Food for Thought

Your bank might say they have your best interest in mind but, make no mistake, they’re always thinking about their bottom line. Help your listeners listener to their GUT. Here are the five things your banker isn’t telling you, courtesy of MSN Money:

• Don’t bother with “balance protection.” It’s insurance that covers a bank loan if you die. What they don’t tell you is those debts are already covered by your life insurance policy, and if you don’t have life insurance, it’s still not a great deal. Most bank insurance policies are capped well below the value of the loan they’re attached to.
• The banker doesn’t decide who gets a loan, a computer does. All the large banks have a program that decides who qualifies for a loan, but the computer can’t take every factor into account, so a lot of small business owners and individuals are unfairly branded as credit risks.
• Third thing your banker isn’t telling you: He’s not just a banker, he’s a salesman. If you’ve got a checking account they’ll try to sell you on a savings account, a credit card, and a car loan. Big banks think if they have total control of your financial life you’re less likely to go sniffing around at the bank down the street.
• Your ATM Fees are their main source of income! Right now, half of the income banks make is from things like overdraft fees, and they’re always looking to get a bigger piece of that pie. So read all the fine print and take it up with the manager if you get any ridiculous charges.
• The final thing your banker isn’t telling you: You’re probably better off at smaller bank. Your banker will tell you they have extended hours and hundreds of branches nationwide, but all those buildings and employees are expensive, which is why big banks are lending less and charging more. At a smaller bank you might not be able to cash a check at 8:30 at night but you will get a higher quality of care.

Recent research has uncovered the reasons people are "unfriended" on Facebook!

Here is the article from time.com to keep your FB friendships - CLICK HERE

Probably the last person you would turn to for business or career advice would be Spongebob Squarepants!

But this article from Geoff Williams might make the Yellow guy and his Bikini Bottom pals your mentors!

Read all about it HERE

Gadling.com has a great story on travel! Before you head out on your next trip, you should have some documents copied, prepped and prepared and e-mailed to yourself in the event you need them quickly.. find out what you should send yourself the next time you travel, by CLICKING HERE!

Whether you’re a constant tweeter or just check Facebook to see pictures of the grandkids, know this: Nothing you post online is private. So here are the top four things you should NEVER reveal on any social networking site, courtesy of Yahoo Finance:

• Your full name and birth date. There’s nothing wrong with putting the day you were born but never add the year. A study by Carnegie Mellon University found that with your birth day, year and name anyone can predict most or all of your social security number. If the bad guys get that, they have the key to stealing your entire financial life.
• Your vacation plans. You might as well post “Rob me, please,” on your page, because that’s what criminals see when you post how excited you are to spend the next two weeks in Maui. Go ahead and post pictures when you get back but keep your plans private or risk a home invasion.
• Which brings us to the third piece of information to keep private: your home address. A recent study found that 40 percent of people list their home address on social networking sites.
• Also, a lot of people unwittingly leave password clues on their pages. Banks and utility companies often ask security questions like your mother’s maiden name or your favorite song. If any of this info is on your page, you might be telling identity thieves exactly what they need to know to break into your account.

Finally – be careful about posting what you reallythink on Facebook. Employers do check social networking sites to determine who to hire — and who to fire. Need proof? In just the past few weeks, an emergency dispatcher was fired in Wisconsin for revealing drug use, a waitress got canned for complaining about customers, and the Pittsburgh Pirate's mascot was dumped for bashing the team on Facebook. One study done last year estimated that 8% of companies fired someone for "misuse" of social media.

Retailer Kohl's Corps said on Wednesday that it plans to hire 40,000 temporary workers during this year's holiday season at stores, distribution centers and credit operations nationwide -- 7,000 more than last year. The 21% increase in hiring comes in anticipation of a stronger holiday season.

Here's an idea: Instead of giving people nutritional advice at the doctor's office, in a book or on TV, give it to them right when they need it - at the grocery store.

The biggest breakthrough hitting the shelves is the nutritional scoring system called NuVal – and it was created by Dr. David Katz from Yale University School of Medicine. It boils nutrition down to a three-digit number ranging from one to 100 - so you can see at a glance the nutritional value of the foods you buy. The higher the score, the healthier the food.

For example, fruits and vegetables like blueberries and spinach score a perfect 100, but regular hot dogs only get a 7. Points are given for good nutrients, like protein, calcium and vitamins, and deducted for not-so-good things, like cholesterol, sugar and sodium. Shoppers love it because it’s so simple. They don’t have to waste time studying ingredient lists or figuring out if “low fat” or “fat free” is healthier. Now, they can tell in an instant if something’s healthy. For example, Ball Park's regular franks get a 7, but Ball Park's Smoked White Turkey fat-free franks score a 24 because they have more protein, less cholesterol and no saturated fat. Right now, you can find the NuVal system at Festival Foods! Or go to Nuval.com to see how nutritious the foods you buy are.

Looking for a job is tough on your self-confidence. The trouble is, self-confidence is one of the things you need most when you're job-hunting! People who interview job candidates naturally look for people who seem hopeful and optimistic. Writing for CareerBuilder.com, Selena Dehne suggests that if you lack self-confidence, you're propably not doing enough of the following:

    * Networking. Get out and socialize with people who are in your field. It may help you get a job, and at the very least you'll feel better about yourself.
    * Bragging. Well, not bragging exactly. But make sure your resume and cover letter actually describe how good you really are at what you do.
    * Negotiating. When you get an offer, keep in mind all the skills and talents that you're bringing to the job, and negotiate accordingly. It will prove that you know your own worth.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY FROM careerbuilder.com

Want to dramatically increase your nest egg? Buy generic or store brands! If you saved $5 a day for 30 years, and earned 10 percent interest on it, you’d wind up with $342,000! To get you started, here are products that you should always buy generic, to save that $5 a day, according to Yahoo Finance:

• Water. You have several options: Expensive name brands, the store brand, or tap water at home. The cost difference goes from mere pennies for tap to $3 for a name-brand bottle of the same thing! If you’re concerned about taste or contaminants, get a home filtration system or a filter pitcher.
• Buying brand-name milk can run you more than $5 - but the store brand is $2 cheaper, and is produced with the same quality standards as the major brands.
• While you’re in the dairy case, grab the generic margarine. Avoiding a famous brand can save you 60 cents a pop.
• Over-the-counter medication. From cold medicine to eye drops to ibuprofen, most contain the same active ingredients. Name-brand products – like Tylenol - will run you $11, but the store-brand can cost just $7.
• In the cleaning aisle, reach for the bleachwithout the familiar label and you’ll save another 60 cents. One-ingredient products are the same no matter what brand you buy, and off-brand spray bottles of kitchen and bathroom cleaner cost a dollar less than the brand seen on TV.
• If you’re going to make homemade soup, spaghetti sauce or pizza, oregano is probably on your shopping list. Watch out! Name brand spices can cost $4 more than the store brand, which is a mark-up of 342%!

Here’s the good news. You probably won’t get cancer. According to the Moffitt Cancer Center, 70% of known cancers are avoidable – because they’re related to your lifestyle! You already know your first line of defense: Don’t smoke, eat right, and exercise. Recent research has uncovered some small, surprising ways you can squeeze even more cancer prevention into your daily life. Here’s a rundown of some new anti-cancer strategies from Prevention magazine:

    * Filter your tap water. Do that and you’ll reduce your exposure to carcinogens and hormone-disrupting chemicals. That’s according to the President’s Cancer Panel – and they say that’s a better way to reduce your exposure to cancer-causing substances than drinking bottled water. That’s because the quality of bottled water isn’t higher than tap water – and in some cases worse.
    * Another strategy to reduce your cancer risk? Stop topping up your gas tank! If the nozzle clicks off – and you try to eek out one more pump, it spills over right? You breathe in those fumes or get gas on your hands. That exposes you to benzene – a carcinogen in crude oil and petroleum products. So don’t overfill your tank.
    * Here’s another anti-cancer strategy: Keep up your coffee habit. People who drink five cups of caffeinated coffee a day have a 40% decreased risk of brain cancer. Plus, coffee was a more potent cancer blocker than tea.
    * Here’s an anti-cancer snack: Brazil nuts. They’re one of the best sources of selenium – that’s an antioxidant that lowers your risk of bladder cancer. According to Dartmouth Medical School, people with high blood levels of selenium have lower rates of lung cancer and colorectal cancer. That’s because selenium enhances your immune system and reduces the formation of tumors.

From chow.com... what's the latest "IT" food???

Bao buns. Tiki drinks. Red velvet cake doughnuts. Milk. Milk?

Yeah, you heard right. The second most elemental beverage known to man—that thing that formerly only kids drank—has taken a star turn. Suddenly, milk is an "it" food.

There’s a milk bar in the Chelsea Market in New York City. This summer, Eleven Madison Park was serving a big snowball of frozen milk filled with honey. WD-50 and Spot Dessert Bar were doing evaporated milk ice cream, and Momofuku Milk Bar was selling cereal milk–flavored soft serve.

READ ALL ABOUT MILK... AND IT'S RISE IN POPULARITY ... CLICK HERE

Thanksgiving travel will cost you more this year!

Thanksgiving Travel more expensive story from AOL Travel... click here