Business

Share spaces

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The increase in population has caused a shortage of space worldwide. This has led to an increase in real estate prices. Due to the high prices of real estate, people cannot afford to buy real estate. However, space is required for both residential and commercial purposes. The solution for this has emerged in the form of space that is rented. It’s an increase in the number of people who rent spaces compared to those who buy them.

Residential rental involves renting a house or an apartment. Generally, the accommodation is rented for a relatively long period of time. Leasing involves renting for longer periods. The landlord and the tenant sign the terms of the contract by mutual agreement. However, the terms cannot be altered during the term of the contract. A long-term commercial space is also leased. However, venues and event spaces are rented on a short-term basis. They can be rented by the hour, day or week.

However, the concept of renting spaces has now given rise to a new trend of shared spaces. Sharing space implies renting an area in an already established place.

Examples of shared spaces:

1. Sharing desk space in an office:

In this case, the office owner rents out his unused desk space to people looking for such spaces.

2. Shared space in a retail store:

A new retailer may share space in an established retail store if the store’s activity helps his business.

3. Storage space:

Storage space rental has become a common feature now. Many times people rent storage space in their garage or shed.

Sharing spaces has many benefits for both homeowners and tenants.

Benefits for tenants:

  • Tenants can rent spaces in a prime location at minimal cost.
  • They have the flexibility to move as they wish, since the contract is short-term.
  • When a tenant rents a space, they usually don’t have to worry about maintenance.
  • Utility costs, etc. are covered in the rent.

Benefits for owners:

  • Many times, the space shared by the owner can simply be underutilized space. Renting it out helps the owner turn it into a source of income.
  • Sometimes the space that the owner rents to a businessman may be initially rented for a small tenure. But as the business is established, the tenant may not want to move. This puts the owner in a commanding position and can demand a rent of his choosing.
  • Demand for some spaces is seasonal. In such cases, the owner has the opportunity to increase the rent during the high season.

With populations growing, the problem of inadequate space will only increase. Therefore, sharing spaces is a welcome solution to combat this problem.

Auto

Why should you buy a Lexus?

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If you see a used Lexus for sale, you’ll want to stop and check it out. Lexus is a luxury brand known for its longevity and value. The Lexus brand combines innovation and design to deliver a vehicle that gives you incredible performance, speed and handling.

Of course, one of the first questions to ask yourself is whether you are going to buy a used car or a new one. If you’re on the fence about this, let us present you with a quick statistic that can help you make up your mind.

According to the Kelley Blue Book, the average American spent $33,500 on a new vehicle in 2015. In the same year, JD Power reported that the average American spent just over $20,000 on a used car.

When looking at used cars, you always have a wider selection of options within your price range than with new vehicles. Also, a new car loses almost 20% of its value the moment you drive it off the lot and will lose another 10% in value the following year. That’s a lot of money wasted when you think about it. However, a used Lexus will hold the same value when you drive it home, and a Lexus will retain far more residual value than most cars on the market.

When the issue falls on safety, it is essential to know that when you get behind the wheel of a car, you and your passengers have nothing to worry about. In the case of Lexus, there is no need to worry as you get plenty of safety features on all of your vehicles. And so you can drive with the peace of mind of knowing that you are safe. One of the best safety features on a Lexus is its Pre-Collision System, which is designed to detect, warn, and, if you fail to brake, automatically apply braking to prevent an accident from occurring.

bill gates quote “Lexus SC 400 is my favorite car I’ve ever driven.”

The benefit of buying a Lexus is that, over time, the Lexus will maintain its residual value much longer than other cars at the same market level. The Kelley Blue Book estimates that a 2015 Lexus will retain 42.2% of its value when it turns 5 years old, which is very good. However, there are pros and cons to buying a used Lexus. The advantages are that the purchase value of the Lexus in question will be the same after you buy it and will not depreciate several thousand when you drive it home. Also, there is less overall risk with a used Lexus since you can usually tell the condition of a car right out of the box, whereas a new Lexus may need to be recalled after a few months when real problems are detected. The disadvantages of buying a used Lexus include the lack of a manufacturer’s warranty. Also, the vehicle itself, due to its age, will not be as up-to-date as a new model launched this year.

All in all, if you’re looking for a good Lexus, whether it’s an SUV, sedan, or other, a used Lexus is just as good or even better as an investment in your car driving experience. Be sure to find the right Lexus for you with all the bells and whistles you could want!

Digital Marketing

How to create a website from scratch and how to promote it

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Many people think that they can just have a website upload it to their server and people will visit it, this of course is not correct, it is the main reason why people fail to earn an income online, just taking the time to Thoroughly researching your market can be the difference between success and failure.

Choosing your niche and researching your keywords takes time and if done wrong it will be a sure way to fail. It is the most important part of building your website and should be done before buying your domain name and web space, URLs are preferred by search engines with relevant keywords within the URL, for example if your market is about coffee tables, you could choose a domain name like coffeetables.com instead of bobsmith.com, it makes sense, but a lot of people don’t take this into account when buying their domain name of course. if your website is going to be about a lot of topics, then a more general domain name is fine.

If you choose a .com domain name, it’s not always possible as many domain names have been taken, but you can review your keyword list to find something that is relevant and highly searched and don’t forget that you can use the – between words. key, for example, tropical-fish.com.

Keyword research is important for the domain name, but it is the foundation of your entire website. Each page of your website should be optimized for your completely different keywords on each page.

Each page will have a title tag, description, keywords, and header tags. This is what search engines will see when they crawl your website and it shows them what your pages are about, this is known as on-page SEO.

It is important to know where the title and description will be displayed to the end user of your site.

Building your website or blog:

I recommend using a WordPress blog as your website and a web host with cPanel, it has a one click installation of WordPress and many other website scripts.

When adding content to your website, you should keep in mind the on-page SEO described above.

You should have a list of keywords that you will use for your new website. Each page you create should have a different page title, description, keywords/meta tags, H1, H2, etc.

Your post title should also have your keyword as this is what search engines pick up and index, you don’t have pages with the same title and heading, description etc, this is known as duplicate content and will not work . your site is good.

If you are using a WordPress blog (which is what I always recommend), you can install a plugin called “all in one seo” and this will help you easily add your title, description, keywords, H1, H2, H3, etc.

If you’re not using WordPress, you’ll need to add them with the software you’re using to build your site or add to the html code manually.

If you get stuck thinking of what to write for your content, just do some research on your topic and make some bullet points, then you can expand your bullet points to create unique content for your web pages.

Off-page SEO is backlinks to your site from other relevant web pages on the internet, the more relevant backlinks you have to your site, the better chance you have of ranking well with search engines for your keywords.

Write articles and send them to other blogs:
This is a good constant way to build links back to your website, blogs, especially WordPress blogs, are often updated and are therefore frequently analyzed by search engines, so submitting articles to blogging on a regular basis will help you get a lot of good quality back links. .

Write articles and submit them to article directories:
Submitting articles to article directories is also a good way to get links back to your website, you can search for article directories on Google

Leave comments in the forums:
Forums can be good for getting back links to your site, the way to do this is by leaving comments on the forum, when you leave a comment you can add a signature to your comment, this signature will hyperlink back to your website, make sure to use your key phrase to link to your site and don’t spam comments, make sure the forum is related to your niche and leave a constructive comment.

To find furums in your niche, just go to Google and type in the key phrase related to your niche followed by forum, for example, green tea forum you will get a huge list of forums related to your niche.

Leave comments on blog posts:
Leaving comments on blog posts is very similar to forum comments, remember not to spam comments and make sure the blog is related to your niche.

To find related blogs, try searching Google with the relevant keyword phrase followed by something like powered by WordPress mu, for example green tea powered by WordPress mu or green tea blog, then you can see if you can leave a comment, but remember that many blogs have the commenting feature disabled.

Social Bookmarks:
What are social bookmarks? It’s simply bookmarking a website like you do on your computer and saving it for later. Instead of saving them to your web browser, you’re saving them to the web. And, because your bookmarks are online, search engines will find the links.

Relationship

SwissJust Review – Marketing of essential oils and aromatherapy

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SwissJust is an organization that was formed in the Swiss Alps in 1930 by Ulrich Justrich. It produces a series of solutions based on necessary oils with a philosophy of producing goods with a natural approach to well-being and well-being. The company’s products are sold in more than 35 countries around the world using a direct sales multi-level marketing model. This post provides a brief overview of SwissJust.

SwissJust produces vital oil-infused items that provide solutions for minor ailments caused by lifestyle, pressure, man-made chemicals and eating habits. For example, their best-selling Eucasol product is a eucalyptus spray that cleanses the sinuses and helps with respiratory disorders. Other items include a variety of balms and moisturizers that help protect and heal skin along with aromatherapy oils.

SwissJust products are distributed by a team of over 75,000 independent consultants who promote items by hosting parties for family and friends. Consultants earn a percentage on the price of the goods they immediately market (between 25% and 40%) while also earning commissions (2% to 9%) from the consultants they have introduced to the business. The company also offers incentives to top performance consultants in the form of cash prizes, recognition and free travel.

The company’s consultant program is easy to join and has minimal startup fees; A consultant doesn’t need to keep inventory, for example, and a starter pack can cost as little as $49. A new consultant joins the system through a sponsoring consultant who hosts meetings and provides support to help them get started. To get started, a new user must complete the Consultant Agreement Form, order a starter kit, and host a Swiss Herbal Spa evening. Your sponsoring consultant displays the merchandise for invited friends and family.

The corporation provides a step-by-step education program at no cost, as well as mentoring from the sponsoring consultant. SwissJust also provides article data kits, organizes national training events and offers international consumer support for your articles. The company also offers a monthly customer email promotion program and item e-commerce web pages that allow consultants to sell items online.

When consultants achieve success with their sales, they can introduce other men and women to the system as sponsoring consultants and then earn a percentage on the sales of the entire group. This allows Consultants to generate revenue from each and every group member that has submitted and earn even larger cash bonuses.

When the company emphasizes that becoming a consultant is typically a full-time job opportunity, the part provides independence and flexibility because a consultant can work as small or as long as their lifestyle and other commitments allow. The advantage of this type of sale is the team atmosphere of like-minded men and women that gives you a supportive environment to achieve achievement.

SwissJust is a respected corporation that continues to operate for over 80 years with proven products and is especially suitable for those already using essential oils and aromatherapy. This SwissJust review is optimistic due to the high quality of the company’s articles, as well as the added benefits of becoming a consultant. In addition to generous commissions, you’ll find paid incentive trips to exotic locations, month-to-month rewards applications, as well as opportunities to advance to leadership consultant positions by introducing friends and family to the system.

Health Fitness

You’ve Hit a Plateau in Your Six Pack Abs Workout, Now What?

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He has been exercising almost every day. She was losing weight and starting to see some definition. Oh! Your body just put on the brakes. Are you tired. A couple of the lost kilos returned to you. Well, you’ve stalled on your ripped abs workout. Now what should you do?

Sometimes a day or a break may be in order. But chances are you just need to tweak his workout to help get him back on track to getting his six pack abs. Maybe you’ve been doing the same ripped abs routine and diet for the last 4-6 weeks. If so, take a step back and think about this for a moment.

You could increase your weights or add minutes to your cardio, but maybe you need something different for your ripped abs. If you’re tired, adding weights may not be the answer yet.

Try these options:

1. Change the order of your exercises. Same thing but starts backwards. Or mix them totally.

2. Try a great setup with little to no rest in between. Take a 2-3 minute break after 10 minutes. And go back to work.

3. Change your level of difficulty by changing the angle of your weight lift, the angle of the treadmill, etc.

4. Think about grouping similar exercises: arms, chest, legs.

5. You can even lighten your weight by 5 or 10 pounds (depending on which body part you’re working), but increase your number of repetitions. If you did 3 sets of 12 before, do 1 set of 40. Something in that order.

6. On your cardio, once you’ve warmed up, go as fast as you can for as long as you can. Once you’ve reached your limit, slow back to your normal pace. After you’ve recovered, go as fast and as long as you can again. Then slow down. Finish your cardio at your normal time.

There are more variations you can do to get back on track with your ripped abs. Whatever you choose, put in as much energy as you can. Focus fully on your new exercise variations and you will start to see results.

You will start to feel energized. You’ll feel refreshed with a different routine, even though you’re still doing the same exercises, just a little different. As soon as you see that you’re back on track to achieving your ripped abs goal, then consider modifying your routine further. Talk to a trainer for suggestions on what your next level should be.

You’re almost there.

Legal Law

Act now on tax reform and save thousands

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I have a friend who is a tax attorney. He loves to chat. Whether it’s over the phone, email, Skype, or smoke signals, you’re usually good for three to four calls a week.

I haven’t heard from him since the end of November.

I called his office in the first week of January to see how he was doing. His secretary said that she was at a tax planning conference.

I tried again last week. The same thing. Another meeting of tax lawyers.

I finally sent him a text that had a lead on an urgent tax opinion request. That got me a call back.

The opinion request was mine. He’s on the case.

You see, since the beginning of this year, it seems like all I’ve done is study the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the new law that governs our tax code.

There’s a good reason for my urgency…you’re losing money every day of 2018 that goes by without knowing and acting on new opportunities and threats on the tax front.

If you act now, you can potentially save thousands of dollars in federal taxes this year. The sooner you act, the more you’ll save.

Here are the main things to keep in mind…

Tax Savings for Pass-Through Entities

Conveyors are non-taxable business entities…they “pass through” their profits or losses to their owners for tax purposes. They include limited liability companies (LLCs), partnerships, and S corporations.

Starting January 1, many transfer owners will pay no federal income tax in 20% of the profits of their businesses. That’s right, zip, nothing. For many people, this could mean a big drop in the effective federal income tax rate.

The rules for this gift to conveyance owners are straightforward for people whose taxable income is well under six figures. After that, they get more complicated.

No matter how you look at it, however, the new tax law creates opportunities for enormous tax savings.

  • action item: If you’re a lawyer, doctor, or other professional in private practice, seek tax advice right away to see how dividing your business into parts could save tens of thousands on your tax bill.
  • action item: If you are self-employed or operate through an LLC or small partnership, reduce your personal wages to the minimum immediately. That increases the “profit” of your business… the amount from which you can deduct 20% tax-free.
  • action item: Even if you have a job, consult a tax attorney to see if becoming a consultant is right for you. For many, many people, the answer will be yes.
  • bonus tip: Owners of shares in real estate investment trusts (REITs) or publicly traded partnerships (PTPs) pay no tax on 20% of their qualified REIT dividends and PTP income.

Elimination of key deductions

The stated goal of the tax bill passed in late December was to lower tax rates and simplify the tax code. The former was partially achieved, until the cuts expire in 2025, at least, but the latter did not. Instead, the lawmakers included some scattered attempts at “simplification” that could cost you dearly if you don’t prepare for them.

First, when the press began referring to “eliminating SALT” late last year, I thought the Trump administration was going to abandon the Cold War-era nuclear weapons treaties between the US and Russia. The truth was better, but for many of us, not by much.

Starting this year, you can only deduct a maximum of $10,000 of state and local income and property taxes (SALT) from your federal taxes. For most people that won’t matter because the standard deduction for joint filers has doubled to $24,000. But for many people, and not just in high-tax states like New York and California, this will mean an effective increase in federal taxes.

However, lawmakers in an increasing number of states are considering ways around this. You know those inside sections of your local newspaper that cover state legislative issues? It’s time to start reading them.

Second, the new law eliminates all “miscellaneous” deductions…including those for home office expenses. If you are an employee working remotely at the request of your employer, or if you run a small business from home, say goodbye to the business use of your home deduction. In my case, for example, that is a significant tax increase.

action item: Find out if your state legislators and city councilors are considering steps to convert income and property taxes into forms that could be deducted from federal income tax. Let them know what you think!

action item: If you work from home, model the tax implications of the loss of the deduction used by the home-based business. You may be able to rearrange things to compensate, at least partially.

bonus tip: Deductions for unreimbursed employment expenses, job search costs, tax preparation fees, home appraisal fees, casualty and theft losses, gambling losses, many investment fees and expenses, and IRA losses May have been removed, pending upcoming IRS decisions.

Prepare to reduce taxes on your retirement income

If you are not yet retired and earn the correct amount of annual income, I have two action items for you:

  1. If you don’t already have one, open a Roth IRA.
  2. Create a C corporation with your Roth IRA as the sole shareholder.
Lifestyle Fashion

Death and Taxes: Will Your Estate Be Taxed Upon Death?

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As the saying goes, “nothing is certain but death and taxes.” In the context of estate planning, this reality drives the estate planner’s desire to minimize death taxes as much as possible. In fact, the world of estate planning is consumed with tax minimization in all its forms. Lawyers and advisors get clients to jump through legal and financial hoops to avoid or delay paying taxes, be it estates, capital gains, gifts, income, etc. It is imperative that clients know if their assets will be encumbered on their death so that they can seek appropriate advice from their estate planning professional. This article provides an overview of estate taxes.

What is taxable?

In general, any property a person owns at the time of death is taxable, including bank accounts, cash, securities, real estate, cars, etc. are included in his gross assets. Contrary to popular belief, the death benefit from life insurance policies owned by a person is taxable unless properly structured. Joint property, including joint bank accounts, may be included 100% in the estate of the first co-owner to die, except to the extent that the other co-owner can show that they contributed to the property. Business, corporate, and LLC interests can also be included in gross assets, as can general powers of appointment.

Deductions from Gross Equity:

To determine the taxable estate, we need to reduce the gross estate by the applicable deductions. The IRS allows the following deductions from gross assets that reduce gross assets:

1. Spousal Deduction – One of the main deductions for married decedents is the spousal deduction. Both jurisdictions allow an unlimited spousal deduction, which means that assets that pass directly to a citizen spouse will not be taxed on the death of the first spouse. Often, there are very good financial, legal, and tax reasons not to leave it all up to the surviving spouse, as will be discussed in the next article on safe haven/credit diversion trusts.

2. Charitable Deduction: If the decedent leaves assets to a qualified charity, it is deductible from the gross estate.

3. Mortgages and Debts associated with real estate.

4. Estate administration expenses, including executor/administrator, accountant and attorney fees.

5. Losses during the administration of the patrimony.

Not one, but two:

Both New York State and the federal government impose separate estate taxes on decedents who die with a certain amount of assets. The government calculates that death should be a taxable event because almost everything else you did in life was. New York State and the federal government tax assets at different levels and at different rates. Uncle Sam, however, gives the taxpayer a deduction for the amount he paid in state taxes.

Federal Estate Taxes:

The federal government currently taxes properties valued at more than $5.12 million at a rate of 35% in 2012. If Congress does not act, the federal property tax is scheduled to be 55% on gross properties over $1 million in 2013 and beyond.

New York State Estate Tax:

New York State taxes property owned by New York residents if it exceeds $1,000,000. Non-residents pay the tax only if their estate includes real property or tangible personal property located in New York and valued at more than $1 million. New York estate tax rates range from 5.6% to 16% for estates over $10 million and are expected to remain the same for the foreseeable future. New York requires estates with a gross estate of more than $1,000,000 to file Form ET-706 along with a federal estate tax return, although the IRS may not require it (because the estate is below the threshold). federal filing).

The tax thresholds mentioned above assume that the decedent made no taxable gifts during his lifetime. A taxable gift is a gift made to an individual in excess of the annual gift tax exclusion amount, currently $13,000. If taxable gifts were made, they reduce the amount of the estate tax exemption to the extent that gift tax was not paid.

It is possible to avoid the sting of the estate tax by (1) fully utilizing each spouse’s estate tax exemption (2) deferring taxes until the death of the second spouse (3) and avoiding taxes entirely by donating appropriately during life and/or after death. To speak with an estate planning attorney for an evaluation of your financial situation and to see what options can minimize or eliminate your potential estate tax liability, contact us at (347)ROMAN-85

Pets

A Condescending Vernacular: The Language Problem of the Elderly

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Many people naturally resort to something like baby talk when communicating with older people. More than just a way to adapt to the cognitive declines that the elderly can develop as they age, this trend is known as “elderly language.” It often involves using a singsong tone, exaggerating and prolonging words or syllables, speaking slower than necessary, limiting vocabulary, repeating statements over and over, making statements sound like questions, and using diminutives such as “honey,” “dear” and “darling”. While the language of the elderly may be common practice, studies consistently show that the elderly do not like to be spoken to in this way and that speaking in this way can even be harmful.

Susan Kemper, a distinguished professor of gerontology at the University of Kansas, received a grant from the National Institute on Aging to study the ways in which the young change their speech patterns when communicating with the elderly. For her study, Kemper paired older and younger people as conversation partners. What she found was that the younger speakers consistently reverted to the language of the older ones, even when the older listeners did not indicate that they had difficulty understanding the conversation. Kemper also concluded that the language of the elderly did not in any way help the older listeners to understand what was being communicated, but instead made the older listeners perceive themselves as cognitively disabled.

In fact, based on another study, Yale professor Becca Levy concluded that perceiving oneself as cognitively disabled actually leads to lower cognitive functioning. Levy says condescending and condescending phrases like “good girl” and “How are we feeling today?” it can be extremely damaging. “Those little insults,” she tells us, “can lead to more negative images of aging” and “those who have more negative images of aging have poorer functional health over time, including lower survival rates.”

However, the use of elder language is pervasive in the elder care industry, particularly in nursing homes and assisted living settings. A research team also from the University of Kansas, headed by Professor Kristine Williams, videotaped interactions between twenty staff members and residents of a nursing home. The tapes revealed that when staff members used elder language to speak to residents, the residents were invariably less cooperative and responsive to attention and more aggressive. Many expressed their frustration at being approached like babies by making faces, yelling, or refusing to respond to requests from staff members.

So why do health professionals use the language of the elderly? Williams suggests that many workers see it as a warm and caring way to connect with their patients, adding that they “don’t realize the implications” because “it’s also sending messages to older adults that they’re incompetent.” While a small number of caregivers are aware of these dangers, much remains to be done to raise awareness of the problem.

Not unlike the similar problem of child care professionals “sneering” at children, which also impedes cognitive development, the language problem of the elderly is endemic in part because the industry is not set up to support the long-term relationships with caregivers. Turnover rates in nursing homes and assisted living facilities can often be very high. Staff are often assigned to care for many residents without being primary caregivers for any of them, making it difficult to form lasting bonds. Home caregivers, on the other hand, typically care for only one patient at a time, and often for much longer periods of time, building relationships where each patient’s individual needs can be understood and supported.

Elderspeak also reflects broader cultural malaises around the subject of aging. As New York Times journalist John Leland notes, “As long as our culture is uncomfortable with the aging process, I suspect we will be uncomfortable with the language used to describe it.”

Real Estate

Advanced and multifunctional: Newair ACP-1400H portable air conditioner

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Certain situations and climates can make installing standard air conditioning units impractical, expensive, or difficult, and many consumers often turn to portable cooling solutions, such as portable air conditioners, to beat the summer heat. Portable air conditioners are great alternatives to window or wall air conditioners or even as a supplement to existing central air conditioning systems because they are mobile and do not require permanent installation. Therefore, these cooling devices are excellent for apartment buildings that do not allow window units or houses with windows that cannot adequately accommodate permanently installed window air conditioning units, as well as for keeping server room temperatures stable. of the computer.

In general, portable ACs work much like traditional air conditioning systems, but have the added benefit of being fully portable and mobile. Both the hot and cold sides of the air conditioning cycle are contained in the casing, with the condenser coil cooled by room air. An exhaust hose then exhausts the heat, and the water condenses out of the air. At that point, depending on the unit, the water is either collected in an internal drainage bucket or mostly evaporated using automatic evaporation technology. Also, as a bonus, because portable air conditioners cool the air through the refrigeration cycle, they remove moisture from the air and are therefore great for those who live in climates with high levels of humidity.

With summer approaching and many of us already experiencing rising temperatures, our product team has been testing a variety of portable air conditioners and rating them based on features, power, and ability to cool. One of the most advanced models we came across was the NewAir ACP-1400H, and besides its powerful motor, what really impressed us was the fact that it was truly a multi-functional appliance, offering a portable air conditioner, heater, and even air purifier. air in a compact, easy-to-use unit.

We tested the NewAir ACP-1400H portable air conditioner in the 400-square-foot living room of our product editor’s home on a scorching Southern California afternoon. Here are the details of our test:

At first sight

At first glance, we were surprised by the design of this portable air conditioner. It was compact, weighing 77 pounds, and sported a unique square-shaped design that we’d never seen before. In fact, it fit nicely in the corner of the room and was not in the way at all. As for its portability, it came with wide caster wheels and we were able to move it from room to room without any problem.

cooling capacity

Many portable air conditioner manufacturers today exaggerate the cooling capacity of their units, and we’ve been wary of such claims with every portable air conditioner we’ve been testing. Fortunately, we were able to contact NewAir directly and they assured us that the NewAir ACP-1400H portable air conditioner had a verified 14,000 BTU. Additionally, NewAir stated that this unit would be capable of adequately cooling a 400-square-foot room, and we found this to be true. In fact, we think this portable air conditioner would even provide enough cooling for a small studio.

noise levels

The NewAir AC-1400H had a decibel rating of less than 54 decibels, and was supposed to be quieter than normal conversation. We left the unit running at high speed with the tv on and were not disturbed. Additionally, this portable air conditioner actually comes with three fan speeds and a sleep mode feature that would make it ideal for use in the bedroom.

removal of condensate

Portable air conditioners are easy to maintain, but require initial venting and removal of condensate. On older models, the condensate collects in a drain bucket that needs to be emptied periodically, but newer models, including the NewAir ACP-1400H, use advanced automatic evaporation technology. This eliminates the need to empty pesky drain buckets, but keep in mind that if you live in an especially humid area, you may need to dispose of this excess condensate from time to time. However, when we used this at our Southern California test location, we didn’t really have to worry about this.

Additional characteristics

The really standout feature (or features, rather) of the NewAir ACP-1400H is the fact that it combines four different devices into one. When not in air conditioning mode, this unit also functioned as a dehumidifier or air circulator, and for the cooler months, it could be used as a space heater. Additionally, this portable air conditioner came with a built-in air purifier complete with a washable air filter for large particles, ionizer for small particles, and an activated carbon filter for annoying odors.

Overall, we were really impressed with the NewAir ACP-1400H’s features and performance. While it is a bit more expensive than some other units we tested, we felt that due to its multi-functionality, the higher price was worth it.

Shopping Product Reviews

Personal Finance: Good Financial Habits to Start Now

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“I just got my tax refund, it’s time to go on vacation!” I can’t tell you how many times I heard this growing up and now see it daily on social media. I recognized early in life that the way I managed money was very different from most people I knew. It has always baffled me because I never fully understood how people could spend money without even thinking twice about saving or retiring. Here are some basic habits you can start now to help ensure your financial security in the future:

1. Saving for retirement as soon as possible is the most beneficial thing to do. Even if it’s just $50 per month, which is the minimum for most plans, you could be setting yourself up with thousands and thousands of dollars when you retire. The sooner the better. For example, a 25-year-old who saves $200 a month until age 65 and earns exactly 6% of the saved funds annually will have accumulated about $400,000. But a 40-year-old who contributes the same amount each month to the same rate of income would have accumulated only $139,600 at age 65.

2. Never carry a balance on a credit card with an interest rate. This is one of the fastest ways to accumulate an amount of debt that could be a burden for the rest of your life. When you need to use credit and can’t pay in full each month, look for a 0% interest card. Many promotions are from six months to a year or more. If used responsibly, they are essentially a free loan. Just be sure to pay off the balance in full before the term is up or you’ll end up with retroactive interest that could add hundreds of dollars (if not more) to your obligation.

3. Instead of buying a new car or leasing it, try to save and buy a good used car for cash. What you save between interest, depreciation, taxes, plates and insurance will save you thousands. According to Edmunds.com, buying a car that is two years old is your best bet because it avoids the biggest depreciation drop. Owning it for three years and then selling it will also benefit you because you will see another big dip after the fifth year due to the long-term maintenance that is usually required at that time. If you can’t afford a two-year-old car without borrowing, then your best bet is to get a slightly older one with long-term maintenance fixes (and low miles if possible).

4. Avoid eating out if you can. The average American eats out 4-5 times a week and spends an average of $232 per month or about $2,700 per year. If you stopped eating out for two years, you would have saved enough to buy a nice used car like #3 above.

5. Last, and possibly most important, is long-term thinking. The worst way to justify the expense is to do it individually against the monthly or annual aggregate. For example, eating out – while it may only cost you $10 per meal, keep in mind that if you did this three times a week for a year, you would have spent more than $1,400. This same logic can be applied to just about anything: clothes, vacations, furniture, coffee, expedited shipping, etc. Every time you’re about to spend money, think, okay, how much will this cost me each year?