp-and-circumstance-elgar.htm
• http://www.mytinyphone.com/ringtone/532121
• http://www.myxer.com/search/?q=pomp%20%26%20circumstance

I’m sure there are plenty more sites out there. Do you have a favorite site to download ringtones? Does it offer “Pomp & Circumstance”? Post a link for us in the comments!