Wise Bread (Nora Dunn)

For Love or Money: Must It Be One or the Other?

Nora Dunn — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:00:02 +0000

In WC Porter's recent article, Do What You Love: Idealistic Nonsense or Good Advice?, you will find an inspirational video and loose analysis of what it takes to do what you love and earn money doing it.

But nay saying commenters call the video speaker a huckster, and others challenge the concept that it’s even possible to do what you love (and get paid for it, and still love it).

As somebody who is technically doing what I love, I find this fascinating. I travel full-time in a financially sustainable manner, paid for by a writing career that is fulfilling. I do what I love (ie: travel and writing), and I make enough money at it to get by.

But even my situation isn’t as black & white as that. In further examining the intricacies of love and money, here are some concepts that further deepen the debate.

Doing what you love isn’t always a bowl of cherries

Just because you do what you love doesn’t mean you love everything about what you do. The speaker suggested that there are certain aspects of his job that he full-on hates. I concur: there are times when I want to stab myself in the eye if I have to spend one more hour at my computer when the weather is nice and an exotic unknown destination beckons from just outside my window.

But without my writing, there wouldn’t be an exotic destination outside my window at all; I’d still be cooped up in an office somewhere working at a career I was equally marvelous and miserable at.

I also make a number of frugal lifestyle choices in order to get by with the money I make on the road. For some people it wouldn’t be ideal, and for others it would be unacceptable; it is a very personal choice.

But for me, the benefits of my writing career (and the accompanying travel lifestyle) far outweigh the costs. But there is still a cost. No dream is THAT dreamy.

Early career choices (and life partners for that matter) are like shots in the dark

Choosing any career is like choosing a life partner. How do we know once we have just escaped the throes of adolescence what career will make us happy every day for the rest of our life?

Similarly, how do we know (at any age) if we will be happy waking up next to our partner every morning for the rest of our life — happy enough to get married?

Guess what? Most people don’t know.

And because we are required to decide on our post-secondary education (and the range of careers it lends us) at such a young age (arguably before we really know ourselves), many of us end up studying for careers we ultimately won’t be happy in.

But what do we do after we have gotten our degree and are now working our way up a career ladder in order to:

pay off our debts
plan an upcoming wedding
buy a house
prepare for child-related expenses
enjoy our next vacation
etc?

What do we do when faced with inevitable bills and financial goals? That’s right. Put on the blinders, keep our head down, and work. We may not be thrilled with our job, but we justify it as a means to an end (the various "ends" being listed above). We keep company with other people who also don’t particularly like what they do, and — since most people are in this boat — commiserating becomes natural.

This is how being somewhat unhappy with a career becomes an acceptable way of life. It is much easier and safer to go with what we know (despite the fact that it may not be entirely what we want) than to uproot our routine or balance to explore a new avenue.

Other people, however, see life as too long to get stuck doing something (or being with someone) that is not fulfilling. These people forgive themselves for not making the right life-enduring decision, and search for ways to improve. Ways could include changing careers, starting businesses on the side, taking up new hobbies, and finding new partners.

The bigger these people dream, the bigger the changes they make are. And who are the big dreamers? I believe that some of the world’s biggest dreamers are also some of the most entrepreneurial.

Entrepreneurs vs. Employees

I am wondering if the core root of the matter (and where each of us fits in the spectrum) boils down to how entrepreneurial — or not — we are.

Entrepreneurs don’t mind working hard for what they want, and they look for creative ways to get there. If strictly doing what they love has obscure career prospects, they find a different spin on it that makes it more lucrative.

It is likely that only the entrepreneurial souls understood the vision the speaker had when he spoke of working a full-time job, then coming home and working another seven hours on his business for the first five years. Most of us would crunch the numbers and say he’s crazy. But he had a vision for a niche idea that took five years to develop, and develop it he did.

Although that sort of lifestyle may sound unbalanced (and it is), if we are doing what we love, we don’t tend to mind doing it so much. When we do what we love, we don’t mind the sacrifices and compromises we may have to make. Why? Because if we are really doing what we love, we simply wouldn’t have it any other way.

Permalink | 12 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Career and Income

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Celebrate Your Life (and Help Others do the Same) with Bcelebrated – Plus a Discount for Wise Bread Readers

Nora Dunn — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:00:02 +0000

By Nora Dunn

Debra and Mark were on a boat trip while vacationing in Mexico when they found themselves in the middle of a terrible storm. Life jackets were passed out. And there weren’t enough to go around. They were both pretty sure they were about to die.

What goes through your mind when something like that happens?

“All I could think of was that my mom and closest friend were going to have a terrible time trying to find all of my contacts in a short time. It would have left a real mess for them,” says Debra Joy of her near-death experience.

This emotional event, on top of having several close people die in a short period of time (and having others yet diagnosed with — and surviving — life-threatening illnesses), was the catalyst for Joy to create Bcelebrated.

The Basics

Bcelebrated is an online service that allows you to document and celebrate your life with journals, pictures, and music. It is for your eyes only while you create your pages; a process that you can do over many years or a few hours.

When you die, your pre-assigned activators (two people who you trust) log into your Bcelebrated site and have access to the site and your last wishes. They then trigger a mechanism so all your contacts (who you uploaded into the system) automatically receive emails notifying them of your passing, with an invitation to visit your Bcelebrated site; a permanent legacy that you leave behind. People can leave comments, share stories, and make donations among other things while they peruse your autobiographical journey.

“When death comes — and it does for us all,” says Joy, “the process of contacting everyone who knows you and presenting your life in the form of obituaries, photos, music, and public memorials will be left to others…unless you do it yourself. Bcelebrated allows you to define your own legacy and will save your loved ones from the grief of coping with the small details of your life that, perhaps, only you would know.”

Bcelebrated Features

Your Bcelebrated site is your chance to write a final message, or your own story in a way that is meaningful to you and will be remembered for generations.
The automatic notification system alerts all your contacts of your death (and invites them to visit your Bcelebrated site).
You can create private pages with text, pictures, and music for certain loved ones. Write letters of love, advice, or even private password or life insurance policy information for those contacts who are settling your estate.
You can record your last wishes for your activators to read.
You can update and change the site, contacts, and activators at any time.
You can direct visitors to make donations to a charity of your choice in lieu of sending flowers.

Who Is Bcelebrated For?

You don’t have to be on your deathbed to open and enjoy using a Bcelebrated account.

Joy says “We designed it for people like us: 45+, familiar with basic technology, lots of contacts, and a desire to reflect on life as you are living it, write about your experience, and leave a legacy of comfort and support to those you love. It’s an obvious tool for people who know they are dying but almost half of people die unexpectedly so it's really meant for anyone who cares about the people they are leaving behind. We've been surprised that it appeals to young moms. They become intensely aware of their mortality when they bring life into the world. Moms have used the private pages to write to their kids.”

From an Estate Planning Perspective

Obviously your will is the go-to document to settle your estate. But even lawyers encourage people to create their own personal documents outside of the will to express their wishes. It allows you to be more personal and creative with the message, but also saves you hundreds of dollars in legal expenses to update or redraft your will when things change.

The Travel Touch

For your next vacation, you could choose to make your travel partner an additional activator on your Bcelebrated account. If you fall ill while traveling, then your travel partner can access your site and attain the contact information for your other activators (who are probably family or closest friends back home). Your travel partner can then notify these contacts to tell them you are sick and make arrangements for you. Once the trip is over, you can remove the travel partner as an activator if you want to.

Cost

You can take Bcelebrated for a test drive for free by signing up for their free 30 day trial. If you like what you see, then you can sign up and your information will be saved and become your permanent site.

Your two membership options are $19.99 annually, or a lifetime membership for $99.

Special Discount For Wise Bread Readers

Bcelebrated is offering Wise Bread readers a free year’s membership! Simply enter in the promo code CELEBRATE when you register.

The Competition / Other Resources

There are not a lot of services that encompass all the same offerings as Bcelebrated, but this is quickly changing. As the baby boomer generation moves towards their golden years, services like Bcelebrated are becoming more important, especially as we become increasingly digitally connected.

Online Estate Planning

My Last Email — Use this service to create online memorials, with a focus on sending your last messages to loved ones.

Cost: There is a restricted free package that might do the trick if you don’t have too much to say. Although they did not reply directly to my pricing inquiry and don’t currently have rates published on their site, word on the street is that full access costs 5 British Pounds per month (about $8US).

Legacy Locker — This service allows you to pass online accounts to your loved ones after your death. This is a very useful offering, especially as we continue to have more and more online personas that need some sort of resolution when we die. They can then find contacts in email accounts to send out notices, close out other accounts, and gain access to legal documents and statements that may be necessary to process the estate.

Cost: The annual membership is $30, and the lifetime membership is $300. There is also a restricted free trial version.

Private Matters — Here you can create your online memorial or online obituary, and leave messages and instructions for loved ones. This service is the most similar to Bcelebrated that I could find.

Cost: There is a one-time membership fee of $20 or $70 (depending on the options you choose), plus an annual renewal fee of $12.

Online Memorial Sites

Following a collection of online memorial sites. They are largely aimed at people who want to create memorial sites for other people (and pets!) they have lost and are grieving for. Family and friends can visit the site, leave comments, make donations, etc.

Some remain online permanently, while others expire after a time. All have free (or almost free) options.

Our service helps people take control of how their life will be celebrated, and by whom, and we hope that by becoming conscious of death they will be encouraged to live more fully. — Debra Joy, CEO of Bcelebrated

Note: The author has no vested or affiliate interest in Bcelebrated.

Permalink | 5 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Personal Finance

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The First Step to Budgeting

Nora Dunn — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:01 +0000

By Nora Dunn

Why do so many budgets fail? Because the first step to budgeting is omitted. When implemented correctly, it can make a huge difference. When the first step is neglected, intangible and unrealistic budgets are often created — a recipe for disaster.

So, you ask, what is the first step to budgeting?

Keeping Track of Expenses

It’s that simple. But it still requires a process, which is described below.

Once you decide you want to create a budget, you need a starting point. You can’t accurately and immediately forecast what you will spend in the future if you have no historical frame of reference to work with.

The Idea

Right off the bat, all you need to worry about is simply keeping track of your expenses. You don’t judge yourself (or your partner if you are doing this together) for what you are spending. Simply keep track.

You may notice that just as a function of keeping track of your expenses, you already become more budget-conscious and will spend less anyway. But don’t beat yourself up if that doesn’t happen. Just keep track of what you spend — religiously.

Yes, those little cups of coffee count too. Record. Everything.

Format

Using a spreadsheet to keep track of your expenses is best, since it makes for easy calculation of expenses and viewing of running totals at a glance.

However, you may not always be in front of your computer, so use whatever means you need to remember/record each day’s expenditures. You can either sit down to your computer at the end of every day and do it, or keep a notebook handy and record your daily expenses so you can update the spreadsheet every few days.

You can, of course, choose to exclusively use a notebook instead. However, it will be more difficult to analyze your expenses as each month progresses and use it as a barometer for how you are doing. It’s possible, but requires more active and repetitive calculator work.

Pictured above you will see a very basic sample spreadsheet format for keeping track of your expenses. You create the categories along the top as you see fit and as fits your lifestyle, and each time you spend money within those categories, you list the expense. A few rows down, a line of running totals indicate you how you are doing.

If you need more room to list your expenses under a certain category as the month rolls on, just add more rows and keep listing.

If you wish, feel free to add extra columns to add the date of each expenditure. It’s up to you.

At the End of Month One

Once you have a month of expenses recorded, take a look at how you fared.

What did you spend in each category?
Do you feel it was a typical spending month, or were there unforeseen circumstances that altered the outcome?
What is an average spending amount that will work for you?
Are you surprised by any of these spending amounts?
Are there any spending habits you want to change right away?

Now it’s time to add another row to your spreadsheet: a budget row. Certain fixed expenses will be easy to budget for; others will fluctuate and require some flexibility. Don’t worry about these numbers needing to be perfect right away; think of this row as a work in progress.

Month Two

Start with a fresh spreadsheet, and keep recording your expenses every day. (This will ideally become a force of habit that will last for months, so get used to it). This month, as you record your expenses, check your running totals against your budget amounts to see how you are coming along as the month goes by.

As you do this over time, you may find that you’ve tapped out your Entertainment budget early on in the month. With this knowledge, you will either reconsider going out again, or will find money from another category of your budget that you anticipate under-spending on this month for some reason. This is your budget — you get to control how it goes down; keeping track of your expenses is a mechanism for ensuring you spend within your means.

Spreadsheet Extras

Once you start playing with budget amounts, you may also want to insert useful columns for income so you can see how much you are spending versus saving. Pictured here you will see a fuller sample budget spreadsheet, part way through a month:

Ensuing Months

Continue keeping track of your expenses as you have been doing, and if needs be, continue to edit your budget amounts. No two months are the same, and you won’t have a solid budget after only two months. For example, many people find that the upcoming holiday season wreaks havoc with their budgets. Use the flexibility in your own budget to ensure that you stay on track, possibly by finding other areas where you can cut back to compensate.

The Second Step to Budgeting

Guess what? You can stop at the first step if you like. Why? Because by keeping track of your expenses, you have unwittingly created your entire budget. Congratulations!

Simply continue to keep track of your expenses, record income and tweak budget amounts to make sure your finances balance out the way you want them to each month.

Permalink | 15 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Budgeting

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Cheapism.com: Where Cheap is Chic

Nora Dunn — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:00:14 +0000

By Nora Dunn

Cheap: Once considered a derogatory term, this word refers to the act of trying to save money wherever possible.

Cheapist: Somebody who supports acts of being cheap.

Cheapism: A way of life.

The Premise

Cheapism.com is a free service that helps consumers find the best of the cheapest items, weeding out cheap junk in favor of quality inexpensive items. Just because it is cheap, doesn’t mean it has to be crap.

Max Levitte, founder of Cheapism.com, has experience managing reputable review-based websites for consumers. For Levitte, “Cheap doesn’t have to mean low quality. We’ll give consumers the confidence and information they need to shop wisely during this economic downturn and in the future.”

According to Levitte, Cheapism.com differentiates itself from other services with their "singular focus on low-cost goods and services and the interests of frugal consumers."

And here at Wise Bread, being frugal consumers is a pretty big thing.

Product Research

When you normally research a product, you rarely find any information about cheaper models (possibly because the manufacturers of the cheaper models don’t have huge supplies to give away for publicity). Instead, you learn about all the fancy features of the top-of-the-line netbook or kitchen appliance (for example), without even knowing that cheaper alternatives lie in wait.

So Cheapism.com has in-house reviewers who actually get their hands on the products they review. The reviews are candid and informative, and generally appear to be without bias.

Cheapism.com in Action

Click on a product category, and you’ll get an array of information to help you choose the best model for your needs. The extensive review focuses on product features (with recommendations for what features to look for and what to ignore), analyzes other online reviews, and leaves the reader with some recommendations based on the reviewer’s personal experience. The best models within each category are highlighted, having been sorted for the lowest prices from various online suppliers.

As an example, I took a peek at cheap rolling backpacks, since as a traveler my backpack is akin to my house at times, and I’ve already learned a few lessons about what makes a good travel pack.

The review was incredibly comprehensive, covering off topics like what to look for (in the fabric, wheels, straps, size, and weight), and what to expect (performance, maneuverability, durability, warranty). The reviewer compared a number of inexpensive packs to one another, and it is evident that the reviewer actually handled each of the backpacks prior to reviewing them.

To contrast this with something I know almost nothing about, I took a peek at what Cheapism.com had to say about GPS devices. In so doing, I learned a whole lot about what to look for in a GPS device, and how to get the best value from one — both in terms of price as well as features. Had I been serious about buying a GPS device, I would have been prepared to invest in one with only a minimal amount of cross-checking and further research.

Extra Value

Combine Cheapism.com with other efforts at receiving free shipping or online discounts, and you can save even more money.

Coming Soon

And for the upcoming holiday season, Cheapism.com will offer guides for inexpensive quality gifts.

Note: The author has no vested interest or affiliation with Cheapism.com

Permalink | 3 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Shopping

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19 Tips to Cut Costs by Using Your Oven Efficiently

Nora Dunn — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:00:10 +0000

By Nora Dunn

Saving money is made all the sweeter when you also rest assured that you did your part to save power and energy. And although using the oven is not nearly as efficient as sticking to the stove-top, sometimes you just have to bake that casserole or cake. So take a look at these 19 tips to help you maximize your oven’s energy-efficiency, as well as to cut your cooking costs.

Multitask

Your oven is pretty big, and probably has multiple racks. So make the most of your cost of power by chucking more than one thing in the oven. For example, baked or roasted potatoes are a good match for that meatloaf, along with a tray of vegetables for roasting. Or if you’re an irreverent baker like me, you can throw dessert in while dinner is cooking.

Jump the Gun

With the exception of certain baking items, temperature can be pretty negotiable. So instead of waiting until the oven is fully preheated, use the oven to warm up some part of the meal or get a head start on the cooking.

No Peeking!

Resist the urge to open the oven door, especially while baking, since you lose a disproportionate amount of heat (approximately 25 degrees) in doing so. Instead, stick to your timer, the oven light, and your nose to see if it’s done.

Know Which Rack to Use

Don’t be afraid to move the oven racks around, and to arrange your food accordingly.

Top Rack: Watch anything on the top rack, since it is meant for high-temperature and quick cooking.
Middle Rack: Best for moderate temperature cooking.
Bottom Rack: Use this for slow cooking and low temperatures.

Go Convection

You can save 20% of your oven-related energy costs by using a convection oven, which utilizes a fan to force the hot air around the oven. Not only does this mean shorter cooking times and lower temperatures, but your food will cook more evenly too.

Keep It Clean

Similar to cleaning the back of your fridge, keeping your oven sparkly clean will direct the heat at your food and not the burnt stuff caked to the bottom. Keeping it clean also ensures that it’s easier to clean each time (saving your own energy and the cost of caustic cleaning products), and keeps your home smelling like what’s cooking, instead of what burnt last week.

Use Efficient Baking Dishes

Glass or ceramic baking dishes hold heat much better than their metal counterparts, so you can turn down the temperature up to 25 degrees and the food will cook just as quickly. (The same applies for cooking with glassware on the stovetop too).

No Foil

Some people line their racks with foil to increase cooking efficiency with the aid of reflection. However, the foil stops air from flowing freely in the oven, which actually makes your oven less efficient.

Turn It Off Early

Similar to jumping the gun and putting your food in early, consider turning off the oven and using the residual heat to finish off your meal. Again, this is best tried with less temperamental foods and non-baking items.

Stagger Pans

If you are using multiple pans in the oven, try to stagger them on the racks to maximize the air flow. The more the air flows through your oven, the quicker it will cook your food.

Do a Double Batch

By preparing a double batch, you are maximizing your oven’s capabilities, and now you have leftovers that can quickly and easily be reheated with much less energy.

Self-Clean After Cooking

If your oven has a self-cleaning option, turn it on after you have used the oven so it can use the residual heat to get started. Although the self-cleaning itself uses a fair amount of energy, self-cleaning ovens in general are better insulated and will use less energy while cooking.

Use Smaller Appliances When You Can

An oven can be a cavernous space and inefficient use of energy if you are preparing a smaller meal. If the toaster oven or microwave will do, use it and save the energy (and cost). Don’t forget about slow cookers, steamers, rice cookers, and pressure cookers (heck — even hot boxes), which all use less energy than an oven — especially if you are cooking over an extended time. An electric skillet not only performs a number of cooking functions, but can also double as a serving dish in the end (saving the washing energy and cost too).

Start from Fresh (or Thawed), not Frozen

Where possible, thaw your frozen foods in the fridge before you cook them.

Check the Door Seal

Give your oven the once-over regularly to ensure it is in top working condition. If your door seal is broken or loose, heat (and your money) will escape out the sides. Even simply keeping the door seal clean can make a difference in efficiency.

Isolate the Kitchen

By isolating the kitchen when the oven is on, you will:

Contain the extra heat to one room only in the summer, saving on cooling expenses throughout the house.
Warm one room of the house efficiently in the winter.
Also, when your meal is finished cooking, leave the door open during the winter and use the residual heat in the oven to keep the kitchen cozy. (Obviously, be careful doing this if there are children roaming freely).

Calibrate

Calibrate your oven by getting an inexpensive thermometer to ensure the oven’s temperature setting is accurate. Cooking at the right temperature will not only save your food, but can also save your money if the oven is set high.

Cover It

Although not everything you cook in the oven can be covered, do cover it with a lid or tin foil (which is reusable) when you can.

Gas or Electric?

And if you are in the market for a new oven, here is a tool to help you determine whether to choose a gas or electric oven next time.

Permalink | 12 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Food and Drink, General Tips, Green Living

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Three E-Books to Help you Make Money, Travel, and Change Your Life

Nora Dunn — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:00:03 +0000

By Nora Dunn

It’s no secret that many of us are looking for something different in life. And one of the biggest things we can change about our lives is how we work. If we are not tied to a desk all the time, the options for how — and where — we choose to live open up dramatically.

Following are profiles of three e-books that feature a different aspect of making money, traveling, and changing your life.

Although each e-book is very different, they share the following commonalities:

The authors all make a full-time living with their unconventional professions.
The authors practice what they preach.
The authors have time for extensive travel (although not all of them are full-time travelers).
Each e-book is jam-packed with concrete resources to get you going, as well as lifestyle design tips to keep you inspired.

So without further ado…

The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself

The author of this e-book, Chris Guillebeau, has a wildly popular web site called The Art of Non-Conformity, which is a template for living life outside of the box by challenging our ethos and ideas. Chris also has great business sense, and regularly shares the details of his ongoing entrepreneurial ventures with his readers.

The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself is a guide to starting your own very small business. Chris shares his personal experience of breaking free from the 9-5 cycle to run his own businesses, in an effort to escape the cubicle-lifestyle and to set his own course through life. Since the age of 20, he has worked for himself in one capacity or another, so he has lots of experience — good, bad, and otherwise — to share with you.

(Incidentally, Chris is currently fulfilling a mission to visit every country in the world by April 2013. Because he works for himself, he is able to incorporate such travels into his life, and has already visited 119 of 197 countries.)

Who this e-book is for:

You want to start an online business and generate a source of revenue without having to quit your job.
You are prepared to work for it.
You are not overly familiar with various ways to make money online, and need help getting started. (Online marketing gurus need not apply.)

Here are some of the business ideas and possible streams of income profiled in the e-book:

Blogging — and how to actually make some money with it (which most people don’t)
Ebay selling
Stock photography (and other ways to make money with photographs)
Consulting
Information products
Continuity programs
Affiliate income (and why most affiliate programs don’t work)
Maximizing Adsense revenue
Chris encourages you to come up with your own ideas, and even discusses a few wacky unconventional career ideas, like speaking on cruise ships

The e-book also goes into lots of detail about the logistics of running your own online business, as well as the pitfalls you can avoid to ramp up your success even faster. Chris shares his personal experience throughout the book, which adds character and humility to the writing along with a good dose of inspiration.

Each chapter ends with an action plan that is easy to follow and implement right away, complete with specific actionable steps. Chris provides the practical tools required for moving forward; I enjoy the personal testimonials of online products and services he uses and how he uses them (sometimes unconventionally) for his benefit. It has already helped me to better monetize my own online streams of income.

This e-book is not a roadmap to instantaneous riches, as many e-books of this nature tend to try to be. Chris is realistic about the amount of work required to start and maintain a business of any sort, and makes no bones about it to the reader. If you want to start an online business to generate some extra income (and maybe escape the conventional 9-5 working life), then The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself is a great launching pad.

The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself

E-Book Length: 54 pages

Bonuses: 3 audio MP3 teaching sessions (25 minutes each), a 26 page guide to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), plus free email updates to the guide as new information becomes available.

Cost: $58 US

How to Make Money With Your Travel Blog

The author of this e-book, Matt Kepnes, may be better known as Nomadic Matt; a 20-something traveler who has been on the road full-time since 2006. He started a travel blog (like just about every other traveler on the planet), and expected to be making money hand over fist before long with his tales of adventure.

It didn’t happen.

After sifting through many of the “make money online” courses, Matt learned through trial and error how to make their internet marketing strategies applicable to blogs (which are different from static web sites), more specifically — travel blogs.

Now, he makes over $3,000 US/month with his travel blogs and web sites. And if you recall what the cost of full-time travel is, you’ll know that this sort of income is more than enough to pave the way quite nicely.

How to Make Money With Your Travel Blog teaches you how to create a money-making travel blog, from conceptualization to monetization. The e-book is very specific about how to do it, providing precise instructions for each step along the way.

Who this e-book is for

You want to start a blog that will make you money, or already have a blog that you want to monetize.
You understand the basic principles of blog management and know what SEO stands for(!), but you don’t know exactly where to start or how to put it all together.
You are interested in the travel industry.
You want extra income on the side.

Although the e-book is very travel-centric, many of the principles taught in this guide could apply to any blog. However Matt is very connected within the travel genre, and one of the benefits he offers his e-book readers is access to advertisers and other travel-friendly SEO tips.

A random selection the interesting things I read about in the book include:

Specific Wordpress themes and plugins that are suggested to maximize SEO
Various techniques for attracting new traffic, along with an evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of each technique
The finer nuances of Stumble Upon (although I have been a Stumbler in days past, I only now realize I haven’t even begun to maximize its potential)
How to find advertisers of all shapes and sizes
A huge number of services and systems that you can use to get links to your site (henceforth: pagerank, henceforth: popularity, henceforth: advertisers, henceforth: money!)

Of the six sections of the e-book (Setting up Your Blog, Creating Your Blog, Increasing Traffic, SEO Tips, Monetization, and Putting it All Together), the one entitled Search Engine Optimization Tips is the beefiest and jam-packed with specific resources to help you promote and evaluate the effectiveness of your blog.

If you aren’t interested in learning all Matt’s lessons by trial and error, then How to Make Money With Your Travel Blog will help launch you well beyond the learning curve. Had this e-book been around when I started my own travel blog, I might not have had to reinvent the wheel as many times as I did.

How to Make Money With Your Travel Blog

E-Book Length: 37 pages

Bonuses: The author will tap you into his private link networks to generate SEO-friendly traffic to your blog. He also has a list of advertisers looking to place ads on travel blogs, and by purchasing this e-book you will gain access to these advertisers.

Cost: $27 US

X Marks the Spot: The Indispensable Guide to Living and Working from Anywhere You Choose (2nd Edition)

Lea Woodward and her husband Jonathan have been living a location independent lifestyle since 2007. In that time they have stayed in various destinations around the world for a few months in each place, and can prove that traveling the world with a location independent career can actually be less expensive than staying home and working the traditional 9-5 career.

X Marks the Spot is a guide to living location independently, from taking the initial plunge, to organizing the logistics along the way, to finding and developing a location independent career. Both the intangible emotions as well as the concrete logistics of becoming/being location independent are balanced throughout the e-book — since such a lifestyle change entails a lot of emotional groundwork.

Who this e-book is for

You are considering — or are creating — a location independent career and lifestyle..
You want to know if being location independent is for you.
You need help with the logistics of living location independently.
You want to understand the cost of living abroad.
You need a location independent business idea.

I already live location independently, and I still found this book useful and inspirational. Lea provides dozens of useful resources with regards to ongoing business management and administration, including some that particularly intrigued me (and helped me realize that being location independent doesn’t have to be difficult):

Global wireless internet service
Online faxing service
How to search for suitable accommodation from abroad
Remote mailing/scanning services

With brutal honesty, Lea shares her victories as well as her mistakes. She outlines their exact finances for each place they lived in, and compares them directly to the cost of living in the UK and other western countries. She encourages you to ask some tough questions of yourself to determine where you might want to live, and helps you through the process of becoming nomadic with sage advice on everything from luggage to immigration.

This book is less about the sheer mechanics of making money, and more about how to make money with a location independent lifestyle. If you have made the decision to become location independent, or want to know more about it, then X Marks the Spot will be the book for you.

X Marks the Spot: The Indispensable Guide to Living and Working from Anywhere You Choose

E-Book Length: 82 pages

Bonuses: You can order both the 1st edition and 2nd editions for the same price as just the 2nd edition. (The 1st edition contains much more of Lea’s personal journey to becoming location independent, which may be quite appealing to some people).

Cost: £15 (approx $25 US)

“Some people feel like a “real job” is their security against the economy. Entrepreneurs know the opposite: their competence is their security.” — quote from The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself

Review Disclaimer: I received these e-books free for review, and the post includes affiliate links.

Permalink | 11 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Making Extra Cash

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America Is the No Vacation Nation

Nora Dunn — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:30:45 +0000

By Nora Dunn

Here is a frightening (or enlightening, depending on how you look at it) passage from Wanderlust and Lipstick about the American approach to vacations:

A 2009 survey from Expedia found that 1/3 of employees don’t take all of their vacation time. While this speaks (to a certain degree) to how individuals make personal choices, there might be something else underlying our reluctance to hit the road.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research calls the U.S. the No Vacation Nation. In a 2007 study, they determined that the U.S. is the only advanced economy in the world that doesn’t guarantee paid vacation for employees. That means you can take a job, work your 40 (or more) hours a week, and it’s considered a bonus to be given paid vacation time.

But when we are blessed with vacation time, what keeps us from taking the time off we earn and deserve? According to the Expedia survey, people who don’t take their vacation time do so for several reasons. They hope to receive compensation for unused time, they have a hard time planning ahead or their partner can’t travel during the same time period. What’s worse? One in five respondents admitted to canceling a vacation because of work.

No wonder we have so much trouble balancing work and life. No wonder a buzz term such as “work-life balance” even exists; why is “work” considered a separate entity from “life” to begin with? From my travels, I have not found that other western cultures maintain the same distinction.

I am currently traveling and living in Australia, where my boyfriend landed an entry-level job with seven weeks of paid vacation per year. Seven. Weeks. This is not an isolated perk in this area of the world either; an Aussie friend recently enjoyed 14 months of paid long-service leave, then he cut his hours down to two days per week for a year, and now he is taking five more months off (at half-pay), then fully retiring…at the age of 50.

How long do you have to work at a company in America before earning seven weeks of vacation time per year? And would you suppose that a paid leave of absence on top of it is too elaborate? In other places, it is not unheard of.

When I vacationed to South Africa many years ago and was chatting with the European-influenced locals, the common question asked of me was “how many months are you here for?”

I looked at them like they were crazy for asking such a question. Who on earth can get months off from work at a time?

They in turn, looked at me like I was crazy. Who on earth travels all the way to South Africa from North America for only a few weeks (according to them)?

These are people who have business or work obligations; they are indeed rooted in reality. One fellow worked for a chiropractor in England, and traveled to South Africa for four months out of every year. He struck an arrangement with his employer to allow him the time off, with the proviso that he would do a few small side projects during his time in South Africa. No problemo.

So where is the disconnect? Why is America fostering a population of people who are tethered to their desks for life, with no respite? Although you might think that America at least dominates the world in productivity given all these hours spent at the office, recent studies indicate that it’s not necessarily the case:

Americans may take less vacation, but are they really more efficient than their European colleagues? Figures from the World Economic Forum certainly show the US remains the world's most competitive country. Yet other data, including countries' GDP per hours worked, reveal Europe still gives America a run for its money. That means many parts of the Old World are at least as productive as the US, if not more, with the added bonus of up to eight weeks off a year.

So why are Americans more committed to their jobs than to themselves? You may know — or be — one of these people if you have heard them say they don’t have time to work out or eat well because of their work schedule.

Do we accept extra work being dumped on us because the company is laying people off and we consider ourselves lucky to have any work at all? In this economic climate, this could be possible. It doesn’t, however, speak for the same work ethos that existed when economic times were better.

Are we working all those extra hours to pay off our consumer debt? (And what of the extra hours worked by salaried employees who don’t receive overtime pay)? I wonder if we are caught up in a lifestyle based on consumption, which in turn perpetuates people’s need to work hard — to earn enough money to pay off their last (or their next) purchase.

Do we opt out of taking vacation time because we can’t afford to go anywhere anyway? Maybe a "staycation" or frugal vacation is possible, or just relaxing and reading a good book for a few days. It doesn’t have to be “work or bust”.

Why do some people brag about having accumulated months of vacation time by not having used it over the years?

Do we burn the candle at both ends because we truly love the work?

Or have we simply lost sight of the forest through the trees?

It seems from the opening quote that there are three core issues which indicate a lack of balance in American society:

We are not using all the vacation time granted to us.
We are not granted nearly the same amount of vacation time that most of the rest of the western world sees.
We (or at least some of us) are prepared to cancel our vacation because of work.

This does not appear to be a sustainable model, and I wonder if we are already seeing signs of its breakdown in the form of depleted health and happiness. It is my hope that by redefining what the workplace — and work — is, we can find out how it fits into our lives in a more balanced way.

Permalink | 47 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Career and Income, Lifestyle

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HERmail.net: Connecting Female Travelers and Mentors Around the World

Nora Dunn — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:17:22 +0000

By Nora Dunn

“Where – oh where – can I get a decent haircut in Mumbai”? You just may find the answer to this question via HERmail.net.

I recently discovered an amazing service for female travelers to connect with women who live in the country they plan to visit. They can share their respective cultures, travelers can learn tips for being in a different country, and sometimes even a free place to stay is offered. The service is called HERmail.

Oh yeah, and it’s free.

Who Uses HERmail

In this age of technology, online chat rooms, social media, and instant messaging services, it is actually surprising that HERmail is as popular as it is, since it is a fairly simple email-based service. But with over 15,000 women in 35 countries who have signed up for HERmail as mentors who are willing to offer their sage advice, any eager female traveler would be amiss not to attempt to connect with one of these women.

How it Works

HERmail is the brain child of JourneyWoman, a very popular travel resource and newsletter for women. HERmail is an email-based service that uses a database to connect travelers who have questions with local mentors who (hopefully) have answers.

Are you traveling? Then simply visit HERmail and enter the city and country you are visiting, along with your query (be it for weather information, packing tips, questions about good places to stay and eat, or a decent place to get your hair cut), and the database is searched for up to two mentors in the area who can answer your question.

Are you interested in connecting with female travelers to your area? Great! Sign up to be a mentor. When a request comes your way through the database, you can reply as you wish.

Judging by user responses, HERmail often goes beyond connecting travelers and mentors for the purposes of answering specific questions. Many mentors relish the chance to meet another female traveler and will go out of their way to get together for a local tour, a meal, or even offer up their place as free accommodation.

“I was delighted when I received an email…a few short days after I had signed-up looking for someone living in Rome. She gave me many suggestions for my visit and even offered to help with my Italian. When I arrived in Rome I was able to actually meet her and she went out of her way to make it happen. She is a wonderful person and I am grateful for having a new friend. Thanks, HERmail!” -Barbara, Cape Cod, USA

Security and Privacy

No email addresses are listed publicly on the HERmail database, as it is searched internally every time a traveler request for information comes in.

HERmail initiates the first contact between mentor and traveler using online message forms so that identities remain private. After the initial contact, the traveler and mentor can exchange email addresses and continue their correspondence privately if they wish.

As for the safety of meeting a “perfect stranger” in a foreign country for lunch or even a place to stay for the night, here are some basic tips for staying safe in any hospitality exchange scenario:

Exchange as much (or as little) information as you wish via email prior to meeting. This is the best way to get to know your companion, shy of a telephone conversation (which could be pricey depending on the distance involved).
Meet in a public place first. If either of you get bad vibes, then don’t proceed with any plans that would compromise your safety. (And don’t worry about hurting somebody’s feelings either…your safety is paramount).

HERmail in Action

Woman requesting a mentor wrote:

I am a Journeywoman living in the UK. I work in the arts and theatre world and soon I will be leaving the UK to go and work in a Cultural Centre in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I was wondering if there is any way to connect with women who live and work there? This is my first time away from home so far and in a country of a completely different language to what I have ever known. I'm a bit nervous and wanted to meet people as soon as I get there, so I can make friends, etc.

The mentor who answered her wrote:

Dear Journeywoman, I am very pleased to know that you are coming to Sao Paulo. I'm 57 years old; my 30 year old daughter is an actress and eventual singer, my 35 year old son is an architect who has just spent one year working in London. I'm crazy about arts, I've been twice this year to England, I love your country, I will LOVE to know you, escort you and help you in whatever you need here. How old are you? When are you coming? And for how much time? Don't worry, we are here! Big hugs.

…And if this first email conversation above can end in “big hugs”, I can only imagine how huge the hugs will be when these two women meet in Brazil, thanks to HERmail.net.

Permalink | 4 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Art and Leisure

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Cheap Passport Pictures (Part Two): Online Ordering

Nora Dunn — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:23:48 +0000

By Nora Dunn

A year and a half ago, I wrote a post about how to fashion your own passport photos for under a dollar. It seemed that I wrote it at the dawn of the popularization of online passport picture organizations. Now, the process for making your own passport pictures on the cheap is much easier.

Below are four online passport photo companies, each offering varying levels of service (with corresponding costs). Wise Bread readers attest to their happiness with the first two organizations, and any readers who have tried the other two are welcome to chime in with comments.

ePassportPhoto.com

Basics

Upload a digital photo, use their sizing assistance to crop and position the shot, and they arrange six shots onto a 4x6 photo as a jpeg file for you to print (or get printed).

Cost

The basic service above is free.

For $6, you can select the Premium service, which includes a professional compliance verification to ensure your photo will be approved with the passport application’s latest standards (99% approval rate), printing on high-quality paper, and shipping to any address (either US or international).

Countries Covered

ePassportPhoto makes a huge range of international passport photos available (more than 60), as well as visa and citizenship photos for some countries.

Delivery

Because it is largely an online service, anybody anywhere can use ePassportPhoto. Users in the States will also appreciate same-day availability for pick up at Walgreens.

Tips

Follow the guidelines for how to take a good passport photo carefully. There is no editing available; only self-serve cropping with cross-checks to ensure your photo will be compliant.

PassportPictures.org / PassportPhotosOnline.com

Basics

Upload a digital photo, they will edit it as necessary to eliminate background flaws, shadows, and adjust lighting, and then they will produce passport pictures for you in a variety of formats depending on your location and preference.

Note: PassportPictures.org was launched in 2007, and the recently launched PassportPhotosOnline.com is an affiliate carrier. The services are the same between the two sites.

Cost

At $15 for 6 photos, it is not the cheapest service around, but the post-processing service may be worthwhile if you are struggling to take the perfect passport picture at home.

Countries Covered

Passport photos can be produced for any country in the world (except Canada, where the the photographer is required to sign the back of the photo). Travel visa and citizenship photos are also provided for a variety of countries.

Delivery

Completed passport pictures can be emailed to the user for printing. Pictures can also be mailed to a US address, or made available for same-day pick up at Walgreens.

Tips

Despite the editing services, certain requirements must be met in order to produce a valid passport photo. The photo must be good enough to begin with that the subject (ie: you) does not need altering or modification.

This service also boasts a customer support phone number which connects you to a representative who can answer your questions as necessary.

OnlinePassportphoto.com

Basics

Upload your digital photo, they will edit it for background, exposure, and lighting/shadow flaws, and they will produce passport photos for you in a number of formats depending on your location and preference.

Cost

$6 will get you 6 passport photos. In other countries, they will produce up to eight photos for $6.95.

Countries Covered

Although not fully comprehensive, the list of countries for which passport and (some) visa photos can be produced for is not bad, and they will make every attempt to fulfill your request if the country you need is not on their list.

Delivery

The final product can be emailed to any address, mailed to US residents, or made available in as little as 24 hours at a local Walgreens or CVS store.

Tips

Since not all digital photos will suffice for compliance purposes (even with editing), they recommend that you email them your photos for pre-approval. Once they receive a photo that they believe is usable, they will email you an invoice through Paypal.

If the photos are rejected for any reason, OnlinePassportPhoto will either give you a refund or provide another set of photos at no cost.

portraitbooth.com

Basics

Upload your photo, crop it, and make a jpeg sheet that you can download and print (or have printed).

Cost

Free.

Countries Covered

Only US passports are truly covered, but there are a few sizing options which may suit the country’s passport or visa requirements that you are after.

Delivery

Being a fully online service, you could be anywhere to download and print your spiffy new passport photos.

Tips

There is no editing service available shy of self-serve cropping, so pay special attention to taking a picture that heeds the specific requirements for your passport photo (ie: background, lighting, proportions, etc).

These are but four of what could be many online passport picture services out there. Does anybody have experience with these four companies above, or any others you would like to mention?

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Balancing Spending with Saving: Being Frugal but not Miserly

Nora Dunn — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:00:01 +0000

By Nora Dunn

Check out your thesaurus, and you may discover that “frugal” and “miserly” share many of the same words as their cousins. Let this be our warning: take frugal too far, and we can become miserly before we even know what hit us.

Are you being frugal? Do you watch your expenses, learn new ways to save money, and stave off impulse purchases?

Or are you being miserly? Not going out to your friend’s birthday dinner because you’d have to spend money to be there, or cutting your heat off to live in frigid squalor so you can save some extra money?

The examples above illustrate my own definition of the difference between frugal and miserly, but those are subjective definitions. Like I said above, frugal and miserly share many similar verbal cousins in the thesaurus who don’t recognize such a big difference between the two.

Case Study: Balancing Saving with Spending

I write this article because I recently did some budgeting exercises with my boyfriend, and we are in “savings mode.” We are utilizing a unique opportunity to work abroad in Australia, and are taking some time here as part of our full-time travels to work and save extra money so our future traveling is not predicated on finding as much work along the way. When we travel through less work-friendly and more foreign countries, we know the extra savings will come in handy.

Although our cost of living here in Australia is minimal, there are still expenses we bear to stay here that we might not pay as much for if we were actively traveling, such as: rent, car insurance and maintenance, power, internet and telephone hook-ups, etc.

So we are once again walking the fine line that so many people around the world do every day – stretching a regular paycheck between the chasm that spans spending and saving.

Woah. I forgot just how hard this stuff is.

When there isn’t much room to wiggle after your basic expenses are covered, saving for a specific goal can be consuming. All other aspects of life go on hold while saving for “x.” But what is your quality of life in the meantime? Can you honestly say that during your time of saving, you have balance?

Within my own context, I still see myself as a traveler, despite having taken some time to settle in Australia and work. I enjoy weekend road trips, continued exploration, climbing, hiking, and camping in a country that is foreign to my own. I also realize that I could spend 100% of what I earn here without trying too hard, leaving me with no Aussie savings to pad further travels.

Does this sound familiar? Most of us could easily spend all the money we earn, and have nothing left over for any of our financial and life goals – retirement, making a major purchase, or investing.

So I need to be frugal. Frugal – but not miserly, if I can avoid it. For example, when I eat out with friends (such as I did on Taco Tuesday), I don’t spend a lot of money on the experience, but I’m still there joining in the festivities (in moderation) and benefiting from an enriching social experience. Had I been miserly, I would simply have stayed home.

Where I have trouble in differentiating between being frugal and miserly is in the following examples:

I missed out on seeing the Great Barrier Reef in northern Australia – partly because of time constraints, but mostly because of the money. I might get a chance to see it again, but I might not. Getting back there from where I currently live would cost money (and lots of it: I just priced out a three-day trip, which would cost well over $1,000 per person).
People back home who have visited Australia as tourists have many recommendations for me, including remote trips and tours to places like Ayres Rock and the Yellow River. Again though – the cost to get there is exorbitant, and a basic road trip could still run thousands of dollars.

It’s like somebody new to the United States living in New York and being told that they “absolutely must” see California, or Hawaii, or Alaska, or even Puerto Rico. It’s not as easy as going for a Sunday drive, especially if you are on a tight budget.

The above activities are important things to do if you visit Australia as a tourist. Then again – as a full-time traveler, I don’t try to specifically avoid the tourist trail; but sometimes the cost to be on it is prohibitive. (Then again, there is a reason why people travel to see tourist sights…they may just be worth seeing.)

If I chose to do all the activities above, I might not be able to afford to travel much beyond Australia (and I haven’t even touched on half the places I want to see in my global travels yet), but I could have a whopper of a time while I’m here.

Translation: I could live really well now by spending everything I earn (couldn’t we all), but it would be at the expense of my future goals.

And what of my upcoming trip to New Zealand, where I’ll be taunted and tempted by all sorts of extreme – and extremely thrilling – sports and activities that are right up my alley – but also upwards of $100 a pop? I could stand to lose a giant chunk of savings by doing these activities along with my boyfriend, but then again, I could stand to lose a giant chunk of life experience by not doing them.

So what do you think? If I keep my head down for the next while and work hard to save money for future travels, am I forgetting about the beauty of where I am right now?

Or if I spend everything I earn in Australia and have to return “home” for lack of funds before I’m happy to, did I lose sight of the ball?

How does a Professional Hobo like me accurately see the world – on a budget – and not compromise too many of my desires in the process due to a hyperactive tendency towards frugality and the desire to save some money?

Then again, what IS travel if it is not getting out and enjoying myself? Possibly buying a round of drinks to pave the way for conversation with locals or fellow travelers? Or enjoying abseiling, climbing, caving, scuba diving, boogie boarding, or bungee jumping?

Linsey wrote this great article to give you a few clues if you’ve gone too far with frugality. So how do you achieve – and maintain – your own balance between spending and saving?

Permalink | 17 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Personal Finance, Frugal Living

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