Good News about that Crazy Law

A few days ago, I posted about a law that goes into effect on Feb 10th, 2009, requiring testing on all products to be sold for children ages 12 and under. There was concern that, as written, the law didn't make exceptions for thrift stores.

Well the Consumer Products Safety Commission recently released some guidelines for resellers and thrift stores about this law. You can read their guidelines here.

Do you like a Thrift Shop Deal? Read on!

As a momma writing for mommas, I think there is something I wanted to make you all aware of, as it will be affecting all of us soon.

Most of you know, one of the best ways to save money while raising a family is thrift stores and garage sales. The Lord has used many Thrift stores to provide for us affordable and great looking clothing for my kiddos over the years. Let's face it, youngin's grow way too fast to pay full price for all of their clothing, right?

Well, the ever-unhelpful government is about to help the troubled economy by changing all of that. As of February 10, 2009, your local thrift stores, retail stores, etc. will have to test each and every item for sale for children under 12 for lead and other chemicals. You can read more about it here. Another good article is found here.

This is, in some ways, a good thing because there have been childhood deaths relating to kids biting off pieces of their clothing (charms, etc.) containing lead, or the recent lead-paint on children's toys thing. I'm all about detoxing and cutting back on the chemicals we expose everyone too (especially the young ones). It's always a good idea to not let your kid put anything in their mouths...charms...necklaces...shoes...toys...but some kids like to explore with their mouths more than others. One of my daughters, while under the care of my mother in law one day, ate a whole tube of desitin diaper rash cream! Yuck! That was one strange trip to the ER...

On the other hand, it is a nightmare for thrift stores, small businesses, the handmade toy crafters, and most cottage industries. Most of those wooden toys that you buy from a craft fair are not being painted with lead and dipped in chemicals. When a mom works out of her home sewing cute, modest clothing and selling it online at etsy.com, she is likewise not dipping it in scary chemicals or adding lead to it like the manufacturers of items in third world sweatshops sometimes do.

You think children's items are expensive now? Just wait until all of these manufacturers have to pay to have each item tested in a lab before it hits the shelves.

The problem with the law, as I understand it, and as many small business persons are worried about, is that this law is too broad. What has a great intent (protecting children from dangerous materials in everyday items) is going to hurt families and businesses and be yet another nail in the economic coffin.

Concerns I have:
1. *ALL* children's items at *ALL* thrift stores will have to go into a landfill as of Feb 10th if it is not tested. Too bad, so sad if that is the only place you can afford to get your kids' clothes, and so sorry if Goodwill can't afford the testing. Maybe those of us risky enough to buy from a thrift store should be allowed to buy as long as we sign a waiver??!?! "I promise not to let my child consume any part of these clothing items, and will not hold Goodwill responsible for any negative consequences if my child does digest any part of the clothing we have purchased today!"
2. What if the manufacturer is purchasing materials from a place that tested the materials?
3. What about those items that are still in inventory that were purchased long before this law? Will small business people have to fill up a LANDFILL with their items if they can't afford to test them?
4. Are businesses going to get a tax deduction on the cost of testing? Are we going to just let more businesses go under and bleed jobs?
5. How are people going to be able to adequately clothe their children when the cost of testing equals or exceeds the cost of manufacturing the clothing? We're supposed to pay double for children's items?
6. Where are the environmentalists on this? Obviously concerned about the chemicals but is there any outrage about how much landfill space this law is going to fill up?
No more reuse and recycle in the children's industry!
7. Is this going to include garage sales? Curriculum sales?

On the outset, it may seem good....yeah, test the children's products, make it safe for the kids, etc. I'm not saying some regulation is probably needed. However what is a concern is that this was pushed through fast, without really differentiating between your large sweatshop in China where they cut corners and use lead paint and things like that, and the kindly Amish toymaker up the road from me who makes wooden toys for kids. The factory where they manufacture clothing, and the local consignment store where clothing is RECYCLED instead of discarded.

Just thought I'd make my readers aware of this upcoming, yet unreported law.

Uncertainty and In Whom do YOU Trust?

When I write my books and articles, it is always off of a combination of research and things the Lord taught me. I don't want to just rehash the same stuff to you, my readers. That would be pointless. I want to share with you what God taught me, and what I personally know to work...not just the same thing you read in every money management book.

Well, a few years ago when I wrote my book, Thriving on One Income, I got some emails saying things like,

"I think you are wrong to say that if you can't save towards retirement right now, don't sweat it! I work just so we can have a retirement! Don't you realize how much you are going to need...."

"I feel like I am right to work to save towards my children's college education. I want it to be there for them in 18 years, and if I start now, and invest, it will be a sure thing. I don't want my children to not be able to go to college or to start college in debt" (For the record, I am very much against debt for college, because that is what started my husband and I off on the wrong foot too)

There were more but that was the jist of it.

There are no sure things.

My point wasn't that faith means not investing or not saving. As I wrote in an earlier post, and even in my book itself, I have invested too. However, I was making the point that we all make decisions based on what is important to us.

If you sit down with some of these financial guru people, they will scare the wits out of you making you think you need to put asside hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month towards retirement and college for the still infant children who need their mommies right now. When we had 4 young children, one of these guys came over to our house, and had us convinced that we needed to double our income just to save enough for college for all four as well as for our retirement savings. He left and we felt really down and low.

Is that God? Is He not our provider? You save what you can save...that was my point.

So, I wonder...how's that working out for those who have put the babies in daycare so they could work towards a goal some 18 or even 30 years into the future?

Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. (Proverbs 23:5)

"Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; (1 Timothy 6:17)

We got our 401K statement in the mail yesterday...as of last week Wednesday we have 50% less than what we had before.

I wish I would have just taken the money and blown it on something fun. I can say that right? I'm human...if money is going to be wasted I wish I was the one who blew it on something I at least got to enjoy.

That's not just money that was lost but also time...my husband's valuable time with his family went up in flames because of the bozos who invested in the bad mortgage loans (as I said, without a fancy Ivy League degree in finance I don't think I will ever understand the illogical decisions made that caused this to happen).

Wanna hear the real shocker?...neither one of us said, as we read it together, "Gee I wish you would have stayed employed so that we could have had even more in that 401K when it imploded." No in fact we both expressed regret that we put all of his last raise directly into the 401K when we could have better used it in the day to day operation of our home.

We have to be wise about these things...we have to save what we are able, and wisely manage what God gives us, and trust in Him for the outcome.

Coming soon: a Recession Supplement for Thriving on One Income, as well a Workbook/Study Guide! (Pray for me).

European Gas prices don't work so well in America

One thing that has gotten me a little...er...annoyed about comments one hears regarding the gas prices is this, "Well, now we're paying what people in Europe have paid for years." I was reading about how some of our political leaders think this is a good and positive thing...but then again they don't have to pay for gas (transportation is one of the things the American people pay for them via expense accounts). Maybe you've heard them say this too, and maybe you have felt a little ashamed, like why are you such a wuss that you can't handle the gas prices. The thing is, I wouldn't mind the European Gas prices if we could also have the pedestrian/bike/Vespa friendly society with well structured public transportation as they do in the original land of the $6 gallon of gas. Some cities in America are set up to be pedestrian friendly, but most areas, rural, urban, and suburban, are set up for car ownership.

The reason why this comment about European gas prices annoys me so is that I lived in Europe in the Eighties and again in the early Nineties. In fact, I lived in Europe so long, I didn't have a driver's license or own an automobile until AFTER I came home from living over there simply because life is set up over there in such a way that it really isn't completely necessary. Let me explain.

When I need to go to the store here in my area, I have to decide if I am going to walk up to the mini mart a mile away (which has $5 gallons of milk, a selection of last year's VHS movies, some candy, lots of alcohol, a potpourri of the basic groceries, and some really awesome pizza), or I can drive 15 miles to the nearest grocery store which is a bit better stocked, or I can drive 20 miles to the larger, better stocked and more affordable grocery store, and sometimes I drive 30 miles to the bulk food store to stock up(every few months). Needless to say, we carefully plan out our trips to the store, and don't just run out to the store the minute we need something, especially with the gas prices.



We even live close to our church, and we decided that when the weather
is nice we should walk, but it isn't easy. The walk requires us to walk
down a busy stretch of road with a narrow shoulder, no sidewalks, and
swampy ditches on either side of the road....with five kids in tow.

When I lived in Europe, working as an Au Pair for a family, I went shopping daily. I put the child in the stroller, walked 1/4 mile to the meat market and grocers, and did our shopping, then walked home. sometimes we walked 4 miles to downtown Salzburg, where we shopped at the large fruit and veggie market in a pedestrian zone, or at a specialty shop, or if the weather was inclement, we used the bus.

Yes, I seriously was the Au pair of one mild-mannered 2 year old child in scenic Salzburg. It was a tough job but someone had to do it ;).

I've lived in Rural Austria, in Krems (a medium sized town on the Danube), in Vienna, and in the outlying areas of Salzburg Austria....and lived without a car or a chauffeur. I only rode in a car when someone invited me along for something...or on our once-every-few-months major shopping trip to the big grocery store. When we did use a vehicle, the design of the cities seemed to be designed to frustrate drivers, with the narrow roads, one way streets, scant (and expensive!) parking, traffic reminiscent of my nightmarish road trip to Chicago 13 years ago, and most of the time you were still hoofing it quite a distance, as you didn't just park in front of the store very often as you do here in the land that Ford built.

How did I get around? Bike...Walking...O-Bus in Salzburg and U-Bahn (subway) in Vienna and the back of a friend's Vespa (moped) in rural Austria...The occasional train trip or car ride with a friend. I thusly travelled all over Austria...sans automobile...and in fact all over much of Central Europe...including Prague, Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Rotterdam, northern Italy, Rome, and so forth.

There are many aspects of life in America that I prefer over life in Austria, such as 7-11's, 24 hour grocery stores, an openness towards the things of God when talking to others about Christ (by comparison), and our taxes being much lower...to say nothing of Freedoms we often take for granted.

That said, there are aspects where I wish I was living in Europe again...such as being able to live easily without a car, getting a decent Cappachino and delicious fresh bread that I didn't have to bake myself, and people whose company I enjoy immensely (not necessarily in that order).

European cities, and even smaller towns, seem to have been designed with pedestrians, bike riders, and "community" in mind. It took a while to get used to riding a bike on the street with traffic, because doing the same in America would be asking to be hit...I'd have been a bug on someone's windshield in my hometown of Detroit.

American cities, small towns, and rural areas, I am guessing, were designed by the marketing division over at the Big Three Automakers (I'm being sarcastic of course...but it does seem that way sometimes doesn't it?). There are a few urban areas (out of my price range LOL) where there is more of a European model at work, but by and large, Americans are more dependant on cars not just because we are in love with the automobile (in my case, can I say, I HATE DRIVING and would give it up in a minute if it wasn't a necessity?), but because most of our society is not designed with pedestrians, bikes, mopeds and vespas, or public transportation in mind. Having lived in several urban and suburban areas of America, our public transportation is no where near as user-friendly or practical as it is in European cities, if it exists at all. Even the Eastern Block Countries, just a few months after the fall of communism, had better public transport in place. Prague's subway system blew me away.

My husband drives 60 miles one way to work each day. Not because he likes to (would you? ugh!), but because we are having a bit of an economic downturn here in the Great Lake State, and this is all the employment we could find. Move closer? Can't sell the house, and can't afford the houses near where he works. It's a quandry. Thankfully he carpools with other men in the same predicament.

A friend in Europe was horrified at this fact, and suggested he take the bus. Take the bus? BUS?? what bus? Sure, we have a bus..I think...I've seen it maybe three times in the ten years I've lived here, and the only bus stop I've seen is about 10 miles from here....but it doesn't go near where we need it to go. And it's too far to walk, too far to bike, and I don't think a Vespa would work either.

So, is it a good thing that we have European style gas prices? I wouldn't complain if someone could also provide us with a bus around here...or even some sidewalks! Keep that in mind when you hear that.

Will the real bargain please stand up? (Bargain Hunting, Part Two)

Yesterday, I discussed the importance of having a PLAN when you go out bargain hunting, whether to garage sales, thrift stores, or where ever. I also concluded with the oh-so-important thought:

It's only a bargain when it's something you truly need!

Profound in it's simplicity, isn't it?

But, say you do need something, but you aren't sure if it is a good deal or not? That's what today's post is about. In short, price is not the only factor in determining whether or not something is a good bargain. Sometimes the better quality but more expensive item is the bargain, and sometimes it isn't. Just because something is "cheap" doesn't make it a good deal.

There are a few questions I ask myself when bargain hunting, especially at garage sales, but also at regular stores too. The main point is not only is a bargain only something that you need, but it is something that is of good quality that really does meet the need (this is more true of bigger ticket items).

I learned a valuable lesson (again!) over the last 6 months as I have tried to find a decent headset for my phone. As my husband usually calls and is chatty while I am making dinner, I needed something hands free so that I would recover from the kink in my neck. I have also started to be one of the publisher's assistants over at TEACH Magazine.com part time, which has involved some phone time as we discuss projects, and so forth (the older I get the less able I am to do things like type and hold a phone at the same time). Then there's the times I spend on the phone on hold with the insurance company trying to find out why they are making me repaint my house or else have my policy dropped (that's another post, though)...or any other sort of phone call that involves time on hold, or getting bounced around. It seemed a necessity to buy a head set, and it took me over a year to be convinced that I really needed one....

So what did I do? Of course I searched the clearance table at Walmart! LOL The headset was cheap, and I was happy until I discovered it was uncomfortable, slid off my head when I moved, and eventually died a few weeks into owning it (being on clearance, it wasn't returnable). Then I got one from a business auction. No one else bid on it, and the other headsets were way out of my price range, so I was again happy until I realized that it may have been a different brand but it seemed to be the SAME stupid headset, and I couldn't hear clearly in it. After buying several headsets that died young without warrneties, I was struck by the fact that as a bargain hunter, I was trying to avoid buying the "expensive kind" so as to save money, but wound up spending almost that much on things that are now in the county dump. A bargain is only a bargain when you need it, something that is of reliable quality, and it fulfils the need you have for it....I needed something reliable not always breaking, and which had a guarantee if it did die.


So question number two is this: 2. Is this going to meet the need I have for it or is it likely only a short term fix? If you are buying it to be a short term fix, is it still a good deal or a waste of money?

Granted, sometimes a bargain is just a short term fix until you can afford to get the one you do really need, and it helps you get by...like the garbage back duct taped to my van window right now until I have raised enough cash to have it fixed. ;). But, you need to weigh it against the price you are paying for it. If you are going to wind up buying 4 head sets in a year (at $20-30 each) to avoid buying the $80 head set that would work great for you, that's not a good bargain.

3. Do you have all of the parts for it, and if not, are the parts both available and affordable?

A few years ago, we found a video camera on Ebay for the low price of $25 with "no accessories", which we planned to use for homeschooling projects and family stuff...I looked online to find out how much the accessories we needed to run it would cost...and it was under $30...and the new, accessories included camera was $399.00 on Amazon. Good deal? You betcha! It's still alive and ticking, making video reports and helping young ones learn some filmmaking while expressing their creativity.

My husband needed a Router, and I found one at a garage sale, but when I called him up and gave him the specs, and what was with it, he did a quick online search and discovered that the cost of the items needed to make it work made it a bad deal.

A blouse that is missing a button which is of a common shape and size would be a good deal, because you could replace the button. A blouse with a unique set of buttons, missing one, would mean removing all of the buttons, and replacing them with something you found.

You get the picture.

4. If repairs are necessary, is it worth the time you will spend doing it?
Obviously you don't always know or accurately guess just how much time you will spend on a project...but if you look at something and realize you will be spending a few weeks fixing it, that may or may not be worth your time and the cost of the parts, depending on the value of the item when done. My time is not free, and your's isn't either. When we spend our time doing something, it is being paid for by those things we are not able to do while being busy with that other thing.

The exception to this would be having a repair job that your son or daughter wants to learn how to do with you...which would then file this purchase under "educational expenses", and be valuable. How to repair a seam in a pair of jeans, how to sew on a few buttons, how to raise a neckline and lower a hemline on an otherwise nice dress...there are practical sewing lessons galore if you have the time.

5. Can a repair even be made?
Again, sometimes you don't realize you can't fix it at all until you get it home, but sometimes there are signs to indicate difficulties...clothing with wears and tears in places other than the seams, for example.

6. Can it be repurposed for something else affordably and with an acceptable amount of time?
I am a broken china freak (I've had to remind myself that broken china is not a need). I have coffee cans full of different colored chips of china and tiles in my barn, and I have made many mosaics, including our dinner table, and a more recent picnic table (made from an old door we found in our barn, some two by fours, and some broken plates used to form a mosaic in the door's recessed panels). The picnic table took only a Saturday afternoon, and the total cost for a unique picnic table was under $20, compared with $89.00 for a new one from the hardware store.

I found some benches at the Salvation Army store...they were covered in vinyl cushions with some wild pattern reminiscent of the clothing Mrs. Brady wore in the Brady Bunch, and the wood was painted in Brady Bunch Orange. I suppose today it would be considered cool and retro, but this was before everyone was reverting back to design's most colorful decade. The thing was, on my list of needs was two benches that EXACT height and length. I flipped them over in the store, noted how the padding was attached, and also noted how sturdy they were made, and decided they were worth it. Within a few hours, the vinyl was off to spend eternity in a landfill, my son was pulling out the staples from the staple gun, and I had sanded off the top smooth. We painted it with a few coats of enamel to match our table, and we were set. Total cost: $10 (for the benches and the paint--I had the half gallon left over from the table).

Before you jump off on that good deal, make sure it really is by asking yourself these simple questions!

Bargain Hunting Basics, Part One: Shopping with a plan in mind.

I love a good bargain...but just because something is at a thrift store doesn't make it a bargain. There is definitely an art and science to bargain hunting wisely, which will be the topic of my blog for the next however long.

I haven't been online for the last couple of days due to trouble with
our internet service (those pesky storms we had a few weeks ago
necessitated repairs to the local server), and some general family
busy-ness, including a trip to our favorite Salvation Army store down
in Romeo, MI, where I never fail to find good quality clothing for a
very good price, especially men's and boy's dress clothes, and some
very nice skirts and blouses. We did pretty good at our trip this past
week....but, we went with a plan.

When you are out garage saling, or thrift store hopping (or dumpster diving LOL), you can sometimes wind up spending more than you need to spend, and waste valuable time and money, not to mention bring home junk you really don't need by not starting with a plan.

This past week, we had a few things in mind: Judah needed some dress slacks (the boy just keeps on growing!), my husband needed some jeans, my daughter Ruth needed some skirts, Isobel and Esther both needed some jeans/play clothes, and Anastasia was low on dress tops that fit right. As for me, I was hoping to find a blouse or two that matched a skirt that was given to me, for which I have nothing matching (But love the skirt! :-)).

So, part one of the plan was deciding what we were looking for. I got pretty specific for some things (for example, I needed blue or ochre blouses), and for others I left it general (Martin needed jeans but wasn't fussy about what kind).

I also have a running list of things I look for at garage sales and thrift shops, which I have personally found to be of good resale value on Ebay. If I've sold one just like it before and did well with it, I usually snatch it up at a yard sale. If I have an upcoming project (whether a repair around the house, a class I'm teaching at our co-op, or anything of that sort), I also keep a list of supplies I am looking for if I happen to catch an exceptionally good deal. Everything else stays at the garage sale :-)

Part two of our battle plan was deciding where to search for what we were looking for. As we live somewhat rurally, and have only a few thrift stores in the immediate area, and a few more further away, we need to plan a bit more seriously than if we were living in an urban area with many choices. Normally when we are looking for nice men's/boy's clothing or jean skirts, the place to go is Romeo, as the stores up near us are usually pretty thin on those items, but I planned to stop at each of those stores on the way, in the hopes that I might find what I was looking for before driving several more miles, with gas prices as they are. If I didn't have time for that, I probably would have just hit the highway and went directly to Romeo, but since we planned to make a day of it, we took our time looking.

Along the way, we saw quite a few garage sales, and we stopped at the ones that looked promising. We were able to get some jeans at one of them in the right size, which was a blessing, and we found something that I know does well on Ebay (Saxon Math books for a dollar each), so we did doubly well. At another garage sale, another item on my list was found. The person doing the garage sale was helping her aunt declutter, and among the finds were a great set of paint brushes, and several large tear-off pads of water color paper for an absolute steal. I will be teaching drawing later in our co-op, and I love to paint for personal enjoyment anyway, as well as paint with my children, so this was a blessing to find water color paper (an expensive item) at such a great price....but that is just another example of where the running list comes in.

With gas prices hovering over $4.00 a gallon, driving all over Timbuktu for garage sales is perhaps no the best use of our resources (if you are able to walk within a neighborhood to garage sales, that would be ideal!), so I usually limit my garage saling, especially this year, to garage sales that are en route to somewhere I am going anyway (unless I hear of a really good one and can swing by), and again, I never shop without a plan or I run the risk of filling my van with someone else's stuff that I don't really need. Anyone else ever do that, besides me? ~smile~ "But it was such a good deal!" It's only a good deal when it is something you truely need, remember that!

The Rewards of Diligence

"Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men." (Proverbs 22:29)

Can I brag on my husband for a bit? I'm allowed, aren't I?~smile~

His work has a been a trial as of late, because of how no matter how hard he works, they keep "rewarding" him with paycuts, cut hours, and reducing our health insurance benefits. Nothing new. This is happening all over the place.

The Lord has, however, not let this go unnoticed. He keeps good accounts.

Over the last few years, and especially in the last few months, He has provided my hubby many opportunities to moonlight as a freelance consultant, training others in using the machines that he is so skilled at using (wire EDM).

Today, one of the people he has just started doing some part time Wire EDM work for related to him an amusing story. Apparently, he called the maker of these machines he uses, to see if they would send someone in to do some training. He currently has no one (other than Martin) to do the work, but he doesn't have quite enough work to hire Martin full time. The company told him that they don't directly provide training for that machine, but they can recommend a very skilled freelancer in Michigan--my husband!

Needless to say, what a compliment!

Kroger Deals

Until three weeks ago, I rarely graced the doors of my local Kroger Grocery store. Normally, I get most of my groceries at Meijers or Walmart, with many bulk foods from a local bulk food store, and meats from a meat market near my husband's work. But, a friend told me of a great deal that Kroger has started, and I wanted to pass this along.

If you have a Kroger with a gas station, and you spend at least $200 in groceries from Kroger each month, you get $0.10 cents off per gallon. The discount goes up based on how much you spend on groceries each month. You have to have a Kroger Plus card (they're free).

I've been getting Kroger circulars in the mail each week, and the last few weeks they've had several 10 for $10 deals on things that normally cost much more...including red peppers (normally $2.49+ each), salad dressings, bags of tortilla chips, bottles of shampoo, bags of frozen vegetables, ice cream, and so on. Overall, I've saved quite a bit of money the last couple of weeks at Kroger, while restocking my pantry. I still shopped elsewhere for other necessities that I could get for less at other places, but overall, the groceries, toiletries, and gas has been a huge savings.

Gas Mileage and Green Goblins

One of the questions I got a while ago (during my hiatus) was regarding gas mileage. I didn't save the original question so as to quote it exactly. But, the question had two parts. One, how to save on gas, and two, did I think ethanol lowered gas mileage. Well, I had to wait to answer because I didn't get a van until a month ago. :-)) (woo hoo, and thank you Jesus for the van!), and I also hadn't paid too much attention specifically to the mileage, other than trying to avoid using too much gas.

So, I did a test with my new van. I wanted to see what sort of gas mileage my van gave me anyway . I filled up to the brim, and then set the tripometer to zero, and drove it until I was at half a tank. Then I wrote down my miles, reset the tripometer and put some allegedly environmentally friendly stuff into my vehicle. I say allegedly because the nearest Walmart is near to a new Ethanol plant, and because of the STINKY AIR POLLUTION I no longer shop there. I drive an extra three miles in the other direction to go to the other Walmart (in Lapeer) with clean air. Anyway, I knew this test was not entirely accurate as I still had the regular gasoline in my tank (halfway) but I figured either I'd see no change or a small change. Instead, my fuel efficiency, driving the EXACT SAME ROUTE was 3mpg lower. When gas (even the "cheaper" ethanol) is over $3 a gallon, a 3 MPG difference, to me, is significant.

Later, this past week, I read a TIME Magazine article which talked about the "Clean Energy Scam". I found the article shocking and I am sure you will too.

A quick Google search using the keywords "Ethanol" and "Gas Mileage" turned up may interesting links, including this blog (the comments especially are interesting), and a Consumer Reports article.

But how do you save on gas?

1. plan your trips carefully. Don't just run to the store every time you are out of something, and minimize your trips out.


2. Get your oil changed, air filter, tune ups, etc. When your car is running good it will use less fuel. There are a few oil change places in our area that have special "ladies days" where they give women a special price on that day. Of course if you are married to a guy who likes changing oil and air filters, or if you are able to do it yourself, even better.

3. Inflate your tires to the recommended amount. A tire gauge should cost under $1 at the store, and will let you know what your tires are at. If they are under inflated, they will cause you to use more fuel. One year for Christmas I got a tire pump from my in-laws because I had a string of flat tires for a while there. It is one of my all time favorite Christmas gifts. LOL Very handy!

4. Drive the speed limit. I tested this myself. If you are driving too fast, or if you are starting and stopping, you will use more fuel. Some starting and stopping is unavoidable (eg, driving in the city), but try to avoid speeding up only to stop at the next light. Drive as evenly as possible. It's better for your brakes too.

5. If you drive a pick up truck, put a cover on the bed to help the aerodynamics of the vehicle.

6. Don't use the AC unless necessary.

7. If it is an option, walk, ride a bike, take public transportation, or car pool.

Does anyone else have any tips? I'd be interested in hearing them!! I'm always looking for ways to save, especially on gas.

Saving on Insurance

In my last post, I noted that I was able to knock quite a bit off of my insurance. I had a few emails about that, asking where you should even start to look. Here it is!

First of all, check out what your current policy is, and what is and is not completely necessary. Some of it is on there by law (a legal bare minimum), and some of it may be extras that either are or are not a good deal. If you have a debt against your car, then you legally have to have full coverage, and if you have an expensive car in good shape that is paid for, you still would want to have full or at least more complete coverage. This pays for your car in case something happens to it. If you only have PPLD (the bare minimum) you only get a few hundred dollars (or whatever the going rate now is). If your car is worth only a few hundred dollars, then it is worth it to only have PPLD since you can't possibly get any more, even if you are paying the extra $75 every six months for comprehensive. I'm not really an expert on what all of it means so don't take any of this as legal advice (that's my disclaimer), but do go and do some research on your own to see what each item on your policy is and why it is there, and what benefit you are getting out of it. Then weigh the benefits and costs.

Next, see if you can get a better deal elsewhere. I went to a few online places (geico.com, esurance.com, and insurance.com---I went with a quote the latter got me), and requested a free quote, and looked over the information they gave me. Some of them were way more expensive and some were less. I talked on the telephone then with someone from different companies, and to my surprise they were able to lower the price even further if I could pay the whole thing up front. Normally that is like way out of the question ;), but by God's grace, I had money in my Paypal account--the exact amount with 7 cents to spare, Praise the Lord. The savings for paying it up front was 20%, and so I am saving up for the next payment so that I again can get the huge discount--well worth it!

Usually there is a discount if you get all of your insurances through the same company (home, auto, life), and so you can also ask about that too.

Hope that helps!

Bulk Food Shopping 101

This week Saturday, I went to my bulk food store, and got some great deals, including this amazing box of apples for just $5. They are red delicious, emphasis on the DELICIOUS.

Someone emailed me recently with a question about bulk shopping, and I guessed it would be useful to post my response to her here:

Pardon my stupidity, but what's a bulk food store? Not like Sam's Club obviously because nothing is that cheap there. Where do you find something
like that?!

Well, I found ours through some other home schoolers in our area who were
always talking about it. I actually had to be led to it, as it is located
inside of what appears to be a private farm at first glance, and it is down
a few dirt roads in the middle of nowhere. They now have a sign, but you still feel almost like you are going on private property until you get closer. It is 45 minutes' drive, but we only
go every other month or more. The prices make it worth my while, even with
$4 a gallon gas.

This particular store is owned and operated by a Mennonite family, and it is
located in one of the pole barns on their farm. When I lived in the city,
there was another similar store located in one of the out-buildings of a
large Seventh Day Adventist church. This Mennonite Run store (called
Country View Bulk Foods, and located in Snover, Michigan, north of Marlette
off of M-46 for any of you Michganders out there--I can give you more
specific info if you need it!) buys local vegetables and fruits, most of it
is seasonal (In other words, you don't always find bushels of apples sitting outside), and most of the dry goods are packaged in smaller bags, by weight. I ask for larger bags. Since I am driving almost an hour, I am not going to buy a wee
bag of wheat--I'm going for the big one (50 pounds for just $18.25, or $0.37 per pound).

I also annually buy 100 pounds of Oatmeal (for $9.00) ,and that lasts me the year (usually). They special order 50 pound bags of Rye Berries for me too upon request. The spices though---good golly, it's so cheap! :-)) I especially love the idea of buying mostly locally grown fruits and veggies, and local milk, eggs, and cheese.

You can also start a bulk foods coop by looking up the different places that
sell whole grains, flours, and so forth in bulk (the name escapes me right
now of the main company--but I know you can buy wheat directly from Wheat Montana, for example). Co-ops I've belonged to had everyone place an order with the main
person in charge, that way they made the minimum amount the company required
(I think it was $200-300 in goods??) and they shipped it to the house of the
main person in charge in a large 18 wheeler!

With some co-ops, everyone gets together to package things up into smaller packs (for example, if 5 families
went in on a 50 pound bag of wheat berries--they would work together
packaging it into smaller amounts). Sometimes other co-ops, like the one I
belonged to in college, have a small storefront too that is open to the
public, though members get the best prices.

If you google your city (or the largest city near you) and the words "Bulk
Food Co-op" or "Bulk Foods Stores" you may find something there.

When I went to college in Marquette, Michigan, we had two bulk food natural
foods stores that were small, on either side of town. They bagged up the
brown rice and wheat and all of that in individually packaged smaller bags,
but you could also buy them in the huge bags as they came at the store
(because this was a smaller store, they wanted you to give them notice if
you wanted a huge bag, and as I was just a college student, that was unneeded). For the one, it was a bulk foods co-op, and each
person who joined (for an annual fee of something like $25), also had to
work a little bit each month, either packaging the foods, or helping unload
the truck, or working in the store. The store was open to the public, but
had a markup of 40% (typical retail), which co-op members did not have to
pay, just by showing their cards. The store was located in a building that
one of the members owned, and it was just a small wee office, with so many
shelves you could hardly walk. It was a good thing for me, a poor college
student who was a vegetarian at the time. For just a few hours of work
each month, and $25 a year, I got rice for 30 cents a pound. Local
farmers and gardeners in the Marquette area also sold their goods via the co-op,
and so we got farm fresh eggs and things like that too.

The sad part is that because these little gems are usually family run, and not big conglomerates, it is very much dependant on the area in which you live. Also, most low-cost bulk food places don't pay for advertising, or for the best storefronts, because people usually go out of their way to find them, therefore you need to do some hard looking. They won't be found at the local mall or shopping center! Ask others around you, especially anyone with a large family who is on a tight budget. Most Seasoned Moms of Many in your area, unless they are unusually wealthy, have the bead on the good deals in town.

Washer Repair for Keepers at Home 101: the Water Level Pressure Switch

The last thing one wants to see after spending the last money in her wallet on washer repair is this (that's sudsy water on the floor, not a decorative paint finish):

Thankfully, the repair was still under warranty, so they came out for free to look at it again, and discovered that the problem was with a faulty water level pressure switch. And the problem with that was that the repair guy had to order one, and then it would be quite a chunk of change to have it installed. So, I dared to ask the question:

"How hard would it be for me to do it myself?"

the answer: "Not very". After a brief tutorial on how to replace a pressure switch, he left, and I went online, where I found the cheapest water pressure switch was on Ebay. Who knew? And it was about 1/6th the price of what my friend the washer repair guy would have charged me. I took my washer apart and pulled the old one out, and the put it back in again just to make sure this was something I felt confident in doing (it was). And, I hit "Buy it Now" on Ebay, and now I'm waiting 3 days for my part to arrive.

Stay tuned.

Perspectives on Frugality

I had a bad week this week, and I am thankful for the prayers!! :-) They helped. Feeling much better.

I think we all need to get it in our minds that God promises to supply our NEEDS (not necessarily wants) and we're commanded in the Bible, (1 Tim 6:8 KJV) "And having food and raiment let us be therewith content."--everything else is an extra! If we really grasp how He blesses us SO MUCH MORE beyond what He refers to as the necessities for contentment, and we grasp how blessed we are beyond what others on this planet today, in 2007 are, then we can begin to focus on How good He's been to us.

This week, my washing machine, dryer, sump pump, and furnace all decided to stop working, and my van is still on the fritz (we were trying to save up just to get that fixed). I was in what one could call a "foul mood" on Monday.

But then I got a letter from a friend of mine who lives in Central Europe (with a rent payment of twice my mortgage payment a month for an apartment the size of my living room), who wrote me via snail mail. None of this stuff had even happened at the time she mailed it! In her letter, full of birthday well wishes and updates on her family, she talked about riding the subway with the kids (She has no car), and about being at the laundromat the other day with two little kids, and her laundry, WITH NO CAR, and a rather humorous account in German about what that was like. It wasn't that she was whining...she was just feeling led to tell me how blessed I was (In addition to wishing me birthday wishes). I of course felt like a worm when I was done reading it....LOL...and was on my face before God almighty, Jehovah Jireh, my provider!

Perspectives like that are the foundation to frugal living successfully...because too often we can fall in the trap of pinching pennies while getting testy and martyr-like and feeling all "Woe is me!" while missing just how blessed we are. So lesson number one is to look at how much God has blessed you. It's foundational!! Attitude is everything.

The furnace is still only sometimes working....but I'm still blessed. The sump pump started working when I kicked it (sometimes those "old fashioned" repairs work best ;))...but I'm still blessed. The washer and dryer both had the repair guy look at them yesterday, and we paid him to fix them...but we're still blessed, and praise God it wasn't as much as originally quoted....still, I could just as well be packing everyone up on a subway today, with all of our laundry, to go to the laundromat and watch the clothes spin for a few hours. Thank You JESUS for washers and dryers in home.

Seriously, have you thanked Him for letting you have a washer? Are you thankful you don't use a scrub board (or as one friend suggested--using a clean plunger in the bathtub to wash clothes?)? Are you glad for running water, for that matter? These things are not your right---millions live without it each day, and billions more down through history have not been blessed with the miracle that is indoor plumbing. Even Mary, His dear Mother, went without indoor pluming, electricity, washers, dishwashers, hair dryers (LOL), hot water, and so forth! Can you imagine having to trudge through the snow on a cold night to go to an outhouse? Girl, you are SO blessed if you've never had to do that!

Contentment at Christmastime

A recent discussion was going on about contentment at Christmastime. Specifically, what do you do if you are tempted to overspend (using Credit Cards...are as they should be called, Debt Cards!) while out with a friend who shops til she drops? How do we walk in contentment when everyone around us is spending money?

Think of this if it helps: don't be jealous of someone who needs all
year to pay off Christmas. I have an article that should be at Ladies
Against Feminism soon called "Have a Merry January". This is the basic
premise of the article! It should be up in the next few weeks.

Another way to look at it: God equates debt with slavery and curses
over and over in His word...so why celebrate His birthday by doing
something that He refers to as a curse, and willfully entering into an
arrangement that He equates with slavery? It's one thing when an
emergency happens and you need to whip out the plastic, but quite
another to do it to keep up with the joneses.

Two: don't shop with people who spend money as if they have a
bottomless well full of it, or you will feel poor even if you aren't.

There are some people I just can't go out and shop with! Try to find
people who enjoy being frugal and shop with them :-)..Pr. 13:20 says
that if you walk with the wise men you become wise, but you will be
harmed by hanging around foolish people(not that spending money is
always foolish but overextending oneself is definitely foolish!) This
is a good verse to make your kids know backwards and forwards, by the way!

Some in my family have more money than they know what to do
with (though many of them whine about not having enough), and those that don't feel the pressure to
charge it up so that they can live as if they do. I recently
learned that someone I know has over 100,000 dollars in unsecured
debt!!. Yowsa--that's higher than my mortgage! I definitely struggle
with wishing I had a nice fancy house with all new features, and new this and new that, but
I also see how all of this money and/or debt affects people if they have not learned to be content with what they have. In short, they totally miss just how blessed they are!

We over at our house are much more content with what we have, and my kids
aren't transformed into the whiny brats I see others having, begging
for this or that new toy when Christmas comes around(with mom and dad running about to different stores to look for whatever is "in" this year). My kids are happy
with the little things in life, and I thank God for it (by the way
they are ages 8-14). I learned along time ago that I can't compete with my relatives and some of my friends....I may look "cheap" but I don't buy anyone Christmas presents except my own kids (and dh) unless I find something really great that is ideal for them and won't break my budget. As for my kids, most of the time, they only get one each, in addition to the small items they get in the Advent Calendar. I wrote an article about this stuff called "Scaled Down Christmas" that is at my website www.joyfulmomma.org/articlesandresources.html

Spending too much on Christmas, if you want my frank opinion ;), is
bad not only for your budget but bad for your kids. My kids have never
gotten much for Christmas from us, and at first I was concerned that
they would feel left out or bad about it, but we do go out of our way
to make Christmas season special in other ways, and to really spend
time together, enjoying one another, and focusing on what we are
supposed to be celebrating. I see in many families I know, that the kids become more and more discontent the more "stuff" they get for Christmas, and half the time they forget about their gifts within a week or two. God's word calls us, over and
over again, to contentment, and yet the modern "spirit of Christmas"
is quite the opposite. If we say we are observing Christ's birthday, we should be encouraging Christ's character while doing so.

If we can afford more, there is nothing wrong with gifts mind you, but
I guess it is more the attitude surrounding it (particularly the
attitude displayed in the receivers of the gifts)...and so I strongly
urge you to make it a matter of prayer together with your husband, while
the kids are still young, and see what the Lord would have you do
regarding number and amount of gifts. Many I know give only three
gifts as that is what Jesus received (the three gifts from the Magi),
and others have a spending limit for total gifts.

Cool Christmas Wreath with Candy

My friends over at www.LivingOnADime.com have put up another great instructional video on You Tube. This is so neat! I think this will be the Christmas presents for my mom and mother in law this year.....shhhhh don't tell ;)

warming up

Today, I spent lots of time on the phone finding various repair people and seeking advice from those who know how to fix the sundry things that are broken in our house. We are pretty sure the back hose in the washer had become loose (the dog hid there during the tornadoes that came through here a week and a half ago, despite us trying to pull her out--which probably caused it to loosen, and then eventually break), but when I tried to tighten it I only partly stopped the flow. Someone is coming to look at it, but he assures me he is quite sure he knows what the problem is and that it can be fixed quickly. Let's hope so--he's getting paid by the hour ;). I thought Maytags never need the services of repair people?!?

We managed to fix the furnace ourselves (praise God)...the ignitor burned out, and so we had to buy a new one and plug it back in. It felt so warm in the house after we did that, we had to open a window. LOL Now it's just right.

fixing things is a very unglamorous way to spend money, isn't it? LOL

Newsflash! Living Paycheck to Paycheck Gets Harder

"NEW YORK (AP) - The calculus of living paycheck to paycheck in America is getting harder.What used to last four days might last half that long now. Pay the gas bill, but skip breakfast. Eat less for lunch so the kids can have a healthy dinner. Across the nation, Americans are increasingly unable to stretch their dollars to the next payday as they juggle higher rent, food and energy bills. It's starting to affect middle-income working families as well as the poor, and has reached the point of affecting day-to-day calculations of merchants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 7-Eleven Inc. and Family Dollar Stores Inc.

Food pantries, which distribute foodstuffs to the needy, are reporting severe shortages and reduced government funding at the very time that they are seeing a surge of new people seeking their help. While economists debate whether the country is headed for a recession, some say the financial stress is already the worst since the last downturn at the start of this decade....In the meantime, rising costs show no signs of abating.

Gas prices hit a record nationwide average of $3.23 per gallon in late May before receding a little, though prices are expected to soar again later this year. Food costs have increased 4.5 percent over the past 12 months, partly because of higher fuel costs. Egg prices were 44 percent higher, while milk was up 21.3 percent over the past 12 months to nearly $4 a gallon, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average family of four is spending anywhere from $7 to $10 extra a week—$40 more a month—on groceries alone, compared to a year ago, according to retail consultant Burt Flickinger III." (by Anne D'Innocenzio for AP)

Here's an interesting article I read, that falls under the catagory of, "Well, duh" Then again, maybe it is just now that those who make more than the average family are noticing it more.

The pinch!! We've been in it now, as a family, since 2001. We bought our house in 1998, and we were so proud of ourselves, and our wisdom: we paid far less than what the bank told us we could "afford" (had we bought anything more than what we did, we'd be in a cardboard box right now). Financial advice point number one: never buy what they say you can afford--buy the best house that suits your needs at the most reasonable price you can find, even if that means moving a little further out of the suburbs--you don't know what the future holds, and all debt is a gamble on the future staying as it is right now or getting better. Now, if we were to run one of those analysis on our finances, I think the bankers would tell us we can't afford the house we have. LOL Thanks be to God for His grace in this area....He truely has shown Himself to me to be Jehovah Jireh, my provider.

I've actually gotten used to the fact that in 2001 my husband's income plummeted while our expenses began their ascent up the mountain (our annual income was cut down to about 1/3rd of what it was the previous year. yeah, ouch!). Several friends around the same time also went through a pinch too, and some even lost jobs altogether. Through the last 6 years of this experience, we have been taught of the Lord how to be content, and how to be better stewards, and again, I can only praise Him for that...because my flesh was saying other things...

The interesting thing is that those who were unaffected years ago by this are now starting to feel the pinch too. For a while I had friends who were thankfully unaffected by what was going on, and who couldn't understand how I couldn't afford $20 for piano lessons each week for the kids when that was such a good deal, or why I bought the cheap groceries though they were not necessarily the healthiest (because, the alternative was fasting--which I also did a few times during that time!). Now they are needing to learn how to tighten down more and more as their income goes down while prices go up. This is part of the reason why I am endeavoring to do the regular blog posts about what's for dinner at my house, and how much it cost, so as to spark some ideas in those of you who are struggling in this area.

Van Issues and Great Deals

With living rurally, we use our van quite a bit. It gets us shopping, to homeschool co-op, and to church. Our van was such a blessing when we got it--after years of using a station wagon that we all barely fit in, friends of ours sold us their old van for about the same amount we'd pay for a set of tires--it was amazing. The van had about 300,000 miles on it, but we were grateful just for a van. Well it seems those miles have caught up on the van now....the transmission is going. When I tried to leave this morning for an appointment, the van started but it didn't move anywhere, even after I let it warm up for a while. Tonight, it carried us to church, albeit slowly, and only after warming up for a half an hour. Unfortunately, we just got done sinking money into my husband's work car, and so we quite short on getting the van fixed.

I was praying about this today when the Lord gave me an idea...Starting Friday, there is going to be QUITE an amazing sale at my website. I am not only going to make everything in my store 25% off, I am also going to be selling special bundles of my products and the products of many others who are donating them just for this special sale, to see if I can make enough to take Ol' Bessie into the shop, or maybe even look for a van with less miles on it.

Stay tuned for more details!

Jonah and the Vine and a God who PROVIDES

Someone emailed me recently to ask me if I personally ever get down over
financial issues. After reading my book, Thriving on One Income, she was
wondering if I ever have those down days, with discouragement and so forth
at not being able to have all that it seems others have.

The truth? YEPPERS!

I really think it comes and goes in seasons. It depends on a lot of things,
but most especially what I am allowing into my head. I've noticed that if I
have spent too much time with my mom (who has a lot of nice stuff), or
anyone who has "nice things" or at one of those home parties where everyone
is buying up things and I am scanning the list for anything under $5....I
get down. I wonder, WHY ME? Why can't I have what (fill in the blank) has?

I think I hit my low point last summer when my husband finally got a good
job after years of being underpaid....and then in a few months, they just
closed down the shop and moved it overseas for cheaper labor. I was crushed,
and angry. It was rather ironic too because the week that this all
transpired, a large white truck pulled in my driveway and dropped off 4
cases of books--copies of my book Thriving on One Income that I had printed
up and perfect bound with shiny new full color covers. I was really having
a pity party and a temper tantrum all rolled into one over this whole issue,
and so my husband ripped open one of the boxes, and handed me a copy of my
book and said, "You may want to read this. It might help. Some lady who has
learned to be content on a very small income wrote it to be an encouragement
to people in these situations."

I was not amused.

However, a few pages into my own book, I was really convicted. It isn't a
one time thing--that whole "contentment thang". Sometimes we have to go back
to the Lord over and over and over again concerning the exact same issues,
because in our own human strength we just CAN'T! However, in God's power, we
can. His grace is sufficient for us, even in seemingly "mundane" areas like
being a stay at home mom.

Just recently, as I was reading through the book of Jonah in the Bible (as
in Jonah and the Big Fish), God really showed me something. You see, I have
always been somewhat mystified by the part of the story where Jonah is
having a temper tantrum outside of the city, and God allows the vine to grow
up and to shade him, and then God allows the vine to die, upsetting Jonah.
It never really made a lot of sense to me in a practical way, but when I
read that recently, God showed me that I am a lot like Jonah in that regard.
Just when we were having a really hard time to the point where we were both
ready to give up, God sent along a vine (the nice job). Though it didn't
last long, it was shade for a season, so to speak. God allowed it to whither
and go away, and like Jonah, I was upset....mostly because I was missing the
big picture.

God was STILL My provider, no matter what job we had, if any. And even
today, with the job my husband has now, it is all God's grace that we rely
upon, not ourselves, or our employers, or anything else. Praise Him

Work at Home (part two)

More on the whole Work at Home topic....

 

These are some more questions I've been asked from others about working from home.

 

<<How do I find out which work at home program out there really is legit and will work for me?>>

As I said in my last post, I have only lost money on those work at home "programs". I've pretty much
done them all too over the last 14 years. I used to think I was a bad
salesman. I wasn't. I just didn't have a passion for what I was selling, and
I was unable to sufficiently fake that passion when trying to get people to
open their wallets.

What works is this: Find something you are good at AND are passionate about
AND love to do, and pray hard for wisdom as to how you can make money doing
it while researching whether or not there is a need in that area (ie, you
are not trying to do the exact same thing that 300 other people are
doing--which is why work at home programs don't work for the majority of
people who sign up--just those who are go-getters who could sell snow boots to someone living on the equator). If you are not PASSIONATE about selling what you are signing up for, how are they going to sell enough to support you? If you are not
passionate about selling mortgage services from some work at home company
program, how do you expect to sell them? You won't in any significant
amounts!

My husband didn't think he had any potential self employment prospects
(after all, what he does requires a machine that costs about half a million
dollars and we are a little short of that amount :P). Then he realized, he
is passionate about what he does, <I>but that doesn't mean he has to have an
expensive machine to share that passion</i>. He can train people (which I might
add he was doing for free to be a "nice guy" for the last few years when
people would call and ask for help, because he already had a great
reputation). He has developed a training module, and he goes into companies
that have just laid out the half a million but don't know what to do with
their cool new toy, and teaches them how to use it. Instead of giving them
the same training that the tech support gives (from people with engineering
degrees who have never actually ran such a machine but understand
theoretically how it is supposed to work), he gives them practical, hands on training,
catering to the accounts they already have, from someone with 20 years in
the field. He is also working on an ebook and possibly some Camtasia-powered
tutorials to demonstrate CAD programming for Wire EDM. For the ebook, he is
dictating into a digital voice recorder, because he hates writing, and I am
going to make it sound good on paper. :) Hubby also makes money by putting a
box for returnable (10 cents in Michigan) pop cans next to his machine at his
regular job. It pays for his gas for the week.This is creative money that costs him
nothing extra!

Just to give you some more examples of creative thinking, I am going to
share some things my kids have done. Just a little bit of ingenuity, and
they made some money this summer. All of these are simple ideas, not "get
rich quick" schemes, and all were incredibly successful....it just took at
little bit of creativity (And children who like to fall asleep listening to
Alice Seba podcasts and the audio book of Rich Dad, Poor Dad).

I don't want to give away too much (because it is such an original idea),
but just this past week my 13 year old daughter came up with a business idea
based upon this principle that I think is nothing short of brilliant. It is
based on something she is passionate about, a need that is as of yet unmet
in the world around us (or so it appears from preliminary research), and
that is within her budget and skills to start. For school over the next few weeks, one of her assignments is going to be working on developing this idea further, and developing a Business Plan in the process.

My son has also made money with two gumball vending machines. The first one
is located in a Tire store (where customers wait for their cars to
get done staring at the three selections of candy before eventually giving
in. If they are waiting too long they buy fresh gum when the old gum gets
stale!). We empty out the "loot" every week, and he grosses about as much as
me (he's 11). Within a few weeks at this place, he bought a second gumball
machine on Ebay. The other one we didn't find a place for yet, but my son
and I agree that right now it is also in a lucrative spot (it's full of
skittles and located next to dad's computer). We empty that one every three
weeks. Before that, we let people borrow it for their garage sale, and we
paid them 10% of the profits. It was full of quarters each time. Ever
thought of owning a vending machine? Cheap start up! Even a kid can do it!
Are you passionate about candy? Do you have anywhere nearby that would let
you set it up? Judah filled a need (something to chew on or eat while
sitting in a car repair place)--worked within his passion (can't resist a
gumball machine)--and shared it with others (sold the idea to the manager of
Kan Rock, and placed the product in front of a captive audience).

My three youngest children (ages 9, 8, and 7) came up with a great idea this
summer when we had our garage sale. Because it is always so hot and we are
always so thirsty at garage sales, when we had our garage sale, my girls
asked to buy several cases of pop, and several bags of ice. They filled the
coolers with pop and ice, and they charged $1 per can of pop (the cost we
figured at $0.30 per can including ice because of a sale). They also sold
Popsicles for $0.50 (they were bought in a box of 100 for $1.99, and we sold
300 Popsicles at my garage sale alone). After this worked well at my garage
sale (They made more than the garage sale did), they decided to ask friends
who were having garage sales if they could have the coolers at the garage
sale, and who can resist cute little girls asking this question? They
actually worked at 6 garage sales this summer. Filled a need (everyone wants
a cold drink while garage saling)--worked within their passion (they all
like soda pop on a hot day)--shared that passion with others (made sure they
took a refreshing sip when customers were around).

Be creative. Ask the Lord for Wisdom (James 1:5). If it's His will, He will pave the way, amen?

 

<<Can you seriously make money online, even with very little start up money (under $100) and what do you do if you do make
a living this way>>>

The short answer: YES, and it grows every week. Read on for the
much-too-long-but-hopefully-inspiring version with the nitty gritty
details...

I am definately a Newbie at this too (but an expert at failing at network
marketing programs and work at home schemes). I have been gradually
increasing my income via my businesses, and it has amazed me. My husband
and children are also breaking into the entrepreneurial game too.

The main thing I think I have learned over 14 years of TRYING and failing is
that we can't look for a formula, or a "work at home program" or anything of
that sort. We've got to be creative!

I have two websites. The first (www.joyfulmomma.org) I sell books and
ebooks that I have written on it. I also sell books and DVDs from other
entrepreneurs (those products which I have personally found useful and of
value). My niche is books, ebooks, and resources that would be a help to the
average mom who wants practical advice. Additionally, I have several
affiliate marketing links on my site which bring me in some cash from time
to time, though I have to admit that I don't market those quite as
aggressively as I probably could.  My second website is
www.kimberlyeddydesign.net , where I market my web and logo design services.
This past year, I have done 6 websites, with logos, custom artwork, and so
forth. I've done several banner ads for small businesses. I absolutely love
animating things. it'sbrought in a steady stream of income. I have tried to focus in on marketing
my web design business to a niche (those that want an attractive, custom
website--thus far my clientele has been freelance artists and musicians, and
one mom with a home business). I am by far not a "programmer" but I do have
an artistic eye, and I am trying to market to that end. I am getting ready
to revamp that site some more, now that I have grown more in my skills and
also in my understanding of marketing--but praise God I've been too busy
getting paid to do other people's sites that I haven't had time.

I have an upcoming line of products that will combine those two....video
tutorials for logo design, graphic design, animation, and so forth.  There is a need for good, practical, computer graphic and art
instructional materials for homeschoolers. I hope to fill that need.

The key is to think out of the box. Look at the skills that God has uniquely gifted you with. You have something that no one else has, that can bless the world, while at the same time helping you to earn some extra money (or even eventually supporting your family).

 

blessings,

Kimberly

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.joyfulmomma.org
Check out our all new bookstore, with more exciting products to encourage your family, plus my all new ebook, "The Basics of Frugal Cooking"
www.joyfulmomma.org/bookstore