We live in an age of one stop solutions all around us. While it is nice that you can now put a brand new PC or a multi function printer into your shopping cart alongside your lettuce and tomatoes while shopping at your local mega huge supermarket, I think specialty stores still have a role in today’s day and age. After all, the convenience might be great but it definitely comes at the expense of selection and variety.

The problem is that with these large mega conglomerates popping up at every corner, real good specialty stores are finding it not economical to set up shop. That’s where the internet comes in. Some of the best stores offering the most extensive selection of products are available online. The reason is simple, no physical location can provide the potential market size the net can – especially with specialty items.

A great example of a real good specialty shop is the United States Flag Store. This online websites provides the most extensive selection of US flags you have ever seen. When looking for American flags, the limited selection at local shops can be quite frustrating. Either the flag just doesn’t fit your needs or you find that every single person in your neighborhood has the same exact one.

Although the site provides a huge product database, finding your item is very easy with the site’s clean design and natural navigational menus. The site also carries world flags, display cases, outdoor flagpoles and many more related items.

We discuss a lot about budgeting our expenses here at Budget-planners.com but sometimes it’s important to budget our intake as well. I am obviously referring to our food intake. While calorie counting is not an easy task, there are great sites online which can help you with the process. One resource worth checking out is Myfitnesspal.com which offers a great free calorie counter. In addition to the site being 100% free, it offers some pretty advanced features. To make using the calorie counter easier, the site is built around a learning system so every time you enter something you ate it will remember it for next time making future entries of similar foods much simpler.

How many uses can you come up with for your credit card? Well, obviously you can pay for things with it, some may like its prestige (there’s nothing like flipping that Amex black out of your wallet at the right time) and you can use it as an ATM. But it’s amazing how many more interesting and just plain weird uses people come up with for these cards. It’s almost as though anyone with a wallet becomes and instant MacGyver.

I’ve heard of people claiming to use their cards as a ruler, a bookmark and we’ve all seen the movies where they pick a lock using a credit card. But the most wacky idea I’ve seen so far was on the credit card blog by YourCreditNetwork last week. They actually explain how to make a prison shank (!) from an old credit card.

Don’t worry, the post is obviously a joke and the site makes sure to clarify this point. Although these kind of wacky posts are not uncommon on their site, YourCreditNetwork is not a joke site. They actually have a great credit card offer section as well as one of the most extensive financial information on the internet. But they do try to keep a lighter tone to their site, bringing topics such as credit scores, credit cards and debt management closer to their readers.

Applying for a credit card used to be a major event. Most people only carried one card and it was usually issued by the bank where they hold their checking account. Things have sure changed and now applying for a credit card is no more a major event than going to the supermarket. In fact chances are that the register at the supermarket may even offer you to sign up for their chain’s credit card.

While most people nowadays do in fact sign up for multiple cards, each with their own benefits, the decision making of which cards will enter your wallet is pretty impulsive. This is a shame since the right cards can save you a lot of money.

The internet has made selecting the right credit cards suitable to your needs easier than ever and consumers are making much more educated decisions. Many online credit card sites allow consumers to view a range of credit card offerings and giving the consumer the option of comparing the various cards side by side. Although multiple credit cards are generally a good thing, it is not wise to apply for too many. For this reason it is important to focus on the cards that offer the best benefits so doing your online research can definitely pay off.

We all know the situation – we’re at the office, hanging with friends or just browsing the internet and suddenly something comes to mind and we think “why hasn’t anyone though of that sooner”. The next stage is quite predictable… nothing. Rarely do we do anything to pursue our ideas.
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