ADDICTIONS

It's Labor Day ... 3 day weekends unnerve me. I've become much more of a routine-oriented person in my old age and not being at work on a Monday morning just feels wrong somehow. It's nice to catch up on your sleep though!

Yesterday morning we had blueberry muffins and this morning corn muffins. No recipes to share as these were from mixes. Since Jeanne and I are housesitting, we don't have access to all the ingredients we'd need to make home made muffins.

Jeanne lost her job this week. We had JUST been celebrating that her store had released a list of employees ranking based on secret shopping scores, meeting daily sales quotas, credit card aps, etc. and Jeanne was ranked number 1. Within the week she'd been called into the office and told that her job was discontinued. It was "nothing personal" and mostly based on seniority. Since J was one of the last hired, she is the first to be let go. sigh. At first I thought we'd get by OK if she gets unemployment, but then I realized that she really has to kick butt and get a job NOW since this area is so seasonal. Her goal is to get back into the grocery store industry as she did so well in that field before.

But none of the above is what I had intended to blog about today. What I want to write about is addictions. I once spent a few days with friends who were going through rough times financially. They had little in the way of groceries but a refrigerator full of beer! Go figure. Our downfall is soda. No matter how poor we were this summer, we still managed to have fresh two liters of soda in the house at all times. Not as expensive as some addictions, but still troublesome.

I can't imagine what this is doing for our bodies. It's time to go cold turkey but I don't believe in giving things up, I believe in making exchanges. Instead of reaching for the coke, I'll drink sparkling water or iced tea. Oddly enough, sparkling water is more expensive than soda, especially in restaurants.

Another example of exchanges instead of sacrifice - I used to have a shopping addiction. That was my hobby and a fun way to spend weekends while raising 3 daughters. If bored, we'd pile in the car and head to the mall. When I realized that my finances were taking a downward turn, I stopped shopping at department stores and instead shopped at places like Ross and Marshalls. Then I downgraded to thrift stores and garage sales. It was fun to head out on a Saturday morning with a 10 dollar bill and see all the stuff I could find to buy with that, every bit as satisfying as department store finds. Since I'm not a packrat, this led to my holding a lot of garage sales of stuff I'd accumulated in my travels. That became an important end of the month boost to our finances for years, before the advent of ebay and craigslist.

I'm a different person now. I don't gather as much, I mostly reduce my belongings and see how little I really need to get by. I think I'll start a company - the Simplification Organization. It's time to use my years of garage sale experience to help others!

How To Make Money Without Having A Second Job

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against getting a second job and may end up going that route. On the positive side, second jobs are good for paying off your bills because they leave you no time to be out getting into trouble (a.k.a. "shopping".) But negatively, second jobs tend to sap your strength and leave your friends and family wondering what you look like these days. In my experience, most second jobs end up being retail, standing on your feet for hours and you're lucky to make more than two or three hundred a month.

I've been doing tons of research on how to increase my monthly revenue without resorting to a second job and this is what I've come up with:

1) Clipping Coupons can save you big, especially on drugs, new food items and cleaning supplies. Not to mention, restaurant coupons for two-for-one-entrees ... what's better than free food!?! Well worth buying the Sunday paper.

2) Recycling (see previous post), my suggestion is to find a place to store your garbage bags full of recycling and take them in twice a year for a payoff sizeable enough to make it worth your while. Keep a trash bag in your trunk for bottles and cans you find at work and when you are out and about.

3) Selling: on ebay, half.com and craigslist can be simple and lucrative. Everybody has extra stuff around the house taking up storage space. You need access to a computer and a digital camera, the rest is pretty easy. Garage sales can also be a great source of emergency, end-of-the-month revenue. You can make two or thee hundred bucks for a morning of work.

4) Renting out rooms. This is a wonderous source of income. You can easily make $400 or $500 a month renting out even a little tiny bedroom. It would be hard to make that much money working a second retail job. It has it's drawbacks but I've been doing it for over 25 years now (ever since my divorce,) and haven't had any major problems. Just make sure up front that your renter has reliable (and legal) sources of income.

5) Working one shot jobs ... promotions, trade shows, conventions, food demos. These usually require standing somewhere or sitting at a table, being friendly and passing out things. Call your local convention center and ask if they hire local help. Also watch the paper and craigslist for these opportunities. Once you are on an agency's list, you'll get called periodically for jobs. Doing this once in awhile can be fun and get you out of the house working on your mingling skills. You don't have to be young and cute to do these jobs (but it helps.) Even senior citizens do them.

6) Catering jobs - banquet bartending, serving, food prep. Start by getting a food handlers license (a quick, easy process) and then calling the catering companies. You'll probably need a white shirt, black pants and shoes. Frequently you get paid the day of the event in cash. Last season, my daughter made a hundred dollars at a party and all she did was wander around for four hours refilling people's water glasses.

7) Being paid to have advertising signs on your car. For years I thought this was an urban myth but there are actually jobs like that. They send you the sticky decal and instruct you where to put it on your window or will even paint your entire car. You just drive around doing your thing and get checks each month. You'll have to do a bit of digging to find these opportunities - online or in national newspapers.

8) Work from home. I once had a great data entry job working from home part time entering new food items in a database for salesmen to order from (I don't consider it a second job if you can do it at home, sitting down and on your own schedule.) It was actually kind of fun! It paid $20 an hour. I got it by knowing someone who knew someone but I can attest that these jobs actually do exist.

9) House and pet sitting. This job isn't as easy as it looks. It's almost like moving. You have to take enough clothing and toiletries to get you through the duration and leave the house intact and pets alive and as clean as you found them. But it can be very lucrative and there's a big need. People hate to kennel their pets. Check with the local kennels and pet and house sitters and find out how much they charge. Don't sell yourself short, charge a good rate. Try it at first via word of mouth. If it works for you, gather references, get bonded and make up brochures and business cards. Also, there's an agency near where I live that provides doggy day care. They also provide over night care in people's homes. They advertise that these are the homes of people who don't work and have pets for your dog to play with. This would be good secondary income for senior citizens who wouldn't even have to be all that mobile.

10) Home based businesses - Amway, Avon, Cookie Lee, Mona Vie. Some people make money at these multi-level businesses, it always cost me more than I ever made though. I'm not good at signing up my friends to work under me but there are ways around that, you can advertise or have booths at trade shows and sign people up that way. If you are a go-getter and can sell your product to your coworkers at your main job, it would be well worth a try.

11) Get a skill or provide a service. Mobile notarys can make tidy amounts. It's usually a weekend seminar to get your notary license. You can only charge $10 per signature but you can charge a fee for your travel. Dog grooming in people's home is a great service, as some dogs hate car travel. Learn to do taxes, or face painting/clowning at kiddie parties, or ... well ... the opportunities are endless.


Anybody got any more ideas?