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30. Check the Garbage

One woman had her teenage daughter clean her room. The daughter proudly did just that, filling two huge trash bags of things she no longer wanted. Out of curiosity, the mother peeked into one of the bags to see what was being thrown away. In shock, she found a new tube of suntan lotion, two perfectly good sweaters, makeup, lotion, a picture frame, hair curlers, all good things. The daughter did not realize that just because the items were of no interest to her, they might be to someone else. After talking to her daughter, the mom turned around and listed the items on eBay, making a $35 profit on her daughter’s “junk.”

31. Unsecured Creditors

Make a list of all your unsecured debts along with creditor contact information and payoff amount so you can have an accurate record of how much you owe. Choose one creditor, possibly a credit card, and focus on paying off that bill. Once you have achieved that goal, choose another. Start with the debt that has the highest interest rate since it is the one costing you the most money.

32. Off-Season

The next time you plan a vacation, consider off-season. Generally, the prices for airfare, hotel, and cars are substantially lower than traveling during peak time. If you look at all your options, you will find that in many cases, you can come close to the date you would like to travel. As an example, flying to Hawaii through June 8 is considered off-season while June 9 is peak. One day makes a huge difference in price.

33. Buy versus Rent or Lease

When looking at homes or automobiles check the rent and lease options. Depending on your particular situation, renting or leasing may be a better financial decision. Weigh all your options and see which choice makes the best sense from a financial standpoint.

34. Buffet Meals

When taking the family out to dinner, consider restaurants that have buffets. In many cases, the prices are outstanding and a parent can share with a small child. In addition, many buffets are “all you can eat” and of course, there is something for everyone.

35. Cable Networking

If you have a computer upstairs and another downstairs and you use high-speed data, have one of the computers be the primary computer and the other be the backup. This way, you are only charged once for Internet access and a small fee of $10 to $15 a month for the second computer. This is a great bargain!

36. Proper Maintenance

Purchase an annual home warranty policy. These policies can run from $350 to $500 a year and offer extremely valuable options. The way most of these policies work is that if you have something break, such as your garage door, dishwasher, air conditioner, etc., for a minimal fee, usually $50 to $100, a serviceperson will come to your home to fix the item. Best of all, if you have five things broken and the same serviceperson is qualified to fix all of them, you are still charged the $50 to $100 fee once, not five times. For your automobile, you might look into purchasing an extended warranty. If you ever need either one of these policies, they will save you tremendous value.

37. Company Stock / 401K

Contributing to employee stock options or a 401K plan is a wonderful opportunity to save. Most companies will match your contribution, sometimes dollar for dollar, up to a maximum, generally 6%. From each paycheck, you can have a small amount of money deducted (1%) and up. Over time, that money grows and since the business is providing a match, you get free money.

38. Family Haircuts

Look for hair styling shops that offer family deals or learn how to cut hair yourself. Many families take care of their own haircuts and put the money they would have spent aside as a vacation fund. This system works out perfectly.

39. Wants versus Needs

Make sure the thing you want to spend your money on is a “need” and not a “want.” Sometimes this can seem like a fine gray line but if you stick to the need list, you will spend less.

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I just wanted to take a minute to thank a few regulars to my show for their awesome work and attendance to my show, Podcaster Training. Each of these individuals play an integral part of making my show a success and I felt it was time they were recognized.

First and foremost, Patti Serrano, @iGrandma on Twitter, has been a huge part of my show, even back when we produced a show together more than 2 years ago. She now has her own shows she produces, such as Call Your Grandma and she still finds time to come on every Friday Night and give a segment on The Business of Podcasting.

Josh Budde, @JoshBudde on Twitter, has really blossomed and is not only producing a segment on Podcaster Training, but is producing several of his own shows and doing a great job too!

Jeff Chandler, @jeffr0 on Twitter, was my Co-Host for a short time and is now back in the saddle again with his ever popular WordPress Weekly show that airs on Friday Nights at the same time as my show. Jeff still takes some of his valuable time and records a segment for my show and my listeners are always looking forward to see what he has to say!

Michelle Trent, @michelletrent on Twitter, produces a segment on Social Media and can always find some unique sites for us to visit! She also produces her own shows and is still on every Friday Night with a new site for us!

Dave Cooper, @daveac on Twitter, is a regular on the show and our friend from the UK. He always has some great input about the topic of the night or about something happening in the New Media World and adds a great deal to the show! Dave is involved on some other shows on Talkshoe and produces his own video blog.

Bruce Turner, @blueridgebruce on Twitter, is another regular on the show and has filled in for me as a Guest Host and has added a great deal, even on short notice, like the video he sent me last week pertaining to the main topic of remote podcating. Bruce produces his own shows on Talkshoe and uStream and even does remote broadcasts for others.

Thank you all from Podcater Training! It is because of each one of you and the other listeners that make my show the success it is today!

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Tonight, we discussed another chapter from the book, Podcasting For Dummies by Tee Morris. The chapter was entitled, Podcasting For Passion, and it has a lot of great information, much that we have already covered in previous episodes, but always bears repeating, about how to inspire passion and how to keep the passion alive in your podcast.

If you don’t already have this book, I would highly recommend you pickup a copy and read this. You can find a link to Amazon.com at the top of this post.

Patti Serrano had a lot of great things to say about passion in podcasting too! Listen to this episode in the player below!

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