I think we need to stop demonizing capitalism. These restaurant owners have a great concept, but in the article it states that they are applying for non-profit status, which means they will eventually seek private donations from wealthy people who became wealthy from capitalism. They realize that their business model will not sustain itself without the help of donations of others to make up for the shortfall. We tend to forget that the system that funds the thousands of non-profit organizations out there is capitalism.
It's not a crime to make a profit, and not everyone exploits business for profit. Just because there are cases of it on Wall Street doesn't mean that the millions of small business owners earning a large profit are doing in indecently. There are millions of people who help people every day through their for-profit business. Without profit, there are no non-profits.
I do several things to make a little bit of extra money, but the thing that has been the most profitable so far is pet boarding. I have a friendly dog, a good-sized house, and a fenced yard, so this works out really well. I advertise primarily on Craigslist, and charge $20/day for dogs and $15/day for cats. It's generally not that much work, and it can be a lot of fun. In busy months, I've made up to $600 from pet boarding alone.
I make smaller amounts of money by buying up used books--I seem to have a good eye for those that will have good resale value--and then selling them on Amazon. I don't think I make a good hourly rate doing this, but I love looking through books so it's something I enjoy.
I LOVE yodlee.com. It's so helpful for setting up my budget and tracking expenses. I'm able to categorize all of my spending and analyze where I can cut down, where I'm spending too much. It also allows you to track all of your accounts. I love the charts and graphs that you can create. Getting a visual of your expenses really shows where the money is going.
Of course, this works best when you put everything on your credit card. I'm responsible with my card and never have to pay interest. I pay in full every month while still putting almost EVERYTHING on credit. It's like a free loan. And again, having it electronically done means that I can see exactly where and what I spent. Don't do this if your not good with credit cards, but for those who are, get a rewards card and don't carry around cash. I know that many sites say cash is the way to go, and for some people, it is, but me for me, I like to be able to see and track the details, even those small $2 coffee charges.
I use Half.com to post old video games that my girls have outgrown and books that are in like new condition!
Half.com takes a small commission but they allow the item to be listed until it is sold or you eliminate it from your selling queue!
When the item sells, you pack it up and ship it! Half.com will reimburse the shipping costs to you along with the money paid by the buyer (minus their fee, of course)!
It's an easy way to make some extra cash from unused or unwanted items.
You may have a gold mine hidden in your closet. Many of those books that you thought were useless may be worth something.
How do you tell? Locate the 10 digit or 13 digit number located on the first few pages of the book or on the back above the barcode. This is known as the ISBN number.
Go to the Amazon.com website and enter the number into the Amazon.com search box. When the book comes that corresponds to that ISBN number check the used prices for the book to see if the book is worth selling.
You can then sell your book by signing up at Amazon. It takes only a few minutes and is a great way to earn extra money.
I have three kids, and we're at the doctors office too much, especially through the winter. I scrounge all the weekly ads (Kmart, Target, CVS, Rite Aid) and save any coupons for "$10 gift card with a new/transferred prescription). My local CVS takes competitor's coupons, so I always fill the Rxs there. I can get a $10, $25, even $30 gift card each time. Then I use The Drugstore Game to stretch those CVS dollars even further.
Please read John Robbin's book "Diet for a New America". Chickens are intelligent creatures and millions of them are not being treated properly at these factory farms! If you are going to buy/eat eggs, buy local! Or go vegan (scrambled tofu is awesome! you'll never miss the eggs, and it's 100% cruelty-free)
You can make a decent profit by buying things cheap at garage sales and reselling them on eBay and Craigslist. For the most part, people selling at garage sales either moving soon, are trying to clear out their junk, or are clearing out a deceased relative's house so they can sell/rent it out. They want to just get rid of stuff, so they'll sell it cheap. In some cases, they'll even give it away. You can make a few extra dollars by taking an entire box of old books and selling them to a used book store like Half Priced Books. Granted, you won't get a lot, but every little bit helps.
You should also be on the lookout for some really good deals. Just the other day I missed out on buying a nice weight bench ($20) and a punching bag rack with heavy and speed bag ($30) at a yard sale. I was pondering how I was going to store them in my apartment until I could sell them when a guy came and scooped them. I probably could have made at least $50 profit selling them on Craigslist, probably more since they were in good condition.
So general tips: Go early, get the good stuff before others do, come back later, get the leftovers for free or dirt cheap, learn to haggle, sell small stuff on eBay, sell larger stuff locally on Craigslist.
I've been donating plasma for about a year now. If you don't mind needles, and can take a couple pin pricks a week, you can make some pretty decent money over time. Obviously the pay rate varies from donation center to donation center. The one I go to has a two-week cycle: $15 for the first donation in a week, $30 for the second donation in a week, $15 for the third donation in two weeks, $35 for the 4th donation in two weeks. If you go as often as you can (twice a week with at least 48 hrs in between donations) anyone over 110 lbs can make at least $190 a month. The center I go to also gives bonuses for your 8th, 9th and 10th donation in a month ($5). In addition, if you weigh over a certain amount (I think like 160lb) you can donate the full measure (900g) of plasma, which gets you an extra $6 every other donation at my center. My plasma center also has drawings and contests about once a month to encourage people to donate in the week they need to make their quota (push week). When I manage to donate every opportunity in a month, I bring home between $200-$250 a month, more than $2400 in a year. This really brings things into perspective when you're wondering why you're spending an hour and a half of your time for $15. I missed going for the better part of a month because of illness and I can tell you I missed the extra income.
I make extra money by writing for DemandStudios. Any freelance writing would do. If I were more dedicated I would work on my blog to write more revenue-generating posts. But I'm not. :) So writing for others does the trick and gives me a bit of extra spending money.
When my husband and I got married, having the joint account helped a lot. Because he is a spender while I am a saver, I often found before we were married that I would have to spot him a bit more on rent and such because he began to rely on my paycheck and expect more than it could offer. Knowing that he would only use the joint account to pay for public transit and gas for the car put me at ease.
I did start to bristle, though, when he started charging more and more "business lunches" to the joint account. That, to me, didn't really qualify as a work expense, since there was plenty of food in the house for him to make a lunch, and we have been on a budget while I have been out of work for graduate school.
So, we have benefited from the joint account for household expenses, but it also means we have to keep talking about what really falls under the umbrella of "household expenses". But talking (not arguing or blaming) about money in a marriage is never a bad thing, I think.
I believe if you opt out of credit offers via the Federal Trade Commission (full info on their site) you will not receive such offers.
Also, sending CREDIT cards is illegal according to the federal Truth in Lending Act, but for some reason debit cards and "advanced fee" cards are OK. I did find this article from 2007 with some explanation. It still doesn't seem right!
Thrift shops in larger cities (Chicago for me) are at much higher price points, but usually carry more brand name items ... which I don't care too much about.
Some of the best clothing I've found has been in large discount Thrift Stores in Milwaukee / Suburbs. Not as much competition for unique items, I go nuts!
I'm interested to see how many people connect income sources with spending decisions.
I've always taken an alternate view: My spending is based on my budget. Where the money comes from has nothing to do with what gets spent or what it gets spent on. In fact, it doesn't even have much to do with how much gets spent. (Only to the extent that income changes make the budget unviable.) I wrote a bit about that in a post called It's all your money.
In my household, all the income goes into our joint account, and most of our budgeted expenses get paid out of that account as well. However, we transfer a modest amount of money into a pair of different accounts for personal expenses.
We don't really do it for conflict reduction--we're pretty much in accord on money issues--which is why I wasn't really talking about the conflict-reduction issues. We do it for budget simplicity. In the budget, spending out of my separate account is just tracked as "Philip's spending," and there's no need to decide in advance how much to allocate to books, how much to magazines, how much to lunches out with friends--or how much to Esperanto conferences. (Although the Esperanto conference took a big chunk. I'm going to be buying fewer books and magazines for a while.)
Once kids come into the mix it becomes more complicated, especially if one stops working to care for them. We hash out (now it involves more tweaking than anything else) our yearly budget in Novemeber. It probably has more categories than most, but still includes personal discretionary spending.
A common thread in all the posts is the couple communicates their expectations and solves the problem together.
Oooh, love it when people get into grammatical nitpicks. Last I checked, the world was still going round so nothing crashes and burned due to a typo.
Anyway, I just skimmed the article and I'm a thrifter at heart, so, if any of this was mentioned, you can ignore me.
There are other things you should not buy at a thrift store. Car seats, cradles, high-chairs and other random baby-stuff is numero uno. Thrift stores are supposed to check, but a lot of times, they don't.
Cushions are numero dos. Why? Fleas and weird smells, for starters. Mattresses and couches and the like also fall into this category. A flea or roach infestation is not something you want to deal with.
Watch out for dry-rot and mold on stuff like jackets (which might not be worn often) and shoes. Make sure anything you can buy you can either clean thoroughly yourself, or you can swing the dry-cleaning for. If something looks stained, it is, and you probably won't be able to get it out. Sweat stains do not come out. Neither does chocolate, grass, blood (I've come across it) and a whole bunch of other stuff. If it's in the Goodwill, there's a decent chance someone has already tried to get it out and has failed, and the stuff is set.
Electronics are obviously a no-no, unless you're looking for parts.
Don't go into a thrift store just to browse. Never, ever. Make a list like you'd make for any other store. Unless something has an specific purpose in your life, don't buy it.
Know the prices at your local shops, and where they get their merch. True, Goodwill might get donations, but they also get Target overstock that doesn't sell in the store. Know when they do their markdowns, know when they get truck, know when they process, and don't be afraid to ask for a discount. Cause, these are places you haggle like mad.
The Humane Society of the U.S. kills more than 90% of the animals brought to them, just like PETA. Chickens are not the most intelligent animals. They are sentient, to some extent, but nowhere near the level of a person. The truth is they are far better off in cages and fed an organic diet than running around eating bugs, rocks, etc. and attacking each other. They're quite filthy, as are all birds. Recognize them for what they are, semi-conscious animals that we use for food. Ever seen the episode of "Dirty Jobs" that includes scooping poop at a Turkey house? Birds are little different than rats with wings. They aren't capable of language or planning. Can a chicken be "happy?" Most likely not. "Happy" requires a level of thought which birds cannot possess. Thoughtful birds are from cartoons. Cartoons are not reality.
Given four individual nests in a coop, four hens will prefer to nest together in one if they can all fit. Uncaged, there tends to be more cannibalism among them, but if that seems more "natural" to people then so be it. Just don't kid yourself that being involved in a pecking order is giving your average chicken a more fulfilled existence. I agree we should treat our fellow creatures with compassion, but I think all this presumption of what makes a chicken "happy" gets a little nutty sometimes.
i mow a couple elderly neighbors grass when i am doing mine. doesnt take very long and a couple bucks never hurt anyone.
I think we need to stop demonizing capitalism. These restaurant owners have a great concept, but in the article it states that they are applying for non-profit status, which means they will eventually seek private donations from wealthy people who became wealthy from capitalism. They realize that their business model will not sustain itself without the help of donations of others to make up for the shortfall. We tend to forget that the system that funds the thousands of non-profit organizations out there is capitalism.
It's not a crime to make a profit, and not everyone exploits business for profit. Just because there are cases of it on Wall Street doesn't mean that the millions of small business owners earning a large profit are doing in indecently. There are millions of people who help people every day through their for-profit business. Without profit, there are no non-profits.
I do several things to make a little bit of extra money, but the thing that has been the most profitable so far is pet boarding. I have a friendly dog, a good-sized house, and a fenced yard, so this works out really well. I advertise primarily on Craigslist, and charge $20/day for dogs and $15/day for cats. It's generally not that much work, and it can be a lot of fun. In busy months, I've made up to $600 from pet boarding alone.
I make smaller amounts of money by buying up used books--I seem to have a good eye for those that will have good resale value--and then selling them on Amazon. I don't think I make a good hourly rate doing this, but I love looking through books so it's something I enjoy.
I tutor. Almost any college graduate can probably do this. I make $30 an hour, and it's fun.
I do a couple of things. depending on what I need.
Used to sell plasma.
Sell books I have read to 1/2 Price Book stores.
Enter contests.
Do online surveys.
Shop garage sales/ebay/craigslist and resale via any of the before mentioned areas.
Do computer work on the side for friends and friends of friends.
I LOVE yodlee.com. It's so helpful for setting up my budget and tracking expenses. I'm able to categorize all of my spending and analyze where I can cut down, where I'm spending too much. It also allows you to track all of your accounts. I love the charts and graphs that you can create. Getting a visual of your expenses really shows where the money is going.
Of course, this works best when you put everything on your credit card. I'm responsible with my card and never have to pay interest. I pay in full every month while still putting almost EVERYTHING on credit. It's like a free loan. And again, having it electronically done means that I can see exactly where and what I spent. Don't do this if your not good with credit cards, but for those who are, get a rewards card and don't carry around cash. I know that many sites say cash is the way to go, and for some people, it is, but me for me, I like to be able to see and track the details, even those small $2 coffee charges.
I use Half.com to post old video games that my girls have outgrown and books that are in like new condition!
Half.com takes a small commission but they allow the item to be listed until it is sold or you eliminate it from your selling queue!
When the item sells, you pack it up and ship it! Half.com will reimburse the shipping costs to you along with the money paid by the buyer (minus their fee, of course)!
It's an easy way to make some extra cash from unused or unwanted items.
You may have a gold mine hidden in your closet. Many of those books that you thought were useless may be worth something.
How do you tell? Locate the 10 digit or 13 digit number located on the first few pages of the book or on the back above the barcode. This is known as the ISBN number.
Go to the Amazon.com website and enter the number into the Amazon.com search box. When the book comes that corresponds to that ISBN number check the used prices for the book to see if the book is worth selling.
You can then sell your book by signing up at Amazon. It takes only a few minutes and is a great way to earn extra money.
I have three kids, and we're at the doctors office too much, especially through the winter. I scrounge all the weekly ads (Kmart, Target, CVS, Rite Aid) and save any coupons for "$10 gift card with a new/transferred prescription). My local CVS takes competitor's coupons, so I always fill the Rxs there. I can get a $10, $25, even $30 gift card each time. Then I use The Drugstore Game to stretch those CVS dollars even further.
Please read John Robbin's book "Diet for a New America". Chickens are intelligent creatures and millions of them are not being treated properly at these factory farms! If you are going to buy/eat eggs, buy local! Or go vegan (scrambled tofu is awesome! you'll never miss the eggs, and it's 100% cruelty-free)
You can make a decent profit by buying things cheap at garage sales and reselling them on eBay and Craigslist. For the most part, people selling at garage sales either moving soon, are trying to clear out their junk, or are clearing out a deceased relative's house so they can sell/rent it out. They want to just get rid of stuff, so they'll sell it cheap. In some cases, they'll even give it away. You can make a few extra dollars by taking an entire box of old books and selling them to a used book store like Half Priced Books. Granted, you won't get a lot, but every little bit helps.
You should also be on the lookout for some really good deals. Just the other day I missed out on buying a nice weight bench ($20) and a punching bag rack with heavy and speed bag ($30) at a yard sale. I was pondering how I was going to store them in my apartment until I could sell them when a guy came and scooped them. I probably could have made at least $50 profit selling them on Craigslist, probably more since they were in good condition.
So general tips: Go early, get the good stuff before others do, come back later, get the leftovers for free or dirt cheap, learn to haggle, sell small stuff on eBay, sell larger stuff locally on Craigslist.
I've been donating plasma for about a year now. If you don't mind needles, and can take a couple pin pricks a week, you can make some pretty decent money over time. Obviously the pay rate varies from donation center to donation center. The one I go to has a two-week cycle: $15 for the first donation in a week, $30 for the second donation in a week, $15 for the third donation in two weeks, $35 for the 4th donation in two weeks. If you go as often as you can (twice a week with at least 48 hrs in between donations) anyone over 110 lbs can make at least $190 a month. The center I go to also gives bonuses for your 8th, 9th and 10th donation in a month ($5). In addition, if you weigh over a certain amount (I think like 160lb) you can donate the full measure (900g) of plasma, which gets you an extra $6 every other donation at my center. My plasma center also has drawings and contests about once a month to encourage people to donate in the week they need to make their quota (push week). When I manage to donate every opportunity in a month, I bring home between $200-$250 a month, more than $2400 in a year. This really brings things into perspective when you're wondering why you're spending an hour and a half of your time for $15. I missed going for the better part of a month because of illness and I can tell you I missed the extra income.
enjoy reading your website! Thanks for all the "Wise" tips.
I make extra money by writing for DemandStudios. Any freelance writing would do. If I were more dedicated I would work on my blog to write more revenue-generating posts. But I'm not. :) So writing for others does the trick and gives me a bit of extra spending money.
I make extra money by selling handmade jewelry!
On line surveys
When my husband and I got married, having the joint account helped a lot. Because he is a spender while I am a saver, I often found before we were married that I would have to spot him a bit more on rent and such because he began to rely on my paycheck and expect more than it could offer. Knowing that he would only use the joint account to pay for public transit and gas for the car put me at ease.
I did start to bristle, though, when he started charging more and more "business lunches" to the joint account. That, to me, didn't really qualify as a work expense, since there was plenty of food in the house for him to make a lunch, and we have been on a budget while I have been out of work for graduate school.
So, we have benefited from the joint account for household expenses, but it also means we have to keep talking about what really falls under the umbrella of "household expenses". But talking (not arguing or blaming) about money in a marriage is never a bad thing, I think.
I believe if you opt out of credit offers via the Federal Trade Commission (full info on their site) you will not receive such offers.
Also, sending CREDIT cards is illegal according to the federal Truth in Lending Act, but for some reason debit cards and "advanced fee" cards are OK. I did find this article from 2007 with some explanation. It still doesn't seem right!
Thrift shops in larger cities (Chicago for me) are at much higher price points, but usually carry more brand name items ... which I don't care too much about.
Some of the best clothing I've found has been in large discount Thrift Stores in Milwaukee / Suburbs. Not as much competition for unique items, I go nuts!
I'm interested to see how many people connect income sources with spending decisions.
I've always taken an alternate view: My spending is based on my budget. Where the money comes from has nothing to do with what gets spent or what it gets spent on. In fact, it doesn't even have much to do with how much gets spent. (Only to the extent that income changes make the budget unviable.) I wrote a bit about that in a post called It's all your money.
In my household, all the income goes into our joint account, and most of our budgeted expenses get paid out of that account as well. However, we transfer a modest amount of money into a pair of different accounts for personal expenses.
We don't really do it for conflict reduction--we're pretty much in accord on money issues--which is why I wasn't really talking about the conflict-reduction issues. We do it for budget simplicity. In the budget, spending out of my separate account is just tracked as "Philip's spending," and there's no need to decide in advance how much to allocate to books, how much to magazines, how much to lunches out with friends--or how much to Esperanto conferences. (Although the Esperanto conference took a big chunk. I'm going to be buying fewer books and magazines for a while.)
Once kids come into the mix it becomes more complicated, especially if one stops working to care for them. We hash out (now it involves more tweaking than anything else) our yearly budget in Novemeber. It probably has more categories than most, but still includes personal discretionary spending.
A common thread in all the posts is the couple communicates their expectations and solves the problem together.
Oooh, love it when people get into grammatical nitpicks. Last I checked, the world was still going round so nothing crashes and burned due to a typo.
Anyway, I just skimmed the article and I'm a thrifter at heart, so, if any of this was mentioned, you can ignore me.
There are other things you should not buy at a thrift store. Car seats, cradles, high-chairs and other random baby-stuff is numero uno. Thrift stores are supposed to check, but a lot of times, they don't.
Cushions are numero dos. Why? Fleas and weird smells, for starters. Mattresses and couches and the like also fall into this category. A flea or roach infestation is not something you want to deal with.
Watch out for dry-rot and mold on stuff like jackets (which might not be worn often) and shoes. Make sure anything you can buy you can either clean thoroughly yourself, or you can swing the dry-cleaning for. If something looks stained, it is, and you probably won't be able to get it out. Sweat stains do not come out. Neither does chocolate, grass, blood (I've come across it) and a whole bunch of other stuff. If it's in the Goodwill, there's a decent chance someone has already tried to get it out and has failed, and the stuff is set.
Electronics are obviously a no-no, unless you're looking for parts.
Don't go into a thrift store just to browse. Never, ever. Make a list like you'd make for any other store. Unless something has an specific purpose in your life, don't buy it.
Know the prices at your local shops, and where they get their merch. True, Goodwill might get donations, but they also get Target overstock that doesn't sell in the store. Know when they do their markdowns, know when they get truck, know when they process, and don't be afraid to ask for a discount. Cause, these are places you haggle like mad.
Try your bank first! Some won't charge that annoying percentage fee.
The Humane Society of the U.S. kills more than 90% of the animals brought to them, just like PETA. Chickens are not the most intelligent animals. They are sentient, to some extent, but nowhere near the level of a person. The truth is they are far better off in cages and fed an organic diet than running around eating bugs, rocks, etc. and attacking each other. They're quite filthy, as are all birds. Recognize them for what they are, semi-conscious animals that we use for food. Ever seen the episode of "Dirty Jobs" that includes scooping poop at a Turkey house? Birds are little different than rats with wings. They aren't capable of language or planning. Can a chicken be "happy?" Most likely not. "Happy" requires a level of thought which birds cannot possess. Thoughtful birds are from cartoons. Cartoons are not reality.
Given four individual nests in a coop, four hens will prefer to nest together in one if they can all fit. Uncaged, there tends to be more cannibalism among them, but if that seems more "natural" to people then so be it. Just don't kid yourself that being involved in a pecking order is giving your average chicken a more fulfilled existence. I agree we should treat our fellow creatures with compassion, but I think all this presumption of what makes a chicken "happy" gets a little nutty sometimes.