Owner: Scratching out a living URL:http://scratching-out-a-living.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:12:08 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: One womans challenge to start her own business. Her struggle to make a living. Tips on how to save money and "make ends meet" Site statistics:Click here
Using your credit card for online purchasing 2007-11-15 00:08:00 If you shop online
then you use your credit
or debit card. With the on going problem of identity theft and credit card fraud here is a suggestion. I keep and use just one credit card for online purchases. The card has a limit of $300.00, that's it. If anyone tries to use it and go over the limit it won't hurt me that much. At one time I used my debit card but I hate the thought of someone emptying my bank account out in a few hours or less with a stolen number.If you have a credit card with a small limit then just use that one for all you online shopping. If you don't have a credit card with a small limit but do have one with a large limit, then just call the credit card company and see if they can lower your limit. That would also serve to lower your balances on your credit cards so you would not be a slave to credit card interest rates.Happy online shopping.
Me, a professional blogger? 2007-11-14 11:32:00 Let me tell you that I am making money blogging - not much money, but money none the less. I thought it might be interesting to list here how much I have made so far:Google AdSense - $13.89 (but they don't pay you until you reach $100.00)shareasale.com - $14.76 (minimum payout is $50.00)Clickbank - $28.00 (but you need to have 5 different purchases on 5 different credit cards before they pay out the first check, only 3 more to go)Paid blog entries - $58.00 and I have been paid for them already!Not bad for 2 weeks! That of course is not including the money I made from taking 3 surveys this week - $24.00, and selling a used book on Amazon for $25.00 Read more:professional
Weird news 2007-11-14 11:16:00 Have you heard about the alligator that killed the robbery suspect? It happened in Florida near one of the larger casinos there. 2 men were breaking and entering cars in the parking lot. The police were called and chased the suspects. One was caught while the other one went and jumped into a pond to swim to freedom. I guess he didn't know there was a nasty alligator in the pond that was not afraid of people. The locals called the gator "Poncho". Poncho killed the man. Florida state law says that Poncho must be destroyed. Any alligator killing a human must be killed.How ironic that an animal, doing what comes natural to them, should be destroyed! Read more:Weird
Toy safety 2007-11-14 11:08:00 With all the toy recalls going on I was thinking about making some toys to go with me to the craft fair. I have a book on stuffed teddy bears and other toys like that but I wonder if that is the type that would be in demand? I think that most of the recalls have been aimed at toddler aged children and under. That is something I will have to keep in mind for today.
Getting items ready for bazaar on Saturday 2007-11-14 02:20:00 I am just staying up late to get more items ready
for the Church bazaar/craft sale on Saturday
. I have other items that might do well at the sale. I have machine embroidered items that I have made for sale on eBay that will probably sell well. So far I have my 10 Sterling silver pieces of jewelry, my jewelry catalog for people to order from, several handcrafted necklaces, 10 embroidered children's tops, about 200 Italian photo charms, 32 photo badges, 10 embroidered dinner napkins with napkin rings, 3 custom made oak photo frames with old time photos of the old west.It is not that much yet so I will be making a few more items to fill out my inventory.
Health care for the self employed 2007-11-13 21:49:00 If you have your own business you might be lacking in a vital aspect of your life, health insurance. Even if you are between jobs, unemployed, or just found out you can no longer afford health insurance there is no reason you should be stuck with a high medical bill should you get sick. I just had major dental work done about 2 months ago and since I don't have dental insurance I had to work out a payment plan with my dentist. I pay $100.00 a month and should have the bill paid off in about 18 months. I use to have one of those health discount cards but dropped it when I got regular health insurance. I didn't realize that those cards covered dental work too. My dental bill would have only amounted to about 1/3 of the amount I am paying now. My card only cost $19.99 a month and that covered the whole family. If I plan anymore dental work I'll get one of those cards again.What I like about those types of plans is that they don't exclude people that have prior medical conditions like Read more:Health
The problems of the internet 2007-11-13 13:05:00 If you truly plan on making money on the Internet please be aware of all the problems
that go along with it. Recently a hosting company called navisite.com had their servers go off line for 9 days!!! They are host to over 160,000 websites. Link to full story. With that type of interruption in your business, website or blog, you could go broke. My honest opinion and advise is not to make the Internet your sole source of income for your business. If you make and sell something then find another way to sell it. Use the Internet as advertising and extra sales. For bloggers that make blogging their sole source of income, take note, either have your own server with your blog on it or ask your blog host what servers or server is your blog on.We all know that the Internet is a prime target for terrorists. So what will you do when the Internet gets major interruptions? Will your income go flat or your business go belly up? Something to think about.
Ebay has died..... 2007-11-13 11:17:00 ..at least for me. A few months back I had put several items on there and all of them sold, some with several bids. Then about mid September I had about 20 items at auction there and only one sold. It was a very rapid decrease in sales for me. That little bit of extra money was subsidising the unemployment check to the tune of $150.00 a week. For several weeks I continued to relist those items and nothing. I even listed a few more of what had sold previously with several bids - nothing. I had 4 sales in 1 month, not a good thing since those sales just about covered the eBay fees. Now I know why several former eBayer's like to call eBay, "FEEbay".I gave eBay a rest and that is when I decided to get back into an in person selling type business. Since I am a woman my business choice is jewelry. I guess life sometimes gives you a kick in the pants. When eBay froze over that was my kick.
Successful business people 2007-11-13 10:29:00 What is the difference between a person that has a successful business and the person who just wishes their business was successful?Many factors can come into play with that question but the most important factor is the "human" factor. Most successful business people
love to talk and socialize. That is just what you need if you are selling or marketing an item or service. Another personality trait needed is someone not afraid to take risks. Someone who is afraid of failure and is an introvert should not consider starting a business on their own. If that type of person wished to start a business than they should have a partner that could handle the marketing, sales and risk taking part of the business. Bottom line is you should be the type of person that other people like to deal with.But what if you are not the type of business person I mentioned above? Don't despair there is help. Many local colleges offer classes to help you out. Take a short course in public speaking. Enroll i
Thanksgiving - Internet style 2007-11-22 13:34:00 Occasionally I look at the major Internet
search engines to see what everyone is looking for. Most of the days show an abundance of celebrities or news items with the occasional shopping item like an iPod or other "hot" item at the time. Today I just happened to check and the majority of searches, in fact the top 50 at least were for cooking, setting tables, recipes, stores open on Thanksgiving
,
Pearls of wisdom, which ones do you believe? 2007-11-21 23:30:00 List found on the Internet - not my creation
1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
2. Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often.
3. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.
4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
5. If you must choose between two Read more:Pearls
, believe
Are you ready for some serious shopping? 2007-11-21 15:46:00 The Christmas shopping season officially begins in 2 days - are you ready
?
I am never ready for this time of year. In the past I have done kamikaze shopping on Christmas Eve. That was the easiest shopping I have ever done. I went into the local Sears and planned on getting everyone a gift card. When I went in there was a huge markdown sale going on. I got 3 Mr Coffee, coffeemakers for $5.00 each Read more:serious
Are you ready for Black Friday? 2007-11-21 01:10:00 Black Friday
or more commonly known as the day after Thanksgiving is going to be interesting this year. It is called "Black" Friday because that is typically the day when all retail stores come out of the red and into the black on profits for the year. I say that it is going to interesting because I don't think it will be as black as they hope it to be. As an example if sales are expected to be Read more:ready
, Black
, Black Friday
Tips for bloggers or how to get the elusive reader 2007-11-20 11:38:00 Elusive readers are what bloggers
strive to rein in. As a blogger I get side tracked trying to get links to my blog forgetting to write content that my readers will come back to day after day. Some of my postings I must admit are just for me, sort of therapy. Other posts I hope to share new found items of interest. For now I have found a wonderful blog for fellow bloggers to find out about HTML
Saving money at the grocery store 2007-11-19 22:31:00 I wanted to get meat for a pot roast dinner. When I looked at the prices of the roasts it about floored me. The price was $3.99 a pound. Right next to them was London Broil on sale at $1.99 a pound. At that point I figured beef was beef and bought the London Broil for the meat for the pot roast. I then went to the ground beef section to buy some ground beef for a "dirty rice" dinner. Again Read more:Saving
Something is strange about Google's PageRank 2007-11-19 09:51:00 Google's PagePank seems to be the goal of most bloggers, the higher it is the better the blog or so we are led to believe. I am finding this is not true at all. Here are my findings on the subject:
A niece of mine, a teenager, has a blog about sea life. There are about 12-14 posts on it all together. She has a friend that occasionally writes a short post but that is about it. She has had the Read more:Google
, PageRank
I am a blogger with some real life values 2007-11-18 11:08:00 I know I need to have a paying job and I am desperately looking for one. Until then I blog and sell Sterling silver jewelry part-time for whatever little money I can get. There is one thing I WILL NOT do and that is write a blog for something or a company that I do not believe in for money. Here is a list of the companies I will NOT advertise for and the reasons:
Payday loans or Cash Today or
My first and maybe my last church sale 2007-11-17 20:22:00 Well, my first holiday Church sale is over and I am only $8.00 in the hole! Just one sale the entire 7 hours I was there. I don't feel too bad since it was a learning experience. Another woman there was selling huge plush blankets and not one sold. Lots of people looking but very few buying. One lady was doing custom embroidery with a huge industrial size machine on the spot - her customers were
The Hallmark humping dog 2007-11-27 22:22:00 I take it by now you have seen the TV ad for the item pictured above. It is Hallmark
s newest action packed ornament. My daughter told me to watch the ad carefully and tell her what I thought of it. At the very end you see the dog on the sled moving in a very common movement known to owners of male dogs - the dog is humping!!! I just about died when I saw it. If this item does not become the
Charge it and I don't mean credit cards 2007-11-27 11:02:00 This Christmas like all Christmas's in the past run on batteries and batteries are not included! This year to save money in the long run, buy items that are rechargeable. Batteries over the course of a year or more can get expensive to keep replacing. Even some rechargeable batteries go bad like one of our laptops keeps doing every year. Those laptop batteries run about $100.00 or more.
If you Read more:credit
Help for cell phone owners 2007-11-26 13:20:00 Here is what we need more ways to get out of those cell phone
contracts. I have a cell phone but because of the area I live in the only company that covers it is Verizon. I wish I could get one of those pay-as-you-go type of phones but they have no coverage here. I hope tha video below can help some of my readers out.
Came up short this month 2007-11-25 17:05:00 It is almost the end of the month and I am finding that I am coming up short in the money department. I think that in my zealous efforts to get ahead of my bills I may have over paid to the point of not having enough money to pay for gas in the car. I know that I am ahead on all the bills but should I short change myself in the process? I don't want to be so far in debt that I can never hope to
Are you ready for cyber Monday? 2007-11-25 11:14:00 Cyber Monday
is tomorrow. Why do they call it cyber Monday? Very simple answer really. People have been shopping all weekend and can't find what they are looking for. On Monday they return to work and can't shop so they resort to internet shopping while at work.If you sell stuff online this is the day you have been waiting for. Make sure all of your items are available and not out of stock and Read more:ready
Finding interesting stuff online 2007-11-25 00:53:00 While looking for bargains online
I had a chance to come across one of the most popular blogs on the internet. I am not talking about Perez Hilton but a blog that is devoted to funny pictures of animals. It is called icanhascheezburger and one of the funniest is the 2 bear cubs doing judo . Now talk about doing an off the wall blog that has over 25000+ links to it and is ranked number 11 in the Read more:interesting
, stuff
Be still my heart 2007-11-23 14:14:00 I have sold my first Sterling silver necklace. This one was turquoise and silver. I made a small but nice profit. In celebration I am posting this nice video news item about a jade necklace, enjoy.
Get out of debt - NOW 2007-11-24 02:18:00 Watch the video, lots of sound advise. I only wish my in debt sister-in-law would listen to this type of advice. She is the type that keeps refinancing her house to pay her credit cards off but forgets to cut the cards up. She then runs the credit card balances straight up to the limit again and then can't pay them. She and her husband are slowly drowning in debt.
Have some fun with your blog 2007-11-23 13:48:00 I found an interesting little item to add to your blog. It is a badge type thing that shows the reading level of your blog. Here is mine for Scratching out a living:
The result is what I expected. For fun I tried out a very simple blog that I thought any idiot could read. The blog is The Gossip Hound and here is what that result was:
That result just about had me spitting out my hot coco. Go
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