$25,000! The amount I racked up in debt was pretty massive. The worst part of it all was I ended up with this huge amount of debt within one year. I was young, restless and like everybody else wanted all the new gadgets, brand name clothes and everything that appealed visually.

When I was going to college I started getting credit card offers left and right. Some were pretty low with $300 credit and some well over $5,000. I was in heaven. I didn’t hesitate swiping my credit cards for anything. If I liked it and the credit card had enough balance, the thing I had my eye on was mine. Within a year I realized that my credit card spending had gone so overboard that my minimum payments alone came to about $900. I had a job but while working in college I certainly didn’t have anything that would support paying minimum payments on credit card that was equivalent to a house payment. Well, that’s my past. It’s been 4 years since then and I am completely debt free. The only thing I owe now is a mortgage which I plan to knock it out by 2015. I bought my house in 2008.

It feels good to know that I don’t owe anyone anything. Although the economy is trying to find it’s way to recapture the essence it once had, I have been doing better than ever. Here are a few things I did to knock my debt to $0. Read the rest of this entry »

I am sure most of you are enjoying girl scout cookies at the moment. After all, it’s the season when young girls come knocking on our door hoping we would buy some. And most of us do buy a whole lot at a time since girl scout cookies are like seasonal fruits. Anyway, when we (I) think of girl scout cookies, the first thing that comes to our (my) mind is innocent girls running around with a radio flyer wagon trying to sell cookies. Well, that might not always be the case.

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Bernie Madoff’s investment swindle should have gotten a name of its own. Ponzi scheme is named after Charles Ponzi and the one pulled off by Madoff is the largest  in history, therefore we will refer to it as Madoff Scheme. Bernie Madoff has committed a crime that has left many high and dry. It has affected everyone. Businesses, celebrities and the working Joe, everyone that got sucked into Madoff scheme will pay for the rest of their life. Bernie Madoff is done. He is in jail and will probably die a peaceful death in there while his investor’s lives are forever ruined. The money Madoff played with were money saved for some kids college education, some saved it for retirement and some were planning to use it to treat their illness such as Alzheimers. It’s all gone! Bernie Madoff’s crime is heinous.

The letters written by Madoff’s victims  were made public on Friday. For most part these people are working people and not the rich and famous. They had worked for years to save up what they had invested with Madoff. Here is what a few of them had to say. Read the rest of this entry »

Pranks aren’t something that only high school kids are entitled to. Once in a while we as adults like to have some fun too. When it comes to pranks there are three kind of pranks that seem to get the most attention : high school pranks, wedding pranks and one of the most popular ones are the office pranks. If the company you are working doesn’t make you suffer behind isolated and stuffy cubicles, you probably have pulled pranks on your co-workers or the other way around.

These office pranks are some of the best that we have come across and although there were quite a few we wanted to include, we think 5 is more than enough (we have to leave some room for you to share as well). Below are the top 5 office pranks that the applicant team thinks are some of the best office pranks ever pulled. Read the rest of this entry »

While the majority of us are worried about the job market and the unemployment rate, we forget to look at the number of teen jobs that have been lost due to failing economy. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics Teenage Unemployment reached 21.6% in February which is up by 17% compared to the same time last year. One of the reason teens are having a hard time finding job is due to the fact that more adults are taking up jobs they wouldn’t normally consider doing. High School students are having a hard time finding jobs in this economy.

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Although most of us tend to ignore the “teenage worker” numbers, the decline in teenage employment is pretty concerning. It shows a direct relation between unemployed adults and unemployed teenage worker. Adults are more willing to take jobs that they wouldn’t consider before. Due to this one reason employers now have a choice to either hire an adult for the same job that is usually taken up by a  teen. The economy has given employers a choice on whether to hire an adult or a teenager and as you can imagine most employers are choosing adults over teenagers.

Gone are the days when you could walk into a grocery store and find a teen bagging your grocery. You will most likely see an adult doing the job. With soaring unemployment rate it is not just the adults that are having a hard time finding jobs anymore. Teen workers are being affected directly by the economy and by adults who in the past wouldn’t have thought of doing jobs that are normally reserved for teens workers. We are sure employers are happy to see adult applicants along with teen applicants and their pick usually are adults over teenagers.

Times have changed. What worked in the past still works but if you want to stand out from the crowd sometimes the only thing that is needed is a little creativity. We all have the creative juice in us but only some of us dare to squeeze it out. These job applicants did it and the results are simply amazing. Although some resumes might not look very practical, it all depends on what field they are trying to land a job in.

There are 35 resumes altogether. Please click on the link above each resume to enlarge the image. Enjoy and let your creative side go wild next time you decide to update your resume.

1. Ozgur Alaz

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Social media is definitely making it easier for consultants to prospect potential clients. Nonetheless, consultants should have Zig Ziglar sales proficiency in order to close deals offline. A job hunter should be just as proficient as positioning him or herself as the ideal candidate to the position for which he or she is applying.

Knowing how to customize each cover letter and resume to target each position for which the job hunter is applying; preparing to respond to difficult interview questions by memorizing success stories; knowing your elevator pitch by heart to communicate it articulately and expeditiously when he or she is asked questions like, “Why should I hire You?” and “Tell me about yourself;” constitute skills in which both a consultant or a job hunter should have developed a mastery.

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If someone has yet to do it, that’s exactly the reason you should jump on board and get it done. Business ideas are hard to come by but sometimes the ones that you think can’t yield much are the ones that make you a fortune. Here are ten businesses that may sound a little weird, unusual and may catch you by surprise that they exist. Enjoy!

1. Not Everyone Likes It Big (World’s Smallest Postal Service)

People are gifted with some amazing and weird talents. Some capitalize them, others let it go. More often than not, it’s simply because they don’t know what to do. In 2008, Lea Redmond realized she could actually make money off of her talent : writing in the tiniest script possible.  And so the WSPS was born. She sets her little postal office in cafes and shops where passers by can write a letter, and Lea turns it into the smallest letters in the world. In case you were wondering, although the letters are small they are still easily readable.  On the other hand, it’s always fun to send someone a letter that will force them into finding a magnifying glass.

We are confident they will be mesmerized by the size of the envelope and the tiny letters themselves. Watch Lea work on her mobile post office below.
link : World’s Smallest Postal Service

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Things like this don’t happen often. Yesterday someone approached me on IM and asked me if I had any work for them, out of nowhere. I have never talked to this person before. It had to be one of the worst day for this guy because when he showed me his blog, the very first article was stolen from this very blog word to word. I had a chat with the guy and I am posting the conversation below. I told the “content thief” that I won’t release his name but would let everyone know about the blog and the main domain of the site, so I will keep my word and will keep his identity a secret. However, I will release his blog URL and the main URL.

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The current economy has sure taken a toll on consumers as credit card late payments reach record high. According to a report by The Fitch Ratings it is estimated that the chargeoffs will approach nine percent during the second half of 2009. More people are depending on their credit cards since they don’t have the cash to pay for their needs and in turn are ending up racking up debt which consumers end up not paying. When it comes to credit cards and the way the economy is going the picture certainly isn’t looking very pretty.

Life Takes Visa Out, More People Go With Visa In

VISA, the leading credit-card and financial services company have dropped their slogan “Life Takes Visa” and have implemented a new slogan – More People Go With Visa. The company will debut a new ad campaign based around this slogan. The new ad campaign comes less than six months after the company went public. The last time Visa dropped their slogan was in 2006 during the winter Olympics when the slogan “It’s Everywhere You Want To Be” was replaced by “Life Takes Visa.”

With more than US$4.3 trillion of total volume as of September 30, 2008, Visa Inc. is the largest payment company in the world

One of the reason Visa has decided to change the slogan is due to the failing economy. Credit card companies are feeling the effect of the recession and these companies want people to use their debit cards to purchase their daily needs. This probably is one of the prime reasons for Visa’s new ad slogan and the reason for rolling out new ad campaign. The new ad campaign will focus more on day to day life rather than the ad campaigns in the past which showed visa being used for life time purchases such as going on a cruise or going to the Olympics, etc.

Credit in today’s economy has become a curse word. No one wants to get deeper into the financial hole than what they already are. People want to stop using credit cards and rely more on their savings and cash on hand if they have any. This is the reason for Visa’s new global ad campaign which will portray its inclusion in day to day life rather than a once in a lifetime purchase as the ads in the past have been. Read the rest of this entry »