Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Five Helping Hands Websites

Want help? Below are descriptions of five websites that offer help in different ways.

Begslist is a cyber-panhandling site where people build their personal donation center. Begslist claims this is easy and shows you how. The site is free for donors and solicitors. Once you write and post a beg, people who read it may help and can donate. A list of categories on the left of the homepage organize the types of begs. Examples include “disaster help”, “help paying rent”, “money for travel”, and “family crisis.”  


Lumosity is a website that is like a gym for the mind. It consists of more than forty exercises that improve, among other mental assets, memory, attention, flexibility, problem solving and speed. Lumosity recommends daily training and the sessions last about fifteen minutes. A month to month subscription costs $14.95. Lumosity tracks your scores for each exercise, and as you improve, gives more challenging exercises. It compares your scores to median scores for other people within your age range. One exercise shows the first three letters which can form various words. The more words you recall the higher your score.

Making Home Affordable allows entry to a U.S. government sponsored program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. The site presents step by step procedures which list various options which can make the difference between losing and keeping your home. Eligibility requirements exist, but the program aids homeowners to obtain lower monthly mortgage payments or to switch to a different loan at a lower rate. Unemployed homeowners can have their payments reduced to 31% of their income, or have their payments suspended for twelve months or more. The website offers HUD approved housing counselors who help to find your best option and guide you through the steps needed to navigate the process.

Retirement is the focus of this page at U.S. News Money. The page consists of retirement planning tools, news and advice. It shows where affordable locations in the U.S.A exist. It contains a blog called “On Retirement” with article titles such as “An Action Plan for Aspiring Early Retirees” and “How moving Overseas Cuts Retirement Costs.” Eye-catching, interesting looking links to various reports and info about retirement fill the page. There is information about how to make the most of your Social Security income and Medicare, and a section exclusively devoted to retirement concerns of the Baby Boomer generation.

No Longer Lonely is an online social community and dating website for people who live with the challenges of mental illness. Joining is free, but the site creator asks for voluntary donations to keep it going. It is like any other dating site, except it has chat rooms where people who have joined can talk about anything, including their mental health issues with other people more likely to understand. The site offers platforms for the display of member art, poetry and writing. 

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