Readers, thank you for you devotion and patience for new No Work Times posts. I’d like to share with you a special day that everyone should be conscious of and help raise global awareness for. Next Monday, October 5, 2009 will be World Habitat Day sponsored by Habitat For Humanity.

According to the United Nations, more than 100 million people in the world today are homeless. The United Nations has chosen the first Monday in October this year to be World Habitat Day, a day to stand up and let it be known that affordable, adequate housing should be a priority everywhere. Raising awareness about this global problem is the first step in making sure that everyone everywhere has a safe and decent place to call home.

What can you do for World Habitat Day? You can advocate by asking Congress to make housing a priority. You can also educate your community about World Habitat Day and get people involved. Link the World Habitat Day 2009 resources page via your Twitter, Facebook, blog or personal website. Lastly, you can donate online to support Habitat’s efforts and be a part of making the world a better place to live.

It literally takes seconds to tweet, post, update or talk about World Habitat Day. Help us reach out to the world about this global observance.

I appreciate your patience and understanding in these sensitive times. I am still dedicated to bringing you news and encouragement about being economically-savvy so please stay subscribed. I’ll be posting regularly again soon.

Yours truly,

Penny

A couple of weeks ago, an underdog airline decided to launch a promotional campaign where you get an “All-You-Can-Jet Pass” for only $599. Surprisingly, that company was JetBlue. The beauty of this campaign is the fact that I found out about it via Twitter through my friends and not through a news site or TV commercial. Being a Dallas resident, I hardly ever heard of this airline. I was more acquainted with American Airlines and Southwest. After a quick investigation, I realized that JetBlue does not service out of Dallas, however it does from Austin and Houston which are only a few short hours of driving. This is an amazing travel deal for businesses, professionals and casual frequent flyers at an amazing price. You have the option to travel both domestically and internationally as long as there are available seats. JetBlue offers flights from 57 cities and more than 600 daily flights. Can you imagine the possibilities? The catch is you only have one month (between 9/08/09 – 10/08/09) to do all your travel hopping. You also have until Aug 21, 2009 (the end of this week) to purchase your “All-You-Can-Jet Pass“! If you have the extraneous funds and time, I highly suggest you take advantage of this fantastic offer while supplies last.

*UPDATE: Still thinking about buying the $599 all-you-can-jet Pass? Pass sales end today Aug 19 at 10 p.m. ET.

Bill Shrink

This free cost-savings tool works to save you money on your everyday expenses like gas, cell phone plans and credit cards. Bill Shrink offers unbiased recommendations, personalized alerts which you can opt out at anytime and privacy protection of your personal information.

Craigslist

We’ve seen this handy site come up before. Bargain hunters use it to find new and used items. Job hunters use it to find services. You can even barter for things you don’t have the cash for. There’s also a “Free” section where you can find posts about anything from furniture to kitty litter. You’ll be surprised by what you find.

Deal Catcher

This popular website boasts an active forum community of more than 50,000 people. The actual deals are published by their full-time staff so they’re legit. Pay special attention to their “Sunday Ads” and “Compare Prices” tabs where you can find the freshest specials for the week.

Fat Wallet

Among favorites of money savers, Fat Wallet is the place to go for an all-inclusive site with an in-house cash back program, coupon search and deal forum. The perk that sets this site apart from the rest is the fact that you can get anywhere from 1-50% cash back on purchases at Fat Wallet and their partner stores.

Kayak

This is one of the best travel fare comparison sites out there. Think of it as the Google of travel search engines. Kayak pulls the best flight, hotel and vacation deals from hundreds of travel sites like Travelocity and Priceline (including airline sites) and provides the information to you in a easy-to-use display. You can even sign up for fare alerts via email to track the latest travel prices.

Restaurant

Restaurants.com wants to help you treat yourself and family to a nice dinner, especially in today’s economy. They are offering $25 gift certificates at select dining establishments for only $10 each. This is great way to save money when going out to celebrate that special birthday or anniversary.

Red Plum

Rumored to be one of the best grocery coupon websites, Red Plum provides free exclusive offers based on your zip code. The site is simply user-friendly and gives you the option to print in-store coupons. They even have categories labeled “Style” and “Life@Home” for deals pertaining to your fashion and household needs.

Retail Me Not

Hosting a massive database of online and printable coupons for everything, Retail Me Not ranks coupons based on success rate and users’ vote on the coupon’s reliability. There’s a toolbar you can download for your browser so you’ll always have access to the latest coupons and their coupon search.

Twitter

There’s no better place to find last-minute daily deals and exclusive offers and contests than the threshold of Twitter. Big brands like United, JetBlue and Amazon are perfect examples of companies that are utilizing the microblogging site the right way in terms of winning customers.

Wise Bread

Last but not least, we have Wise Bread. It is a community of bloggers who help you live large on a small budget. You can find tips on frugal living, personal financial advice and deals and coupons. Keeping up with current events, Wise Bread is a good source for unconventional and timely wisdom.

Did you know that a public library houses more than just books and microfiche?

It can also be your one-stop entertainment shop for the entire family. Believe it or not, you can rent movies (old and new) on DVD’s or VHS, check out music CD’s, pick up audiobooks and borrow vinyl records for free. It’s all at your fingertips with a library card. Signing up costs nothing and you can usually check out as many items to your heart’s content. Other amenities which you can utilize for free (dependent on your library location) include:

• free wifi
• meeting rooms
• book clubs
• community organizations
• job seekers resource center (resume writing assistance, job seeker seminars, extended-length computer sessions)
• “Every Child Ready to Read” literacy workshops for children
• free G.E.D and E.S.L classes

If there’s a new released book or movie coming out, you can reserve a copy in person or online. The library is also a great environment to focus on your job search and a great place for resources related to your career. Talk about convenient. Check out www.publiclibraries.com to find your nearest library and take advantage of what they have to offer!

So, you’ve recently lost your job or you’ve been unemployed for quite some time. Other than spending more quality time with family and friends and indulging in your hobbies, what else are you doing? Did you take the advice from my last post and put yourself out there online for the important people to see? Great! That’s the first step. The next one may take more courage, effort and time but if you’re willing to go the extra mile, you’ll be sharper and happier. Here are some alternative ideas catered to a few occupations.

The Salesman

It doesn’t matter if you’ve sold cars or other inanimate objects in the past: once a sales pro, always a sales pro! Right now, pharmaceutical sales is a good place to be. This field, often called “recession-proof,” is popular because it offers excellent salary potential, great benefits and flexibility. Other safe bets include process and logistics consulting services for businesses and personal financial/investment advice for consumers. Also, don’t forget about the success of health insurance sales.

The Artist

Whether you’re a web or print designer, traditional artist or marketing manager, listen up! If you already haven’t done so, build your own personal website. Brand yourself. Showcase your talent and keep your skills fresh. Tumblr and Wordpress are a couple of free blogging platforms you can use as your professional canvas. If you’re a marketing guru, market who you are and what you do best. If you’re a cutting edge copywriter, blog your brains out and package everything and anything you talk about. If you’re a developer, there’s no better time than now to learn how to design and write new code. The same applies to designers: teach yourself how the backend works and put yourself in the shoes of a developer. Better yet, trade some lessons with each other. Nowadays, hiring companies and agencies that are looking for mid-level creative candidates expect you to be proficient in HTML, CSS, PowerPoint, Photoshop and SEO. Basically, to save a buck, they want to hire one all-around web expert.

The Humanitarian

Recruiters and hiring eyes are looking for more than just qualifying attributes when it comes to your resume. They also pay attention to gaps in your employment history. If you’ve been recently laid off for a few months, they’re probably wondering what you’ve been doing with your free time and if your skills have gone stale. This is where you can fill in the gaps (literally) by volunteering. If you have construction experience, help out with your local Habitat for Humanity or community. Churches and homeless shelters could always use a handyman. If you’re a culinary genius, teach cooking classes or make a recipe book and publish it. Others that could benefit from your help are senior homes, blood and plasma donation centers and child care facilities. For a complete list of opportunities in your area, check out VolunteerMatch. No matter your previous experience or job history, anyone can volunteer and be a mentor. Put your skills and talent to good use even if you’re not receiving a paycheck. Sharing and obtaining knowledge is most valuable in times like these.

It’s an unfortunate but true fact that print is dying a slow death and the web has taken over as king of content for quite some time now. With the steady decline of newspapers and advertisers bailing on magazines, job seekers have to rely heavily, if not totally, on the internet for their job hunting.

Most consumers in the U.S. already know about and utilize the free, mainstream job board sites such as Monster and Careerbuilder (kudos to their marketing campaigns and Superbowl commercials). Other less-flashy online classifieds which have proved to be gig gold mines include Craigslist and Indeed.

Contradictory to the popular view that Craigslist is a flea market for junk, jokes and juveniles, I’ve personally landed some of the best jobs of my life there. Many startups and entrepreneurial groups post great opportunities that add to your career path and offer fun and laid back environments. Surprisingly, Fortune 500 agencies and companies like to cast their lines in this pool as well. They understand that the Craigslist crowd is a different demographic: younger, web savvy and intelligent. There are thousands of marketing, creative and technical positions posted daily worldwide.

Indeed is also a great tool to add to your list of job sites. In one simple search, Indeed gives job seekers free access to millions of employment opportunities from thousands of websites. The site is easy to navigate through and the links take you straight to where you apply; no silliness with ads and page redirects. These are just two out of hundreds of alternative job sites out there I recommend for your daily search. The next three may come as a surprise as you might think these are the last places you’d look.

Everyone and their mom has a Facebook profile now. Half of those people also have Twitter accounts. However, only a handful realizes how to tap into their existing online social resources for job leads and referrals. Facebook is a great place to connect with former colleagues, coworkers and family. Why not post an update about what kind of job you’re looking for? Ask around and you might be surprised what people may come back with. As the sociologists say, we’re all separated by six degrees; and your friend or cousin’s friend may know someone who needs to fill a position that only you can fill!

Twitter works in a similar way; the only difference is your updates are limited to 140 characters each. But so what! You can tweet (update) a hundred times a day if you wanted to (caution: you may lose some followers, but if they weren’t your real friends in the first place, who needs ‘em?). Tell the Twitterverse what kind of position you are looking for. Boast about your professional skills and include a link or picture of your work. There are thousands of twitter postings about job openings and referrals daily. Just like Facebook, you have to do your part by being proactive and engaging in the online conversation. They don’t call these sites “social networking” for nothing. You’ll be surprised at how many people will respond and try to help you out. It’s a great feeling and motivation. More importantly, you’re making yourself visual to the community that matters most to your career path. 

Lastly, one crucial and professional social networking site that is a-must is LinkedIn. I cannot stress enough how it is imperative to have a LinkedIn profile. Other than Google, this is one of the first places recruiters go to look up your name. Think of this as your primary and public online resume. Just like Facebook, you can be connected with former coworkers and organizations. A nice unique feature of LinkedIn is the “Recommendation” option. Basically, you can recommend a connection as a colleague, a service provider, a business partner or student. In return they can leave you a recommendation (or you can request one), which you can approve or delete. A lot of LinkedIn job postings require applicants who have at least three recommendations. You can also customize your profile with applications that showcase your blog, professional presentations, polls and company buzz.

If you apply all the resources mentioned here, it shouldn’t be long before you hear of a potential opportunity. While the world moves from paper to pixels, we have to adapt and teach ourselves new tricks. Sometimes that includes changing the way we spread word-of-mouth and learning new ways of communication. Good luck and happy searching!

Many of the nation’s recently unemployed are going back to school and in some cases, for free.

Whether in pursuit of a new career change or continuing their education, thousands of laid-off workers are supporting lifelong learning with assistance from state workforce and labor commissions.

According to a CNN report, “many community colleges have cut or frozen tuition for laid-off workers, and scholarships and other forms of financial assistance have been made available”.

Dependent upon your area and state, you may have the option to obtain a certificate, associates license and/ or college course credits.

Some people are choosing to earn that project manager or webmaster certificate they never had time for before. Some are finishing up those last 12 college credits towards a degree. Others are taking up new hobbies and learning the basics of art and other languages.

Look into your local workforce commission for information on approved career schools, colleges and public universities.

Whatever you’re looking for, there’s a program out there that will help further your career, teach you something new, or just simply keep you busy and having fun.

Today, an article on CNN appeared with the title “Recesson: I’m lovin’ it!” It’s actually an inspiring and uplifting post on random people in the U.S. who have recently been affected by the economy. Some of the stories talk about entrepreneurial ideas while others tell about world travels and new career ventures. There is a testimony for each type of person: single or married with children, young or old. Many were top executives making six figure incomes and some were small business owners. It’s always nice and encouraging to see people out there fulfilling the old saying: “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade”.

It’s a no brainer that you have to be smart and organized about the funds and bills you have under your name. It’s especially crucial in times like these and pertinent while you’re job searching or unemployed.

That’s why I’ve listed the top three (and free) finance software programs available online to help you feel a little less stressed when it comes to managing your money. These sites are highly secure, easy to use with helpful charts and email alerts, and it doesn’t hurt they’re easy on the eyes.

Mint

Winning the “Editor’s Choice Award” by PC Magazine and Money Magazine’s “Top Pick with 4 stars”, this site automatically updates your banking, savings and credit card transactions and labels them into categories you can quickly identify in charts and graphs. You can set up email alerts to notify you when a payment due is approaching or when one your balances are getting low. Mint also tells you how you can save money by offering “Your Ways to Save” on your profile; it finds the best credit cards and banking accounts with low APR’s and balance transfers based on your financial activity.

ClearCheckbook

ClearCheckbook is similar to Mint (it also is iPhone-friendly, shows automatic transactions and reports) but it stands out with the “CheckBot” option which allows you to update your account from SMS, AIM, Yahoo!, Google and ICQ messenger services. Another unique feature of ClearCheckbook gives you the freedom to import transactions from your bank or credit card website into CSV, QIF, OFX or QFX reports. After importing them, you can edit and verify what you need before adding them to your account.

MySpendingPlan

Recommended by the Wall Street Journal, this site focuses on building your savings. It pays special attention to detailed budget set-ups and money management for groups or for your household. There is a shopping and “Save More” section that includes a shopping planner, free grocery and online coupons, online and in-store discounts/deals along with free samples. You can also find pre-made templates for standard personal budgets or for larger expenses.