Giving a share of your profits to a food bank or pantry is an excellent move. When I was a kid, my best friend mother was divorced and diagnosed with schizophrenia. There was literally nothing to eat in their house. She was on all kinds of aid, but her kitchen cupboards were as vacant like she she just moved in. My friend's diet consisted of pancakes and candy (bought with change scrounged from around the house). She had 3 kids, and the medication gave her tremors (shakes) that caused her to drop and break things all the time.
There are people out there whose situation is really, really bad, who aren't just scamming the system out of laziness. Frugality is an admirable path to self-responsibility, and then we give a little back so the less fortunate have a shot at some dignity too.
My folks told me people used to keep their cash under their pillows when they went to bed. During the day, they wore sarongs and strapped the cash in their waistband tucked under a t-shirt. Or the women would put them in their bra. :) As carrying a purse to the market meant they would be showing others they got money.
My wife and I get these mini "staycations" every other weekend when all the kids are gone with their other parents. They are priceless! This weekend is one of them . . .
After tightening up my spending, I have made extra money by selling items at my local consignment store - these are items of clothing that I don't wear anymore or don't fit me anymore.
Thanks to everyone for their ideas, I have seen quite a few that I could easily incorporate into my life style to add a few more $$ on a regular basis!
Part of my philospophy is to give back. I give regularly to our local food pantry. Last year they served about 44 clients a month - this past month service increased to 248 clients! My extra $$ will go directly to the Pantry.
a card just came in the mail for me today and i just opened it.i was a little suspicious and wanted to know where it came from because there was no name on the envelope. i was looking at prepaid cards before so i might have stumbled across the site before but i didn't fill anything out because you never know who might scam you, but anyway i was about to active it not thinking, then the thought popped up in my head to search the internet and see if anybody else got this card and to see if it was a scam too. i guess it is so i'm going to trash this card and post it up on myspace and tell people not to use it. im so glad i didn't active it lol.
I'm not sure that all the eggs at all farmers markets are free range. The one I go (Little Italy, San Diego) has several different vendors and I think one of them may have battery eggs.
I buy my eggs from one of the vendors I know(schraeder farm, valley center) has free range eggs and I'm happy to spend the extra to have eggs from happy hens!
Several people have mentioned buying things at garage sales and thrift stores and then reselling on craigslist or ebay, but I would add if they are nice vintage items, you can sell them on Etsy for a good fixed price (plus the listing fee there is only $0.20 for 4 months).
A relatively easy way to make a small amount of money without too much effort is to just re-sell wholesale items online for a little less than retail. Start by applying for a business license/tax id number with your city. This qualifies you to deal with a lot of wholesale only companies, many of whom don't care how big of a business you are and don't have large minimums. Buy something at wholesale that you know will sell and resell it on ebay or etsy. I made a full-time living doing this for around 2-4 hours of work a day. You have to know lots about and like what you are selling, though, and do a few hours of market research before you decide what to sell (many categories like electronics are saturated, but there are still niches here and there). For instance, if you like beading (like I did), sell beads.
As somebody who raised chickens growing up, I disagree that chickens are filthy, cannibalistic animals. It varies according to the breed and sex (hen/rooster), but they only get aggressive or wallow in filth when people house them that way. Chickens evolved to graze in small family units (several hens and one rooster) on large praries and the scrub/brush transition areas that surround them. They graze a broad variety of insects and grains, eat small stones to aid with digestion, and in turn their droppings fertilize the ecosystem the same way a herd of horses does. When it gets hot, they dig a little hole in the dirt to stay cool, and this "bath" keeps their feathers louse free.
Then people came along and started cramming large numbers of unrelated poultry dozens to a cage or coop, away from their natural prarie/brush ecosystem, and wonder why they get aggressive (or poop ... like duh ... stick a dozen people into a pen with no toilet and watch what happens). If you build them a decent coop for night protection and either allow them to roam free in your yard during the day (though you'll lose some to predators) or let them graze in a movable pen, you'll find they're docile, fairly intelligent, pleasant creatures that get along rather well with each other (excepting roosters, who are always ornery). PBS has a cute documentary about chickens.
I always use debit b/c a credit purchase takes longer to post. At my bank if a debit or credit purchase is pending for longer than 3 to 4 days (not sure exact number of days) the money is taken off of the hold and then when the purchase comes through the money comes back out of my account. Therefore my available balance goes up and down and it's very confusing...a customer service rep told me if I want to avoid this delay in processing I'm better to use debit. So that's what I've done for a while now and I've had no more problems with charges pending for days on end. I never considered the protection you get from using as a visa though.
You can rent out your American house and do a vacation south to hidden parts of Mexico (or any developing country) where it's $20 a day to live it up. Flights to South American are $400 to $500 round trip these days, and there is little jet lag, if any at all.
By doing this, we're actually earning a sum of about $1500 and feel like we've traveled somewhere incredibly historical, exotic, and restful.
My kids always sleep better at home, in their own beds, than they do in hotels. So for us, a vacation at home means everyone is well-rested and not grouchy. Then we can take day trips as others have mentioned.
Another fun thing to do is to camp out in the back yard.
This is plenty exciting for little kids, and it's easy to "bail" if someone can't sleep or is too cold, unlike on a "real" camping trip.
The Harris Teeter chain sells Certified Humane eggs.
This may sound crazy and really dumb, but it was actually quite romantic.
We camped out in our living room (tent, sleeping bags, etc.) in front of the fireplace with a nice fire going. We made smores, roasted hot dogs, etc.
The truly nice thing is that the bathroom is very convenient and clean. And there's nothing to "forget" to pack.
As a shrink who is trading in her "dream house" for a 340 sq ft RV, I wrote an article on the Upside of Downsizing on my website.
http://doreenorion.com/orion-upside.htm
Giving a share of your profits to a food bank or pantry is an excellent move. When I was a kid, my best friend mother was divorced and diagnosed with schizophrenia. There was literally nothing to eat in their house. She was on all kinds of aid, but her kitchen cupboards were as vacant like she she just moved in. My friend's diet consisted of pancakes and candy (bought with change scrounged from around the house). She had 3 kids, and the medication gave her tremors (shakes) that caused her to drop and break things all the time.
There are people out there whose situation is really, really bad, who aren't just scamming the system out of laziness. Frugality is an admirable path to self-responsibility, and then we give a little back so the less fortunate have a shot at some dignity too.
One word: sangria! :)
My folks told me people used to keep their cash under their pillows when they went to bed. During the day, they wore sarongs and strapped the cash in their waistband tucked under a t-shirt. Or the women would put them in their bra. :) As carrying a purse to the market meant they would be showing others they got money.
There is much wisdom in this post. A his, hers, and ours approach to banking leads to family harmony . . .
Your instructions worked Thank YOU!!!!!!!!!
Great post!
I love motivatonal quotes-- I post them myself every few days.
Thanks for sharing!
My wife and I get these mini "staycations" every other weekend when all the kids are gone with their other parents. They are priceless! This weekend is one of them . . .
After tightening up my spending, I have made extra money by selling items at my local consignment store - these are items of clothing that I don't wear anymore or don't fit me anymore.
Thanks to everyone for their ideas, I have seen quite a few that I could easily incorporate into my life style to add a few more $$ on a regular basis!
Part of my philospophy is to give back. I give regularly to our local food pantry. Last year they served about 44 clients a month - this past month service increased to 248 clients! My extra $$ will go directly to the Pantry.
Wow, that is such a great idea!!! I have a couple of "lemons" relegated to food-ingredient duty, so I will have to try this sometime. =D
Please come up with something original for once, or get off the internet.
If you do choose to continually rip off other peoples intelligence, please at least try to get it right.
Thank you.
Nope. This isn't a joke. This is the kind of S*** that this guy somehow posts all over the internet.
Most of the time he steals other people incorrect work and posts it as his own.
DO NOT do the tooth paste, it became a minimum of 3 times worse. i cant believe i tried this crap. unbelievable
a card just came in the mail for me today and i just opened it.i was a little suspicious and wanted to know where it came from because there was no name on the envelope. i was looking at prepaid cards before so i might have stumbled across the site before but i didn't fill anything out because you never know who might scam you, but anyway i was about to active it not thinking, then the thought popped up in my head to search the internet and see if anybody else got this card and to see if it was a scam too. i guess it is so i'm going to trash this card and post it up on myspace and tell people not to use it. im so glad i didn't active it lol.
I'm not sure that all the eggs at all farmers markets are free range. The one I go (Little Italy, San Diego) has several different vendors and I think one of them may have battery eggs.
I buy my eggs from one of the vendors I know(schraeder farm, valley center) has free range eggs and I'm happy to spend the extra to have eggs from happy hens!
Thanks for mentioning this!
Several people have mentioned buying things at garage sales and thrift stores and then reselling on craigslist or ebay, but I would add if they are nice vintage items, you can sell them on Etsy for a good fixed price (plus the listing fee there is only $0.20 for 4 months).
A relatively easy way to make a small amount of money without too much effort is to just re-sell wholesale items online for a little less than retail. Start by applying for a business license/tax id number with your city. This qualifies you to deal with a lot of wholesale only companies, many of whom don't care how big of a business you are and don't have large minimums. Buy something at wholesale that you know will sell and resell it on ebay or etsy. I made a full-time living doing this for around 2-4 hours of work a day. You have to know lots about and like what you are selling, though, and do a few hours of market research before you decide what to sell (many categories like electronics are saturated, but there are still niches here and there). For instance, if you like beading (like I did), sell beads.
I sell jewelry I make (although that hasn't made me much yet), and am thinking of doing freelance writing and/or starting a website.
As somebody who raised chickens growing up, I disagree that chickens are filthy, cannibalistic animals. It varies according to the breed and sex (hen/rooster), but they only get aggressive or wallow in filth when people house them that way. Chickens evolved to graze in small family units (several hens and one rooster) on large praries and the scrub/brush transition areas that surround them. They graze a broad variety of insects and grains, eat small stones to aid with digestion, and in turn their droppings fertilize the ecosystem the same way a herd of horses does. When it gets hot, they dig a little hole in the dirt to stay cool, and this "bath" keeps their feathers louse free.
Then people came along and started cramming large numbers of unrelated poultry dozens to a cage or coop, away from their natural prarie/brush ecosystem, and wonder why they get aggressive (or poop ... like duh ... stick a dozen people into a pen with no toilet and watch what happens). If you build them a decent coop for night protection and either allow them to roam free in your yard during the day (though you'll lose some to predators) or let them graze in a movable pen, you'll find they're docile, fairly intelligent, pleasant creatures that get along rather well with each other (excepting roosters, who are always ornery). PBS has a cute documentary about chickens.
Selling unused stuff on Craigslist.
I always use debit b/c a credit purchase takes longer to post. At my bank if a debit or credit purchase is pending for longer than 3 to 4 days (not sure exact number of days) the money is taken off of the hold and then when the purchase comes through the money comes back out of my account. Therefore my available balance goes up and down and it's very confusing...a customer service rep told me if I want to avoid this delay in processing I'm better to use debit. So that's what I've done for a while now and I've had no more problems with charges pending for days on end. I never considered the protection you get from using as a visa though.
60. "Don't tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I'll tell you what they are." - James W. Frick
Oh Wow! True in personal finance, relationships, work, family and play. Not just money - substitute time for money and it's even more powerful.
You can rent out your American house and do a vacation south to hidden parts of Mexico (or any developing country) where it's $20 a day to live it up. Flights to South American are $400 to $500 round trip these days, and there is little jet lag, if any at all.
By doing this, we're actually earning a sum of about $1500 and feel like we've traveled somewhere incredibly historical, exotic, and restful.
My kids always sleep better at home, in their own beds, than they do in hotels. So for us, a vacation at home means everyone is well-rested and not grouchy. Then we can take day trips as others have mentioned.
Another fun thing to do is to camp out in the back yard.
This is plenty exciting for little kids, and it's easy to "bail" if someone can't sleep or is too cold, unlike on a "real" camping trip.