*This post references depression caused by the stress of losing a job. These tips in no way substitute for medication when medically necessary and the advice of a physician or licensed therapist. Having said that, they are practical tips for anyone that hopefully help through a tough situation.
I listened to George W. Bush speak to the nation tonight. He said recession twice but I have heard many intelligent people predicting depression for our economy. Ever since I was a young man in high school I have pondered the trillions in our deficit. I have always wondered: “When will it all collapse?” I really hope that time isn’t now. Like a baby falls asleep quickly on freshly laden baby bedding, I hope we as Americans have not fallen asleep and accepted a lie.
I TIVO-d the speech and now my wife doesn’t want to hear it. She seems to feel she’s heard it all before. I hate to say it, but this might be different. I can tell you with certainty that real estate will never be the same in my lifetime and possibly in my kids’ lifetimes. I wouldn’t recommend it as a career to anyone.
But this site isn’t about politics, it’s about psychology so let’s examine what you can do to avoid “the great depression” yourself should you lose your job:
1) Don’t panic or despair. The creative centers of the brain are not free when you are in this state. Focus inward and meditate. Develop a mantra to keep yourself calm and mellow. In this place you can find creative solutions.
2) Go back to college. These days the best degree to have is a trade or certificate. An advanced academic degree will prove more useful in an education career. Look into financial aid, it’s out there.
3) Take a walk every day. this will help you sort through things.
4) Limit TV time. Use the time to read self-improvement books and make lists. When you get a job, you can go crazy on the tv watching :)
5) Call loved ones just to chat. This gives health to your bones.
6) Create accounts at all the online jobsearch companies and put yourself out there.
Stay positive whatever you do. Remember your mind is a fine instrument. The treasured memories of your life are stored there. Take good care of it and it will take good care of you.
If a family member came to you and asked to borrow $7,000, would you give it to her/him? I think I would want to know more of the scenario: how trustworthy are they? Are they in a good business? Are they educated? Most important: can they pay me back?
What if their answer to all these question was: “I’m family and we believe in family right?”
In essence, that is what the goverment is doing with this 700 billion dollar bailout. They are not giving the companies money the government has. Instead, they are giving them billions the taxpayers will pay in the future. Last I checked, the taxpayers were you and me.
I recognize there would be a lot of fallout if these companies got no aid. Maybe that fallout would be preferable to what is going to happen with this bailout. But one can never tell. It’s sort of like diet pills. Some people get a huge result from them and others don’t.
I don’t know how to make my voice heard on this other than to blog. I don’t know that there is anything we can do. If this does ruin the country mybe we can remember what is wise and what is not. I do hope it works, for my kids’ sakes.
Ok, so I went to Cardhub.com to check out some Credit Cards and applied for the biggie: AMEX. Recently my wife has been wanting to see more musicals and I heard you get a good place in line for those with an AMEX. As usual, they have to review my file further but while I was there, I used the search function to look for a DISCOVER application. I got it! I guess my credit is good enough! I want to recommend this site to you as you think about what cards to get. It is comprehensive and one user calls it in the the front page the “Google of credit cards.” Go see what you can qualify for on Cardhub.com, it’s a really well put together page.
When you carry too much debt like I used to, life can become a real burden. This is true for individuals and couples but nowhere is it more difficult than when you have kids. Freedom Debt Relief is a place where people in this situation can get comprehensive analysis and help with their debt problems. Their website has a user-friendly menu that takes the consumer through the various options they offer. For example, in the debt reduction section, they offer on average to get your debt down by 50%. Think of that. Say for instance you owe 40K, they will attempt to get that amount down to 20k.
I have used debt reduction and it works. It doesn’t seem possible if you are new to it, but creditors will accept your offer through this company. This is from the website front page:
We can help you save more money than simple Consumer Credit Counseling while protecting you from the harsh impacts of bankruptcy. We think we have the best solution for most consumers with serious debt concerns.
Bankruptcy has serious credit consequences, as well as time, energy, and even mental-well-being ones. Credit counseling can cost you unnecessary money as well so there you stand in the middle. This company meets you there and gets you back in control where you want to be. It’s a great website and if any of this stuff is nagging at you and maybe your family as well, I recommend you go there and start an account. Why wait in agony? I’ve been there and made it out. Don’t be embarrassed. You don’t have to be there, give Freedom Debt Relief a try.
Unhappy with your occupation? Your dream job could be a few-clicks-and-the-making-of-a-video-away! If you are 100% content with your career, just laugh at the video, leave me a cool comment, and move on. Everybody else: Check out FutureResume.com.
FutureResume.com is a new company I am excited to tell you about. In the same way video dating companies have revolutionized the way people find love, so now FutureResume.com has applied the video concept to job searching and more importantly … job applicant screening. From their about page:
Companies waste a significant amount of time and money searching for and interviewing prospective candidates only to learn what might have been expressed up front in a short video introduction. FutureResume.com simplifies the selection process by allowing candidates to show their personality and professional commitment right on our website.
Folks, if you are out work, looking to change careers, or just starting out, this is the place I would start with a video and the services they offer. To show you how it works, I have made a short video myself for this post. Vote for me here.
This video is part of a current contest which you can enter as well. Here’s the contest details.
I don’t know about you but in my house a coupon has become a valuable thing these days. I don’t know any families in my circle who couldn’t stand to save a few bucks. That’s why I am so excited to share this link with you today. 1-coupons is a website that brings you the best and most current coupons on many of you favorite stores. Three examples of coupon pages I use are:
Check the many other stores and coupons to choose from here.
My wife is a big coupon collector and I’m thankful for it! One problem though is the time it takes to find and save and clip. With 1-coupons, you can get the latest coupons from your favorite stores all in one stop and it’s online! Make this site a favorite and check in daily since the great deals are updated often. Once you find a couple and use them I think you’ll agree with me that this is an invaluable resource for a family, couple, or even a single non-parent on a budget.
One last bit of info: Do you order flowers? Guys I know you do and gals … there are reasons you do as well I am sure. This company offers floral delivery deals from leading Internet floris.... Definitely check that one out!
What is your Bills IQ? By that I mean, the one you get generated when you take the quiz at bills.com/iq. I took the test and I think it is an excellent tool for seeing your financial situation and maybe getting help where it is needed. After the quiz you are given an assessment of how they may be able to help you. They have many services such as: Debt consolidation, Debt help, and Debt relief. They lay out the ways they may be able to help based on your test results. If you are concerned about your financial situation in, for example, these ways: you’re in deep debt or want to know how you can retire better, then this quiz will really help you towards a solution. There are other areas they can help with as well, so you really should go take the test. I’m trying to write shorter posts that say more these days, so I am trying shorter word patterns such as haikus. So, I decided to write a haiku on my finances:
So many bills paid
So many more to go
Good to be under control
If you take the test, I’d be curious to hear what you thought of it. As I took the test, I found the responses very helpful to planning for retirement and thinking about how to bring down my credit card debt. It really helped me out.
This post is another (I hope the last) rant about Google so feel free to jump ship before you go one. I don’t usually like to whine about stuff, I like to change things or shut up generally. After this post I plan to pretty much shut up about Google PageRank but I will respond to comments of course ;)
I’ve been setting goals for my blog and recording them here since December of 2007. It has been gratifying in almost every respect but I still am not where I’d like to be in other ranking systems such as Google and Technorati. Instead of getting frustrated or trying to game the system, I’ve decided to make my own ranking system based on the things that I value in my blog. I’m calling it the CAN. system My hope is that you, the regular reader, and anyone else who wants to will follow my progress and learn that serious writers can make legitimate money on their blogs without PageRank. My goal since December of 2006 has been to create, innovate, and intergrate quality content. I haven’t lost this goal, I’ve simply defined it more clearly and added “money” as a goal element. This blog does NOT deserve to have a zero PageRank.
Google seems to be highly puritanical when it comes to paid-links on a blog. It’s actually worse than “highly puritanical ” it’s near obscenely puritanical … it makes no rational sense. Who are they serving really? Do you care if a helpful blog post was paid or not? I know I don’t.
I have examined Google’s criteria for PageRank and frankly, I don’t think they even know what they are doing with it. Nonetheless, we have to suck it up as bloggers. It’s the industry guideline that advertisers and publishers use when hiring and taking blogs seriously. Thank goodness many influential bloggers are starting to come out against Google. IZEA is leading an effort against PageRank “.... As for me, watch for my first CAN. update in August. You can see my goals for July here. Maybe it will give you something you’ll find engaging to read by your espresso machines.
One thing, I will give away right now as I close: To make my logo and button for the CAN, Rank System was to use a tutorial for Photoshop. If you’d like to try something similar, it’s a lot of fun. The Google logo itself contains a font that costs $99. But this tutorial shows you how to make it with Ti.... It is cool. There are also tutorials there for companies like Hooters and O’Reilly … a lot more fun stuff. Enjoy and remember in whatever it is you blog about you CAN.
Imagine all your credit cards and your ATM card being run past the limit! In our house, we try so hard to make use that never happens but if a thief took my wallet before I could get to a phone, that would be the reality. I can tell you that stress like this could end you up in the funny farm. So many things in life we say will never happen to us, but it is possible they can. Listen to what Consumer Affairs has said:
For the seventh year in a row, identity theft tops the Federal Trade Commission’s complaint list, accounting for 36 percent of the 674,354 complaints received between January 1 and December 31, 2006.
I’ve written about life lock before on because ID theft has happened to friends and people in my family. Life lock provides a service that can prevent any harm that occurs when ones ID is stolen. It’s easy to sign up and their protection is guaranteed. You need to know that it isn’t just credit cards, hackers now can get the information to ruin you. Do yourself a favor, spend a little money (it is very cheap if you check the website) Get Life lock.
Dave Sharp has been my guitar hero since I was a kid. If you’ve read this blog for an extended period of time, you probably know that. One summer I got to actually meet and play guitar with the guy. It was such an amazing summer vacation for me. I traveled down to where he was and we would play coffee houses and bars in between recording my music. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to top that summer vacation … but never say never right? This post is about a company called DialaFlight that can make these sorts of trips happen … for less! Check it out:
For years I have read on the Dave Sharp forums about music festivals and pow-wows with other fans in places from Salford, UK to Toronto and wanted forlornly to get myself over there. Usually it’s the money that holds me back, but unfortunately I come up with a motherlode of other excuses. Very soon I plan to finally go to an event like this. When I do I will use a company I found called Dialaflight that offers the cheapest flights to Toronto.
Their consultants take all your info over the phone and create an itenerary for you that is top notch and highly competitive price-wise. If you are looking for a great travel agency that does it all for you in the UK, Alaska, Toronto regions, check these guys out.
What is your Bills IQ? By that I mean, the one you get generated when you take the quiz at 
This post is another (I hope the last) rant about Google so feel free to jump ship before you go one. I don’t usually like to whine about stuff, I like to change things or shut up generally. After this post I plan to pretty much shut up about Google PageRank but I will respond to comments of course ;)
