Great post! I was digging around trying to find the recipe I used last year and this sounds like the same one. I also made zuchinni pickles with the same recipe last year. They have a different texture but tasted similar and had crunch. Our cuke plants are ready to start pushing out cukes and it looks like they will all blossom the same week.
But it made me take a look at the tires that we bought from Sears. The dates were all fine, but we noticed that one of the tires didn't look like the other three! We paid a good price for 4 tires, and wondered if we got one cheap tire. My husband called them, and they told us to bring the car in. They replaced the odd tire to match the rest. (And the date was good too.) Thanks for the warning.
I checked their website, they seem to have a fair number of items in their database with prices attached, items like cell phones, GPS devices, cameras, game consoles and MP3 players. But don’t expect to get a lot of cash from your items. Unless it’s something hot like an iPhone, you’ll get some nominal return. The bright side is that if you’re a gadget junkie who is constantly replacing your stuff, then this is a great way to not completely lose your shirt every time you turn over your arsenal.
That's similar to a recipe I've done a few times. I've cheated so far and used a store bought pickling spice and jazzed it up.
Two recommendations from my own recipe (http://www.upmykilt.net/2007/12/in-a-pickle/) - toss the spices in while heating the brine, and after having jarred everything, shake/rotate/mix up the jar(s) every day.
The spices settle to the bottom so you want to stir things up a bit to keep the flavoring action a bit consistent.
Anyone who talks about free trade occurring at the "expense of others" has absolutely no business giving out business advice. Period.
If your child is hungry and thirsty it is YOUR job and obligation to feed them. It is not the job of some random business owner you just happen to walk by. You are not entitled to my food or my water or anything else, nor do I have food and water at "your expense." Rather, I have it at MY (often significant) expense.
With that said, during the summer not a day goes by when I don't give away free ice cold bottled water to overheated parents and kids. I do that at MY expense, I buy the water and the ice, and pre-cool it all at least a day in advance. I also sell it of course, but in the last month only ONCE did I make a net profit on it -- generally I manage to sell enough to replace what I gave away.
I am not saying this because I feel like giving away free water is some kind of obligation or the right or moral thing to do. I see food vendors do the same thing all the time. So why do I give it away when I could be making some extra money? First, it's a BUSINESS decision -- I want people, and particularly kids, at my booth and I want them to remember me and come back again. Second, I care about them and I guess I allow this to sometimes overcome my business sense. That's okay though, it's MY money, I work damn hard for it, and if I want to give it away to you or your kids it's my business and pleasure to do so.
Let me start by saying that I do not have a food concession. I looked into it and decided that the real margin was not HIGH enough to justify the incredible up-front costs and hassle. Instead I stuck with my area of expertise -- doing high-end face painting and makeup at fairs and trade days and events.
Like anyone who works these shows will tell you, it's a feast or famine kind of business. If it's too hot it's dead, too cold and it's dead, raining and it's dead, lovely warm day with a gentle breeze -- the only kind of day you have probably ever seen us -- and then you make some money. Hopefully enough to pay for all those other days you sat sweating in the heat or shivering in the rain, wishing someone would come and buy anything from you.
But while the customers may not be there to buy, the folks waiting in line to TAKE your money never take the day off. You paid for that slot, and paid through the nose, whether any customers showed up or not. I had a day this month I made exactly zero dollars. Not zero after expenses -- zero sales at all. The next day my gross was six bucks. I worked twenty hours for six dollars! Except actually I didn't, because I still had to pay for renting the space, and my gas, and MY water and food.
And like I said, MY margin is far higher than any food vendor. They weren't selling anything either. There was no one to sell anything to. But unlike me, they are paying ten times as much to rent the space, and they have perishables and health inspections and a dozen other fees and expenses I don't even have to worry about.
So to wrap this up, I seriously hope no one reads this and decides to use it as investment advice. If you want to get into the business then I will wish you nothing but the best -- you aren't competing with me and if you say hell I might even buy a corndog from you -- but do you HOMEWORK first and start by disregarding everything you read in this article and instead go talk to a real vendor.
well ive just spent the best part of an hour figuring out how to get CMD to run as admin... on VISTA HP in CMD normal mode it tells u to elevate ure privileges.... if ure like me and ure the only person that uses the laptop and are set as admin u think to ureself oh ill just right click and runs as Admin.... well think again... lol it doesn't work
u have to disable UAC first/restart/run cmd and that's it.. type the commands to either restrict/disable/normal. then re enable UAC/restart...n enjoy :)
I'm like that one guy up there whose antenna fell off, i'm really cheap, considering i am a high school kid, i'm really cheap. and i'm like that other guy i have a phone, a sony ericsson w580i. i live out in the country and i get service basically anywhere on the ranch. except in my dads shop thats made from tin roofing, and my bedroom thats in the north end of the house. i don't recommend the sony ericsson because its so different and is not a flip phone so while your working it presses buttons and calls people, and its so hard to find accesories for it, but thats not the point the point is, that the phone does not have a antenna jack, and thats really kind of a problem because i text alot and so at night when i'm laying in bed trying to text, the only place i have reception is from my bedroom window, and i only have like two bars there. i was wondering is there any way were i could make kind of a ghetto antenna that i can mount on my roof and run a reciever or something like that into my room?
...i have to say that many people, including myself, take major exception to the fact that when you concession folks have good days, you do so at the expense of other people who have to pay several times the RRP for an inferior product. For those who say "no one forces you to buy it" try telling that to your child who is crying because he/she is very hungry or thirsty. And on those very hot days, water is a right. It should not be a privilege that you have to pay through the nose for.
I hate to say it but some kids are very very stubborn. Not everyone has perfect kids. How long do you follow your kids around.. 24/7 and not let them have a life. I am a firm believer in teaching kids right from wrong and teaching them the values of "NO" But if you follow your kids around all day long and not let them learn from there own mistakes then there is something wrong.
I too have CDs that are just not playable anymore, and am eagerly awaiting to try some of these things in the next few days. My CDs and stuff are put up, but they are the reach of the children. My 4 year old (2 when he learned how to work the dvd/stereo/tv) is not the most responsible and sometimes CDs do get misplaced, and things get mishandled, but how are they going to learn. For crying out loud what is more important, your children or your possessions?
I am not trying to make this a flame, but not everyone has a perfect life as others may think. This is about how to clean CDs not other peoples ways of punishing thier children.
Thank you for these ideas and having them all in one place, I appreciate it..
I've always had the opposite effect. When I was a customer, the service was really friendly [still is], they made your pizzas in less than 5 minutes, an it was very well organized. I say was, because now I work there.
As an employee there, I believe we are well ran [which probably helps because everyone knows each other personally and our manager is strict but cool] and organized. Our managers make sure of it. :O
I think the main cause for complaints is management, because we get complaints often of two other nearby papa murphy's. Those I can believe [I've been to the other two: one is just completely lazy, and one slops the ingredients in the middle of the pizza (in which case all ingredients should be spreaded evenly to the edges)].
All of our ingredients really are fresh... we grate the cheese ourselves every morning, we cut the vegetables ourselves, etc... Also, we have our own dough mixer, and our dough is made from scratch [including cookie dough, with exception of the hershey's choco chips] so we make our doughs in less than 10 minutes. Oh, and... And we don't get our sauces from cans... ;D We also have more than one kind of red sauce and dough etc
Management wise, we've never had a pizza bake for longer than 15 minutes [we have our own little oven], and with our store, we're trained to be fast, and we have to have the pizza's off the line in 5 minutes or less [including stuffed pizzas]. Also, our manager always does what they can to make sure the customer is satisfied. And if any customer comes to us, we correct the problem, and if it has to do with the food, we easily hook them up with a new pizza. [*Note: If you get a pizza that seems old i.e. a premake, you should be able to simply ask if they can remake the pizza in front of you so it's fresher... we atleast have that policy at my papa murphy's]
*reads comments to see if I missed anything*
@JJ: like I said previously, I think it's management. We make everything fresh every morning [and we make pretty big quantities]. However, we get a lot of business as well, so we constantly change out toppings to make sure they're fresh. Our papa murphy's has a giant freezer to keep ingredients fresh, and to make sure the doughs don't rise while sitting out [which is annoying to work with and is also less appealing to eat]... We get orders at the beginning of every week, but we also run out fast [lots of business :o], but we can also call up the company we get ingredients from and can have it at our doorstep in less than 30 mins.
I don't get papa murphy's just because I'm an employee, but also for the fact that other pizza places in my area are either disgusting or have horrible service. There's only two other pizza places I go to... other wise, Little Caesars is disgusting and horrible ran here, Papa John's is horribly made, Pizza hut takes 2 hours to deliver, etc...
Anyways, I'll stop. If anyone has any questions papa murphy's wise, feel free to contact me. :o
I actually had a tire blow out on me one day after buying a used car due to the dry-rot that you describe. In my particular situation, the tires were already on the car; and were not ones that I had just purchased as replacements. If you take a look at old tires, you can learn to spot the tell-tale cracking associated with dry-rot.
I'm looking forward to buying a home soon and it doesn't matter to me whether the prices will come down, since I don't plan to move or refinance anytime soon. That said, if they come down before I buy, great! If they don't, well, those are the breaks.
Thank you for all the comments, and thanks for the warm welcome Jib!
It's nice to be settled down again for a bit after traveling actively (and living out of a backpack) for the last few months.
re: Credit Cards - I'll admit, I do tend to travel with my credit card, and appreciate the convenience, emergency backup, and current exchange rates. But the transaction fees tend to be annoying and overpriced, and anybody without a solid discipline for whipping out the plastic only when needed could find themselves in trouble.
re: Breakfast - Going for the big breakfast and then grazing through lunch and dinner is also a great strategy. Lots more time for touring around if you don't have to worry about eating either! Sadly for me, the bigger the breakfast I eat, the hungrier I am at lunch. If I spring for a big brunch instead, I can usually make it to dinner without snacking.
re: Traveler's Cheques - I figured that cashing in a wad of cheques at the bank or exchange centre at one time and simply carrying cash would be a logical way to use the cheques. I certainly wouldn't try to cash them at businesses...that would be aggravating. And yes - you may lose a few bucks in the exchange rate, but then again you may make a few bucks, depending on what the dollar is doing. Either way, the exchange rates don't usually change that much over the course of a vacation.
Thanks for the comments; keep 'em coming! Suggestions are welcome.
Your right, no one makes any of us do what we do...yet anyway.
This business is not for everyone that's for sure, but it does get in your blood.
I won't lie, when it's good it's good...which is fantastic because it sure does help keep the balance when it's not, which can be unbearably often.
That's when you hear the cries of the wannabe's whinning on the way to the poor farm because they never learned the delicate art of the balancing act.
I'm not whinning or crying just as the other poster wasn't.
I'm just defending against a bogus claim, written by someone who obviously knows not what he speaks.
Feast or famine as they say (right Pizzagod ;-) , that is you out there right...you got a style I think I recognized?)
I'm not crying, or even complaining, I'm saying that we're not the money machines as the writer of this story thinks we are.
That said, we do need to make a living...why is it that folks that do this for a living are vilified for doing just that...we're not getting filthy rich, just trying to make a decent hard earned living and for that I apologize...so sorry.
(I'll be on my way to skid row now and apply for all the proper assistances...there now, all better right?)
Oh hot damn...I hear Jiffy Lube is hiring!!!!
I'm saying that the majority of FULL time vendors can easily justify their prices whether anyone believes it or not...numbers don't lie, costs constantly rise and our prices really can't keep up...honestly!
We really do try and keep them down, but it's a just a simple fact that we just can't do it and make a fair (get it, fair..ha , I kill myself sometimes) living.
When a man puts his money (and sweat equity) where his mouth is, are some of you saying he should be happy with minimum wage...should he make less per hour than the help (which I've personally seen happen quite a bit ), or better yet, let's just give it away?
Only in this business huh? Sure, why not!
Be sure to inform them of that on your jobs, you know they'll understand...right?...Right??...RIGHT???
Get a grip and by a corndog...you can slather all the catsup and mustard ya want!
(except them folks down there in Lousiana, they just pour on the mayo..yeah ,I know)
Feel better?
Very good point. We did use many very nicely used hand-me-downs from family and friends (and were sure to pass the kindness on.) But no matter how much used stuff we get, there is always a "special" need that we just can't seem to cover (a double jogging stroller, for example.) And I know lots of folks with multiples that have a hard time finding used items in this area. That's one situation where you may have to buy a few items new through a registry.
Craigslist has tons of baby stuff, too! Thanks for your comment!
Grillman, and co:
I don't get it. Which part of "it's several TIMES the price of the same item from a corner shop, while being several times lower in quality" didn't you get?
By the estimate given, you're still making an average 40-50% profit on items you sell.. scary thing is, a shop that makes 25% profit on average is doing well (I work in retail where we make less profit and yet are quite far from needing to beg for money).
The markups quoted above are also for reputable, good quality items.. not the cheap, recycled, barely-in-date stuff I tend to see being flogged at fairs for many many times it's market price.
$4 for a little bag of popcorn has to take the cake. Specially since you can buy bags of the gourmet brands for less than half that.
...my wife and I have discovered that many people have *tons* of baby gear stored away that they would love to get rid of. So in lieu of a baby shower or registery, we're just checking around to see if anyone has extra baby stuff that they would like to get out of their house...
Well, my husband was out of work for 18 months during the 2003 downturn. We were lucky that we had emergency funds and I had a job with health benefits. But having him just miss getting jobs over and over and over during a really tight period eventually got us to an emotionally not-healthy point.
So we realized, just as one needs a vacation from a job, one needs a vacation from being "unemployed". So we decided that we would take the summer OFF and return to searching in 3 months.
So, he took a long vacation to his family while I stayed behind and worked, that buoyed his spirits and his understanding family and friends made that cheap by letting him stay with them and doing things around the house or area. When he came home he worked on the house, picked up some temp jobs and used the time to work out and ride his bike around. And honestly, I think he FINALLY dealt with the grief and shame that had accompanied his layoff, and this was probably the most important thing.
At the end of the time off, he came back to the job search with a renewed sense of purpose and had a job within three weeks, in his field, at his previous salary.
I realize many people would not have this option, especially for 3 months. But taking some sort of break, and spending the time exploring what might be holding you back internally could be a good thing. And I KNOW that his doing this and my supporting it saved our marriage.
hang in there, everyone dealing with this. Be good to yourselves.
Another suggestion is to consider opportunities that may be related to, but are not necessarily the same as what you used to do. I know many technical people who had problems finding development work around the time of the dot-com bust, but successfully transitioned into consulting or technical sales work.
It's a little hard to look for another avenue of income when you have over a half a million dollars invested in your company Lucille. What once was a profitable venture has taken a turn like so many other businesses. We are taking in the same amount of money that we did five years ago but our expenses have sky-rocketed. So when it's all cut up in the end the amount you take to the bank is very minimal. The profit margins mentioned in the article may be accurate if you had no other over-head other than the product. When you factor in the above mentioned expenses the profit margin is much less.
I've been looking for a book like this. It seems, like you suggest, that many books are either completely doomsday scenarios. I don't expect things to change so quickly but would like to be prepared and understand the various routes that the economy may take. This sounds like something I was looking for.
Are there any other similar books? Historic or otherwise?
Great post! I was digging around trying to find the recipe I used last year and this sounds like the same one. I also made zuchinni pickles with the same recipe last year. They have a different texture but tasted similar and had crunch. Our cuke plants are ready to start pushing out cukes and it looks like they will all blossom the same week.
But it made me take a look at the tires that we bought from Sears. The dates were all fine, but we noticed that one of the tires didn't look like the other three! We paid a good price for 4 tires, and wondered if we got one cheap tire. My husband called them, and they told us to bring the car in. They replaced the odd tire to match the rest. (And the date was good too.) Thanks for the warning.
I checked their website, they seem to have a fair number of items in their database with prices attached, items like cell phones, GPS devices, cameras, game consoles and MP3 players. But don’t expect to get a lot of cash from your items. Unless it’s something hot like an iPhone, you’ll get some nominal return. The bright side is that if you’re a gadget junkie who is constantly replacing your stuff, then this is a great way to not completely lose your shirt every time you turn over your arsenal.
Sam
Fix My Personal Finance
http://fixmypersonalfinance.com/
That's similar to a recipe I've done a few times. I've cheated so far and used a store bought pickling spice and jazzed it up.
Two recommendations from my own recipe (http://www.upmykilt.net/2007/12/in-a-pickle/) - toss the spices in while heating the brine, and after having jarred everything, shake/rotate/mix up the jar(s) every day.
The spices settle to the bottom so you want to stir things up a bit to keep the flavoring action a bit consistent.
Anyone who talks about free trade occurring at the "expense of others" has absolutely no business giving out business advice. Period.
If your child is hungry and thirsty it is YOUR job and obligation to feed them. It is not the job of some random business owner you just happen to walk by. You are not entitled to my food or my water or anything else, nor do I have food and water at "your expense." Rather, I have it at MY (often significant) expense.
With that said, during the summer not a day goes by when I don't give away free ice cold bottled water to overheated parents and kids. I do that at MY expense, I buy the water and the ice, and pre-cool it all at least a day in advance. I also sell it of course, but in the last month only ONCE did I make a net profit on it -- generally I manage to sell enough to replace what I gave away.
I am not saying this because I feel like giving away free water is some kind of obligation or the right or moral thing to do. I see food vendors do the same thing all the time. So why do I give it away when I could be making some extra money? First, it's a BUSINESS decision -- I want people, and particularly kids, at my booth and I want them to remember me and come back again. Second, I care about them and I guess I allow this to sometimes overcome my business sense. That's okay though, it's MY money, I work damn hard for it, and if I want to give it away to you or your kids it's my business and pleasure to do so.
This article is hillariously wrong.
Let me start by saying that I do not have a food concession. I looked into it and decided that the real margin was not HIGH enough to justify the incredible up-front costs and hassle. Instead I stuck with my area of expertise -- doing high-end face painting and makeup at fairs and trade days and events.
Like anyone who works these shows will tell you, it's a feast or famine kind of business. If it's too hot it's dead, too cold and it's dead, raining and it's dead, lovely warm day with a gentle breeze -- the only kind of day you have probably ever seen us -- and then you make some money. Hopefully enough to pay for all those other days you sat sweating in the heat or shivering in the rain, wishing someone would come and buy anything from you.
But while the customers may not be there to buy, the folks waiting in line to TAKE your money never take the day off. You paid for that slot, and paid through the nose, whether any customers showed up or not. I had a day this month I made exactly zero dollars. Not zero after expenses -- zero sales at all. The next day my gross was six bucks. I worked twenty hours for six dollars! Except actually I didn't, because I still had to pay for renting the space, and my gas, and MY water and food.
And like I said, MY margin is far higher than any food vendor. They weren't selling anything either. There was no one to sell anything to. But unlike me, they are paying ten times as much to rent the space, and they have perishables and health inspections and a dozen other fees and expenses I don't even have to worry about.
So to wrap this up, I seriously hope no one reads this and decides to use it as investment advice. If you want to get into the business then I will wish you nothing but the best -- you aren't competing with me and if you say hell I might even buy a corndog from you -- but do you HOMEWORK first and start by disregarding everything you read in this article and instead go talk to a real vendor.
Chris
well ive just spent the best part of an hour figuring out how to get CMD to run as admin... on VISTA HP in CMD normal mode it tells u to elevate ure privileges.... if ure like me and ure the only person that uses the laptop and are set as admin u think to ureself oh ill just right click and runs as Admin.... well think again... lol it doesn't work
u have to disable UAC first/restart/run cmd and that's it.. type the commands to either restrict/disable/normal. then re enable UAC/restart...n enjoy :)
Hells_Guardian_Angel@hotmail.co.uk
Cisco Networking + Army network admin :)
I'm like that one guy up there whose antenna fell off, i'm really cheap, considering i am a high school kid, i'm really cheap. and i'm like that other guy i have a phone, a sony ericsson w580i. i live out in the country and i get service basically anywhere on the ranch. except in my dads shop thats made from tin roofing, and my bedroom thats in the north end of the house. i don't recommend the sony ericsson because its so different and is not a flip phone so while your working it presses buttons and calls people, and its so hard to find accesories for it, but thats not the point the point is, that the phone does not have a antenna jack, and thats really kind of a problem because i text alot and so at night when i'm laying in bed trying to text, the only place i have reception is from my bedroom window, and i only have like two bars there. i was wondering is there any way were i could make kind of a ghetto antenna that i can mount on my roof and run a reciever or something like that into my room?
...i have to say that many people, including myself, take major exception to the fact that when you concession folks have good days, you do so at the expense of other people who have to pay several times the RRP for an inferior product. For those who say "no one forces you to buy it" try telling that to your child who is crying because he/she is very hungry or thirsty. And on those very hot days, water is a right. It should not be a privilege that you have to pay through the nose for.
I hate to say it but some kids are very very stubborn. Not everyone has perfect kids. How long do you follow your kids around.. 24/7 and not let them have a life. I am a firm believer in teaching kids right from wrong and teaching them the values of "NO" But if you follow your kids around all day long and not let them learn from there own mistakes then there is something wrong.
I too have CDs that are just not playable anymore, and am eagerly awaiting to try some of these things in the next few days. My CDs and stuff are put up, but they are the reach of the children. My 4 year old (2 when he learned how to work the dvd/stereo/tv) is not the most responsible and sometimes CDs do get misplaced, and things get mishandled, but how are they going to learn. For crying out loud what is more important, your children or your possessions?
I am not trying to make this a flame, but not everyone has a perfect life as others may think. This is about how to clean CDs not other peoples ways of punishing thier children.
Thank you for these ideas and having them all in one place, I appreciate it..
Nyt
I've always had the opposite effect. When I was a customer, the service was really friendly [still is], they made your pizzas in less than 5 minutes, an it was very well organized. I say was, because now I work there.
As an employee there, I believe we are well ran [which probably helps because everyone knows each other personally and our manager is strict but cool] and organized. Our managers make sure of it. :O
I think the main cause for complaints is management, because we get complaints often of two other nearby papa murphy's. Those I can believe [I've been to the other two: one is just completely lazy, and one slops the ingredients in the middle of the pizza (in which case all ingredients should be spreaded evenly to the edges)].
All of our ingredients really are fresh... we grate the cheese ourselves every morning, we cut the vegetables ourselves, etc... Also, we have our own dough mixer, and our dough is made from scratch [including cookie dough, with exception of the hershey's choco chips] so we make our doughs in less than 10 minutes. Oh, and... And we don't get our sauces from cans... ;D We also have more than one kind of red sauce and dough etc
Management wise, we've never had a pizza bake for longer than 15 minutes [we have our own little oven], and with our store, we're trained to be fast, and we have to have the pizza's off the line in 5 minutes or less [including stuffed pizzas]. Also, our manager always does what they can to make sure the customer is satisfied. And if any customer comes to us, we correct the problem, and if it has to do with the food, we easily hook them up with a new pizza. [*Note: If you get a pizza that seems old i.e. a premake, you should be able to simply ask if they can remake the pizza in front of you so it's fresher... we atleast have that policy at my papa murphy's]
*reads comments to see if I missed anything*
@JJ: like I said previously, I think it's management. We make everything fresh every morning [and we make pretty big quantities]. However, we get a lot of business as well, so we constantly change out toppings to make sure they're fresh. Our papa murphy's has a giant freezer to keep ingredients fresh, and to make sure the doughs don't rise while sitting out [which is annoying to work with and is also less appealing to eat]... We get orders at the beginning of every week, but we also run out fast [lots of business :o], but we can also call up the company we get ingredients from and can have it at our doorstep in less than 30 mins.
I don't get papa murphy's just because I'm an employee, but also for the fact that other pizza places in my area are either disgusting or have horrible service. There's only two other pizza places I go to... other wise, Little Caesars is disgusting and horrible ran here, Papa John's is horribly made, Pizza hut takes 2 hours to deliver, etc...
Anyways, I'll stop. If anyone has any questions papa murphy's wise, feel free to contact me. :o
nikiib@hotmail.com
@Sistah Ant:
I think that's the only sensible way to buy a house.
I'd never heard this, should definitely be spread so I put it up on Digg:
Digg here
I actually had a tire blow out on me one day after buying a used car due to the dry-rot that you describe. In my particular situation, the tires were already on the car; and were not ones that I had just purchased as replacements. If you take a look at old tires, you can learn to spot the tell-tale cracking associated with dry-rot.
Randy@FiscalZen
I'm looking forward to buying a home soon and it doesn't matter to me whether the prices will come down, since I don't plan to move or refinance anytime soon. That said, if they come down before I buy, great! If they don't, well, those are the breaks.
Thank you for all the comments, and thanks for the warm welcome Jib!
It's nice to be settled down again for a bit after traveling actively (and living out of a backpack) for the last few months.
re: Credit Cards - I'll admit, I do tend to travel with my credit card, and appreciate the convenience, emergency backup, and current exchange rates. But the transaction fees tend to be annoying and overpriced, and anybody without a solid discipline for whipping out the plastic only when needed could find themselves in trouble.
re: Breakfast - Going for the big breakfast and then grazing through lunch and dinner is also a great strategy. Lots more time for touring around if you don't have to worry about eating either! Sadly for me, the bigger the breakfast I eat, the hungrier I am at lunch. If I spring for a big brunch instead, I can usually make it to dinner without snacking.
re: Traveler's Cheques - I figured that cashing in a wad of cheques at the bank or exchange centre at one time and simply carrying cash would be a logical way to use the cheques. I certainly wouldn't try to cash them at businesses...that would be aggravating. And yes - you may lose a few bucks in the exchange rate, but then again you may make a few bucks, depending on what the dollar is doing. Either way, the exchange rates don't usually change that much over the course of a vacation.
Thanks for the comments; keep 'em coming! Suggestions are welcome.
Yeah, wah wah wah, 'kay!
Your right, no one makes any of us do what we do...yet anyway.
This business is not for everyone that's for sure, but it does get in your blood.
I won't lie, when it's good it's good...which is fantastic because it sure does help keep the balance when it's not, which can be unbearably often.
That's when you hear the cries of the wannabe's whinning on the way to the poor farm because they never learned the delicate art of the balancing act.
I'm not whinning or crying just as the other poster wasn't.
I'm just defending against a bogus claim, written by someone who obviously knows not what he speaks.
Feast or famine as they say (right Pizzagod ;-) , that is you out there right...you got a style I think I recognized?)
I'm not crying, or even complaining, I'm saying that we're not the money machines as the writer of this story thinks we are.
That said, we do need to make a living...why is it that folks that do this for a living are vilified for doing just that...we're not getting filthy rich, just trying to make a decent hard earned living and for that I apologize...so sorry.
(I'll be on my way to skid row now and apply for all the proper assistances...there now, all better right?)
Oh hot damn...I hear Jiffy Lube is hiring!!!!
I'm saying that the majority of FULL time vendors can easily justify their prices whether anyone believes it or not...numbers don't lie, costs constantly rise and our prices really can't keep up...honestly!
We really do try and keep them down, but it's a just a simple fact that we just can't do it and make a fair (get it, fair..ha , I kill myself sometimes) living.
When a man puts his money (and sweat equity) where his mouth is, are some of you saying he should be happy with minimum wage...should he make less per hour than the help (which I've personally seen happen quite a bit ), or better yet, let's just give it away?
Only in this business huh? Sure, why not!
Be sure to inform them of that on your jobs, you know they'll understand...right?...Right??...RIGHT???
Get a grip and by a corndog...you can slather all the catsup and mustard ya want!
(except them folks down there in Lousiana, they just pour on the mayo..yeah ,I know)
Feel better?
Very good point. We did use many very nicely used hand-me-downs from family and friends (and were sure to pass the kindness on.) But no matter how much used stuff we get, there is always a "special" need that we just can't seem to cover (a double jogging stroller, for example.) And I know lots of folks with multiples that have a hard time finding used items in this area. That's one situation where you may have to buy a few items new through a registry.
Craigslist has tons of baby stuff, too! Thanks for your comment!
Linsey
Grillman, and co:
I don't get it. Which part of "it's several TIMES the price of the same item from a corner shop, while being several times lower in quality" didn't you get?
By the estimate given, you're still making an average 40-50% profit on items you sell.. scary thing is, a shop that makes 25% profit on average is doing well (I work in retail where we make less profit and yet are quite far from needing to beg for money).
The markups quoted above are also for reputable, good quality items.. not the cheap, recycled, barely-in-date stuff I tend to see being flogged at fairs for many many times it's market price.
$4 for a little bag of popcorn has to take the cake. Specially since you can buy bags of the gourmet brands for less than half that.
...based upon data from Harvard. You can see it and the associated chart here:
http://fiscalzen.com/content/housing-prices-more-pain-store-socal
According to the chart, you can infer that the hardest hit areas of So Cal were overvalued at the height by a factor of 2.5 or 3...
...my wife and I have discovered that many people have *tons* of baby gear stored away that they would love to get rid of. So in lieu of a baby shower or registery, we're just checking around to see if anyone has extra baby stuff that they would like to get out of their house...
Nice article!
Randy@FiscalZen
Well, my husband was out of work for 18 months during the 2003 downturn. We were lucky that we had emergency funds and I had a job with health benefits. But having him just miss getting jobs over and over and over during a really tight period eventually got us to an emotionally not-healthy point.
So we realized, just as one needs a vacation from a job, one needs a vacation from being "unemployed". So we decided that we would take the summer OFF and return to searching in 3 months.
So, he took a long vacation to his family while I stayed behind and worked, that buoyed his spirits and his understanding family and friends made that cheap by letting him stay with them and doing things around the house or area. When he came home he worked on the house, picked up some temp jobs and used the time to work out and ride his bike around. And honestly, I think he FINALLY dealt with the grief and shame that had accompanied his layoff, and this was probably the most important thing.
At the end of the time off, he came back to the job search with a renewed sense of purpose and had a job within three weeks, in his field, at his previous salary.
I realize many people would not have this option, especially for 3 months. But taking some sort of break, and spending the time exploring what might be holding you back internally could be a good thing. And I KNOW that his doing this and my supporting it saved our marriage.
hang in there, everyone dealing with this. Be good to yourselves.
(which, I guess goes along with 'Stay Healthy' :)
Another suggestion is to consider opportunities that may be related to, but are not necessarily the same as what you used to do. I know many technical people who had problems finding development work around the time of the dot-com bust, but successfully transitioned into consulting or technical sales work.
Randy@FiscalZen
It's a little hard to look for another avenue of income when you have over a half a million dollars invested in your company Lucille. What once was a profitable venture has taken a turn like so many other businesses. We are taking in the same amount of money that we did five years ago but our expenses have sky-rocketed. So when it's all cut up in the end the amount you take to the bank is very minimal. The profit margins mentioned in the article may be accurate if you had no other over-head other than the product. When you factor in the above mentioned expenses the profit margin is much less.
I've been looking for a book like this. It seems, like you suggest, that many books are either completely doomsday scenarios. I don't expect things to change so quickly but would like to be prepared and understand the various routes that the economy may take. This sounds like something I was looking for.
Are there any other similar books? Historic or otherwise?