Problem: How to avoid gossiping
Sort out negative gossip from the rest.
Not all gossip is necessarily bad, so you don't need to completely eradicate it from your life. You should, however, learn to differentiate between harmless gossip and the kind of gossip that hurts people.

Answer: People who are spreading gossip (and most people do at some time or another) don't spend a lot of time getting facts. In fact, they have usually heard the information they're spreading second or third hand.

Problem: How to avoid loan scams
Research any lender you are considering.
There are a lot of fraudulent lenders on the market, so go into your search with extreme skepticism. You need a lot of hard evidence of a company's legitimacy before agreeing to do business with that company.

Answer: Get the lender's phone number from an online source or the phone book and call to make sure they really are who they claim to be. Ask for the lender's physical address and use that to search for reviews online.

Problem: How to hide your period from your parents
Use toilet paper.
Wrap a lot of toilet paper around the bottom of your underwear. To play it safe, you can actually tape the toilet paper pad to your underwear with regular scotch tape so it stays in place.
Answer: For added protection, add paper towels, or a kleenex, since they absorb a lot more than the toilet paper. Though, when wet, they aren't very pleasant to sit around with.