Building A House
Some years ago, my husband and I moved to the country to build a house. Plots of land were going cheap near the East coast of England., and we took the plunge. We had considered many possibilities of building a house or converting an old one. We did look at a number of old, run down properties which were advertised for restoration. The problem was there was so much work to do on the roof, the wiring and plumbing, that it would have been easier to knock it down and start again.
We decided to start from scratch, and be rewarded with the exact house we wanted. It had to be a house that fitted our particular needs. I wanted an office and my husband paints, so he wanted a studio with plenty of light. He also wanted a room with a pool table but we never did manage that! Building a house is a lot of hard work, unless you have the money to pay contractors to do everything. We were on a tight budget, and fortunately my husband is very handy and he can do just about everything. He is a trained electrician and has also picked up other skills having worked on lots of construction sites.
The only practical way to accomplish this was to buy an old caravan, which we put on the land and we lived in for six months whilst building a house. It was ok in summer but the winter months were tough. One morning, we woke up to find our bedding had stuck to the caravan wall and frozen. It was desperately cold and we took it in turns to be the one to jump out of bed, and put the gas heater on and fill the kettle for tea. When you start building a house, you're exposed to the elements and it's dusty work. I remember my husband stoically laying bricks in the snow.
Work parties were frequently organized, when friends kindly volunteered to come over at weekends and lend a hand. This was in exchange for hot meals and a night down at the village pub. Laying the foundations is the most tedious and time consuming bit of building a house. Once that's achieved, you feel like you're getting somewhere. Then there's the bricklaying, plastering, putting the roof on, plumbing and painting. It all takes time and it always costs you more than you think.
At last, and within our time limit but over budget, we got our dream home and moved in. Building a house is probably the most difficult but satisfying thing we have ever done. It was a glorious day when we saw that old, clapped out caravan rolling away.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Bedding and Bath
There are a lot of things that I need to get for my home, and the ones I want to get next are the bedding and bath things that I need to replace stuff I have had for a long time. I think it’s time for something new. I love the comforter we have on our bed, but we have used it for ten years and I think it is time for something new. I spent a lot of money on it when I got it, so it’s not a miracle it is still in good shape, but I am ready for a change. The same can be said for the towels that we have in our bathroom. They are still in pretty good shape, but I want new colors.
Most of the bedding and bath supplies I see in the stores are somewhat expensive. I have learned though, that you really want to spend a lot of money on these things. There are some things you might be able to skimp on, but when you are buying things that touch your body on a regular basis, you really do want to get the best things you can. What good is a towel that scratches your body, or won’t absorb the water? You end up with sore skin. Something like a towel should be soft no matter how many times you run it through the washer, and should always feel good on your skin.
When it comes to bedding and bath stores, there are many great ones from which to choose. I personally choose not to buy this type of stuff from discount stores like Wal-Mart, but they do have some decent stuff you can get. I like to go to the stores that specialize in bedding and bath, because they have the best stuff, the biggest variety of brands, and the most colors. I didn’t care about colors matching when I was younger, but now it is something that I have to have.
You may even find that you can find what you want at larger department stores like Macy’s. I get a flyer from them each week, but I have yet to go in. I have to admit they have great stuff, and I think the problem is that they have so much that I can’t choose. Bedding and bath is something that is a bit more personal than perhaps your living room furniture, and I guess that is why I seem to have a hard time settling on one thing. When you wake up in the morning, your bed is the first thing you see, and you want to get something that starts your day off right.
Most of the bedding and bath supplies I see in the stores are somewhat expensive. I have learned though, that you really want to spend a lot of money on these things. There are some things you might be able to skimp on, but when you are buying things that touch your body on a regular basis, you really do want to get the best things you can. What good is a towel that scratches your body, or won’t absorb the water? You end up with sore skin. Something like a towel should be soft no matter how many times you run it through the washer, and should always feel good on your skin.
When it comes to bedding and bath stores, there are many great ones from which to choose. I personally choose not to buy this type of stuff from discount stores like Wal-Mart, but they do have some decent stuff you can get. I like to go to the stores that specialize in bedding and bath, because they have the best stuff, the biggest variety of brands, and the most colors. I didn’t care about colors matching when I was younger, but now it is something that I have to have.
You may even find that you can find what you want at larger department stores like Macy’s. I get a flyer from them each week, but I have yet to go in. I have to admit they have great stuff, and I think the problem is that they have so much that I can’t choose. Bedding and bath is something that is a bit more personal than perhaps your living room furniture, and I guess that is why I seem to have a hard time settling on one thing. When you wake up in the morning, your bed is the first thing you see, and you want to get something that starts your day off right.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Money And Home Making Ideas For Todays Mothers
Many moms struggle to find a way to earn some extra income and still have flexible time to devote to family. Whether you’re interested in part-time work or want to start a full-time business at home, here are ten business ideas that can fit into the busiest of schedules.
1. Virtual Assistant – Virtual Assistants provide administrative services to small businesses that don’t have in-house staff to handle these duties. A variety of tasks can be offered at an hourly rate or on a per-job basis ranging from contact database management and writing and sending business letters, to designing brochures and newsletters and coordinating mass-mailings. Realtors and small business owners make good target clients for these kinds of services.
2. Freelance Writer – Freelancers write articles for newspapers and magazines. Most articles require research, must be well-written, and suited to the style of the publication. Pay can vary widely from $.10 - $2.00 per word. Businesses also contract freelance writers to create reports, press releases, advertising copy, and other special projects.
3. Computer Tutor – Computer tutors teach students how to navigate the internet, access email, set up a new computer, and use programs like Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Quickbooks. These services can be delivered one-on-one or in classes held at local adult learning campuses, retirement centers, and churches. Tutors can charge by the hour or a fee for class registration.
4. Pet Sitter – Pet sitters provide in-home pet care while pet owners are on vacation. Typical service offerings include feeding and playing with the animals, yard or litter box cleanup, and dog walking. Pet sitters usually charge a per-visit fee.
5. Infopreneur - Infopreneurs sell information in the form of books, e-books, special reports, teleconferences, seminars, workbooks, and video programs. You can take advantage of your expertise in business, hobbies, or virtually any subject matter by hosting a website to sell your information products.
6. Ebay Trading Assistant – Trading assistants provide a service to members of their community by acting as sales brokers on eBay. These brokers contract with clients to list items for sale, collect fees from buyers, ship the items and then keep a percentage of the profits—usually between 30-50%. This is an excellent service to offer people who are not computer savvy yet have items they would like to sell online. EBay offers a complimentary directory where trading assistants can promote their services.
7. Knitted Creations – Knitting is a hot trend with plenty of opportunities for generating income. If you create hand-crafted scarves, blankets, sweaters or hats, you can sell them on eBay, consign them with local boutiques or set up a booth at a local crafts fair. You could also teach knitting classes in your home, through local adult learning centers, or at craft stores.
8. Kid Taxi – If you’re already taking your own kids to and from school, why not get paid to taxi other people’s kids? Many parents would be happy to spend some cash to make sure their kids get to and from school safely.
9. Resume Designer – Resume designers help job seekers by crafting professional resumes and cover letters. Resumes can be created using special software or with templates and a basic word processing program. This service is in demand with college students and all kinds of job seekers. Fees range from $50 - $250 depending on the level of work involved.
10. Custom Recipe Books – Every family has sacred and favorite recipes that deserve to be preserved for future generations. Creating a custom recipe book involves compiling recipes in a keepsake book using a word processing program and your creative skills. These books make great gifts and could potentially be ordered by everyone in the family tree. Books can be printed at a local copy shop or through an online publishing service such as www.lulu.com.
If you decide to start your own business, contact your county business license department and apply for the necessary permits. Fees range from $50 to $200 and the application process is relatively simple. There can be many tax advantages with a home-based business so be sure to save receipts, track any business-related mileage, and develop a solid system for accounting. Soon you could find yourself enjoying the financial and emotional rewards of business ownership—all on your own terms.
1. Virtual Assistant – Virtual Assistants provide administrative services to small businesses that don’t have in-house staff to handle these duties. A variety of tasks can be offered at an hourly rate or on a per-job basis ranging from contact database management and writing and sending business letters, to designing brochures and newsletters and coordinating mass-mailings. Realtors and small business owners make good target clients for these kinds of services.
2. Freelance Writer – Freelancers write articles for newspapers and magazines. Most articles require research, must be well-written, and suited to the style of the publication. Pay can vary widely from $.10 - $2.00 per word. Businesses also contract freelance writers to create reports, press releases, advertising copy, and other special projects.
3. Computer Tutor – Computer tutors teach students how to navigate the internet, access email, set up a new computer, and use programs like Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Quickbooks. These services can be delivered one-on-one or in classes held at local adult learning campuses, retirement centers, and churches. Tutors can charge by the hour or a fee for class registration.
4. Pet Sitter – Pet sitters provide in-home pet care while pet owners are on vacation. Typical service offerings include feeding and playing with the animals, yard or litter box cleanup, and dog walking. Pet sitters usually charge a per-visit fee.
5. Infopreneur - Infopreneurs sell information in the form of books, e-books, special reports, teleconferences, seminars, workbooks, and video programs. You can take advantage of your expertise in business, hobbies, or virtually any subject matter by hosting a website to sell your information products.
6. Ebay Trading Assistant – Trading assistants provide a service to members of their community by acting as sales brokers on eBay. These brokers contract with clients to list items for sale, collect fees from buyers, ship the items and then keep a percentage of the profits—usually between 30-50%. This is an excellent service to offer people who are not computer savvy yet have items they would like to sell online. EBay offers a complimentary directory where trading assistants can promote their services.
7. Knitted Creations – Knitting is a hot trend with plenty of opportunities for generating income. If you create hand-crafted scarves, blankets, sweaters or hats, you can sell them on eBay, consign them with local boutiques or set up a booth at a local crafts fair. You could also teach knitting classes in your home, through local adult learning centers, or at craft stores.
8. Kid Taxi – If you’re already taking your own kids to and from school, why not get paid to taxi other people’s kids? Many parents would be happy to spend some cash to make sure their kids get to and from school safely.
9. Resume Designer – Resume designers help job seekers by crafting professional resumes and cover letters. Resumes can be created using special software or with templates and a basic word processing program. This service is in demand with college students and all kinds of job seekers. Fees range from $50 - $250 depending on the level of work involved.
10. Custom Recipe Books – Every family has sacred and favorite recipes that deserve to be preserved for future generations. Creating a custom recipe book involves compiling recipes in a keepsake book using a word processing program and your creative skills. These books make great gifts and could potentially be ordered by everyone in the family tree. Books can be printed at a local copy shop or through an online publishing service such as www.lulu.com.
If you decide to start your own business, contact your county business license department and apply for the necessary permits. Fees range from $50 to $200 and the application process is relatively simple. There can be many tax advantages with a home-based business so be sure to save receipts, track any business-related mileage, and develop a solid system for accounting. Soon you could find yourself enjoying the financial and emotional rewards of business ownership—all on your own terms.
Home Making By Money Saving Through Internet
There are more ways to make money on the Internet than Carter has liver pills. Some methods will make you more money than others, but obviously will take more work. What follows is an objective look at the very many ways to make money online without using the "this is good or bad" approach. Everyone is different. One person's perfect Internet marketing or money making business is another person's nightmare. But the results of each are going to fall within certain parameters, and nothing you do is going to change those parameters much. In other words, you're not going to make a six figure income out of something that on average only has a potential of earning you a few hundred dollars a month at best. That doesn't mean that the 6 figure potential of a certain business will make you anything at all.
So let's start off with that much.
Unless you are working a JOB where you get either a salary, hourly rate pay or pay per assignment, you have NO guarantee of making even one DIME on the Internet. Any site that promises you an income UNLESS it is for doing a job, is lying to you. There are NO guarantees as far as making money online.
So what are the various ways to make money on the Internet? What you will find listed below are in no special order. They are just in the order of how they popped into my head as there is a lot out there.
1. Paid To Read Emails or Other Paid To Read Programs - Let's get these out of the way. This is where a company pays you a certain amount per email or ad read. Every company has different pay rates. Some are pennies per email read. Others are hundreds of dollars per email read. As I said, I am not going to knock any program here but you need to use a little common sense when it comes to these. Who is going to pay you hundreds of dollars for reading an email? Read the fine print of the contract. You will see in most cases there is a catch. If you want the whole scoop in the Paid To Read thing, there are plenty of threads on the Internet. You will find that many of these programs either shut themselves down or were shut down because they didn't pay. However, if you find a program like this that is legit, your earning potential is about a couple hundred dollars a month, if you include recruiting into the mix, which you can do. You will never get rich off of Paid To Read programs.
2. Survey Sites - These are sites that send you surveys which you take. If you qualify for the survey you can earn as much as $25 to $50 for one survey. Most surveys though are for points and discounts. If you spent a whole day doing these it is conceivable that you can make a few hundred dollars a month doing these. You won't ever get rich from them. Also, never pay for a list of sites that give surveys. This info is available for free.
3. Randomizers - These are programs where you join, pay your fee, whatever it is and then every time somebody joins a random payment is made to one of its members. One thing you need to be careful of these. PayPal is cracking down on them because they violate their TOS. So if a randomizer uses PayPal as a payment source you may want to think twice about joining. You can lose your PayPal account. Unless you do an awful amount of promoting for these things and get your own members, you potential monthly income is about $20 a month. Randomizers are pretty much dropping like flies so you won't run into as many of these as you did a year or so ago.
4. Doublers - This is where you put in say, $20 on January 1 and in 90 days, or whatever the term is, you get $40 back. You've doubled your money. These are also not as common as years ago but they are still around. The problem with these sites is that they are also against TOS of PayPal and other payment processors. However, if you get into one of these early and put in a lot of money, you can make a bundle real fast. But you are taking a gamble because all of these eventually fold up because the structure can't support itself. Think about it. If you keep doubling your money every 90 days and never take it out you have this progression.
20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10,240, 20,480, 40,960, 81,920...etc...
Eventually after a few years they end up having to pay you millions of dollars. Unfortunately, none of these doublers have lasted that long. So be careful with these.
5. Paid Typing Companies - These actually fall into 2 types. The real paid typing companies where you have to actually have typing skills to get a job and the ones that are nothing more than typing ads on the Internet and getting paid if people buy things. You can actually make a lot of money doing this, if you use the standard Google Adwords as your advertising medium. Your average person, with a limited budget, only makes about 2 or 3 hundred dollars a month. You do have to pay for Google Ads. They're not free. The legit typing companies will pay a standard wage for the work you do, whatever the market will bare at the time. Never pay to get one of these jobs.
6. Selling Advertising - This is actually a very big thing on the Internet. This is where you work for a company that sells people advertising packages or programs that they claim will effectively promote your business. This is another one of those things where you have to use a little common sense. If these advertising methods are so good, why is everybody using them to promote the company itself and try to get people to buy the advertising package or the tools themselves? Why doesn't ANYBODY use these tools to promote their OWN business? I'm going to let you answer that question for yourself. Like I said, I'm not going to knock anything in this review. The earning potential with these can be quite great depending on how much the packages sell for. Some are very cheap, a few hundred dollars, and some are very expensive, in the thousands. If you're going to promote one of these, think about how easy or hard you think it's going to be for you to get somebody to spend $3,000 on an advertising program.
7. MLM - Stands for Multi Level Marketing. These are programs where you get people to sign up and hope that they do the same. Some of these programs can be 10 or more levels deep. You need to be careful with these. The ones that have no product or service and are simply pyramids are illegal and will eventually get shut down. What most of these companies do is include things like ebooks, auto responders, etc. so that they give the appearance of being legit. Some actually are. Most of the stuff given away by these are worthless. It's hard to know what has value and what doesn't unless you're a seasoned marketer. Earning potential with these programs can literally be millions of dollars a year. But 95% of all people who join these fail. That is a statistical fact. You can look it up. The 5% who have some success range in income from a few hundred dollars a month to $10,000 or more. Only about 1% make more than $10,000 per month. Plus, the expense of some of these programs can be quite large. MLM programs have been the cause of many a family ending up in bankruptcy. So please be cautious with these.
8. Freelance Writing - This falls kind of in the job category as you get paid for the work you do. The problem with this is that it's hard to find these jobs and they don't pay much. If you worked 8 hours a day doing this you'll probably make about $2500 a month. Most people do this in their spare time and maybe make a couple hundred dollars monthly. The trick is finding companies that offer this service or people who will pay you to write for them.
9. Internet Researcher - This is very similar to freelance writing and also very hard to find these jobs. The pay varies greatly depending on the job itself. If you can do this full time, you'll make a little bit more than a freelance writer since research requires a lot more work. You're looking at about $3500 a month for 8 hours a day. But this is a tough gig and not easy to find.
10. Mystery Shopping - Actually, this isn't really an Internet based job. You need to have a car and be able to travel to where they send you. Depending on where you live you can either get a ton of jobs or very few. Geography plays a big role in this. This is something that you can make about $1000 a month doing if you did it full time and got that much work, but most people make a couple hundred bucks a month at most. With the rising gas prices this isn't as attractive as it used to be.
11. HYIP - Stands for High Yield Investment Program. 99% of these are illegal and the feds are cracking down on them. The list of HYIPs that have fallen is a mile long, including the big fiasco with 12 Daily Pro. Yes, if you get in early, you can make an amazing amount of money with these if you put in a lot. Even if they do pay 12%, 12% on $20 isn't going to pay you much money. To earn big you must invest big. If you can afford the risk of losing all your money, which many people have done, then you may want to go in for a quick killing on one of these. The earning potential is unlimited.
12. Selling Other People's Products - This is called affiliate marketing and can actually be very lucrative if you put in the time to promote. Ad expenses can chew you up and if you pick products that nobody is interested in you can end up making very little. Clickbank is one of the biggest companies offering this service. It is best to do a lot of research on a product before you decide to try selling it. Because there are so many existing products out there to choose from, this process can take a long time. The earning potential here is unlimited if you have the resources. But again, just like with MLM, 95% of affiliate marketers don't make any money because they don't advertise properly. The other 5% earn anywhere from a few hundred dollars a month to $10,000 a month or more.
13. Creating Your Own Business - This is where you make your own ebook, or start your own service, or maybe even create a product and sell it. The potential with your own business is unlimited depending on what you're selling. When I say your own business, I don't mean to join one of these sites that say "We'll give you your own business." These are just cookie cutter sites that thousands of other people have. And there is nothing wrong with them. But you will be limited to what you can do with them as most have pretty fixed sales templates. Some are better than others. So do your homework on them if you don't want to build a product and website from scratch.
14. Everything Else - The above list is by no means exhaustive. There are a number of odd ways to make money on the Internet that don't quite fit into one of the above. But if you examine them closely, you will see that they have similarities to one or more of the above items. Take these on a case by case basis. If it seems like something unique, then ask a lot of questions about it before diving in. Make sure you understand every aspect about what you're getting into before giving your credit card number. Most Internet "opportunities" have money back guarantees. Some don't, as I have painfully found out. While we want to believe the best in everyone, there are crooks out there. There are people who simply want to take our money, and will do whatever they can to get it from us.
I hope the above helps. If you ever have a question about any particular business that doesn't quite fall into one of the above, feel free to send me an email with the link to the site. I'll be happy to check it out.
So let's start off with that much.
Unless you are working a JOB where you get either a salary, hourly rate pay or pay per assignment, you have NO guarantee of making even one DIME on the Internet. Any site that promises you an income UNLESS it is for doing a job, is lying to you. There are NO guarantees as far as making money online.
So what are the various ways to make money on the Internet? What you will find listed below are in no special order. They are just in the order of how they popped into my head as there is a lot out there.
1. Paid To Read Emails or Other Paid To Read Programs - Let's get these out of the way. This is where a company pays you a certain amount per email or ad read. Every company has different pay rates. Some are pennies per email read. Others are hundreds of dollars per email read. As I said, I am not going to knock any program here but you need to use a little common sense when it comes to these. Who is going to pay you hundreds of dollars for reading an email? Read the fine print of the contract. You will see in most cases there is a catch. If you want the whole scoop in the Paid To Read thing, there are plenty of threads on the Internet. You will find that many of these programs either shut themselves down or were shut down because they didn't pay. However, if you find a program like this that is legit, your earning potential is about a couple hundred dollars a month, if you include recruiting into the mix, which you can do. You will never get rich off of Paid To Read programs.
2. Survey Sites - These are sites that send you surveys which you take. If you qualify for the survey you can earn as much as $25 to $50 for one survey. Most surveys though are for points and discounts. If you spent a whole day doing these it is conceivable that you can make a few hundred dollars a month doing these. You won't ever get rich from them. Also, never pay for a list of sites that give surveys. This info is available for free.
3. Randomizers - These are programs where you join, pay your fee, whatever it is and then every time somebody joins a random payment is made to one of its members. One thing you need to be careful of these. PayPal is cracking down on them because they violate their TOS. So if a randomizer uses PayPal as a payment source you may want to think twice about joining. You can lose your PayPal account. Unless you do an awful amount of promoting for these things and get your own members, you potential monthly income is about $20 a month. Randomizers are pretty much dropping like flies so you won't run into as many of these as you did a year or so ago.
4. Doublers - This is where you put in say, $20 on January 1 and in 90 days, or whatever the term is, you get $40 back. You've doubled your money. These are also not as common as years ago but they are still around. The problem with these sites is that they are also against TOS of PayPal and other payment processors. However, if you get into one of these early and put in a lot of money, you can make a bundle real fast. But you are taking a gamble because all of these eventually fold up because the structure can't support itself. Think about it. If you keep doubling your money every 90 days and never take it out you have this progression.
20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10,240, 20,480, 40,960, 81,920...etc...
Eventually after a few years they end up having to pay you millions of dollars. Unfortunately, none of these doublers have lasted that long. So be careful with these.
5. Paid Typing Companies - These actually fall into 2 types. The real paid typing companies where you have to actually have typing skills to get a job and the ones that are nothing more than typing ads on the Internet and getting paid if people buy things. You can actually make a lot of money doing this, if you use the standard Google Adwords as your advertising medium. Your average person, with a limited budget, only makes about 2 or 3 hundred dollars a month. You do have to pay for Google Ads. They're not free. The legit typing companies will pay a standard wage for the work you do, whatever the market will bare at the time. Never pay to get one of these jobs.
6. Selling Advertising - This is actually a very big thing on the Internet. This is where you work for a company that sells people advertising packages or programs that they claim will effectively promote your business. This is another one of those things where you have to use a little common sense. If these advertising methods are so good, why is everybody using them to promote the company itself and try to get people to buy the advertising package or the tools themselves? Why doesn't ANYBODY use these tools to promote their OWN business? I'm going to let you answer that question for yourself. Like I said, I'm not going to knock anything in this review. The earning potential with these can be quite great depending on how much the packages sell for. Some are very cheap, a few hundred dollars, and some are very expensive, in the thousands. If you're going to promote one of these, think about how easy or hard you think it's going to be for you to get somebody to spend $3,000 on an advertising program.
7. MLM - Stands for Multi Level Marketing. These are programs where you get people to sign up and hope that they do the same. Some of these programs can be 10 or more levels deep. You need to be careful with these. The ones that have no product or service and are simply pyramids are illegal and will eventually get shut down. What most of these companies do is include things like ebooks, auto responders, etc. so that they give the appearance of being legit. Some actually are. Most of the stuff given away by these are worthless. It's hard to know what has value and what doesn't unless you're a seasoned marketer. Earning potential with these programs can literally be millions of dollars a year. But 95% of all people who join these fail. That is a statistical fact. You can look it up. The 5% who have some success range in income from a few hundred dollars a month to $10,000 or more. Only about 1% make more than $10,000 per month. Plus, the expense of some of these programs can be quite large. MLM programs have been the cause of many a family ending up in bankruptcy. So please be cautious with these.
8. Freelance Writing - This falls kind of in the job category as you get paid for the work you do. The problem with this is that it's hard to find these jobs and they don't pay much. If you worked 8 hours a day doing this you'll probably make about $2500 a month. Most people do this in their spare time and maybe make a couple hundred dollars monthly. The trick is finding companies that offer this service or people who will pay you to write for them.
9. Internet Researcher - This is very similar to freelance writing and also very hard to find these jobs. The pay varies greatly depending on the job itself. If you can do this full time, you'll make a little bit more than a freelance writer since research requires a lot more work. You're looking at about $3500 a month for 8 hours a day. But this is a tough gig and not easy to find.
10. Mystery Shopping - Actually, this isn't really an Internet based job. You need to have a car and be able to travel to where they send you. Depending on where you live you can either get a ton of jobs or very few. Geography plays a big role in this. This is something that you can make about $1000 a month doing if you did it full time and got that much work, but most people make a couple hundred bucks a month at most. With the rising gas prices this isn't as attractive as it used to be.
11. HYIP - Stands for High Yield Investment Program. 99% of these are illegal and the feds are cracking down on them. The list of HYIPs that have fallen is a mile long, including the big fiasco with 12 Daily Pro. Yes, if you get in early, you can make an amazing amount of money with these if you put in a lot. Even if they do pay 12%, 12% on $20 isn't going to pay you much money. To earn big you must invest big. If you can afford the risk of losing all your money, which many people have done, then you may want to go in for a quick killing on one of these. The earning potential is unlimited.
12. Selling Other People's Products - This is called affiliate marketing and can actually be very lucrative if you put in the time to promote. Ad expenses can chew you up and if you pick products that nobody is interested in you can end up making very little. Clickbank is one of the biggest companies offering this service. It is best to do a lot of research on a product before you decide to try selling it. Because there are so many existing products out there to choose from, this process can take a long time. The earning potential here is unlimited if you have the resources. But again, just like with MLM, 95% of affiliate marketers don't make any money because they don't advertise properly. The other 5% earn anywhere from a few hundred dollars a month to $10,000 a month or more.
13. Creating Your Own Business - This is where you make your own ebook, or start your own service, or maybe even create a product and sell it. The potential with your own business is unlimited depending on what you're selling. When I say your own business, I don't mean to join one of these sites that say "We'll give you your own business." These are just cookie cutter sites that thousands of other people have. And there is nothing wrong with them. But you will be limited to what you can do with them as most have pretty fixed sales templates. Some are better than others. So do your homework on them if you don't want to build a product and website from scratch.
14. Everything Else - The above list is by no means exhaustive. There are a number of odd ways to make money on the Internet that don't quite fit into one of the above. But if you examine them closely, you will see that they have similarities to one or more of the above items. Take these on a case by case basis. If it seems like something unique, then ask a lot of questions about it before diving in. Make sure you understand every aspect about what you're getting into before giving your credit card number. Most Internet "opportunities" have money back guarantees. Some don't, as I have painfully found out. While we want to believe the best in everyone, there are crooks out there. There are people who simply want to take our money, and will do whatever they can to get it from us.
I hope the above helps. If you ever have a question about any particular business that doesn't quite fall into one of the above, feel free to send me an email with the link to the site. I'll be happy to check it out.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Home with Cottage
There are many ways to make your children feel like Lord or Lady of their own personal manor, not least of them being the inclusion of a custom theme bed in their bedroom designed to look like the estate of their richest imaginings.
A Tudor style Cottage theme bed, for example, with cherry-wood style walls and a quaint Dutch door is one idea. A Victorian style theme bed is another possibility, with an arched doorway and big bay windows with a built-in window seat.
Or how about a Versailles castle bed, a variation on the standard princess castle bed, combining the best elements of both the princess castle theme and the manor/estate theme. Here the built-in storage units are decorated to match the elegant antique style of furnishing such an elegant home. And the addition of brass hardware helps complete the authenticity of the theme.
It's the little touches that make some of the biggest differences, when it comes to custom theme beds that mimic the homes of the rich and famous. Windows and doors that open and shut, for example, let your little peek out (and into) their own special world. Ornate moldings and borders are also an easy way to add big style to the unit.
Most mansions are at least two stories, and there's no reason your child's custom theme cottage, mansion, or other house-themed bed can't be the same. There are enough functional uses for both levels - sleeping, play space, study space, storage space, etc. - to merit a second level to the structure. And having a two-story custom theme bed in this design allows for a fancy staircase with a stylish handrail to be included.
The rest of the room surrounding the bed can then be decorated to look like the property on which the home-bed is built. Be it a cottage in the woods, an estate in a meadow, or a mansion in an affluent neighborhood, you can easily add murals and accessories that emulate trees, shrubbery, sidewalks, even neighbors - thereby transforming the act of decorating your child's bedroom into a fun indoor variation on landscaping.
You can also have custom curtains, bedding, throw pillows, canopies, area rugs, and other accoutrements designed to blend in with overall theme.
Be it a quaint cottage, an exotic mansion, or a sweeping estate, you can easily and affordably transform any ordinary bed into any number of miniaturized home-style themes, all of which would invariably make any child feel like a million bucks.
Make your dream Home
Dream – the word is very close to us. Many of us dream of making a castle like abode and being a proud homeowner. But, it is not everyone’s cup of tea, as money is the mandatory to fulfill it. Now, the time has come make your dream home your next destination. Now home loans are available with which any UK borrower can set his dream in the world of reality.
These days, home loans are easily available in the UK. Generally, in the UK home loans are offered at various rate options, like home loans at fixed rate, home loans at adjustable rate and balloon rate home loans. So, it is required for all the borrowers in the UK to know about these various rate options before applying for a home loan.
Fixed rate home loans: Fixed rate home loans are commonly used in the UK. As the name refers, the interest rate of fixed rate home loan is fixed and constant. It means a UK borrower has to pay same rate of interest during the repayment period. Mainly such kinds of loans are protective from any change. It means if the rate of interest suddenly hikes up in the market, then it can not affect the fixed rate.
Adjustable rate home loans: In this option, the interest rate and the monthly payment become low at the beginning. But the rate of interest in this option can change during the loan period. The interest rate may increase or decrease. And a UK borrower has to make the payment in accordance with the changed interest rate.
On the other hand, in balloon rate of home loan the repayment period is decided for 30 years. Normally, two types of balloon rate of home loans are available in the UK loan market- 7/23and 5/25. In this option, a borrower in the UK can pay off the entire amount 5 or 7 years or he also can rearrange the entire home loan. Here 7 and 5 are indicating the period before the date of balloon maturity and 23 and 25 are indicating the rest of the term.
At the same time, a borrower should keep in his mind that there may be some extra fees and charges associated with his loan. These fees could be closing costs, agent fees etc. So, at the time of availing loan, a borrower should be sure that which portion of the cost he is borrowing and which portion he is paying as extra fees.
Easy availability of home loan has made it famous in the UK. But at the same time, to get the best deal a bit research is required. Always compare various loan quotes before opting for a good deal. Such kind of comparison will ensure the UK borrower to get the best deal.
Home loan- it is an exclusive opportunity for all the UK borrowers to make their dream home their next destination. With this offer a UK borrower can easily be a homeowner without facing any hassle.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Home Making By Way Of Better Money Policing
Many people would like to find a way to supplement their income by making money online, but are not sure how to go about it. Here is my work at home review of one way to make some extra cash from home.
The method I want to discuss today is taking paid surveys. There are numerous companies online that will pay for your opinion. Why do they do that? Because companies pay them in order to have access to you and your opinion. It is less costly to companies to pay for consumer opinions prior to launching a new product than to put it on the market only to find that consumers do not like it or it does not meet their needs.
How do you tell them your opinion? You do so by taking surveys. These surveys may be about anything from shampoo to pet foot to being asked to rate the service received last time you were at your local hospital’s emergency room .
When you first sign up with a survey site, you will fill out a profile survey where you will be asked many question so that the company will know what types of surveys to send you. For example, if you have a dog, they will know to send you surveys from any of the companies they work with that want consumer opinions about dog related products such as dog food or flee control.
How many surveys you get will depend on how many companies the survey site has working with them that need opinions about topics that you are qualified to give an opinion on. If you don’t have children, they will not send you a survey about disposable diapers for instance. Usually the longer the survey and the more time it takes to complete it the more it pays. You will be notified by email when a new survey is available for you to complete.
If one survey site does not send enough surveys for you to make the income you need, you can sign up for several different sites. Various sites have various dollar amounts that you must reach in order to get paid and they also vary in their method of payment. Some may pay with paypal while other pay with checks. Still others may pay with gift certificates to well known stores. Some surveys sites will only allow consumers from the USA while other may accept those outside the USA. Be sure that you read each sites Terms of Service and FAQs so that you understand how the site operates.
While you won’t become a millionaire doing online surveys, you definitely can make some extra cash from home. It’s a great way to offer your opinion and influence product development for different companies while improving your bank balance.
Refinancing Solution For Home Making
The kitchen that looks like it came straight out of a 1960s magazine; The front porch that is slowly pulling away from the house; the garage door that closes - 50% of the time. As a homeowner you know that as the years go by you will need to make changes and improvements to your home to keep up its value and its function. Often, some of these improvements can be costly - the average kitchen remodel nowadays costs over $15,000! However, the smart homeowner knows that by investing in these improvements now they are not only raising the value of their home should they decide to resell, but they are also adding value to their satisfaction of living in the house.
Refinancing has become a popular way to fund home improvements over the years by paying off your current mortgage and taking out a new mortgage, often at a lower interest rate, while taking some of the equity you have built up in the home and using it for repairs and improvements. Many people find that they can get a double benefit from this: they not only get the improvements they so desperately want in their home, but they can usually also get a significant reduction in the interest rate they are paying on their mortgage. In fact, for some homeowners, they find that they can pay back the costs of the improvements they make through the interest rate reduction alone!
Some people are naturally nervous at taking away money from their equity they have built up in their home.
They may wonder if refinancing is something that they should even be considering at all. Refinancing is common practice in the mortgage industry, and in fact most homeowners will go through at least one refinance in their lifetime. From a financial perspective, it just makes sense! Your biggest asset in your life is no doubt your house - and that means one of your biggest sources of available cash in through your house.
If you are planning a major home improvement you may find that you can significantly raise the value of your home by refinancing now to pay for those improvements. For example, say you decide to redo your kitchen and build a back deck and patio onto your house. You refinance your mortgage and use $30,000 from the refinance to fund the improvements. After you are finished, your $100,000 house is now worth over $150,000 in value because of your improvements. You spent $30,000 of your equity to get a house now worth $150,000 that you only paid $100,000 for! Talk about a smart financial move!
If you have questions about how refinancing works, talk to your mortgage lender. He or she can tell you about all the options available to you. Also, go online and look around at other mortgage lenders. You'll find the marketplace is competitive which means that consumers win in the end. You can often come out far ahead by putting two mortgage lenders head-to-head to compete for your business and save even more!
So get ready to tear out that outdated kitchen, update those bathrooms and add the library you always wanted to your house. A home refinance loan could very well be the answer to getting the remodel of your dreams!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Solutions For Improvement In Home Making
The kitchen that looks like it came straight out of a 1960s magazine; The front porch that is slowly pulling away from the house; the garage door that closes - 50% of the time. As a homeowner you know that as the years go by you will need to make changes and improvements to your home to keep up its value and its function. Often, some of these improvements can be costly - the average kitchen remodel nowadays costs over $15,000! However, the smart homeowner knows that by investing in these improvements now they are not only raising the value of their home should they decide to resell, but they are also adding value to their satisfaction of living in the house.
Refinancing has become a popular way to fund home improvements over the years by paying off your current mortgage and taking out a new mortgage, often at a lower interest rate, while taking some of the equity you have built up in the home and using it for repairs and improvements. Many people find that they can get a double benefit from this: they not only get the improvements they so desperately want in their home, but they can usually also get a significant reduction in the interest rate they are paying on their mortgage. In fact, for some homeowners, they find that they can pay back the costs of the improvements they make through the interest rate reduction alone!
Some people are naturally nervous at taking away money from their equity they have built up in their home.
They may wonder if refinancing is something that they should even be considering at all. Refinancing is common practice in the mortgage industry, and in fact most homeowners will go through at least one refinance in their lifetime. From a financial perspective, it just makes sense! Your biggest asset in your life is no doubt your house - and that means one of your biggest sources of available cash in through your house.
If you are planning a major home improvement you may find that you can significantly raise the value of your home by refinancing now to pay for those improvements. For example, say you decide to redo your kitchen and build a back deck and patio onto your house. You refinance your mortgage and use $30,000 from the refinance to fund the improvements. After you are finished, your $100,000 house is now worth over $150,000 in value because of your improvements. You spent $30,000 of your equity to get a house now worth $150,000 that you only paid $100,000 for! Talk about a smart financial move!
If you have questions about how refinancing works, talk to your mortgage lender. He or she can tell you about all the options available to you. Also, go online and look around at other mortgage lenders. You'll find the marketplace is competitive which means that consumers win in the end. You can often come out far ahead by putting two mortgage lenders head-to-head to compete for your business and save even more!
So get ready to tear out that outdated kitchen, update those bathrooms and add the library you always wanted to your house. A home refinance loan could very well be the answer to getting the remodel of your dreams!
Easy And Economical Home Making
When you think of retro decorating do you imagine avocado kitchen appliances and shag carpeting? Think again! The 60s and 70s have made a comeback in retro decorating and this fun style is better than ever. To get the retro look right, don't just choose a traditionally precise duplication, instead go for a truly contemporary twist - be retro motivated!
If you have a limited decorating budget you can integrate the 60s or 70s style into your home with the following economical tips:
Fabric - Look for bright colors and patterns, such as plaid or paisley. Mixing patterns is acceptable, but be careful not to go overboard or your room could feel chaotic. By simply tossing a few pillows on your sofa or adding a few area rugs for splashes of color will result in a quick, easy retro look to any room.
Furniture - Bean bag chairs are always a popular retro option as well as plastic tables and chairs. Inflatable chairs are also making a comeback.
Accessories - These should be fun and enjoyable. Lava lamps, a rotary phone or record albums are wonderful accents in a retro room. Framing rock posters from 60s and 70s bands add a special retro look to any room.
A great way to shop for retro décor and furniture is online, in charity shops and rummage sales -- or just look through your basement or attic. You could discover some really unique retro decorating items at a great price! But if you can't find appropriate family heirlooms, there are lots of retro-inspired items in stores today.
A fantastic color to use in any retro decorating design is brown. Any shade of brown which appeals to you and goes really well in your room is a good choice for retro decorating.
Using pale colors for a small room and deep colors for bigger rooms is a general decorating rule. However, if you are after an impressive 60s or 70s look, a warm chocolate brown is a wonderful retro shade of color to use in any room!
To help keep your home organized, download a free copy of the ebook "The Essential Guide to Organizing Your Home". Download it free here: Organizing Tips.
Lynn Cressy has a love for decorating and shopping for home decor. She owns a home decor web site and writes articles on home decorating and organizing your home and your life.
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