The "Say HI!" thread: How did you find Wise Bread?

[Ms. Ferret]

Hi all! I work in the software industry and live in Seattle, WA, with a roommate and two ferrets. I became interested in personal finance/investing earlier this year while investigating some investment advice I'd received from my financial planner. Wise Bread is one of the many sites I began reading to sort myself out.

[Catana]

I've been reading Wise Bread for over a year, and have popped into the forum now and then, but I've decided it's a nice place to hang out.

I'm a widow living on Social Security, so frugality and earning money online are a core part of my life. I blog and write for several sites, and I'm currently starting the madness that is NaNoWriMo. My third time, and I'm going for my first win.

[SoapMaker]

Hi!
I just found this site today, by complete accident. I was looking to order more potpourri supplies and found myself clicking on things I had never noticed before. I can't even remember which site I found this one off of. I am loving this site by the way! I have to work in 5 hours, and I would much rather read these threads! So I'll get in as much as I can until it's time to leave. Kudos to whoever put this site together! Loving it!

[mzScarlett]

I found about you from reading from get rich slowly!

[RickLee]

I found WB about 6 months ago, looking for good finance blogs. It is now my favorite.

[Dan Auito]

I did a little digging across the web and found a few good resources that may help;

Credit Repair Project Notes:
Financial Dictionary:
http://www.soundmindinvesting.com/misc/glossary/index.htm

Finance Calculators:
http://myfinancialgoals.org/calculators.php
http://www.miserlymoms.com/MOMbudget.htm

Resource Links:
http://www.financial-education-icfe.org/financial_education_links/resources.asp
http://www.goodadvicepress.com/links.htm
Dave Ramsey’s Links: http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/sitemap_3475.htmlc
http://cashmoneylife.com/greatest-hits/
Coupon Sites: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/online_grocery_coupon_sites.html

http://clearlyenvizion.blogspot.com/-Develop Your Person
http://www.wealthyhabitsnow.com/id2.html-Common Sense Finances

Debt elimination calculator: http://www.mydebteliminationcalculator.com/
Forums:
http://assetbuilder.com/forums/
http://www.wisebread.com/forums/
http://clarkhoward.com/p/boards/ch/wwwthreads.pl
Work from Home: http://www.workplacelikehome.com/forum/
http://www.athomedirectory.com/forum/YaBB.pl
MLM Forum: http://homebasedbusinessforums.com/
Heidi & Dave’s Forum: http://www.homebusinessonline.com/community/forum/
Small Biz Forum: http://www.smallbusinessforums.org/modules.php?f=9&file=viewforum&name=Forums
Work at Home Moms: http://www.freelancemom.com/forum/
Work at Home Forum: http://www.work-at-home-forum.com/

Resource Link Databases:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/linkspage.html
http://clarkhoward.com/topics/free_and_cheap.html

Articles:
Get out of Debt and Stay Out! http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/campbell67.html
Manifest Your Destiny: http://www.dreammanifesto.com/articles

Savings Tips: http://freewebs.com/savingslist/

Breaking a Spending Addiction:
http://blog.prosper.com/2008/04/28/breaking-the-spending-addiction/

Debt Reduction Plan: http://www.wisebread.com/forums/personal-finance/running-gauntlet-debt-plan-debt-reduction-1940.html

7 steps to Financial Freedom: http://cashmoneylife.com/2008/02/25/dave-ramsey-baby-steps-financial-peace-university/

Your Free Harvard Economics Education: http://www.mcafee.cc/Introecon/IEA.pdf
Your Free Blue Collar Economics Book: http://www.debtfree-revolution.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-downloadMonitor/user_uploads/Money_Matters_for_All_Ages.pdf

Continued:

[Dan Auito]

Signs and Symptoms of Money Difficulties

• "Someone will come along and rescue me "
• "I let others (or I wish there was another to) handle my finances. "
• "Spending money makes me feel good. "
• "I rarely balance my checkbook. "
• "I now use my credit cards for small items I used to get with cash. "
• "20 percent or more of my take-home pay goes for debt payments. "
• "I 'm afraid to calculate my net worth. "
• "I frequently find myself borrowing small amounts of money. "
• "If I lost my job, I'd be out of money in less than two weeks "
• "It makes me uncomfortable to talk about money. "
• "I don't know the total amount of my debts and obligations. "
• "It is very difficult for me to save any money at all. "
• "It seems to be a paycheck to paycheck life-style. "
• "There have been occasions when I have paid late charges on a loan. "
• "I have used (or plan to use) a consolidation loan to pay my bills. "

Gardening Forum: http://www.network54.com/Forum/519353/

Gardening Tips: http://www.freeplants.com/site-map.htm

Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://stats.bls.gov/
Your States Job Outlook: http://stats.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgjobout.htm
Occupational pay scales: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#b00-0000
Statistical Resources on The Web: http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html
Uncle Sam’s clearing house of resources: http://www.usa.gov/


“Recession-Proof” Businesses?

Health - People get sick regardless of the economy, plus a huge portion of the population is aging

Food - People still need to eat but perhaps choose less gourmet / expensive foods

Death - People still die during a recession and require palliative care and funeral services

Home and Vehicle Repair and Maintenance – Home plumbing, electrical and roofing maintenance and repair are still necessary and cars still break down during a recession

Cosmetics - People want to look their best regardless of the economy, but perhaps choose less expensive products

Home Renovation / Improvement - People may decide to renovate existing homes since that's generally cheaper than purchasing a new home

Debt Collection - Bills still need to be paid and payments are more likely to be late when income is down

Tax Preparation - Taxes still need to be paid

Career/Job Search Related Businesses - People lose jobs during recessions, so more people would be looking for work

Vices - People may be unwilling or unable to give up their vices like tobacco/smoking, alcohol, pornography


The jobs that continue to be in demand despite the weakened U.S. economy.


Here they are:

1. Sales Representative/Business Development: Good sales reps remain in high demand.
2. Software Design/Development: One of the fastest-growing occupations, according to the Labor Department.
3. Nursing: Helped by aging Baby Boomers.
4. Accounting/Finance: Helped by tougher regulations.
5. Accounting: See no. 4. Networking/System Administration: Still a limited supply of qualified professionals here.
6. Administrative Assistant: Hard to keep. Many are retiring.
7. Business Analysis (Software Implementation): Competition fierce, however, for the best jobs.
8. Business Analysis (Research): See No. 8.
9. Finance: The most educated and experienced have the advantage.
10. Project Management: Always necessary.
11. Testing/Quality Assurance: Edge to those with automated testing experience.
12. Product Managers: Average growth continues.
13. Database Administration: Highly skilled, especially.
14. Account/Customer Support: Duh. You have to support customers these days.
15. Technology Executive: But better know new technologies.
16. Electrical Engineering: Strong demand for electrical devices.
17. Sales Executives: Someone’s got to manage the pack.
18. Mechanical Engineering: Much more than manufacturing these days. Includes biotech, materials science and nanotechnology.
19. Government Contracts Administration: Uncle Sam never loses his job.

The unemployed rate held steady at 5.5 percent in June now in Nov about 6.5. However, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for workers with bachelor’s degrees or higher (like those above) was merely 2.3 percent. Who says that a good education isn’t worth it?

[flopstock]

We had a spammer on another forum and someone listed this site as another place that the exact same post had appeared... I like anthing related to food.. so a short click later - here I am and enjoying looking around even though I can't find the food threads...

Nice site!

[redambrosia]

Hello!

Well, I found your site through a post on the treehuggers.com website. Someone posted a link there.

I'm a currently unemployed, college grad, so being frugal is a necessity for me. But I think there's two kinds of frugality basically. The kind born of necessity (which is the kind I've been practicing all my life) and the kind born of choice (the kind I hope to practice in the future). I think the second kind is about not buying what you don't need, buying good quality of what you do need, and getting good bargains of everything you buy. And this website seems to be about that.

[nkthen]

Need to introduce myself here. This is Joseph Then. I'm currently making money online and am a birthday party entertainer as my full-time job.

Found this website via Google.