Breaking Even, Inc.

Want To Win Cool Movies?

Take Part In This Fun, Easy Contest!

As I mentioned about a month ago, I saw some fabulous films by Julia Radochia. She was kind enough to send me a copy of all her short films to be auctioned off. A few words from Julia: "I've written, directed, edited, produced/co-produced several short films that have been screened in festivals. My partner in filmmaking is Jeremy Ward who has not only helped me produce my films, but has also done sound, composed and performed music, as well as gaffed, ADed, etc. My films are: LIKE HIS FATHER, JIMMY'S HOUSE OF HUGS, SALLY'S DREAM HOUSE, EDDIE'S WINNING DATE, GO FAUX and I JUST WANT TO EAT MY SANDWICH. All have been in festivals, some more than others, with most of them having won at least one award. I'm also working on finishing up my more experimental/musical piece HAPPY AT HOME."

These funny, short films are funny and true to life and you need to get them through Julia if you want them (they are working on distribution). So what I'm saying is these neat films are an exclusive offer, and free to you if you win my little contest. 

In 250 words or less, write about your favorite form of cheap entertainment. It could be a hobby or game or even a website, basically telling us what is this cheap entertainment and why is it fun. Email submissions to nicole@breakingeveninc.com. In the subject line, write "I Want A Hug" (House of Hugs Production Company, get it?). Entries are due May 31.

The winner will have their entry published on this blog (linked to their website, of course) and get the movies in the mail. Good luck!   

Check out the House of Hugs Productions website to learn more about Julia and the movies...

Headed Back To College...

Use Those Networking Opportunities At Your College

When I went to college, I just concentrated on getting through the semester. I fell asleep while studying my chemistry book (talk about sleep lines!) and took what I thought were challenging and interesting classes. I worked as a lifeguard in my hometown in the summers to make book and fun money for the year. I had a couple small campus jobs to supplement the "fun money". My parents paid for my college and told me my job was to study and get the best grades possible. So I did. I thought I was pretty motivated at that point in my life, until yesterday.

I sat in a room yesterday with fifty to sixty students who gave up one day of their weekend to network with alumni. They had taken summer internships relative to what they wanted to do. They took notes, nodded at what you were saying seeming genuinely interested. They asked thoughtful questions. They knew going in that they might not get job offers; they just wanted to meet us. Five years ago, I wouldn't have been in that room. But I was there yesterday.

BATEScene was set up by Bate's Office of Career Services. I got invited because I have a creative career, both in my "day job" and with this blog. I was part of small group discussions but at the beginning when everyone was listening, we had to give our names, our job titles/companies, and one piece of advice we would give people about to graduate. The good news is I had a two and a half hour drive to think about this.

My friend Michaela always tells me she admires how I always "put myself out there" and I thought about that a lot yesterday. I didn't realize that other people didn't do that. I looked back on how I got a newspaper job, how I met my boyfriend online, how I got someone to publish my first article. No matter how awful the date was or who told me it was too hard to get published, I kept going. When it got to be my turn to speak, I knew what to say.

I encouraged them to internalize what they wanted and tell everyone they knew. I want people to visit this blog for example. It's in my email signature. I published the address to it in my company newsletter. I tell people upon meeting them about it. "Coca Cola didn't become a household name but sending a couple emails then hanging out in its dorm room. Coca Cola told you that it was Coca Cola over and over again until you believed it." I thought this may have been too corny but a few people chuckled. I guess I am a little corny. But persistance pays off.

On the personal finance front, questions of money came up indirectly. In a small group discussion, I encouraged students to start a savings account beginning with their first job. (They were very concerned with liking their first job and how long they should stay at it.) I told them that they should save even $20, whatever they could afford, and have it automatically taken out. I told them that if they ever felt like they wanted to leave their job (or even were faced with a financially difficult situation) that having that cushion would make them feel so much better. "Plus I mean $20. That's lunch. You'll just buy something stupid with it and be happy for five minutes." I kick myself for not starting saving at my last job, which was higher paying than my current one. But what can you do except tell people open to hearing it who are about to enter the same part of their lives.

I not only met some great students but also other people in related fields. I networked, I ate in the new dining hall, I saw my friend Sarah (who got me involved in this). If your college does any networking event like this, whether you are a student or an alum, it's very worthwhile to go. Networking may get you your next job, allow for a travel opportunity, or even get one more person to read your blog. You may also just get to meet interesting people and have a free lunch. You may even be able to help someone out.

My college's networking event was well worth the five hours of driving. And how many things can you say that about?

Image from www.woodworthassociates.com   

Want New Books And Movies?

We All Do— But A Swap Website May Make More Sense

Who doesn't love the feeling of a fresh new book? It's pretty tempting to pay $8.95 for that shiny new paperback you won't get around to reading for awhile, isn't it? Or listening to that new CD at the store makes you want to buy it on the spot, right?

It really can be convincing to buy new media to consume. This weekend while we were shopping, my sister paused at the books in a store. "Do we need any books?" she asked and we all paused before saying "no", even though books were not on our lists.

In addition to temptation for new media, you've probably been doing some spring cleaning and have found books, CDs, etc. to get rid of, making it even more ridiculous to buy new. May I suggest the win-win situation of a swap website?

At PaperBackSwap, an email address and valid USPS address will get you registered and when you put ten books on the swap, the website gives you two free credits to order other books. I searched for five books (a few obscure, a few more popular paperbacks) and only one that I wanted were available. Like any used book store, this site may or may not have what you want but at over 2 million books alone (they also have a CD and DVD swap) it's worth a shot.

Free From Broke posted a review of Swaptree last week, which sounds very similar to PaperBackSwap only you can also trade video games as well. (Use the link off Free From Broke to get free shipping on your first trade!) Swaptree is a smaller site, though I haven't learned the cultures of either site enough to know what kind of books, CDs, etc. they tend to have. If it's like any garage sale I've been to, there's probably a bunch of romance novels and a George Michael CD or two at the very least.

Both sites are searchable by multiple fields (title of book or ISBN number for example) and both include printable labels so all you have to do is stick the package in the mailbox.

These sites are free but you do have to pay postage, which is usually a lower rate if you go with the USPS's media mail rate. (I sent my sister a book awhile back for about $1.50, though Swaptree promises a maximum of $2.50 for anything.) You can buy envelopes or cleverly wrap things in layers of scrap paper and packaging tape. Not that I've ever done that of course...

If you've used either of these sites before, do comment below. Because there's nothing I love more then free things I like and a way to get rid of things I don't without throwing them away. Happy Swapping!

Image from: community.bates.edu  

America's Money Series At CNN Money

Looking for the kind of website that keeps you reading. Check out the "America's Money: In their own words", an almost voyeuristic look at some "typical" Americans and their money.

The other day, I had my first big doubt about what I'm currently doing with the blog. "Do I really know enough to write this blog?" I thought. But then I realized as Sean was reading me some of these America's Money stories last night that there was a clear difference in people's thinking.

Some were continuing on a wrong path and frustrated (A favorite paraphrased quote: "..and with private school tuition, I don't even know what to do.") Some people, however, were making changes and striving for self improvement. I think that's the kind of person I am. It was then I realized that as long as I learned new things and kept sharing them in interesting ways, that maybe I can do this blogging thing. And as long as you keep learning and make strides to improve your situation, financial or otherwise, things should only get better for you too, even if you doubt that you can do it from time to time.

Short enough to be addicting, these money stories kept Sean and I looking at this website for half an hour or so (just another exciting Saturday night!).

Check out America's Money here...

Three Things To Make You Mad

Ignore Them Or Learn About Them: One Way Or Another, They Aren't Going Away

So there were multiple things going on in the news this week that would make even an even keeled optimist like myself fume just a little. You have the option of ignoring these things but personally, I'd rather know. Here are the three issues of the week that really got my goat:

Bear Stearns: Their Ridiculously Spending And Decisions That Got Them In Trouble
The Satellite Sisters (who have a great talk radio program whose podcast I listen to often) broke down the Bear Stearn's money wasting ways (pre-stock crash). Julie put it the best I've heard it yet on their March 28 show. Below is an excerpt.

Bear Stearns: The Fact The Fed Bailed Them Out With Our Money
Here's some great audio from Marketplace about us paying for the bailout of a huge coorporation who would never do us the favor in return. (There is also text to the story if you don't have the means to listen.)

And Straight To The Dark Ages, Women Still Make Less Than Men
In Maine (and probably other places), things are still a little sexist, though slightly more sexist if you don't have a college degree. See the article here. Sadly, this got little more than a mention on news programs and in newspapers.

So I don't know what effect hearing about these three things in a row will have on you but you are probably pretty fired up! I hope you can harness just a fraction of that energy to do something positive for the world (or even for yourself). Because there is plenty of good out there but apparently, we may need to provide it!

Some Marketing Advice?

Some of you may know that I work for a local newspaper. We have a current promotion where local businesses can pay to have a photo and write up about their business in a special section called "Business Neighbors". For $50 a year, this profile and a link to their site will be on our newspaper web site.

Our web site is well spidered (meaning monitored closely by search engines) and since it's been in existence for almost ten years, it's a well established and highly ranked site. And we get around 20,000 to 30,000 page views on just our news stories every week.

"Why don't you advertise your blog on Business Neighbors?" one of my co-workers asked. I guess I hesitated because I'm not really a business. Ideally, I would like to write a lot more than I do (and get paid to do it) and maybe this is one way to increase my freelancing locally. Worst case scenario is that I'll get more locals reading my blog. Did I mention I get an employee discount on advertising?

So I'm pretty sure I'll do this advertising because, as far as advertising goes, this is a deal. A few questions though from those of you more experiences in marketing then I am:

1. Should I be Nicole Ouellette, Breaking Even, or Breaking Even Freelance? I need to have a title of my business.

2. Should I spend profile space talking about the blog "personal finance from a local perspective" or about the freelance "Nicole launched this blog.... and is interested in freelance"? Would talking about both the personal finance blog and freelance writing in the same paragraph be confusing? I have 150-200 words to work with to give you an idea.

So if you have an opinion on this, even if it is that this is a dumb idea, I'd love to hear it. For those of you with your own web sites, have you tried advertising like this and found it successful? Thank you for your help!

Next time: Medical Bill Blues and How You Can Beat Them

Video of the Week: Eating Healthy On A Budget

Yes, you can eat well on a budget. Francis Wolff has just launched www.wholehabits.com, a vlog dedicated to healthy eating. (If his name is familliar, he's Meg Wolff's son.) This is one of his first videos. Check out the other videos and recipes on his site; they look yummy!   

A Review of Financial Podcasts: Part II

I Listened To Them All So You Didn’t Have To

Here's a continuation of what I started earlier in the week. There are a few more podcasts I haven't got to I'm sure but I hope to next time. (Let me know if you definitely know of one I missed.)

Wall Street Your Money

I happened to see on another blog (and I forgot which one!) that showed a web site that rates a blog’s reading level. (Breaking Even happens to be a middle school reading level, which I’m taking to mean as accessible rather then the kind of blog that would pass notes about another blog.) They rated the Wall Street blog as elementary level (this is not a reflection on the Wall Street Journal publication I’m guessing). This podcast covered a variety of topics but in a way that was a little too fast (and seemed clipped as a result). You would need to be paying more close attention then you would to a typical podcast to get all the needed information. I accidentally spaced out for thirty seconds and had to rewind.

NBC5 Savage Money Podcast

Marcus Riley and Terry Savage talk about the economy in a general but easy to understand way. The regulating water level and temperature analogy used in this podcast for our federal reserve is a useful and concrete way of understanding our current economic situation. There is some shameless self promotion (two instances in the first minute) but I understand that everyone needs to get their name out there, myself included. The tune at the beginning is catchy and helps subtly reinforce the brand of the Savage Money podcast. It is a good length at 8 minutes. But what is it about money podcasts that make them a little more boring then other types?

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

This podcast, read by the editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, tackles one topic in this case a “magic formula” of figuring out a good investment (earnings shares and return on capital). This is another kind of podcast you can learn a lot from but you’ll have to pay very close attention to, especially if you are like me and not familiar with financial terms (I had to rewind three times to get the two variables of the magic formula for this blog). Since Kiplingers is such a well established authority on personal finance, however, I am more apt to take information from it more seriously then I would other podcasts.

The Money Guy

The host of the program is funny and into what he’s doing, making it easier to listen to him for the half an hour he talks. He is a little tangential as many solo podcasters seem to be, telling stories that can seem off topic. His whole podcast, however, was tied to Warren Buffet's annual report, which he keeps coming back to throughout, giving the podcast some structure. He quotes the report and reflects on how Warren Buffet became the successful guy he is. He even apparently has a Warren Buffet quote generator on his blog. The guy is clearly a WB fan and therefor not trying to be objective but you have to admire his admiration.

30 Minutes of Personal Finance
The show topic “Five Steps To Stop Identity Theft” is presented with a guest John Sileo (www.thinklikeaspy.com). The objectives are clear in the intro so you know what the program will be like before you listen to it, a simple organizational tool I found lacking in other podcasts. The half hour program is a little long, though it may just feel that way. The audio is a little unclear and it sounds like both people are on the phone. The information is good (if a little paranoid….leaving next of kin off obituaries?!?) but it needs to be presented in a more dynamic way to be easier to listen to.

Financial podcasts not updated in the last two months: It’s Your Money Radio, Getting Started Finance, Fidelity Personal Money Finance, Miss Money Blogger, Money Blogger Podcast, Two Guys And Your Money, Your Home-Your Money, Your Money.

It kind of bugs me that the internet has these "dead" podcasts but thankfully, I can at least get the satisfaction of deleting them off my own computer!

I've learned a few things from taking in all this media and analyzing it, mainly that there are a lot of things to avoid to avoid being boring. More and more, I'm thinking of giving a podcast a shot.

If you have any ideas about how to be not-boring or want to be a guest on my podcast, drop me a comment or an email.

See part one of this series here...

Picture from: http://www.informacyde.com/weblog

A Review of Financial Podcasts: Part I

I Listened To Them All So You Didn’t Have To

This weekend, I had a five hour bus ride in two directions and limited internet access, meaning I took the opportunity to consume some personal finance-related media, this time in the form of podcasts. I also was researching podcasts in particular because I'm thinking of having one associated with this blog. (So in addition to learning new things, I was scoping out the competition a little.) Here's what I have to say about the podcasts that are still in existance (some of them are listed but haven't been updated in over a year).

No Credit Needed Podcast

This thirty minute long podcast was a little boring at points but the information was good. The host goes off on life story tangents and doesn't talk to guests so the thirty minutes doesn't feel broken into digestable bites. I found my mind wandering at points, as if I was in a college lecture class again. If you can stay with him though, he does offer the occasional nugget of information (in this case, he gave a compelling arguement but building savings before paying down debt, which is the opposite of what I would be thinking). All in all, worth going to class but bring some paper to doodle on while you listen.

Money Girls Quick and Dirty Tips

This podcast is about five minutes long and sticks to one topic, in this case, compound interest. Her multiple examples are interesting and drive her point home but towards the end they felt repetitive. She directs listeners to a compound interest calculator on her site (good marketing) and she is a fairly engaging speaker who seems well organized and pleasant. From her name, I thought she'd be more hip but no nonsense would be the word I would use to describe Money Girl.

Your Money with Chuck Jaffee

Chuck Jaffee sounds like your typical conservative talk radio host, which was initially a little off-putting to me. He stuck to one topic with his special guest and you can tell from his voice and ease interviewing that he has a regular radio show. I've decided that any podcast of length should involve more then one voice. It just makes this more interesting. Both Chuck and his guest were smooth and a little too self promoting, making them easy to listen to but also made me roll my eyes a little.

Your Money- Question Answer session with "Investor Ed"

This podcast is government sponsored and feels a little thrown together. The information is good (it is question and answer style responding to listener inquiries) and about things I know nothing about, making me feel more like listening to it. It seems, however, that no thought has been put into making it interesting. The room where it is recorded sounds echo-y and the people sound like they may fall asleep themselves mid-program. I understand they can't sound like they are using too many tax dollars but I'd gladly earmark $20 of my taxes to putting some sound dampening in that room.

Moneyblogger Podcast

The money blogger is a blogger first and a podcaster second. He interviews an author of a financial book, which leads me to think he's a good enough blogger to be well connected. His guest has the interesting idea that a "savings account" sounds like putting off fun (negative) whereas "investing" is less about denying pleasure now and more about savoring it later. The host asked really good questions but made me see how an inexperienced interviewer can give themselves away by seeming awkward.

"savings account" as negative...think investing, host asks good questions but seems a little awkward. This podcast was actually my favorite because the information was atypical, the information was useful by me, and the podcast itself was very memorable.

There are more to talk about but I'll save those for tomorrow. In the meantime, have you heard any of these? Also, would you listen to my weekly-biweekly podcast were I to have one?

DNTO: Deep Into Debt

Show Discusses Interesting Domestic Arrangement

At work I'm allowed to listen to media through my headphones while I do my more tedious tasks. While I sometimes listen to music, I am more of a fan of podcasts, in particular newsy podcasts.

I began listening to DNTO (acronym for Definitely Not The Opera, a radio program that plays on the CBC Saturday afternoons when many other public radio stations are playing, you guessed it, opera) when I lived in Canada and am a subscriber to their Best of DNTO podcast. I finally got to listen to their "Deep Into Debt" episode this morning.

This episode discussed a new TV show called "Maxed Out", one professor's attempt to hold onto his youth by paying his student loan debt very slowly, and the nostalgic/cool allure of being able to have a bar tab. Overall, it was an interesting show that didn't go too far off its main topic. (DNTO does occasionally do that.) I did particularly enjoy one idea from it.

One part of the show talks to Dave Meslin (from a Toronto band called Hidden Cameras). Dave gets his prime Toronto office via a barter system with the owners of the building (he helps with computers, sweeps, etc.). Barter in itself is pretty interesting but what's more intriguing is how he lives.

Dave is a professional houseguest. He stays at a house for two weeks and helps the people with odds and ends. He's alphabetized 1,000 children's books, cooked, cleaned, ran errands, and built custom bookcases. In exchange, he gets a nice place to sleep. I found an interesting blog by one Pretty Lady that explains how she turned to professional houseguesting after her relationship with a Flaky Heiress forces a change in living situation. (And it made for a very funny read.)

Sean had a room mate before I met him. A good room mate. And there are times when a room mate is really convenient for everyone concerned. I am, however, intrigued by the idea of a room mate for a shorter period of time that would be mutually beneficial.

When I looked online earlier for some kind off an association around this idea, I only found lots of people who are professional houseguests (among other things) and a Myspace page visitors are directed to when visiting www.houseguest.org. (I have not been able to visit the site from my work computer but I will check it out this evening.) In any case, there should be a place on the internet where professional houseguests can meet up with potential hosts. It would only make sense. And while you aren't making cash on the side, you would be getting value added services for next to nothing.

Have you ever been a professional houseguest? Or had one? How did it go?