Archive for August 2007

By MoneyBlueBook

This topic has been discussed and debated by many in the financial community and is regarded as controversial by some. Numerous bestsellers have been written on the subject.

Traditionally, when it comes to making money, most people share the same mentality - "If I work harder in my job, put in more overtime hours, I'll get ahead and make more money." Unfortunately, no matter how many hours they put in, they'll forever be constrained by the laws of nature. There is only a finite number of hours you can work in a day during which you can exchange your available working hours for monetary compensation - essentially, trading hours for dollars, or trading time for money.

The New Approach

The new approach is hard for many to accept as it requires a different understanding beyond what we were taught as children. The new approach places lesser priority on active income and a greater emphasis on passive income generation. Active income would be money earned while putting in your hours sitting at your office desk (trading hours for dollars). But passive income would be money generated from sources such as stock investments, real estate appreciation, rental income, and even advertisement revenue earned by websites that you own. The limitations of the old approach to money are obvious.

You Are Constrained By Time

By trading hours for dollars, you are foregoing time that could be spent tending to other things in your life such as friends and family. You are choosing to spend your time in an office, rather than

By MoneyBlueBook

Recently I went to eat at a local casual diner. There were very few customers but yet the service was still terrible. Our waitress made us wait and delayed in taking our order or even offering us water. The water never came until I raised my hand for another waitress to bring it to us. Our waitress never offered us much service. It was only a quick evening snack so the bill came out to only about $11.00. I had initially decided not to tip at all because the service was so lousy but decided to at least chip in an extra $1.00. When the waitress saw her tip, she became enraged! She began whining and complaining very loudly and angrily to no one in particular but clearly and purposefully within earshot of us, while her mild mannered manager tried to calm her down to avoid a scene. Eventually her obnoxiousness made me stand up and confront her verbally. The manager ultimately offered us an extra dessert to make peace and apologized for her behavior.

Voluntary Compulsory Tipping

Afterwards, the incident got me thinking about how tipping has gone from being a gesture of good will to a mandatory social custom. The tip is supposed to be a sign of appreciation for a job well done and purely voluntary. Although the amount is never legally required, failure to tip in certain situations can now result in embarrassment, or even feelings of guilt. That is the part I don't understand and find very frustrating. If tipping is

By MoneyBlueBook

While I was researching some finance related topics for my blog, I saw this on TV. Okay, I know this clip has absolutely nothing to do with making money or saving money, but I just had to post it. Poor thing..I'm sure she's hiding in her room right now..but it's just too funny.

Thanks to her brilliance, I now know why one fifth of Americans can't locate the United States on a map - that's because we don't have maps! :) At least she gave a decent shout out to Iraq and uh...South Africa for some reason..

I think the principal from Adam Sandler's movie "Billy Madison" put it best when he said:
What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
I'm not sure...but I didn't feel it was all that difficult of a question. What do you think? Well, at least she looked great right?

By MoneyBlueBook

I have been exercising a money saving habit that has netted me many freebies over the years and has also enabled me to acquire goods and services at reduced prices and rates. We should all be aware of this simple but oftentimes forgotten phrase: "the customer is always right". Such a simple phrase, but what does it mean? It means that as the customer, you are almost always entitled to the benefit of the doubt and that it is the duty of the service provider to meet your needs, to the best of the provider's ability.

What this also means is that as the customer, we must always demand satisfaction and nothing less. I am not advocating mistreatment or the making of gratuitous demands, but I believe consumers should always receive in full the benefit of the bargain that they paid for, which would include good service, clean facilities, and timeliness. If you are not satisfied with the product or experience, always bring this to the attention of managers, supervisors, or owners. The upper management types have a greater a vested interest in responding to their customer's satisfaction needs, and are almost always more willing to please.

My Starbucks Experience

Case in point. I visited a Starbucks in Washington D.C. close to where I was working not too long ago and was horrified to see several fruit flies hovering inside the pastry display case. This disgusting sight continued for several days and I finally brought it to the attention of store management. I also emailed Starbucks.com numerous

By MoneyBlueBook

Update on freebies surely will give you a chance to know the free stuff that you would love to grab. Read the full article »

By MoneyBlueBook

Pinecone Research is an online survey site that conducts online interviews with consumers to obtain their opinions about new products. They conduct their polls by sending members online surveys as well as product samples to review, such as shampoos and detergents. You complete the online surveys and review the products in the comforts of your own home. The best part is that they mail you a $5 check for each completed poll (although shorter ones only pay around $3). The online surveys generally take around 15-20 minutes, but since I'm a pretty fast reader, it only takes maybe 10 minutes of my time.

Pinecone also occasionally offers the opportunity to review trial products. This is probably the most exciting part of these surveys because you get to test try products that aren't even on the market yet. Interesting products include shampoos, candy bars, video games, and even frozen meals (sent in a foam cooler packed with dry ice). Not only do you get paid for completing the product survey, you also get to use and keep the product!

By the way, you might also be interested in other similar online paid survey opportunities. There are several really good ones out there as well.

Can't Seem To Find the Sign Up Link? Yup, It's Hard To Find!

The Pinecone Research survey program is getting more popular as people start to find out about it. However, the sign up process remains rather elusive and the company appears to want to limit new entrants to the program. The company does not