50+ Devices That You Didn't Know Included 100GB of Google Drive Storage for 2 years

• Surprised I had 217GB of Storage!
• How To Claim Your 100GB of Storage for 2 Years
• Devices eligible for 100GB of Google Drive Storage List

Introduction

I looked at my Google Drive storage today and I was surprised to find an extra 100GB of storage, for a combined total of 217GB.  I knew I had an 100GB extra for purchasing my Chromebook, but I didn’t even know I got an extra 100GB for purchasing my LG G4 in September.  I looked into it a little more and found that there are several other devices that you can purchase to get extra 100GB of Google Drive storage for 2 years, a $47.76 value! Think about that next time you are deciding on purchasing a new device.

   

Details on Claiming Your 100GB of Storage for 2 Years

All offers only apply to NEW (not used or refurbished) devices AND may have other certain restrictions.  Please read the details listed below.

• Chromebooks and Chrome Desktops - LaptopMag’s article “How to Get 100GB of Free Google Drive Space on a Chromebook” by Andrew E. Freedman will show you how to claim it on your chromebook
• Extra Offer - 3 Movies from Google Play until January 31, 2016.
• Asus Devices - Asus FAQ  If you bought a new Asus device before April 1, 2018, you might be eligible to get free Drive storage with a Google Account.
• LG  If you buy a new LG G4 or V10 device before December 31, 2018, you might be eligible for 100 GB of free storage on Google Drive for 2 years.
• Exclusions: Devices purchased from Verizon or devices with less than 1.5 GB of memory.
• Motorola  You have 30 days from the date you first activate your eligible device to redeem this offer.
• HTC  Must be redeemed before January 1, 2016
• Panasonic  Offer is valid through September 30, 2016

Devices that come with 100GB of storage for 2 years - FULL LIST HERE

Laptops - Chromebooks There are dozens of Chromebook models, too many to list.  I will post the most popular here:

• Best Value -  Toshiba CB35-B334013.3 Inch Chromebook (Intel Celeron, 4GB, 16GB SSD, Silver) Full HD-Screen
  
• I actually own this laptop and the 1080p screen is fantastic.  Coming from a Windows 7 desktop, I was very skeptical on Chrome’s ability to handle multiple tabs.  I barely notice a slow down on this laptop and the battery lasts forever!
• Read Reviews here - PC Mag, Notebookcheck.net, Anandtech
• Biggest - Acer Chromebook 15 CB5-571-C09S (15.6-Inch Full HD IPS, 4GB RAM, 32GB SSD)
• Portable - Acer Chromebook 11 , 11.6-Inch, CB3-111-C670 (Intel Celeron, 2GB, 16GB SSD, White)  $174.99

Desktops

• LG ChromeBase 22CV241-W 22-Inch All-in-One Cloud Desktop
• Acer Chromebase 21.5-inch Full HD Touchscreen All-in-One Desktop (DC221HQ wmicz)
• ASUS Chromebox2-G016U Desktop

Phones

• Asus Devices - ZenFone 2, ZenFone 2 Laser, ZenFone Selfie or ZenPad
• LG Devices - G4, V10
• Motorola - Moto X, Moto G, Droid ULTRA, Droid MAXX, Droid Mini
• HTC - One (M9), One (E9), One (M8), One (E8), One Mini 2, Butterfly 2, Butterfly 3, Desire EYE, Desire 820, Desire 820q, Desire 816, Desire 610, Desire 612, Desire 620, Desire 620 Dual SIM and Desire 510, One max
• Any new HTC devices purchased after July 15, 2015

Cameras

• Panasonic Lumix digital cameras - DMC-TZ70, DMC-TZ71, DMC-ZS50, DMC-GF7, DMC-CM1, DMC-G7, DMC-G70, DMC-GX8, DMC-FZ300, DMC-FZ330

Take Control of Your Finances

Personal finance is as much about behavior as it is about money.  In order to fully understand your finances, you need to fully understand yourself, where exactly you are emotionally, financially, and professionally, and only then can you actually determine exactly where you want to go.  In this post I will try to generalize the process of building the foundations needed to understand personal finance.  This will plant the seed to enable you to start planning, saving, and prepare for wherever you want to go.

Begin Evaluating Your Finances Today! (20mins - 1hr)

1. Make a Budget. If you don’t have budget, get one.  Budgets are never ever set in stone, think of it as a guideline and evaluation tool to learn more about yourself and your habits.  You can always change your budget to adjust for what you’ve learned.  I have had a budget for over 10 years now, and I still have to readjust budget at least once every couple months (but I still view weekly).  There are hundreds of tools out there that can help you start.   If you are just starting out, I’d recommend creating a simple budget on a spreadsheet first and then go to Mint.com.
1. Create a Budget Spreadsheet.  By manually creating your spreadsheet first, it will reveal your perceived expenditures allowing you to compare with how much income you are taking home and, hopefully, see what you have leftover.  ChristianPF.com has compiled a list of 10 free budget spreadsheets here.  Take your pick!  You basically have to fill in the blanks of the different spending categories to create the big picture of, your budget.
2. Next, Sign up for Mint.com.  Mint.com is a free service, provided by the makers of TurboTax, Quicken, and Quickbooks, which allows you to link your bank, credit card, loan, retirement, and other financial institution accounts to create a “dashboard” of all your finances.  Many companies try to recreate what Mint has done, i.e. Chase Blueprint, USAA Money Manager, etc… but what they don’t do is talk to other institutions, so using those tools will never be as comprehensive as Mint.  Once you link your accounts, Mint.com may automatically create a budget for you in the budget section.  If it hasn’t, use your spreadsheet to populate your budget.  The purpose of using Mint, is to get an easy to use, real-time snapshot of your spending and budgeting.  Check on Mint weekly and I guarantee you will find expenditures on there that you did not enter in your budget spreadsheet.  For the first two to three months use Mint to learn more about your cash flow (how you make, spend, and save) and compare/adjust your spreadsheet.  It will reveal a lot!
1. Alternatives:YNAB is budgeting on steroids.  For those of you who do not feel comfortable signing up for Mint.com and providing your banking institution credentials, YNAB is the way to go.  From my understanding, you download your records from your financial institutions, and upload it into YNAB.  PersonalCapital.com is geared more towards investing but does offer a few tools on cash flow.
2. 
   Check Your Credit Report.  Because of the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 2003,  you are eligible to receive three free credit reports from the different credit reporting agencies every year at annualcreditreport.com.  You can check all three once a year or spread it out, I usually check one agency every four months. Check out the video tutorial provided by DoughRoller. What to check for:
1. Late Payments, Collections, Judgments, Liens, Bankruptcies.  These all have a great influence your credit score.
2. Debt-to-Credit Ratio.  Add up your debt and divide by your account maximum totals.  You are shooting for less than 30%, ideally less than 10%.
3. Hard Inquiries.  Inquiries that requires an application filled out by you.
3. Run A Security Check.  With one third of data breaches resulting in identity theft, you can only imagine home many cases the Home Depot and Target breaches resulted in.  Don’t be a victim!  I will show you different methods to secure your financial institution logins and your online browsing, in general.
   
1. Review Credit Report hard Inquiries.  If they are not filed by you, they may be signs of identity theft.
2. Use Secure Login Credentials.  If someone hacks your email account, you’re just as vulnerable as someone hacking into your financial accounts associated with that email.  How secure is your password?  Check here.  Make sure your login is secure, on this article on Lifehacker.  If you want a TLDR: take 4 or more random words to make an easy to remember and secure password.
1. You can also use a password manager, but to me it seems more of a hassle.  I do use LastPass, but only on my computer at home.
3. Use Two-Step Verification. More about two-step verification on this video.  Most financial institutions and email accounts have this capability.  Although most people see it as an inconvenience, it is a very secure method to verify your identity.  It takes two things to login: 1) your secure password; and 2) an item physically with you (usually your phone).
4. Ensure your Devices are Up-To-Date and Secure. This means checking:
1. OS updates.  Check with Windows or Mac OS for latest updates.
2. Browser updates.  Most current browsers automatically update.  If yours doesn’t, it may be time to switch to Chrome or Firefox.
3. Install a Antivirus and/or Malware scanner.  I could go into a long discussion about this, but I’m not.  Just make sure you have a good antivirus and malware protection on your device.  Most internet service providers provide one for free and there are also some good free ones out there.
4. Java updates.  Make sure your java is up to date here.
5. HTTPS Browsing.  Always check to see the website you are on is spelled correctly and is using HTTPS with an up-to-date security certificate.

I know that was a lot of information, but I believe these steps are necessary in order to begin taking charge of your finances: make a budget, check your credit, and secure your devices.  By creating and following a budget, you will get a better understanding of your finances which can allow you to:

• Get out of debt
• Create an Emergency Fund
• Save for Retirement
• Save for a Down Payment on a House

By checking your credit and securing your devices, you are protecting yourself from identity theft.

There are hundreds of resources out there on personal finance, these are my favorite blogs:

• DoughRoller.net - My favorite blogger/podcast
• Mr. Money Moustache - Awesome guy who saved a ton and retired early
• Kitces Blog - Knowledgeable guy who goes into financial specifics
• Radical Personal Finance -
• Christian Personal Finance - Great financial advice, that is not just for Christians
• The Military Wallet - Financial blog for members of the military.

These books are highly recommended by several of those bloggers:

• Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
• Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin
• The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

Extreme Cord Cutting for your Bachelor/Bachelorette Pad

• George Takei explains Cord Cutting
• How much you will save
• What you will need
• How to use it
• Considerations

What is Cord Cutting? See George Takei's explanation below

I've been advocating cord cutting ever since 2007, and I am excited to see technology go in this direction (away from television providers).  I always push my friends and family to run "everything" on their phone but this is always received as super complicated and expensive, but it's the total opposite.  In this article, I take George Takei's explanation of cord-cutting and take it a step further, to save even more.   It is super easy and will save you money in the long run!

How much you will save

I have broken down the typical average cost for mobile, internet, and cable per month.  If you can see how that adds up in a year, you will be able to save on average, $865 a year!

Typical household bill			Extreme Cordcutting Bill
Mobile	$90.00		Mobile	$106.00
Internet	$46.00		(1) Streaming Service	$7.99
Television	$50.00
Monthly	$186.00		Monthly	$113.99
Per Year	$2,232.00		Per Year	$1,367.88
			Savings of	$864.12

What you will need

1.  Use your Smartphone as your primary internet provider.  Get a T-Mobile Galaxy S4, S5, or S6 (or a LG G3 or G4) through T-Mobile.  The reason I suggest these phones is because they have the Screen Mirroring feature (we will talk about this later) and T-mobile offers an Unlimited Data plan (which means unlimited streaming) and a 5GB Mobile Hotspot data plan (which turns your phone into a router to allow your laptop or any internet connected device to run on).  A new Galaxy S6 with an $80/mo plan will run you about $106/mo.  If you have an old S4 you can increase your savings even more!

2.  Determine the type of mirroring you will do: Wireless or corded. This "extreme" cord cutting method cuts your home internet as well, so in order to do video streaming, you will need to choose a method to get your video onto your tv.  See the videos below:

Corded

vs Wireless 

You will need one of these, depending on your preferred mirroring method:

Corded (reliable):  Micro USB to HDMI Cable, Rankie 6.5 feet MHL Adapter Cable with integrated USB Charging Cable 
Wireless (convenient):  A Screen Mirroring Capable SmartTV or a Miracast Adapter:  Belkin Miracast Video Adapter (Supports HDMI 2.0)
More info on wireless screen mirroring (Miracast) here.

3.  Determine which streaming service suits you better.  General rule, if you prefer to watch movies, go with Netflix.  If you prefer to watch more current TV shows, go with Hulu.  To find out which streaming service has your favorite TV shows and movies,  www.canistream.it will tell you the availability of almost every video available online

How to use it

1. To watch a video, enable screen mirroring on your phone and TV and open the video streaming service app on your phone to play it on your TV
2. To use the internet on your laptop, enable hotspot on your phone and connect to your hotspot.

Considerations

This setup is ideal for a single-person household (maybe two, max) and in order for this setup to work, you will need to make sure:

• You have a good T-Mobile signal at home.  Ask a friend with T-Mobile to come over to test their signal
• You don't online game or download huge files on your computer.  5GB hotspot data is more than enough for most users, but if you're an online gamer or downloader, then this cord cutting method may not work for you.
• You don't have a ton of internet connected devices.  If you have several internet connected devices at home that rely on a constant internet connection (i.e. IP Video Camera, server) then this will not work for you.

Although I have tried all the technologies discussed in this article, I have never made it my primary source because cable and internet is provided by my landlord.  But if you are seriously looking to reduce your monthly bills, this is definitely a way to do it!  Let me know what you think! 

Barnes & Noble NOOK Simple Touch 2GB BNRV300 - Best Buy

Barnes & Noble NOOK Simple Touch 2GB BNRV300 - Best Buy:

This is a great deal for TODAY ONLY!  For $37.99 you get a ereader that is hackable.  I work for an eye doctor and it is proven that all back-lit devices are eye-straining.  The NOOK Simple touch is non-backlit and therefore non-straining.  Perfect for periods of long reading.  Once rooted, it is an excellent tablet for the heavy reader.  Save your eyes, save your space, and save your money.  Get one!

'via Blog this'

Not Another PDF Scanner 2 review: Free NAPS2 makes documents scans easier | PCWorld:
'via Blog this'

For those of you who have a crappy scanner/multifunction printer software- this is a great, simple, no frills scanner software replacement for making PDF files.  I use it in combination with my DocuCap AM481- Mobile, Duplex Scanner with ADF to archive simple PDF files (it's not a great scanner, but I got it dirt cheap). Will work with many TWAIN and WIA enabled scanners to archive documents.