Whois & Analysis for 4finance.com

The term lifestyle can denote the interests, opinions, behaviours, and behavioural orientations of an individual, group, or culture.

Globalization or globalisation (see spelling differences) is the action or procedure of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture.

Advances in transportation (such as the steam locomotive, steamship, jet engine, and container ships) and in telecommunications infrastructure (including the rise of the telegraph and its modern offspring, the Internet and mobile phones) have been major factors in globalization, generating further interdependence of economic and cultural activities.

Simple living or voluntary simplicity encompasses a number of different voluntary practices to simplify one's lifestyle.

These may include reducing one's possessions, generally referred to as minimalism, or increasing self-sufficiency, for example.

Simple living may be characterized by individuals being satisfied with what they have rather than want.

Although asceticism generally promotes living simply and refraining from luxury and indulgence, not all proponents of simple living are ascetics.

Simple living is distinct from those living in forced poverty, as it is a voluntary lifestyle choice.

Alternative financial services (AFS) are financial services provided outside traditional banking institutions, on which many low-income individuals depend.

In developing countries, these services often take the form of microfinance.

In developed countries, the services may be similar to those provided by banks and include payday loans, rent-to-own agreements, pawnshops, refund anticipation loans, some subprime mortgage loans and car title loans, and non-bank check cashing, money orders, and money transfers.

It also includes traditional moneylending by door-to-door collection.

In New York City, these are called check-cashing stores, and they are legally exempted from the 25 percent criminal usury cap.