26. Get a raise.
To the extent that having more money could help me pay down my credit card debt faster, yes, this indeed would help to improve my life this year. But the whole idea about ingesting yeast enzymes, covering yourself with a damp towel, and sitting on top of a warm oven...I don't think that's what most non-bakers think of when they hear the term "raise."
27. Click on compact fluorescent lights.
I learned a couple things by reading this section of the U. S. News & World Report list:
- Those springy-looking lights are going to be legally mandatory in 2012. (Once again, George Orwell is looking less and less like a novelist with an interesting idea and more and more like a prophet with a bad sense of timing.)
- Those springy-looking lights, the poster children of the Let's Get Green Society, contain mercury and will require special handling when they die after 5 years. (Every silver lining has a cloud around it, apparently.)
28. Set up a Roth 401(k).
This I like! The more people squirreling away money for the Roth retirement dream, the better.
29. Use software to catalog your property.
Every year, I get a little letter from my insurance agent reminding me to make an inventory of everything in my house. It will make getting a settlement in case of fire, flood, or fondue malfunction a lot easier. What I've learned by reading this paragraph is that U. S. News must have a financial interest in Quicken, because paper and pencil aren't good enough for keeping an inventory...it's gotta be computerized using the "Quicken Home Inventory and Savings Suckage" program.
30. Donate your money better to charity.
This suggestion has to do with something called "donor-advised funds," which are run by community foundations, financial-services firms, or other nonprofits. My head starts hurting just thinking about it. Can't I just write a check and put it in the offering? Please? Or isn't that green enough for you? Bleck.
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