Archive for May, 2010

A few things I have learned from Farmville

There seems to be a lot of debate surrounding Farmville on Facebook. A lot of people claim that it is an absolute waste of time, while others go on about their friends who play, stating that it “fills their profile pages and walls with useless information.”

Ok, guilty as charged, I play as well. It may sound ridiculous, but it has actually given me a few insights and answers to questions I’ve had, especially regarding that of learning to make additional income. There are a few similarities between Farmville, and earning online income.

Over the past year or two, I have been searching almost endlessly for “that one way online to make enough money to live on.” But, after reading quite a few different blogs, and gaining perspective and advice from the blogosphere, I’ve realised that it often takes many small collective efforts to snowball into one large result.

Just like Farmville, where you try to collect as many neighbours as possible, so that you can reap the rewards, the same principle applies to earning extra income online. The more effort you put in, the more you will be rewarded at the end of the day. All of the seemingly small efforts you make that don’t seem to get you anywhere, will eventually add up to something substantial.

Yes, it takes a lot of time to get going (the same as Farmville). You will initially spend hours working on online articles, or optimising a website or blog (or even multiple sites and blogs) to ensure that they start to bring in additional income.

Like Farmville, where crops may wither, and puppies may run away, you will have your ups and downs with earning online income as well. Some days, you may earn a few dollars ,while on other days, maybe a penny or two.

Some days, you may collect all of the fuel bonuses and mystery eggs, and on other days, you may be a little too slow to do so. It’s a win some lose some scenario. The same principle applies to online income. Some days, you will make it, and other days, you may lose it, or simply not make anything.

The key to making legitimate online income is perseverance. Do not give up, and you will be rewarded accordingly. Always be honest, and don’t try to hide any facts or information from your audience, because they will find you out.

The same as Farmville, it takes a lot of time, and dedication to make a substantial income online.

Comments? Replies?

When compound interest is not in your best interest

These days, there seem to be so many different loan options available to us. Ranging anywhere from 3 month short-term loans, right up to 5 year-long term loans.

Financial institutions make it sound so easy to obtain credit. What they neglect to inform you of though, is how difficult and expensive it is to repay these loans. Giving you the option of extending your loan period may make them sound like they are doing you a huge favour, but in the meanwhile, they are the only ones who are really benefitting from these extended repayment periods by means of extremely high interest rates.

One such loan offer arrived in my mailbox a few days ago, offering me “easy cash for whatever you need it for – now.” They make it sound so easy, in that they will grant you the loan, and you can take anywhere from 24 months to 5 years to repay it.

Upon further investigation, however, I realised that the only people benefitting from this arrangement, would be the loan institution themselves, owing to the extremely exorbitant interest rates they are charging. Yes, the rates may be legal, but they are still absolutely ridiculous, in most cases, requiring you to repay almost double what you initially borrowed, and should you extend your loan repayment period, you will end up paying back more than double what you initially borrowed.

In the small print (don’t we just love how all the really important information is normally classified as “small print?”), it states that interest rates vary between 19% and 26% (compounded monthly), and that the repayment amount is also subject to a monthly service fee, and also does not include a once-off initiation fee, which will vary, depending on the amount of your loan.

Don’t get me wrong, but surely, the amount of work required to process a loan for R10 000/$1334, will be the same as that of a loan for R40 000/$5335? So, in my opinion, why should the initiation fee rise per the amount of your loan? Just another way for the financial institutions to extricate a few more of your hard-earned rands or dollars from you.

I don’t know about you, but to me, this form of loan is the fastest way to ensure that you pay twice for whatever you may be taking the loan for, be it a car, or even for a holiday or anything else. Does the item that you are taking the loan for, really warrant being paid for twice or three times over?

Yes, sometimes, emergencies do happen in life, and a loan is your only option, but always think long and hard, and shop around for different interest rates, before committing to the first offer that lands in your mailbox. There is almost always a better, more cost-effective option available.

CC – Close Corporation or Corporate Circus?

 When the terms “close corporation” or “the corporate world” come to mind, one’s mind would normally conjure up images of an extremely professional, safe, clean and organised work environment.

For the purpose of this post, the abbreviation CC shall refer to Corporate Circus.

Instead, those of us that are a part of it, know that this is so far from the truth that if we didn’t see and experience some of the ridiculous situations for ourselves, we would never believe that they actually happen.

A prime example was hearing about an email that was doing the rounds at a Corporate Circus nearby me, stating that staff would be subject to a disciplinary hearing should they not adhere to wearing their name badges and uniforms. What a joke!

When a workplace imposes such pathetic and ridiculous rules and regulations, it gives me the impression that the hierarchy of the CC (corporate circus) obviously don’t have enough work to do. One would wonder if one of their KPA’s would read as follows, “Performance incentive based upon the imposition of pathetic policies and procedures.”

To set up a disciplinary hearing, takes a lot of time and effort. It often involves calling staff members away from other far more important tasks. It wastes a lot of time – time which could be used far more productively elsewhere.

When will the hierarchy of the CC’s realise that a happy and comfortable worker, is a far more productive worker? Name badges and uniform should be reserved for school children. After all, most of us have been subjected to that for the 12 years of our lives that we were in school.

In general, uniforms are the most impractical pieces of attire for the workplace or CC. They are extremely hot in summer, and in winter, you just about freeze your ass(ets) off because you are expected to parade around in nothing but a flimsy polyester covering, all in the name of “keeping up appearances.”

When confronted on the issue of “corporate attire,” the hierarchy of the CC will often use the fast-wearing-thin excuse of, “It helps promote team work.” Uhm, excuse me, but since when did a pair of pants and a shirt help promote team work? The only thing it achieves is having everyone look like little corporate robots, each trying desperately to lay claim to their very own little space of the cube farm.

This may be purely personal opinion, but quite honestly, when I am dealing with a sales person, or anyone who is in uniform at their place of work, it is definitely not their uniform or appearance that is closing the deal. Quite honestly, the guy can be dressed in a pair of plastic flip-flops and a mesh vest for all I care. As long as he displays a courteous attitude, and knows his product, I am happy. To me, it will never be a case of, “He/she isn’t wearing a name badge, so I won’t do business with them.”

Another area of the CC environment that never ceases to amaze me, is that those who seem to work the hardest and keep the company afloat in terms of profit and sales, are often the ones who are remembered the least when it comes to pay rises or upgrading of essential equipment. One particular establishment comes to mind, where the most profitable department in the CC is the one that has the most outdated equipment, ranging from antiquated office chairs that are a death trap to even place your posterior on, to phones that are malfunctioning to the point where the poor sales person has to stick his head under the desk in order to hear the person on the other end of the line! (Yours truly will refrain from commenting as to where that picture was taken).

“All stationery requests, regardless how small, are to be processed on an official order form only.” You’re kidding me? Not…ok then. At the end of the day, it actually costs the company more for the “official order form” than it costs for the red pen that is needed by the staff member. Next point in question – do they think we eat stationery in our spare time? This is a prime example of being penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to cutting costs in a CC. Curb the use of pens, while spending an exorbitant amount on uniforms. Yeah, that makes sense, doesn’t it? Not!

The CC exists for a reason, but to date, I have yet to establish what it may be. Yes, it helps one pay the bills, but at the end of the day, it turns you into a mindless cube farm inhabitant. Is that really what humans were designed for? I think not. We are creatures of creativity, but the CC tends to stifle that to such an extent, that their employees seldom have any energy or sparks of creativity to their names after a day at the farm, or shall we say circus.

I for one, know that, while I may still be a part of the CC, I am doing my utmost to make sure that it doesn’t suck the life out of me. It isn’t easy, but soon, I will possess the means to be able to walk away from it forever.

Thoughts? Comments? Feedback?

From Dave Ramsay to Suze Orman

Ever been thrown one of life’s curveballs? I’m sure all of us have, be it regarding finances, relationships or even life in general.

One such curveball landed in my midst this past weekend when I decided to inspect my cycling equipment, and discovered that there was damage to the shell of my bike helmet. In all honesty, I have no idea how it happened.

Unfortunately, something like that doesn’t wait for a debt free goal to be achieved before happening. Things like that tend to catch a person unawares.

Before embarking on my campaign to get my consumer debt to the zero mark, I had considered the idea of first building an emergency fund, while making minimum payments on the outstanding debt, vs getting stuck in and paying as much as possible on the outstanding amounts. I had initially decided to take the gazelle intensity approach as mentioned by Dave Ramsey and plow every single spare penny into the debt repayment instead – minus having any form of emergency fund set up.

Bad move. Very bad move, girlfriend. I should have known that our friend Murphy would decide to pay me a visit before I had reached the zero mark.

That happened in the form of a damaged cycling helmet, which I discovered quite accidentally over the past weekend while checking the bike over and cleaning it (yes, just another reason that your bike should be cleaned and serviced regularly. You never know when Murphy will visit – just kidding)!

While most people wouldn’t see this as an absolutely essential item to attend to and replace, on this side, it is extremely important, as the bike is used as a means of transport to get to and from work a few days as week. And yes, safety is a non negotiable topic for me, especially the way drivers here in East London behave towards motorists.

As per the photo above, I opted for the Fox Flux mtb helmet. The fit is absolutely amazing, and I didn’t have to leave a kidney behind at the store as a down payment for it ($133 is a small price to pay when you think about the amount of hospital bills it can end up saving me just by wearing it). Adjusting it is a breeze, and then of course, it isn’t often that I admit to having a slightly girly side to me, but it also matches my bike and Camelbak Mule. So all round, it was a win-win decision.

But yes, after this unforseen expense, I have learned the important of building up an emergency fund, and will start doing so from the very next paycheck that arrives.

On that note, does anyone know of any legitimate opportunities in South Africa where one can earn some sideline income legally? If so, please advise.

The Consumer strikes back

How many of us have been coerced into paying for products or services that we didn’t really want, or that were unsuitable for us? I’m sure almost every one of you raised at least one hand in answer to that.

Those sneaky timeshare sales people, the pushy sales person in the store that has a target to meet, or that pesky car sales person that possesses levels of tenacity superior to that of Attila the Hun. All of them have been preying on innocent consumers for far too long, because the general attitude towards as us consumers has been, “You’ve signed on the dotted line, so now it’s your problem, and you’re stuck with the goods/service, even if you don’t really want it.”

The 28 April 2010 sees a New Consumer Protection Act launching in South Africa, which will protect the rights of consumers in such situations. The second phase of the Act will come into being from 28 October 2010.

No longer will airlines in South Africa be able to cancel flights for no reason. If a consumer has paid for a service, or a flight in this case, the flight will have to take off, whether there is only one passenger on the flight or not.

Contracts and timeshare will be entitled to a cooling off period of five days. In this time, should the consumer decide that they no longer want the service or product, they will be entitled to cancel the deal. Any money paid will have to then be refunded to them within a maximum of 15 working days.

Consumers will also be protected against defective and dangerous merchandise, as well as foodstuffs. Should a product cause injury or death to a consumer, the consumer or their loved ones will then be able to hold the supplier of the defective goods liable for any damages incurred.

It’s about time that the rights of consumers were heard in South Africa. A bill like this has been needed for a long time already. Although, one can only hope that people will utilise their common sense and not try to turn South Africans into a bunch of spineless, whiny individuals who go around filing lawsuits after burning themselves on a cup of coffee, because they failed to read the warning printed on the bottom of the coffee cup that states, “Caution: Contents may become hot after heating.”

Thoughts? Views? Feel free to comment.