Diamonds  girls best friends, and men worst enemy.

Most females would like a diamond ring at one time of another especially when getting engaged. Men on the other hand would rather spend the money on something else being that the price of a real can be very expensive depending on size, shape, clarity, and carat.

Well you have many options when it comes to buying a Diamond, and become a smart buyer if you must get your love one that special gift she has always wanted.

Before deciding to buy a Diamond, spend some money buying a decent quality” Jewelers Loupe Magnifier of at least 10x power”. You do not need to spend a lot of money buying a top grade Jeweler Loupe, a $ 10.00 t0 $ 30.00 dollars Loupe is better than no Loupe at all. On Loupes you paid mostly on brand, and optics.

If you live close to the City, you can buy loose Diamonds from the Jewelry District located on 47th Street, or Canal Street in Manhattan. These are just to of the best places to buy loose stones. ” never shop on line, as you will not know what quality stone you will be getting regardless of warranty”

Now most people like to buy rings, already assemble, and rely on the seller. At any Jewelry Stores, the intensive lights on the Diamond do the trick, but if you take out a Jeweler Loupe and look up close at what you are getting you will see something else.

All Diamonds have impurities, and the ones that do not have them are very scarce,  expensive, or fakes. You will see inside a Diamond impurities, such as black dots that look like pepper grains, clouds, internal and external cracks, faint lines from polishing, and cutting the stone. Many times  is very common to see yellowish colors inside the stone.

Now with this information you can do wonders, and spend your money wisely. Depending on your budget, the options are limitless. Not only buy your stone loose, but choose the casting for your ring, whether yellow gold, white, or platinum. If you need to know white gold looks much better than” Platinum” is cheaper, and shines better.

Last and very important is you choose to buy a  3,4, 5, or 6 prong ring.  Never allow your Jeweler to mount the stone away from your view. It will take an experience person second to swap your stone, and you will not know it.

Today I am going to talk about the importance of having working Carbon Monoxide/Smoke detectors in your apartment or home.

Most of us have heard horror stories about someone dying of Carbon Monoxide poisoning , or Smoke inhalation due to a fire, and not being able to escape your premises on time. You hear this over and over on the news lately, yet some people choose to do nothing about it.

A Carbon Monoxide is mostly important if you live in a house, and not so much a building apartment. A Gas Stove does not produce Carbon Monoxide, and even if you have a Gas leak, the Carbon Monoxide will not go off, your best detector in this case is you sense of ” SMELL ”

Now owning a House is a different story, all houses have some sort of heating equipment. A Gas/Oil Burner, Water Heater. These if malfunctioning could release deadly Carbon Monoxide, as well as a running vehicle in you car garage which most houses have.

Here is one thing you rarely hear about it on TV commercials when it comes to having a Carbon Monoxide/Smoke detector in your home.

A Fire Extinguisher is a must especially  if you own a house, or apartment. Most people should rely on the Fire Department in the event of a fire, but if you have a Portable Fire Extinguisher at hand you can in most cases avoid most fires from spreading rapidly out of control.

You do not need to be an expert to know what type of Fire Extinguisher you should have on your premises.  A combination Fire Extinguisher such as an ” ABC Type ” should do fine for home usage. This will put out Electrical, Flammable Liquids such as Gasoline, Grease, Paint Remover, and Common materials such as paper, wood, and most Combustibles materials found in an average home.

Last and very important, always have an escape plan for your family when everything else fails, and  PLEASE have decent working flashlights with fresh batteries at all times that will be LIVE SAVERS when needed.

With today’s high prices on Gas, many drivers are opting for public transportation, and less driving  to save a few bucks. Now this applies mostly to people that live in big cities where public transportation is available.

Now for those less fortunate who must drive in order to get to work, or reach their destination, here are a few tips.

1- Always fill your gas tank, at the lowest possible price.

2- Try to avoid High Octane Gas whenever possible.  High Octane means higher gas price, and will not improve gas millage, or      performance on your car, unless you drive a  Fancy Sports Performance Car.

3- Do not overfill your tank, and always try to park your vehicle in a shady area if possible. Leaving a car parked in a hot sunny area, not only helps evaporate some gas through the fill line, but also wears out the interior.

4- Check your tires pressure at least once a month, and replaced air, oil filters, and oil on a schedule maintenance.

5- Give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination, to avoid speeding, sudden acceleration, braking hard and often.

6- Combine your trips, travel light, avoid rush hour.

7- Be a smooth driver, ease up on the A/C, and  drive in a positive mood.

By practicing some of the above tips, you will become a smarter, safer driver, and have some spare change in your pocket.

How many people at one time or another did not get a bite from a Food Cart Vendor down the street. Well if you are like me have done it, and so have a large number of us on a regular basis.

You may think you are saving money by buying from this Mobile Food Cart Vendors, but in fact you are saving very little, and food prices are as high as they are at a local deli.

This Food Vendors have a new technique of wearing disposable gloves when handling your food to make it appear as if they have clean hands, but in fact is the contrary. Most of these vendors wear the same ” FILTHY” gloves through out the day, and even handle money for paid food.

Do we not know that money if full of germs, and bacteria that can be easily transferred to the food we buy? I am sure we all know this, and yet allow these food vendors to handle our food.

The only purpose of these gloves is to protect their hands, and not your food.They will touch everything with it, and  keep in mind these guys cook, sweat, talk, pick their noses,and  sneeze right in an enclosed environment. And worse part of all, they do not have running water to wash their hands, or a Bathroom.

Bottom line if you really want to eat something clean, and healthy, it is best made and brought from home.

Have you ever heard of Vampire Voltage?

This is the term name given to all those little devices left plugged in all the time. You have all kinds of devices slowly draining voltage from your power supply company. Cell phone chargers, DVDs, Cable Boxes, VCRs, Microwave Ovens, if you still have them, TVs, Computers, Modems, and Telephones etc. to name a few.

Although most of this electronic  devices draw a very small amount of current while plugged in, it adds up overtime increasing your electric bill unnecessarily every month. This also shortens the live of your electronics devices, and creates heat.

A good idea is to have all of this devices plugged into a power strip with an ON/OFF switch. This will allow you to turn off all your devices when not being use. A good quality power strip comes with a built-in circuit breaker to protect against overloads, and some even have a spike protection for delicate devices such as your Laptop, or TV.

Now to deal with a digital clock which we are all used to seeing on at all times, just get a battery operated clock. Most clocks will run on a single AA battery for months, buy Energy Star rated electronics, and always use Fluorescence Bulbs whenever possible.