One of the fastest-growing businesses on the Web is tracking data about your Internet use — everything from comments you leave on websites to health information and financial status — and selling it to companies that want to target ads to specific customer profiles. Algorithms are even used to make predictions about you based on your profile, from how likely is it that you'll repay a loan to where you'll probably spend your summer vacation.

According to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), your browsing information, minus your name, can be sold wholesale ("a batch of movie lovers is $1 per thousand") or customized ("26-year-old Southern fans of [the movie] '50 First Dates'"). There can be as many as 100 middlemen between your mouse click and an advertiser.

I'm a fan of unusual homes. From tiny homes to recycled homes, I'm fascinated by unconventional ways one can build houses that save on construction costs and future utility bills.

Our own house plans are for plastered walls with straw bale infill, and we're close to breaking ground. But when I picked up the latest issue of granola crunchy Mother Earth News, for a minute I considered scrapping our plans. To live in a grain bin.

You really have to click that last link and check out the photos to see how architects and builders are taking the big round structures pictured above and turning them into stunning homes. I had never heard of such a thing as a grain bin house, but I was intrigued.

Less than a year ago, I was stuck. I knew I wanted to start a side business that had potential to grow, but I had no idea what to do or how to do it. I was feeling stagnant, suffocated, and tired of dreaming about possibilities, but never making progress.

In hindsight, it's clear that I was spinning my wheels. I was optimistic one day, bursting with ideas and plans, and then the next I was deflated because I thought of 20 reasons why an idea wouldn't work, or someone made a negative comment that made me believe it was better not to try. Wouldn't want to waste my time if it won't work out in the end, right?

In articles about how to prevent identity theft, I've often read that one should never give out his or her social security number (SSN) unless absolutely necessary. That sounds like good common sense. But I recently found myself asking, in what situations is it actually necessary?

I've mentioned that my husband and I own land on which we are starting to build a home. The land is owner-financed, and we've had a great relationship with the sellers (who are also our future neighbors) for the past three years. Last week I received a message that they needed our SSNs. The full story wasn't clear, but it seemed they had a new CPA who said she needed our numbers to complete their taxes. This immediately set off red flags for me. This isn't to say I distrust the sellers. They are a lovely retired couple — the kind of people that invite you in for coffee when you drop off the monthly payment. But I didn't know this CPA, why she needed our SSNs when they've never been needed before, and what precautions she would take to safeguard them. So I decided to dig a little deeper. Do you have to provide your SSN because it's requested, and if not, how do you know which situations are optional?

I used to describe myself as impatient as though it were a trait of which to be proud. While I still have a long way to go, I think back on that and have to smile and shake my head. Impatience is the quickest route to misery.

I recently read an article by Eknath Easwaran, teacher, author, and founder of Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, called In Praise of Patience, where he asks where the extolment of patience is in today's society. Easwaran writes:

There almost seems a conspiracy in our modern civilization to counsel just the opposite: be impatient, be angry, “look out for number one.” But what is life without patience? What use is money if we live in exasperation with those we love, if we cannot stand to live with our own family? What good is it to have your picture on the cover of Time [magazine] if you cannot be patient with yourself?...We seldom realize what power there is in patience.

Most employees have to submit expense reports at some point — be it for out-of-town travel, client dinners, special events, or other expenses you incur due to your job responsibilities. Keeping track of these expenses is important, otherwise you're losing money while on the job and probably not endearing yourself to your company's finance department, which relies on accurate records and timely reports from employees.

It seems straightforward enough to track your expenses, but I've personally known employees who have lost receipts and didn't get reimbursed, failed to get reimbursed because they didn't understand that an expense was reimbursable, or missed the deadline to turn in the paperwork. In all three cases, the employee paid for a company expense with their own money. Not good at all! The situation can easily be avoided with some basic steps to make sure company expenses don't affect your bottom line.

Know the Policies

Request a copy of your company's expense reimbursement policy, and make sure you understand the guidelines about the following: Continue reading...

Dorothy was right: There is no place like home. Home is where we feel safe and relaxed in the familiarity of our surroundings — the sheets are just right, our favorite chair welcomes us, and we know, half-asleep and at 1 a.m., that we can get to the bathroom in exactly 10 steps.

But it turns out we might not be as safe as we think. According to the Home Safety Council (HSC), home-related injuries cause nearly 20,000 deaths and 21 million medical visits each year. HSC's State of Home Safety in America report found that unintentional home injuries cost an average of at least $222 billion each year in medical costs between 1997 and 2001, far greater than costs from other home injuries such as violence ($98 billion) or suicidal acts ($96 billion). Continue reading...

Shopping at a farmers' market is a great way to eat healthier and support local agriculture, but if you've ever been to one, you know that the food isn't cheap.

When you're used to fairly inexpensive tomatoes from the supermarket, the price of locally-grown, heirloom tomatoes can be a bit of a shock, leading some consumers to wonder what makes the market tomatoes so much pricier.

The thing is, the farmers' market prices are the true cost of food. In Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food, author Bryan Walsh writes:

A 2009 AP/AOL survey, Debt Stress in the United States, found that American adults are experiencing significantly more debt-related stress than reported four years ago when a similar survey was conducted.

The survey also found that those with high stress levels were likely to experience health problems, including headaches, back pain, muscle tension, depression, anxiety, ulcers, and heart problems.

It seems that a high level of debt-related stress can damage more than your credit score; it also poses serious threats to your health.

I'm writing this post on my brand new MacBook, which I just purchased yesterday. I can honestly say I've never been less excited to buy a computer.

The reason for my ambivalence is that I already bought this laptop four months ago, replacing a seven-year-old "little iBook that could." But two weeks ago a water bottle (that I thought was closed) toppled over, splashing water on the MacBook. At first, it seemed like I was in the clear. All systems were go. Later that day, however, the MacBook started randomly "typing" characters on its own, and after two failed reboots, it died. Rest in peace, MacBook. You were too young.