Bill Ranson

With the U.S. Congress set to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, many store owners are focusing on retail energy management to improve energy efficiency. The bill calls for lower carbon emissions, a cap and trade program for certain industries, and dependence on renewable energy sources for 25% of energy use by 2020. The measure also sets energy efficiency standards for a large number of companies.

The U.S. and to curtail the consequent effects of global warming, governments all over the world are also taking into consideration some proposals of implementing similar mandatory retail energy management standards. Scientific studies prove that the use of utilities for electricity generation, oil heating and other fuels have consequent GHG gases which have very high global warming potential.

Many businesses are currently dealing with intricate regulations regarding carbon emissions, such as refrigerant gas commonly found in commercial refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) systems or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. A new batch of requirements on energy efficiency are set to be laid out in addition to these proposed regulations. However, there are energy management programs that can handle tracking and reporting through an automated system.

Smart technology is used in achieving reduction of energy use by utilities and to be able to identify renewable sources of energy. This can greatly help in the reduction of GHG gases related to energy use and eventually help make the environment a lot healthier than its current state. For retailers, the benefits include a reduced carbon footprint, lower energy costs, the ability to obtain the best energy rates for their sites, and the opportunity to tap into local, state and national rebates and incentives.

Studies show that if an average supermarket reduces its energy consumption by 10%, it would realize a 16% increase in net profit margins. A restaurant the is able to reduce energy use by about 10% will be able to realize increased net profit by up to 4%. The savings would quickly pay for the cost of asset management software used to identify, maintain, track and report the operational status of all equipment in use.

There are several steps to retail energy management. The first is to make a commitment to energy conservation, whether upgrading an existing facility or building new. For the next steps of assessing performance, setting goals, creating an action plan, implementing an action plan and evaluating progress, a comprehensive automated energy management program can quickly and easily provide the data needed.

Retail energy management tracks a buildings energy use and is a valuable way to see your enterprises entire energy portfolio, regardless of the number and location of sites. It is best utilized with Energy Star rated equipment and an automated program that provides key information about past and real time energy use, areas of opportunity to better manage energy use, and benchmarking goals and comparisons.

Retail energy management creates a comprehensive energy saving operation for one or multiple retail locations. This brings much benefits to any type of facility which has extensive lighting, heating, air conditioning, or refrigeration units. By controlling energy use, you can optimize the efficiency of equipment and other operational assets and significantly reduce operational costs.

Enterprise energy management provides distributed enterprises with a comprehensive view of their energy portfolio across all facilities, with data that can be linked to specific assets and delivered to energy managers anywhere in the world. Learn about Sustainability Resource Planning (SRP) software from Verisae at http://www.verisae.com/articles

You may be experiencing a situation like a lot of people who are spending more and more but using a credit card to do it. This can be a situation that will negatively affect you. You may get to the point where you look at your bills each month and say they do not seem to be going down. Usually the next step is to decide whether it is worth even making any more payment at all. In the short term it would be great not to have so many bills each month, but in the long term it could be very damaging to you.

If you decide to stop making payments usually your phone will begin to ring and the person on the other end will not be so nice and demand payment on your debt. They may even send you a letter demanding payment which you can send them a cease and desist letter to deter some of there harassing. They may even threaten you and may even tell you that you will be arrested if you do not pay. This is an illegal tactic that they use sometimes and you need to know that are not supposed to use it.

The creditor may even try to call someone at there work and harass them there which is also illegal for them to do. They may even say they will take you to court which they never do because it cost to much and unless you have assets they know it is useless.

Remember that Not Paying Your Credit Card Bills can have a negative impact on you.

Find Free: Debt Expert Now
Get: Debt Help Today

Bryan Burbank is an expert in the field of Finance and Debt Relief

How many monthly bills do you get? You may have a mortgage bill, a car payment, heating, electricity, gas, telephone, television, and that doesnt even begin with your credit card and store card payments. The fact of the matter is that people today have more monthly commitments than ever before. And with all these various bills it is very easy to forget to pay one on time.

Then there is the wholly separate issue of whether or not you can afford all your bills. Sometimes we may simply have over extended ourselves financially and in such situations we may not be able to pay all of our bills as they fall due. And what if you were to lose your job, or become ill or otherwise unable to work? Even if this is only for a short time, you will have some very real problems meeting all your monthly bills.

Penalties

This can be disastrous. First of all most creditors will slap late payment penalties and other administrative charges to your account if you are late. Some may recall or try to repossess assets if they have security over them. This is most serious in the case of your house but can also apply to your car or any other purchase you have made by instalments such as a television, or computer.

How can you provide for such an outcome? Well having some savings is a very good start. This should be able to cushion you for a few months should you lose your job. Then there is the fact that it is perhaps not so wise to rack up so many commitments that you cant reduce your outgoings at short notice.

Insurance Protection

Another option to consider is payment protection insurance. This can be very helpful and is designed specifically for situations such as these. How it works is you pay an amount extra on top of your monthly bill. This is automatically added to your bill and depends on how much you have outstanding for each bill. For example, payment protection insurance on a credit card might be priced at 1 per 100 you have outstanding. What happens then is should you lose your job through no fault of your own, or should you become unable to work due to accident or illness, then the insurance should step in and make your repayments for you so that you dont fall behind and rack up extra fees. This can be a great assistance to you financially, at a time when you need it most.

From banks to credit unions, a number of online options have opened up when it comes to money management and bill paying. For personal or for professional business accounts, the convenience of managing you money online is a valuable time saver.

Most companies have the option of managing all accounts in one place. Savings, credit cards, checking account balances and the like are all in one place making it simple for transfers, balance inquiries and bill payment.

Long gone are the days of writing out checks and mailing bills off at the beginning of the month. Most financial institutions have made it convenient to input all bill types, including account numbers for each individual bill, for easy online payments. Typically the money for these bills are taken directly from an account within just a few days. No more worry about your payment being lost in the mail or a delay in the power company receiving payment.

Most banks or credit unions will send you a statement via email that verifies that payment has been made on all of your bills. This way, if a problem or question regarding your bill should arise, you have an adequate paper trail backing you up.

Another online option is for automatic payment. This can simplify things even more by not even needing to get online, but by simply scheduling payments to be made by the bank at a certain time each month. The bank makes sure everything is sent to the proper place and you have peace of mind knowing that everything is paid on a day of your choosing each and every month.

With the ease and convenience of online banking, we are able to free up some valuable time that most certainly can be used elsewhere.

For your banking needs, especially business checking Irvine CA, MetroPacific Bank (http://metropacificbank.com/) has a variety of options to choose from. Heidi Ball is a freelance writer.

Pay Credit Card Bills on Time – Avoid Late Fees

Late fees can add up fast, and over time can damage your credit score. But they don’t have to get the best of you. If you regularly receive past due notices, now is the time to take action. Paying on time can improve your credit rating, save you money, and decrease the headaches of overdue bills. Here are a few ways to make sure your payments are on time, every time.

On Time, Online

Almost all credit card issuers let you pay through the Internet. If you haven’t already, you can register for online account access. Signing up takes just a few minutes. Once you have online access, you can pay your bills with just a handful of clicks. Keep in mind that most online transactions take a few business days to process; pay early to ensure the amount is received on time.

If you wish, credit card companies will send you reminders as the due date approaches to help you remember to make the payments. You can even set up automatic payments. Choose a day when you know you’ll have enough cash in your checking account. This way, the bills will literally pay themselves.

Pay by Phone

If you’re looking through your credit card statements and realize that the bills are due today, you can still get the payment in. Call the credit card issuer and make the payment over the phone. You may have to pay a fee for doing so, usually between $5 and $15. To avoid this cost, only make phone payments if absolutely necessary; otherwise, pay online or send a check in the mail.

Consolidate Due Dates

Even with the best intentions, it can be hard to keep track of all the due dates for your credit cards, especially if you are managing a few. To simplify your payment plan, call the toll-free number listed on the back of your credit card. Ask the company representative to change your due date. Most lenders will allow you to do this. Choose a date close to when you get paid; this way, you’ll have the money in your account when you need it. Grouping payment due dates will make it easier to keep track of your bills.

Set up Reminders

No matter what steps you take, setting up reminders for yourself can help you better manage your finances. Mark in a calendar or agenda when to pay the bills. Or place post-it notes in a visible place. Also jot down which bills you need to pay on that date. When the day comes, sit down and pay the credit card bills. Then make out a list for the following month.

Before you open up another credit card account, consider when the payments will be due. Make the due date coincide with other bills if possible. Staying organized is the key to consistent on time credit card payments.

Just having the satisfaction of avoiding late fees and managing your credit wisely is a good reason to pay your bills on time. If you continually make an effort, you will be greatly rewarded.
Taking small steps can lead to big returns, including a higher credit rating and solid history. If you work at it, you can avoid late fees and enjoy better credit.

Copyright Ed Vegliante. Free online reprints of this article are allowed provided the resource box remains intact with a live link back to http://www.credit-card-surplus.com

Click here to Apply For A Credit Card Online.

Ed Vegliante runs the website http://www.Credit-Card-Surplus.com, a well organized credit card directory enabling the consumer to compare and apply for a variety of credit card offers. View more Credit Card Articles.

Online Bill Pay – Tactics and Strategies to Pay Bills on Time and Not Run Out of Cash in the Process

It sure is very convenient to pay your bills online, as it eliminates writing checks, licking stamps, and going out to the post office every week or so. But, there’s more you can do with online bill pay to reduce debt faster, stay ahead of your creditors, and also avoid the biggest pitfall of paying bills in the first place: running out of cash before next pay day.

When using online bill pay, it is much simpler to see which checks would clear before pay day and after pay day, and how much money you have left over after the payments clear.

However, you may be faced with a situation where you have very little cash left after all your checks clear, and sometimes not have enough cash on-hand to clear all the payments. If this is the case, it would leave you broke until next pay day. If your account balance isn’t enough to clear all your payments, then hopefully you have some way to add funds to your account manually or automatically.

Your biggest bills, such rent or mortgage, are the biggest problem or threat. They take a huge chunk out of your account every month, and it’s worse if they are due at the same time or within days of other large bills. Another problem can be your utilities, depending on where you live. In Arizona, for example, the electric bill can vary from $80 in the winter to over $400 in the summer. The gas bill will do the opposite. So it’s hard to forecast and keep a constant cash flow every month, having recurring bills with such a cyclical nature. Imagine paying between $80 and $100 for several months, and all of a sudden, the electric bill tops $200 one month, then $300, then $400.

If you use online bill pay the manual way, then you probably submit payment after you receive the invoice, and date it on or before the due date on the invoice. If you are a little savvier with the online account, then you can set it up for recurring payments, where a payment is automatically made every month or every four weeks for the same amount. Either way, the payment may clear when you have barely enough to cover it, or may be so large that it drains your account and you can’t make other payments due at the same time.

The take away of this article is this: convert all your bills into smaller recurring payments. Schedule them weekly or bi-weekly, rather than monthly. Let’s use a couple of examples. Say you pay your auto insurance monthly and it costs you $200. Set up a recurring bill payment for $50 once a week. If you normally get paid on Fridays, then make the payments effective every Friday. If your car payment is $300 per month, make weekly payments of $75. The biggest impact will be your high dollar expenses, such as the rent or mortgage payment. These will give you the biggest relief, since they won’t hit all at once and wipe you out. To manage bills with a cyclical nature, such as the electric bill example I gave earlier, calculate the average bill amount over the last 6 months. Then divide this amount by 4 and make that your weekly payment. During the low season, you’ll be paying over and creating a credit balance. But then during the high season that credit balance will be used up without increasing your scheduled payments.

In the end, the aggregate of all your payments remains the same. However, the impact of using this strategy is that it allows you to level out your cash usage throughout the month. The side effect is that you increase your daily cash balance in the bank, and have better visibility of where your cash is going. If you set it up correctly, all your bills will be paid off in advance and you will avoid ever making a late payment.

Ernesto Sidi is the author of Cash Rollercoaster, a personal finance how-to book written for the working American. Not a get-rich book, it emphasizes strategies and methods for optimizing personal cash flow and avoiding the cash rollercoaster (repeating cycle of high on pay day, out of cash two weeks later), plus advice for paying bills on-time, avoiding overdrafts and late fees, and using leverage to create cash flow and wealth. For more information on personal finance strategies, or to read other personal finance articles by Ernesto Sidi, visit http://www.pay-bills.net

Ernesto earned his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in 2004 from Keller Graduate School of Management. He received his undergraduate degree in Electronics Engineering Technology from DeVry University in 1993.

I initially chose my career in nursing for financial reasons. One of my friends had become a registered nurse and was making a very comfortable living. When we would get together, I would often ask her questions about the time commitment involved with becoming an RN and what she liked and disliked about the job. Being a close friend, she tried her best to paint an accurate picture for me of what her daily work was all about and certainly didn’t sugarcoat her position. While I was interested in what she had to say, I was much more interested in finding a way to quickly raise my earning potential. I enrolled in a nursing program and worked part time while I went to school. After graduation, I was able to get a job at a senior care facility. I was already prepared for the worst I might encounter and was looking forward to getting my first paycheck.

My first paycheck came and went, and while I was happy to be earning a high hourly wage, my focal point had shifted. You see, for the first time in my working life, I actually looked forward to going to work. It’s not that I ever hated any particular previous job so much that I dreaded coming in, but more that I always viewed work as a necessary evil. Nursing changed that for me.
Everyday, I get to help people. I comfort them when they need to be comforted. I listen when they need someone to talk to. I have a very busy schedule, and not everything I do is rewarding or even pleasant, but there are aspects of this job that make me feel like I am really making a difference to someone. Three months after I started my job, one of our patients unexpectedly passed away. When his family came for the wake and funeral, they made a point to stop by the facility and thank me. Apparently, this man had told them several times of how kind I was to him and how much he appreciated it. Hearing this made me cry, but it also made me happy that my efforts were appreciated.

It’s now been a few years since I first graduated from the nursing program. I’m going to earn an online bachelor’s of science in nursing while I continue at my job. My hope is to eventually become head nurse, although I want to avoid moving into an administrative position. I like spending my workday caring for patients. The feeling I get from my job is worth more than any paycheck could ever be.

A lot of people when faced with mounting debt will ask “Should I pay my credit card bills?” Yes it will give you some temporary relief and extra money in the short term but can have damaging consequences down the long road.

When you first go delinquent it is very common that you will receive constant calls from creditors wanting you to pay what you owe them. They will hound you calling 10 or even in some cases 12 times a day. They can usually find out your cell phone and work numbers, even in severe cases they will contact distant family members, which is against the law for them to do. Now if they are lucky enough to get you on the phone they can use many practices that can demean you and scare you into giving into their demands. They will try anything in the book, even threaten you to get you to pay them. You are protected however, by the Federal Trade Commission and should find out what your rights are before speaking with anyone.

Your credit score will be ruined by them reporting to the credit agencies that you are late on payment or have become delinquent. This can be damaging to you if you try to finance a big ticket item such as a house or a car. Please remember that you can always reach a settlement or once you make payment that your scores can be improved.

You can have many late, over the limit and interest fees that can be tact on to the original amount you owe. When you are in delinquency these creditors will charge you the maximum interest rate possible, usually over 30%. The late penalties can add up as well, usually $25-$50, and if you exceed your original credit limit, watch out, they will add those over-the-limit fees as well.

If your debt becomes very delinquent, the creditor can take legal action against you. It is possible that they could garnish your wages, get a lien or other legal judgments requiring you to pay up. Just remember this is a long process and companies do not like to get this involed. Just be aware it can happen and sometimes they are ruthless.

If you are in a situation where you can not pay maybe it would be good to seek out a professional. There are a lot of institutions that can help you in a financial crisis

For more information on how to get out of a financial bind please go to:

www.finddebtrelief.net

Electric cars have huge potential to change the auto industry, particularly with rising gas prices, but a new design out of California targets the niche of busy urban drivers.

The Zap Xebra all-electric car is a 40-mph, three-wheeled automobile designed for people who do a lot of in-town driving. Unlike hybrids, the Zap car needs no gas at all – just plug into any conventional outlet.

Zap sees a market with multicar families that are looking for the fuel-savings benefits electrics offer for urban commuting and errands. Many view it as a great second car for in-town driving, but according to Zap it soon becomes the first car for the entire family.

“Many people buy electric cars because they want to use them when they don’t need their gas cars,” said Alex Campbell, spokesman for Zap. “What they quickly realize is that most of their daily trips are perfect for electric cars and realistically it becomes the first car.”

Studies show that most driving trips are within 20 miles of home – distances well within the city limit for the Xebra, which can travel up to 40 miles per charge, Campbell said.

When consumers have a choice between driving an electric car and a gas car, they are likely to choose the electric car, Campbell said.

He says Zap’s Xebra project is the offspring of more than three decades of thought and evolution in electric transportation. The car was created as a breed by itself because the use and purpose of electric vehicles is different than gas cars.

At about 3 cents per mile – compared to 12 cents or more for gas – there is no comparison for cost-conscious consumers. With rising gas prices, people will be much more open to this unique new cost-effective design, he said.

Medical Debt Bankruptcy – Are Your Medical Bills Impossible to Payback? – Consider Debt Settlement

You have been a very methodical person and have planned out your finances well. Credit card debt has never been able to strike you since you have been very prompt with your Credit card payments. Even after being so methodical in your finances, you now find yourself deep in debt. It was that sudden illness which struck like lightning. After this prolonged illness you have been struggling to clear your bills. The expenditure was so heavy that you had to go in for a loan to clear your bills.

Medical bills can break you back. Illness can strike when you least expect it. If it can not be covered by medical insurance your only option is to go in for a loan to get pay the medical bills. You are now struggling to clear medical bills that amount to more then $15,000. Your savings are not adequate to cover them. Thinking constantly and worrying about how to clear this debt can make you ill yet again. Hold on pal, there is a way out. Have you heard of debt settlements? This is one method out for you. Go in for a structured settlement and clear your debt.

Medical debts are best solved by structured settlements. It is a very good form of debt relief. You are paid a lump sum amount to clear your bills by getting a loan or the bill is cleared directly by the Settlement company after negotiating with the medical authorities. You pay back the amount in easy installments over a period of two to three years. This is the only method to pay huge medical bills that come un-announced. You debt settlement company can play a very important role not only in settling your medical bills but also in negotiating the overall amount. You can leave it to them and rest and recoup after the illness. Having driven the worries of your bills out of mind you can look forward to rejuvenate your body and mind. You will never have to look back for debt relief.

Bankruptcy is certainly not your best way to deal with debts. Debt relief and debt settlement can certainly make a difference, and eliminate a strong percentage of your debt and in the meantime you will avoid the consequences of having to file for bankruptcy. Make sure you are always informed in regards to the best solution for you, and eliminate as much debt as you can