What is the purpose of endorsing a check?

I actually had to go to the bank today and so I decided to ask.

The answer I was given is that a check is a legal document (a promise to pay). In order to get your money from the bank, you need to sign the check over to them. By endorsing the check you are attesting to the fact that you have transferred said document to them and they can draw on that account.

http://money.stackexchange.com/questions/3667/what-is-the-purpose-of-endorsing-a-check

How far will my salary go in another city?

Money magazine posts a cost of living web calculator that covers a whole lot of U.S. cities with fairly up-to-date data, giving you the lowdown on how far your salary would go in your dream city.

More likely, though, is that you'd want a comparison of the cities you're looking at moving to for a new job or opportunity. Money's calculator pulls data on the cost of health care, groceries, utilities, and other necessities from the last four quarters available from The Council for Community and Economic Research, whereas some Google-located city cost comparison sites are working with years-old data.

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costofliving/costofliving.html