SavvySugar

Submit a One-Minute Video and Win a Free Trip to Thailand

SavvySugar — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:30:46 -0700

Inspired by Australia's newsworthy contest for the Best Job in the World, The Tourism Authority of Thailand has launched a campaign it hopes will inspire renewed interest in traveling to the country that so heavily relies on tourism. Submit a one-minute video audition, and you could be one of five couples to win a fully paid trip to Thailand. One of the five winning couples will be eligible for the grand prize of $10,000, a BlackBerry, and a video camera.

Eligibility for the grand prize requires the couples to blog, chat and tweet about their six-day Thai vacations featuring Bangkok, beach resorts Phuket, Samui and Pattaya, and the northern city of Chiang Mai. Video auditions will be accepted on the designated website until Oct. 15 and a group of 25 semifinalists will be selected by a panel of TAT officials. The final five couples and the grand prize winners will be chosen by a worldwide online ballot.

I'm Asking: Do You Check Work Email During Off Hours?

SavvySugar — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:30:16 -0700

I am online in some capacity most hours of the day, evening and night. When I'm not at the computer, I have my BlackBerry by my side so I can keep on top of my email and what's going on in the world. While it's easiest for me to stay connected and on top of communication, I do set limits and try to make time to decompress, detach, and rest my eyes. Unplugging is one of the ways I maintain a healthy work-life balance.

That being said, I know most people don't thrive off staying as "clocked in" as I am. Technology is amazing in that it allows us to stay supremely connected, but it also ensures most of us work on weekends and rack up more than 40 hours of work during the week. Do you check your work email when you're not at the office via your phone or home computer, or do you choose to let the inbox fill up until you sit down at your desk in the morning?

Photo courtesy of NBC

The 2008 Word of the Year Is . . .

SavvySugar — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:30:15 -0800

2008 is not yet over, yet the final votes have been cast for the word of the year. When I think of the past year, I think foreclosure, but the New Oxford American Dictionary only crowns a word that is unique and was populated in the past year. For example, these four words were runners-up to the word of the year winner.

Frugalista: Person who leads a frugal lifestyle but stays fashionable and healthy by swapping clothes, buying second-hand, growing own produce, etc.
Moofer: A mobile out-of-office worker, as in someone who works away from a fixed workplace, via BlackBerry, a laptop, or Wi-Fi. Also can be used as a verbal noun, as in moofing.
Topless meeting: A meeting in which the participants are barred from using their laptops, BlackBerries, or cellphones.
Toxic debt: Mainly sub-prime debts that are now proving so disastrous to banks. They were parceled up and sent around the global financial system like toxic waste, hence the allusion.

To see the word of the year, read more.

Hypermiling: To hypermile is to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one's car and driving techniques.

According to CNN Money, the term was coined in 2004. Hypermilers are described as drivers who keep their tires properly inflated, remove the roof rack from their vehicles, and turn engines off rather than letting them idle at stoplights.

Source

Happy Holidays!

SavvySugar — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 05:00:03 -0800

Did your boss give you the day off from work today? If so, savor the time you have with your family and away from the office. Leave your Blackberry alone and don't even think about checking your work email - those means make it way too easy to be busy on an official company holiday. Your boss is giving you a break, and step two is giving yourself a break. Enjoy relaxing, you deserve it! Happy Holidays, working girls.

I'm Asking: Where Does Your Job Fall on Your List of Priorities?

SavvySugar — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:48:32 -0700

The BlackBerry and the iPhone are battling for number one, which means that we have two impressive options to keep us connected at all hours of the day. I'll admit that it can be difficult to tear me away from work at times, and my BlackBerry and laptop (gasp!) went camping with me last weekend. I know I'm not the only one that has issues with this, but I also know that you don't have to have workaholic tendencies for your job to be a high priority in your life. So, where does your job fall on your list of priorities? Somewhere between your relationship and your friends? Top or bottom of your list? Do tell!

I'm Asking: When Are You Not Available?

SavvySugar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:30:58 -0700

Finding a happy medium between work and your personal life is a complicated balancing act that can take years to perfect.

The fact that 46 percent of you recently said you have trouble saying "No" to work got me thinking about when I chose to draw the line on what's my time.

I carry my BlackBerry with me in the evenings and on weekends and try to keep up with important emails from work, but I'm not afraid to click "mark as unread" when an email is non-urgent and deal with it at a more appropriate time. When are you not available?

Photo courtesy of NBC

Want to Know What Makes You Savvy?

SavvySugar — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:35:09 -0700

You are all savvy in your own right and share many helpful and smart tips here every day. I've chosen some comments from this past week that stood out to me, and it was difficult to narrow them down to a few! Keep on sharing all of your awesome comments, ladies!

How to Get Half-Price Hotel Rooms - TeamSugar member Torgleson adds:

You'd also be surprised at how much leeway the person at the front desk has with your rate. Sometimes just calling and asking if they can do any better can get you a lower rate. I've had as much as $70 knocked off the nightly rate.

Is There a Peeping Tom in Your Inbox? - JaimeLeah526 tells it like it is:

You shouldn't write personal emails at work that you wouldn't want your boss to see. Everyone knows that they can look at your email because they tell you so when you're hired. They have every right ot see what you're doing on their time. Use your blackberry to send personal emails or don't do it at all.

There are two more of your comments so just read more.

Your Two Cents: Do You Use Coupons? - RosaDilia shares her tricks:

I do use coupons. I also print out coupons from a couple of websites and use those as well. A good way to get coupons is to go the websites of brands that you use regularly and sign up and you'll get coupons in the mail.

Savvy ATM: Start Saving For the Holidays - Soozicee has a brighter idea:

I started saving January 1st! $10.00 a week transferred from my checking to my ING "Christmas Fund" savings account. By the time Christmas rolls around I'll have over $500 to spend on gifts.

Source

Are Work-Related Phone Calls on the Bus Forgivable?

SavvySugar — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:02:10 -0700

If you live in a city that relies on public transportation, you've probably noticed that the buses are becoming seemingly fuller each day. Gas prices are getting more people to sacrifice their cozy car commutes for an expectedly more frustrating commute on public transportation. Last night, while standing my way through my entire commute home, I witnessed this not-uncommon scene.

A 20-something woman held a conversation on her BlackBerry for a good 20 minutes, and the discussion she was having was obviously work-related and she was speaking to a coworker. The two women sitting beside her complained loudly about how rude it was for this woman to be talking on her phone during their commute. One woman said she was getting a headache, and the other kept shaking her head in disbelief and saying that the whole thing reminded her of a Dilbert cartoon.

I can't say that I'm never annoyed when other commuters have endless personal conversations, but I wasn't irritated that this woman was getting work done on her commute home. Her productivity wasn't done in an overly obnoxious way, and she wasn't gesturing wildly with her words. Do you think work conversations on the bus are forgivable, or are they just as bad as personal phone conversations?

Source

What to Do If Your Boss Calls With a Work Emergency on Your Wedding Day

SavvySugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:32:24 -0700

It's finally the big day and you've had a tight grip on your BlackBerry all morning in case of a wedding emergency. You're about to meet up with your bridal party for brunch so you can give them their gifts, and when your phone rings you expect it to be the florist saying all of your flowers are dead, or your mom asking for a lunch-spot recommendation. As you greet your Maid of Honor with a smile, you tell her you have a call and peek down at who is trying to get your attention on your wedding day. She sees your smile turn into open-mouthed astonishment paired with an appropriate eye-roll because that phone call is from your boss. Your MOH tells you not to even think about picking up the phone but you hesitate. Find out how I would handle this situation when you read more.

Even if you've tied up all of your loose ends before your wedding, emergencies do happen. Instead of ignoring the phone call and having to face your boss when you return from your honeymoon, go ahead and answer the call. You don't want to have the thought of a confrontation lingering while you're on your stress-free vacation with your new husband, and you definitely don't want her to have the impression that you don't respect her enough to answer her calls.

Your boss may simply have a question that she forgot to ask before your vacation time started and didn't want to bother you while you're on your honeymoon. But she may be calling with a legitimate emergency and want you to pop in to the office or handle an issue from home. If it is an issue that requires immediate attention, ask your boss to call one of your co-workers that you know will be able to handle it as well as you would.

As much as you may want to lash out at the audacity of asking you to do work on your wedding day, bite your tongue. Politely tell her you're sorry, but you've planned every minute of your day and won't be able to help her this time. Reassure her when you say that you've planned in advance for every controllable situation and remind her that you've arranged for colleagues to cover your responsibilities. Although you probably ran through the details before you left, let her know again exactly who she should contact in case of specific problems so she's not tempted to dial your number during your honeymoon bliss.

To see all of our wedding coverage check out IDoSugar.

Bella Pictures

Are the Demanding Descriptions of Gen Y Accurate?

SavvySugar — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:23:13 -0800

New surveys and conversations among human resources execs make it seem like employees under the age of 29 (also known as Millenials and Gen Y) are a bratty bunch. A new CareerBuilder survey shows that we supposedly expect our employers to provide more benefits and other perks than our older colleagues - namely, better pay, a flexible work schedule and company-provided BlackBerrys and cell phones. Additionally, 87 percent of hiring managers say we exhibit a sense of entitlement that older generations don’t.

Source