Follow a Job Hunter

Rodney's Job Quest at http://rodneysjobquest.wordpress.com/ follows a recently unemployed professional as he searches for work. He outlines the strategies he's tried, provides tips on the best ways to get leads, and will continue posting through his experience. Virtual moral support!

Family Budget Resources

With belts tightening, more families than ever are concerned about their budget. There are many resources available for working out a livable budget. Some are completely online, while others offer guidelines on developing a budget. If your patrons are looking for ways to track their income and expenses, here are a few resources you can direct them to:

The U.S. Financial Literacy and Education Commission offer a wealth of resources, from tips to save money, repairing credit, dealing with job loss and more. The section is near the bottom of the page at http://www.mymoney.gov/budget.shtml.

http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/family-budget-planner.html is a free Excel spreadsheet for budgeting.

http://www.investopedia.com/university/budgeting/ has a free online step by step tutorial on creating a budget.

Making ends meet, originally by University of Wisconsin Extension and adapted by Beverly R. Howell, Ph.D. in Mississippi at http://www.learnthat.com/finance/learn-164-family_budget.htm.

Saving money on groceries http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-save-money-on-groceries.

http://frugalliving.about.com/od/householdsavings/tp/Household_Save.htm shares a lot of ideas on living frugally.

Unintentional Entrepreneurs

Unintentional entrepreneurs are the folks who end up starting their own business due to unemployment. Often they are starting a business for the first time, and aren't aware of the steps necessary for success in a new business. Fortunately there's a new website full of great free tools and advice for newbies to entrepreneurship. They will be providing networking events in major US cities such as L.A., Atlanta, New York City and Washington D.C.

www.unintentionalentrepreneur.com

Another free tool allows for online bookkeeping at http://outright.com/.

Give Patrons Weekly Money Saving Tips

The Seattle Examiner's online edition has a blogger called the "Frugal Family Examiner". Libraries can get updates on deals and posts in their email account and display ideas on how patrons can pinch their pennies, and invite them to share their own ideas with the community. Or, how about a coupon exchange? Just put coupons out in a bin and let patrons take and drop off coupons. Do both and create a really useful display. Along with those, put out any budgeting, frugal cooking or other money saving themed books.

The Frugal Family Examiner had a posting yesterday about tax free weekends by state. Find the list at: http://bit.ly/3EXRvx.

A list of her recent frugal minded blogs can be found at http://bit.ly/z0QL4.

Help for Job Seekers at Goodwill

I'm learning many things from my Google Alert for "job seekers." For example, I didn't know that Goodwill offers assistance to job seekers, with: Job training, Job Placement, Support Services ("Local Goodwills can help connect job seekers with services that help them hang onto their jobs, such as childcare, transportation, financial literacy and counseling. "), and Online Learning.

You can find out more at the Job Seekers page on the Goodwill Industries website, which also includes a Goodwill Locator tool.

Coupon Craze

With budgets shrinking and costs expanding, one way to save money is by using coupons. There are pitfalls, though. Sometimes you end up spending more than you save. A careful clipper can save thousands a year. To help your patrons use coupons wisely, try these sites for helpful tips and hints.

Tips on using coupons from the Queen of Coupons and abc: http://bit.ly/L7ddj

Reader's Digest coupon information: http://bit.ly/1iEMjB

Online coupons:
http://www.retailmenot.com/
http://www.couponcabin.com/
http://www.couponmom.com/
http://www.dealcatcher.com/
(coupons and deals on electronics, clothing and more. Today's deals include suits from Jos. Banks - great for job hunters))