Friday, February 11, 2011

Making Money Opportunities

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2010 Taco Time-RonSombilonGallery (211) by Ron Sombilon Gallery


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bench craft company

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iLounge news discussing the OtterBox debuts Utility Series Latch for iPad. Find more iPad Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

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Read our PlayStation 3 news of Final Fantasy 1, 2 coming to PSN.

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2010 Taco Time-RonSombilonGallery (211) by Ron Sombilon Gallery


bench craft company
bench craft company

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iLounge news discussing the OtterBox debuts Utility Series Latch for iPad. Find more iPad Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

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There is no excuse for someone who says "I have nothing, I have no money and I cannot get ahead." There are so many places and ways to make or save money. If you really want to better yourself there are a plenitude of opportunities. After all the US is the land of opportunities. Why else would people from places like Mexico and South America keep flocking here? Most of us have so many things in our lives that we don't "NEED." Here's some ways to cut back and save.

My husband and I recently realized that we were spending more money then we were making and it became necessary to downscale our lifestyle. We canceled the cable. We switched our land line phone to a much cheaper Internet phone. We are selling one vehicle to get rid of the extra payment. We set ourselves up on a strict budget and rules for when we can and can't eat out. We are making better decisions money-wise. But we also decided to bring in extra money to speed up the process of paying down some bills. We both dabble on eBay and sell things we find at yard sales and the flea market. It's not a lot of money, but it pays for the occasional eat out or the new blouse I saw and want really bad. We decided with this new endeavor that we would make it more of a business. We set a time schedule of which nights and times we would both "work" on it. I wanted to be able to still be home with the kids and still bring in money. My first two weeks were fairly successful. I have $153 in sales, $45 in eBay fees and the purchasing of my products. I would like to see a higher profit margin so I have to keep looking for items that will bring a higher price but a lower investment. The down side is it takes a while to get started and recognize good deals when you see them, and you have to spend time researching each item before you list it. The upside is in the long run it pays off as you become more inept at the process and you get a thrill out of making a 200% turn- around.

We went through our home room by room and cleaned out anything and everything that we didn't need. Anything that had been sitting there for more than a year and hadn't been touched. Anything that we had just hung on to with that "maybe" or "just in case" attitude. It all went. We went to the local flea market and and sold about half of it for $300. Two weeks later we had a yard sale of our own and made another $60. We are going to try again next weekend at the flea market. We are taking anything that didn't sell along with more things that we've found as we've continued to clean out the house.

We also both started looking for another part time job that we could fit into our already busy schedule. We found that there are still plenty of jobs out there. You just have to look. As soon as we started discussing it we found that there was a Lowe's opening down the street from us. I found the local fabric store looking for someone part time to cut fabric. There was openings in a warehouse near our house that was looking for someone in Customer Service and in packing. There probably aren't as many jobs around as there were 2 years ago, but there are still opportunities available to those looking.

Once we had a concrete plan of attack on our finances we decided to have a long talk with our kids about what was necessary and what wasn't. We explained to them that we were downscaling our living a little and there would not be all the frivolous spending that they were used to. Christmas would be much smaller. We may skip buying the expensive yearbooks at school and maybe even skip some of the field trips. We will have to choose which things are important enough to spend our money on. We began buying jeans at Goodwill, yard sales, or flea markets. You can usually find name brand jeans like Hollister, Old Navy, Gap, American Eagle, and many others for $2.50- $4.50 depending on the size and condition. Since kids grow so fast it's a great deal. Other things that the kids need come from off season sale racks and special promotions. If you really watch what you spend and are selective about what you buy then you can find some really good deals and save lots of money.

Last but not least, I had to completely overhaul my grocery shopping routine. I buy from sales clubs like Costco or Sam's. I have a rotation that works for me while buying in bulk. I buy toilet paper, dishwasher detergent, paper towels, clothes detergent and cases of canned diced tomatoes and tomato sauce etc once a month rotating through the big ticket items as I get paid each week so that I don't have to put it all out of pocket at one time. I also buy from other discount stores like Aldis. They sell good quality items without the name brand attached to it for a fraction of the cost. Sometimes you will even find a name brand item you love for great savings. I watch for specials and coupons ( unfortunately Aldis and Sam's do not accept coupons) on items that I use frequently. I only use coupons on things that I won't usually buy the off brand for. If there is a generic of something that my family doesn't mind, the generic is usually cheaper than the name brand even with coupons or sales. I also quit buying individually packaged or portioned snacks and drinks. I now buy in bulk and portion it my self. It takes a little bit of time but it's worth it with the money I save (not to mention being greener by using more reusable containers.) I also make my own brownies and desserts instead of buying the expensive bakery ones.

There are lots and lots of tips here for saving and making money. Even if you don't use all of them, I am sure you will find something that you do. Every little bit helps. After all, a penny saved is a penny earned.

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