Creative ways to make Money

Don't ever mention again that you don't "make enough" money. If you have half a brain, you could probably come up with a better idea than this to make money:

China seeks profit from panda poo

Mon Jul 30, 11:35 PM ET
BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese wildlife research centre has come up with a novel idea to profit from panda poo -- make Olympic souvenirs out of it.

Researchers at the centre in Chengdu, capital of mountainous Sichuan province, had sculpted photo frames, bookmarks, fans and panda statues out of the 300 tonnes of the stuff produced by 60 giant pandas each year, state media said on Tuesday.

Jing Shimin, assistant to the director of the base, proudly declared that the souvenirs would be relatively odour-free.

"They don't smell too bad because 70 percent of the dung is just remains of the bamboo that the pandas are unable to digest," he told Xinhua news agency.

"We used to spend at least 6,000 yuan (390 pounds) a month to get rid of the droppings, but now they can prove lucrative as half of them will be sold as souvenirs."

Not wishing to miss out on Olympic-inspired profits, the base is currently working on moulding the poop into statues of athletic pandas performing various Olympic sports to sell as 2008 Olympic Games souvenirs.

A Thai zoo already sells multicoloured paper made from the excrement of its two resident pandas.

Of course; why didn't I think of that first?

Let me turn this into an Arabian theme. I'm taking a few days off and going to look for camels...

When will we adjust to the rest of the World?

I appreciate that we have traditions and values in our region, I really do. I understand that we have principals and ways of conduct around each other, especially in regards to contact between men and women (well, out in the open anyway; behind closed doors, everything goes, but thats not the point here).

It's not considered appropriate for a woman to talk to a strange man, or mix with him in any way; the people in the region appreciate this fact. In certain stores and banks there are separate women sections, the local law enforcement usually has an eye out on certain male/female ways of conduct, etc. The society is adapted to deal with certain situations upholding the values and traditions we hold.

But when you leave the region and visit a country with different customs, you should be prepared for the fact that they probably will not adapt their system to deal with your view of life; in fact, you should be the one to adapt to theirs. If you make a choice to visit another country, then you should have to deal with the consequences (ie, you don't visit Canada during the winter and demand that it be nice and sunny; similarly, you shouldn't visit a country and expect them to adapt their values to you).

So, here we have a totally (in my opinion) stupid stupid backwarded mentality of a person who refused (yes, REFUSED) to get on a plane because his female relatives were seated next to men. Yes. Not in their lap, not forced to go on a date with them, and not forced to interact with them in any bloody way. What's a plane after all; its a number of seats squeezed in a tight small space. Anybody in their right mind who wants to fly should at least have the brain power to expect that perhaps, just PERHAPS, you might end up sitting next to someone you don't know.

So this guy decides to throw a fit, delays the whole flight by three hours (I know all you people used to Gulf Air think this is a normal delay; its actually quite a long one in other parts of the world), gets kicked off the plane, and causes almost 50 people to miss their connecting flights.

Seriously, seriously, please, what have our mentalities come to? If you bloody well don't want your women "interacting" with strangers, then bloody well go buy your own damn plane! It wasn't even a long flight (Milan-London)! Bloody baboons! And then you ask why the international community thinks we're backwarded.

Qatar sheikh delays plane over seating

Fri Jul 27, 9:27 AM ET
MILAN (Reuters) - A Qatar sheikh held up a British Airways flight at Milan's Linate airport for nearly three hours after discovering three of his female relatives had been seated next to men they did not know.

When none of the other business class passengers agreed to swap seats, the sheikh, a member of Qatar's ruling family, went to the pilot, who had already started the engine, to complain, an airport official said.

But the pilot ordered him and his travelling companions, the three women, two men, a cook and a servant, off the plane. The London-bound flight took off nearly three hours behind schedule on Thursday evening and around 50 of the 115 passengers missed connecting flights.

Article

Just go to Saudi for your next summer holiday and spare us the embarrasment!

GulfBankers.com?

Anybody ever register with them? I signed up with GulfBankers.com, among a number of other recruitment companies sometime around the beginning of the year. You basically enter your employment/education details etc, and they send you notifications whenever a job suitable for your qualification pops up.

How do these companies make their money? Well, they get a sort of commission everytime they find a suitable person for the job available. The amount of commission paid usually corresponds to the size of the position (ie, if they find the right person for a general manager job, they get paid a heck of a lot more than if they find someone to fill in a teller job).

This obviously makes it a lot more attractive for them to advertise the bigger positions, correct? However, being a search and recruitment agency, they are supposed to be able to provide all types of positions, whether high or low, unless they advertise themselves as otherwise.

Now, I have a good 6 years of direct work experience on my resume, i've worked in supervisory/team-leader positions in my last job, and even though i've managed to move up pretty quickly compared to others at my age, at best I could be considered a junior position, and pushing it you might be able to consider me middle-level. So after a good half an hour entering all my details, GulfBankers keep sending me email job notifications, which I assumed would be based on the data I have entered.

Subject? "Suitable Job from GulfBankers".

Why do I keep getting emails offering me things like "Chief Operating Officer" of a huge company, with requirements like 15 years of experience, with at least 10 in a Senior position? Or "General Manager" of a large bank, with a good 20 years experience and PhD?

I figured it might have been a mistake, and this was a unique situation. Guess not. Turns out another friend of mine working 2 or 3 years in a starting level position also gets these emails. AND another friend who just graduated and looking for a job, no experience, is also getting the CEO and GM position emails!

I've not seen an introductory, junior, or even middle level position job notification being sent out yet.

Come on GulfBankers.com, do your job properly. Tailor your database to actually divide up the applicants based on their education and experience, and get your system to send out emails accordingly! I know you're more keen on those high commissions for the higher level positions, but seriously, don't be lazy and just send them out to everyone who signs up with you!

Fixing your Money Problems - 8

Part 8: (Credit Card Debt)

Credit cards have come a long way; almost every bank offers one, they generate unbelievable amounts of profit, make internet shopping possible, and they're the very basis for the creation of cashless societies.

So what's wrong with them?

Well, the fact that credit cards, when not in the right hands, can turn into something similar to a full scale train-wreck at high speed. That keeps going, and going, and going...

Their concept is very simple; you get a card with a credit limit (let's say 500BD). You can use that card to buy things upto that limit. So lets say you buy a sofa for 200, which means you have 300 more dinars you can use to spend on that card. Normally, you can't exceed the limit, and would have to pay back some of the debt to be able to use it again. Any amount not paid off at the end of each month, you have to pay interest on, which is deducted from your limit.

Interest rates seem pretty attractive as well! Some banks post rates of 2%, while others post rates of 1.8% or close to that. When you compare it to loan annual interest rates, of 8%, 9% or more, they look pretty damn attractive right?

Wrong.

The credit card interest rate is per MONTH. Calculate that and you're actually looking at something closer to 20-25%. Now, that's a LOT. If you had debt going at that rate, it would double every 3 years.

Anyhow; the way credit cards go, they give you the very attractive option of paying a minimum of 5% or so (depending on the bank). It seems attractive because you're not paying a lot - on 200 dinar new TV, you end up only paying 10 dinars.

It's a very clever system; you think you're paying off your debt with a small amount, and pay the minimum. However, remember the 2% interest? You pay 10 dinars, so your debt is down to 190. Then interest creeps up, and you get hit with around BD4 of interest, so essentially you've only paid BD6 off your debt (i'm rounding up figures). It keeps going and you end up paying huge sums in interest over a LONG period of time.

Then there's also the high charges if you forget to pay your monthly bill on time, as well as your card insurance fees, annual fees, or whatever else fees. All tiny small costs that add up to form a giant monster that feeds on your salary.

The other thing with credit cards is, if you have them in your wallet, thats incentive enough to spend money on something you don't really need. You see something in a shop; thats a nice TV, thats a cool phone etc, and then you end up with more and more debt.

Using credit cards reasonably needs a lot of self-constraint; a lot of people use them for impulse buys, etc. Again, small purchases here, small purchases there, they all add up. Don't carry them around with you - leave them at home otherwise you'll probably end up using them if you see something you like. If you need to use them for something like shopping online, use them, and pay them off immediately (its best not to get lugged with interest and late payment charges). Don't consider them as extra cash you have; leave them for emergencies and travel.

Even then, anytime you do use them, make sure to pay them off as soon as possible; credit card debt adds up QUICK if you leave it to grow; definately more serious than loans.

Another thing is, many banks offer you unbelievably high credit limits; your salary might be 500BD, and they decide to offer you a 2000 dinar limit. Don't go for it. If you want to take out a card, the best thing is to try and keep the limit somewhere at around half your salary. If you go overboard and spend it all, your still not in a very dangerous spot, and can afford to pay it off without much difficulty.

I guess thats a good basic intro to credit cards; just be careful and use them wisely :)

Fixing your Money Problems - 7

Part 7: (Loans & Credit Cards)

Most of the previous guides talked about very simple saving and spending issues; things most people don't really think about or consider, even though they are mostly common sense. Anyhow, in this guide I will start talking about borrowed funds; loans and credit cards.

Bahrain has a pretty big problem with loans and credit cards; a large part of the population have gotten themselves into debts they can't handle, and unfortunately don't have too much to show for it in return. A lot of people here take out loans and cards for the wrong reasons, and end up burying a financial hole for themselves; it's become a social dilemma, and as soon as someone works they 'HAVE' to take out a loan.

The whole situation with the problems of loans needs more awareness. If you're one of the lucky few who haven't yet taken out a loan or card, don't. Well, at least not until you know how to use them the right way; using them without being aware of the problems that can follow is just like pushing a self-destruct button. However, utilizing them the right way can do a lot of good for you.

Lets talk about loans specifically in this guide, and credit cards in the next one.

Loans:

The concept of a loan is very simple; you borrow a certain amount of money, and pay it back with interest, divided over a period of time. Most personal loans can be paid back for over 7 years, while other loans (mortgage, business etc) can be taken for as long as 30 years (some countries even go up to 50). In other words, you're spending tommorows money, today.

Human nature thinks about the period that is 'now', and what they need today. Loans deal with much longer periods that most people don't consider at first; so automatically we have a problem.

When you take out a loan, lets say the bank tells you "We'll give you five thousand dinars NOW for only a small payment of 85 dinars a month", so you think, great! I get the cash NOW, and 85 dinars is such a small return. Overall, if you consider a payment period of 7 years, you realize that you pay a total of 7,140 (ie, that's an extra 2,140 dinars). That isn't a small amount of money (its paying back a little under half of what you borrowed, extra).

What makes it worse, is when people spend the cash from their loans on perishable items; say you buy a laptop that might stop working, or become outdated after 2 or 3 years, and pay the loan back over 7 years. So even after you dispose of the laptop, you're still stuck with payments for a few more years.

This concept is the same for cars; you buy a car, brand new. As soon as you drive out of the showroom, its value goes down, and keeps getting reduced. On the other hand, your loan, with time, increases in value with the amounts and interest you have to pay. Again, some people buy a car and get bored of it 3 or 4 years down the line, and then sell it. They're still stuck with the payments, though.

This concept of using loans to pay for perishable items, and dividing items over longer periods than are reasonable is one of the bigger financial problems we have in Bahrain. Also, you don't consider the installment amount to be very high; suppose your salary is 500 dinars, and you get an loan where you pay 150 a month. That's fine; you think you still have a good 350 dinars a month to spend.

But then, you have your phone bill (20bd), your internet bill (another 20bd), your monthly gas expenses (40bd), among others. Lets assume with those fixed bills, you have BD270 left. Not so much, but still reasonable.

Now lets say you got married, and need an apartment, so you find a really cheap one for BD120 a month (which is very unlikely by today's property prices). So you have BD150 left. Ok, you might be pushing your budget a little, but at least you have your own place, right?

Oh but wait, there's also the electricity and water gas bills, and municipality payments. Lets say they come up to BD30? So now you have BD120. Is that even enough to live a reasonable lifestyle?

That BD150 you pay for your loan doesn't look so small now, does it? If you weren't paying it, you would have more than double the amount you have now to spend. Truth is, your expenses WILL increase with time. Unless you have a really good reason, having an extra loan expense for the future isn't really a great idea.

If you're considering getting a loan, THINK. Why are you getting one? If its to buy a bunch of things you want (want, ie, not things you need) ie, laptop, new furniture, etc, then its a really bad idea. If you're really stuck and need those items, at LEAST get a loan thats going to last as long as the items are. If you expect a laptop to last 2 to 3 years, don't get payments over 7 years! Sure, the installments are lower, but you're paying a lot more interest in the long run, plus you end up paying for the item long after it falls apart. If the payment is higher than you think you can afford, then the item is too expensive for you to own. Leave it, save, and wait till you collect enough to buy it.

I personally don't think any loan is worth getting for perishable items - save up for those, and buy them in cash. If you want to get a loan, get one when you're buying a property (ie, land, house etc), where the value of this item goes up as the value of the loan goes up, and sometimes, the property value exceeds the cost of the land (so you can sell it, pay off the loan and still come out with a good profit). Again, even getting a loan for an investment is still risky; you might buy stocks that crash and end up paying your loan for years for nothing. Just really consider why you're getting the loan.

Buying something with a loan? If you don't need it, it really isn't advisable to spend that money on it, since the cost of whatever you are buying is increased with interest. Always look at the total value you're going to pay back, don't look at the monthly installment - thats just a decieving factor.

I'll talk about loans in more detail later, and focus on what to do if you already have a loan. Next post: credit cards.