Rick's InfoBlog

Tips and Information on...everything!

7 tips for saving gas during a long road trip

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I’m sure you’ve noticed that America’s highways are jammed to the max with travelers these days.

If you’re planning to take a long road trip of your own you’re likely to find that one of your biggest travel expenses will be the money you spend on gasoline.

Things like shopping around for the best deal on a hotel room and eating food from a grocery store instead of a restaurant can save you some big bucks while you’re traveling.

Luckily, you can easily save even more by reducing the amount of gasoline you’ll be using while you travel.

Here are a few tips for getting the best gas mileage possible on your next long road trip: [Read more…]

Q&A: Is it really worth our time and trouble to recycle?

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Question from Jessie M.:  My husband and I have been recycling for years by sorting our recyclable items into separate bins and taking them to the recycling center at the county landfill.

My husband took a load off this morning but they told him they’re no longer accepting recyclable items because research has shown that the benefits of recycling aren’t worth the effort.

They ended up throwing our recyclable items into the dumpster along with the regular garbage!

We can still take our recyclable materials to a local private recycling center, but they don’t accept plastics (which is what we usually have the most of).

What’s the real story on this? Is it worthwhile to recycle or not?

Rick’s answer:  [Read more…]

Great news! Amazon now lets you return items locally at your nearest Kohl’s store!

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It’s no secret that Amazon has one of the most liberal return policies in all of retail.

In most cases all you have to do is initiate the return in Amazon’s “Your Orders” section, print off a mailing label and then take the package to the shipping company’s nearest drop-off location.

But thanks to a new partnership between Amazon and the Kohl’s department store chain, you now have an even easier option for handling your Amazon returns!

[Read more…]

Planning to travel and carry cash? Exchange your stack of small bills for just a few larger ones!

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Unfortunately, today’s world is full of scammers, hackers and thieves who are always on the lookout for an easy buck.

To protect themselves lots of folks try to use cash as much as possible when traveling.

Yes, it’s true that carrying large amounts of cash can be dangerous.

But so can repeatedly inserting your debit card into unfamiliar gas pumps and ATMs or paying with a card at restaurants in strange towns and cities all along your route!

If you’re one of the millions of Americans who carry a considerable amount of cash along with you when you’re traveling, here’s a quick tip for doing it as safely as possible…

[Read more…]

Why you should (probably) sign up for Social Security at 62 instead of waiting till you’re 66

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I’m sure you probably know you can “retire” and start drawing your Social Security benefits when you turn 62.

And you probably also know that waiting until you’re 66 to retire will allow you to draw a bigger Social Security check every month than the one you’d receive if you retire at 62.

If you ever find yourself wondering whether you should “retire early” when you turn 62 or wait till you’re 66 to draw the full amount you’re due, here are several things to consider before making that important decision… [Read more…]