Get Your Groupon!

Hey Ladies!

All of us could use a little break from the ordinary every now and again and during these down economic times it is always great to find unexpected deals and discounts.  That is why I am SO excited to share with you my most recent discovery of a website called Groupon – www.groupon.com.

This site is so cool because it uses “collective buying power” to get massive discounts for the little guy (and gal).  Here’s how it works: Groupon pre-negotiates 50%+ discounts from local retailers for goods and services like dinner at that fancy new restaurant you have eyed or tickets to the local museum you always wanted to go to.  They get this discount by guaranteeing the business new customers and highly effective word of mouth advertising then they pass the savings on to you and me.  You aren’t responsible for paying for the deal until it “tips” and enough people sign up.   The company aims to make people tourist in their own cities again by giving you a compelling reason to get out of the house.

Here are some of the latest deals offered in cities throughout the US:

New York:$45 for 10 Pilates Mat Classes at Power Pilates ($180 Value)

DC:  $45 for Your Choice of Cooking Class From Basikneads Catering ($90 Value),

Los Angeles: $35 for Two Pole-Dance Classes and Two Sexy Cardio Classes at Evolve Dance (your secret is safe with me )

What I really love is that the company started out as a social enterprise, growing out of a website called The Point, a website launched in November 2007 that lets you start a campaign asking people to give money or do something as a group — but only once a “tipping point” of people agree to take part. By delaying action until enough people come together to have a real impact, The Point helps consumers, employees, citizens, activists, parents — or anyone — come together and solve problems that they couldn’t solve alone.

Here is a video with the founder discussing how he stumbled upon the idea…

If you’re sold on the concept and are eager to try it out, sign up here.

HAPPY Saving!

Building Your Personal Brand w/ LinkedIn, Twitter, FB and More!

I was chatting with one of my girlfriends over Skype the other day and she was telling me about how unhappy she was with her current job.

She has worked for the same company for the past four years.  It is a small professional services company with less than 20 employees and because they are so small they are a close and tight-knit bunch.  When she started she felt challenged and engaged and this compensated for the fact that she was being grossly underpaid for her role and position.  However, as the newness began to wear off and the work became more routine, she decided that enough was enough and that she needed to get up the guts to brush off her resumé, refresh her skills and embark on a new job search with a company that could pay her her worth.

Me (being the consummate cheerleader) encouraged her to do just that.  And my gift to her was this guide:

You can download your own copy here.  As many of you know, getting a job in today’s market requires much more than just submitting your resume on Monster.com and waiting for recruiters to contact you.  Today, you have to actively promote your skills and talents to have a fighting chance at the most desirable positions.

“But my work speaks for itself!” you say, or “I’m not a promoter, I’m just lawyer.”  Either way girlfriend, its time to wake up out of the ice age and realize that talent is becoming a commodity…and the only way you are going to get ahead is by differentiating yourself in the marketplace.  That starts by proactively building and managing your brand.

Don’t worry…I’ve got your back…way back (just kidding!).

This document is from a seminar I attended at Harvard about building your social brand…something every BDG is mandated to do these days to stay on top of their game.    As soon as my friend got this she started chatting vigorously about how it was exactly what she needed to jumpstart her job search and to rebrand her skills.

So I thought, why not share it with all my BDG Club members!?!

Now, I will admit, this list is aggressive and I haven’t personally accomplished all the things outlined here, but I am on my way…and soon you will be too!  Let’s get to it!

Economically Independent Women = Happier, More Equitable Marriages?

Credit:http://bit.ly/6ymoLQ http://bit.ly/5XmPYM

I was intrigued by a recent article in the New York Times quoting a PEW Research report that found that wives are now the primary breadwinner in 22 percent of couples, (up from 7 percent in 1970) and that this shift has had a positive impact on marriage stability…

The report states that since women are less dependent on marrying men with higher incomes or social status, they more often opt to marry for love, resulting in more sustainable, equitable and happy marriages.

This report rebuts a belief held by most men and women I talk to – that relationships where the woman earns more or is more educated, generally result in failure.  ”The statistics show that typically, the more economic independence and education a woman gains, the more likely she is to stay married. And in states where fewer wives have paid jobs, divorce rates tend to be higher, according to a 2009 report from the Center for American Progress.”

What do you think? Should overeducated working girls kick up their heels and rejoice?

We’re Moving on Up!

Ahh…the Jeffersons. Gotta love the upwardly mobile Manhattan couple who brought us so much joy and laughter growing up. While many folks know Weezy and George for their “deluxe apartment in the sky”, very few people ever talk about their life before moving to the east side.

Before moving on up, the Jefferson’s lived on down – in a working class neighborhood in Queens to be exact. In fact, they were originally introduced to us on television as the new neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker of All in the Family. Another fact about the Jeffersons that we often forget is that it took many years for George to build up his chain of seven cleaners throughout NYC in order to be able to comfortably afford moving to the east side.

The lesson here is that sometimes it is necessary to move on down before moving on UP!

I was reminded of this lesson recently when my better half and I were discussing moving out of our current flat into a more affordable part of town. The flat we have now is gorgeous with an outdoor terrace, crown molding, hardwood floors, ample closet space and central access to work, school and all forms of public transport. The problem? It’s extremely overpriced. When we first moved here we really had no clue. We just knew that we needed to be in a central part of town and everything the brokers showed us was overpriced. However, after a few months of getting to know pocket neighborhoods and talking to locals, we realized we could get a better deal. Once we figured out that we could save several hundred dollars a month by just switching zip codes, we started getting really critical about all the things we really needed to make our house a home. Was it essential that we had outdoor space? Did we need to be less than a block away from the tube? After a month of searching high and low for a new place that was fabulous yet still affordable, I am happy to report that we found a place that we absolutely adore! And guess what…we still have all the things we enjoyed about our old place, just in a smaller floor plan.

So we have decided to move on down for the time being….because we know that living below our means today will allow us to reach our goal of being financial independent that much sooner.

Have you ever considered cutting some of your fixed costs to achieve your financial goals? What would you do with an extra few hundred bucks a month?

Making Money with a Side Hustle (Ramit Sethi & Paperwheel.com)

I subscribe to fellow blogger Ramit Sethi’s blog and recently he shared an interview with Elizabeth Weil, a woman who in addition to running Corporate Development at Twitter, ALSO has her own letterpress company where she has made more money producing customized letterpress stationary and invitations then she did as a venture capitalist! I share this info here not because I think any of you want to become couture letterpress designers, but because Ramit does a great job in this interview asking all the key questions you wished people asked of folks in this position but are often too afraid to ask like:

• “How much money did you spend to get started?”
• “How did you get over the psychological barriers to starting your business?” and
• “How much money do you make from your side hustle?”

You can check out the audio interview here: http://bit.ly/7Ya98m

Key Takeaways:

- Elizabeth mentions that her biggest key to success was not having a psychological barrier before starting the business. She just went with the flow and did what interested her because she wasn’t looking to make a billion dollar business – she was just looking to make a little “money on the side” doing something creative that she loved.

-Elizabeth got her first client by telling her friends about her passion for letterpress. After she got her first client she went on to gain the confidence to move forward with her passion and to take on even more clients.

-She didn’t let the fact that she didn’t have a website, or business plan prevent her from taking a “leap” of faith in investing almost $2K in her business early on.

-She sees her company as a “right brain” outlet vs. her daytime job which engages her “left brain.”

You can find Elizabeth Weil’s Paper Wheel Press’ products at http://www.paperwheel.com/.

Lastly, if you aren’t already a subscriber I would encourage you to subscribe to Ramit’s blog as he often has great resources, like those mentioned above on his site. For example, check out this graphic on the 3 Easiests Ways to Make More Money: Clean + Simple. Gotta love that Ramit!

Do you have a side hustle you enjoy and that you make money from? If so, share it with us!

Living On Purpose

Today as I sat back on my couch and began to map out my 2010 plan for the Billion Dollar Girls Club, I opened my i-Tunes player and pressed play on the new Alicia Keys album and the words that came out of Alicia’s mouth nearly brought tears to my eyes. She was reading a familiar quote:

“The day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” *

These words are powerful, simple and true. Read them again.

Have you ever felt like fear kept you from doing something you knew in your heart of hearts you really, really wanted and desired to do?

I originally read this quote when I was first thinking about leaving my job and moving abroad. To the outsider looking in, it seemed insane to leave a high-paying job where I was well-regarded, successful and on the partner track, to jump ship and move to a new country with literally no plan except to spend time reconnecting with my essential self. But I knew in my heart of hearts something wasn’t right. That I had something more to give to the world than what I was giving on a day to day at my job. I knew I wanted to be more, to do more and to inspire more.

No, I still haven’t figured out exactly what “more” I am to do just yet. But I did muster up enough courage to look my fear in the eyes, take a deep breath and put one foot in front of the other towards the direction of my calling.

Do I still get afraid? Sometimes.

Do I have it all figured out and mapped out strategically for the next 5, 10 and 15 years? No.

Do I know I made the right decision? Absolutely!

How do I know? Because now my heart sings. “I am living on purpose!”

I wish the same for you. For true wealth and prosperity starts here, from within, from freeing ourselves from whatever it is we are fearing and beginning to mix our unique talents, desires and passions with our life’s work.

*The quote, as you may know, was originally written by Anais Nin (a writer, diarist and all around fierce woman who lived light years before her time) in a book called Living on Purpose.

Start Over, Finish Rich

If you are like most Americans, your finances took a serious beating in 2009. Instead of sulking or acting like nothing is wrong, let’s do something about it! Like checking out David Bach’s new book, Start Over, Finish Rich. Bach is the NYT Bestselling Author of Smart Women Finish Rich and his latest book is specifically focused on helping folks like you get over all the financial hiccups of yesteryear.

And guess what?? Yup, you guessed it! You can have his new book for FREE (my favorite price). The offer is only good today by following this link.

To save you some time, I copied the Table Of Contents below so you can go right to the chapter that resonates with you most.

STEP 1 Recommit to Wealth 1
STEP 2 Find Your Money 16
STEP 3 Deal with Your Credit Card Debt 39
STEP 4 Fix and Protect Your Credit Score 62
STEP 5 Rebuild Your Emergency Savings 75
STEP 6 Re-energize Your Retirement Plan 88
STEP 7 Make It Automatic 109
STEP 8 Rebuild with Real Estate 117
STEP 9 Rebuild Your College Fund
(and Restructure Your Student Loan) 142
STEP 10 25 Ways to Save $5,000 158
BONUS STEP 11 Find Your Power—
Give to Others 181
A FINAL WORD: MY PERSONAL “START OVER” STORY 194

Download your free copy of Bach’s book now! You never know when it might become handy. And, who knows, his advice might just be the kick in the rear you need to bounce back in 2010.

Have You Checked Your Credit Score Lately? Get It Now for FREE!

Have you checked your credit report lately?

If not, now would be a good time for a couple of reasons.

First, it is the beginning of a new year so why not get off on the right foot knowing exactly where you stand financially. That way you can track your progress.

Secondly, Transunion is offering a 30-day promotion which will allow you to get your credit report and scores from all three major credit bureaus for FREE! (my favorite price!). Just be sure to cancel your subscription before the 30-day trial period ends so you don’t get charged the $14.95 monthly fee thereafter.

You should also know that per the FACT Act (Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act), every consumer has the right to request a free report from each of the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — once a year. You’re also entitled to a free report if you’ve recently been denied credit, have been turned down for a job, are on public assistance, or have reason to suspect that you’re a victim of identity theft.

Most experts recommend staggering the free reports, so that you can keep an eye on your credit throughout the year….and since I am a budding “expert” I recommend the same (wink). You request these free reports from www.annualcreditreport.com, not directly from the credit reporting agencies. Be sure to use this site only, as search engines like Google will lead you to sites like www.freecreditreport.com which will ultimately charge you for your reports. Don’t fall for into their trap.

Unfortunately, the catch with the FACT Act is that they only entitle you to receive free credit reports not your scores. While reports are great for making sure that everything reflected in your credit history is correct, the key piece of information used by most lenders is your credit score. Most companies charge as much as $15 bucks to get your score.

This is what makes the Transunion deal so sweet! You can get your reports and your score for free AND still reserve the option to review your FREE credit reports later in the year at www.annualcreditreport.com.

For those of you who haven’t checked your credit reports in a year or so you will also notice that the big 3 firms are using a new scoring system called Vantage Score which rates your credit using grades (A, B, C, etc.). This score ranges from 501 to 990 (higher than the FICO high of 850) so be sure you accurately interpret your score before celebrating your new and improved credit. Whereas, a score of 750 was previously considered “good”, under the Vantage Score system you will be regarded as an average C-student a la George W.

Now, that I have done all the heavy lifting for you, go on and check your credit…

How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/8TxwlZ

Most New Year’s resolutions fail. So what’s the key to making them stick? Here are the top three things that you can do to make your resolutions reality.

1. Set specific goals. Just specifying your goals in small, measurable steps is a huge step toward achieving them. Use the S.M.A.R.T framework to help get your juices flowing. Make sure each of your goals are:

S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Achievable
R = Relevant
T = Time-bound

Examples:

Non-SMART goal: “Save money”

SMART goal: “I will save money by 1) creating a conscious spending plan (aka budget) by January 1, 2010 and evaluating my spending habits monthly to make sure I am on target, 2) Opening up a high – interest savings account and setting up an automatic transfer from my checking to my savings account in the amount of $250 per pay period by Feb. 1 and 3) maxing out my 401K contributions by filling out the paperwork to set up an automatic transfer from my paycheck to my retirement account each pay period by the first week of January.”

2. Make your Goals Public. Tell your girlfriends! Post them on your FB page. Whatever you do, don’t keep your resolutions to yourself. Study after study has shown that making your goals public helps you achieve them. No one wants to be a hypocrite. Especially not in front of your friends. Telling your friends about your goals will help keep you accountable during moments of weakness. So go ahead, share your goals with everyone who will listen.

3. Reward yourself for taking small steps in the right direction. Ever see someone training a dog to do tricks? Every time the dog follows direction, the trainer gives them a treat. The message – do what you are supposed to do and you will be rewarded. Rewarding yourself for “good behavior” keeps you focused and motivated to stay on track. Resisted the temptation to blow your paycheck on that new LV bag you spotted in the window? Why not reward yourself with a nice bottle of wine or a good book?

Happy New Year!

A Christmas Lesson from the Jackson 5

Whether you celebrate Kwanzaa, Chanukah, Christmas or something else entirely, you are aware of the pressure to spend money on the ones you love during the holiday. From a very young age we are taught that how many toys sitting for us under the tree is directly correlated to just how much our friends and family love us. This year, we decided to buck the trend and vowed not to buy Christmas presents in my family. Everyone was on board…that is until it was discovered that one person decided to go ahead and just buy a little something for everyone. What’s Christmas without presents right? Next thing you know, everyone is out on Christmas Eve buying just a little something. You don’t want to be the relative who comes to the party empty handed do you? Does it matter that Aunt Gwen already has plenty of cookbooks? No, she can always use another. Do you know if Grandma Jones already has a Snuggie? No, if she does she can always just return it. As I was scrambling from mall to mall last night trying to find the perfect little gift, I stopped myself. All I really wanted to give my family on Christmas Day was love – pure and sweet. None of the stuff I was buying could communicate that better than my own heartfelt words and actions.

That is when I decided that this Christmas I was going to take a lesson from the Jackson 5 and do just that – give LOVE!

Happy Holidays!