money

Discounted Network Solutions Renewal

I got an email from Network Solutions this morning stating that my website was up for renewal. I decided to take care of it right away so that it didn’t get shut off, which I have run into before. It’s not a very nice feeling to get a bunch of emails telling you that your website is down.

This website is a little bit different than some of the others that I run. It’s mainly there for me to post things going on in my life and share cool things I find on the internet. Not a big deal, but it does let me create funny email addresses that end in @charliedelong.com…

So back to the website renewal. I clicked the link in the email and declined all of the extras that they wanted to sell me -> Domain privacy, Hosting, etc, etc, etc. I get to the payment screen and the total is $27.99. I knew the price was going to go up because I had purchased it for 99 cents a couple of years ago and remembered only paying $10 to renew it last year. That was when I remembered this little “lifehack” to get a cheaper price… (Also, I am unsure as to where this sits between ethical and unethical, but it saved me a bunch of money…)

To get this started you simply have to go to the NetworkSolutions.com website and login to your account. Once you are logged in look for a link, about halfway down the page that says “My Domain Names” (See Figure 1). Click right on the words “My Domain Names” and you will be brought to a lost of your domains, or (if you just have 1 domain) you will be taken to the settings for your individual domain name.

Now the excitement begins. It is sort of like playing chicken with the company that has control over your domain name… This is where you scroll down and click on the link like ou are going to take your domain name and switch to another provider. Which, if you were to do this, you would also get a cheaper price on your domain name. The downside to this is that you will experience some sort of downtime waiting for the DNS records to switch over… Nobody wants downtime… In this step we will simply click on the link at the bottom that is labeled, “Turn Off or Request Authorization Code”.

This “Turn Off or Request Authorization Code” setting will give you the option to get a code that will allow you to move the domain to their competition, and they don’t want that… So at this step in this epic race of chicken (slight exaggeration) they will offer you a discount down to $10 for the renewal.

Disclaimer: This might not work for you. All I am saying is that it worked for me 2 years in a row, and if I follow through these steps right now, it still gives me the option. Hopefully it will work for you and you can save some money too!

Alzheimer’s and BasicH2

I was recently told about a “home remedy” that really took me by surprise. Coconut oil can be used as a treatment for Alzheimer’s.

My friend Lloyd had gone through a long battle with his father’s Alzheimer’s before we knew as much as we know about it now. It is a tragic story about how no matter what treatments were given it seemed like a losing battle. Now that we live in an information age, it’s easier to learn about alternative medicines and treatments. Lloyd was told about coconut oil as an alternative treatment, and since then him and his wife have been cooking with it to try and use it as a preventative measure.

Where my thoughts on the whole thing came from was from a highly disputed article I read some time ago from the medical journal Evolution, Medicine and Public Health. This lay summary of this article states:

Lay summary: People living in sanitized environments may be at greater Alzheimer’s
risk. We compare Alzheimer’s rates in different countries in light of countries’ historical
and contemporary pathogen prevalence, sanitation, and urbanization. We find that
countries that are less urbanized, with more pathogens and lower degree of sanitation
have lower Alzheimer’s rates.

My opinion on this wasn’t that clean people are more susceptible to Alzheimer’s, it was that I immediately thought of the air quality issue. Clean people use more household cleaners, plus being in a more urban area there is more commercial and industrial pollution.

So what is the best way to combat this? In my opinion the best way you can help the quality of life in your own home is to use a natural cleaner. Shaklee’s Basic H2 is all natural. It’s non toxic. It’s made out of (the above mentioned) coconut… Plus it’s available (Highly Concentrated) for $12.15 (Full Retail Price, the Member Price is only $10.35)

Wouldn’t you rather be breathing in something all natural than all of the chemicals in every store bought cleaner?

Mobile Payments

So you want to do some online shopping, or make payments to an individual right from your phone. There are a couple of apps for that. Below you will find information about the Paypal App, which has been around for a little while, along with the new Serve app, which is a new online payment service by American Express.

Name: Paypal
Description:
Send money to your friends, manage your account, and more, with the PayPal app. It’s free, secure and more convenient than going to the bank, writing checks, or sending gifts the old way.

· Send money as a gift, split the bill, or repay a friend for FREE*
· Snap a photo of your check to add money directly from the app, no fees apply (US only)
· Check your balance, withdraw money, or view past transactions – anytime, anywhere
· SD card support and improved app performance
· Use the PayPal local feature to find businesses nearby that accept PayPal as payment (US only)
· As always, your information is secure with PayPal

*Free to send money within the US when you use a bank account or PayPal balance.

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Name: Serve
Description:
Serve.com, provided by American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.

Send and receive money from anywhere in the U.S. with Serve℠. Whether you’re paying back a friend, giving your child an allowance, or receiving money, it’s a quick, easy and secure way to perform your everyday transactions. The Serve app gives you the control, convenience and flexibility to manage your money from anywhere in the U.S. at any time.

With the Serve app, you can:
* Register for Serve
* Send and receive money from friends and family
* Request money from an individual or group
* Split-the-Bill for group purchases
* Add funds to your Serve account
* Check your balance and manage your subaccounts

Serve accounts are available to U.S. residents only. To enjoy all the tools the app has to offer, invite your friends to open an account too!

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