The East Africa Famine—How You Can Help

The latest reports from the UN (as reported by PBS) show that the current East Africa famine is the worst famine the region has had in the last 60 years. The affected areas include not only Somalia, but also extend to Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

The UN says that the current drought has led to the loss of crops and livestock and the result is that more than 11 million people are in need of food. It is estimated that up to 800,000 children may die of starvation.

According to the AFP, Dadaab refugee camp in Eastern Kenya is now the largest refugee camp in the world. The refugee camp was established to accommodate Somalis who fled their country because of the civil war. Now the drought has made life impossible for those who had remained behind.

As many as 40,000 Somalis arrived at the camp in July alone fleeing the drought in their country. The LA Times reports that, "The refugee camp now holds 372,000 people, more than 4 times its capacity".

To find out how you can help, click here for a list of some of the established charities that are working in the region.

Do you have a great idea that needs to take off? Incubate it!

Businesses are most vulnerable during the entrepreneur stage. Some great ideas never see the light of day because the entrepreneur did not have the nurturing and support to get the idea off the ground. That is where business incubators come in. Wikipedia defines business incubators as programs designed to accelerate the successful development of a entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support.

The NBIA(National business incubators association) makes a great case on why an entrepreneur should consider a business incubator. Some of the top reasons are

• They only select the cream of the crop so if you are picked then your idea has a shot
• The services offered are targeted and specific to a start up company. Click here to read the rest of the article. 

Before picking an incubator, consider the following

• What is their track record?
• How involved are they in helping to launch their idea?
• Do the services they have match your needs? 
• What kind of mentors do they offer? 
• What kind of networking opportunities are available with other entrepreneurs? 

Check out 20 cool business incubators around the US on inc.com

Kickstarter Projects—Custom Fit Jeans & Young World Inventors

Thanks to Rafiki's post yesterday, I spent most of my evening checking out Kickstarter. Not really a creative type myself, I am always fascinated by what people can do and the projects on Kickstarter are phenomenal. Here are a couple of projects that I really liked:

1. Custom Fit Jeans—now this is definitely the best thing since sliced bread. I am sure I am not the only one who cannot find a decent pair of jeans that fits well at an affordable price. Sam & Leona, the Chicago creatives behind the project have set out to change that. If you pledge $60 to support the project, you will get your very own pair of custom jeans once they start operating. How will it work? Check it out here.
2. Young World Inventors—I always gravitate to stories about Africa and the changes and developments that are happening there. Despite what you may see on the news, there are people quietly going about their business, doing remarkable things that contribute to the improvement of lives and the development of the continent. The goal of Young World Inventors is to "seed innovation" in Africa and they are raising money on Kickstarter to create a webseries to tell these stories. For your pledge of $75, you will get a bike powered cell phone charger plus insider video posts from East Africa. How will it work? Check it out here.

Have you found any projects on Kickstarter that you like and would want others to support? We would love to hear about them. Please do share.

Do you need to Fund a Creative Project

Have you heard of Kickstarter? It is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. The projects are in the following areas

• Music
• Film
• Art
• Technology
• Design
• Food
• Publishing 

Kickstarter does not follow the venture capital model. The project creator has 100% ownership of their work but offer unique experiences as rewards to the people who fund their project. 

Each project has a goal and a deadline and must reach its funding goal by the deadline to get any of the money. It is a great place to test your ideas without risk. 

I love the positive energy of the site and how so many creative ideas come together. If you are wondering what other people may think of your idea. This is a great place to test and see how much traction you get. So far the highest funded project raised $942,578 and went over the goal by 6283%. It is a pretty cool creation. Check it out here. 

If you have the world's next bright idea, check out Kickstarter. It could be the place that catapults you to your dreams. 

Time To Find A New Bank

I was very excited when I finally closed my Bank of America account a few months ago. Anyone who has been their customer knows what I am talking about so I will say no more. I really should have closed it years ago when I switched to online banking but somehow I could not cut the cord—I needed the false security of a bricks and mortar bank even though I never ever went there.

However, recently I have had the need to walk into a bank and I have been reminded several times of the one and only problem I have with online banks—it is a pain to make deposits. You have to mail checks to them or make deposits into a linked account and then transfer to the online bank. Too much hassle, too much time=Major Inconvenience.

So since my banking needs have changed, I am now in search of a bricks and mortar bank, where among other things, deposits can be made as easily and painlessly as possible. I have spent the last few weeks trying to find the best bank for my current needs. Trust me, it’s easier to stay cool outdoors in the Texas heat than it is to find a decent bank these days.

They have all these impressive sounding account types like, “Smart Cents Checking” (you know who you are) that want to make you sign up immediately until you read all the fine print and find out that they really mean smart cents for the bank not for you.

Granted it’s not much, but since the bank uses my money to make money, you would think they would make it easier for me to bank with them. As things stand, I am sorely tempted to keep my money under the mattress; only problem is that it becomes very inconvenient to pay those pesky bills as I would have to drive around and make payments.

In my research, I found that some banks have introduced check deposits by phone where you take a picture of the check and send it to your bank and that serves as the deposit. PNC Bank allows you to do this via an iPhone app. Since I don’t have an iPhone, this doesn’t do me any good. In any case I prefer to let them iron out the kinks in this technology before I jump on board.

In the course of searching for a new bank I came across a couple of websites that have been very informative. They are www.mybanktracker.com (where I learnt about the PNC mobile deposits) and www.findabetterbank.com. These websites offer a ton of information and tools that will help you evaluate if you need to switch to a new account and what your options are.

I don’t have any recommendations for “the best bank” because choosing a bank is very personal. It depends on your current day to day financial behaviors as well as your financial goals for your future.

That said, here are a few things from my experience that you may not have considered:

1. If you have not walked into a bank in over a year, consider an online bank. Most offer free atm fees and not only do they offer free checking accounts they also pay interest.
2. Have a savings account and a checking account in 2 different banks. My savings account is with a local credit union and I do not have a debit card. If I need to withdraw money, I have to drive there during bank hours. Needless to say, it is highly inconvenient to do so which means no impulse spending from this account.
3. Select a bank that has an eBanking platform that you are comfortable with. eBanking is a powerful tool to manage your money. You can pay your bills in a timely fashion, monitor your budgeting and handle all your investing all from the comfort of your couch. Looking at my account on a regular basis helps me rein in my spending before I do too much damage. Also eBanking is here to stay and banks are pushing their customers to use it. Soon, it will be very expensive not to use it. Bank of America now charges most customers for the privilege of receiving a paper statement. If your bank does not do so, trust me they will soon follow suit.

What banking strategies have worked for you? Do you have any other tips you can share?

On the other hand, if Congress doesn't solve this debt ceiling crisis I may not need a new account so maybe I should wait till tomorrow and reconsider my options then.