July 30th, 2009 admin
GARDENING: You can do weeding or lawn care, grow and sell plants, grow and dehydrate herbs and make herb blends, press flowers and frame them or make cards or preserve food such as berries to make and sell jam. You can ask a local florist if they’d like to buy your flowers or ornamental branches such as willows, dogwood or forsythia, or sell right from your home, too. You can grow your own food to save money, and anything you sell can go toward funding your hobby or directly to savings.
CRAFTS: You can sell crafts at craft shows and malls. You can teach your skill out of your home or possibly at a local craft store or at a community education course. There are a lot of people who would love to learn how to make items such as jewelry, soap, candles or quilts, to name a few. Ask if you can hang a flier at your local grocery store, library or local craft store. If you sew, you can make slipcovers, or do mending or alterations. Or specialize in an area such as zipper repair, making boutique childrens’ clothes or upcycled clothing from thrift-store garments or material. There are Web sites online that you can sell your work, too. Visit www.etsy.com, www.1000markets.com or www.artfire.com. You can start an online club or newsletter featuring tutorials or patterns, as well.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Not everyone has the talent to do photography for special events, but nothing can stop you from earning money as you learn more. You can find a niche in an area such as pet photography, stock photos or taking pictures of local landmarks or popular regional places, and make cards or calendars to sell. You can contact your local newspaper, magazines or real estate agencies to see whether they’re interested in your work, too. Or contact local businesses and see if they need photos for brochures or ads, or sell your photos at art and craft shows, fairs or festivals.
ORGANIZING AND CLEANING: Start with friends and family and ask if anyone needs help. You can set yourself apart by using eco-friendly, homemade cleaners.
WOODWORK: Have you ever made something to fit a need, such as building a custom deck, picnic table, bookshelf, dog or birdhouse or bed frame? Or maybe you paint small wooden items for ornaments or doll houses. All of these projects can be sold. If you enjoy refinishing furniture or working on trash-to-treasure projects, you can sell at flea markets or arts-and-crafts shows, too.
FOOD: You can sell decorated cakes, cookies, bread, candies, etc. You can go into catering, too. Or place an ad to cook for a busy family, someone sick or the elderly.
The information above is from: Source
Posted in Do it yourself - DIY - Home made, cleaning, digital cameras, food and drinks, garden, hobbies, spare time | No Comments »
July 29th, 2009 admin
Sure it’s still summer but it’s half over; sorry to remind you. Anyway, be prepared when things begin to chill outside. Get one of these beautiful fire pits. You have so many different designs to choose from but this one’s my favorite because it basically works for most outdoor looks and personally, I believe people will focus on the actual fire, not necessarily the pit.
Get one now
Posted in patio furniture, relaxing, winter | No Comments »
July 22nd, 2009 admin
From nyt:
“Four months after acquiring an e-book retailer, Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest chain of bookstores, is starting its own mega e-bookstore on its Web site, BN.com.
In an announcement on Monday, Barnes & Noble said that it would offer more than 700,000 books that could be read on a wide range of devices, including Apple’s iPhone, the BlackBerry and various laptop or desktop computers. When Barnes & Noble acquired Fictionwise in March, that online retailer had about 60,000 books in its catalog.
More than 500,000 of the books now offered electronically on BN.com can be downloaded free, through an agreement with Google to provide electronic versions of public domain books that Google has scanned from university libraries. Sony announced a similar deal in March to offer the public domain books on its Reader device.
Barnes & Noble is promoting its e-bookstore as the world’s largest, an implicit stab at Amazon.com, which offers about 330,000 for its Kindle device. Currently, Google’s public domain books cannot be read on a Kindle.
The number of e-books available on BN.com compares with 1.2 million in stock that can be bought in print form from the company’s Web site.
A further one million books can be ordered from BN.com in the print-on-demand format.
William J. Lynch, president of Barnes & Noble.com, said the company would continue to sell e-book versions of…”
Read the rest of the article (free registration required)
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July 21st, 2009 admin
From wisebread:
“If you are in the process of buying a new primary residence or second home, or considering refinancing a loan, a new set of federal consumer protection rules taking effect on July 30th, 2009 may affect you. These rules are a part of the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act of 2008, and they are designed to give consumers more disclosure of the cost of a loan and also more time to make a decision. The final rules from the Federal Reserve were modified recently and here is a quick summary.
Early disclosures are required within three business days – Good faith estimates of mortgage loan costs must be given to a consumer within three business days of a consumer’s loan application. Also, no fees may be collected besides a reasonable credit check fee. This means that the good faith estimate needs to be given before the lender collects an application or appraisal fee. In the past it was common for lenders to collect hundreds of dollars in fees before providing any cost estimates.
Creditors must wait seven business days to close a loan after early disclosures – This gives the consumer at least seven days to decide whether to close or not upon receiving the initial estimate. Currently it is common for disclosures to be provided less than 24 hours before closing.”
Read the rest
Posted in homes, practical | No Comments »
July 17th, 2009 admin
From buzzfeed:
“The recession isn’t so bad when you think about in terms of what we’re getting rid of. I like to think of it as a form of Spring cleaning. Here are 14 things that are hopefully going to be by the end of this recession.
1. Crocs! Say goodbye to Crocs! Last year the company lost $185.1 million, slashed roughly 2,000 jobs and scrambled to find money to pay down millions in debt. Now it’s stuck with a surplus of shoes, and its auditors have wondered if it can stay afloat. It has until the end of September to pay off its debt. “The company’s toast,” said Damon Vickers, who manages an investment fund at Nine Points Capital Partners in Seattle…
2. Deal Or No Deal Unfortunately, the show will continue in a syndicated version, but will now be shot in Connecticut due to a 30% tax cut incentive. Currently it’s filmed in Culver City, California, and is cheap enough to produce because few big cash prizes have ever had to paid out so far. It is a little surprising to see this cheaply produced show get the ax by NBC. It could be because of ratings, but either way, say goodbye!
3. Life & Style Weekly Sales of the celeb gossip magazine are down 44.1% . We don’t need anymore celebrity gossip magazines!
4. Read the rest of this article
Posted in business, funny | No Comments »
July 15th, 2009 admin
It may be the slimmest Digital ELPH Canon has ever created, but the impact couldn’t be bigger. The PowerShot SD780 IS Digital ELPH captivates the senses with bold saturated colors and a daringly original design that matches the intensity of Canon’s most innovative camera technology. Even when picture-taking conditions seem pretty unforgiving, you’ve got Canon on your side. Plus, you’ve got an advanced DIGIC 4 Image Processor with evolved Face Detection Technology and the Face Detection Self-timer for extraordinary control and performance. This technology finds and tracks the faces of moving subjects until you’re ready to shoot, then delivers perfect focus. In addition, exposure, flash and white balance are compensated, so that faces exhibit natural skin tones and backgrounds are properly exposed. The camera also makes it easy to enjoy HD movies (and still photos) in beautiful high definition (1280 x 720 pixels) on your HDTV with a mini-HDMI connector for direct connection to a high-definition monitor. You’ll enjoy the HD experience with no degradation of image or audio in the signal, plus the ability to display up to 130 still images at once. So the shots you used to miss are the images you’ll now be sharing, and the movies you never took before will be HD unforgettable.
Find out more about this camera
(NOTE: Use coupon code EMCLVMR22 for a discount!)
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Posted in coupons / deals / sales, digital cameras, electronics, gold, good value | No Comments »
July 13th, 2009 admin
You might have guessed by now, if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, that I do not like products that break soon after you buy them. Remember when appliances lasted decades? Ok, I don’t have anything that lasted for decades but my parents’ generation experienced this. I think their washer and dryer lasted 30 years. I’m not kidding. I think they still have a hand blender that is at least 40 years old…and it still works!
Sadly, many items these days are not meant to last so that you will buy another one over and over again. This is not only bad for the environment because these things end up in landfills, but also, you the consumer waste an exorbitant amount of money over time. This is why I like to recommend durable appliances that will last quite a while.
Enter the stainless steel Lello 4080 Musso Lussino 1.5-Quart Ice Cream Maker. Here’s what people have to say about it:
Fully automatic and precisely controlled by a timer, this machine takes the trouble and guesswork out of making ice cream, sorbet, frozen yogurt, gelato, and frozen drinks at home. Ingredients go into the bowl, the timer is set, two buttons are pressed and about 30 minutes later 1-1/2 quarts of a frozen confection are ready for consumption. Because the machine doesn’t require its bowl to be frozen for hours in a refrigerator’s freezer (like less expensive machines that only churn), it can immediately begin making another batch. If a batch becomes too hard the machine shuts off automatically. Not only does it work professionally it looks the part, as the housing, bowl, and paddle are made of stainless steel for sanitation and easy cleaning. The 100-watt machine measures 12 inches wide, 11 inches high, and 18 inches deep, and it weighs 38 pounds. Made it Italy, it carries a one-year warranty against defects. An instruction booklet with many recipes is included.
Find out more about it
Posted in efficient, electronics, equipment, family, food and drinks, fun, kitchen appliances and gadgets, plastic is poison | No Comments »
July 9th, 2009 admin
How many blenders have you gone through? If your answer is more than 1, you’ve been ripped off not to mention that you probably got cheap polycarbonate (plastic) ones. Don’t do that! My recommendation is to get a reliable, durable and performing blender that will last a lifetime. Designed for the commercial environment, the robust Kitchenaid KTA-KPCB148SPM Pro Line Bar Blender design handles job after job with outstanding results. Thoroughly blends smoothies and frozen drinks, and purees sauces and soups in less than 20 seconds. Jar collar, blade assembly, and seals are built into jar for strength, durability, and water-tight performance. The patented one-piece blade has extra thick stainless steel blade design with sharpened edges and high blade angles for extreme performance and long life. The 48 oz stainless-steel jar is dishwasher-safe.
Ok. It’s expensive but it is one of the best blenders you will ever have and it’s made to last.
Read more about it
Posted in efficient, electronics, energy booster, equipment, family, fitness, food and drinks, health, kitchen appliances and gadgets | No Comments »