Make $25 Online Quick!

I just finished up an opportunity I stumbled upon on WAHM.com to make a quick $25! It's through a Facebook app, and can be found here. Several members on the WAHM forum have already been paid, so I thought "why not?" I signed up on the above page last night, and received the email from them this morning.

All you are doing is reviewing local businesses, ten of them. It's for AroundMe. It's that easy. It took me a minute to figure out how to submit a review, but you find one of the businesses listed and you'll see "submit review" listed beside the name of the biz. 

The lady who sent that first email was very prompt and helpful with answering my questions, and it took less than an hour to write them all up. They ask for them to not be all restaurants, so I did a couple banks, an insurance agent, and a dentist along with some restaurants and hotels I am familiar with.

They ask the reviews be between 60 and 150 words, which wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. 

All in all, it was probably the easiest 25 bucks I've ever earned in my life! Check it out!

Black Friday, only a week away!

Every Mom should take note of Black Friday deals, whether online or off. Black Friday often offers such ridiculously great deals, it really pays to get up early and fight the crowd for the sales that allow you to buy more for Christmas.

It makes sense to check as many ads as possible and map out the best course of action. While store A may be offering great deals on electronics, store B might have a hard to beat deal on the season's hottest toys. Several places are advertising their Black Friday deals ahead of time so you can map it out yourself for the bargains that fit your needs the best.

Some people like to plan their sales with family or friends and make a special day of it. Getting up early for a light breakfast and a big pot of coffee is important to keep your stamina going for a long day of shopping. My friends make an annual tradition of hitting certain stores first, sometimes branching out and meeting back up afterward at a different store.

A great idea for a quick breakfast on Black Friday is a breakfast casserole. You can prep this the night before and throw it in the oven first thing in the morning. No muss, no fuss. Tear up pieces of bread, stale is fine, and fill the bottom inch or so of a casserole dish. I spray mine with butter flavored cooking spray first. Throw in a layer of each of hash browns, chopped sausage or ham, and a little bit of diced onion. Cover it with four eggs, lightly scrambled, and cover that with a layer of cheddar cheese. Let the eggs soak in overnight, it really makes a difference! In the morning, pop it in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes or so, until the eggs seem set. Yummy! 

BlackFriday.info has coupons and sale ads for many major stores, what an invaluable service! Everything you need right there on one site! I looked around and found so many bargains, it was hard to peel myself away! Just keep your eyes open, and you're sure to find many great deals this holiday season!

eHow update, I've made a thousand bucks!

I finally did it! Today I broke a thousand dollars on eHow, that's total overall earnings. I started with one article in late July 08, so in 16 months with 158 articles (after sweeps) I've finally hit a big milestone, yay!

My earnings per month just keep going up, even though I haven't written very many  new articles in the past several months. This month I'm projecting I'll make around $140, my best month yet.

Now if I could only get the creative juices flowing and churn out 158 more articles, I'd be sitting pretty. I keep saying I'm going to, and I have a huge list of article ideas I'd like to dig in on. But really, I think I'm going to write some recipes before diving in bigger topics.

Recipe articles don't earn that great on eHow, but they're pretty consistent. Especially around the holidays. But if you have enough written, it does add up to a nice little profit each month. 

That's the greatest part about residual income. You write it once, and it just keeps on earning. I need to tweak some of the lower earning articles, most of those were from when I was still new to online writing, and didn't have a great keyword or SEO strategy.

I just had to share my milestone, I'm so happy!

Trying to Maintain My Sanity

Well, I'm trying to maintain my sanity. It may or may not be working out so well! You know, when I took the leap and became a SAHM, I thought everything would just magically fall into place, that the house would somehow become sparkling clean, and I wouldn't miss the adult interaction I got from working. HA!

Apparently, I need more structure. Without time constraints, a lot of things are not getting done. Egads, this house is still a disaster!

So, the only solution I think that might help is a pretty strict schedule. I've been falling into a natural pattern with housework, like laundry is usually done Mondays and Thursdays, with a small load over the weekend. Dishes tend to get done in the late afternoon. Things like that.

It's just not enough. I'll be thinking it through and coming up with a better plan of attack on housework. I'm seriously open to suggestions!

Some WAHM opportunities seem to be fizzling out. My favorite job poster on MTurk is taking a break. I'd say about three quarters of the work I've done on MTurk came from that one job alone! I've been researching some others, I signed up at LiveWork and applied for an ad reviewer there. I impressed myself by doing really well on some of the skills testing. 

Another opportunity I'm looking into, but somewhat leery of, is dropshipping. It just almost sounds too easy. From what I've read, you just really REALLY have to research the dropshipping company you order from. Basically, you're buying things straight from the warehouse at wholesale prices, selling them on eBay, and they ship for you. You don't even buy it until your auction has ended and has been paid for. It sounds like it could become an excellent addition to making money at home.

All in all, it's been hectic around here. I swear, I felt less stressed when I was working. I never dreamed I'd say that!

For the love of coffee!

Anybody who knows me knows exactly how much I love coffee. I heart coffee! I cannot imagine starting my day without a big mug of java. Now that I'm a stay at home mom, I have more time to enjoy and savor my daily treat.

I recently found on Gevalia's website an offer for three bags of their coffee for three bucks! I assumed it would be trial sized bags, but was very pleasantly surprised to find they were indeed full sized bags, horray!

I got the Creme Brulee and Dark Chocolate Truffle flavored coffees, and a Decaf. I seem to crave coffee in the evenings, and the jolt of caffeine in those hours is not a good thing. Each of the ones I received are divine! I'm definitely a fan!

I wasn't sure what flavor to try for the decaf, but I really like my flavored creamers, so figured I'd enjoy those in the evenings. I'm liking this plan.

In the mornings, I find as I sip my coffee I'm better able to plan my day. It's my zen time, Gracie is eating her breakfast, and I'm able to map out just what I need to accomplish for the day with a renewed sense of well being. 

I'm not quite sure how I used to wake up and function before I started drinking coffee. Perhaps this is why I used to be so grumpy? I have only been a coffee drinker for a little less than ten years now. But then again, I got more sleep back then without a toddler waking at the crack of dawn!

If you are looking for a fantasticly smooth coffee, check out Gevalia. I was so very impressed. I'd  always heard their products were great, I just took a little while to get around trying it. Of course, three bags for three bucks, I couldn't pass it up!