Hi! My name is Kimberly Sepulveda, my friends call me Belle. I am an independent product tester, blogger, Navy-mom, and wife living in north Florida. I buy all of the products I recommend, and I do not accept free test products from manufacturers. While I wish the cost of maintaining a blog was free, it is not. And since I am a Navy Mom, instead of using my husband's and my family's income to support this site, the providers of some—though not all—of the sites mentioned are generous enough to provide compensation for my honest opinions about their products or services. Feel free to check out my full compensation disclosure.
My goal with this site is to help you steer clear of the many scams out there so you can run effective people searches, learn a few tools that are right for the job, and turn safe-keeping into habit with your person-to-person interactions on the web. Consider this site a blueprint to every day, modern networking. Let me show you how easy it is to be safe, be educated, and be in control!
~ Belle
More About Me
Who I am: My name is Kimberly Sepulveda, but all my friends call me Belle. I’m a Navy-mom, wife, blogger, and product reviewer living in sunny Florida.
My mission: To educate others, through effective products and tips, to be more careful about the very people they befriend, date, hire, buy from, and even marry.
My motto: “Be safe. Be educated. Be in control.”
Most people I know use the Internet for almost everything, and as a result we end up “meeting” many more more strangers on a weekly if not daily basis than ever before. In my case, I love to buy and sell things on Craigslist. Most times the person on the other end is a good-hearted being like I am. But *really* how safe is it to allow some stranger into your home or, worse, to go into their home as if you’ve known them for years?
And what about all those social networking sites? How safe are they? Don’t get me wrong–they have their place. In fact, I met the man of my dreams on <blush> MySpace! We’re now married with a 1 yr old baby boy. But before we met, I was smart and arranged for a friend to be there when he picked me up. I also checked him out online.
You’ll find there are many reasons to check people out online. But what I also recommend checking out is the companies that let you check people out. Beware of those that make promises you cannot keep. Remember, be Smart, be Safe, and be in Control!
Posted by Belle
i do not want botered by telemarkers
Todd,
Don’t we all!! Have you checked out Privacy Council yet? Let us know how it goes.
~ Belle
I HAVE USED THE “DO NOT CALL REGISTRY” WEBSITE FOR ABOUT 7 YEARS. I SIGN UP MY GRANDMOTHER,(SHE DOESN’T HAVE INTERNET) AND MYSELF, HOME, AND CELL. IT WORKS GreaT! YOU CAN TELL WITHIN THE FIRST 24 HOURS BY THE MELLOW MOOD YOU’RE IN BECAUSE….WOW!@!! THE PHONE IS NOT RINGING. IT SEEMS THAT SOMETIMES JUST ABOUT EVERY 2-3 yrs. OR SO I HAVE TO REDO THE PROCESS BUT IT’S NOT BIG ALL THEY WANT IS A VERIFYABLE E MAIL ADDRESS, THEY SEND YOU AN E MAIL YOU VERIFY BY LINKING TO THE PAGE, AND BOOOM THAT’S IT. NOT EVEN ANOTHER E MAIL FROM THE DO NOT CALL REGISTRY. AND TRUST ME I HAVE NEVER HAD A SOLICITATION ON MY CELL, AND THE TELE AT HOME HAS NONE EITHER UNLESS IT’S THE DARN F.O.P, OR P.A.L.S
GOOD LUCK ALL, THIS MY FRIENDS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST. NO WASTING TIME HERE….
i do not want this number to call me. 859-619-2478
I just got an idea for a new page on this site: the “Do Not Call” Board, where you can post all the numbers of annoying telemarketers. Maybe organizations like the Privacy Council will take note! Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas? Arnessa, thank you for posting.
~ Belle
Is there any way to stop different foundations, e.g., cancer, veterans, etc. from
sending me requests for money and return mail stickers? I am inundated by this stuff.
Why don’t you ask privacy council? Maybe they handle those sorts of things. I totally know where you’re coming from. Enough is enough!
Shirley,
Thank you for the kind words and thank you for reading!
~ Belle
Belle, you make things very clear for us. I hope the kiddo is well and you are staying cool down there in FL!
#1 Doug,
The legislation deals only with pre-recorded messages, also known as “robocalls.” I think the telemarketers will never cease their efforts; I’m sure they’ll figure out something new. Maybe it will just increase the number of live people who call us. Unless… you opt-out on a regular basis! The key is to stay on top of it each month.
Thanks for reading!
~ Belle
I am also counting the days until it is illegal for those telemarketers to do what they do. Nice content I am seeing here… one of the best sites so far. Blessings to you and your family!
Chances are, this kind of paid service will flourish in the years to come. I wonder how the legislation will affect the demand for it, though.
/#1/ Doug