"The Cheapskate" - CNET Money Savings News

The Best Money-saving Tips Of 2012 From "The Cheapskate"
2012 was hellish in a lot of ways, but it was a good year for saving money.
Indeed, as any regular reader of The Cheapskate or CNET's Marketplace knows, you could count on finding a good deal -- often a great deal -- pretty much every single day.
Of course, some of the best money-saving advice applies all year round, not just on a particular day. With that in mind, I've rounded up some of my favorite thrifty tips from 2012. (It probably goes without saying that most of them will work just as well in 2013.)

Rich Broida writes one of my favorite Daily Deals blog about tech gear called "The Cheapskate", and I thought I would share his latest post with you.
The deals, and discussions of bargain can sometimes get quite technical, so his blog is generally not recommended for the uninitiated. This particular blog is very generic, and therefore helpful for Boomers who don't usually shop for technical deals.
Although I gave up being a 'road warrior' many years ago and only use a low tech cell phone, I found the reference to budget smart phones very helpful.
Enjoy!

UK To End Doctor's Office Visits

End Of The Doctor's Surgery | UK News Express

A BID to save nearly £3billion by slashing appointments with a doctor and treating patients via computer will put lives at risk, ministers were warned.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is planning a technological revolution that could spell the end of the traditional doctor’s surgery.

A new system of “virtual clinics” is being planned in which GPs connect with patients via iPads and Skype, an idea that NHS bosses are importing from India.
The reforms would save £2.9billion “almost immediately” and improve the lives of most patients, for example by avoiding the need to find child care during appointments, Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter said last week.

I ran across this article in one of the online UK papers that I read from time to time. I like to see what's going on in Europe, because I've found that generally we follow suite on many of their "social experiments." With all of the discussions on health care that we've had recently, I'm sure that the coming year will be focused on the cost of implementation of the new laws. Cost saving measures will have to enter any discussion of funding.

Agree or not, the UK plan to use "virtual office visits" is certainly a viable way to cut costs on many levels. For the physicians; smaller staff, less office space requirements, more efficient use of time, all add up to cost savings. For the patients, it saves commuting costs, parking fees, office waits, etc. As an added benefit, the "visit" is conducted in the relaxed and comfortable environment of the patients home. This removes anxiety and stress from the whole process.

What is lost is the personal doctor/patient relationship.
Maybe.
In urban areas, more and more people are using the services of Teaching Colleges and large Cooperative Medical Practices which are not conducive to personal interaction. These facilities rely heavily upon mechanization, and factory like efficiency to move a patient from doctors exam to blood test, X-Ray, and CTScan units. Their main thrust is through-put, not "bed side manner."
I'm not passing judgement on whether this type of medical care is a good thing or not, I'm just trying to put the Skype "virtual office visit" into perspective. I do, however, think that this type of care is the future of modern medicine, and that the days of Marcus Welby M.D. are long gone.
    

To find out more information about how to set up Skype for conferencing between computers, click on this highly informative link:
Use Skype To Connect With Grandchildren

DIY White Castle Hamburgers

White Castle Sliders - A How To From The Big Red Kitchen:
Long before Himself and children, my roommate Sara and I would make the trek to White Castle’s for some sliders or Gut Busters as we liked to call them. Piping hot and smelling so good we could down two or three before our brain knew what was happening and made us slow down. Kinda like Krispie Kreme Hot and Nows. Those days are far away and so is the nearest White Castle, therefore I have resorted to making my own. I have tried the frozen kind but I prefer fresh.

Belly Bombs, Gut Busters, WC's, Greasers, or what ever you called them, this recipe link is for you.
As soon as I found this recipe, I emailed it to everyone I knew who didn't live next to a White Castle "hamburger joint". The response was overwhelming thanks. White Castles tend to invoke that kind of reaction. We've all eaten them at one time or another, and although we refer to them with unflattering names, we love them.

I lived in New York for most of my life, and North Carolina is the first area I've lived in where there wasn't a WC within striking distance.
I bought my first microwave for the sole purpose of heating up frozen Belly Bombs that I used to buy in Lynbrook L.I. (next town over from Valley Stream). My apartment in Woodside Queens had one on the corner, and two within a 5min. drive. When I lived at home in Bayside (also in Queens) we had one which was a good stretch of the legs, but I was young at the time, so it was a Nothing Burger (pun intended).

Try the recipe, and share the results with your friends. 
I enjoyed them, but a few of my uninitiated southern neighbors are still complaining of "heartburn." What a bunch of Wusses.  

It's Been A Long Time

Over the years I have avoided joining in on the "Social Media" craze of  Twitter, Face Book, and LinkedIn because I thought they were a silly waste of time and effort. As a matter of fact I still do. However, life plays tricks on you when you least expect it, and sometimes makes you do things you normally wouldn't do.


Case in point -
I just received an email request from an old friend of mine inviting me to connect with him on LinkedIn (what ever the hell that meant). It turned out that the only way to add any comments, recommendations or referrals to his profile, was for me to establish a LinkedIn account of my own. Against my better judgement I forged ahead and created an account.
While building my profile I found a spot to add my Blogs and Web Sites.
As I added Boomers Brigade to the list I realized I hadn't posted in over two years, so I figured this would be a good time to bring the old blog back to life again. I've always enjoyed posting here, and regret that I ever let the blog lapse.

As I said, life plays tricks on you when you least expect it, and sometimes makes you do things you normally wouldn't do.