I’ve been reading a lot this week about various forms of the Congressional Food Stamp Challenge. In case you missed it, the goal is to buy a week’s worth of food for less than $31.50, the average weekly benefit for a food stamp participant. While the intent is to raise overall awareness of the effects of hunger and poverty, it also got me thinking more about rising food costs in general. It’s not only those relying on subsidies that have had trouble keeping up with prices at the grocery store. Even relatively cheap staples such as peanut butter are now becoming too expensive for many families. In times like these, it may be best to rely on a few “friends” to help save your budget:

Planning is your friend

Perhaps your best friend is planning out as many home-cooked meals as possible for the week. Leftover dinners that can be reinvented as lunches come in especially handy. It takes some time and effort, but comparing your personal preferences and schedule to the weekly store sales pages can really help maximize your grocery dollar. Additionally, clipping (or printing online) coupons and taking advantage of store doubling policies can boost your buying power. Using fruits and vegetables that are in season is another (and delicious) way to eat healthier, for less. Finally, it’s not always easy, but avoid shopping on an empty stomach to cut down on costly impulse and junk food purchases.

The freezer is your friend

Take advantage of a lazy Sunday afternoon to make a double batch of a simple recipe that can be stored for later use. Yummy foods like lasagnas, casseroles and soups (or chili) are easy to make ahead of time and freeze well. If you still have room in your freezer, consider buying certain foods, such as larger cuts of meat or whole chickens, in bulk when they’re on sale. If you don’t mind doing a little extra work, you can save quite a bit of money

The dollar store is your friend

Various discount/dollar stores have become very popular with shoppers throughout the economic downturn. They generally have a surprisingly large stock of name brand foods, often at steep discounts. I’ve found that they can be especially good sources of pantry-type foods, like rice, pasta and canned goods. Cooking basics, such as salt, pepper and spices, are also available at a fraction of the cost of typical retailers. Some discount stores, such as Aldi, even carry meat and produce, though you may have to pay extra for conveniences like carts. If you don’t have a dollar store in your neighborhood, you can still save money by buying generic/store brands whenever possible. These often have nearly identical tastes as name brands, with significant savings due to cheaper packaging and advertising costs.

But good health is also your friend

I haven’t yet tried to complete the Food Stamp Challenge, but I’m considering it. I can’t help but wonder, though, if the spirit of the Challenge – and food stamp programs in general – tend to lose sight of the benefits of healthy eating and a balanced diet. It seems that relying on highly-processed, high-sodium foods might save your budget – but would result in other serious long-term costs, namely poor health and higher medical bills. The biggest challenge of all is to make healthy, nutritious foods as prevalent as costly, convenient foods, particularly in lower-income neighborhoods.

What tips can you offer to survive the Food Stamp Challenge?

Photo by: Yuya Tamai

Three lessons from Steve Jobs

With yesterday’s passing of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, many stories of his wonderful life have been making their way around the internet. One clip that I found particularly meaningful was his commencement address at Stanford University from 2005. While directed to some of the brightest young scholars in the country, it is nonetheless inspiring to all. Particularly to those with an entrepreneurial spirit.

Follow your curiosity and intuition

The irony of a college dropout giving a commencement address (at Stanford, no less) was not lost on Jobs. But it was only after dropping out that Jobs began auditing those classes that actually interested him. He noted specifically a calligraphy course, where he first explored the basics of typography and design. Such concepts would go on to play an important role in many of Apple’s most influential products, and the culture of the company itself.

Embrace the freedom of uncertainty

Anyone who lost their job during the economic downturn can appreciate Jobs’ feelings of failure after being ousted from Apple in 1985. “I’d been rejected, but I was still in love,” he noted. Free from the pressures of success and the routine of the only career he’d ever known, Jobs entered one of the most creatively significant periods of his life. His work with NeXT and Pixar pushed the boundaries of the computer and film industries, respectively, and his influence there is still felt today.

Don’t waste your time living someone else’s life

Especially poignant this week, Jobs shared the story of his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer. “You’ll be dead soon,” he bluntly told the new grads. Faced with his own mortality, he reminds us how little time we truly have to make a difference. So little time, in fact, that it’s imperative to do what you love, and “don’t settle.” Spending time taking a path just because it’s easier, or expected of you, is the ultimate waste.

Rest in peace, Steve. Your innovative mind will truly be missed.

What are your favorite Steve Jobs memories?

Photo by: paulcole

February 2010 TED presentation by designer Tom Wujec. How do groups collaborate differently to solve “The Marshmallow Challenge?” And why do recent business school graduates tend to under perform kindergartners?

Learn more about The Marshmallow Challenge.

Photo: splorp

I love Google’s search suggestion feature. After typing just a few letters into the search box, Google seems to know exactly what I’m looking for. There can be some pretty funny Google suggest results, but for the most part, the boys and girls in Mountain View know what they’re doing. For fun, I wanted to see what the top suggestion was for each individual letter of the alphabet. The results give us a completely unscientific look at how people are currently using search, and the internet in general.

I present, The Google Alphabet:

A is for Amazon

B is for Best Buy

C is for Craigslist

D is for dictionary

E is for eBay

F is for Facebook

G is for Gmail

H is for Hotmail

I is for IMDb

J is for JetBlue

K is for Kohl’s

L is for Lowe’s

M is for MySpace

N is for Netflix

O is for Office Depot

P is for Pandora

Q is for quotes (top search result is BrainyQuote)

R is for Realtor

S is for Southwest Airlines

T is for Target

U is for USPS

V is for Verizon Wireless

W is for Walmart

X is for Xbox 360

Y is for YouTube

Z is for Zillow

A few observations:

• No Apple, Twitter, Wikipedia, Yahoo – Notable companies missing from the list include some of the biggest names in the tech world. Also kind of surprising is the lack of many of the companies normally associated with big advertising budgets such as McDonald’s, various car companies and individual food or beverage brands.
• No adult content – Given that the adult industry has been something of  a pioneer in providing content for the internet, this is a little surprising. So what are people using the internet, or at least searching, for? Shopping, communicating and researching.
• Discounters are popular – Not a surprise given the economy, but the list includes retailers on the lower end of the price scale (Walmart, Target, Kohl’s), sites that offer less-than-retail prices (Craigslist, eBay) and smaller, discount airlines (JetBlue, Southwest).

What observations can you make about The Google Alphabet? Which of the letters do you think will change first?

Photo: Cap001

Saving money in this economy can be a challenge. Many of us have already cut out big purchases and trimmed our budgets as much as we think is possible. But saving even a few bucks here and there really adds up. Here are five easy ways you can save a little extra money this year:

What are your favorite tips to save money?

Photo: Leto A.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2010!

Great presentation by Devdutt Pattanaik at this month’s TEDIndia conference. Interested in learning how India’s business perspective may differ from that of the West? Gain a better understanding from Indian mythologies.

East vs. West

Photo: Oberazzi

As the business world becomes more global, the likelihood of interacting with someone whose primary language is not English becomes much greater. At the same time, it seems English is quickly becoming the universal language of not only business, but also diplomacy, education and the sciences. As a future MBA and a native English-speaker, is there any real business benefit for me to learn a second language?

I’d like to think yes.

Even if many people around the world have a basic understanding of English, they may feel very uncomfortable when talking to a native English speaker. In my limited travels to Europe, I’ve tried to at least make an effort to communicate in the local language first, no matter how poorly. It seems that not expecting everyone to speak English helps make people feel more comfortable, and more willing to offer to speak English.

Secondly, studying a language is more than learning vocabulary and pronunciation. Equally important, particularly in business, is learning about cultural traits, as well similarities and differences with your own culture. Is it considered rude to shake hands at a business meeting? Or to smile at a member of the opposite sex? Such cultural knowledge could be invaluable in an international business setting.

Finally, the process of learning a new language can help strengthen your English communication skills. I’ve recently had the opportunity to do some volunteer work tutoring native Spanish-speakers in adult English as a Second Language classes. First, I’m surprised at how much Spanish I’ve remembered, even though I haven’t studied it for a number of years. Second, thinking about things like sentence construction and subject-verb agreement in Spanish naturally leads to a better understanding of such things in English. As a result, I feel my English communication skills have actually improved.

So, what are the best second-languages for a native English-speaker to learn for business?

Given global trends and my own personal experiences, I’m leaning toward the following:

• Spanish – previous experience studying; spoken in many countries around the world; growing population within the United States, as well.
• French – some similarities to Spanish; prevalent throughout Europe, Africa and parts of Asia; likely that individuals involved in international business would speak either English or French, if not both.
• Chinese – Growing importance in global economy; huge population; difficult for English-speakers to learn; Mandarin dialect spoken by more people, Cantonese dialect spoken over greater geographic area.

Any experiences in learning these, or other, languages for business or personal use? Are products such as Rosetta Stone effective? Has knowing a language other than English been an asset for your career?

For non-native English speakers, what are your experiences in dealing with native English speakers in the business world?

Photo: Christolakis

Reading through Grace Boyle’s recent article on microfinance over at Small Hands, Big Ideas reminded me that I should post a quick update on my experiences with kiva.org. I’m happy to report that my original loan, to a woman starting a small bakery in Peru, in now 83% repaid. I’ve since used those repayments to make loans to three additional entrepreneurs:

• A cafe-owner in Ukraine to purchase new equipment;
• A woman in Ghana to expand her grocery business; and
• A group in the Dominican Republic selling fruit and vegetables.

Each loan’s repayment status is easily accessible on the “My Portfolio” page of Kiva’s site. Kiva does a great job of notifying you when you’ve received a repayment, and makes it easy to withdraw the funds back into a paypal account if you don’t want to make another loan.

I’m very excited to hear the financial results from the bakery in Peru once that loan is fully repaid next month (that’s the future-mba in me talking). Hopefully, my small loan was able to create opportunity and make meaningful change in someone else’s life.

Let me know about any experiences you’ve had with Kiva, or your other favorite microfinance institutions.

Beef And Black Bean Chili

When the weather starts to get colder, one of my favorite things to do is make a batch of spicy, homemade chili. It’s delicious, the ingredients aren’t very expensive, and I can throw everything into one pot and forget about it until it’s ready. That’s especially handy during football season: start a batch in the morning and it’ll be perfect by halftime.

I tend to play around with the recipe quite a bit based on what I have on hand, or what’s on sale. This version uses both beef and black beans, but you could leave out the meat and add more beans for a tasty, vegetarian version. It also freezes pretty well, so you could make a batch when you have some extra time and heat it up for a quick meal when you’re busy. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 lbs, beef, cut into small cubes (use what’s on sale, or the pre-packaged “chop suey” or “stew” cuts to save time)
• 1 tablespoon, canola oil
• 1 tablespoon, kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons, fresh ground black pepper
• 1 large vidalia onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon, garlic, diced
• 28 oz, low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 canned chipotle pepper, diced
• 24 oz, salt-free tomato sauce
• 4 tablespoons, favorite chili powder (adjust for desired heat level)
• 2 tablespoons, cumin
• 1 teaspoon, cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon, cocoa powder
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 30 oz, canned black beans, rinsed
• Optional toppings: shredded sharp cheddar cheese, corn chips, scallions, sour cream

PREPARATION:

1. Mix cubed beef with canola oil and season with kosher salt and black pepper. Brown in small batches over medium heat in a 4-quart, cast iron dutch oven. Transfer browned meat to a dish.

2. Dice the onion and sweat over medium heat until tender (about 10 minutes). Add garlic during last minute.

3. Return the beef to the pot and add chicken broth and chipotle pepper. Stir. Cover and simmer over low-medium heat for 1.5 hours.

4. Add tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, cocoa powder and cinnamon stick. Stir. Cover and return to simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Turn off heat and remove cinnamon stick. Test seasoning and adjust, as needed. Using a wooden spoon or potato masher, mash the beef until shredded (should fall apart rather easily). Stir in black beans, cover and let sit for another 15 minutes.

6. To serve, spoon into a bowl and top with shredded cheese, corn chips, scallions and sour cream, or your favorite toppings.

Serves about 8

Photo: (rae)sin

Starbucks rolled out its VIA Ready Brew instant coffee nationwide this week after limited testing in select markets. When I initially heard that Starbucks was moving into the instant category, I had serious concerns about the damage it might do to its reputation for offering affordable luxury to consumers. With a retail price of less than $1.00 per serving, VIA seems to simultaneously risk appearing both expensive, when compared to other instant coffees, and cheap, when compared to Starbucks’ own in-store java. A tough place to be, from a branding perspective.

Additionally, when most people think of instant coffee, high quality is not the first thing that comes to mind. But Starbucks has put considerable effort into developing VIA and claims that it tastes as good as its freshly brewed blends. Early evidence seems encouraging, as this youtube clip shows:

This weekend (October 2 – 5) you can see for yourself when you take the VIA Taste Challenge at participating Starbucks stores near you. They’ll even throw in a free tall coffee at your next visit.

I’m very interested to see what the quality is like. I’m also impressed with the job Starbucks has done to position VIA as an extension of its current brand. The convenience of the take-anywhere packaging opens up a number of new sales possibilities, from office workers to outdoors-types, in addition to allowing you to quickly make your own Starbucks at home. Starbucks is even asking customers to share recipe ideas using VIA. While instant coffee is very popular in Europe, it’s never really caught on in American. With VIA, Starbucks hopes to change that.

Have you taken the Starbucks VIA Taste Challenge? Can VIA win a place in the hearts of latte-loving Americans?

Video from Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business. Some truly mind-boggling statistics. Still think social media is just a fad?

With more people struggling to make ends meet these days, it’s not surprising that coupon use was up 23% in the first half of 2009. More surprising are the results of a recent study by The Nielsen Company including:

• Households earning more than $70,000/year are more likely to be heavy coupon users than U.S. households in general.
• Households in affluent suburban or comfortable middle-class neighborhoods are also significant coupon users.
• Low-income households and residents in rural or struggling urban neighborhoods are more likely to be low- or non-coupon users.
• Lighter coupon users in 2008 are likely to be heavier coupon users in 2009.

Such findings may indicate that the current recession has renewed interest in thriftiness, and has been especially tough on wealthier households.

“…coupons are back in vogue.”

- Todd Hale, The Nielsen Company

Technology may also play a part, making it easier than ever to use coupons. Stephanie Nelson, author of the upcoming  The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half, runs a popular printable coupon web site called couponmom.com. I also previously reviewed alice.com, which automatically applies clipless manufacturer coupons to your order. What remains to be seen is: will these affluent shoppers continue to use coupons when the economy turns around?

Have you found yourself using coupons more?

Great presentation by Dan Pink in July 2009 on what really motivates employees:

Given the length of (and the number of layoffs during) the current recession, employee morale has taken quite a hit. In many companies, those workers fortunate enough to still have jobs are seeing larger workloads and smaller paychecks. If this sounds familiar, here are five things you can do at work this week to feel better:

• Set a small goal, celebrate achieving it – if you’re stressed out by the bottomless stack of paperwork on your desk, set a goal to finish x before lunch…and then treat yourself to something special when you do.

• Get to know one co-worker better on a personal level – take a few minutes to find out what a co-worker did over the weekend; it’ll take your mind off of work, and help you feel more like you’re part of the team.

• Volunteer to work on one small, extra project that you can be proud of – suggest a solution to a small-but-annoying problem, and then take the lead on solving it; not only could it help you get out of your daily rut, but also your boss will appreciate your initiative.

• Ask for constructive feedback from your boss – workers that don’t know what’s expected of them or how they’re perceived around the office should be the most worried about layoffs. Be proactive and ask for feedback on a recent project as part of ongoing, open communication about career development and your role in the organization.

• Learn something new – whether signing up for company-wide training or teaching yourself a computer shortcut, you can keep your mind fresh and upgrade your skills at the same time…increasing your own productivity, and making yourself more valuable to the company.

What other suggestions do you have to be a happier, more engaged employee?