3/31/08

Getting Paid with Ximmy...



Soon The Monetizer will see another affiliate check for the Ximmy.com site!

What I like most is that just having friends and family sign up for the free social network/news site, you get payed. The site is alot like Digg, except for just one thing: Digg takes your time, while Ximmy gives you money for your time and effort.

Albeit just 50 cents a head, you still profit from this site just by getting referrals to sign up. You also profit by being a member who comments and submits content to Ximmy.

I'd recommend all online moneymakers give this site a try, otherwise you're leaving money on the table!

Ximmy guarantees you get paid once you hit $25 and it goes to your Paypal immediately on the first of the following month!

So don't leave money on the online table...Sign up at XIMMY -Get Paid!

People Search with Spock.com!

spockdotcom
Most Trekies will see the website name and immediately assume it has to do with their beloved Sci-Fi TV hero, the pointy-eared extra-intelligent Vulcan character, Mr. Spock. However, Spock.com - A Great Place for Search is in fact an intelligent search engine which helps you find people. Just by typing in a name, email, location or other info you can begin your search. (No stalkers please) You could search for a long lost friend, Brazilian models, your new neighbor, or even Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy).

Spock.com acts not just as a search engine for people, but also an online network where you can add your trusted friends, family and others, or add new connections made from friends on Spock (similar to Myspace's concept). You can modify any existing info Spock has on you as well, to ensure that anyone searching you is not being mislead by the info. The way Spock does its powerful people search is by searching for information on biography pages, social networks, news sites, blogs, and also directories. The Spock community network also has members contributing information to help with the search experience. Registered members of the site can add tags, pictures, and web links or even vote on any existing information to increase its relevance. The contribution system will help greatly in being able to find people online. In fact this tool could become quite useful for tracking down long-lost siblings or even missing children, if it builds to that level of membership.



mr spock on spock com

Above: The Monetizer's search on Spock for Mr. Spock

The Monetizer decided to boldly go for a Mr. Spock search. As you can see, it provides a recent photo, pictures, news, Wikipedia entry, IMDB entry, and several sites that specifically feature Spock. Not to confuse things, but Mr. Spock is not an official spokesperson for Spock.com. It just made logical sense to search for him on their site.

Here's a look at Spock.com's Top 10 Searches (as of 3.31.08)

    1.Astronaut Hall of Fame
    2.Pensioner
    3.Model Actress
    4.100 Most Powerful Women
    5.Glastonbury Festival
    6.Entertainment Law
    7.Video Blogger
    8.Carrefour
    9.Human Rights Activist
    10.Champion Surfer


Sky's the limit for searches on this Beta search engine. Spock.com is a powerful site capable of helping people with things such as locating long-lost family members, gathering info on celebrities or historical figures for reports, and just general info assembly on people. Even though it's still in Beta, Spock.com is a great place for search and I recommend adding it to your bookmarked favorites today. You don't have to be a registered member to use the powerful search, but it will help for your own personal info, even marketing yourself, your website(s) and your blog! Just like the big "G" you can download or install a Spock.com browser search bar for your internet browser, making searches even easier to perform.

3/30/08

The Hour the Earth Went Dark

light bulb dark
Not quite the entire Earth, but millions of people around the globe observed March 29th's "Earth Hour", a global effort to show how we can have an impact on the climate. The premise was to turn off your lights between 8 and 9 PM during your local time, which in turn would conserve energy in a big, unified way. Many cities participated with hosted events to observe the hour. Not only homes, but restaurants, local businesses and even landmarks turned their lights out as part of the event. According to news reports, even the Queen of Denmark shut lights out to be part of the effort.

Earth Hour was started over 10 years ago by the WWF (not the pro wrestling league, but World Wildlife Fund). According to their site's info page on the effort:

Created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, Earth Hour has grown from a single event into a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 35 US cities will participate, including the US flagships--Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco.


More at WWF's Earth Hour page

Something like this should really be done on a weekly basis in homes just to cut down their energy bills and save money. WWF encouraged people to replace their standard light bulbs with energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs during the blackout hour. It's amazing just how much power and electricity we use on a daily basis, but a little bit of conservation can go a long way. Hopefully this becomes an annual tradition with more and more homes and people participating.

3/29/08

The Day Google Went Dark

Today when I first went to Google, I immediately thought Firefox or my PC had some sort of virus going on. The entire Google frontpage is black today (as seen above), but it's no virus or reason for concern. Today Google has "shut off its lights", and is reminding people across the world to do the same, from 8 to 9 PM during their local time. The act is an effort to conserve energy for that hour. Here's more from Google about today's "Earth Hour":

Google users in the United States will notice today that we "turned the lights out" on the Google.com homepage as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour. As to why we don't do this permanently - it saves no energy; modern displays use the same amount of power regardless of what they display. However, you can do something to reduce the energy consumption of your home PC by joining the Climate Savers Computing Initiative.

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

Do your best to observe today's energy conservation from 8 to 9pm, and encourage friends, family and neighbors to go dark also..It will be interesting to see what sorts of effects this has in future reports.

Read more about Earth Hour at Google and Earthhour.org.

3/28/08

Why I Have 8 Blogs to Make Money Online

I was chatting with a friend last night and mentioned I maintain about 8 blogs on various topics that interest me. She was stunned by the number, and I explained it can be a lot of work, with some blogs getting updated more often then the others. There's times where I look at the RSS counts and then feel those people will be let down if there's not recent updates. I tend to update the one that is my "breadwinner" while the others get a little less attention based on how I feel at the moment. So while it may seem overwhelming to have 2 or more blogs, I feel having more is better, and here's why...

In the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series, Robert Kiyosaki discusses the notion of not just having 1 business, but many. The more business assets you own and profit from, the better. While it's great to have just 1 blog going and making you money, why not have several? There's no rule you need to update blogs daily, or advertise heavily on each one. Some you can set up just for search engine traffic and experimenting. You can set up a 10 entry blog, and really make it into a website to catch search traffic.

I think it's a great idea to have at least 1 additional blog, besides your main stay. Make it experimental in nature and use it to test different monetization strategies. It can be more of an "anything goes" blog, where you just go crazy. Consider an entertainment or random humor type blog, where you can let your imagination go crazy. Create your own unique character to pitch products or just give your own take on life in general. You'll see many examples of these blogs over at Entrecard.com.

The good thing about that sort of blog is you can build it up at your own pace, and then profit from paid advertising, Google (or alternatives), try Amazon product sales or even paid review sites. Sky's the limit if you set up one of these sort of blogs, because you can test the implementation of all sorts of money strategies...

Another consideration is with more blogs, you expose yourself to more opportunities, networking and link building. You also can leave some projects behind if they just aren't working, then return to them later. Tapping into your creative thoughts is also one of the keys to becoming rich. It's what many smart industrial age millionaires and billionaires did, and most of today's young dot com generation have done.

You don't need to have 8 blogs, but consider starting up a second blog over the weekend. It doesn't have to take up all your time, start simple and build from there. Make it your "anything goes" project and have fun with it. Sometimes the most creative, wacky and out of the ordinary ideas end up making you the most money!

3/27/08

Kettering University Offers Co-Op Education

The following is a sponsored blog entry.

When it comes to making money and creating wealth, many will argue that having a solid education is the best way to start. Choosing the best college or university is a chore many high school seniors and others face yearly. One university, Kettering, offers top notch engineering co-op programs as well as industrial engineering programs. US News and World Report has ranked Kettering University as "the #1 University in the nation for Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering" in its annual "America's Best Colleges Guide for 2008".

The school, located in Flint, Michigan, is helpful because it places freshmen students with companies to help them start gaining real world work experience. Kettering's class leading Co-op programs rotate students between school and their co-op job, alternating every 3 months to help give students valuable work experience. It's always best to decide early about what profession or job field you may want to get into, or stay out of. The co-op programs at Kettering will help greatly with that. Not only that, but Kettering's co-op program will give students relevant work experience on their resume, which can help with landing a job upon graduation, or they may even continue with a company they were placed at. Finding a job or job security are great benefits and this university could very well provide them to students.

Among other notable features, Kettering includes a "wired" campus, meaning the Thompson Hall dormitory is already set for students to plug right into hi-speed internet in their dorm rooms (PC/Windows support only). As for clubs and activities, Kettering offers a great variety, including hockey, karate, the Bulldog Band, scuba diving, cycling club and the Campus Crusade for Christ. Their campus is convenient to great local activities including Flint Cultural Center, Flint Farmer's Market and the Flint Generals Hockey team.

For students looking to gain real world work experience and test the waters of their prospective job field, Kettering looks like a very helpful option in terms of mapping out and acquiring a career.


3/24/08

Google Adsense Got You Down? Try These 5!

Like many other bloggers I've noticed a significant recent drop in Google Adsense click payouts. My best guess is this reduction comes due to the "Google Smart pricing" or even the poor economy. It could be a sign of advertisers cutting back on spending, and it makes you wonder if it will hurt the big G come stock report time. It makes for a great case to implement other advertising and money making ideas in the interim though. So what other alternatives could you use if Google earnings have taken a dip?

Here's 5 programs to consider:

1 - ShoppingAds - Places eBay style ads on your site. Get paid per click and per action (such as ebay signups and auctions). Minimum payout is $50, so it may take a while to see your first check, depending how you implement it.

2 - WidgetBucks - Puts animated widgets on your site. Allows for different payout based on visitors to your site from US or outside. Like ShoppingAds, minimum payout is $50, so it may take a while to see your first check, depending how you implement it.

3 - Amazon Associates - Get paid commission/referral fee if someone goes to Amazon through a link you've provided on your site, and buys something.

4 - Linkshare or Commission Junction - Affiliate programs which offer all sorts of lead and commission payments. For example, if someone joins Netflix or Gamefly through your link, you are given anywhere from $7 to $15. CJ's minimum payout is $25.

5 - Alternates to Adsense (Yahoo, Bidvertiser) - if you have multiple sites why not experiment on a site that doesn't perform as well with Adsense. Try Bidvertiser as it gives you a lower minimum before payout ($10).

View these and other recommended ways to make money online!

Those are 5 alternatives to experiment with if you've seen a drop in recent Adsense money. The first two, ShoppingAds and Widgetbucks give you click payout just as Adsense, and they can be run in addition to it. The #5 choices should be used carefully as they replace Adsense and may end up paying you less. But it's always smart to keep a few other moneymakers going, just in case. Experimentation will help your blog keep going along as a business, even when Google (or the economy) seems to be slumping quite a bit. And of course, if you have the time, try paid article writing (AssociatedContent, PayPerPost, ReviewMe) or Cash Crate surveys.

3/17/08

How to Catch a Leprechaun & Make Money!

Leprechaun guards gold courtesy of FunDraw.com
Happy St Patrick's day to all readers of the Monetizer blog!! What better a day to be in the make money online spirit, then the day of Irish luck, gold coins, leprechauns and pots of gold at the end of the rainbow! Some may even go so far as to try to build a leprechaun trap to get one of the mini Irish potato-loving creatures. According to legend, their weakness is fear of capture. So if you do catch one, they may be forced to give up their pot of gold! Just keep in mind, leprechauns despise the truly greedy people of the world, so be careful!

On a serious money making tip, today's a great day to get into the habit of seeing that there is an abundance of wealth in the world..Some may call it greed, while others call it the true attitude towards becoming rich! Rather than seeing the world as a place of scarcity where you have to scrap and scrape to save money, why not dream big, realizing there's plenty of money for those who are dedicated to attaining wealth?

The Monetizer is a green character, and everything around you should be green today, so this won't be a tough assignment at all..Start seeing the abundance of green and money there is in your world, then bring that attitude back as you dive into making money online! Just make sure you aren't green with envy over what others have! Realize that the green will be lining your wallets and bank accounts as you work harder online! This may seem overly optimistic, but it's the attitude of many successful entrepreneurs, including Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, and Wallace Wattles, the author of "The Science of Growing Rich".

If you need additional ideas for celebrating, order yourself a green bagel, green salad, green beer at the pub, or have a movie marathon and watch the Leprechaun Pot of Gore Collection (5 DVD Set). They will show you the determined Leprechaun character who pursues that elusive gold coin, and does everything in his powers to retrieve it! The movies will also give you an idea what happens if you steal a leprechaun's gold or try to capture one! (Warning: these movies aren't for the squeamish or easily frightened viewers!)

Happy St. Patrick's day, and the Luck O' the Irish to all!

(Image above courtesy of FunDraw.com)

3/16/08

Creative Blogging Leads to Success

The Monetizer heard a lot about the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki, who's been featured as a financial guest speaker on CNBC, and is well known as a business-savvy friend of Mr. Donald Trump. Unfortunately, that first book in the series wasn't available at the bookstore, so I picked up book 3 in his series, Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!. Aside from the long title, its a book nearing 400 or so pages and packed with interesting anecdotes and tips. Now this book doesn't just relate to playing the stock market, finding the next hot company to invest in, or flipping real estate, but it also offers a very valuable piece of info relating to online business ventures.

One of the underlying keys of the book is that Rich dad points out you want to be on the Business/Investor side of the equation rather than the Employee/Student side of things. In other words you don't want to be working for someone else, because that won't get you rich as quickly. His best tip is that the best investments are not the ones you buy (like stocks or land), but rather the ones you create. And that may mean a farm full of livestock, hand knitted blankets, wooden furniture, a flying car, a full-fledged business, and even a website. Under website also falls the blog, which we all know can be quite the moneymaking tool, and in fact a business. The blog is your creation and can basically be done with little or no initial investment, making it a very smart choice for those who love to write and feel creative juices flowing. All you need is your brain, some time, effort and Blogspot or Wordpress to get it going. Or you could choose to invest a little and buy a domain with hosting, taking a bit more risk.

We are a long ways from the profitable industrial age, and now in the extremely profitable information age. If you think of some of the wealthiest and youngest entrepreneurs around, they are the people behind major, successful websites or technology ventures. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, the Google guys...they all dreamed big and used internet real estate, creativity and an underlying desire to drive their products all the way to mainstream success. John Chow, Darren Rowse, Shoemoney and countless others have done so, or are doing so with blogs at this moment. There's no reason you or I can't do the same.

It always perplexes me when I see people doing blog entries about "Adsense doesn't work" or "well my blog isn't working out". The main reason I feel that they are even typing these statements, is a lack of passion or creative drive (which nobody really lacks). It's ok to point out the occasional mishaps or mistakes/failures, but giving up before you even see success is in my opinion the wrong way to go. Tapping into your creative thoughts and passions will almost always be rewarding. Having a blog in a niche can open up plenty of opportunities for other ventures as well via networking, collaboration and continued effort towards your blog.

I recommend to the people who are having trouble finding inspiration to continue with their blogging and online ventures, do more reading. Books like The Secret, "The Science of Getting Rich" and Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised are 3 I'd recommend which should supercharge you to start acting upon your passions and pursuing success.

3/8/08

Win a Nintendo Wii or High Speed Internet for Life!

The following entry is a sponsored review. The Nintendo Wii continues to be one of the most sought after video game systems around. From what The Monetizer has heard these things fly out of the stores the minute they arrive on shipment trucks! People love the Wii, and right now Charter.com is giving people a chance to win a Wii!

The prize package will include the Nintendo Wii Console, Wii Stand, 5 Sports games ( Boxing, Baseball, Tennis, Golf and bowling), 1 Remote Controller, 1 Nunchuk Controller, 1 Sensor Bar, 1 Wii AC Adapter, 1 Wii AV Cable. Not a bad prize at all, as you'll have quite the gaming setup without spending a dime on games or accessories!

Charter is also holding a pretty cool auction where someone can win Charter High Speed Internet for Life! You read it right, high speed internet service for life! The bidding starts at just $10 in the auction, and there's no reserve price. So it could go for more than $10, less than $25 or who knows! It's always great to have a life's necessity such as monthly hi speed internet paid for, especially for those online money makers! If you happen to live in any area of the United States serviced by Charter, it's definitely worth stopping by for a chance at a Nintendo Wii and also to bid on High Speed internet for life!

Click Here for a Chance to Win a Nintendo® Wii™!

3/7/08

The 2008 World's Billionaires


What would you do with 1 million dollars? An even tougher question might be, what would you do with 1 Billion Dollars?!? Forbes magazine has released its latest issue on the billionaires of the world. Topping the list is the investment guru himself, Warren Buffet. Buffet is considered the world's richest man at 62 billion dollars of worth. According to Forbes, Buffet's net worth jumped about 10 billion in the past year. Last year's top billionaire was Microsoft founder, Mr. Bill Gates, who has slipped down to 3rd on the list after 13 years being named "world's richest". The man at number 2 is Carlos Slim Helú, a Mexican telecom tycoon who has amazingly doubled his worth to 60 bill in just 2 years.

You may not recognize many Americans on the list below aside from Buffet, Gates and Larry Ellison. According to Forbes' writeup, just two years ago the list of top 20 billionaires was half Americans. Now it includes just 4 Americans in the top 20. Amazingly the number 2 country after the US in terms of total number of billionaires is Russia.

Top 20 Billionaires of the World:


    1 Warren Buffett
    2 Carlos Slim Helu
    3 William Gates III
    4 Lakshmi Mittal
    5 Mukesh Ambani
    6 Anil Ambani
    7 Ingvar Kamprad
    8 KP Singh
    9 Oleg Deripaska
    10 Karl Albrecht
    11 Li Ka-shing
    12 Sheldon Adelson
    13 Bernard Arnault
    14 Lawrence Ellison
    15 Roman Abramovich
    16 Theo Albrecht
    17 Liliane Bettencourt
    18 Alexei Mordashov
    19 Prince Alwaleed
    20 Mikhail Fridman

See the entire list here at Forbes.

Also of interest is the breakdown of "Youngest Billionaires". Forbes states it's a record breaking year for young billionaires, as Forbes found 50 billionaires under the age of 40. 25 of these young rich people are new to the list. 60% of the under 40 billionaires built that worth entirely from scratch!

One of them is 23 year old Mark Zuckerberg, the Harvard student and brains behind Facebook. His site has quickly exploded and received all sorts of buyout offers. He was profiled on Inside Edition Thursday night (which didn't give too much insight into his creative process). Inside Edition did toss it out there that Zuckerberg is single, so females looking to become part of a billionaire lifestyle, add him to your Facebook friends!

But another takeaway point from the young billionaires aspect is the fact that you can make money online with low or no startup funding. Sometimes all it takes is vision, creativity and a great idea put into motion! (via the internet of course)

View Forbe's complete section about Billionaires here. It includes everything from the Youngest Billionaires, Notable Newcomers and Rags to Riches stories.

Also see the previous Monetizer entry: A Billionaire's Mindstate.

3/4/08

Free Online Blackjack

The Monetizer used to be more of a gambler, with the game of choice being roulette. If you're reading this entry from anywhere besides the United States or Canada, you may enjoy the gambling site BlackJack Club which offers online black jack. BlackJack Club's motto is "where the smart players come to win". However, the smart players can only be gamblers in Europe and the rest of the world. Players outside of the US & Canada will surely enjoy the chance to play online slot machines, table games and fun 3-D games for free or money.

First off, BlackJack Club has a slick and stylish gaming look and feel to its site. Done in all black, red and white colors with great images of casino games, there's no question what the site is all about or has to offer. The site offers virtual casino gaming and some great promotions to give free money. In a current promotion, the site is offering to give gamblers a 50% bonus on their first deposit to the site. So if your initial deposit is $100, you'll be given $50 additional. On your second deposit the site is giving a 100% bonus. So $100 becomes $200, $200 becomes $400 and so forth. There's other promotions as well such as $100/pounds for getting a friend to join the site, weekend Double and Triple points on slot games and more! It's always nice to gamble with some free money for the chance to win even more money, so I'd fully recommend this site if you're the gambling sort from Europe or elsewhere. There's also loyalty reward points gamblers can accumulate for every 20 dollars or pounds bet in particular games. 25 Reward Points equal 1 US dollor or a pound. This encourages the gambler to continue playing while racking up more money to play with!

It still is unfortunate that the site won't allow players from US or Canada, but this is due to various gambling regulations and completely understandable. The site also offers some great looking, cutting edge 3-D games worth checking out at the link here:

http://www.blackjackclub.com/en/upcoming-games/

These games include table card games like "War", "Penguin's Playground" (a virtual slot machine based in a frozen Penguin world) and "Lucky Shot", a golfing game. All of the games look fun, so again it's a shame this isn't available in the US!

If you're outside of the US or Canada and enjoy gambling, stop by and check out BlackJack Club's free blackjack option where you can play for free on a Flash/instant play page. The site also offers support via phone, email or live chat for those needing assistance. With its fun gambling and game environment, BlackJack Club is sure to be a great site for gamblers around the world!

Ximmy & Minimum Payouts

A newer website the Monetizer has been promoting is called Ximmy.com. With this site you earn $10 per every 1000 points you earn as a member there. Points are earned by commenting (1pt) on submitted URL news or if a URL item you submit earns front page status (15 pts), making it very similar to Digg. Digg doesn't offer up any money to its users though which is why I'd prefer spending time giving Ximmy comments. Some people may say "who cares about $10?" but money for website participation is always nice.

Another aspect of Ximmy is if you become an affiliate of their site, you earn 50 cents per member you refer to join. Ximmy states that you'll receive payout once you've earned $25, and they start you with $5 for being an affiliate. Be forewarned with this, you will need to earn $25 in referrals "in addition" to the $5 you start with. So basically, refer 50 members, you'll be payed $30 the 1st of the following month.

Keep this in mind with most of the online earning programs. They may give an initial reward, like Widgetbucks or Shopping Ads both do, but then you will need to earn the minimum threshold amount "in addition" to what you start with. Either way, free money is free money!

If interested, check out the Ximmy site here.

3/1/08

Experience Rome with Romaclick

Of all the vacations I've taken so far, one of my favorites was definitely Roma, the historic city of Rome. Surveying the various historic statues, ruins, landmarks and ancient remains makes you feel like you're walking back in time, as a part of ancient history. It's quite impressive, from walking through the large open Colosseum where gladiators competed, seeing the gorgeous Spanish Steps, throwing a coin into Trevi fountain and viewing the beautiful Vatican along with its brilliantly painted ceilings. There was also the Boca de la Verdad or "Mouth of Truth". Most tourists stop by the statue of a face with an open mouth, and get a picture with their hand in the mouth. Legend says if you have one less hand after that it's because you aren't an honest individual.

I'd recommend everyone see Rome and all it has to offer at least once in their lifetime. If you need to plan this sort of trip, I also recommend doing your homework ahead of time. A website which can be quite helpful is Romaclick.com, which offers information on Rome hotels and Rome apartments should you decide to make an extended trip.

Romaclick.com is run by two individuals who know Rome quite well, Mauro and Paolo. As residents of Rome, they are familiar with all it has to offer, and able to give valuable advice regarding travel within Italy. Their website recommends plenty of hotel choices located central to all the major attractions of Rome. The best aspect of the site is that Mauro and Paolo have seen or been at all of the hotels their site recommends, allowing them to personally let you know of the benefits of any Rome accomodation. They give recommendations for areas travelers should consider staying at based on their age or financial ability. Overall, the Romaclick site has a great clean and stylish look to it, displaying an easily navigated menu, searches and advice along with pictures showcasing all Rome has to offer. One additional feature which stood out was how easy they make it to contact them for info. Whether using email, a live chat feature or Skype communication, they are ready to answer any questions or concerns a traveler may have.

I found the Romaclick site to be very comprehensive in what it has to offer travelers; everything from recommended places to stay, help with finding cars/transportation, bed and breakfast spots, tours and more. If I had known of this resource prior to my trip, it definitely would have been consulted for planning purposes. Visit Romaclick.com at http://www.romaclick.com/ for more info, and definitely see Rome if you get the opportunity. Ciao Bella!

Freegans & the Secret Science of Getting Rich

science of getting rich by wallace wattles In today's lesson, the Monetizer will tie 3 concepts together: a “Freegan” episode of Oprah, "The Secret" and "The Science of Getting Rich", because they all relate, yet Freegans are in opposition to money making concepts.

First off, if you aren't familiar with a "Freegan" they are individuals trying to make a statement by living below financial means. They are trying to tell corporate America they won't be induced into constant buying to "keep up with the Jones's" or the latest trends. So what they do is go to great lengths to essentially "trash pick" for items that will be free. These items include furniture, office supplies, clothing and yes even food.

The food part is probably the toughest to "swallow", so to speak, because not many of us would go dumpster hunting for food, or consider it sanitary. The Freegans go to dumpsters outside of grocery stores. On Oprah's show, they went on a large group tour of one dumpster site at nighttime and were able to retrieve items like eggs, cupcakes, breads, vegetables and other thrown out foods. They amassed a pile of usable food, and even the host was ready to take some baked goods. They said that grocery stores throw out usable items which basically could go to the homeless, but supermarkets generally fear lawsuits. Oprah's message was to think about how much stuff we waste in our daily lives, and what it’s costing us. The Freegan truly wants to send the message that they don't need so many things at top dollar, and they don't need to live extravagantly. The Monetizer also believes that all consumers make choices of what they buy and what they have to have. The "freegan ideology" is really a personal choice and commitment to a certain lifestyle, just as making money is.

That brings me to an interesting book called The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles. Wattles' book opens with the chapter titled "Your Right to Be Rich". His main point is that we all should strive for success in our lives and not be limited by beliefs such as "there aren't enough resources for us all". Those beliefs cause people to "just get by" or sacrifice rather than trying to advance and live the best life they can. So Wattles says we should strive to accumulate the riches we want by forming a clear picture and not letting it go. He offers many other steps in his scientific analysis for how to acquire riches, such as showing gratitude, choosing the right profession, acting in a certain way and not focusing on money problems. It's also Wattles' overall belief that the more wealth you have, the more completely you can live and experience things. This is a complete opposite focus from the Freegans shown on Oprah who say wealth makes us greedy and prone to buy more, giving corporations control of our happiness.

Wattles' book is also what inspired Rhonda Byrne to write her bestselling book The Secret . If you've read that book or heard of it, you may know its basic premise; You can attract to you the things you want by focusing properly. It's been described as a self help book by some, but can be better summed up as personal development. It's not all about wealth either, as it covers the secrets of relationships, health, life and You. I enjoyed this book and it's what made me pick up Wattle's book next. Both books are generally encouraging, and while some may view Wattles' book as a greedier read it still offers plenty of positive advice beyond money.

So I'd recommend two of the 3 things above. Check out The Secret and The Science of Getting Rich, as each book will put you on a better path towards acquiring wealth and success. I'd recommend becoming a Freegan to anyone who has a strong stomach and isn't so interested in acquiring wealth.

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