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!

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?

• 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?

• 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?

Long the domain of book and music retailers, online shopping hasn’t really caught on with the toilet paper and laundry detergent crowd. Alice.com, a new site that lets the manufacturers of many popular consumer packaged goods sell directly to customers, hopes to change that.

Manufacturers have been feeling the profit-pinch lately, both from recession-weary consumers and giant “middle man” retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target, eager to save shelf space for store brands.

Launched as a public beta in June (and named after the beloved housekeeper in The Brady Bunch), the site gives members access to thousands of name-brand toiletries and other household goods, including Crest, Kleenex and Tide, via shop-at-home convenience. The site also provides:

• Free shipping on every order – some planning is required, as there is a six product minimum per order, but this is a must-have feature in my book
• Clipless manufacturer coupons – competitive prices without the time spent clipping coupons
• Recommended products and reorder alerts – if you’re like me and never remember to buy the Charmin until you’re down to the last roll, this can be a life saver
• Multiple shopping options – shop by room, sort by the best deal, stick with your favorite brands or pick from a large selection of green products
• Convenient way to track spending – charts and graphs help you visualize spending trends, analyze coupon savings and refine your budget
• Interaction with online community – the “neighborhood” adds a social media twist to the site where members can create profiles, share tips with other members and provide feedback to the company. There’s also a growing following on facebook and twitter (@alice).

I’ve placed one order of typical household items and was very impressed with the convenience. It took maybe 15 minutes to complete my order, which arrived via UPS in two days. The potential time savings of being able to stock up on necessities in your free time should make this a very popular option for busy parents and professionals. Prices were much cheaper than other online retailers, and slightly cheaper in total compared to my local Target.

With the selection, savings and free shipping, I could see the site as a great way to send “care packages” to college students away from home or to aging parents, who may not be able to get to the store very often.

If only Alice could help do my laundry.

What features would make you more inclined to buy household goods online?

Photo: Sarah Sturtevant

Now that August is here, I should really start working on the stack of books that I wanted to read this summer:

• Peter Drucker, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Stewart Friedman, Total Leadership: Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life
• Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America
• Laurence Gonzales, Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
• Jacqueline Novogratz, The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World
• Jerry Weissman, Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story, Updated and Expanded Edition
• Fareed Zakaria, The Post-American World

A few of these were recommendations from Josh Kaufman’s excellent Personal MBA reading list. If you’ve read any and can recommend one that I should start with, please let me know.

What are you reading this summer?

Today, businesses can use social media to ask customers what they want.

Social media allow for much more effective two-directional communication between business and customer. Neil over at Quick Sprout recently touched on this when he wrote about using twitter to create interesting conversations with followers and to share knowledge. From a business perspective, companies can use social media to listen to their customers and then begin the process of interacting with, and engaging, them.

A great example of this is Starbucks‘ recent introduction of the Mini Starbucks Card, a version of the popular gift card small enough to fit on your key chain. Starbucks has said that the idea of the mini card was one of many inspired by its My Starbucks Idea site, where customers are invited to share and discuss suggestions. Starbucks is also great at using twitter to reach out to its customers: earlier today it offered $25 mini card reloads to the first five of its over-250,000 followers to post pictures of their mini cards to @starbucks with the hashtag #MiniStarbucksCard. A rather inexpensive way to create instant buzz.

What other companies “get” social media?

Ask any college student, and they will likely agree that one of their biggest expenses each semester is the cost of buying textbooks.  Professors notoriously like to teach the most cutting-edge theories, and publishers are more than happy to produce new editions of the same books almost annually.  The result?  Rising textbook costs, breaking budgets all over the country.  The internet has helped offset some of these costs, with sites like amazon.com and half.com giving students access to cheaper new and used books.  Still, buying books means a huge outlay of cash every semester for something you’ll need for a few months and then, likely, never use again.

“Annual per student expenditures on textbooks can easily approach $700 to $1,000 today.”

- Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, 2007

Much like netflix changed the dvd industry, a slew of online textbook rental companies are changing the way students can get books.  Most offer a large selection of competitively-priced textbooks, for terms ranging from one month to a full semester.  Many also let you extend the rental period or purchase the book outright, if necessary.  Once the semester is over, most offer a prepaid shipping label to send your books back to the company.

I researched the rental prices for a sample of five textbooks that a typical MBA student might need to read, using some of the more popular web sites.  For comparison, I also found the purchase prices to own both new and used copies of the same books.  The table below shows the average price per book for a semester rental, not including any shipping costs (prices accurate as of 7/18/09):

I’ve used some of these sites and have never had any issues receiving or returning books.  Keep in mind that each is slightly different, so make sure to read through all of the details for every site.  For example, some sites will charge you extra for returning books with writing or highlighting in them.  If you doodle or need to highlight to study, those sites might not be for you.  Also, the sites with the lowest average price did not necessarily have the least expensive copies of all books, so it pays to check multiple sites before you order.

Before you head back to campus this fall, you may want to spend some time checking textbook rental prices online.  The savings can be substantial.

Are there any other sites that you’ve used to rent textbooks?