thoughts, ideas and a little how to
While using Google Maps this morning, I noticed a new feature: multiple destinations. You can now use your (read: mine) favorite online mapping application to plan your road trip, run errands, or some other multi-destination trip you have in mind.
Not only can you have multiple destinations in one itinerary, but you can drag the address up and down in the list to dynamically redraw the map and reorder the directions.
Just another sneaky little enhancement from those fine folks at Google.
I received an e-mail from the wonderful promotions department at Amazon.com this morning with some good news:
Finding Amazon Prime-eligible gifts is even easier. Sign in to Amazon.com, search, and look for “Prime” in your results.
I very much appreciate that some much needed help as arrived for making the most out of my Amazon Prime membership. It can be difficult to find which items are eligible without clicking on individual items in your search results. However, what if you want to limit your searches to just Prime-eligible items? Amazon has left us in a conundrum.
In comes a handy-dandy implementation of Amazon Web Services. The ability to Search Amazon.com for Amazon Prime Eligible Items. While this little tool does not offer a great deal of eye-candy, it does what it advertises. Give it a try and find your Free Two-Day Shipping-eligible items a bit easier.
For those of you who just started a new job (read: me), you were probably presented with a great deal of information about your new benefits package. From health insurance to retirement accounts, one word sums it up: unfamiliar. Sure, your employer provides a great deal of information about your available choices, but it can be difficult to sort through all the information to just get to an answer before your enrollment period comes to an end. I was able to pretty easily work through health and dental insurance and after a bit of research I felt comfortable with my 401k. The most confusing part for me? Health Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FCA).
An FCA essentially allows you to set aside pre-tax dollars to be used for qualified health care expenses throughout the year. As with your medical/dental/retirement benefits, your FCA contribution also neatly comes out of your paycheck each period. Here’s the kicker: if you don’t use it all by year-end, you lose it.
In comes the Flexible Spending Account Calculator. This handy-dandy tool helps to simplify your decision on whether to opt-in to this type of program, and even more importantly, how much to deposit. As a 22 year old with no dependents, I’ve decided it’s probably not for me; though YMMV.