Manager meeting

We are having a managers' meeting at work today, which means I have to go in two hours early. The meeting probably won't last very long, but I have to drive almost 30 minutes to get to work, so there's no way I'm coming back home again, then going back to work at 5.

I love being in the country, but one of the disadvantages is not being in close proximity to my work and shopping. Still, I feel the trade-off is worth it for now. I'm not sure I'd make a good city dweller!

The distance to my job and shopping, though, is just one of the reasons I want to create income from home. I'd like to know I can pay all my bills and live comfortably without having to leave my house for hours every day, have certain clothes only for my job, and use the gas in my car for traveling back and forth to work.

Right now, I'm spending about $30 a week for gas. The way I look at it, I'm actually reducing my work income by $120 a month because of that. Add to that the wear and tear on my car and additional maintenance because of all the miles driven, and the cost of driving to work and back goes up to an estimated $200 per month. (I'm averaging the more frequent oil changes and tire replacement that accrue over a year's time.) Some of that money would be spent anyway for normal activities, but it would be far less.

I'm also doing laundry more often because I need to keep my work clothes clean. Of course, I'd do laundry but it wouldn't be as often so I wouldn't be spending as much on detergent, water, and electricity. If I worked from home, I could reduce my laundry expenses by about half. I estimate that now, I'm spending $15 a month on laundry detergents, and I'm using about $20 a month in additional utilities.

Since I only wear skirts to work, I'm having to make sure I have pantyhose or tights in good condition. Those are purchases I wouldn't have to make as often if I were only working from home. Tights can cost up to $9 a pair, unless I find them on sale. Pantyhose can cost up to $5 a pair since I wear support hose at work. I replace a few pairs a month because of runs. Before, I only bought hose or tights a few times a year! So, the hose/tights cost me around $20 a month.

The shoes I wear to work cost me about $25 a pair. I wouldn't buy them at all if not for working! I would only buy shoes I like that are on sale, and those only a couple of times a year. Because I'm on my feet through my whole shift, my work shoes wear out and become uncomfortable in a couple of months. Some there claim to wear theirs for a year, but their shoes are cracked on the sole and on the upper, and the inner support is shot, so they're actually wearing them far beyond their usefulness.

So, today, I'm having to cut my home time short because of a managers' meeting. I already feel I don't have enough time at home to accomplish the things I need to!

Selling your passion

You already know that I sell books and curriculum online. Books really are my passion when it comes to owning them or generating income with them. That's what makes it so easy for me.

Your passion may be other things - antiques, jewelry, clothes, or even tech items or automotive accessories. Whatever it is, then that's the thing you'll have the most success selling. See, your passion comes through when you write your descriptions of the items. People can read more than a dry description. They can read some of your excitement about what you're selling.

A good description that's fattened up with your excitement always leads to more sales.

Up and down weather

I'm visiting my Mom while my Sis is in the hospital. I have to tell you, the weather has been just crazy the past couple of days, though. When I got here, it was breezy and cool. Then, it turned icy and cold. We even had freezing rain.

Today, though, it has warmed up enough to melt the ice and make the yard muddy. I thought I was going to need thigh high boots just to take my Sis' dog for a walk! By the end of the weekend, there are supposed to be more storms and rain, so I might need to have a canoe then!

Coin collecting?

Some of you may be able to make a decent side income by delving into rare coin collecting. Naturally, you'll want to make sure what you are buying really are rare coins and not knock-offs or valueless coins. It's best to do some research and enlist the help of experts, such as those at Monaco Rare Coin, to help you buy and sell the coins that will net you the most profit.

Being able to recognize valuable rare coins takes time and education. And, knowing the value for resale takes the same time and education as buying them in the first place.

You might want to be involved in the trade organizations such as the Professional Numismatic Guild, the American Numismatic Association, the Professional Coin Grading Service, the Numismatic Guarantee Corporation of America, or The National Silver Dollar Round Table, just as the experts at Monaco are. These organizations focus strictly on collectible and valuable coins that you may want included in your portfolio.

Give back my pen!

One of the things that really bugs me at work is how people think it's ok to borrow my pen or pencil and just go home with it. I paid for my writing instruments, and I'd like them returned to me. However, lately I've taken to getting the free logo pens from my bank. It doesn't matter if they return those or not, but I've noticed I do get those back!

They write very well, but I guess people aren't interesting in getting sticky fingers when it comes to a pen that's got a business name imprinted on it.

Investment property

Those of you who have the extra money to use might want to look into some kind of rental property investment. This could be a modest home, duplexes, apartments, or even other investments such as mini-storage facilities, boat slip rentals, or mobile home rentals. Depending on where you are, investment property could be purchased at a low enough price to realize your investment back and some profit in just a few years.

It's certainly worth looking into if you're wanting long-term residual income.

New auction listing for homeschoolers

I've got the auction up at ThisLittlePiggyStaysHome.com for Mary Pride's Big Book of Home Learning. This is the 1991 edition and is a boxed set of gently used books. While not new, this set is full of valuable information that any homeschool family could use and I've priced it to sell, so it's low enough to be very affordable.

Just click the link in the sidebar or go to Big Book of Home learning to check it out for yourself.

Moving up to HDTV

Yes, I know. Blu-Ray is the next gotta-have-it technology. Still, I have a DVD player that operates on HDTV and so that's the kind I'll be getting. The prices are dropping like crazy because of all the Blu-Ray hype, and I have dozens and dozens of DVDs that are not Blu-Ray disks, so I'll get plenty of use from a new-to-me television.

Brandon says that I might be able to use my home theater system on my analog television if I use CAT6 cable and RCA plugs. However, the viewing won't be as crisp and dimensional as it would be with HD, so why bother with all that rigging?

When I was at Walmart a day or so ago, I saw nice sized HDTVs for under $400. Guess what I'll be saving my money for next?

More eBay fee changes

If you look at the recent announcements at eBay, you'll see more fee changes in addition to the ones already slated to take effect February 20, 2008. Now, theMedia Fees will also be reduced. This is great news for me because that's what I mostly sell!

I sell more books than anything else, but I do sell the occasional music CD or movie VHS or DVD.

$0.01 - 0.99 (auction-style only)
Original Categories Insertion Fee: $ .20
New Media fee: $ .10

$1.00 - 9.99 (auction-style and fixed price)
Original Categories Insertion Fee: $ .40
New Media fee: $ .25

$10.00 - 24.99 (auction-style and fixed price)
Original Categories Insertion Fee: $ .60
New Media fee: $ .35

I'm all for saving money whenever I can, and these reduced insertion fees will certainly help.

Remote auction listing

You know, it just occurred to me that there's no good reason I couldn't publish auction listings right from the storage unit. Well, on nice days, anyway. I have a laptop with aircard connection. I have a digital camera. I don't know why I didn't think of this before!

I could take pictures of the items I'm listing, put them in my laptop, and create my auctions right there where the books are located. Instead, I've been bringing stuff home and now it's sitting here waiting to sell. Of course, getting the stuff better organized will greatly facilitate all of this.

I could even take my solar spotlights with me, since there isn't electricity in the unit, and use them for additional lighting while I'm there.

Auctions update

I'm having moderate success with my eBay and TLPSH auctions. I've sold some books on both auction sites, and have a large book order to ship out now. (::Waves hi to Margie!::)

My biggest problem is getting the time and energy to gather the books, write the descriptions, and list them. I've been working some extra hours at McDonald's lately due to a few of the managers being transferred to other stores. When I get home, I'm pretty well wiped out. Of course, that's a great motivation for generating income from home, isn't it?!

Because of the benefits of my job (insurance, 401K retirement plan, stock options), I can't really afford to just quit completely. However, perhaps if we hire more managers, I can at least pull back a bit. We are training one new one now, and she's already got good experience in our corporation, so she'll be a good manager.

When the weather calms down and warms up a bit, it'll be a lot easier for me to go through the curriculum that's in storage, sort and organize it, and list it in auctions. I've got other things I can list, too, so if you would be interested in home decor and such, you can be looking for them!

Beautiful soap site

If you want to see what beautiful, hand made soap looks like, and read descriptions of wonderful, natural ingredients, then do visit The Olde Soap Crone. She's got an eBook for sale, too, and it's a very reasonable price! I know what my next investment will be!

Browse through the site and just look at the soaps she has made and has for sale. Hand made soap is the absolute best thing for your skin or your children's skin. It's mild and doesn't remove beneficial bacteria the way modern deodorant soaps do. The reason is because most soaps you buy are actually detergents. That means they are petroleum based. Who wants that in their bathwater?

Now, scoot on over there and look around, ya hear? But don't forget to come back here, too!

Soap cannon

This soap mold is basically the same as in the previous post, but with a few minor changes. For one thing, you'll use downspout sections that are 3 or 4 feet long instead of the smaller 1-foot sections.

Drill a hole in the end cap that will accommodate a plumbing nipple. You'll want to have a rubber washer glued in place and glue the nipple into place over that, as well. The nipple needs to fit your bicycle tire pump nozzle or your air compressor nozzle. Glue the end cap onto the end of the downspout section. Use this for your soap mold, making sure to cork the hole you've created. When the soap is cool, you'll use a bicycle pump or air compressor to shoot the soap out of the mold.

Remove the cork, and put the nozzle of the pump or compressor over the hole. Blast it with air and shoot the soap out. Once, it's at least part way out, you can pull it the rest of the way, if it doesn't shoot all the way out. Generally, using an electric air compressor will achieve a full shoot-out.

Do I have all the measurements and specs? No. This is a tool that you'll need to create using what you already have available to you, which could vary slightly from home to home.

Downspout soap mold

I briefly referred to using a downspout for a soap mold in an earlier post. Here's how that works.

Go to your local lumber or building supply store and purchase a section of downspout for gutters. Downspouts come in a variety of patterns - some plain, some ribbed in various ways. Get the plastic one. They are usually about 8 feet long. Get 8 end caps that fit the downspout while you're there. While this could be the most costly tools in your soap making collection, these can be used for many years so the cost really works out nicely.

When you get it home, cut it into one foot sections with a hack saw. It's pretty easy to cut. Place an end cap on each one, but don't glue it into place. You'll want to be able to remove it later.

When you make your soap, pour the traced mixture into a capped downspout. If you make a lot of soap, you'll want more sections, but one will do for a small 3 pound batch of soap. After the soap cools thoroughly, remove the end cap and push the soap out of the mold. You'll have a soap "log" that you can cut into bars. The thickness is up to you, but I found that about 1 1/2 inches worked out nicely for generous sized bars of soap.

The soaps will be very prettily shaped when you use this method.

Soap making day

On a day you choose to make soap, you'll want to make sure you have your soap making area defined. It can be your kitchen, as long as you have a place to put everything out that you'll need for the project.

Get out all of your tools and ingredients. Don't forget your safety equipment, too. Once you get started, you'll need to continue the project until you pour the soap into the molds. If you are constantly having to leave the project area and ride your stair lifts up and down because of items you've forgotten, your soap may fail to saponify and your batch will be a waste of time, effort, and ingredients.

Let your family know that the next couple of hours, you will be concentrating on this project. Not that you will be neglecting them, but that you need time to make sure everything is just right. Toddler nap time is good for soap making projects, if the babes sleep long enough!

Soap making equipment for hot process

To make soap, you'll need some equipment that's easy to find. In fact, you may already have a lot of this right in your own kitchen.

• Stick blender - get a good, solid one. You're going to use it a lot!
• Crock pot - this is for smaller batches of hot process soap.
• Thermometer - a candy thermometer works just fine.
• Digital scales - you need scales that will weigh in both ounces and pounds. If you do eBay shipping, you probably already have them. Mine will weigh items up to 35 pounds.
• Soap molds - these can be simple. I use sections of a downspout for a gutter system. They are cut into 12 inch lengths for easy handling. I'll give you details about using this later. You can also use anything that you can pour the soap into and pop it out of relatively easily.
• Lye - no lye, no soap.
• Water - not from a water softener system. There are trace chemicals in it that can ruin your soap. Use distilled water, well water, or rain water. Even the condensation from your air conditioner will work.
• Fat - this can be shortening, lard, olive oil, canola oil, tallow, coconut oil, or any number of other oils or fats.
• Vinegar - this is for a weak solution to rinse your skin if you happen to splash lye water on it.
• Goggles - you must use protective equipment.
• Rubber gloves - see previous.
• Full apron - also see previous.
• Utensils - spoons, measuring cups, ladles, etc. that you can dedicate to soap making. These can be plastic utensils from the Dollar Store.
• A tub or tote - for storing your soap making supplies.

That is the short list. You'll be adding more to the list later as you learn about fragrances and colorings for soaps.

Soap making home business

Soap making is probably one of the simplest, yet least understood, home business ideas. Making soap isn't the difficult process it used to be, and you don't need a cauldron in the back yard to do it. In fact, you can make a hot processed soap in your crock pot. Hot processing means that the soap ingredients are heated for a specific amount of time, then it's poured into molds of your choosing and left to cool and harden. Hot processing in a crock pot will make about three pounds of soap, which is great for a beginner's project.

You will probably want some additives, such as colorings, fragrances, and grape seed extract as a preservative so your soap will be lovely and long lasting. GSE helps to prevent rancidity in the oils used in soap making. If you branch out into lotions, you'll want to use GSE in those for the same reason, but it's not a true preservative so it can't prevent mold from forming on natural ingredient lotions. You'll need Germabin for that.

I'll continue this soap making series with links and information you can use right away to get your soap making business started!

Retirement

You know, my retirement age is getting closer by the day, but at a rate that seems much to quick to be right! I just celebrated my 56th birthday, and I can hardly believe it. I don't mind growing older. It's just that, while I'm sitting here blogging, I don't feel any different than I felt when I was 30. A look in the mirror sets me straight on that, though!

My own dear Sister has already retired and has had to make some decisions relating to medicare part d. When all the medicare issues changed, my Mother went through a lot of research in determining which provider would be in her best interest. It's a complicated process, from what I can tell, and I don't look forward to it at all. I'd prefer to be able to stand on my own without all that, but I may not be in a financial position to do so.

More auction listings

I've stopped by the storage unit and picked up more curriculum items to list. However, I was looking for a particular math curriculum and didn't find it. The reason I didn't find it is that I can't really lift the boxes of books that are stacked up to look through each one individually.

At least I did find a few things I can list at auctions, though, so be looking in my sidebar here or at Homeschool Zoo Annex for TLPSH auctions. Be sure to check on updates to my eBay auctions as well.

You know, I'd almost forgotten how much fun it is to sell at online auctions!

Because eBay has rules against selling Teacher's Editions of anything at all, including homeschool materials from A Beka or even old Dick and Jane collectibles, you'll find those items as TLPSH.

Business minded

Ever since I first started doing business online, I've been very careful to maintain a checking account that I've only got associated with PayPal. I have another checking account for personal use, such as everyday purchases, groceries, etc. But the one I have associated with my PayPal account keeps me safe in case someone hacks into PayPal and steals my information. This is on the advice of my banker, by the way. I wouldn't have really thought about it until she mentioned it for security purposes. When she did, I opened a new account just for personal use.

Having a separate account doesn't cost me any more than just having one. I rarely use the checks - mostly use the debit card. In fact, I've only purchased checks once since I opened the account!

I keep a very small balance in there to pay for some of my domain hosting from Yahoo! Small Business. I pay for other hosting and domain registrations straight from my PayPal account, so that I can keep my records straight. After all, that's where my online earnings are deposited anyway.

First eBay sale in new year

I did make my first eBay sale in this new year. Considering it's been about a year since I listed anything, this was like being a newbie again. There's nothing quite as exciting as watching an auction's final hours or minutes when there are bids on it.

Some of my other auctions have had quite a few views and also have people watching them. In the past, if something didn't sell, I'd relist it right away. This time, I'm taking a different tactic so that eBay auctions are always fresh and new. Things that don't sell on eBay, I'll list over on This Little Piggy Stays Home (TLPSH). Listing there is free and I can set the auctions to automatically relist a lot of times, for no additional fees.

To me, it makes sense to do things this way and save some money, instead of spending my marginal profit on eBay listings.