THE ART OF THE BUSINESS LUNCH

If you’re going along on a business lunch with your boss and some important clients, here are a few tricks to avoid embarrassing yourself and your company:

Don’t go unprepared – look at the menu online and have a few options so you’re not thrown by choice and indecision.

Don’t sit down hungry – you’ll be lightheaded and thinking about food not the meeting.

Don’t order the T-bone when your boss is having salad – increasingly these are health conscious times, also if your boss recommends a certain dish don’t say no.

Don’t get drunk – this is a rookie mistake. Try avoiding alcohol but if you do have a drink sip it slowly.

Don’t order foods that are hard to eat or stain or get stuck in your teeth – spaghetti, ribs and spinach are no-nos.

Don’t put your electronic devices on the table – and don’t check them during your meal.

Don’t treat the help poorly – how you cope with stress and people is exactly what the boss wants to observe.

LOWER YOUR FINANCIAL STRESS

Separate your needs from your desires – the only thing you realistically have control over is the money you spend. The root cause of many problems is based in unchecked overspending. Prioritize what’s really important.

Change your attitude towards money – the biggest change you can make is your attitude. Positive thinking can go a long way to helping you deal with your financial situation. You need to appreciate what you have.

Ask for help – sometime you just have to swallow your pride and ask for aid – whether financial or emotional. Look to friends and family and consider joining a support group or getting professional help from an accredited financial planner.

Get rid of debt – drowning in debt is major financial stress. Pay off debt as soon as possible and remember that not all debt is bad debt.

Make a budget and stick to it – organise a spending plan and create order from your financials. Monitor what you spend and make sure you don’t spend more than your allowance.

HIGH PAYING, DIRTY JOBS

Crime scene cleaner – the aftermath of a bloody crime scene with blood and guts around must be the worst type of mess to clean up. Not a job for the faint of heart

Plumber – they routinely have to crawl under sinks or through the cramped and dirty areas under your house, dealing with revolting clogs and human waste.

Coal miner – the job is dangerous and everything is dirty. Coal dust contaminates the air and coal miners ingest coal dust and sometimes develop black lung.

Sewer inspector – negotiating the dirty underbelly of a city, with rats and roaches for company is up there with world’s dirtiest jobs, although it doesn’t beat the job of the sewer diver.

Oil rig worker – life on an oil rig is both dirty and dangerous and involves spending weeks at a time sleeping, eating and working 12-hour shifts in the middle of the ocean.

EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Take this to heart and look in your closet, bookshelves and garage and sell the items that you no longer have any use for. Not only will you make money from your junk but you’ll be clearing space and getting rid of clutter. You won’t get rich quickly selling your old or non-used products but every little bit of extra money helps.

Sell that old china that you don’t use that’s just gathering dust in the corner of your living room. You could be surprised at the extra money you make and it clears out the unused mess in your house.

Empty all your junk drawers – you’d be amazed at the pile of coins you collect.

Sell valuable items on eBay, use Craigslist for bulky items and have a garage sale for everything else. You can make a nice amount of money from a few hours’ work.

DR DOOM

Nouriel Roubini is an American economist who successfully predicted the collapse of the US housing market and the worldwide recession which started in 2008. His critical economic views have earned him the moniker “Dr Death”.  The New York Times notes that he foresaw “homeowners defaulting on mortgages, trillions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities unravelling worldwide and the global financial system shuddering to a halt”.

He also warned the IMF that “the United States was likely to face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence, and, ultimately, a deep recession”. At the time his comments were considered outlandish but he’s been pretty accurate with his forecasts.

Roubini is the chairman of an economic consultancy firm and he is a major player in both US and international financial debates.