Many people are wondering why they haven’t received their 2008 economic stimulus tax rebate checks. This is especially true for those that expected to receive their payments based on the schedule the IRS published and have’t yet received them. To further confuse matters, the IRS also said they were starting 4 days early.

It just so happens that I was one of those that were a bit perplexed. I was perfectly fine waiting until the last day for my SSN range (May 9th). That is until I talked to my mother on Monday and found out she had received hers on Monday morning (5/5). She has the same last 2-digits for her social that I do…so I joined the ranks of millions wondering why I hadn’t received my rebate check yet.

So doing what any blogger would do, I started scouring the internet for for answers and what I found was very interesting…

You can check your status using an online stimulus tracker

I didn’t realize until recently that the IRS has an IRS stimulus tracker and status application that tells you when you can expect your check and even how much you will receive. The trick is that it will only provide a status if your check is due to be deposited or issued within the next week or two. Many people are complaining that the application isn’t aware of their information. This actually occurred for me as well when I first checked my status, but a few days later it told me I was getting back $3000.00 (remember I have 6-kids) and I that I would receive my funds on May 9th.

Did you have a professional do you tax return? If so, you’re getting a paper check

Per the IRS, “If filing or preparation fees were deducted from your 2007 Refund or you received a rapid refund, you will be receiving a check instead of a direct deposit“. It doesn’t matter whether you received your refund as a direct deposit or not, you’ll be receiving a paper check. Refer to the paper check schedule to determine when you’ll be receiving your check.

Do you owe the government money?

If you owe the government money for things like taxes, back student loans, back child support, or anything similar that you reported to the IRS, your stimulus payment will be offset by that amount. In some cases, that may mean you don’t get one. Ouch!

Did you receive a refund anticipation loan or refund anticipation check?

If you choose to receive a refund anticipation loan or refund the tax rebate will be in the form of a paper check mailed to the address used on your tax return. This is because the IRS didn’t credit the money directly to your account but through your tax company. This information is straight from the the H&R block website.

Did you close your bank account?

If for some reason you closed your bank account between now and the time you received your direct deposited refund, the IRS will still try to issue you a direct deposit. This will of course result in the deposit being rejected, which will in turn cause you to receive a paper check.

Did you file your taxes late? It may impact when you receive your payment.

Your economic stimulus payment will be sent out no sooner than 6-weeks after your refund is received and no sooner than 2 weeks after your refund is mailed out. Further more, the payment schedule only applies if your return was received by the IRS and they finished processing it before April 15. If you filed your return on time, but close to the April 15 deadline, the IRS may not have finished processing it before April 15 and therefore your payment may not be received based on the published schedule.

None of these apply?

Well, if none of these reasons apply, than you might fall into the “who knows but the IRS” category and they actually do have something at the very bottom of their payment schedule page that says “A small percentage of tax returns will require additional time to process and to compute a stimulus payment amount. For these returns, stimulus payments may not be issued in accordance with the schedule above, even if the tax return was processed by April 15.“

Other articles you might enjoy reading:

• Surviving a recession - what you need to do now
• Whatever Happened To ‘No Other Gods’?
• What is a recession in the United States?
• Is the UFF MMA a scam?
• Revolution Money Exchange vs. Paypal

Next to the current democratic race, the biggest topic of discussion on the news, in the office, and on the internet is the recession. Are we in one? Well, that is all part of the discussion. Some people, like the media, would have you believe we’re already in one, while others like myself, think the indications are we’re heading in that direction, but certainly not there yet.

Regardless of whether you believe we’re in one yet or not, the real question most people are trying to figure out is, what do I need to know to survive a recession?

Make yourself an asset in your current job

In a down economy, one of the most visible impacts is people losing jobs and the rise of the unemployment rate. One of the key things you can do to avoid being on of the statistics is to stabilize your current job situation the best you can. Be on the lookout for opportunities where you can make yourself more valuable to your manager and your company. This can include things like taking on new responsibilities, learning new skills that are needed, taking on some of your managers responsibilities, being the first to volunteer for tasks, and doing everything you normally do but with a little extra effort.

Arrive a little earlier, and leave a little later. I personally don’t care when my employees work, as long as they are getting their job done. Nor do I care how many hours they work, but my views are very different than standard management. In corporate America, the umber of hours you work is often equal to perceived value and contribution. Coming in a little earlier and leaving a little later just may make a difference.

I’m not generally one to advocate single points of failure, but in a down economy where your job may be on the line, it’s critical that you find niches in your job environment where you are needed. Look for opportunities where you can learn something about the job or its infrastructure that only you and maybe a few other people may know. Do everything you can to know it stone cold.

I’d also suggest you constantly look at your peers and honestly ask yourself, “Am I in the top 10%?“. If you can’t answer with a resounding yes, than you need to figure out how to get there. Analyze your peers. What are they doing? How are they doing it? Talk to your manager and get some feedback on what you can do to perform better. Tell your manager you want to take it up a notch, and ask them how you can do that…and do it. I’m an IT manager, and if one of my employees asked me “What do I need to do to take it up a notch”, I die of shock right then and there.

Most importantly, make yourself look busy. I am amazed at the number of employee’s I walk by casually surfing the internet. Not just once a day, but multiple times during the day…and not surfing sites related to work. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the occasional mental break, but not 10 or more times a day. In a economy where jobs may become a little harder to keep and come by, you don’t want managers or co-workers even thinking twice about how busy you are. The potential risk, just isn’t worth it. So stay on task, keep focused, and if you need a break, take a walk instead. Not busy enough? Talk to your manager and tell them or better yet, find some work that needs to be done and do it.

Build a healthy emergency fund

I’ve written about the benefits and importance of having an emergency fund before. An emergency fund is a critical block in the foundation of financial success in good times, but even more so in bad or tough times. In times of recession where things cost more, people have less money, and may be struggling to make ends meet a healthy emergency fund can make a huge difference.

A healthy emergency fund can make that job loss less stressful by giving you some cash to pay the bills, keep the lights on, fend of the creditors, and frankly put food on the table. Too many people find themselves without a job and only a couple of weeks worth of saving. Not a good situation to be in.

Consider slowing down on your debt snowball, or backing off on the 401k investing a little and buffer up that emergency fund. Even better, cut your expenses and put the savings in your emergency fund. I realize I’m going against my own previous advice by recommending you slow down on the debt snowball, but I would far prefer that you take an extra year to payoff your debt than to be in a scenario where you can provide for your life basics due to a job loss.

Pay off your credit cards

Like building an emergency fund, paying off your credit card debt is good advice in or out of a recession. The great thing about paying off your credit cards now in preparation for a pending recession is that you won’t have to worry about being in a situation of not being able to pay them or struggling to pay them later. In a recession, you’ll have a hard enough time stretching your finances without the additional weight of debt pulling you down. Go ahead and pay it off now while you can so you don’t have to worry about it later.

Stop spending and frugal up

Prior to a pending recession or even during one is a really great time to change your spending habits. Begin learning to do without. Cut back on all of the extras that you’re used to, Starbucks every morning, lunch out everyday, and nights out of the town. Make your own coffee, pack your lunch, and cook at home. Implement a 24 hour rule on your spending and don’t buy things until you’ve had 24 hours to think it over. Before grocery shopping, make a list and only buy what’s on the list.

These are just a few of the many things you can do to “frugal up” your lifestyle and not only put some extra money in your pocket but get into the right mindset to survive any potential recession. After all, you don’t really need all of that stuff anyway.

Pursue alternative streams of income

Most advice for surviving recessions focuses on reducing expenses. While this is certainly a great idea, I also advocate looking for opportunities where you can increase your income. In addition to your main job, pursue alternative streams of income. Specifically, look for income opportunities that might excel during a recession. Maybe start a blog about the recession or how to keep your current job.

Look for opportunities in careers that are far less effected by the recession. People will continue to eat, need medical attention, require clothes, etc. Maybe start shopping yard sales and re-selling clothing on eBay.

Be creative and look for opportunities. Remember, a recession doesn’t mean people won’t spend money, it just means they will pay far more attention to detail when making a spending decision. Use this kind of information to your advantage.

Don’t Panic

Finally, don’t panic. First off, we’re technically not in a recession yet, regardless of what the media is saying. Second, a recession is a normal part of the financial cycle. What goes up must come down right? Remember, this isn’t the first recession, nor will it be the last. Who knows, you just may end up making your current financial situation far better as the result of preparing for a recession. Change isn’t always bad!

More tips on surviving a recession:

• Frugal tips to survive a recession
• 5 Strategies to Survive An Economic Slowdown
• Survive A Recession , Think Long Term
• 5 Ways I Plan To Survive The Recession
• Top Career Choices in a Recession: But is This How We Should Be Selecting Jobs?
• Preparing For and Surviving an Economic Downturn

Other articles you might enjoy reading:

• Didn’t receive your economic stimulus check?
• Whatever Happened To ‘No Other Gods’?
• What is a recession in the United States?
• Is the UFF MMA a scam?
• Revolution Money Exchange vs. Paypal

MyPoints is a great program, but let’s face it going through their emails can get a bit tedious and time consuming. I tend to work through my MyPoints emails every couple of days. I used to do them daily, but it just wasn’t worth the hassle for a few emails. I then went to the opposite extreme and tried doing them each week and even tried every two weeks but found that some of bonus emails and surveys expire if not processed quickly. Expired emails = lost points = not good.

Over the past 6-months of using MyPoints, I’ve really worked hard to simplify the process of working through my MyPoints emails. So let me share with you how you can spend literally less than just a few minutes a day working your MyPoints emails. Yeah, yeah, I know…this all sounds like one of those late night infomercial commercials…but bear with me, I promise it’s not. Keep reading and I’ll even throw in a handy dandy email slicer absolutely free! (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Overview

Rather than jump in to the details, I’ll summarize the process first, then dive in and give you all the necessary detail. It’s actually very simple, just requires a little bit of explaining.

When I have a few minutes to work my MyPoints emails, I log into my Gmail account and navigate to the list of all the MyPoints emails I haven’t processed yet. I open up the first email, scroll down to the orange button that says Get Points and click. I then press the J key in GMail to go to the next unread email, scroll down again to the orange button that says Get Points and click, press J, and continue this process until all of the MyPoints emails have been processed.

If it’s a survey, I go ahead and open it, but don’t complete it yet. I finish processing all of the emails first, then go back later and do any surveys if I have time. If I skip surveys, I can do all of the 10 or so MyPoints emails in about a minute. That’s it. Told you it was simple. Yes, I hear you, “Wait, Wait, Wait. What is all of this about going directly to the MyPoints emails, pressing the what key?? Every time I click on the orange Get Points button it navigates me straight to the site.“.

With the overview out of the way, let’s jump into the details, get your questions answered, and show you how to set-up this whole process.

Use Gmail’s filtering capabilities

I’m an avid Gmail user and have been since shortly after it was released. Gmail is interesting, as on the surface it seems very simple, but Gmail literally full of powerful little features and capabilities. One of the features I really like is filtering. Filtering allows you to place one or more filters on incoming mail and have Gmail automatically do something with it. The something can be deleting it, archive it (skips your inbox), starring it, labeling it or whatever else.

I didn’t like the MyPoints emails cluttering up my inbox, so I set-up a filter to look for all emails coming from MyPoints. The filter both labels the email with a MyPoints label and archives it so I don’t see it in my main inbox.

When I’m ready to work my MyPoints emails, I open up Gmail and select the MyPoints label. Labels can be found in the left hand sidebar under the Labels section. This will cause Gmail to show all emails with the MyPoints label only.

Turn on Gmail’s keyboard shortcuts

Another “hidden” feature that Gmail provides is keyboard shortcuts. These are key presses you can enable that do various Gmail functions. To enable keyboard shortcuts, click on Settings up in the top right corner, choose “Keyboard Shortcuts On”, then scroll to the bottom and press Save Changes. Now navigate back to your inbox by clicking on Inbox in the left hand sidebar. You should now see a dark black greater than sign (>) next to the first item in your inbox. That little greater than sign is the key indicator that keyboard shortcuts are now turned on.

To see all of the various keyboard shortcuts, press the ? key. A transparent gray window will pop-up showing you a list of all the various keyboard short cuts available. Note, delete is missing. I’m not sure why, but it’s Shift-3 (or #).

Click on your first email using your mouse, or just press enter. The email that had the > symbol next to it is now shown. Neat huh? You can now press the J key to move to the next unread email or press the K key to go back one email. Using the J and K keys, you can quickly navigate through your email without ever removing your hands from the keyboard. If you use Google reader, the J and K keys should be all too familiar.

The use of the J key is the main technique in moving from one MyPoints email to the next quickly. I use the page down key to scroll down until I can see the orange Get Points button and then use the mouse to click. To process a MyPoints email, hit J to move to the next email, press page down once or twice, then click Get Points. Easy huh?

Now I’ll show you how to keep the MyPoints offer from displaying right away and hiding your email

Use Firefox

Another internet tool I couldn’t live without is the Firefox browser. Firefox is a free open source browser that is far more powerful and faster than Internet Explorer. Firefox is completely extensible, and literally thousands of various plugins are available for it that will make it do pretty much anything you could ever want.

Firefox is also highly customizable, which leads me to how I keep the MyPoints advertiser page from displaying on top of your Gmail when you click on the orange Get Points button. What we’re going to do is force firefox to open links in a new tab, but in the background instead of the default foreground. Here’s how:

1. Go up to the URL bar (also called the address bar) and type: about:config then press enter
2. In the filter field displayed type: browser.tabs.loadD. Firefox should now only show you one setting called browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground
3. Double click on browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground so that it’s value changes to true instead of false.

That’s it, you can now close that tab and continue browsing. Now whenever you click on a link, a new tab will be opened in the background containing the contents of that link. In other words, now when you press the orange Get Points button, it will open in another tab in the background and you’ll still see the email in the foreground you just clicked on.

In Review

At this point, I’ll assume your using Gmail and you’ve loaded Firefox. You’ve also set-up Gmail filtering, so the last few days worth of MyPoints emails are all organized up under a MyPoints label and in one location.

Again, click on the first email and begin the process of scrolling down to the orange Get Points button and click, press J, scroll, click Get Points, J, press scroll, click button, press J…etc.

Continue this process until all of the MyPoints emails have been worked. Again, if it’s a survey, go ahead and click to open the survey, but don’t do the survey yet.

Now, looking at your Firefox browser, you should have your Gmail in the foreground and few (or many) tabs which contain all of the MyPoints promotional websites and surveys. You have two options 1) Don’t look at them at all and just close them all or 2) Navigate to each tab, take a look at what they have to offer and then close the tab or do whatever else.

If I’m in a big hurry, I do option 1. Generally though, in order to promote what MyPoints is really for, I navigate to each tab and take a look at the offering. For option 1, just select the tab that you want to keep open (most likely your Gmail tab), right click on the tab with the mouse, and choose “Close Other Tabs”. This will close all of the tabs except the one you selected.

If you go with option 2, than as you review the site, just click the X on the tab to close it. You can also press Ctrl-W on the keyboard.

Wrapping Up

So there you have it. The exact way I work through my MyPoints emails quickly and easily. Don’t want to switch email accounts, but interested in using Gmail? No problem. Another really slick feature that Gmail has is the ability to act as an email client for other email accounts. You can find instructions on how to consolidate your emails to Gmail on Lifehacker.

Not sure about Firefox? Give it a try, you’ll love it. You can even make it look just like Internet Explorer 7 by installing the Vista-aero theme. Don’t like the way Firefox does something? Just do a quick Google serach, I can almost guarantee you that you will find a setting to make it do exactly what you want.

Don’t do MyPoints? Well, that’s easy too. Just sign-up! I’ve written about how much I like it before. We’ve received more than $100.00 in Target giftcards using MyPoints and eaten out at Olive Garden a few times. All for just reading a few emails.

Have any tips or tricks for reading through your MyPoints emails? Already use a similar process to mine, but maybe do something a bit different? Add a comment! If for any reason you are confused or can’t get it to work as I’ve described, please add a comment and I’ll help you out!

Other articles you might enjoy reading:

• Eating out courtesy of MyPoints!

Each Monday here on Gather Little by Little I write about topics and techniques for saving money. This article is part of that ongoing series called Monday Saving Monday.

Last week I decided to change things up a bit and instead of me sharing a money savings tip, I asked readers of Gather Little by Little to share theirs, and did they ever! Some blogged theirs and many others added comments, overall I received 41 tips for saving money. A sincere thanks to everyone that responded!

Here’s everyone tips pulled together into one big tips post!

• Emily shared the following: “Well, this isn’t a very healthy tip, but one thing way I like to save money when I go out to eat is to eat at a Mexican restaurant. I fill-up on the chips and salsa and then order a $2 quesadilla for my meal. (even when I spend more money on a meal, inevitably I’m already close to full anyway from all the chips!) I rarely spend more than just a few dollars if I get a drink plus tip. Like I said, it’s not very healthy to eat mostly chips and salsa for dinner, but it sure it GOOD! I’m also not afraid to eat dinner before I go out and then enjoy the chips and salsa as a “dessert.” So when my friends all get together, I’m the first to suggest Mexican!“
• The Personal Financier shared a post about Saving money by keeping your finances organized.
• Daniel shared 10 tips for saving a few dollars:
  1. Eat less prepared foods and make things from scratch. This is easier if one stays home while another works, but can be applied by everyone. For example, you can get 10 times the breakfasts out of oatmeal than you can out of cereals. Better for you, too. Frozen dinners vs. home made are similarly more costly.
  2. When you work, bring your lunch rather than eat out. You save $5 to $10 a day by doing this, which adds up to $35 a week, and $1,750 a year.
  3. Pay all of your bills on time and never overdraw your account. Those late fees and overdraft fees add up in a hurry.
  4. Shop for kid’s clothes both at thrift stores and garage sales. You can get amazingly high quality things barely worn for 5-10% of retail. This is especially true for little kids, who grow so fast used clothes are almost always barely worn.
  5. Entertainment discounts - Use coupons or an entertainment book to cut your overall entertainment bill in half without any sacrifice at all. This also encourages you to try different restaurants and entertainment options.
  6. Get DVDs at the library, not the video store. You can generally request titles and pick them up for your movie night. You can’t really beat free entertainment. As a bonus, you don’t feel guilty if you end up not watching all of a movie you don’t like. After all you didn’t pay for it, did you?
  7. Go to movie theaters which allow you to bring in snacks from outside. Just ask, a lot of them do now.
  8. Make coffee at home, don’t get it at Starbucks or even McDonalds. It’s pennies a cup versus dollars.
  9. Learn to like water.
  10. Eat less meat and cheese and more veggies.
• INDEBTNESS shared a post he had written about what to do with junk mail. While not directly related to money savings, it sure can reduce temptation in your life, which can certainly save money!
• Megan from Sermons in Stones shared a few tips via some articles from her blog: I See Big Money in Your Future!, Think before you buy, and “The power of impulse saving”.
• Keith from Spend on Life said: “Buy everything with cash. I love my debit card. It makes it easy to go about my business but I used to carry no cash, only my card. By switching to buying everything with cash, I am able to budget myself much easier. I know I have a certain amount in my wallet to last for a certain period of time and I can see it going down as I spend it.”
• Bob from ChristianPF.com shared this tip: “I think one of the things that has saved me the most money is being a do-it-yourselfer… There are so many things from building a headboard, to growing a garden, to doing your own car maintenance that can save you a ton of money. I also find that even as a beginner I can often do a better job than some people who I would pay to do the job.”
• Matt from freesand.com gave this tip on heating and cooling: “Save money on heat and AC by only heating/cooling the room you’re in with a window AC unit or space heater. It much cheaper to only heat/cool one room vs. your whole house. Window ACs are hard to move around so just put it in the room you spend the most time in during the warm months. My wife and I put one in our bedroom for those nights when it’s so hot you can’t get to sleep. For the winter we wear more clothes and sit under blankets, they’re much cheaper than heating the whole house (especially ours which leaks like a sieve).”
• Tonni from The Geezers on Talbot shares The truth about juice
• Kelli from money.co.uk gave us 3 easy money saving tips:
  1. I use my debit card more often
  2. Keep 20% of my salary away and forget about it. This has helped me a lot during emergencies.
  3. I prefer cooking at home rather than going to restaurants
• Trent Hamm from The Simple Dollar gave this great suggestion: “If you’re about to have a kid - especially if you’re going to have more than one - ask for some high-quality cloth diapers as baby shower gifts - we use bumGenius. A high quality cloth diaper is as easy to use as a disposable and reduces the cost per diaper use from about 20 cents to about half a cent. Since you’ll change a few thousand diapers on each child, that’s a whole lot of savings. Plus, the bumGenius diapers are high-quality enough that they have some online resell value after you’re done with kids.”
• Vincci from Pink Ponders shared a post about 10 tips she follows.
• Ms Money Savvy linked to 5 posts she wrote on various money saving topics: Six Ways to Save on Healthcare, Fabulous Yet Frugal Travel, Why Pay More if You Don’t Have to?, Just Ask!, and Five Ways to Save on Car Insurance
• Nicole from Breaking Even wrote a few posts during Earth week that she contributed: Your Complete Guide To Composting and Five Ways To Cut Down On Energy Use. She also said “I try to have whole commerce-free days where I don’t buy anything. I’ll be posting on that this weekend.”
• Foxie from Dreaming of Ferraris tells us to Focus On ‘Can,’ Not ‘Should’. Her post focuses more about the mentality of saving rather than specific tips. Good stuff!

Did you miss out on sharing your tip or tips last week? No problem, just add a comment below or write an article on your blog. I’ll be more than glad to continue adding your tips.

Other articles you might enjoy reading:

• Money Saving Tips - Share yours
• 13 ways to save when grocery shopping!
• Homemade car cleaning products
• 6 Random money saving techniques
• Money Saving Monday - Don’t pay for software, use free software instead!

For those of you that have been reading my Sunday lyrics postings for while, will know that I am a huge fan of Casting Crowns. I’ve featured their music and lyrics here on Gather Little by Little a few times. I find their combination of vocals, music and meaningful lyrics to be the essence of my favorite Christian music.

The song and lyrics for this week is I am every man by Casting Crowns. The song reminds us that regardless of your situation, regardless of who you are and where you are in life, their is hope. Jesus is the hope, for every man, women, and child.

Below are the lyrics to I am every man from their album Altar and the Door and you can listen to the song here on YouTube.

I’m the man with all I’ve ever wanted
All the toys and playing games
I am the one who pours your coffee, corner booth each Saturday
I am your daughter’s favorite teacher
I am the leader of the band
I sit behind you in the bleachers
I am every man

I’m the coach of every winning team and still a loser in my mind
I am the soldier in the airport facing giants one more time
I am the woman shamed and haunted by the cry of unborn life
I’m every broken man, nervous child, lonely wife

Is there hope for every man
A solid place where we can stand
In this dry and weary land
Is there hope for every man
Is there love that never dies
Is there peace in troubled times
Someone help me understand
Is there hope for every man

Seems there’s just so many roads to travel, it’s hard to tell where they will lead
My life is scarred and my dreams unraveled
Now I’m scared to take the leap
If I could find someone to follow who knows my pain and feels the weight
The uncertainty of my tomorrow, the guilt and pain of yesterday

There is hope for every man
A solid place where we can stand
In this dry and weary land
There is hope for every man
There is Love that never dies
There is peace in troubled times
Will we help them understand?
Jesus is hope for every man

Other articles you might enjoy reading:

• Sunday Lyrics: I believe
• Sunday Lyrics: Butterfly Kisses
• Sunday Lyrics: Washed in the water
• Sunday Lyrics - My Savior My God
• Sunday Lyrics: Thank you

The following is a guest post by That One Caveman from One Caveman’s Financial Journey, where he writes about his life, his family’s financial struggles and successes, and the various tools and tricks he employs to eliminate his debt. If you like what you read, make sure you head over and subscribe to his blog!

“I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. You must not have any other god but me.”

- Exodus 20:2-3 (New Living Translation)

For a country supposedly dominated by Christians, the United States of America is a decidedly polytheistic culture that rarely seems to even casually think about the “One God” we allegedly serve. In fact, we resemble ancient Greece far more than the monotheistic people we claim to be.

The ancient Greeks lived their lives ruled by arrogant and bored gods who rested upon Mount Olympus and who occasionally came down among the people to stir up trouble and make mischief. These immortals controlled the day-to-day actions of their pawns in the world and would regularly withhold blessings if something in their temple wasn’t up to their exacting standards. Each had his own distinctive personality, specialized skills, and notable predilections; to the Greeks, these gods were real beings, not just abstractions or ideas.

The modern American probably doesn’t believe that these beings still sit upon Mount Olympus, but don’t for a second consider that it is because we’ve become more sophisticated or knowledgeable as a species. No, we stopped believing in those gods only because we found new and more curious ones to have faith in. Mount Olympus was replaced by the tall, steel crags of the towers of Wall Street; Hera, Ares, Aphrodite, Athena and all the other lesser gods were supplanted by Buffett, Trump, Oprah, and Gates, among others; and the almighty Zeus has transformed into his modern-day form known as Bernanke. And where ambrosia used to keep the gods alive, our modern gods now consume endless amounts of the nectar known by the names of Washington, Lincoln, Hamilton, Jackson, and the ever-popular Benjamin.

These gods and their day-to-day actions drive our lives through unseen transactions, uncaring corporations, uncontrolled spending, and unintended consequences. The gods and their little games have brought us the rollercoaster rides known as the “Enron accounting scandal,” the “tech bubble,” and the “sub-prime mortgage debacle.” And what’s surprising to note is that even though these gods we have chosen have brought us nothing but pain, suffering, shrinking retirement accounts, and debt up to our noses, we continue to worship these fickle lords in the hope that one day they will show us favor yet again. It makes about as much sense as begging to Zeus day after day to bring rain in the middle of a 5-year drought.

And not only have we replaced our gods with money and money movers; we also traded our heroes for the same. We, the little people, no longer need Heracles to fight for us since we have Capital One in our wallets protecting us from the Nordic raiders. When the bi-weekly salary harvest falls short, we can always call upon the gods of plastic to pay for our addictions of choice. We chase money and debt like they’re our best friends while ignoring what really matters.

America is owned, controlled, enslaved, abused, and confused by the ever-less-almighty dollar.

So what happened to “You must not have any other god but me.”? Why does he enter the picture only for one hour in one day each week or so? Why do we only show up just to pay a minor tribute to him in the currency of our other gods?

Is it that we only concerned in what we can see and touch and have lost our capacity to believe in what we cannot quantify? We willingly give away our money to hare-brained schemes in futile attempts to get rich quick, we spend our life savings on gas for our fuel-unconscious SUVs, and we toil for endless hours in the rat race only to come out behind. We waste our lives and our money on things that don’t matter, but when we’re faced with the one rule God thought was so important that he listed it first we fall flat on our faces.

Our priorities have been confused and shuffled behind our backs and we are none the wiser. We allowed the Wall Street Journal to take the place of our Bible and the annual reports of Berkshire Hathaway to be our guiding sermon series. Matthew 6:24 reminds us that we cannot serve both God and money and it’s clear we’ve made our choice. Our treasures are stored in our 401(k) where compounding interest means more than interest in God’s plan.

Maybe it’s time that we take a much-needed step back and examine ourselves closely. Can we honestly call ourselves Christian if we can’t handle having just one god and that one being the One God? We could be dangerously close to crossing the unseen threshold from which we may not be allowed to return; we could fall into permanent disfavor and yet we continue to test God’s patience. We need to take an inventory of our remaining redeeming qualities and let them be our focus. If we continue to allow Yen, Euros, and Dollars to guide our every action, we will eventually be held accountable for our failure to live up to God’s plan and our refusal to live by God’s rules.

We have invited that fateful golden calf to return and rule over us again. If we are to return to blessability, we will have to abandon our false gods and allow God to be our One again. We must leave our polytheistic tendencies at the base of our modern-day Mount Olympus and instead worship the One who inscribed his rules on stone tables at the summit of Mount Sinai.

Other articles you might enjoy reading:

• Didn’t receive your economic stimulus check?
• Surviving a recession - what you need to do now
• What is a recession in the United States?
• Is the UFF MMA a scam?
• Revolution Money Exchange vs. Paypal

This week I learned about the power of Google and how much traffic they can send to a blog. Over the past few weeks, people around the internet have been using Google to search for terms related to the in economic stimulus rebate. Fortunately, I’ve written a few articles on the subject: one discussing when the rebate checks will be send out, another clarifying that the stimulus rebate isn’t a loan as some people stated, and one talking about what I plan to do with ours.

My articles must have faired well in the complex site ranking algorithms Google uses and as a result I’ve received an enormous (ok, enormous for me) amount of traffic from Google over the past 2 weeks. More than 3 times what I normally receive. I have enjoyed the new surge of visitors very much and hope they become regular readers and maybe even subscribers! A few other bloggers I communicate with on a regular basis have also seen increases in traffic due to the economic stimulus articles they have written as well.

Another interesting traffic phenomenon I’ve noticed is that StumbleUpon, my favorite social networking site doesn’t seem to like me anymore. I can’t really figure it out. When I first started using StumbleUpon, I received enormous waves of traffic from popular articles. Now, I’m lucky to receive 100 visits, even from articles that receive lots of thumbs-up votes. I do frequent the same blogs and often give them thumbs up, so I wonder if StumbleUpon has detected a pattern and wants me to visit sites outside of those? If anybody has any insight, I’d love to hear your perspective. I really enjoy participating in the StumbleUpon community.

A Personal Favor

I’d like to ask a favor. My Mom called me the other night and informed me that she has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Needless to say I was stunned and pretty upset. The doctor is very optimistic about it though, which is wonderful news, but it’s still cancer, and cancer scares me. Especially after I watched a friend and co-worked die from brain cancer less than a year ago. Please keep my mother in your prayers and thoughts. I believe in the power of prayer and the difference it can make.

Also, please continue to pray for Pete’s wife who is still in the hospital with a severe blood clot.  Pete says she’s definitely on the upside, but will most likely be in the hospital for the next few days.  For those that may not know him, Pete blogs at Bible Money Matters.  He’s also looking for guest articles since he doesn’t have much time to write due to working and being at the hospital.  If you’re interested in writing one or have one already, please contact him (his email is in the sidebar of his main blog page).

A few announcements

• I’ve updated my blogroll again. I removed a few blogs and added a few new ones that I’ve really enjoyed reading over the past few weeks. Remember, my blogroll is a list of blogs I read daily. I don’t do link exchanges or add blogs by request.  If it’s on my list, I read it daily.
• Lynnae from Being Frugal.net recently wrote a review of SmartyPig, one of my new favorite online financial sites. Lynnae is giving away two $25.00 SmartyPig gift cards. Entering the contest is easy too!
• Pinyo from Moolanomy also has a contest going on. To enter you need to share your best wedding tip or story. The winner will receive a $50 Amazon giftcard or $50 cash.
• PT from PTMoney is celebrating his 1 year anniversary and to celebrate, he’s giving away a $50 Amazon gift card. Head over and enter the contest, I did!

The Gathering

• Single Guy Money - Remembering How Lucky I Am
• Money Saving Mom - Less is More: Part 1 and Less is More: Part 2
• Plonkee Money - so you’d like to play music
• Oh My Aching Debts - Starting a New Business: My Son Actually Listened!
• Mrs. Micah - Getting out of debt and world hunger…
• Credit Withdrawal - Will the Economic Stimulus Package Help You Survive the Recession?
• Being Frugal - Tightwad Tuesday: 10 Tips to a Wildly Successful Garage Sale
• Green Panda Treehouse - Lending Money Can Make You Lose Friends and Family
• Cash, Money, Life - Save Money with Refurbished Electronics
• One Caveman’s Financial Journey - With Changes Come Sacrifices
• Moolanomy - The Cost of Road Rage and Aggressive Driving
• Clever Dude - 50 Ways to Save Money by Not Wasting
• I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… - Why Debt Stinks: Life Doesn’t Just Stop So You Can Get Out
• Consumerism Commentary - Your Job as Your Identity? Not For Me, Thanks
• My Two Dollars - Weathering The Storm Of The Coming Recession.
• Million Dollar Journey - Financial Infidelity - The Leading Cause of Divorce?
• The Dough Roller - 25 Ways to Save Money on Gas

Other articles you might enjoy reading:

• The Friday Gathering For 4/25/2008
• The Friday Gathering For 4/18/2008
• The Friday Gathering: Japanese Maple Edition
• The Friday Gathering - Spring Break vacation edition
• The Friday Gathering - Hey! They blocked my blog!

The word recession seems to be everywhere these days. You hear it on the nightly news, read about it in the daily paper, politicians discuss it constantly and it’s the topic at the “water cooler” in the office. As I write this article, the word recession is on the main pages for CNN.com, MSN Money, USA Today Money, Google News…well you get the picture. Everyone is talking about it, writing about it, and worrying about it.

But what exactly is a recession anyway? I’ll admit, I didn’t know until I did the research for this article. I had a basic idea and knew it wasn’t generally considered a good thing, but if someone asked me to explain a recession in detail, I wouldn’t have been able to. Given I blog on personal finance, I figured this is something I should know and understand. I wrote this article thinking some of you may not know as well. So, let me share with you what I learned. It’s really pretty simple at a high level.

What is a recession in the United States?

A recession in the United States is a significant decline in in U.S. economic activity, lasting more than a few months (many believe 2 months), and generally measured using real gross domestic product (GDP). Real GDP measures the size of a the U.S. economy. Put simply, GDP is the total value in dollars of all goods and services produced within the boundaries of a country in a given period. I use this definition in the context of the U.S. only, as while at a high level the definitions of a recession are common from country to country, the details in how the determination is made vary greatly.

Recessions can be associated with many different things in our economy, including:

• Sharply rising prices (inflation)
• Falling prices (deflation)
• Declines of employment
• Declines of investing
• Declines of overall corporate profits

Severe or long running recessions are called depressions. There is no particular agreement on how “long running” is defined nor is the distinction between a depression and a recession really definitive. A severe depression, or significantly high inflation (commonly called hyper inflation) is called an economic collapse. The text book example of this is the 1929 stock market crash here in the U.S. A decline in GDP over more than 10% is generally considered a depression.

Is the U.S. in a recession?

By definition no, as we haven’t seen a quarter with a reduction in GDP. GDP for first quarter of 2008 is .6%. GDP for 4th quarter 2007 was also .6%. While we may be experiencing very slow to stagnant growth, our economy overall hasn’t declined.

Are we headed for a recession here in the U.S.? Possibly. Many financial analysts believe the economic stimulus package will keep the GDP from declining. Of course just as many think it won’t help at all.

With overall product prices skyrocketing, gas prices rising, housing and stock markets on the decline, we definitely seem to be heading in the direction of a recession. Most economists believe the next quarter will be the deciding factor on whether we head into recession or make a positive turn towards economic growth.

Here are some articles from my blogroll I think you’ll enjoy as well:

• Wall Street Journal Is Advocating Stockpiling Food - Is This A Recession Or Not? - My Two Dollars
• Please Stop Calling It A Recession from Mashable
• Eight Questions About the Current State of the Economy - And How It Affects You from The Simple Dollar
• Recessions and the State of Our Economy: A Visual Primer from The Digerati Life
• A Recession Could Do America Some Good from One Caveman’s Financial Journey

What are your thoughts on the possible recession? Do you think this is good or bad overall for our economy? Did you directly experience the recession in the early 80’s? How did it impact you? What did you do to get through? Are you doing anything to prepare for a possible recession? If so what?

Other articles you might enjoy reading:

• Didn’t receive your economic stimulus check?
• Surviving a recession - what you need to do now
• Whatever Happened To ‘No Other Gods’?
• Is the UFF MMA a scam?
• Revolution Money Exchange vs. Paypal

One of the more popular internet searches that lead people here to Gather Little by Little is the term “UFF MMA Scam”. I wrote about the United First Financial (UFF) Money Merge Account (MMA) back in October after receiving a flier from one of my sons football coaches. Being fairly new to personal finance at the time, this was my first exposure to the MMA product and its promise of paying your mortgage off in half the time along with saving thousands of dollars in interest. The big red flag for me of course was the $3,500 cost of the software that supposedly helps you do this.

The article I wrote about the UFF MMA product provided an objective perspective that both addressed it’s positives and negatives. My final conclusion being that the decision to use the product was really a personal decision.

Since then, I’ve continued to receive fliers in our mailbox for UFF MMA and for other similar competing products along with reading about it many other blogs and money forums. As a result of the amount of searches I receive for “UFF MMA scam”, I decided to do a little more digging and decide if the UFF MMA product is really a legitimate product or a very cleverly crafted scam.

What is a scam?

A quick check on Wikipedia for the word scam yields something called a “Confidence Trick”:

A confidence trick or confidence game, also known as a con, scam, swindle, grift, bunko, flim flam, or scheme, is an attempt to swindle a person or people (known as the “mark” or sometimes “griftee”) which involves gaining his or her confidence.

One of the first examples listed is that of the “get rich scheme”, where cons work to separate marks from their hard earned money. I am pretty confident each one of you has encountered at least one of these schemes at some point in your life and most of you many. They aren’t hard to find, just turn on your TV and find on of those infomercials for real estate sales and how you can get rich seemingly overnight. What I found even more interesting on the Wikipedia page was that one of the variations of the get rich scheme was the pyramid scheme. I’m sure many of you have encountered these as well.

A pyramid scheme is a business model that involves making money through enrolling other people in the pyramid, often without the delivery of a product or service. A common example is an offer that would allow a person to sell the same offer to other people for a fee. The fee being paid to the person offering you the ability to sell the offer. It starts off with one person, who sells to some number of people, who then sell to some number of other people, and so on. The end result looks like a pyramid, with the person at the top making the most money. Pyramid schemes are illegal in the United States and in many other countries. Why? Because they don’t actually sell anything.

Multi-level Marketing

One very popular legal variant of the pyramid scheme is Multi-level marketing (MLM). MLM schemes allow companies to market their products directly to consumers through direct selling. Independent people, often referred to as distributors, represent the parent company and are rewarded a commission based on the amount of product they sell. Distributors sell the product either directly, or by utilizing their own set of independent distributors. Distributors earn commission based on their sales, along with any sales from their own distributors. Thus the name, “multi-level”.

The trick is distinguishing between reputable MLM companies and illegal Pyramid schemes. This can sometimes be a very difficult task and becomes even more complicated as pyramid companies try to present themselves as legal and reputable MLM companies. The key distinguishing feature in the majority of MLM companies is that commissions are sold based on actual products or services.

What type of scheme is UFF MMA?

Now that we have some foundation in place and a common understanding of scams, pyramid, and MLM schemes we can now properly evaluate whether or not the UFF MMA program is indeed a scam or not, and if not, exactly what type of scheme it is.

Is UFF MMA a scam?
No, by definition it isn’t. The UFF MMA product does offer an actual product, the software. The software also provides savings if used correctly. However based on my research, the product does seem to way over promise. You can utilize a similar approach for free save yourself the $3,500 for the software.

Is UFF MMA a Pyramid Scheme?
No. The UFF MMA offers a legit product and pays a commision ($1400) to their distributors per sale. This by definition and from the FTC’s perspective is not an illegal pyramid scheme. Remember, Pyramid schemes don’t generally offer a product for sale.

Is UFF MMA an MLM scheme?
Yes. Given the company does provide a product, pays it’s distributors per sale, and additional distributors can be hired, UFF MMA is an MLM company. Being an MLM company isn’t a bad thing at all, and there are quit a few very successful ones including Avon and Mary Kay.

With that being said, here is where things get a little fuzzy. I consider the UFF MMA program a “pseudo-scam” hidden behind the veil of an MLM scheme. UFF MMA is certainly a legal product but it utilizes deceptive marketing practices that make very grand claims. Claims that don’t generally deliver in the long run. Additionally, the upfront cost of the program is significant ($3,500.00). A similar approach can be developed using a spreadsheet. While more manual, it would save you the $3,500.00. Most people pay the $3,500.00 out of their mortgage as part of the UFF MMA program, resulting in interest being paid on the software and potentially doubling the overall cost.

One additional point that makes this product a pseudo-scam to me is that distributors are provided with a $1400.00 commision for each sale they make. That is a huge incentive for people to sell the product.

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is

In the end, I think the whole UFF MMA product boils down to the old golden rule of “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is”. The promise of the UFF MMA program is to cut your mortgage time in half resulting it ten to hundreds of thousand dollars in savings, all for a small investment of $3,500. Sound to good to be true? Sure does to me.

If this is such a great and wonderful product, why isn’t it more common place? Why isn’t it offered by more reputable financial institutions? Why is it being marketed to me via homemade fliers passed out by my son’s football coach? (that to me is enough to scream possible scam).

In the few hours I spent researching the product, there were far more people speaking out against the product than were for it. Most of those speaking in favor of it had some type of financial gain with the product. In one thread I was reading (which I won’t link to) the guy, whom I’ll assume was a distributor, was linking to information about the UFF MMA program and the link was an affiliate/referral link!

While it may not be a scam from a legal or purest aspect, it’s close enough for me. Personally I’m staying far away from it, but I would encourage you do spend time on the internet researching the programs and maybe even talking to some finance professionals before you make any final commitments.

Do you have experience with the UFF MMA program or any other MMA program? I’d love to hear how it’s going for you personally. Sell an MMA product and want to offer your opinion/viewpoint? Please do, but I would appreciate you making it clear you sell the product, and please don’t include any links to your companies product. I’ll delete any comments that do. So share your thoughts on the UFF MMA program, add a comment!

Other articles you might enjoy reading:

• Didn’t receive your economic stimulus check?
• Surviving a recession - what you need to do now
• Whatever Happened To ‘No Other Gods’?
• What is a recession in the United States?
• Revolution Money Exchange vs. Paypal

Revolution Money Exchange is a new way to exchange money online. Like Paypal, Revolution money Exchange allows you to send and receive money online. But that’s where the similarities end.  Which product is better? That depends on what you are trying to.  Run an online business?  Paypal may be your best choice for now.  More of a online shopper and tired of paying Paypal fees?  Than Revolution Money Exchange might be just what you’ve been waiting for.

Is Revolution Money Exchange a scam?

No. When I first ran across a few blogs talking about Revolution Money Exchange, I figured it was just another money making scam like so many others I run across daily. The I noticed that Pete from Biblemoneymatters.com was using it and that same day I received an email from Patrick of Cash, Money, Life about it as well. Since I respect both of them, I thought I’d check it out. Turns out, it’s not a scam at all, but a very legit money exchange service that I think it really going to give Paypal a run for their money.

About Revolution Exchange

Revolution Money Exchange was launched in 2007 and is part of a family of companies with Revolution, LLC. One of initial founders was Steve Case co-founder of AOL. Steve is currently Chairman of Revolution, LLC and serves on the board. The credentials of the other board members is equally impressive: Ted Leonsis - Washington Capitols owner, David Golden - former Vice Chairman JP Morgan, Russell E. Hogg - Former President & CEO for Mastercard, David Pottruck - Former CEO Charles Schwab, Frank Raines - former Chairman & CEO of Fannie Mae, and Larry Summers - former Secretary of Treasury.  A pretty impressive array of background and experience.

The founders, including Steve Case, received venture capital funding for their effort from Citi, Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank and partnered with First Bank & Trust, Brookings, SD where accounts are actually held.

Differences between Revolution Money Exchange and Paypal

• Transfer fees - The biggest difference in Revolution Money Exchange and Paypal is that Revolution Money doesn’t charge fees for sending or receiving funds. This feature in and of itself was enough to make me sign-up. I’ve been using Paypal since they first started and can’t even imagine how much I have payed in fees over the years. The only fees charged by Revolution Money Exchange are check withdrawals ($2.50 per check), check stop payments ($20 per check), paper statements ($5 per statement), ACH returns ($35 per returned ACH), and overdrafts ($35 per overdraft)
• Required personal information - One issue that has been a bit of a touchy subject amount bloggers and blog readers is that Revolution Money Exchange requires you Social Security Number to create account. With all of the identify theft concerns, many people are understandably gun shy about handing over their social security number to anyone. Revolution Money Exchange says: “We ask for your Social Security Number as a security measure to protect your financial information. Your Social Security Number is used to confirm your identity by cross-referencing it against the other personal data you provide.”
• Limitations - To reduce their risk of fraud, Revolution Money Exchange places limits on transactions and accounts: Max value of an account is $2,500, only one account person, transactions are limited to $1000.00 per day and $2,500 per calendar month, money transfers up to 30 times per month.
• Business services - Paypal has been around a long time, and has not only established itself as the number one service for personal use, but also for online businesses. Revolution Money Exchange focuses purely on person to person money transfers. They currently provide no business services like Paypal such as subscriptions, gift certificates, payment management, invoicing, shipping, etc.
• No Credit Cards - Paypal allows members to accept credit cards if you have a premier or business account. Revolution Money Exchange does not allow this.
• Not accepted by everyone - Revolution Money Exchange is new and therefore isn’t accepted by places yet, but the list of merchants where you can use it is growing. I see it’s use expanding, but for now usage is limited.
• No international support - Currently, money cannot be sent or received internationally. Also, you must be a U.S. resident and your linked bank must be a U.S. bank.
• Simple - Does one thing, does it well, and does it with no fees. If you just want to transfer money to someone, or receive money from someone Revolution Money Exchange is a great service.

Free $25 sign-up Bonus

Until May 15th, one very attractive feature is available with Revolution Money Exchange, a free $25 sign-up bonus. All you have to do is open a new Revolution Money Exchange account by clicking on the green button below and completing the required information. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll receive your $25.00 and then you will be able to refer other people. When you refer then and they sign up, they’ll receive $25 and you’ll receive $10.00 (up to $500.00).

I signed up initially just to receive the $25 sign-up bonus, but ended up using the service to purchased some calcium for my saltwater tank from a fellow hobbiest, and purchased a Entrecard graphic from Pete at Bible Money Matters. I’m still using Paypal, but looking for any opportunity I can to use Revolution Money Exchange just to save money on the fees!

Summary

Paypal is a far more mature and robust product than Revolution Money Exchange, but if sending and receiving money is all you want to do, Revolution Money Exchange is a great option. The company is backed by a credible board of directors, accounts are held in a reputable financial institution, and the site seems to be very secure. Give it a try, worse case you walk away with $25.00 in your pocket!

Have you used it? What’s your experience? Is it something you would use? Add a comment!

Other articles you might enjoy reading:

• Didn’t receive your economic stimulus check?
• Surviving a recession - what you need to do now
• Whatever Happened To ‘No Other Gods’?
• What is a recession in the United States?
• Is the UFF MMA a scam?