FitSugar

4 Warning Signs of Skin Cancer

FitSugar — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:30:00 PDT

Lately we have become so hyper-sensitive about sun exposure and the damaging effects it has on our health. Wearing sunscreen and using self-tanners can all help to prevent possible future outbreaks of skin cancer, but what about the sun exposure we've already had?

Unfortunately, there was probably a time when we weren't so careful. Previous sun exposure might cause skin cancer, so it's important for you (or a close friend) to check your skin. Look carefully at moles and beauty marks to see if they have any of these symptoms:

Fit's Tips: If you have any doubts about a specific mole, make an appointment with a dermatologist. They may perform a biopsy where they remove a portion of it and check for cancer. Since skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S., it's better to be safe, so if they do find cancer cells or are unsure, they'll remove the entire mole. To protect yourself from future sun damage, check out these tips.

Source

7 Money Tips For Couples Starting a Family

Business Insider — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:15:00 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Business Insider story here on Savvy!

Middle-income parents will spend nearly $227,000 in 17 years for children born in 2010, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

But don't let that scare you - saving for a family can actually be fun if you know what you're doing.

"The most important thing to understand is that your priorities are going to change and your spending habits need to change to reflect those changes," says Stuart Ritter, a financial planner at T. Rowe Price.

With Ritter and other financial experts' help, we'll help you prepare.

Invest in a 529 savings plan

Saving for your child's education is crucial to his or her success, and 529 plans are tax-advantaged college savings accounts that are available in all 50 states.

Most are free to set up, while some states require a minimum of $25 to open an account, says Adam Koos, a certified financial planner with Libertas Wealth Management. Anyone can contribute and take advantage of the tax benefits.

Open the plan before your child is born, says Ritter, and name yourself the beneficiary. You can change the name on the account once your child is born.

Read on for more.

No Balance Transfer Fee Offers Aren't Always a Bargain

Business Insider — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:49:00 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Business Insider story here on Savvy!

Credit card companies may be targeting consumers with great credit with a host of new perks recently, but CreditCards.com warns against falling for 0% balance transfer fee offers.

In a study looking at offers from 37 lenders, the site found offers to waive these fees for as many as 21 months.

But there's a catch: Companies are also charging much more for balance transfers once the offer period ends.

They've got customers who carry balances and have a healthy credit score in their crosshairs, rolling out more than 1 billion mail offers to consumers in the third quarter of 2011 alone.

Earlier this month, Cardhub.com's Credit Card Landscape Report found credit card companies were more than willing to extend 0% introductory rates for new customers in the last quarter of 2011, and offered 60% more cash back rewards offers.

"After the CARD Act, we thought zero percent balance transfer offers would just go away," Linda Sherry, director of national priorities for Consumer Action, told the site. "But it turned out that wasn't true."

Another way they've compensated for keeping the waiver alive is by nixing the usual $50-$75 balance transfer fee caps.

CreditCards.com's survey found 12 cards offer the fee waiver for six months, three for a year and seven for 15 months.

Read on to find out more about the cards.

Avoid this Guy! 14 Reasons To Dump Him

YourTango — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:00:21 PST

We're happy to present this excerpt from one of our favorite sites, YourTango.

A guy who's not relationship material always lets you know; you just have to know what to look for.

When I look back at all the relationships that didn’t work out (that I so wanted to at the time), I realize that in every case, there were early warning signs that each guy gave me that could have given me some idea of the heartbreak I was about to experience if I had only been aware of what to look for. To spare you from what happened to me, to give you the inside scoop on what you can be on the lookout for, here’s my list of the warning signs that clearly let you know that this is a guy to avoid if it's a real relationship you're looking for.

He doesn’t call you when he says he’s going to.
Granted, I know that sometimes life can get it the way, and if he’s working late on that big project with the looming deadline it’s possible that time might get away from him once in a while. But if this happens more than once or twice, it’s a sure sign that you’re just not a priority for him right now. If a guy is really interested in starting (or continuing) a real relationship with you, you will be on his mind, and he won’t forget to call.
He’s often late and doesn’t call to let you know.
I know there are lots of reasons people can run late that are beyond their control (traffic jam, car problems, being stuck at the office), but a quick call from his cell phone will put your mind at ease, and let you know that you have a few more minutes to try on that one other outfit you were still considering. The point here is about being respectful of your time – we can forgive lateness, even chronic lateness (some people just aren’t good at judging how much time something will take), but not calling to let you know he’ll be a little late? That’s inexcusable and a sure sign that he’s not too concerned about you.
He doesn’t show up at all (and doesn’t call) when you have plans to see him.
OK ladies, unless he was (verifiably) unconscious in a hospital somewhere, getting stood up is a “one strike and you’re out” offense. There is absolutely no good reason for this (except the one above), and if you stay with him after a maneuver like that, you’ll be in for a very bumpy emotional ride that’s almost guaranteed to end badly. Cell phone reception is excellent these days (unless he’s a lumberjack working in the great North Woods), so this one is unforgivable.
He has rules about how often he can see you.
It’s one thing to have the boys’ “Wednesday Poker Night”, or something along those lines, but if he’s only willing to get together say, every other weekend (with the exception being a child custody situation), then that’s a sure sign he’s keeping his options open and still scouring the market for something better (at least in his mind – he just doesn’t realize that you’re the best thing going!).

Read the 10 additional reason on YourTango: Foreplay, Sexual and Otherwise

Written by Jane Garapick for YourTango.

How to Lose 5 Pounds in 5 Minutes

Self — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:05:05 PST

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Self here on FitSugar!

Pumpkin pie, Christmas cookies, potato latkes, mashed potatoes and gravy . . . We're all guilty of overindulging in December but getting back on track doesn't have to be as difficult as it sounds. It may take weeks to melt away those post-holiday pounds but it's easy to create the illusion you haven't gained an ounce simply by improving your posture.

"Most of us spend way too much time slumped in front of computers, slouched at steering wheels or vegging out in front of TVs," says fitness expert Liza Savage-Katz. "It collapses lung space which restricts our breath, affects our mood and cuts off proper nerve and blood supply to the brain."

To counteract these bad habits, Savage-Katz recommends a few "very simple exercises kind of like sucking in your stomach" to "carry your body as nature intended." You'll instantly look as if you've dropped five pounds. Add these three moves to your daily routine to "strengthen your abdominals, improve your posture and strengthen your back."

Get the moves after the break.

Flu Fighters: 5 Tips For Keeping the Flu at Bay This Year

Rebecca M Gruber — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:17:12 PST

There's no bigger germ catcher than children. On the playground, at a restaurant, or simply playing with friends, tots have a way of picking up germs wherever they go. We can keep them locked up inside in hopes of protecting them during cold and flu season, but that really isn't very practical. Rather, consider a few small changes to your daily routine to help protect them during the height of the germy season.

Dapple Travel Size Natural Surface Cleaner Wipes ($4): When sitting down in a restaurant, one of the first things many mamas grab is an empty high chair for their tot. Who knows what was on the previous child's hands before you sat down. Dapple's travel-size wipes use natural ingredients like baking soda to quickly clean off surfaces.
Felicity Floo Visits the Zoo ($13): Help teach older tots to take better care of themselves with a silly tale of a little girl who infects all of the animals in the zoo with a virus when she wipes her runny nose with her hand instead of a tissue.
Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Antibacterial Hand Soap Mousse ($6): Tommee Tippee has just introduced an entire line of eco and baby-friendly antibacterial soaps to moms, so they don't have to worry about their lil ones ingesting chemicals when the tots decide to feast on mama's finger right after she's washed it.
Scotch-Brite Botanical Disinfecting Wipes ($2): Made entirely of botanical plant extracts, Scotch-Brite's new line of cleansing wipes are safe for kids' toys, high chairs, and cribs, wiping out 99.9 percent of household germs.
My Tiny Hands 'Please Wash" Sign ($8): Created by a mom who was tired of strangers reaching into her tot's stroller to stroke her hands and face, these silicone rubber signs attach directly to strollers and car seats, offering a warning to passersby and keeping germs at bay.

Link Time: From Bad Macarons to Airport-Approved Peanut Butter

YumSugar — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:49:36 PDT

Ten traits that make a bad macaron. - Serious Eats NY
Eight foods that should be restricted before foie gras. - Huffington Post Food
Is New Orleans's Brett Anderson the next New York Times critic? - Eater NY
Calorie-cutting shortcuts from Rocco DiSpirito's latest book. - KitchenDaily
Meet Christina Tosi, Momofuku Milk bar crack pie mastermind. - Food Republic
How to order wine in one sentence. - The FN Dish
Fall must make: quinoa with whiskey-spiked cranberries. - Grub Street NY
Brilliant: peanut butter you can get through airport security. - Saveur

Yes, You Can and Should Help Save a Child in Africa

BabyCenter — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:31:01 PDT

We're excited to share this post from our partners at BabyCenter! Every week, we will be bringing you the best parenting and lifestyle stories from the experts at BabyCenter, including this post from Amy Graff about how moms can combat the famine in Africa.

A debate recently erupted on the BabyCenter Facebook page over whether the United States government should provide education, food, clean water, vaccinations, and other health services to those living in poverty-stricken Africa. Many Facebook fans sympathized with moms and children suffering in under-resourced areas while others felt that we should turn our back to the famine in Africa and focus on those who are struggling in our own country.

And then the discussion spiraled into a heated political discussion.

Honestly, I don’t think this should be about politics. Yes, it’s about government, but it’s not about left and right. It’s about right and wrong. It’s about whether you value a child’s life or not.

Related: Did I Overreact?

This discussion was sparked by a Facebook post about my visit to the White House. On Tuesday I stepped inside the West Wing with a group of 10 other moms to meet with Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden, USAID Administrator Raj Shah, and National Security Council Senior Director Gayle Smith.

We were invited to the White House because over the Summer we traveled to Kenya on a trip organized by ONE, a nonpartisan advocacy group dedicated to fighting poverty and preventable disease in Africa (join ONE Moms). You might remember some of my Momformation blog posts about visiting a hospital where doctors treat kids with malaria and watching a health-care worker test a family for HIV. We observed US investments savings lives, and now we were bringing our experience back to Washington DC to let lawmakers know that these programs are effective and working.

Dr. Biden chimed in with stories about her recent visit to a Somalia refugee camps in eastern Africa, a part of the continent that’s experiencing the worst drought in 60 years, the worst famine in 20 years, and ongoing violence. She consoled women and children trying to survive in the largest camp in the world. It was originally built to accommodate 90,000 people and is now overflowing with nearly a half-million impoverished people. In Somalia, a child is dying every six minutes.

“It’s so bad,” Dr. Biden said. “It’s worse than you can ever imagine.”

Keep reading to learn what we can do to help save a child in Africa.

13 Signs You’re Too Busy

LearnVest — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:15:38 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

There’s busy.

Then there’s too busy.

Busy is running from one appointment to the next. Too busy is running over someone on your way to the next appointment (physically, vehicularly, whatever). Busy is leaving your cell phone behind at the grocery store. Too busy is leaving your kid behind at the grocery store.

And then there’s the biggest of all ironies-we want to cut back, but frankly, we just don’t have the time to figure out how to do it.

Sound familiar? Well, we’re here to do an intervention-a time intervention. Today, we’ll help you figure out if your life is starting to burst at the seams when it comes to your time. If it is, you need a wake-up call to reset priorities, because there is no shakier foundation for healthy, balanced living (and healthy, balanced money management) than not having the space and breathing room that time provides in our lives.

If you’ve crossed over the line into too busy, you’ll need to reset your foundation: Maybe it means taking a day off from work to reassess your life priorities. Maybe it means evaluating what your time is worth and outsourcing chores like housekeeping or laundry. Maybe it means taking a break from social engagements for a little while to focus on building the right foundation.

Here are 13 signs that you might need a time overhaul in your life-and easy tips on how to get started, today.

You Spend a Good Amount of Time Worrying About Your Time

If your time is preoccupied with, well, your time, you might be: endlessly cycling through your to-do list in your head, spending a lot of time arranging and rearranging your schedule, or wishing throughout the day that you had more time.

If you've worried about your schedule or wished you had more time more than three times a day, you need a break from time itself as a stressor in your life.

Try this: Take a mental break. Remove one thing from your schedule for today that is the least important-it might be putting off doing the laundry or postponing a work call. Spend that time instead totally luxuriating in something in the present moment (like eating a macaron or listening to your favorite song) and not thinking about your schedule, or future plans, at all.

Read on for more.

8 Signs Your House May Be Haunted, According to Horror Movies

Rose Curiel — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:18:23 PDT

It's a scenario that we've seen play out many times on the big screen: a family moves into their dream home only to discover it comes with creepy side effects. Usually, the new occupants ignore warning signs that any horror film fan could spot as signs the house is haunted. If you're hearing bumps in the night, or experiencing any of these other telltale signs in your home, it may be time for you to relocate - pronto!