In the tenth episode of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, Tom Dziubek interviews Jim Wang and Erica Douglass. Jim Wang is the creator of Bargaineering and Grill Maestro, and in today’s interview, Tom and Jim discuss a variety of tips for creating a successful and frugal barbecue for July 4.
Erica Douglass is a business success blogger who sold her first business for $1 million. She coaches small businesses at Erica.biz. Tom, Erica, and I discuss her entrepreneurial experiences with building her own business and suggestions for anyone who would like to prosper while self-employed.
To listen, use the player above (Adobe Flash required), download the podcast here, subscribe to the podcast RSS feed, or use the iTunes link. Note: open links in a new window (Ctrl-click or Command-click) to avoid interrupting the podcast.
[00:00] Introduction from Flexo
[00:51] Interview with Jim Wang
[01:25] — Bargain tips for grill shoppers
[02:22] — Charcoal grilling
[04:12] — Preventive maintenance for grills
[06:38] — Meat buying tips
[09:25] — Other cheap ways to keep guests happy
[11:03] Interview with Erica Douglass
[11:44] — Erica’s teenage job
[13:07] — How Erica made a million dollars
[17:04] — Obstacles Erica faced in starting her company
[19:46] — Successful personality traits in entrepreneurs
[20:37] — Tips for aspiring entrepreneurs looking to beat poor startup success rates
[21:35] — More tips for entrepreneurs
[23:03] — Business goals for entrepreneurs
[24:23] — How Erica’s handling semi-retirement
[27:41] End
Penelope Trunk and Leo Babauta are today’s guests on the Consumerism Commentary Podcast. Penelope Trunk is the author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success and founder of the career advancement website Brazen Careerist. Tom Dziubek and I speak with Penelope about maintaining careers in today’s recession and she presents a number of tips for finding jobs right now.
Our discussion with Leo Babauta, author of The Power of Less and creator of Zen Habits, centers around the concept of minimalism and how this philosophy can improve your personal financial situation.
To listen, use the player above (Adobe Flash required), download the podcast here, subscribe to the podcast RSS feed, or use the iTunes link. Note: open links in a new window (Ctrl-click or Command-click) to avoid interrupting the podcast.
[00:00] Introduction from Flexo
[00:48] Interview with Penelope Trunk
[01:35] — The economy’s effect on the job market
[02:45] — Generation X versus Generation Y
[05:52] — Applying for jobs online is not enough, hire a resume writer
[08:14] — Standing out among a large pool of applicants
[09:30] — Cover letters
[11:15] — Personalizing the job search with social media
[14:15] — What Brazen Careerist offers career seekers
[16:50] Interview with Leo Babauta
[17:35] — The definition of minimalism
[18:48] — How minimalism is related to personal finance
[19:40] — Minimalism versus frugality
[21:49] — Applying minimalism to buying a house and car
[24:51] — Small changes to spending in line with minimalism
[26:48] — Gradually shifting to minimalism
[28:27] — Minimalism helps you lose weight
[30:15] — Applying ten healthy dieting principles to debt elimination
[35:05] End
Today’s Consumerism Commentary Podcast features an interview with Greg Grunberg, star of the NBC television series Heroes and drummer in Band From TV, a celebrity band to benefit charities. Greg, Tom Dziubek, and I discuss Yowza!!, the new iPhone (and iPod Touch) app for saving money co-created by Greg.
We also discuss Greg’s roles as an advocate for education about epilepsy and as a parent of a child with epilepsy. He created the website TalkAboutIt.org to educate the world about seizures and other aspects of this condition.
If you are a member of Twitter, follow @greggrunberg for Greg’s personal updates and @yowza for the latest news about Yowza!! including new retailers as they add coupons to the service.
For more information about epilepsy, visit Epilepsy Advocate, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE), and of course, TalkAboutIt.org.
To listen, use the player above (Adobe Flash required), download the podcast here, subscribe to the podcast RSS feed, or use the iTunes link. Note: open links in a new window (Ctrl-click or Command-click) to avoid interrupting the podcast.
[00:00] Introduction from Flexo
[00:40] Interview with actor Greg Grunberg about Yowza!!
[01:15] — Greg’s friendship with producer J.J. Abrams
[04:14] — Greg talks about Yowza
[10:50] — Yowza continues to add more retailers
[16:19] — The freshness of Yowza deals
[19:29] — Discussion about the upcoming season of Heroes
[22:27] — Greg talks about epilepsy and the website TalkAboutIt.org
[32:53] — Greg continues discussion about Yowza
[38:46] End
This episode of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast features interviews with Barron Ernst and Linsey Knerl. Barron Ernst is the product manager for Intuit’s Quicken Online and in the podcast, Barron and Tom Dziubek discuss the financial product’s features. Linsey Knerl is one of several authors of 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget. as well as the financial website Wise Bread.
To listen, use the player above (Adobe Flash required), download the podcast here, subscribe to the podcast RSS feed, or use the iTunes link. Note: open links in a new window (Ctrl-click or Command-click) to avoid interrupting the podcast.
[00:00] Introduction from Flexo
[00:44] Interview with Barron Ernst, product manager of Intuit’s Quicken Online
[01:17] — Quicken Online vs. other free financial management sites
[02:38] — Quicken Online’s “Trends” feature
[04:16] — Security at Quicken Online
[05:40] — Quicken Online on your cell phone
[10:07] Interview with Linsey Knerl, an author of 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget
[11:28] — Ways to go green and save money
[15:00] — Saving money on health care
[17:31] — Avoiding tricky supermarket traps
[20:37] — Seeing the world for free
[24:03] End
Kerry K. Taylor, author of 397 Ways to Save Money and creator of financial blog Squawkfox joins Tom Dziubek today to discuss her book, currently available from Amazon.ca. Kerry explains how she paid off $17,000 of debt in six months and how to make drastic life changes. She also shares some of her favorite tips from 397 Ways to Save Money.
To listen, use the player above (Adobe Flash required), download the podcast here, subscribe to the podcast RSS feed, or use the iTunes link. Note: open links in a new window (Ctrl-click or Command-click) to avoid interrupting the podcast.
[00:00] Introduction from Flexo
[00:39] Interview with Kerry K. Taylor of Squawkfox
[01:33] — Paying off $17,000 of debt in six months
[03:34] — Negotiating your first salary offer
[04:47] — Maintaining a student lifestyle and standard of living
[05:57] — Using any available tax credits and saving for retirement
[08:18] — Moving to an organic farm and making other drastic life changes
[11:36] — 397 Ways to Save Money
[13:55] — How renting an apartment can make you rich
[17:00] — How management fees deplete returns from your investments
[18:07] — Other surprising tips from 397 Ways to Save Money
[19:06] — Is the recent popularity of frugality just a fad?
[25:20] End
Today’s podcast features an interview with J.D. Roth from popular blog Get Rich Slowly. J.D. talks with Tom Dziubek and me about how he was inspired to begin writing about personal finance and his decision to leave the corporate world behind and take his passion to the next level.
Tom also speaks with Bryan J Busch from Stop Being Broken. Bryan is a usability expert, and Stop Being Broken is a series of videos pointing out problems with a wide variety of user experiences. One such user experience is the budget, and in this interview, Bryan explains what works for him and his wife. Here is the video and Excel spreadsheet mentioned in the interview.
To listen, use the player above (Adobe Flash required), download the podcast here, subscribe to the podcast RSS feed, or use the iTunes link. Note: open links in a new window (Ctrl-click or Command-click) to avoid interrupting the podcast.
[00:00] Introduction from Flexo
[00:48] Interview with J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly about following passions
[01:38] — The beginning of Get Rich Slowly
[04:04] — Leaving the box factory to write full-time
[05:50] — The effect of self-employment on social interactions and benefits
[07:37] — How to prepare for leaving a career
[09:07] — Seeking professional advice
[10:30] — The progress of Get Rich Slowly and unforeseen obstacles
[15:12] — Tips that apply to passions other than writing
[16:39] — Pursuing multiple streams of income and the effect of the recession
[19:28] Interview with Bryan J Busch of Stop Being Broken
[20:20] — A family budget system for dual income
[21:41] — Adapting the budget for a single income family
[23:48] — Using joint savings accounts in addition to checking accounts
[25:23] — Alternative approaches to the budget
[27:00] — Automatic transfers based on the budget
[28:44] End
If you have suggestions for the next edition of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, or reactions to these interviews, feel free to leave a comment here or email your thoughts to podcast at this domain name.
In today’s podcast, Tom Dziubek and I talk with Avi Karnani, founder, and Matt Wallaert, Lead Scientist, from Thrive about the services offered by this financial services website and about frugality.
To listen, use the player above (Adobe Flash required), download the podcast here, subscribe to the podcast RSS feed, or use the iTunes link. Note: open links in a new window (ctrl-click or command-click) to avoid interrupting the podcast.
[00:00] Introduction from Flexo
[00:36] Interview with Avi Karnani and Matt Wallaert of Thrive
[01:12] — Beginnings of Thrive
[06:11] — Matt Wallaert’s “Lead Scientist” role
[06:59] — Thrive vs. other financial advisory services
[08:55] — Can Thrive replace a financial planner?
[11:47] — Security information about Thrive
[14:06] — Thrive’s revenue streams
[15:29] — Frugality and its future
[17:41] Thrive Wrap-up
If you have suggestions for the next edition of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, or reactions to these interviews, feel free to leave a comment here or email your thoughts to podcast at this domain name.
In today’s podcast, Tom Dziubek talks with Ken Lin from Credit Karma about credit scores. Tom also talks about credit scores and the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act with MSN Money’s Liz Weston.
To listen, use the player above (Adobe Flash required), download the podcast here, subscribe to the podcast RSS feed, or use the iTunes link. Note: open links in a new window (Ctrl-click or Command-click) to avoid interrupting the podcast.
[00:00] Introduction from Flexo
[00:38] Interview with Ken Lin of Credit Karma about credit scores
[01:22] — Explaining a credit score
[02:33] — The three credit bureaus
[03:24] — Credit Karma overview
[04:26] — Positive indicators in March credit scores
[05:47] — Lending practice changes and possible impact on credit scores
[06:38] — Limitations of a good credit rating
[08:15] — Credit Karma wrap-up
[08:51] Interview with Liz Weston of MSN Money about the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights and improving credit scores
[09:26] — Status of the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act
[10:10] — Reactions of credit card companies to the bill
[11:50] — Liz’s take on people being able to adjust their credit limits
[12:56] — Will credit card companies to freeze or slow lending?
[14:20] — The importance of improving your credit score
[15:50] — Liz’s seven fast fixes on improving your credit score
[21:19] — The differences between the three major credit bureaus
[23:40] — Liz Weston wrap-up
[24:28] End
If you have suggestions for the next edition of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, or reactions to these interviews, feel free to leave a comment here or email your thoughts to podcast at this domain name.
