Thinking

Circuit City to Close It’s Doors

By: L Jones

It’s a sad day. After 60 years of business, Circuit City has sadly succumb to bankruptcy. The company has announced that it will begin liquidating all of its assets in order to pay off creditors. This liquidation will begin as early as 17 January 2009.

The good news for consumers is “Liquidation Sale“.  I plan on heading over to the two Circuit City stores in my area and checking out the deals. Before you go to the store, keep the following points in mind.

1. Just because it says 65% off doesn’t mean it’s a deal. Be sure to SHOP AROUND first before you commit to a major purchase.  You may be able to get a better deal at rival electronics stores, such as Best Buy or even Sears.

2. Be sure to also compare prices with online electronic stores. A couple good ones to check are www.tigerdirect.com and www.buy.com.

3. If you do make a big purchase item at Circuit City, be sure to GET the extended WARRANTY offer. Though the store is closing, the warranties are handled by a third party entity. The warranties will be honored.

4. DON’T WAIT to long to make a purchase. Do you necessary comparisons as quickly as possible, as the legitimate deals will taken by other deal shopping consumers.

Well, there you have it electronics lovers. Here is a golden opportunity to catch a deal, but don’t go sprinting to the store. Take your time and watch the savings increase. The liquidation will last through March 2009. Enjoy.

How to Keep Your Shirt On at a Casino

By: L Jones

 Picture by: www.slotmachineking.com

I am not a high roller or a frequent patron of the casino, but I occassionally visit these noisy, smoke-filled establishments for the opportunity to pull a lever that has the potential to increase my net worth exponetially. For the occassional gamblers like myself, here are a few of my techniques that will help you keep your shirt on when gambling at a casino.

First thing you have to know is that casinos are in business to make money, not lose money. You, on the other hand go to the casino to make money, not lose money. Now that you understand that both your and the casino’s goal is exactly the same, we can proceed with my techniques for walking away from the casino with your dignity still in tact.

* PLAN - Most occassional gamblers go to the casino for entertainment. That fun can quickly turn into a competition between the gambler and the slot machine; the prize being the pay off. Slot machines are designed to make money. More specifically, slot machines are designed to take your money. While gambling, you may win a little bit here and there and as you win, you start to increase your bets. This is done by design to take your money; to get you comfortable with betting larger amounts of money and ultimately losing larger amounts of money. Your plan, if followed will stop this from occurring.

* AMOUNT WILLING TO LOSE - The first stage of your plan is determining how much you are willing to lose. DO NOT go in with an amount that you want to win. Once you’ve decided how much you are willing to lose, stick with it. When you go to the casino, take that predetermined amount that you are willing to lose and leave your ATM cards and any extra money at home. Leaving your ATM card in the car is not a good enough deterent. Trust me.

* HALF OF THAT AMOUNT - If you decide that you can lose $100, then take that $100 and divide it by two. This gives you 2 x $50 to gamble with. Why is this important? The importance of breaking your gambling dollars into halves is that it gives you a chance to think. If you gamble away your $50, you have a moment to think about if you want to ganble the other $50 or if you want to walk away. It’s also part of a tactic I use in my next technique.

* DOUBLE THAT AMOUNT - You’re hot. You’re so hot, that you’ve doubled your $50 initial gambling amount to $100. You now have $150. Remember the other $50 dollars that’s in your pocket. Once you’ve doubled your initial gambling amount, cash out. Take that $100 card and put it in your pocket. Take the second $50 amount and gamble that. If you double it, repeat this step. If you lose it, think about if you want to gamble with your winnings or if you want to walk away.

So there you have it; a simple plan to ease the potential frustrations of casino gamling. In the HALF OF THAT AMOUNT technique, I said to break the amount you are willing to lose into two equal amounts, but you can break it down into any equal amounts. This is just a stratedgy to give you a moment to think about your immediate gambling future. Now get out there and have some fun.