Necessity is the Mother of Invention

What is it about desperation that forces us to reinvent ourselves and ultimately follow our muse?At other times we do things that just allow us to skate by, but when we have nothing, we have nothing to lose, right?

Throughout the economic downturn that our country has been experiencing, I've been reading countless stories about people that have reinvented themselves after being laid off or downsized from their previously stable jobs. They are now working for themselves and doing what they love. One blogger that I read occasionally has recently gone through this and you can read his story here as he's finding ways to reinvent himself, creating new sources with which to support himself. Others that I read about are doing freelance work in fields that they always wanted to. Viable fields are photography, graphic design, web design, consulting, writing, and editing, along with many other ways that you can work physically in your area to keep yourself afloat.

For another example, a friend of mine here in Indianapolis has begun a business doing painting and power washing for large apartment complexes and is doing quite well for himself. He will switch to plowing snow in the winter, which usually picks up in January, February, and March here in Indiana. He has chose to do this as his career in the business world became very disappointing for him and unreliable. If you're miserable in your job, I think this is the way to go. Why not take the leap of faith and work for yourself? If you have the self discipline and the tenacity to do it, I think there is no better way to employ yourself than being your own boss.

This topic is something that I've been researching pretty extensively over the last year as I'm trying to create other businesses that will take over my current day job. I do enjoy my current day job and it's as close to self employment as I can get (with outside sales and a very laid back manager that doesn't micro manage), and I also have my business with real estate rentals as well. However, my ultimate goal is to create a successful online business that can and will support me from any location.

If you have ideas or suggestions with regard to this topic, please email or comment to let me know. I am eager to get the wisdom from others that are doing this currently.

Have a great week everyone!

Financing From the Old School

There used to be a time when people bought Christmas presents with cash and saved all year to do so. There wasn't an abundance of store credit cards that offered 0% financing for 12 months and there weren't credit card offers being sent to 90% of the homes in America. If you talk to the older generation of Americans (depression era folks), they didn't use and probably most haven't used credit cards much in their lives.

There is and has always been an alternate option that many stores still employ as a technique to sell their wares. Layaway. Kmart is king for the layaway and I'm sure you've all seen the Christmas commercials that highlight their layaway program since the credit card companies have tightened up their card requirements and approval processes (no financial interest of course). The important part to remember though is that layaway is interest free and allows for a purchaser to buy something over minimized payments without paying financing fees and crazy interest rates that credit card companies charge. It really is a fiscally smart alternative for the holidays.

Sears also has a pretty reasonable layaway program as well, along with some Best Buy stores, Burlington Coat Factory, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and some local stores that you may not even expect to offer layaway. A music instrument and supply store that offers layaway is Sam Ash in case your doing some shopping for a musician in your family.

So, if you don't want to pay cash for your Christmas presents, use layaway. In case you haven't caught on to my contempt for credit cards, now you know. The more I can steer people away from their evil ways, the better I'll feel.

Good luck with your holiday shopping!

Of Utmost Importance: Health

We've all heard the phrase, "If you don't have your health, you don't have anything" and I think we would all agree with this statement. If we're not in good health, every effort and every task seems like a great one.

Every time I get sick, I really appreciate this bit of truth a bit more (and my flu bug, or whatever cold is really nothing big picture). But some times, someone comes across my path that really hits home to me and makes me really appreciate the health that I have on the grand scheme of things. I don't have a life threatening illness, I don't have a disability, I don't have a physical impairment, and I'm a socially adept person with a lucky job, life, and group of friends/family. What I'm getting at is that I have my health.

I ran in to a guy through work that really made me think about this and made me realize that the big man upstairs put him in my path for a reason. This guy has had trouble with his health for the last 5 + years, lost his job, is losing his home to foreclosure, lost his mother to death a year ago, and just struggles in general. He has friends and some family left, but I can see the struggle in his face.

These types of situational encounters make me realize my fortune in life and the great cards that I really have been dealt. It makes me stop and take inventory of the things I'm lucky to have. With the holidays coming up, in particular Thanksgiving, we all begin to reflect back on what's awesome in our lives and what we're grateful for. I'm grateful for the people and opportunities that I have had in my life. I'm really am truly blessed and I feel I've been given extraordinary circumstances for the good.

Do you feel like when the timing is right, people come across your path to teach you a lesson? Are you grateful for your health? Lets all help each other remember how lucky we are to be here for this short time on this big, blue planet.

Is Blogging Really Work?

Well, some people seem to think so and I happen to agree that it's work. It takes upkeep and constant intellectual work to write the posts and to continue coming up with blog topics for the future posts. I'm not necessarily saying that it's real hard work, but it is work regardless.

As far as whether it's technically considered a job, the state of New York happens to think it is and they also feel it's a viable income source as well, as witnessed by the decision to cut unemployment benefits for one laid off attorney in New York. The article is found here, which talks about this particular case. This is a particularly interesting case as the laid off attorney is making a paltry $1.30 a day in income, which in no way supports the blogger in food or living expenses (it doesn't say this, but we can clearly assume).

This will be interesting to see how this actually turns out given the magnitude of this decision. We are in a generation where many bloggers are actually making decent livings from their blogs, which can in turn lead to book deals, freelance writing, advertising, and guest posting that all pay pretty well when, as a writer, you're well established. The site jobs.problogger.net is a fine example of how one can make a living from blogging, not to mention getting the benefits from your own blog (advertising, Google Adsense as the example article above represents, etc.) if applicable. In my opinion, there should be an income limit that is applicable to qualify someone as being truly able to support themselves on a blog alone. For instance, one does not need to file a tax return if earning less than $400 of self employed income for the year. In this case, this person should not have had to file a tax return when making $1.30 per month, but maybe we're not hearing the whole story.

What do you think? Is blogging for $1.30 a day a living and should it disqualify someone for unemployment benefits?

I find this a hard pill to swallow considering the fact that our government has extended unemployment benefits for 14 additional months. Don't get me wrong, I agree with the writer of the article (linked to above about extended unemployment benefits) that unemployment benefits are not incentive to find new work, however, let's be fair across the board for all employees/people.

People are finding creative and new ways to make a living and put food on the table in addition to their unemployment benefits, because we all know it would be difficult to live on just an unemployment check. Is that really fair to someone trying to eek out an existence?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for incentive to work and for people to support themselves in society, but I think we all need to be a bit compassionate given the hard economic times. I'm curious to see how other states take issue with blogging income. New technology brings new income sources, and states have to adapt to this new income in their own ways.

Some Thoughts on Holiday Sales

Happy Friday everyone!

I hope this day finds you well.

The holiday commercials that are beginning to be played everywhere and on everything are always interesting to me. From the television to the radio, to the internet, and text messages; they surely are driving home their message of, "since you're going to spend massive amounts of money at Thanksgiving and Christmas, lets make it easier to swallow." From 30% off sales, to buy one get one free sales, to free shipping here and there, it's all marketing and they speak to our American consumer sensibilities as a society.

People are back to spending again now that the media has stated that the economy is on an upturn and the recession is almost over/over/lessening/and other varying degrees of improving. What does this mean? Fear is loosening and people aren't so scared to charge on their charge cards, and spend their savings. They are feeling more secure about letting go of their hard earned cash.

Is this good? That's debatable by any ones standards, but a lot of analysts see it as a good thing as the wheels of the economy are turning again. One problem that is a natural reaction, many stores have reduced inventory and it's likely that supplies will run out if spending continues to increase along with demand. It turns out that some retail stores over estimated the downturn that 2009 would experience, but then again, time will really be the teller.

My real rub with the holiday sales slogans and marketing ploys are the fact that a lot of stores try to justify and instill in us the idea that saving money through a 30% off sale for something we don't really need (by need I mean, really need) will really be beneficial for us in the long run, especially when they promote their store credit cards and their 0% for a year promotions. Isn't that what got our society in to this economic mess?

I don't mean to harp on the negative here, because I do like the holidays. I do like the decorations and hoopla that comes with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. It's like, people take on a better spirit toward the end of the year to get in the mood for the holidays. I love seeing family and friends and reconnecting with loved ones.

I don't think things will ever change here in America with regards to psychological marketing, but that doesn't mean that I won't continue to be amazed. What about marketing amazes you? Do you ever feel like you are constantly barraged by intense marketing during the holidays?

Good luck with all the commercials out there. Stay strong my friends, stay strong. :-)

Finding Common Ground

When it comes to friendships and relationships in general, there has to be common ground to make it work right? I think so and I think most would agree. What about when it comes to hobbies and extra curricular activities? Do the same rules apply. I would apply the old adage, if you're going to spend your down time doing something you love, why not with the people you enjoy?

So, that leads me to my next topic and item that I've been pondering. When you're indulging your hobbies, do you have to have absolute common ground or is it okay to be quite different in your beliefs, ideals, and taste? I am finding that the older I get, the less I can tolerate the opposite of me. I'm a pretty open minded, accepting individual and I can't stand ignorance and narrow mindedness, especially when it pertains to things that I love. For instance, music.

The more I play music with other people, the more appreciation I have for musicians of extremely varied backgrounds and musical taste. I like to play a lot of styles of music and can "get down" with others that are the same. That doesn't mean that I won't or can't accept someone just because they only choose to play classical music, or jazz, or insert musical style here. It just means that I get bored with monotony and repetition. My only exception to this is The Blues.

I'm in a place that I haven't been in for quite a while. I'm playing music with 2 different groups right now pretty regularly and am about to start playing with a 3rd and see if the fit is there. It seems like it may be upon initial discussion, but we'll see. It's got me thinking hard about what I want to spend all my free time on and whether I really do want to devote more time to another musical project.

I have been contemplating putting together a band of my own for a while now and it seems like the more I get involved with, the further that gets out of the realm of possibility. I want to keep that at the forefront and make it happen soon and I know if I don't, I'll fill that time or energy with something else. Oh, priorities.....

Do you find that your hobbies involve a lot of common ground with others? Do you grow from the differences? Learn from extreme differences? What can we learn from all these differences and tolerance?

Here's to hoping things work out for the best and everything is creatively inspiring!

Instant Movies on the Flatscreen

I hope everyone had a great weekend and a wonderful Halloween!

Evelyn and I have recently spent the money necessary to hook the laptop (Macbook) up to the LCD flat screen TV in our living room so we can watch movies and tv shows on it when we wish. It's really been quite a novelty lately and the initial fun hasn't wore off just yet. We had a movie marathon yesterday, taking a break from going out and from Halloween parties. We're signed up with Netflix and we've got the plan where you can watch movies instantly as well. That's been the coolest feature that's available as of yet. We watched everything from documentaries, to romantic comedies, to stand up comedy, and a drama. We can also catch up on tv shows as well if we have time (depends on the work week).

The way you go about doing this is first, you have to buy a cable that will hook your computer up to your tv. This can be done with a vga cord or an hdmi cable, depending on which your computer has. HDMI is better quality and allows for a digital signal to be transmitted from the laptop to the tv. The other cords you will need is for your audio. We have a separate set of computer speakers that we hook up to the laptop (in to the earphone or audio out 1/8" plug in) and that works magnificently. The only other cords or additional accessories that you may want are a wireless keyboard and mouse, which I picked up at Best Buy (no financial interest of course) for about $40-50 and that allows me to sit on the couch and surf that web without having to get up (oh yes, sedentary American-ism).

So, all told, this set up cost me about $119 (had to buy an additional converter cable for my Mac to VGA cord) and I feel that it's been well worth the cost. We no longer have a cable bill, so that pays for the upfront cost in a couple months as it is. Plus, it's just kind of fun to be able to surf the internet from your couch in your pj's on a big screen tv. It's cool for listening to music as well. You can just flip on the computer speakers and have music in the living room while cooking or cleaning up the house.

That's the latest in our home/tech forays.

Have a great Sunday.