Wealthy Turtle

Office Etiquette – Top Ten Worst Things You Can Say At Work

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We spend so much time at work that we often see our coworkers more than we see our own families. It’s easy to let your guard down and say something inappropriate, but a passing comment that you think nothing of may come back to haunt you.

Here are the top 10 (plus a bonus one) worst things you can say at work. Don’t be the one to make these epic office etiquette failures…

“That’s not my job.”

Wow, not exactly a team player are you?  Keep up that attitude and before you know it people will stop asking you to do things altogether.  But that’s not a good thing…you’ll be marked as an uncooperative jerk who is only interested in helping if it suits your own needs.

And don’t forget karma.  When you’re busy working on an important project and need help your coworkers may use your own words against you.  Payback is a bitch.

“No problem. I’ll have this done in no time.”

If you’re one hundred percent sure that you can keep your promise then this statement isn’t so bad.  But if you don’t come through you’ll be seen as someone who is unreliable and untrustworthy.  If you know you can’t complete a project in a certain amount of time be honest about it.  It’s better to under-promise and over-deliver than promise the moon and fail to come through.

“It’s not my fault.”

Mistakes happen and all businesses have to deal with them. It could be as simple as an easily fixed typo or it could be a complicated and embarrassing blunder that will cost the company its largest client.

Your first inclination might be to cover your butt and stay out of the line of fire so you don’t get blamed for the mess.  But that attitude just makes you look bad and all your coworkers will hate you.  When there’s an emergency, your bosses expects all hands on deck working on the problem.

“I got so wasted last night.”

Keep your private life private.  No ones needs to know how many shots you did last night or in whose bed you woke up this morning.

“Why can’t I log into Facebook?”

Because you’re being paid to work, not to update your status every half hour and spend your day cyber-stalking the new girl in accounting.

“Go away. I don’t have time for this.”

Yes, you’re busy. But that doesn’t mean you should be rude. The person coming to you for help is probably just as busy as you are and having to deal with your cantankerous attitude isn’t going to help.

“Want to step outside to settle this?”

How old are you?  Eight?  Settling a workplace dispute with a physical confrontation is never acceptable.  No exceptions.  And if you go around intimidating people and threatening violence you won’t be employed for long.

“How did HE get promoted?”

So maybe you don’t have a very high opinion of your coworker who was just promoted, but your bosses obviously do.  Insulting and undermining him will only make you look bad and squash any chance of you getting promoted in the future.

“I’m the only one who does any work around here.”

Yea, yea…we get it. You’re a good worker.  So are most of your colleagues whether you acknowledge it or not.  And even if you are the hardest working bee in the hive, no one wants to hear you patting yourself on the back since you’re really insulting them at the same time.

“You know how she got this job, don’t you?”

That’s just not right.  Spreading rumors that a coworker is sleeping her way to the top is just wrong (even if you’re pretty sure it is true).  How would you feel if people were spreading rumors about you?  Or your wife? Or your daughter?

Bonus #11

A few years ago, I was working in a large office and as I walked from the parking lot towards the building I bumped into one of my coworkers named Roseann.  She was walking with a little girl who was maybe seven years old.

Now I knew for a fact that Roseann had a daughter who was in college and she was a bit older than me, so in an attempt to make small talk I innocently asked, “Is this your granddaughter?”

After a split second pause Roseann replied, “No, she’s mine.”

I couldn’t even respond since my foot was so far in my mouth.  I was so embarrassed but she didn’t hold it against me.

I guess the only thing worse to say to a woman would be “Are you pregnant?”

Have you ever said something at work that came back to haunt you later?

6 Ways to Save Money While Job Hunting

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In today’s economy, recent college graduates are having difficulty finding jobs. The job market is becoming more and more competitive. With student loans to pay, the pressure to immediately find a good paying job can be enormous. In the meantime, the weeks or months that you spend job hunting can drain your finances. Here are six ways to save money while you are handing out resumes and interviewing with companies.

Sign Up for Free Job Boards

The internet has helped a lot in saving time and money. Instead of physically going to the company to hand over your resume and application form, most companies nowadays use the internet to do their recruiting. They advertise on various job boards. Most of these services allow job hunters to sign up for free. Subscribe to their newsletters so that you get the latest news and job listings. Also visit the company websites one by one. Some of the bigger firms have their own recruitment system on their websites.

Look for Community Career Centers

You can find a variety of groups that are concerned with the youth employment. Some of them have established community career centers which aim to help new graduates with their job hunting. These are usually NGOs or local government funded programs. Try to locate a center near you and see what services they have to offer. At the very least, you will be able to get some job listings, and maybe free internet access and photocopying services. The well-funded centers will probably offer some training programs that you can join for free or for a very minimal fee.

Carpool with Friends to Recruitment Events

Transportation costs can add up if you go to several job fairs each week. This is especially true if these events are outside your hometown. To save on transportation costs, gather a group of friends who are also looking for jobs. Plan to go together so that you only take one car. That’s a big savings in gas and parking fees. If you want to save even more money, pack your own lunch if it’s a whole day affair. That would be cheaper than eating out at the restaurant.

Keep Your Receipts

It is inevitable that you will be shelling out some cash to pay for various expenses while looking for a job. They may include but are not limited to a buying a business suit and briefcase, internet subscription, photocopying and printing, and transportation costs. You should never forget to keep your receipts and file them at home. Some of the expenses that you incur while looking for a job can be tax deductible. Familiarize yourself with IRS Publication 529 to be to determine which items can be deducted from your income tax.

Negotiate to Pay in Installments

One of the best ways to speed up your job search is to use an agency or a service that will help you match your skills to job prospects and secure job interviews. Another option is to hire a career coach that will help you rehearse for your interviews by engaging in role play. These kinds of services can help you immensely, but they can cost a lot of money. If you are hell bent going on this route, negotiate for an installment plan to make it easier on your wallet. Try to see if you can start paying once you receive your first paycheck. That will give them incentive to help you land a job as quickly as possible.

Take Free Internet Courses

While job hunting, a big chunk of your time is spent waiting. Spend your time wisely by being productive. Nowadays, there are a lot of free courses that can be taken online. You can take an online training module that will develop new skills that potential employers want to see. You can also search online for resume writing tips to improve your resume while you wait.

Looking for a job is hard on your wallet. How did you save money while you were out job hunting?

3 Ways to Help Your Child Pay for College If You Started Saving Late

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In a recent article, we talked about ways to find money to save for college, specifically through lifestyle changes such as living in a smaller house and driving a used car for 10 years or more.  However, life happens.  Maybe you didn’t have any extra money to save, or you thought you wanted your children to pay for college entirely themselves, but now that you have seen the sticker price, you are not so sure.

If you are coming to the college savings game late, there are still ways you can help your child pay for college.

1.  Teach your children about college expenses before their junior year.  Kids begin looking at colleges their junior year of high school.  Before that happens, sit down with your child and speak honestly about what you are able to afford.  Make sure your child understands the repercussions of paying back excessive student loans.  With this knowledge, perhaps your child will decide to look at a cheaper college option such as a local community college or a local university or a state university to save on costs.

2.  Let your child take out student loans and pay them off if you are able.  Regardless of what school your child attends, she may have to still take out student loans.  Go ahead and let her.  Then, when she graduates, if you are financially able, you can help your child pay off the loans.  Maybe you will pay the first 5 years of the loan while your child obtains a secure job and a good salary.  Maybe you will pay off one loan entirely and leave another for your child.  The choice is yours, but this option helps you wait a few more years to determine if you are financially able to help your child.

3.  Raid your Roth IRA.  If you choose this option, proceed with extreme caution as you don’t want to help your child at the expense of your own retirement.  However, Roth IRA rules allow you to pull out the principal (the money you have deposited over the years, but not the interest you have earned) to pay for your child’s qualifying educational expenses without paying any penalties for withdrawing the money.

If you use this option, there are a few things to keep in mind–you can only put $5,000 a year (to be bumped up to $5,500 in 2013) in your Roth every year if you are under 50.  You can’t add the money back in after you withdraw it, so you are minimizing the amount of tax free money you will have available in retirement.

Also, check with the college financial aid office to see how paying for your child’s education for one year will impact next year’s financial aid award.  In some cases, you will be expected to pay more in subsequent years.

College tuition is not getting any cheaper, and as parents, we should do what we can to minimize the next generation’s college loan burden.  That may mean helping our kids make smarter decisions about which colleges to attend and how much they can reasonably pay back in student loans as well as helping them pay for college if we are able.

If you started late saving for your child’s college education, what strategies did you use to help them?