What I See on Wednesday. . .

I know I am supposed to share a recipe today but it was an exhausting day and we had pizza.   We have a little place that has a special on Wednesday that you can get two large one topping pizzas for for $14.  You cannot beat that, feeding a family of four.  
It is so funny what you see when nobody thinks you are looking.  It is funny what you hear when nobody thinks you are listening. These days not much shocks me.   Today while pumping gas I watched as our local bum gets out of her brand new Hyundai and walks across the street to her perch to beg for money.   We have a group that share this particular spot to beg from and they rotate on shifts.  This strikes me as funny because I am sure they make more money begging than most people do working.  They are not paying taxes on any of it.  Every time I see someone give them money I just want to shake them and tell them to wake up and see the brand new car sitting in the gas station parking lot  that they are funding.  
People are stealing wallets out of women's purses in stores as they are shopping.   People are stealing pocketbooks off women's shoulders in the parking lot.  This is happening in the morning hours not at night when you might expect this kind of behavior.   People are breaking down doors and breaking into homes in broad daylight.   It has become a normal thing to hear in the news or on the street.  We are gradually going to a state of what ever you want just take it, whether it is yours or not.
When I go shopping I am going over in my head what I am buying and what I am looking for and most days I am not thinking about anything else.   Since all of this theft and purse snatching I have been paying more attention to my surroundings.  I usually do my shopping first thing in the morning, 8am.   The other day while I was in the store where these thefts have happened I decided I would do a little people watching while I was shopping.  I have to say I was amazed at how many women had their pocketbooks laying open in their buggy.   A couple of them even walked away from their buggy with their purse still in it open.   It is easy to get distracted when shopping, especially in this type of store.  Ladies please keep hold of your pocketbooks and keep them closed.  
When these stories hit the news (Facebook) I began watching more closely those around me.   I have seen a couple of out of place people wandering around.  I always keep my purse close to me and I keep my eyes open for people that do not belong and at the Mart you never know what you might see.  Please be safe when out shopping or going to and from your car in mall parking lots.  I remember one of our friends that just happened to be a police officer was out shopping with his wife when a would-be thug attempted to rob them.  The shock that must have fallen on this fellas face when our friend pulled his gun and pined him to the car to wait for back-up.   This was in our local mall parking lot more than twenty years ago.  
These are my tips for women when going to and from your car with packages or not.
1.  You should always have your keys out before you leave the store.
2.  Walk with your head up and with a purpose.  Do not look like a victim.
3.  Look around you, who else is in this parking lot.
4.  Look at your car as you approach it.  Is there anything odd about the vehicles parked near you?
5.  Once in your car, lock it and immediately start your engine.
6.  Do not sit in your car and balance your check book or check receipts.
 If anything looks odd when you go out to your car, go back in the store call a friend or alert mall security and let them walk with you to the car.  I promise, if they are worth a grain of salt they will not mind and they will applaud you for calling them.

Stolen Credit Cards. . .

I have posted on this before, and will post on it again.  I want everyone to be informed and to be safe.  I ran into a dear friend at school this morning.  She was telling me about their debit card number being stolen and used at an online store for a couple hundred dollars.  They disputed it and filed a police report so that the bank would put the money back.  My friend also told me that several of her friends had told her that the same thing had happened to them.   She also said they told her that some of this had been traced back to some local places we all frequent.  I blamed Wal Mart, because that was the only place my dear hubby had used both of his cards that were compromised.  I only use cash at Wal Mart now and I only use cash for things like Pizza and at grocery stores.  It is sad that you cannot trust anyone anymore.  I am afraid it is only going to get worse.  You also have to be careful at ATM's because devices can be put on them to track your account numbers and your pin number.  This same device can be used at the gas pump as well.  Keep track of your accounts, keep track of your checks and balance that check book.   I did not used to do this and I would have been out a good bit of money if I had not been checking on my accounts when our incident happened.

Here is another consumer finance alert. . .

Received a notice yesterday that one of our debit cards may have been compromised.   This is from a different bank than the one I previously posted about.  So that is two cards from two different banks that have been compromised.  One was a Visa the other MasterCard.  The only thing they have in common besides us is that they were both used at Wal Mart.  I will not be using a debit card at Wal Mart again.  There is something fishy going on there.  I reported the previous theft to the sheriffs' department and they have a gentleman that is dedicated to this type of thing only.  He said there have been a rash of this going on here and they are trying to pin down where it is coming from.
Since going through the Dave Ramsey class last year I have seriously cut down where I use my cards so it is really easy to know if it is us or if it is theft.  Dave, I gotta thank you for that.  No credit card debt and do not plan on using them at all again.  These last few weeks of dealing with people stealing our information has really put me on the defense when it comes to who I deal with and what means of payment I use.  We should  really be more careful about who has access to our bank information.  The times are changing and there is an unsavory element out there just waiting for the right moment.