7 Step Consulting

Track them down

If you are like me as you have grown up, inevitably you have lost contact with some of your best friends from high school and college. The internet is, of course, making things easier for you to track them back down and re-connect. A new website, World Wide People Locator, has a great People Locator tool to help you reconnect.

The Economy

I’m being asked in one of my classes what we think is going to happen to the economy. To be honest, I have no clue. I don’t think we are out of the danger zone with the credit crunch. Americans have been using their homes as ATMs and buying cars or upgrades with equity. That works all well and good until the home value plummets. Since we just bought a house one year ago, I’m hoping home values don’t plummet too much…

Updated police gear

Believe it or not, Christmas is right around the corner. You’ll soon see the Halloween costumes and gear — right next to Christmas decorations.

Do you have a police, SWAT, or paintballing fan in your life? Why not hook them up with some authentic police gear from surefire? Surefire makes all kinds of products — batteries, weapon lights, etc.

Imagine your eight year old nephew with a real police flashlight. Big fan!

Olympic Closing Ceremony

So, was I the only person who thought “I wonder if this was faked” as the ceremonies ended in Beijing?

For the unaware, there were three major issues with the opening ceremonies. One, the fireworks were fake CGI graphics. Two, the little girl who sang the national anthem was lip syncing because the girl who sang the best wasn’t pretty enough to represent her country.

I can’t remember the third thing.

But it popped into my mind…

Get free of debt

Debt sucks. I think most of us know this (except most naive and uneducated college students). At the end of the day that plasma TV you just bought on payments (selling price: $1,500) might cost you $4,000 by the time you pay it off.

That’s insane.

But maybe you slipped up in the past. You see the error of your ways. Or you had a medical or family emergency and had no other choice than to go into debt.

There is a way out. There is light at the end of the tunnel. That light? Freedom Debt Relief. This company’s sole purpose is to help you settle your debt. By settle they mean getting your creditor to accept less payment than what is owed, thus saving you a ton of money.

They share an interesting chart on their home page that shows what you might pay if you had $30,000 in debt:

• Settlement: $16,000 to $20,000 (so you still pay a sizable portion of it)
• Credit Counseling: $42,000
• Minimum Payments: $102,000

Ouch! Look at those minimum payments. Very, very costly. It’s best not to get into debt, but if you’re in a pinch now you might want to take a look at this site as a way out.

Olympic Village = Sex Crazed Arena?

So let me get this straight. At the last few Olympics at the “Olympic Village” (where the athletes stay), they’ve completely run out of condoms. As in, these elite athletes that finish their events early or don’t make the final cut start to take that energy and apply it toward each other.

I’ve read reports that in the past few Olympics they provided 25,000 condoms — and ran out. Holy cow.

China, not to be beaten by a group of sex crazed athletes, provided 100,000 condoms for this Olympics. Unbelievable.

Take the Money Test

Bills.com is a website that has been created to test your knowledge of money and financial issues. They have a test called the “Financial IQ Quiz” that — you guessed it — tests your knowledge of various financial topics. They cover loans, debt, credit cards, banking, Credit counseling, and a few other topics.

The idea is to see how knowledgeable you truly are on these topics.

Why is this important?

Well for starters, I would guest most people — or at least most Americans — think they know more than they really do about money. This is called the overconfidence bias. With the overconfidence bias, everyone thinks they are above average. A great quote to sum that bias up: “75% of people think they are above average.” Statistically, that’s impossible. But that’s how we “feel”.

Secondly, this quiz not only tells you what you’ve gotten right and what you got wrong, but for the questions you miss it gives you the correct answer and tips on how to combat your misunderstanding.

I personally scored a 97 out of 100 — so I’m very pleased. But I still learned a few things about bill pay and insurance that I wouldn’t have known had I not gone and taken the quiz. These things will help me in the future by saving me more money — money that can go towards retirement.

Wrapping up the Olympics

The 2008 Olympics in China are wrapping up this weekend. I’m guessing the closing ceremonies will be impressive, but not as incredible as the opening ceremonies. I wonder — do heads of state go to the closing ceremonies as well, or is that just sort of “eh”?

Oh yea… the iPhone

SJA Mobile can help you find up to date cell phone news. For example, when the 3G version of the iPhone came out you might have been looking for updates on it. SJA Mobile had it. My Dad got an iPhone. Why? No idea why. Why not, I guess? It’s fun for an older guy like him. I wonder if he’ll read reviews of new apps on SJA Mobile?

Still Avoiding Blackberry

Yea, speaking of cell phones I have stepped away from getting a Blackberry. Too expensive for my blood. I do wish my employer would pay for a Blackberry plan.

But I’ll live. It’s kind of nice not having work email going off on my nightstand in the middle of the night. You would be surprised when some people apply for jobs…