Big Bright Bulb - Ideas & tools for tiny businesses with tinier budgets

Need help managing your finances? Look no further than Mint.com.  Ms. K.B. taught me about this site this summer.  You can create a budget, save for retirement, pay off debt and dreaded student loans all on the same user-friendly site. No need to be a financial guru to understand the money-ese its written so anyone can understand, and even better, actually utilize the site.

OMG! I was born to make a website like this! http://www.clevelandideas.com/

Its all about ideas to improve Cleveland. People suggest ideas and anyone, after registering, can join in.  Its an online brainstroming session creating great ideas.  I should make one about DC ideas or youth or something about which I care!

  

Several times I've said "If I could, I would be a professional problem solver."  Not like a consultant per se, but I would randomly offer my insight on problems and people would listen. Ok, maybe a consultant but not in a specific area like corporate bank mergers in North America but in something general, like life. 

My ideas so far...

• The idea for the metro cars with fewer seats? Nope.
  
• Putting more water fountains in schools? No-brainer.
  
• University staff who need to contact people? Mandatory email skills and yes, I would check during the interview, you'd send an email. Or maybe a follow-up test. I love 200 year old ladies as much as the next kid but NO more typewriters!
  
• Help people recycle - Reminders outside the grocery store telling people to bring their own bags. I know once I'm in the checkout line I don't want to go all the way back to my trunk for my bags and I'm certainly not buying new ones. As a result, another tree bites the dust.
  

And the list goes on...

What ideas would you post on a huge brainstorming list?

Melissa's Cool Site of the Week. 

So we made a big purchase this weekend of an air purifier to help me breathe more easily. We searched through a few websites and read through the popular reviews to see which product would work the best. Then, I stumbled upon wize.com.

[Enter Eureka moment here]

If you are thinking of buying something big like a new camera, hepa filter, fancy vacuum - whatever, check it out on wize.com and you can consolidate reviews from sources all over the internet. Take a look. Pretty fancy, huh?

I have 2 young nephews, one budding genius that will be start kindergarten next fall and a smaller on with talent yet unknown. As I searched the internet today for things they can do on the internet and in my neighborhood to stimulate their minds, I stumbled across Starfall, my site of the day.

I'm obviously a kid at heart because I browsed through and enjoyed it. My perfect job would have to include surfing the internet for seemingly random, interesting things and passing them on to others. A professional networker of sorts. Hmm, I'll work on that.

TTYL,
M.

Most creative site of the day: Freecycle.


"The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,566 groups with 5,605,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills."

So, you sign up with the group in your city and give away or receive things in good condition to save it from an eternity of landfill lifelessness. Try it out and let me know if you find anything good.

The coolest thing I've seen - a candy making kit complete with molds, sticks and cellophane. Nicest thing - a brand new Ikea chest of drawers. Good idea if you want to recycle or get rid of some stuff a la pay it forward.

Do good,
M.