Becoming a Work-At-Home Mom: Learning Through Failure (Part 3)

Last time in our Becoming a Work-at-Home Mom series I shared how I had to stop working as a mother's helper due to my pregnancy and while that was a huge cut in our income, it also was what lit a fire in my belly to learn everything I possibly could as fast as I could about earning money from home.

I began with small things, like taking surveys, mystery shopping, getting paid to read emails. Once I became proficient in those, I started scratching my brain for more ideas. 

One idea I had was to teach creative writing classes out of our home. I'd always loved writing and thought that probably homeschool moms would jump at the opportunity to enroll their children in creative writing classes--especially if they were very inexpensively priced.

I spent hours writing up advertisements to place in homeschool newsletters and had visions of at least 40 children signing up. I excitedly strategized how I could break the classes up and handle a large number of children and I eagerly calculated numbers and was expecting a good earning potential from these classes. All in all, I was stoked.

Problem was, instead of 40 children signing up as I'd hoped, only 4 signed up. So much for my big plans!

Needless to say, the turn out was very disappointing to me. I thought God had clearly directed me to do these classes and I was confident He was going to bring dozens and dozens of children to them. I worried about how on earth we were going to pay our bills since my big idea had pretty much totally flopped. I wanted to quit and throw my hands up in despair. But I couldn't because I'd already made a commitment to teach these children--all 4 of them--and I had to see it through.

When I look back at those classes and the measly four sign-ups, I realize that not only did that experience prepare me for some greater failures I'd have on down the road, it also taught me that it's okay if things don't turn out like we are expecting. We can still carry on and do our best whether we have four students or forty students or 400 students. Whatever the outcome of our efforts, what matters most is that we give it our best.

I've slowly learned over the past few years that failure of some kind is inevitable when you have your business or are trying to start working from home. Everything just isn't going to turn out exactly like you expected. In fact, much of the time, things will be a lot harder and a lot less successful than you planned or hoped or dreamed.

Contrary to what I thought in the beginning, I've come to realize that failure is my friend. I've learned much more through failure than I have through success.

The creative writing classes were only the start of my flopped endeavors and learning through failure. Next time, I'll tell you about a much bigger work-at-home failure and how it turned out to be one of the best things which ever happened to me.

To be continued...

Work-From-Home positions available with 1-800-FLOWERS

If you live in Delaware, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Montana, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, or Virginia and are looking for a work-from-home position, be sure to check out the details here of the Customer Service positions currently available at 1-800-FLOWERS.

Thanks, Heather!

Speaking of working from home, my next installment in the Becoming a Work-At-Home Mom is coming in the next few days... now that I'm finally almost recovered from my wisdom teeth removal and can think more clearly again!

BeRuby.com: Earn money for visiting Facebook, Twitter, Hotmail, GMail, and more

If you frequent Facebook, Twitter, Hotmail, or GMail on a daily or more-than-daily basis, you'll want to sign up for a new site called BeRuby.com. I just found out about this site from Carrie at Money Saving Methods and was so excited because you can get paid every time you visit one of those sites or dozens of other sites!

Just sign up for an account with BeRuby.com here and then login to their site and click-through to Facebook, Twitter, GMail, etc. and you'll earn a little bit each time you click through to a website. Plus, you'll earn $0.10 each day that you just log in to the site.

Yes, it's only a few pennies here and there but if you're going to be accessing these sites anyway, you might as well make a few nickles, pennies, and dimes for doing so, right?

To make it quicker to find your favorite sites, you can set up a favorites list on your account and then just log in and click on the favorites button to click-through to your favorite websites.

CoinStar: Turn $40 cash into $50 in gift cards

Do you have more than $40 in cash lying around your home? If so, take it into a nearby CoinStar machine (find one here) and you can turn it into a gift card for Lowe's, iTunes, Amazon.com, or many others. There is no fee for the exchange or the card. More details here.

This offer is good through December 6, 2009 and would be a great way to get a little more mileage out of your Christmas budget!

Thanks, Pocket Your Dollars!

Toluna: Earn $1-$5 for taking surveys

After I posted a few legitimate survey companies to sign up with last week, my friend, Andrea, who blogs at MommySnacks told me I had failed to share with you about one of her favorite survey companies--Toluna.

I had never even heard about this survey company so I did some investigation and, sure enough, it looks like another great legitimate survey company to sign up for. Andrea said she has always been promptly paid and she's earned money fairly quickly through surveys there.

Go here to sign up with Tulona.

Here are the other survey companies I recommend signing up with:

Pinecone Research (currently not accepting new sign-ups)--my personal favorite survey site. They pay $3 promptly for every survey completed. I try to post here every time they are accepting new sign-ups so stay tuned for that.

Inbox Dollars--I used Inbox Dollars primarily for the money you could earn for reading emails. It isn't a huge payout, by any means, but it also doesn't require much more than clicking on a few emails everyday and earning a few cents. Go here to sign up.

MyPoints--this is a site which rewards you points for online activity such as reading emails, taking surveys, signing up for offers, and so forth. I mostly just read the emails and clicked on the links and slowly accumulated points. You won't get rich quickly doing this, but you can earn enough points by reading emails to get free gift cards each year. We paid for our few and far between law school date nights mostly with gift cards I earned through MyPoints. Go here to sign up.

Opinion Outpost--Pays in point rewards for every completed survey. You can cash these in for instant win opportunities, sweepstakes, or cash. There are also opportunities to do free product testing. Go here to sign up.

SurveySpot--This company pays up to $5 per survey and you can request payout when you have earned $5. So therefore, it's not hard at all to earn enough to get a check. In fact, while I don't have a lot of extra time these days, I'm seriously considering signing up just to see what it's like! Go here to sign up.

LightSpeed Research--This survey site pays in points and they are fairly generous in their points given. Once you've accumulated enough points, you can cash them in for cash, online gift certificates, music downloads, and hundreds of other prizes. Or, build up your points for bigger prizes in your Lightspeed Points Account. Go here to sign up.

CashCrate--Once you sign up, you can go to their "Daily Survey" tab and earn around $0.50 per survey you take. They usually offer 1-2 daily surveys. Go here to sign up.

There are many scam survey companies out there so beware and be careful. I do quite a bit of research before posting anything here, but always use your best judgment.

As always, remember that you will not get rich taking surveys. However, you can create a nice little sidestream of income through just taking 15-30 minutes per day to answer questions and share opinions.

Three more recommended paid survey companies

I shared about a few of my favorite survey companies last Friday and talked about how this was a little way I brought in some extra money during our lean law school days. Since I posted that, I've done some more research on survey companies and wanted to share some more links to reputable companies which my friends have recommended.

SurveySpot--This is one of the companies I've heard the most rave reviews about in the last year or so. They pay up to $5 per survey and you can request payout when you have earned $5. So therefore, it's not hard at all to earn enough to get a check. In fact, while I don't have a lot of extra time these days, I'm seriously considering signing up just to see what it's like! Go here to sign up.

LightSpeed Research--This survey site pays in points and they are fairly generous in their points given. Once you've accumulated enough points, you can cash them in for cash, online gift certificates, music downloads, and hundreds of other prizes. Or, build up your points for bigger prizes in your Lightspeed Points Account. Go here to sign up.

Opinion Outpost--Pays in point rewards for every completed survey. You can cash these in for instant win opportunities, sweepstakes, or cash. There are also opportunities to do free product testing. Go here to sign up.

If you have any experience with these companies--either good or bad--please tell us about it in the comments section. As always, remember that you won't get rich taking surveys and it takes work and effort to earn money from surveys, but if you stick with it, you can create a small and steady sidestream of income through surveys.

Becoming a Work-At-Home Mom: Starting with Small Things (Part 2)

Last week, I left you hanging in the Becoming a Work-At-Home Mom series at the point where I'd just found out I was pregnant. Let's pick up from there...

Those two pink lines changed my life forever. Not only because they meant I was going to be a mom, but they also were the impetus for me to become a work-at-home mom.

It's easy to say that becoming a mom also propelled me to become a work-at-home mom, but believe me, it wasn't anywhere easy. In fact, I had no idea just how hard it was going to be.

I was sick from week five to week twenty-one in my pregnancy. I never had to be hospitalized for dehydration, but there were days when I could barely get out of bed because I was so nauseated. I wanted to be a mom more than just about anything in the world, but I had no idea how miserable morning sickness was going to be!

Needless to say, my jobs as a mother's helper were abruptly ended. And therefore, our income was drastically reduced as well. When I was working four days a week as a mother's helper, we were scraping by, without that income, it seemed impossible we could ever pay all of our bills.

I remember how helpless I felt so many times during those long weeks of my early pregnancy. I knew there had to be something I could do to earn an income from our little basement apartment, but what? I wracked my brain for days and weeks on end. I prayed, I worried, I cried, and I prayed some more.

As thankful as I was to be pregnant, I couldn't help but also wonder and fret over how we were going to eat and have a roof over our heads. And I couldn't even begin to try and figure out how we would pay for the extra expenses of having a baby, too. How would we survive for two more years of law school?

At that point, I had no idea. But I did know one thing: God was watching over us. He had called us to step out in faith and get married, move to Topeka, KS, and God had clearly opened up the doors for Jesse to go to law school. I also knew that God had given us this precious baby and He was going to take care of us.

And you know what? He never failed us or forsook us.

Oh yes! I worried many times when it seemed there was no way we were going to be able to pay all of the basic bills for the month. But somehow, someway, every necessary bill always got paid.

God called us not only to step out in faith and trust Him, but we also knew it was our responsibility to do everything we could to be wise stewards of the gifts, time, talents, and resources He had given us.

Since the beginning of our marriage, Jesse and I spent long hours talking about and tossing around ideas of possibly starting our own business. When we found out we were expecting, we knew that it was time to act on these ideas.

But where to start? Jesse was gone long hours at school and I was stuck in bed or on the couch much of the day feeling very sick.

I decided if I were going to be sick all day, it wasn't going to make things any worse if I tried to use that time to learn what I could about possible ways to earn money online.

So I took the laptop and dug in where I was at. I spent countless hours scouring the internet, I signed up for Yahoo! Groups on entrepreneurialism and small businesses, I emailed anyone and everyone who had any clue about anything when it came to internet businesses or running your own business, and I read stacks of books on starting a small business and online marketing from the library.

Little by little, I came up with different ideas. I began with small things--mostly things I could do straight from the couch! Here are just a few of the things I tried during those long weeks of morning sickness that produced at least some positive results:

::Half.com--I listed and sold a number of books we were no longer needing or using (especially Jesse's old textbooks) through this website and ended up making at least $1500 over the course of a few years. I tried my hand at buying used books at the thrift store and reselling these but I never had much success with that.

If you're interested in reselling books, I'd recommend that you start by looking around your home and finding books you no longer need or use and see what the going rate is on Half.com. I'd suggest check out Cash4Books.net, too, as they will pay you immediately whereas on Half.com, you have to wait for a buyer to purchase from you.

If Cash4Books is going to pay you somewhat similar to the going rate on Half.com, definitely go with Cash4Books as you won't have to sit around waiting for a buyer. Instead, you'll get the payment immediately.

There's a great article here on reselling books which gives some more detailed advice if this is something you're interested in. Some folks actually make a living doing this full-time. I've heard the market is more saturated than it used to be, but it's still something to consider--especially if you have some decent books around your home you'd like to part with!

Online Surveys--I had no idea what I was doing when I signed up for online survey companies and I quickly found out that most of them are much more work than they are worth. However, I definitely don't think they all should be discounted.

A few companies I've done surveys with in the past, have been paid by, and would recommend are: Pinecone Research (currently not accepting new sign-ups), Inbox Dollars, and CashCrate. Others I have heard good things about but haven't personally tried are: GlobalTestMarket and Survey Head.

If you're interested in earning a little money by filling out surveys, check out Carrie's extensive post on the subject here.

::MyPoints--this is a site which rewards you points for online activity such as reading emails, taking surveys, signing up for offers, and so forth. I mostly just read the emails and clicked on the links and slowly accumulated points. You won't get rich quickly doing this, but you can earn enough points by reading emails to get free gift cards each year. We paid for our few and far between law school date nights mostly with gift cards I earned through MyPoints.

I was encouraged to see money start trickling in from these things. It wasn't enough to pay our bills, but it was something--and something is better than nothing, right?

As I started feeling better and I researched more ideas, I got braver and branched out to try other things. Most of these things flopped royally, but I learned a great deal in the process. I'll tell you more about these in Part 3.

...To be continued

If you haven't taken a chance to read through the comments on Part 1 of this series, be sure to do so here. There are dozens of great business ideas and tidbits of wisdom shared there!

Becoming a Mystery Shopper

I'm working on my second part of the Becoming a Work-At-Home Mom series and it should be up later this week. But in the mean time, I wanted to share one thing I did while we were trying to make ends meet for those of you who are looking for income-earning ideas. I have a number of different ideas like this which I'll be fleshing out over the coming weeks so if an idea I share won't work for your situation, keep reading and you'll likely find something which sparks an idea that will work.

Today's income-earning idea? Mystery Shopping.

You've probably seen the signs or ads which promise that you can make hundreds of dollars every month by shopping and going out to eat. And you've probably though it was too good to be true.

Well, those advertisements are likely a little over-the-top and just designed to get you to sign up for some overpriced list which you can find yourself with a little searching online. But Mystery Shopping is a very legitimate source of income and in many area, the jobs are plentiful and the pay is good.

Erin recently emailed me about her experiences with Mystery Shopping:

I heard about the idea of "mystery shopping" a few years ago, when my husband was in between coming home from a tour in Afghanistan, finding a temporary job, and returning to Active Duty Military. We needed a little extra cash, and this seemed to work well with my schedule.

At that time, I only had my son, but I've continued to do these shops with my second child. There are some very simple shops that pay $5 and $10, all the way up to more complex shops that pay out up to $200!

I also have taken on jobs that have compensated me for meals that my family and I have eaten. I get paid very quickly and I have never had any problems with any of the sites I've used. A few of them are:

Mystery Shoppers Provider Association
MSIS Shopper
ICCDS
Beyond Hello
Kern Scheduling
Market Foce
Shop N' Chek
National Shopping Service
Trend Source

Again, these are all real businesses. I have done jobs for every single one of these companies and have been paid for all of my work. -Erin

When I first began mystery shopping, I signed up for all of the mystery shopping companies listed at Volition.com. I opened up a separate email account which was dedicated to mystery shopping emails and used that when I signed up. It took me hours to sign up with all of the companies and it was quite time-consuming.

If you'll thoroughly fill out all the applications and have patience, you'll likely begin to see quite a number of job opportunities sent to you. Many times, these jobs are filled on a first-come, first-served basis, so you'll want to check your email for job openings a few times each day and be quick to respond to any which you are interested in. You can also search the job board here.

Most mystery shopping jobs pay between $7-$15 and include some sort of reimbursement as well. I have done lots of fast food shops, casual dining, high-end restaurants, gas stations, beauty supply stores, pet stores,and even a bowling alley, to name a few.I found restaurant shops to be my favorite as they usually not only reimbursed for a meal for myself and my husband, but they also usually paid at least an extra $10 for the work involved. It was very worth it to me to get a nice free dinner date with my husband plus some cash, all for about 30 minutes of extra work!

One very important caution: DO NOT PAY TO MYSTERY SHOP! Legitimate jobs or companies do not require that you pay a fee to join or be accepted as a mystery shopper. There are many scam companies out there charging fees for lists or supposed job opportunities which are nothing that you cannot find yourself by applying to the companies listed above.

A good mystery shopper is someone who is attentive to detail and thorough in everything they do. In addition, it is very important you keep accurate records and follow instructions carefully.

Mystery shopping is a lot of work--especially in the beginning when you are first learning the ropes--but it can be a fun and rewarding experience which also can help supplement your income.

Have you been a mystery shopper before? If so, I'd love to hear your tips and advice for someone who is considering dipping their toes into the world of mystery shopping.

Becoming a Work-At-Home Mom: In the Beginning... (Part 1)

I am a firm believer that, with God's blessings and lots of hard work, anyone can successfully work from home. However, I will be the first to tell you that working from home is just that--it's work. I'm by nature a positive person but I won't sugar-coat the truth when it comes to working from home: if you are not prepared to put in lots and lots and lots of time and effort, working from home won't work for you.

I'm sure many moms could look at me and want what I have--the ability to make a good income while staying at home, choosing my own hours, and taking care of my husband, home, and family first. I can take a day off (or even a few days off!) whenever I like and the money continues to come in at about the same rate because of the many multiple streams of income I've set in place.

All this might sound really wonderful (and it is!) but what most people often don't add into this equation are the countless hours, days, weeks, months, and even years I've spent working, learning, and experimenting to get things to the point they are at.

The effort has paid off and I'm now reaping the fruits of my labors (though I'm still making lots of mistakes and I'm sure I'll continue to do so until the day I die!), but I won't ever forget the struggles I had to go through to getwhere I'm at or the mountains I've had to climb along the way.

This series is my personal journey to Becoming a Work-at-Home Mom. I will be sharing what things have and haven't worked for me, what I wish someone had told me when I was first contemplating starting a business from home, and how you, too, can become a work-at-home mom.

Let me start at the very beginning...

When my husband and I were married--over six and a half years ago--we knew we wanted to stay out of debt, live on a budget, and we wanted my primary place to be at home. I had no desire to pursue an outside-the-home career; I just wanted to be a stay-at-home wife and mother.

However, there was also this thing called money. We didn't have a lot of it and my husband still had three and a half years of school left ahead of him. We were living on a very tight budget but we weren't even making enough to pull that off. We knew that the only way we'd survive the next three and a half years was if we not only continued to pinch pennies, but if we also found ways to increase our income.

Before we got married, I worked an odd assortment of side jobs to produce a little income: I taught violin, babysat, tutored, and worked as a mother's helper and a waitress. I continued on in some of these after we got married but when we moved to a new town where we knew no one so my husband could begin three years of law school, I found that my side job possibilities narrowed a great deal!

However, we prayed a lot and talked about a hundred different ideas. And then we got creative.

I advertised my experience as a mother's helper in the local homeschool newsletter and soon was working for four different families each week. I enjoyed this work and it helped to pay the bills. We didn't have any wiggle room at all, but by carefully squeezing every little thing we could out of every penny, not buying anything but basic necessities, and strategic grocery shopping, we were able to survive on $800-$1000 per month.

A number of months went by and one week I began noticing that I didn't feel so well. I was tired and sick to my stomach much of  the time. I went about my usual routine, but I could barely keep up with my mother's helper jobs. I continued to feel worse and worse and we couldn't figure out what on earth my problem was. After about a week of this, I realized that the one thing I'd not considered was the possibility I could be pregnant.

We'd wanted to have children since we were first married but we'd struggled with some infertility issues and I'd finally just given up the hope that I'd ever be a mom. However, I had some pregnancy tests stashed away and that morning I decided--on a whim!--that I'd just take one. After all, it wouldn't hurt anything.

Imagine my total shock when I took it and looked down a few seconds later to see two pink lines! No wonder I'd felt so sick and tired!

We were ecstatic, elated, excited, and overwhelmed all at once! We were thrilled to be parents, but we realized this was going to turn our world a little upside down. Never could we have realized at the time just how much having a baby was going to change our lives forever--for the better!

To be continued next week...

Just for fun: How many of you currently work from home? Tell us a little about what you do. (And if you have a website, be sure to leave the link in the comments section.)

Graphic designed by A Source of Joy Graphic Design

I am a firm believer that, with God's blessings and lots of hard work, anyone can successfully work from home. However, I will be the first to tell you that working from home is just that--it's work. I'm by nature a positive person but I won't sugar-coat the truth when it comes to working from home: if you are not prepared to put in lots and lots and lots of time and effort, working from home won't work for you.

I'm sure many moms could look at me and want what I have--the ability to make a good income while staying at home, choosing my own hours, and taking care of my husband, home, and family first. I can take a day off (or even a few days off!) whenever I like and the money continues to come in at about the same rate because of the many multiple streams of income I've set in place.

All this might sound really wonderful (and it is!) but what most people often don't add into this equation are the countless hours, days, weeks, months, and even years I've spent working, learning, and experimenting to get things to the point they are at.

The effort has paid off and I'm now reaping the fruits of my labors (though I'm still making lots of mistakes and I'm sure I'll continue to do so until the day I die!), but I won't ever forget the struggles I had to go through to getwhere I'm at or the mountains I've had to climb along the way.

This series is my personal journey to Becoming a Work-at-Home Mom. I will be sharing what things have and haven't worked for me, what I wish someone had told me when I was first contemplating starting a business from home, and how you, too, can become a work-at-home mom.

Let me start at the very beginning...

When my husband and I were married--over six and a half years ago--we knew we wanted to stay out of debt, live on a budget, and we wanted my primary place to be at home. I had no desire to pursue an outside-the-home career; I just wanted to be a stay-at-home wife and mother.

However, there was also this thing called money. We didn't have a lot of it and my husband still had three and a half years of school left ahead of him. We were living on a very tight budget but we weren't even making enough to pull that off. We knew that the only way we'd survive the next three and a half years was if we not only continued to pinch pennies, but if we also found ways to increase our income.

Before we got married, I worked an odd assortment of side jobs to produce a little income: I taught violin, babysat, tutored, and worked as a mother's helper and a waitress. I continued on in some of these after we got married but when we moved to a new town where we knew no one so my husband could begin three years of law school, I found that my side job possibilities narrowed a great deal!

However, we prayed a lot and talked about a hundred different ideas. And then we got creative.

I advertised my experience as a mother's helper in the local homeschool newsletter and soon was working for four different families each week. I enjoyed this work and it helped to pay the bills. We didn't have any wiggle room at all, but by carefully squeezing every little thing we could out of every penny, not buying anything but basic necessities, and strategic grocery shopping, we were able to survive on $800-$1000 per month.

A number of months went by and one week I began noticing that I didn't feel so well. I was tired and sick to my stomach much of  the time. I went about my usual routine, but I could barely keep up with my mother's helper jobs. I continued to feel worse and worse and we couldn't figure out what on earth my problem was. After about a week of this, I realized that the one thing I'd not considered was the possibility I could be pregnant.

We'd wanted to have children since we were first married but we'd struggled with some infertility issues and I'd finally just given up the hope that I'd ever be a mom. However, I had some pregnancy tests stashed away and that morning I decided--on a whim!--that I'd just take one. After all, it wouldn't hurt anything.

Imagine my total shock when I took it and looked down a few seconds later to see two pink lines! No wonder I'd felt so sick and tired!

We were ecstatic, elated, excited, and overwhelmed all at once! We were thrilled to be parents, but we realized this was going to turn our world a little upside down. Never could we have realized at the time just how much having a baby was going to change our lives forever--for the better!

To be continued next week...

Just for fun: How many of you currently work from home? Tell us a little about what you do. (And if you have a website, be sure to leave the link in the comments section.)

Graphic designed by A Source of Joy Graphic Design

Neilsen Homescan Consumer Panel: Earn rewards for scanning your purchases

The Nielsen Homescan Consumer Panel is once again accepting new applicants in many locations.

If you are accepted as a panel member with Nielsen Homescan, you will be sent a small hand-held scanner and will scan all the bar codes of everything you purchase. Once a week, you'll transmit this information to Nielsen and you'll earn points which can be redeemed for a variety of items from the Nielsen Gift Catalog.

The Nielsen Homescan Consumer Panel is a "mini-USA" that represents all types of Americans. Manufacturers and retailers will look at the information you send to them to decide what products to make and sell to consumers all across the country.

I posted about this opportunity awhile back when they were accepting applicants and many of you left comments on your experiences. Some of you did not enjoy doing this at all and some of you found it quite enjoyable. If you're interested in hearing about others' experiences in this program, check out the comments on this post.

Becoming a Work-At-Home Mom: Introduction

As you probably know if you've read here with any consistency, my husband and I tend to be out-of-the-box thinkers. We don't like to be confined by the status quo.

Many people think of an 8-5 job as their family's primary or only source of income. We, on the other hand, only see Jesse's job as an attorney as one of our sources of income. And since the time we've been married, we've been on the lookout for additional creative ways to increase our income.

When first started trying to come up with things we could on the side, we really had no idea where to start. Neither of us had much experience or training and we racked our brains to come up with ideas. We read a lot of books, researched many different things online, spent much time learning from those who were much more experienced, and started trying things. We had a number of total flops and a number of business attempts which will forever be listed in our "hall of shame" (most of these were my bizarre ideas!).

By the grace of God, though, we refused to give up--in spite of failure. Little by little, we started finding things which actually worked and we began to see some fruit from all of our labor. Over time--and with lots of research and effort!--we've found quite a few things which really can contribute a significant source to our income every month. These side incomes have not only allowed me to be able to be a stay-at-home mom, but they have also enabled us to be able to save a significant portion of money towards paying cash for a home.

I often receive emails from women who feel in a desperate situation financially. My heart goes out to you as I well remember how hard those beans-and-rice days were. But the things I've learned over the past six years of have my own businesses have taught me one thing: no matter what situation you are in--even if it seems very dire financially--you can get creative and find some simple ways to decrease your outgo and increase your income.

When there's a will, there's a way. Don't give up hope! It's a whole lot of work, but it can be every bit worth it!

**************************

I've received many, many requests on the subject of earning money from home recently so beginning next week, I'm going to share my own personal journey to becoming a work-at-home mom in a series here. I'll be talking about things I've learned along the way, and will also share a plethora of ideas of things you can do to earn from home. I hope it can be an inspiration and help for those of you who are interested in working from home.

As part of this series, I'd also like to include guest posts from those of you who are work-at-home moms. If you are interested in being featured as part of this series, please email me for further details.

Do you have any specific questions you'd like to see addressed in a series on working from home? If so, please email me or leave a comment on this post. I can't guarantee I'll be able to answer it, but I'll do my best to address it in this series.

Free creative marketing ebook

Are you thinking of starting your own business or interested in creative marketing ideas? Go here to download a free copy of Sprouts: Free Fertile Ideas You Can Put To Work Now.

Thanks, Life of an Investor!

Totally Free Tuesday: Online Orientation for New Work-At-Home Moms (September 8, 2009)

Are you a new work-at-home mom or are you interested in becoming one? Then you'll definitely want to  check out Totally Free Tuesday, an online orientation for moms wanting to work from home. It's being held all day tomorrow, September 8, 2009. Check out more details here.

I've also posted lots of helpful ideas and resources on working from home here.

Swag Bucks: 5 free points for new sign-ups, plus 27 free points for everyone who downloads the toolbar!

If you've read here with any regularity in the last few months, you know I've become quite excited about a search engine called Swag Bucks. There are lots of scam programs out there promising all sorts of things, but Swag Bucks is one of the few programs I've found that really works.

If you're unfamiliar with Swag Bucks, basically it's a search engine that randomly rewards you with points just for doing online searches. Seriously, that's all there is to it.

You'll likely earn between 1-3 points per day for searches and when you have 45 points, you can cash in for a $5 Amazon gift card. And there are dozens of other great prizes to choose from as well. 

For those of you with blogs or who have lots of friends who use the internet, you'll also want to check out their referral program. For every person who signs up with your referral code, you can earn up to 100 matching Swag Bucks! I have had so much fun introducing many of my friends to this fun program and seeing them earn prizes for doing what most all of us do on a regular basis every day--searching online!

Swag Bucks is rolling out a brand-new toolbar for September and they are giving away a free 1-point Swag Code every day in September to everyone who downloads the toolbar here. That's almost 30 free points you can earn without doing anything!

Plus, if you have yet to sign up for a Swag Bucks account, you can get 5 free points for doing so right now. Sign up here and you'll get 3 free points and then, if you log into your account and type in MSMswagcode on the sidebar where it says "Enter Your Swag Code", you'll get an additional 2 free points. 

You'll get 3 points for signing up and 2 points for using the above code, giving you 5 points just for signing up. Plus, when if you download the toolbar, you'll earn almost 30 more points. And you'll be well on your way toward your first gift card!

This code is only good through September 10, 2009 so be sure you take advantage of it right away!

Planning and Running a Successful Yard Sale

photo by C-Ali

After last week's wildly-successful yard sale, a number of you wrote and asked for tips on having a successful yard sale. Here are just a few things which have worked well for me over the years:

1. Always be collecting stuff. Now before you think I'm advocating a Pack Rat mentality, let me explain: I've found that the easiest way to pull off a successful yard sale is to always be collecting stuff for your next sale. Don't wait until three days before you're planning your sale to start going through your house. Instead, start a box in your basement or garage or some place out of the way and when you discover an item you no longer need or use or like, give it away immediately or stick it into a Yard Sale Box.

Keeping our home paired down and clutter-free not only saves time and effort (since I'm not having to pick up, put away, and clean things we no longer need or use), it also makes me much more efficient. There's something about working in an organized and decluttered space which just breeds productivity!

Instead of having to walk by an item I don't need, use, or love repeatedly for months thinking "I'll sell that in our next yard sale", I already have a place to stash it. Plus, having a Yard Sale Box gives me an incentive to constantly be on the lookout for items which we are no longer using or loving and to free myself from this clutter!

So designate a Yard Sale Box and start filling it up! When one box is full, begin another. And, if you're like me, you'll find that with very little effort, you'll soon have a nice collection of stuff waiting to sell.

A few weeks before we're planning to have our yard sale, I pull out all the yard sale boxes and organize and price these items. And then I go through my entire home from top to bottom--a few rooms per day--and come up with every possible additional item which we no longer need, love, or use on a regular basis and add these to the yard sale boxes as well. By breaking it up into bite-sized pieces like this, I'm able to come up with many items to sell, but it's not such a daunting task.

2. Plan ahead. I learned the hard way with a garage sale I did a few years ago that you can never plan ahead too much. At the last minute, I had so many loose ends left to tie up and ended up running myself ragged. So, at least a few weeks before you have your sale, start pulling things out of boxes and organizing them, start pricing things, and start thinking about how you will set everything up.

This is especially good to do if you are in a new location or have never done a yard sale by yourself before. At least a week before the sale, make sure you have everything priced and organized in tubs and bins and boxes. A few days before the sale, set up as much stuff in your garage as you can. Figure out what you will be using for signs, where you will put them, make sure you have plenty of cash on hand to make chance, figure out how you will market your sale, make sure you have enough help, designate someone to put out the signs early in the morning the day your sale begins, have snacks and drinks on hand for your own sustenance, and purchase a license if your locality requires it.

The more organized you are, the easier it will be when you actually have your sale, and the less scrambling around the morning of your sale you'll do. It will make it much easier for your customers to buy things if you are organized and ready to go when you open your sale.

3. Pair up with a friend or two or three. One of the best ways to ensure a successful yard sale is to join ranks with a friend or two or three! Not only will you have more stuff to sell and more variety in what you're selling, but you'll also have lots of fun and fellowship in the process. Plus, you'll have more help in pulling it off.

4. Pick a good location. Location is one of the biggest keys to a successful yard sale. Hold your sale somewhere where there sizable amount of traffic throughout the day--preferably close to some busy intersections. If your home is pretty off the beaten path, consider holding your sale at a friend or relative's home. There's no point in having everything organized and lots of great stuff to sell if you don't have any traffic!

5. Pick a good time. I don't advise planning a sale in the freezing cold Winter or the blazing hot Summer. Choose a time of the year when the weather will be very pleasant and try to check the weather forecast ahead of time to make sure rain is not expected when you're planning your sale. In addition, find out what days of the week are best for yard sales to run in your area. When we lived in Kansas City, I found people usually only held sales on Friday and Saturday. However, where we live now, Thursdays are a big yard sale day and seem to garner the most traffic.

6. Price everything. I know it's easy to want to just stick a big sign on a table saying that everything on that table is a quarter, but I promise that it is much easier and much more efficient to go ahead and put price stickers on everything. Pricing everything will not only make things much simpler for you in the long run, but it will likely increase sales because people will know how much (or little) something costs!

I invest in the pre-priced stickers for most of my items as this makes things much easier for me when it comes to pricing and it's also very easy for customers to read. I try to have variety in pricing with plenty of $0.25 or less items. I've found that when people pick up one thing to buy, they are more likely to pick up other things as well, so have lots of $0.25 items and it might help you sell some of your larger-ticketed items, too!

7. Price things to sell. When I go to a yard sale, I expect to pay yard sale prices. That means that unless something is brand-new with the tags on, I am not going to pay more than a few quarters for it. When I am pricing my own items to sell, I always try to price things at what I feel would be a good bargain if I were buying the item at someone else's yard sale. I'd rather price something on the low end and have someone actually buy my item, then to have 25 people pick up the item and put it back down on the table because it is too expensive.

8. Advertise well. The marketing of your sale is going to be the number-one factor in how well your sale does. So put some time and effort into making a number of quality, clearly-readable signs in conspicuous places which easily lead to your home. Put as many signs in well-trafficked areas as possible.

Also, consider advertising in your paper or a free local newspaper. In different areas, advertising in the paper is very helpful. Other times, it is not necessary if you have good traffic and good signage. Experiment and see what works best. Above all, have very presentable and attractive signs--a sloppily-thrown together sign is not very inviting!

I have also found advertising on Craigslist to be very effective. I usually advertise the day before the sale and then re-post a revised ad each day of the sale. Again, make sure your ad is well-written, clearly-understandable, and inviting.

9. Don't forget the cookies and lemonade! What better way to teach your children entrepreneurial skills and let them earn a little money in the process than to have them set up their own little cookie and lemonade stands at the sale? Or, if it's cold outside, try selling hot chocolate, coffee, and fresh cinnamon rolls. One yard sale, we even set up a pancake griddle and sold pancakes hot off the griddle on Saturday morning.

Those are just a few things which I've found to be a great help in hosting a successful yard sale. What are your best tips for having a great yard sale? I'd love to hear!

photo by C-Ali

After last week's wildly-successful yard sale, a number of you wrote and asked for tips on having a successful yard sale. Here are just a few things which have worked well for me over the years:

1. Always be collecting stuff. Now before you think I'm advocating a Pack Rat mentality, let me explain: I've found that the easiest way to pull off a successful yard sale is to always be collecting stuff for your next sale. Don't wait until three days before you're planning your sale to start going through your house. Instead, start a box in your basement or garage or some place out of the way and when you discover an item you no longer need or use or like, give it away immediately or stick it into a Yard Sale Box.

Keeping our home paired down and clutter-free not only saves time and effort (since I'm not having to pick up, put away, and clean things we no longer need or use), it also makes me much more efficient. There's something about working in an organized and decluttered space which just breeds productivity!

Instead of having to walk by an item I don't need, use, or love repeatedly for months thinking "I'll sell that in our next yard sale", I already have a place to stash it. Plus, having a Yard Sale Box gives me an incentive to constantly be on the lookout for items which we are no longer using or loving and to free myself from this clutter!

So designate a Yard Sale Box and start filling it up! When one box is full, begin another. And, if you're like me, you'll find that with very little effort, you'll soon have a nice collection of stuff waiting to sell.

A few weeks before we're planning to have our yard sale, I pull out all the yard sale boxes and organize and price these items. And then I go through my entire home from top to bottom--a few rooms per day--and come up with every possible additional item which we no longer need, love, or use on a regular basis and add these to the yard sale boxes as well. By breaking it up into bite-sized pieces like this, I'm able to come up with many items to sell, but it's not such a daunting task.

2. Plan ahead. I learned the hard way with a garage sale I did a few years ago that you can never plan ahead too much. At the last minute, I had so many loose ends left to tie up and ended up running myself ragged. So, at least a few weeks before you have your sale, start pulling things out of boxes and organizing them, start pricing things, and start thinking about how you will set everything up.

This is especially good to do if you are in a new location or have never done a yard sale by yourself before. At least a week before the sale, make sure you have everything priced and organized in tubs and bins and boxes. A few days before the sale, set up as much stuff in your garage as you can. Figure out what you will be using for signs, where you will put them, make sure you have plenty of cash on hand to make chance, figure out how you will market your sale, make sure you have enough help, designate someone to put out the signs early in the morning the day your sale begins, have snacks and drinks on hand for your own sustenance, and purchase a license if your locality requires it.

The more organized you are, the easier it will be when you actually have your sale, and the less scrambling around the morning of your sale you'll do. It will make it much easier for your customers to buy things if you are organized and ready to go when you open your sale.

3. Pair up with a friend or two or three. One of the best ways to ensure a successful yard sale is to join ranks with a friend or two or three! Not only will you have more stuff to sell and more variety in what you're selling, but you'll also have lots of fun and fellowship in the process. Plus, you'll have more help in pulling it off.

4. Pick a good location. Location is one of the biggest keys to a successful yard sale. Hold your sale somewhere where there sizable amount of traffic throughout the day--preferably close to some busy intersections. If your home is pretty off the beaten path, consider holding your sale at a friend or relative's home. There's no point in having everything organized and lots of great stuff to sell if you don't have any traffic!

5. Pick a good time. I don't advise planning a sale in the freezing cold Winter or the blazing hot Summer. Choose a time of the year when the weather will be very pleasant and try to check the weather forecast ahead of time to make sure rain is not expected when you're planning your sale. In addition, find out what days of the week are best for yard sales to run in your area. When we lived in Kansas City, I found people usually only held sales on Friday and Saturday. However, where we live now, Thursdays are a big yard sale day and seem to garner the most traffic.

6. Price everything. I know it's easy to want to just stick a big sign on a table saying that everything on that table is a quarter, but I promise that it is much easier and much more efficient to go ahead and put price stickers on everything. Pricing everything will not only make things much simpler for you in the long run, but it will likely increase sales because people will know how much (or little) something costs!

I invest in the pre-priced stickers for most of my items as this makes things much easier for me when it comes to pricing and it's also very easy for customers to read. I try to have variety in pricing with plenty of $0.25 or less items. I've found that when people pick up one thing to buy, they are more likely to pick up other things as well, so have lots of $0.25 items and it might help you sell some of your larger-ticketed items, too!

7. Price things to sell. When I go to a yard sale, I expect to pay yard sale prices. That means that unless something is brand-new with the tags on, I am not going to pay more than a few quarters for it. When I am pricing my own items to sell, I always try to price things at what I feel would be a good bargain if I were buying the item at someone else's yard sale. I'd rather price something on the low end and have someone actually buy my item, then to have 25 people pick up the item and put it back down on the table because it is too expensive.

8. Advertise well. The marketing of your sale is going to be the number-one factor in how well your sale does. So put some time and effort into making a number of quality, clearly-readable signs in conspicuous places which easily lead to your home. Put as many signs in well-trafficked areas as possible.

Also, consider advertising in your paper or a free local newspaper. In different areas, advertising in the paper is very helpful. Other times, it is not necessary if you have good traffic and good signage. Experiment and see what works best. Above all, have very presentable and attractive signs--a sloppily-thrown together sign is not very inviting!

I have also found advertising on Craigslist to be very effective. I usually advertise the day before the sale and then re-post a revised ad each day of the sale. Again, make sure your ad is well-written, clearly-understandable, and inviting.

9. Don't forget the cookies and lemonade! What better way to teach your children entrepreneurial skills and let them earn a little money in the process than to have them set up their own little cookie and lemonade stands at the sale? Or, if it's cold outside, try selling hot chocolate, coffee, and fresh cinnamon rolls. One yard sale, we even set up a pancake griddle and sold pancakes hot off the griddle on Saturday morning.

Those are just a few things which I've found to be a great help in hosting a successful yard sale. What are your best tips for having a great yard sale? I'd love to hear!

Free ebook: Make Money Blogging

Go here to download a free ebook on making money blogging.

I've shared more tips and ideas on this subject in my series Blogging for Profit (scroll down to read all the posts in this series here).

Thanks, FreeStuff4Free.com!

Free eBay Conversion Secrets ebook

Go here to download a free download, eBay Conversion Secrets. I haven't sold on eBay for quite some time, but from what I know of eBay from past experience, it looked like this download had some helpful advice in it.

Thanks, FreeStuff4Free.com!

Bloggers/Website Owners: Earn $25 for signing up with ReadySite

If you are a blogger or a website owner who is interested in monetizing your blog/website, you definitely will want to check out ReadySite. This site was created by Logical Media--one of my very favorite affiliate websites.

Logical Media and ReadySite offer a variety of affiliate opportunities--some of which are completely free to sign up for. You just choose which offers you want to promote and they have text links, graphic ads, and more.

It's very simple to sign up for and to run and it really works. I receive a check from them every month for promoting a few of their free offers in blog posts and in sidebar ads.

Plus, when you sign up for ReadySite right now, you'll get a free $25!

By the way, if you are unfamiliar with how affiliate programs work and how you can maximize their potential on your blog or website, check out my article here.

Neilsen Homescan Consumer Panel: Earn rewards for scanning your purchases

The Nielsen Homescan Consumer Panel is once again accepting new applicants in many locations.

If you are accepted as a panel member with Nielsen Homescan, you will be sent a small hand-held scanner and will scan all the bar codes of everything you purchase. Once a week, you'll transmit this information to Nielsen and you'll earn points which can be redeemed for a variety of items from the Nielsen Gift Catalog.

The Nielsen Homescan Consumer Panel is a "mini-USA" that represents all types of Americans. Manufacturers and retailers will look at the information you send to them to decide what products to make and sell to consumers all across the country.

I posted about this opportunity awhile back when they were accepting applicants and many of you left comments on your experiences. Some of you did not enjoy doing this at all and some of you found it quite enjoyable. If you're interested in hearing about others' experiences in this program, check out the comments on this post.

Pinecone Research: Taking applications again

Pinecone Research--my favorite survey company--has some openings again for applications. Go here to apply. (Thanks, Simple Saving Savvy!)

If you're accepted, you'll be compensated $3 for each survey you fill out. It's not much, but it's a simple way to earn a little extra money each month. And every little bit helps, doesn't it?

CashCrate is another one of my favorite survey companies to recommend. I've personally tested them out and gotten paid promptly. Again, you are not going to make a large amount of cash, but if you faithfully complete the surveys with them on a regular basis, you will earn a nice little check each month. Go here to sign up.

By the way, if you are looking for other income-earning ideas, be sure to check out the different ideas I've posted here.

eBay: Five free listings

Want to try your hand at selling on eBay but don't want to pay the listing prices? Click on over here to read how you can get five free listings this month.

By the way, if you are looking for income-earning ideas, be sure to go here and scroll down through the posts there for dozens of links and posts to get you started.

Nielsen Homescan Consumer Panel: Earn rewards for scanning your purchases

 

I've been talking recently about simple things that anyone can do to earn a little extra money or gift cards from home. So far, I've shared about Swagbucks, MyPoints, and Ebates. Today I wanted to share a very unique opportunity which is currently accepting new applicants--the Nielsen Homescan Consumer Panel.

If you are accepted as a panel member with Nielsen Homescan, you will be sent a small hand-held scanner and will scan all the bar codes of everything you purchase. Once a week, you'll transmit this information to Nielsen and you'll earn points which can be redeemed for a variety of items from the Nielsen Gift Catalog.

The Nielsen Homescan Consumer Panel is a "mini-USA" that represents all types of Americans. Manufacturers and retailers will look at the information you send to them to decide what products to make and sell to consumers all across the country.

While I have personally not been a part of this panel, I have known many who have. From them I have heard that it takes awhile for your points to add up but you can earn some fairly nice prizes--like electronics and household items--if you stick with it.

If you are interested in signing up, they are taking applications for their panel right now. Go here to read more and sign up.

If any of you have had experience with the Nielsen Homescan Consumer Panel, I'd love to hear your thoughts and how it has worked for you.

Ebates: $5 bonus for signing up, $10 free from JCPenneys, and earn $30 when you refer three friends

If you haven't noticed, I'm doing an impromptu series this week on simple ways to earn extra money and gift cards. So far, we've talked about MyPoints and Swagbucks, today I wanted to introduce you to another of my favorite ways to earn a little extra money--Ebates.

Ebates is a little different than MyPoints or Swagbucks because it require you to spend money out of pocket in order to earn money. However, before you totally disregard this article because of that, consider whether you ever purchase anything online? Perhaps you don't but I'd say that the vast majority of us buy at least a few items of some sort or other online every year. Ebates is a great way to earn a kickback for those online purchases--even if they are rather infrequent.

Like MyPoints and Swagbucks, you won't get rich using Ebates, but it can generate a nice little bit of extra cash for you a few times per year. All you have to do is sign up here. Then, whenever you are getting ready to place an order online, go to Ebates first and search for the website you're ordering from. More often than not, it will be listed. Just click through the link to the website and place your order.

Within a few weeks of placing your order, you'll be credited with cash back for a percentage of your purchase. The cash back amount is normally only around 4% and while it might seem like a very miniscule amount, for me it is definitely worth a few dollars to go to the trouble of clicking through Ebates to place an order. And I've been amazed at how these little amounts add up over time.

When you first sign up with Ebates, you get a $5 bonus, just for signing up. Utilizing this sign-up bonus, here's how you can actually turn this into a great deal at Penneys right now (with thanks to Sheri for emailing me this idea!):

::Sign up for a new account with Ebates.
::Select JCPenney from the drop-down list of stores.
::Find something on the JCPenney's website which is a little over $10 and add it to your cart.
::Checkout with promo code GR8DAD to get $10 off your order.
::Checkout paying only for shipping and taxes (this will be around $5).
::Receive your $5 bonus as a new sign-up with Ebates and also receive 4% cash back for your order with Ebates.

All told, you will basically pay nothing out of pocket for $10 worth of merchandise from JCPenneys!

Ebates has a nice referral program too which pays you $5 for every new sign-up your referral link generates. If you try the program out and like it, you may as well pass the word along to your friends and help them earn a little cash back on their online purchases, too, right?

Right now, they are offering a special bonus: you can get $10 per sign-up if you refer three new people to Ebates. So if you have a blog or know a number of people who shop online, you'll definitely want to check Ebates out and consider passing the word along. Don't keep a good thing to yourself!

Guest Post: How I Dress My Children for Free

photo by loop oh

Guest Post by Melissa from Lake Michigan Treasures

When my son was little, I went to garage sales to buy all of his clothes. I did find some adorable clothes, but I also found many that were out of style, stained, and missing buttons. As he got older, it became harder to find clothes that looked good, and I wanted some good outfits for church, pictures, and other special events.

I began selling on eBay when he was about a year old in an attempt to make enough money so I could stay home with him. About 6 months later, I discovered Gymboree and found I loved their clothes!

However, I did not love their prices. Yet, when I went to the back of the store, I found some clothing that was discounted as much as 80%. Pants that would normally cost $28.00 were marked down to $6.99.  As I frequented Gymboree more, I learned ways to save even more which I wanted to share with you all:

::Buy only clearance items and always use coupons. (Many magazines such as Plum and Parenting Magazine offer 20% off coupons. I subscribe to the Gymbohaven Newsletter to learn what magazines are currently offering coupons.)

::Buy during Gymbucks earning time, but only buy items that are on clearance. If you purchase $50 worth of clothing during Gymbucks earning, they will give you a voucher for $25 off your $50 order during Gymbucks redemption. If you purchase $100, you will receive a voucher for $50 off your next $100 order. 

Gymboree offers Gymbucks about six times a year. Typically Gymbucks earning periods run about 6 weeks long and redemption periods run about 10-14 days. During the Gymbucks earning period, it is not unusual for Gymboree to have sales where they drop the price of shirts to $3.99, pants to $6.99, dresses to $6.99 to $9.99, and shoes to $4.99. If it is at the end of a season, I always buy my son clothes for next year in a size up from what he is currently wearing.

::Use eBay to make money back on your kids used Gymboree clothes. Even though it is possible to dress my kids (now I have a newborn daughter to dress in their adorable clothes too), for a fraction of the cost of retail at Gymboree, it is still not that frugal until eBay is added in.

For the last few years, once my child has outgrown his Gymboree clothes, I sell them on eBay, usually for the same price I bought them for or sometimes more than I paid! For instance, when my son was two, I fell in love with a pair of black corduroy overalls with a train on the front. I bought those and a matching turtleneck and socks (both with the train image on them) and spent approximately $22 on this outfit, and he wore it for his pictures, for Christmas, and to church.

After he had outgrown it, I sold it on eBay for $24.95! Basically, he wore this adorable outfit for an entire Winter and then I got all of my money back. I dressed him for free!

A few tips for selling your children's clothing on eBay:

::When buying at Gymboree, make sure to avoid plain items. For example, I bought my son a blue striped tee shirt and khaki shorts. Even though it is cute, because it is plain, I am having a hard time selling it on eBay.

::If possible, try to buy a set of clothing. Each line of clothing that Gymboree makes has a specific theme. The overall outfit I mentioned earlier was part of a line called “All Aboard.” Because I bought all the pieces with the train on them, they were more valuable for resale on eBay.

If you can find them, try to buy the matching socks or hair accessories (or for a baby, the bib), but don’t pay more than the discounted price for them because it is not worth it to pay full price for these items. I would rather go without the accessory than to pay full or nearly full price for them.

::Be aware that eBay shoppers follow the same seasons as retail stores. So, for instance, in February and March, when it is still cold, shoppers on eBay are snatching up Spring and Summer clothes.

If you try to sell your used Summer items in May or June when kids will actually use them, you won’t make much money because most parents already have their kids’ Summer wardrobe. By July and August, they are moving on to buying Fall and Winter clothes.

::If you have several kids, consider opening an eBay store. Part of my success comes from the fact that I have an eBay store and can just leave my son’s clothes in my store until they sell at the price I want. However, if you do open a store, there is a $15.95 a month fee, so I would only recommend this for some one who has three or more children with clothing to sell.

::If you do not want to open a store, sell your clothing at auction. Some people believe that if you start your auction at $0.99, you will get more bidders and will sell your items at a higher price. I usually do not find this to be true.

Instead, if you want to make sure you recoup the majority of your purchase price, I would recommend starting with a price of at least 50% of what you paid. So, if you bought a dress for $9.99, I would start the auction for at least $4.99 and offer a "Buy It Now" option of say, $12.99 (assuming the dress is in very good condition). 

If you want to be even safer, eBay allows you to put an item up for auction with only a "Buy It Now" option. You could put that same dress up for auction with only a "Buy It Now" price of $12.99, so you know for sure, if it sells, you will get your money back. Or, you could auction it with a "Buy It Now" price of $12.99 and also allow "Best Offers". (Allowing "Best Offers" means that potential buyers can e-mail you with the price they are willing to pay, and you can accept or reject their offer.)

::Make sure your auction description is precise. I bought a four-piece set of Janie and Jack clothing (the upscale sister store of Gymboree owned by Gymboree) for my son off of eBay two years ago for approximately $18.00. I got it this inexpensive because there was a small hole in the knee of the pants.

I stitched up the hole, and my son wore this outfit for two Winters. I just sold it a few weeks ago for $12.99 even though I honestly stated in my auction that it had the mended hole in the knee and two small stains on the shirt (compliments of my son). Because I gave an honest description of the item, the buyer left me positive feedback and was pleased with the transaction and so was I. My son wore an outfit for two years and it only depreciated $5, despite the addition of stains.

Gymboree is not your only source for buying Gymboree clothing. I have had good success buying gently used Gymboree clothes from second hand childrens' clothing stores and then selling them on eBay after my son outgrows them. 

If you remember the buying cycle, eBay can also be a good place to pick up used Gymboree clothes, as well. I have purchased several of my son’s Summer outfits in May or June for a very reasonable price because the seller didn’t sell within the correct eBay selling season and there are just not that many buyers for Summer items sold in June.

I hope that these tips and ideas have encouraged you that it is possible to dress your child in Gymboree clothing without breaking the bank. And if you do it right, you can dress your child for free!

Melissa has owned and operated an eBay store, Lake Michigan Treasures, for the last four years. She lives with her husband and two children in the Midwest and is constantly trying to find ways to save money without skimping on quality.

Photos from Gymboree.com unless otherwise stated.

Swag Bucks: Sign up and get 6 free bonus points!

If you've read here with any regularity in the last few months, you know I've become quite excited about a search engine called Swag Bucks. There are lots of scam programs out there promising all sorts of things, but Swag Bucks is one of the few programs I've found that really works.

If you're unfamiliar with Swag Bucks, basically it's a search engine that randomly rewards you with points just for doing online searches. Seriously, that's all there is to it.

You'll likely earn between 1-3 points per day for searches and when you have 45 points, you can cash in for a $5 Amazon gift card. And there are dozens of other great prizes to choose from as well. 

For those of you with blogs or who have lots of friends who use the internet, you'll also want to check out their referral program. For every person who signs up with your referral code, you can earn up to 100 matching Swag Bucks! I have had so much fun introducing many of my friends to this fun program and seeing them earn prizes for doing what most all of us do on a regular basis every day--searching online!

Since I've heartily endorsed Swag Bucks on my blog in the last few months after having such great success with it myself, Swag Bucks contacted me and asked if they could give out six free bonus points to any one who signs up through my blog.

To use this code and earn 6 free bonus points just for signing up, all you have to do is be a new registrant to Swag Bucks and use the code MSMBLOGCODE when you sign up here.

You'll get 3 points for signing up and 3 points for using the above code, giving you 6 free points just for signing up. And you'll be well on your way toward your first gift card!

This code is only good through Friday, March 27, 2009 so be sure you take advantage of it this week!