May 30, 2011 by Sandra Rogers.

Dear Readers,

We created an electronic newsletter based on my twitter list of professionals in the following areas: HR career advice, military/veterans,  mental health, physical disabilities, financial education, internships.  Additionally, it includes US and international job boards from a wide range of sources, so check it out! This e-newspaper will update daily!  You don’t have to have a twitter account to read it.  Just subscribe to the paper, and it’ll be sent to your email account.   The newspaper is called the Employment Social Network.  It’s hosted on a free, Internet platform called Paper.li.  Here’s the link: http://paper.li/Broke4Jobs/1306417300#.  This e-newspaper becomes part of our social media outreach which includes a 21-page Web site, this blog, and a twitter account.

Paper.li is another positive way to use social media for the job hunt.  This is an easy way for our organization to share our list of reliable resources from the one thousand individuals and institutions that we’ve been cultivating since January of 2010.  We painstakingly cull every list we post for professional purposes.  For quality assurance, we even went over the list—all 1000—and deleted any that didn’t meet our mission of finding you a job.  This is our first newsletter and in keeping with our “Going Green” ethics, we are pleasantly pleased with the eco-friendly outcomes.  Plus, it looks very professional!  Let us know if you have some twitter accounts you’d like to recommend that we follow.  You can find us on Twitter @broke4jobs or simply leave a message below.

Best Wishes,

Sandra Rogers

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April 26, 2011 by Sandra Rogers.

When I incorporated this nonprofit, BrokeButNotForLong, I wasn’t thinking about going green.  Instead, I was thinking about the low-cost possibilities of providing reliable job information on the Internet for the unemployed.  For around $300 a year,  our organization is able to host our Web site on the Internet.  Of course, there are numerous volunteer hours that go into building the 18-page Web site, not to mention the ongoing maintenance.  Luckily, I’ve been able to recruit a few other volunteer bloggers.  By utilizing social media, we’ve been able to be eco-friendly on the job everyday!

Besides the other legal costs involved in maintaining a non-profit, 501(c)3 charity, we’re able to exist as a virtual company with few expenses.  I didn’t realize that we were a green company until I started getting twitter followers from other green companies and university projects! For example, the University of Southern California is following us on Twitter @broke4jobs. Twitter has proved to be the most powerful outreach for our organization.  “Broke” currently has 575 followers on twitter.  We’ve been able to network with universities, federal agencies, and companies involved in human resources, and individuals in need of a job without the waste generally involved with advertising, transportation, or running an office.

Furthermore,  my husband and I practice green living at our home office.  For instance, we recycle the ink cartridges, buy recycled paper, and recycle used paper, too.  Also, our Internet host, www.1and1.com reduces its carbon footprint.  Furthermore, we’ve created online alliances to help promote our free resources.  We joined the local Chamber of Commerce which hosts our information on their site for potential networking and usage.  Also, we host the FDIC’s MoneySmart podcast on our Web site, which enhances our financial education outreach mission.  Additionally, we hope to advertise our resources on public radio which will reach a large audience  in an eco-friendly manner!

Lastly, I mentor job seekers online and over the phone to keep costs down and reach a larger audience.  I’ve blogged about the wonderful jobs I’ve had throughout my career.  (See Diary of a Resume Parts 1 & 2)  Since I started mentoring teachers online for my profession, I thought about doing the same for job seekers.  It started with a few questions from my connections on LinkedIn.com.  I found that job seekers were so happy to get a response and interact with someone online!  You’re welcome to connect with me.  Here’s my public profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sandrogers.

Technology has afforded us the opportunity to reach you, our reader, on this blog, as well as thousands of others!  Everyday I think about how I can use social media to provide outreach.  I hope we can connect with another nonprofit to help raise funds for a worthy goal that aligns with our mission on the Gulf Coast.   To that end, I’ve been creating a profile of our charity on GuideStar.org to encourage charitable giving and provide transparency.  Here’s their video: http://videos.guidestar.org/Welcome.html.

April 9th was our 2nd anniversary as a nonprofit!

Sincerely,

Sandra Annette Rogers

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February 22, 2010 by Sandra Rogers.

This morning I remembered that I was much slimmer when I was really broke.  This was due to the cost-saving necessity of not driving the car to save on gas expenses.  Hence, I used to walk to the local grocery store, library, and eateries.  If it was raining, I’d put on a raincoat.   When you have to carry everything home, it becomes like a diet regimen of mental and physical exercise that makes you think about your purchases.  To be specific, you learn to purchase the lighter weight and low cost items like fruit and vegetables.  You could try using a backpack; however, I found that the items, like cans and boxes, poke you in the back the whole walk home.  Luckily, grocers provide those nice, sturdy, eco-friendly bags, so you can save the planet and your back at the same time.  I remember when I came home from the Peace Corps in 1988 and used my backpack instead of the plastic grocery bags.  The cashier snidely commented, “What are you trying to do? Save the world?”  Nowadays, everyone at least tries to save the planet.

I used to have paniers, a saddle bag for bicycles, to take the groceries home.  You’ll need a good lock to keep it safe, too!   It’s essential to have a good working bike in order to use it for transportation and quick maneuvering in large cities.  Unfortunately, some cities are not very cyclist-friendly, as they don’t provide bike lanes or advisory signs. Once I had a parked car open their door on me when I was cycling past; I responded quickly and somehow avoided hurting myself.  When I lived in Los Angeles,  I used to bicycle from UCLA to Santa Monica Beach for exercise.  I’d cut through the Veteran’s Administration buildings near the 405 Freeway and then take a coffee break  at the halfway point.  The coffee break was a real splurge on my broke diet, but it made it taste all the better!  After resting, I’d continue to the beach which was downhill from there.  After relaxing at the beach, it was all up hill to get back home.  I was able to go 12-14 miles on bike with little difficulty because I took breaks.

Furthermore, the broke diet includes using coupons and looking at each high-priced item on your grocery bill to decide if you really need to purchase it next time.  Since coupons are for specific brands, you have to shop/eat different than your normal activity.  I used to be embarrassed to use coupons and would go to the store at odd hours when I thought no one would be shopping.  I usually buy the lower priced store brand than the popular “name” brand products.  After I saw a popular TV comedian using coupons in the check-out line at a grocery store, I had to laugh at myself.  This was when I lived in LA.  It reminded me of the time I saw Johnny Cash shopping at Kmart in Nashville (I used to live there, too).  Saving money with coupons is smart, so don’t let it get you down. I use coupons and customer reward cards whenever I can.

Lastly, the  broke diet includes not overeating.  Basically, because you can’t afford it, but also because it’s too depressing to have nothing in the fridge or on the shelves.  Every time I go to my mother’s house to look in the fridge, I think she doesn’t have anything.  She’s a senior citizen who receives Social Security benefits.  When I study the contents of her fridge to make a grocery list, I realize she has it all right there: cheese, eggs, milk, juice, yogurt, bread and butter.  I usually just buy her a bottle of wine, since I know that it’s not a regular part of her broke diet.  My mother’s a vegetarian and generally eats beans and rice along with various canned vegetables.  I’ve gone vegan before due to the broke diet.  Luckily, I had a sibling invite me over for a meat dish and all the leftovers that I wanted.  I realize that many of you may not have that kind of support.  I wish you success on your broke diet and exercise and hope that you find the support that you need during your job hunt.

Your blogger,

Sandra Annette Rogers
Look for jobs: http://www.indeed.com/p/index.php?pid=7080813311402333

Posted in Going Green, Behavior Change, Finance, Inspiration | Print | 3 Comments »