Haven’t filed your taxes yet?

Remember, tax time is one of the only times in the year when people have all of their banking accounts, numbers and family financial history in one place (read: prime time for identity thieves!).

Keep your personal and financial information safe with these tips from Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse:

1. Throwing away old records: Use a cross-cut shredder before discarding.

2. Make sure you know what to keep and what to toss: read the IRS’ publication on Recordkeeping.

3. E-filing: Check your to see if your spyware and anti-virus software is turned on and up-to-date before entering data and sending off your completed forms.

4. Direct deposit refunds or payments: Make sure to double-triple-quadruple check your account and routing numbers on your paper or online forms before sending them in.

Read on for additional tips…

While I was out for a couple of days with the flu, I realized how codependent I’ve become on the Internet. Not just to keep me entertained and virtually connected to others, but it has become my resource for answers to any and all questions, especially health-related ones.

I guess I’m not alone. Eighty percent of American internet users, or some 113 million adults, have searched for information on at least one of seventeen health topics, according to last year’s Online Health Search study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Why do we turn to the Internet for our health queries? Perhaps its the veil of anonymity that allows us to read up on symptoms we wouldn’t dare mention to others. Or perhaps we’re busy trying to self-diagnose ourselves since 45 million Americans don’t have health insurance.

Regardless of your reason for finding health information online, there are a few great sites out there that do provide clear and convenient information:

• MedlinePlus.gov
• Healthfinder.gov
• Healthline.com (a for-profit search engine of many health sites)
• More links…

Remember, always check with a doctor, pharmacist or other appropriate medical professional you trust before making any healthcare changes.

When the snow starts to melt and the mercury rises, a lot more convertibles seem to appear from the woodwork.

Whether your car is a summer-lovin’ machine or an all-weather vehicle, here’s a few tips from my interview with Lauren Fix, the Car Coach, on getting your car ready for fun in the sun.

1. Taking off snow tires:

• You should probably switch out your tires by the end of March in most areas (when you’re pretty sure you won’t get more than 1-2 inches of snow).
• When you do switch out your tires, don’t forget that you need to mark the side of the tires that they came off of, so that you can rotate them.
• Don’t forget that you’ll still need to check your tire pressure once a month against the number that’s written inside your car’s driver side door.

2. Spring cleaning:

• Never use household products on your vehicle because it can destroy your paint and it can actually destroy your interior.
• People tend to go to dish soap and that actually takes off the wax and the luster off the paint and really strip it down so you always want to use automotive products both inside and outside your vehicle.

3. Wax on, wax off:

• The reason for wax is that you want to put a big coating of wax on your vehicle to protect it because when you think about it your second biggest investment – when you go to trade it in or when the lease is up – it’s nice to have a car that looks good, it’ll give them less reason to pick it over.

4. Avoiding rust:

• As far as the exterior or the paint, vehicles are good for at least 8-10 years before you start to see the rust coming through. (Look for the little bubbles coming through the paint.) Once it starts, unfortunately, it spreads quite quickly.
• So if you want to be on top of keeping your car clean, get rid of that road salt which actually is a form of acid and will eat away at the car. And so in order to protect your investment – whether you own it or lease it and you want it to look good – adding a good coat of wax can help.

5. Added benefit:

• You can burn over 200 calories just cleaning your car for an hour!

Thanks to Lauren Fix, the Car Coach, for the great tune-up tips. For more car maintenance tips, visit Car Accident - Be Prepared.

3.2 million students will graduate from high school this spring, according to the Department of Education, and many of those students have just received their acceptance letters to colleges across the country.

Some lucky students will have received more than one letter, presenting them with one more choice: Which admissions offer to accept?

Thankfully, there are plenty of resources out there to help with this decision:

• Visit the school’s web site
• Students - Questions to Ask About Your College Education
• Questions to Ask at a College Visit
• Can’t visit the school? Try a virtual tour online (for-profit site, Campus Tours).
• Choosing a College
• Additional links

I didn’t mind wearing a helmet as a kid - mine was hot pink and it totally matched my bright teal bike with white tires (clearly an ’80s kid!).

Whether you’re looking to update your helmet from the ’80s or purchasing a helmet for a family member or yourself, here are three top tips from Randy Swart, the Director of the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, on what to look for when choosing your bike helmet:

1. Fit: “Because if it doesn’t stay on your head correctly it won’t be there when you need it. It can be as bad as hitting without a helmet: if it flips to the side, your head will directly hit the pavement.”

2. Comfort: “Choose a helmet like you would any piece of apparel. Look at how well it fits you, how well you think you look in it. It’s important that you think it looks good on you and matches your own personal style.” Get a helmet you like - you’d probably wear your helmet less often if you didn’t like the color or the way it looked.

3. Price: “Don’t worry about manufacturing stickers or guarantees especially in the U.S. market because there is a law that says they have to meet the Consumer Product Commission standards.” Most regular helmets cost between $10-30 (high performance athletic helmets will be a lot more).

Want more? Here are a few highlighted resources from the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute’s main site:

• Helmets for 2007
• Helmet State Laws
• Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute (Main Page)
  

Live near the East or Gulf Coast? It’s time to start preparations for a “very active” hurricane and tropical storm season.

The Tropical Meteorology Project at Colorado State University predicts 17 tropical storms for 2007, nine of them hurricanes and five of those “intense” — Category 3, 4 or 5 storms with winds of at least 111 mph.

Get ready for the season ahead with these top resources:

• Be Prepared - Hurricane
• Tropical Storm Names for 2007
• Hurricane Categories