Here are some awesome websites that you will find VERY useful!

• Job Compass: This helps you find job listings around your area. All you need to do is insert the job field you want, your zip code and the mile radius you want to your job search to be in. You can even check it on your iPhone while you’re on the street searching what is near you.

• De-Bee: This website is GREAT if your living with roommates and you need to divide bills. This keeps track of who owes who so no one forgets to pay their IOU’s!

• Smarty Pig: is a savings account website that allows you to set goals on what you are saving for. You can also invite friends and family to view what your goals are also allowing them to contribute to you’re cause!

• Price Protectr: If you want to buy something but want to wait until the price goes down, here is that website that will alert you! Some of the stores they track are Amazon, Best Buy, and The Apple Store.

Hopefully now you will have other ways of finding a job, keep track of who owes you, save some money and get donations and find cheap deals! Enjoy.

Then I remember that CSUN students could get “free” (I use the word “free” freely because technically we pay for it through tuition, although it does come at a low price)  anti-virus through the Information Techonology (IT) website.

If you just go down the left side bar to the Software Downloads tab and insert your CSUN login information it will give you a list of the software that you can download either to your PC or MAC.

The majority of the programs that are offered you can get free online, all except the Symantec Anti-Virus Corporate Edition which you can only download once.

Downloading your Anti-Virus is quick and easy, but if you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself you can go to the IT help desk or give em’ a call.

Located: Oviatt Library, Room 29

Call: (818) 677–1400

Email: helpdesk@csun.edu

Here is map to find them.

Enjoy.

I can believe the credibility behind the ShamWow, which recently won a “As Seen On TV ” contest on CNBC.com, by being voted #2 in the best Household/ Automotive section and beating the Snuggie in round 2. Now the Shamwow is up against the #1 George Foreman grill in the Kitchen/Food section. About 10,400 people have voted to place these two items in these top ranking positions. The final votes are still being collected here.

But, to me the Snuggie is questionable. I agree with Jay Leno when he said, “Why don’t you put your robe on backwards? That’s all it is.”

Apparently, the Snuggie has sold 4 million since September! That is a large amount considering that we are in a recession. There is also a Snuggie fan page on Facebook with about 6,000 fans.

You would think that people wouldn’t spend their money on Snuggies, I guess commodities are still just as important as necessities.

One comment on the Snuggie’s Facebook fan page written by Lee Witte says, “… When the economy is in the dumps people look for comfort and the Snuggie provides it. LOL.”

Another fan, LeAnne Nielsen wrote, “I think the snuggie should be combined with the ShamWoW, the SnugWoW. That way if you spill on yourself you don’t have to get off the couch.”

What do you think?

ShamWow

Snuggie

From the Career Center website here are a few participants who have attended the OCI’s.

• Ernst & Young, LLP
• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
• L.A. Department of Water & Power
• Panasonic
• Target
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Mint, is possibly one of the scariest yet helpful websites ever!

Why is it scary, you may ask? Well, because it puts everything into perspective all in one screen. This website inputs your bank account information, your loan’s, your credit card debt and anything else you might have accumulate. It informs you of your cash vs. credit card debt and sums it up in your net worth (plus it is completely safe to use).

1. Check if your books are available at the CSUN Oviatt Library. If they don’t have the requested title, try Interlibrary Loan.

2. Visit your neighborhood public library. Library cards are free and can be used at more than 70 locations in Los Angeles county.

3. Use the free Daily Sundial classifieds to buy and sell used books. This way you get your books immediately from people on campus and save on postage. And you might get some additional helpful info on the class you’re taking.

4. Try websites like Isbns.net or Bookfinder.com for discounted textbooks. The advantage of these book search engines is that they compare the prices of several different websites for you. This means you not only save money, but time as well. Time you can spend reading those books…

The waxing kit only cost $3.28 and it came with eyebrow shaper’s that I could use time and time again. As opposed to a trip to the salon that would cost me $8 every time.

Unfortunately, that was an unwise investment because now I have funny mismatching eyebrows and need to go get them shaped by someone else with more experience.

Here are a few more tips that will help you reduce your expenses.

1. Stop using your credit card
2. Limit your credit cards to one (1)
3. Reduce cost of utilities, i.e. disconnect your cable TV service
4. Stop spending for things you don’t really need
5. Buy in bulk
6. Don’t shop more than once a week
7. Treat eating out as a luxury
8. Pack a lunch and take it to school with you
9. Carpool with friends
10. Ask about student discounts
11. Avoid membership to any expensive health clubs; take advantage of the school’s health club
12. Avoid or reduce expensive luxury habits
13. Look for sales and specials when you buy food and clothes
14. Get a roommate or live at home, if bearable
15. If you want or think you need something, wait a full 24 hours before you buy it
16. Open a savings account
17. Email or chat online instead of using the telephone
18. Apply for scholarships

Provided by Financial Aid, CSUN

I agree that often times we are pushed into it because either we cannot afford tuition or because unexpected  emergencies arise. But what about those other times when there is no need?

In a recent survey conducted by the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) on 40 universities in 14 state’s tested 1,500 students about their use of credit cards. The survey found that nearly 2 out of 3 students had a credit card. Out of the remaining students paying for their credit cards half of them kept a remaining balance on their card, which we all know accumulates interest.

Of those students who have credit cards the top rating uses for their cards were (students were allowed to select more than one option):

• 55%  for day to day uses
• 55%  buy books
• 40% weekends and pizza
• 40% travel to school
• 39% emergencies
• 24% tuition
• 10% other: gas, food, to avoid overdrafts, no cash

The survey also found that of students who pay for their own credit card:

• Seniors have more than twice the amount of credit card debt than freshmen (the average being $1,322 more in debt)
• Students who have loans also have more credit card dept accumulated
• Students who have previously defaulted also carry higher amounts of debt than students who haven’t.

In response to this survey what worries me is if you cannot pay for the debt, who will? Shouldn’t we as responsible people limit our usage of credit cards when there is no need for it?

During the “Surviving the Economy” panel I attended about a month ago, one of the panelists Gregorio Alcantar, a CSUN financial aid and debt management counselor discussed one incident where one of the students he advised had at one time put his credit card in a cup of water and froze it in the freezer, so when he had an impulse to buy something he would have to go home and thaw the credit card out; which in return gave him time to rethink if he really needed what he was about to buy.

I suppose if it is necessary, but is that what we have come down to as a society?

Well, one of those stores happens to be Wal Mart’s neglected counterpart Kmart! To be honest I am surprised its lasted this long, unlike Circuit City and Mervyns which I believed to be well established companies.

The last time I shopped at a Kmart was probably when I was still a pimply faced-brace-filled teenager. But I figure now is a good time to stop by and see what the sales are like. Seeing as my financial aid has been cut, I have to find ways to make with what I have.

Anyways, some of the sales they are having range from 10%-70% off of selected items.

Digital cameras @ $79.99

Winter apparel @ 70% off

Air rifles @ $34.99

Navigation Systems @ $99.99

Now that the holidays are approaching it wouldn’t be too bad to buy some discounted items for Mom or Dad.

To find a Kmart near you click here.