by Jennifer E. Brown

Created on: April 29, 2009

The Internet has revolutionized how Americans, and the world citizens, live their day-to-day lives. In the past decade, technology has gotten faster, smaller, and more efficient to best suit our needs. For instance, a decade ago, desktops were very popular and laptops were almost nonexistent. It's only since the late ninety's that we have seen five new versions of Microsoft platforms. We've seen the Apple Mac develop into a more sophisticated machine able to be used by those in new developing careers. Technology has taken giant leaps, but the Internet is perhaps one of most used inventions that I use on a daily basis.

Everyday, I check two email accounts. My yahoo account, overflowed by spammers, has come to be annoying. My school account, at EIU, is the one I check multiple times a day. As a cashier at Walmart, it seems as if card sales are down. Does anyone even send cards through the mail anymore? I often wonder about this, and then one of my family members surprises me with one in my mailbox. Sometimes when I check my email accounts, I'll see an "e-card." I get these a lot around my birthday and major holidays. All cards, even "e-cards" make me laugh or smile because the person who sent it is telling me they love me. Who says all mail is junk mail?

Around Christmas, I extensively use online shopping to do my Christmas gifts for other people. In Illinois in December it's usually cold and snowy, and I don't like fighting the crowds in the store. Then once you choose your items, you have to..stand in line..who wants to do that? I can shop online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and still have my packages delivered for minimal shipping. My shipping is free if I spend enough. In addition to this, it lets me take advantage of more stores and more gift options. Be careful, though. If there's no padlock, it's not safe. I unfortunately learned this the hard way.

I most recently started ad matching and collecting coupons. At Walmart you can print off ads from the Internet as long as it has an experation date and it's 60 miles within the store. So, I've been doing this. And, I've been taking advantage of the free coupon sites that are listed online. I always look for more ways to save money, and I think this will be beneficial to me in the long run. Coupons are a good thing, and I need to get into the habit of using them.

This summer, my friends and I are going to Vegas. One of them put me in charge of researching for the trip, and I have been arranging it in a powerpoint

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>