WHO: Alex Andon
WHAT: Jellyfish Art, a company that designs decorative, custom made and desktop jellyfish aquariums
WHEN: 2008
WHERE: San Francisco, CA
HOW: They often say that in order to be successful in business, you have to start out doing the dirty work. Just ask twenty-five-year-old Alex Andon, founder of Jellyfish Art. “Before starting Jellyfish Art I was working as a lab technician at a biotech company…my job was to process monkey, rat and human stool samples, which was a nauseating task,” says Andon. A marine biology student in college, Andon always had an interest in captive jellyfish breeding and knew how much of an attraction jellyfish were at public aquariums. “Jellyfish have been hugely popular since scientists discovered how to display them in captivity about ten years ago,” says Andon. More…
I think of the scene in You’ve Got Mail. Meg Ryan gets to the front of the cash-only line at a store New Yorker’s recognize as Zabar’s on the Upper West Side when she discovers she doesn’t have enough cash, only plastic. “I don’t have any money,” she is forced to admit. “Only this.” The cashier (a pre-Grey’s Anatomy Sara Ramirez) doesn’t want to bend the rules and swipe her card. Tom Hanks, whom Meg is trying desperately to avoid, turns on the charm and Ramirez relents. But we’re meant to think she’s mortified. The same sort of mortified you feel when your credit card is declined in a restaurant or a chic boutique.
Well, for the record, I like this movie. It’s one of those — like the American President or Serendipity — I watch every time it’s on TV. But the embarrassment factor? I don’t think so. More…
In a past segment on the Today show you mentioned a couple of sites for individuals wanting to work from home. I want to look for work from home opportunities on the web but don’t want to be scammed. What are the sites?
-Toree, Iowa
Working from home definitely has its perks. “You don’t waste time commuting. You can be home for your family when you need to. You can usually set your own schedule. You don’t have to pay for a work wardrobe,” are just a few of them, says Allison O’Kelly, CEO of MomCorps.com. While working from home can make things easier, searching for a position is anything but simple.
To sidestep work from home scams, start your search with sites that feature only vetted work from home opportunities. Two of my favorites are Women for Hire and Mom Corps. Although both are geared towards women, the sites provide free listings of legitimate work from home jobs for both sexes. Another place to check for work from home jobs is directly with companies. For example, JetBlue has agents that work from home.
Once you think you’ve found a real work from home opportunity, do a little poking around. Start by asking More…
Resolving credit report issues, dealing with unpaid bills, getting a car loan…on this morning’s Money 911, it seemed like we touched on it all. Miss the segment? Check out the video below.
WHO: Sister duo Talia Bahr Goldfarb and Danielle Bahr Eason
WHAT: Myself Belts; a line of belts for children and adults featuring a one-handed patented belt closure which allows the wearer to open and close their belt easily with only one hand
WHEN: 2003
WHERE: St. Louis, Missouri
HOW: When Goldfarb’s son ditched his diapers, the idea for Myself Belts was born. “We discovered a void in the marketplace when my son was 3 and became potty trained. Without the bulk of his diaper, his pants didn’t fit him correctly anymore and when we searched for a belt, we discovered that there were not any belts on the market that young children could actually use independently,” says Goldfarb.
From there, Goldfarb and Eason took their idea and ran with it. “We did a patent search and discovered that our idea was actually an invention. We patented the Myself Belts’ belt closure and then began the steps of actually manufacturing our line of belts,” says Goldfarb. Using their own personal savings, the sisters took a risk, put five figures into launching the business and ordered 10,000 belts before receiving any orders from stores. Thankfully, trusting their instincts paid off. “By the time our belts arrived, we already had 100 stores that had placed orders from a marketing mailing that we had sent out while the belts were in production. We were pretty relieved that our instinct was correct!” says Goldfarb. Today, Myself Belts are sold in retail stores across the country and on a variety of websites including Target.com. More…
I received a letter from my credit card issuer today stating that since I had not used my card for “an extended period of time” that they permanently closed my account. My goal in not using my cards was to improve my credit score. My question is since the issuer was the one that closed the account, will it reflect negatively on my credit report?
-Lori, New Jersey
It seems logical right? Don’t use your card, you won’t have a balance and you won’t have to worry about paying it off. Unfortunately however, that’s not the case. “Card issuers have been closing out millions of inactive accounts…they are doing this in order to limit their risk as they are facing mounting losses related to card members who are unable to make payments on their credit cards,” says CardRatings.com’s Curtis Arnold.
If you don’t use your credit card over about a six-month period, it may be considered inactive and your issuer may cancel your account. Unfortunately, this will impact your credit score. “Closing out an account that you haven’t used in a while on the surface may seem like a prudent thing to do, but doing so will likely adversely affect your credit score,” says Arnold.
The decreasing of your score has to do with a little something called your utilization ratio. More…
Earlier today, CNBC’s Sharon Epperson and I teamed up to answer your money questions. Watch the video below for tips on what to do with your extra savings, how to deal with the financial impact of unemployment and more.
More and more Americans are being hit with increased credit card rates. What’s the best way to cope? Watch the video below to find out.
