Queercents

A few new and varied voices have recently joined Queercents. First up is Walter Schubert. As the Founder of GFN.com: The Gay Financial Network, many people recognize Walter as the face of gay money. Walter has over 30 years experience in the Financial Services Industry with extensive knowledge in the securities business and made history as the first openly gay member of the New York Stock Exchange. Walter joins us as a special guest contributor and will be writing about the market a couple of times a month. You can learn more about Walter by clicking here.

Lana Marconi and Martinique Haller join us as more frequent contributing writers. Dr. Lana, as she is known to her readers, earned two doctorate degrees at the young age of thirty: a Ph.D. in Energy Medicine and Th.D. in Transpersonal Psychology. Her professional therapeutic experience has included working as a behavior therapist and psychology researcher at schools, hospitals, and government funded facilities. She travels globally, educating people on natural approaches to self-help and embodying one’s innate greatness. Read the rest of this entry »

Queercents is always looking for a few more writers to expand the voice of our community. We can’t promise fame and fortune but you’ll have a lot of fans with tens of thousands of page views each month. These are the requirements:

• Interested in money. (Although you won’t be making any with this gig — it’s volunteer!)
• Familiar with WordPress blogging software.
• Talented enough to write a post each week about your finances. It’s an easy topic since money permeates all aspects of life.

Take a look at the About Us page and you’ll notice our community is not fully represented. What do I need to do to get a trans person on board!! If your voice could fill this gap or others, and you’re interested, then send an e-mail to: nina AT queercents DOT com and include a short writing sample – 500 words or less – about why you want to write about money.

I couldn’t find my thumb drive yesterday. For a few hours, I was worried that I left it at a public computer at school. Of course my main concern should have been getting it back, but actually, I was obsessed with trying to remember what was actually on it.

Then my mood dropped like a parachuter having his last and unluckiest jump.

That thumb drive contained hours worth of research and design projects. There were raw images, drafts and final products for my portfolio — files I gathered and developed that required immense research, patience and practice. And where did I back them up? Nowhere.

And even worse: one file may have had my social security number and my address.

Would we ever treat our finances the way we handle our portable data? Read the rest of this entry »

“Money is related to class only in the minds of people who have too much of the former, too little of the latter or none of either.” – Doug Robarchek

A couple of week’s ago, the New York Times published an article about the survivors of the notorious nightclub fire in Rhode Island that took the lives of 100 people. It records how they feel forgotten:

At first, all kinds of help poured in for the roughly 200 injured survivors and families of 100 others who died in the disaster, one of the worst nightclub fires in the nation’s history. But that help has all but disappeared, even though many of the injured face more surgeries, cannot resume full-time work, and struggle to afford heating oil and other basics.

Why has the help disappeared? Some argue it has to do with class: Read the rest of this entry »

I thought that I’d take a little break from business and have some fun, with money.

As a kid I learned how to make a T-shirt with a dollar-bill. This was a pretty fun party trick with my friends as it typically lead to learning other origami creations including a dollar-bill shaped ring and a dollar-bill sailboat.

We all know that giving cash as a present is far and away one of the easier gifts to give. It is also one of the most desirable gifts to receive. However, the problem with giving cash is that it isn’t nearly the most memorable gift someone can receive. (If my friends are reading this, trust me - high dollar gift amounts are very memorable) One way to make a gift of cash far more memorable than a walk to the bank is to create a piece or art with that money. In the past, I’ve given picture frames with valuable hearts, photo albums with money on the pages, and other small gifts with hidden cash. It makes gift giving more fun all around! Read the rest of this entry »

Once again, our Syndication Feed is available in full feed mode. So if you’re in love with your Google Reader and don’t have time to visit a lot of sites, then RSS in full feed mode might be just the ticket! Subscribe here.

Feel free to sign up for our newsletter while you’re at it. It publishes the Queercents highlights every other week – just enough to keep you in the queer money loop without clogging up your mailbox. Interested? Sign up here.

Finally, since I’m asking you to do a few things, why not try our affiliate partner’s budgeting program. MoneyPants offers a free trial here. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Have a great weekend and try not to spend too much money!

Janice DeCuir is the latest contributing writer to join Queercents. She is the Emerging Market Specialist at Fifth Third Bank where her background in real estate, banking, and finance spans 25 years.

After separating from a 20-year marriage in 2001, Janice found herself relocating to another city with no money, family or support systems. By 2003, she was working 4 different jobs (including a paper route) in order to make ends meet. Having walked the difficult road to authenticity, she understands the true power people possess to design and manifest their own destiny. Janice and her partner now own a home and live in Lexington, Kentucky. Click here to learn more. We look forward to her reading her posts!

Two more kids have entered the Queercents sandbox. Isn’t this fun?

Jan Hanseth is a freelance web developer, a student of massage therapy, a belly dancer, and an amateur chef. As she enters her thirties, she is moving away from corporate IT, and is finding herself in the middle of a major career and lifestyle change.

She lives with her partner in Portland, Maine. In her spare time, which is pretty hard to come by these days, she likes to knit and crochet, and watch stupid television. She also enjoys long walks on the beach. (Really. There’s a nice beach very close to her apartment.) Jan will be posting on Wednesdays. Learn more about her by clicking here.

Mike Bode moved to Atlanta in 1998 after graduating Indiana University with a degree in sociology. When there were no sociology jobs waiting for him, he spent two years being mostly unemployed. He was a self-described “spend-a-holic” burning through a modest inheritance and running up debt on credit cards.

Finally in 2000, completely broke with no savings, he realized it was time to get serious about his finances and his future. He took an entry-level job as a customer service representative learning everything from computer repair to SQL in his spare time. The job was meant to cover the bills temporarily while he figured out what to do with his life. Read the rest of this entry »