Financial Reflections

The bad economic news is everywhere.  The Washington Post says “Economic Signs Turn From Grim To Worse” and CNN Money proclaims this the “Sharpest decline in 26 years.”  Sure, times are tough, but I wanted to end the week with some resources to help us cope in hard times.

Here are a few categories that I can think to look to to help you get employed and save a penny or two during good times, bad times and horrible times.

Jobs

• Monster.com – huge site, some annoying ads, but they’ve supposedly had a big redesign recently.
• CareerBuilder.com – Big site that also has content for job seekers.
• jobs.yahoo.com – Owned by Yahoo! so there’s tons of exposure.
• Dice.com – Mostly IT, but great if that’s your line of work.
• LinkedIn.com – A great way to network and control you professional presence on the web.

Saving

• IngDirect.com – They’ve had cutbacks like all other banks, but they also have some sweet rates of return on savings.
• FNBO Direct – Another place that lets you park your money for a better return than many places offer.

Borrowing/Lending Money

• LendingClub.com – I recently outlined this peer-to-peer lending site.  If you’ve got a credit score of at least 660, or want to lend money at a solid rate of return, check it out.

Geting out of debt

• Radio host Clark Howard recommends the National Foundation For Credit Counseling to help if you’re having trouble with debt. — nfcc.org
• Dave Ramsey – He’s got a no-nonsense approach that works for some and seems to irritate others.  In addition to authoring multiple books, he runs a radio show and offers live seminars around the US.  I attended one of his seminars a while back andlearned from it. — daveramsey.com

Got any resources you’d like to share that can help during a downturn?  Post them in the comments below…