Business Bed Bureau

Phew, the weekend flew by like nothing! I got myself into mild trouble with starting to sort files - partly for straightening out the finances that haven't been included in straightening-outings yet ;o) And partly to start getting ready for filing my taxes!

It's still pretty early in the year, tax filings in Germany are not due until May 31st - but the earlier I file them, the earlier I have a chance of getting some of my payments back ;o) I guess that's universal for every country.

As I started thinking about tackling the business plan goal (you see? thinking about tackling... I'm still in the early stages :o)), I have decided to expose myself to fresh entrepreneurial thought. Ideally, I'd be mingling with a bunch of überhuman business magnates that managed to stay down to earth. As I am currently lacking such contacts in the business, I went for the next big thing. Buying a magazine in the field...

I am always amazed at the sheer size of the magazine market. And yet, I find it pretty difficult finding a product that is worth going back to time and time again, at least for a little while. Over the past year, I have been an infrequent reader of Business Punk. (Infrequent, because I only read 3 issues so far. On the other hand, as far as I know only 3 issues have been published until now, so maybe I am really more of a hardcore fan...?). That's a highly recommendable magazine for entertainment with a taste for business. I quite enjoy reading it, but it isn't entirely helpful for soon-to-be entrepreneurs.

Which let me to (*drumroll*) the entrepreneur! With that title, I had to be hooked. It took me three trips to the book store to actually buy it though. The cover looked great, the topics sounded interesting. Only one thing really annoyed me. The original US-version costs $4,99 as printed on the issue. The book store recalculated that into Euros - translating $4,99 to €8,80! OUCH!

Well, I guess book store owners have to carve out a living somehow as well... Conversions like that are a definite reason for just subscribing to the original though. Which I promptly checked out. I bought the magazine, I've read about a third so far and quite like it, found a gift coupon - and the coupon is for $9,99 - for 12 issues! Even better than the Kiplinger's deal! This one comes with a hook though - to include international mailing bumps up the price tag to $35,97 dollars. Which, of course, is still a better deal then 12x €8,80, but not as great a deal as I thought.

Soooo, as my final comment of the day - I spent the best 10€ ever today :o)))))))) I bought a portable bed bureau *grin* A wooden surface mounted on top of a textile bag filled with polyester bubbles - to set on your lap while sitting in bed, with your laptop on it! Here's a picture:

So what more can I say - Goooood night everyone :o)

Charitable Giving

Sometimes I wonder whether it's rude to just start writing a post without saying so much as a hello. Hey folks, what've ya been up to? Life's grand, cheers?

Anyhow. I just finished reading an article called "How to Give Like a Billionaire" by Dan Kadlec, published in the special outlook issue of MONEY magazine in December 2010. Dennis and I were on our way to Northern Michigan, USA, and I had stopped at an airport book store to pick up something to read. I ended up an issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance and aforementioned special outlook issue of Money. (As a side note, it is not unusual for me to buy a magazine somewhere, sometime, and only end up reading it a LOT later).

I was very impressed with Kiplinger's, liked their personal tone, broad range of financial topics, while using a language that was easy to understand for newbies. I was already regretting that we were living in Germany when I saw that their 1-year subscription only costs $12!! In our case plus $17 for shipping, but I was sold. We've been subscribed since November of last year and I am looking forward to each new issue.

With Money Magazine, it took me ages to actually read the issue. They have a lot more ads in the paper, but the content is pretty good as well. And to circle back to the beginning of this post, that was where I read the article on giving like a billionaire.

7 Principles:
Billionaires... concentrate on a few key causes.
You... can write bigger checks to fewer charities.
Billionaires... are businesslike about giving.
You... should plan out your giving for the year and take time to research charities.
Billionaires... take their wealthy pals on a weekend retreat and hit them up for pledges.
You... can round up your like-minded friends and pool your charitable resources.
Billionaires... establish lasting legacies.
You... can benefit by working giving into your estate planning.
Billionaires... donate the fruits of their wealth.
You... can give away highly appreciated assets.
Billionaires... have fancy foundations.
You... can open a donor-advised fund to spread your giving over time.
Billionaires... sit on non-profit boards.
You... can give your time to your favorite cause.

To read the entire article, go here.

So I figure I'm on a pretty good path here:
I don't have billions to give away yet, but I am making plans on what to give this year (check).
I am researching charities to choose one whose cause I can identify with (check).
Since I don't have heaps of money, I am planning on giving my time (check).
Conclusion: Sounds like a plan to me (pad self on the back).

To help out with (check) #2, the author of the article was friendly enough to list a number of links that I hope will turn out to be helpful:

- charitynavigator.org: lists information on more than 5,500 charitable organizations, with star ratings, financial health, and efficiency with donor funds

- Guidestar.org: has tax information on more than 1.8 million US charities to see where your money is going

- DonorsChoose.org: helps you find projects that you can fully fund, such as buying a drum set for a school band

There is even a note of a subsidiary of eBay's, called Giving Works - apparently it works just as ebay itself does, but no listing fees and commissions need to be paid as long as you agree to donate all of the sale proceeds to one of 18.000 charities. I'm slightly shocked that I've never heard of this before.

The only thing that I didn't find additional information on in the article is where a good place to start looking for volunteer opportunities would be. But then again, I will probably just have to ask that question.

Time to think about giving back! :o):)