Handmade Jewelry

Unknown Hardwood, Finished with Wax

Here is our first try at handmade jewelry.  The wood is about 1/2" in diameter.  We carved the cross using a CNC machine, hand finished and waxed it, hand drilled the sterling silver circle at the top, added the link for the necklace, and put it on a bought sterling silver serpentine chain.

Bloodwood, finished with varnish

Here is version 2, with the same design, but done in Bloodwood and varnished instead of waxed.  The varnish makes it more water resistant (you can shower with it) and shinier.

Based on a perusal of etsy, I'm guessing that this is about a $15 item, including the shipping and chain.  Does that seem reasonable to you?  Which version do you like better?

2011 Goals

Here we go ...

1) Religious/Spiritual 
     A) Continue to Tithe - one of my big wins in 2010, let's keep the streak going!
     B) Start a daily religious practice - I tried to get really specific about this last year, and ended up burning out. Rather than setting up a to do list, I want to give myself 15 minutes a day where I pray, meditate, read the bible, write in a gratitude journal, sing, or do whatever the spirit moves me to do that day.  Once this is a regular activity, I'll see where my spiritual journey needs to go.

2) Health
     A) Eat within my Weight Watchers points every day - I weighed 169 lbs on the scale yesterday, which puts me 21 pounds over my "thin" weight and 12 pounds over my lifetime weight.  Rather than worry about a time line and a weight goal, I'm just going to eat right and exercise.  I'll re-evaluate in March - if I'm not losing weight, I'll worry about it then.  On that note ...
     B) i. Exercise six days a week - I have Judo 2x a week.  I'll go to the gym the other 4, even if it's just for a light, 20 minute swim.  A sub-goal, because I am this anal, is to ii. make the check-in list at my gym every month.  To get on the list, I must check in at least 17 times a month.

3) Financial
     A) Have a side business (or multiple) netting 1K a month before taxes by December 2011  I've got several ideas on this front, from farm eggs to online jewelry.  I need to just keep plugging away at it until I find something(s) that works.  More on this as events develop.
    B) Fully Fund 2011 Roth IRAs Needed - 10K, currently have 0K - see 3A
    C)  Save in anticipation of (hopefully very temporary) loss of primary income.  It's coming.  The more I can cut from the budget, and the more I can sock away, the longer we'll have before we have to make desperation kinds of decisions.

4) Dreams
     A) Get the farm books in order, facilitate farm improvements, and manage the goats.This year, I am going to take over the farm bookkeeping.  This will free up my Mom to assist the new farm manager into transitioning into his duties, incorporate the new 152 acres into the property, and work on a national lecture tour, which is one of her big dreams.  She's actually speaking at the 2011 Southern Sustainable Agriculture Conference in Tennessee later this month, her first national conference.  I also need to manage the goats more closely.  We've been in growth mode on the herd for a long time, but now it's time to maintain what we have and begin to cull the bottom 10% and replace it with better genetics.  This will require near-daily monitoring to watch for health problems, as well as miscarriages and stillbirths.  It will also require meticulous record keeping.
     B) Begin again on piano  Talked to my dad about this today and we are going to get started again.  My goal is still to be able to accompany at my church on the piano when our current organist is out of town, busy, or sick (our back-up organist is very talented, but she's over eighty, and won't be around forever).
     C) Re-connect with my Chinese friend  We got busy and it stopped happening, but she's a sweetie and I need to spend more time with her.  Also, it's fun to speak Chinese, at least until I run out of words :)

5) Prosaic
     1) Practice with my carry firearms at least once a month This was a big fail for me last year.  I was late getting my Louisiana permit application in last year (long story), so I don't have a valid carry permit and probably won't get one until mid-March at the earliest.  The silver lining is that this gives me time to brush up before I am carrying again.
     2) Consistently do Flylady routines.  Last year, I decided to give up having a housekeeper and do my house myself.  When I follow her routines reasonably consistently, my house is acceptably neat.  I am not trying for Martha Stewart neat, just reasonably not dirty.

Accountability 
In an effort to give myself some accountability, I'm going to review these goals monthly on the first of every month.  Wish me luck (and good health too, please).

Lending Club Offer - Get $40

Moneyfunk has signed up to get a loan from Lending Club.  This spurred me to take a look at the website again.  Last time I looked, I didn't meet the annual income/net worth requirement, so I couldn't invest.  This time, I still don't meet the requirements ($70K/$70K in most states), but I can lend up to $2500 anyway.  I decided to sign up - I figure even the reasonably low-risk loans will pay enough better than my savings account fees to be worth the risk.

Get $40 - If you too are thinking about investing at Lending Tree, post an email address in your comments and  I can "invite" you, thus giving you an extra $40 when you sign up.  

Option 4

As I said yesterday, I'm really debating whether to send a few more coats to children in Afghanistan. 

I considered 3 options yesterday, but I didn't like any of them. So today I have decided to go with option 4 - sell some stuff on ebay. 

Today only, they are offering 50% off listing fees, and I had minor surgery this morning, so I couldn't go to work, so I got motivated to list 31 items for sale today.  29 of them start at 99 cents, but if I manage to sell enough between now and the end of the month to cover my overdrawn toy budget, I've promised myself that any extra can be spent on coats for Afghan children (after tithe, of course).

Kind of Lame Giving, unexpected benefit of the Earn More Challenge

OK, my giving for today is - driving my recyclables to the dump.  There's no pick-up in my area, so recycling is really only for the committed.  So, I'm giving, in that I am keeping stuff out of my local landfill, and also giving my parish a bit more cash (they sell all the stuff they collect, except for glass).  Yep, it's lame, but I spent all day working on the farm, and didn't have time to find any good money-less giving.

One nice side benefit of the September Earn More Challenge has been that I have learned to use ebay.  A few weeks ago, Slickdeals had a great deal on Crocs  Nanooks - $12 with free shipping.  (As an aside, Slickdeals is a great website, unless you are unable to resist impulse purchases, in which case, never go there).  Anyway, when the shoes finally arrived, I discovered that they were too short and wide to fit me.  I quickly calculated that sending them back would net me about $4 after shipping.  However, the sale was long ended, and people were still buying them on ebay for only a little less than their listed price.  I listed mine there, and they sold within a day - I actually made a few dollars!

Aside from that, I also had an ebay customer from last month pay (I had written her off for challenge purposes) and sold one of the books I listed on half during the September challenge.  I ended up with another $25.89 (after shipping, packing  material, and fees) that I would never have earned if not for the challenge.

Now I am conflicted - should I spend this money on giving?  Or on one of my major wants this month - wool boot socks from Gander Mountain?  What would you do?

Earn More Tithe 4/10

$50.63 more in $ to my church - tithed on my Earn More money and knocked out one of my 10 day gives at the same time. 

Also, I have my giving for the last day of the challenge set up - the lady who donated the magazines and I are going to do a duet of "Because He Lives" at Church next Sunday. I need to learn the alto line for it, so there's time donation involved.  Also, I find the lyrics a bit over the top, so the hymn is not my favorite.  My fellow musician has already chosen this music for her funeral (she's a bit older than me); she's a fan.  And I am the one who suggested it, which I would not have done had I not been looking for non-monetary ways to give back.   So, all in all , a win for giving more.

Wish me luck on the alto line - I generally sing soprano, so this is a bit of a stretch for me.

Earn More Results and Give More Kickoff

My stated goal for the Earn More Challenge was to make $555.56 by selling on ebay, selling on half, donating plasma, picking up cans, and anything else I could think of.

Here's how I did:

Total Extra Earned: $ 506.33  (short $49.23)

(1) Ebay and Half - net $366.32 - Ebay was more time consuming that I had realized; taking pictures and photoshopping them to look decent, as well as writing out descriptions, took on average 30 minutes per item.  This would probably get faster if I had more practice.  Half was much faster; I would say it averaged about three minutes an item. On half I listed 63 itmes, of which 6 sold, taking about 3.1 hours. On ebay I  sold 18 items and had 31 unsold auctions, so that's about 24.5 hours.  All together 27.6 hours, so an average of $13.27 an hour, assuming a base cost of zero for all items (which is pretty reasonable, since I usually donate clothing and books, and I don't itemize tax deductions).

(2) Plasma donation - net $90.00 - I only managed to donate for the first week.  It took me 9.5 hours for my two successful donations, for an hourly wage of $9.47 (not including driving time).  I am not counting my failed attempt at donation, where I waited four hours and finally left in frustration.  If I had been able to make myself donate plasma one more week, I would have achieved my goal.  But the time spent on ebay did not really leave me enough free time for plasma donation, and, as you can see from the hourly comparison, ebay was a better use of my time.

(3) Selling cans - net $0 - I couldn't find anywhere local that buys cans.  I know I can sell them about 45 minutes away, but I rejected that as not being worth the time and gas money.

(4) Anything else - net $50.01 - I cashed in my Amazon.com credit card points for a $50 cheque, and I found a penny on the ground (thanks, SS4BC;)

In conclusion, I have an extra $506.33, a few nice clothes to take to the consignment shop, and ~ 10lbs of aluminum cans.  I'm glad I participated; I'm happy to have the extra money.  I'm also glad that I didn't go with my original goal of $200 - that would have been too easy, and there's no way I would have kept up the ebaying at the rate I did all month once I was at goal.  This challenge did remind me, though, why I don't try to make extra money this way on a regular basis - it pretty much sucked all of the "me" time out of the month of September.

On that note, I'm trying something different for the month of October - Christian PF's 10 Day Give.  His idea is to give at least one thing every day for ten days.  It doesn't have to be money, which is good, because my discretionary spending for the entire month of October is $36.  And it makes a nice segue from the Earn More Challenge, because today I am giving a relative the aluminum cans.  She and her husband live on her SSI disability and his social security cheque, and I know that one of their small extra income streams is selling aluminum.  I still don't know what aluminum cans are worth by the pound, but I can assure you that the money will mean more to her than it does to me.

No More Time to Earn More

This week, I really just don't have any time.  I have a calf with an infection, 15 new baby goats, planting to do, and my mom has to deal with her sick sister, so she can't take up any slack for me.

It looks like I am probably going to fall short of my earn more goals.
I have six items left on ebay, and theoretically, if they all sold, I'd make it.  Since my sell-through rate has averaged a little less than 30%, and none of them have bids so far, I'm not holding my breath.  And, of course, I still have books up on half; it is possible that a bunch of them could sell in the next few days.  But, barring divine intervention, I'm not quite going to hit my goal. 

I'm aiming to get my final tally and thoughts up first thing on Thursday morning and I'll let you know then how I came out.  Good luck to everyone else working on the challenge!

Earn More Challenge Update, Day 22

I have earned $355.46 so far.

The breakdown, for those who are interested:

Gross:
$90 - plasma donation
$50 - credit card cash reward redemption
$321.65 - ebay and half

Expenses:
$45.68 - shipping
$44.86 - ebay fees
$15.65 - packing supplies
This does not include half or paypal's take, as they are much harder to break out. So, really my ebay and half gross is slightly larger, and my fees and expenses are also slightly higher.

I calculated that I needed to make $18.55/daily to meet my goal of $555.56. To be up-to-date, I would need to have made $408.10 by today, so I am down $52.64.

I have another $74.98 in bids on ebay. After fees, that will be about $67.50. So I really only have $132.60 left to go.

I am going to do one more round of ebay, ending all my auctions on Sunday, so I will have plenty of time to collect money and get items shipped out. If I don't have enough by then, it'll be back to the plasma center for me, which would make me a sad panda (I don't mind the actual donation, it's the hours of waiting that I despise). Crossing my fingers that I can find enough stuff around my house that will sell.

The axe has fallen ... and it missed us (this time)

Mr. Goat's company laid off 15% of its employees today. He wasn't laid off, but he's looking at taking over half the workload of someone who was. Since he already works an 80 hour week, things could get ... interesting around here. I can relax a little on my decision not to spend any extraneous money, but I am still not joining the local golf course.

I am waiting for my latest round of ebay to finish tonight before updating my earn more challenge. I am still behind, but it looks like I'm only about $250 down, with a week and a couple of days left to go.

I am debating trying to donate plasma for one more week. On one hand, it would probably push me over goal. On the other, two hours of driving and eight to ten hours of waiting for $60 is really hard to get motivated to do. That's pretty much all my free time for this week. I am crossing my fingers that a couple of big items sell well on ebay later this week, and I'll be able to forgo any more plasma donations and still meet my goal.

Lost Steam, but Getting Back on Track - Day 14

The plasma donation last Wednesday did not go well. I waited four hours and finally left in frustration, as I had a doctor's appointment that I needed to make. Since I was a no-show (signed in but did not donate), I am ineligible to donate for a certain period of time. I need to call the center and find out how long that period is, but I may have blown all my plasma money for September. At any rate, I didn't get any plasma donation money for this week.

That evening, I slipped on a wet porch and fell down four stairs, giving myself a nasty bruise and difficulty moving all weekend. It also knocked a lot of my challenge energy out of me; I didn't do anything for the rest of the week but ship items that had already sold on ebay and half. Mostly I zoned out on the Aion open beta.

However, last evening and today I have started to get back on track. Half and ebay have been slow but consistent earners for me, so I have listed 17 items on ebay and now have more than 50 items on half. This evening, I added my total sales from ebay and half for the month, and subtracted shipping and supplies, for a net of $95.25.

So my total money earned for the challenge so far is $185.25.

I am way behind.

If I can make as much from ebay in the second half of the month as I did in the first half, I am looking at ~ $280 for the month, way short of my goal. Four more plasma donations (assuming I can do them at all) puts me up to only ~ $410.

I do have some clothing that I decided would not move well on ebay, and I am going to try to consign it. But the reason it won't move well is that it is mostly stuff from Macy's, which has such a low resale value that I can't expect much from it, even if it sells.

Time to shift the prayer wagon into gear, and ask for some energy and inspiration.

Spend Less or Earn More? - Day 9

Musings of a Midlife Mom asked: is it easier to earn less or spend more? So far this month, earning more has felt like pulling teeth, so I have to go with spending less. As I said in a previous post, I am doing both this month, due to job insecurity. And it has been much easier to stretch the grocery budget a bit than to figure out how to make extra cash.

That's why I'm glad that I signed up for the challenge. It has forced me to move beyond my comfort zone and really think about the ways I could add more income, and whether those ways are worth it to me in the long term. Without the challenge, I don't think I'd have ever tried plasma donation, for instance. I certainly wouldn't have discovered how much fun it is to check my ebay auctions and discover that an item was bid on, or bid up, since the last time I looked.

Speaking of which, I have sold two items, and have two items with bids (once of which ends this evening). I have achieved a sales rate of 4 of 13. Therefore, I have decided that I will continue to put items up on ebay for the remainder of the month, rather than taking them to the consignment store. Unfortunately, no one has paid me yet, and I can't count it as income until I have it in my hot little hands (or paypal account, as the case may be). So I have zero income for today. Look for a big jump in my balance tomorrow, though, as it is a plasma donation day and hopefully I will have some money coming in from ebay as well.

Challenge Totals:
Today: $0/18.55 = (18.55)
Total: $99.27 /166.95 = (67.68)

P.S. I have found 14 more books to list on half, so did accomplish the goal I set for myself yesterday. My goal for tomorrow is to list or re-list 5 items on ebay.

Half sales from the weekend - Day 8

I got the three books ordered off half over the last weekend off today, for a gain of $8.37 after commission and postage. I've been working really hard on the farm for the last couple of days, and extra money has sort of fallen by the wayside. That, and I am waiting for my ebay auctions to close to see how I come out re:ebay or consignment.

My goal for tomorrow is to find 10 more books that I can live without and list them on half. I also have one ebay auction ending in a sale tonight, so hopefully they will pay me and I can get it shipped off tomorrow.

Challenge Totals:
Today: $8.37/18.55 = (10.18)
Total: $99.27 /148.40 = (49.13)

No Ebay Sales, but a couple of bids - Day 7

So far, I haven't sold anything on ebay. However, in addition to the shirt that was bid on yesterday, someone has put a bid on my mom's old purse. So 2 of the 13 items I put up will sell. I've still got 6 of the 13 up after tonight; if 1 or 2 more sell (besides the ones that already have bids) I'll call it worth my time. Otherwise, off to the consignment store I go!

Challenge Totals:
Today: $0/18.55 = (18.55)
Total: $90.90 /129.85 = (38.95)

Nuthin' but Ebay - Day 6

Finished putting the last of my test items up on ebay - ended up with 13 items total. If they sell well enough, I'll try to put more up. If they don't, I'll take everything into the consignment store on Thursday when I go to town to donate plasma. I'm encouraged because one item already has enough bid on it to cover my ebay fees so far, and it is a sleeveless shirt, so the consignment stores wouldn't have taken it anyway. Crossing my fingers for some sales tomorrow.

High Class, Low Income made $125 babysitting; I am trying to think of anyone who might like my babysitting services, but am so far coming up blank. But I appreciate the idea for a different income source.

Challenge Totals:
Today: $0/18.55 = (18.55)
Total: $90.90 /111.30 = (20.40)

Plasma Donation Success - Day 3

Made my first-ever plasma donation today. + $30 to the earn more challenge!

Some of the questions I had before I donated (which the helpful videos did not address):

(1) Does it really take two hours for your first donation?
A: No. In my case, it took 6.5 hours from the time I walked in the door to the time I walked out. I guess, if you could find a time that was not busy, it would be faster. Or a center not as slammed as this one. (My guess is that, as long as the economy remains in the toilet, this is not likely).

(2) Does it hurt?
A. Yes, about as much as a regular blood donation. Like a blood donation, they do a finger prick, which can be more painful than the big needle stick. I suspect that, like a blood donation, it depends on the skill of your phlebotomist. Mine was about 8 of 10 today.

(3) Is it really sterile?
A. Yes. The pictures of the machines make it look like your blood is passing through the machine. In actuality, the machine houses disposable tubing, which all comes out of a nice package right before your eyes.

(4) Who is going to be donating blood at the bed next to me?
A. Students and working-class people. Drunk vagrant-types don't pass the screening process, so they don't hang out in the waiting area. In this center, no one but donors was allowed in the waiting area, which meant that there were no children, either. The people around me generally had thicker regional accents than I do, but were uniformly pleasant and friendly to me (some got irate at the staff members for the long wait).

(5) Am I going to feel like a total noob, since I don't know the system?
A. Yes, but it doesn't matter. Both staff and other donors were willing to point me in the right direction when I did something noob-ish, and everyone was very nice about it.


(6) Am I going to look like a needle-crazed junkie after donating?
A. No, with the caveat that you have to get a decent phlebotomist. The picture is of my arm ~3.5 hours afterward. There's a big red mark and a bit of bruising, but I expect it will be pretty much unnoticeable tomorrow. (I'll post a picture if it actually erupts into anything spectacular-looking)

(7)Is this a viable long-term income source for me?
A. Probably not. It's about a 40 minute drive from my house, so with the long wait time, I just don't see myself giving up half a day for their regular donor fee (currently $25/40) after this month. If I lived closer, or had work or studying that I could do while waiting to be called, I'd be more tempted.

The thing that most surprised me was how interested people were in my Kindle. I had no less than ten people (staff and donors) ask me what it was, how it got books, how much it cost, etc. I didn't think that very many people would be interested in an ebook reader; when they finally get one down to a reasonable price point, they are going to sell like hotcakes, it appears.

Besides plasma donation, I have managed to list a few pieces of clothing on ebay yesterday. I'll try to get a few more on tonight. Basically, the idea is to run a few items a day for a week or so and see if I am selling enough to offset the expense of doing business on ebay. One real benefit to a consignment store is that they don't charge you an upfront fee. I am pricing by (1)making an educated guess as to what they would sell on consignment (2) calculating 40% of that and (3) adding enough to the starting bid that my take will equal that number. I figure the upfront fees of three items into each one, as I feel that I will be lucky to sell 1/3 of what I am listing. I am not using a buy it now feature because I believe the added costs raise my asking price too much. If you use ebay and have critiques as to my underlying assumptions or methodology, I would much appreciate them.

I have also divided my goal by the number of days to get a per day amount of $18.55. So I am going to start tracking that, as well, to see if I am ahead or behind. So far I am down a little less than $25, but the month is young!

Challenge Totals:
Today: $30/18.55 = 11.45
Total: $30.90 /55.65 = (24.75)

First Money! - Day 2

I got my first money for the earn more challenge. I sold A Game of Thrones on half for a whopping 75 cents. So $.75 (price) + $2.64 (shipping reimbursement) - $.11 (commission) - $2.38 (actual shipping) = $.90.

It's better than a kick in the pants;)

Hopefully I will make more tomorrow at the plasma center.

Challenge Totals:
Today: $.90
Total: $.90

Earn More Challenge, September 2009

OK, Tomorrow I (and all the lovely ladies and gentlemen listed on Money Funk's Blog) officially kick off the Earn More Challenge.

I am setting myself a goal, straight off, so that I know what I am aiming for:
$555.56 in extra earnings this month. That will be exactly $500 after tithe.

I was going to be sensible and aim for $200, but I am pretty sure that I can make that. So I decided that I would aim for $500, and I plan much prayer, because this will only be accomplished with divine aid.

I owe a family member $30,000 that I borrowed five years ago to pay for my education. It was borrowed to be paid back "in full, when I could afford it," but, unfortunately, I made the decision to get into even more debt, and I have only saved about $2000 toward this debt in the intervening years. I plan to add the $500 to this account, currently in various securities, and hope that the market will do better for me than a savings account (even Smarty Pig is down to 2% APR QQ). For various reasons, I have never achieved the gazelle-like intensity that Dave Ramsey talks about on my debt, but this month, I am planning to go all out.

I plan to accomplish this by:
(1) prayer. Since I have made almost no extra income since I quit my last job, $500 is a quantum leap for me.
(2) Selling clothing on ebay and through consignment stores. My test run on ebay leads me to believe that I will do better at local consignment stores. I plan to take clothing there tomorrow, and ebay anything that they won't take.
(3) Selling books on half.com. Basically, I will list my entire bookshelf, and see what sells. With a Kindle full of free books and a library, I don't really need most of them anyway.
(4) Plasma donation. This is a big stretch for me; I have never donated before. However, I called my local center, and I estimate that I could make $350 this month donating plasma alone (including the new donor bonus on the first week). Of course, I have to qualify and I have to be able to make it all 10 possible times for that to work out. I plan to make my first visit tomorrow, and see how possible further visits look afterward.
(5) Picking up cans. This is actually a big maybe, as I have not been able to find anyone in my area that buys them. More on this as I learn whether it is viable or not.
(6) ??? I don't think that I have quite enough yet, even if plasma donation yields $350. This is where prayer comes in. I will also be checking the other bloggers for inspiration, so get cracking guys!

PineCone Research Cheque

Sunflowers over at The Debt Chronicles posted a referral for PineCone Research on August 12th. I signed up that day, took my first survey the next, and received my first $3 cheque today. The survey took maybe 10 minutes of my time, so they're basically paying $18/hr.

If you are interested in signing up, her referral page is here.

Sold my first book at Half

Sold my first book on Half yesterday, and my second today. Both were Anita Blake novels, go figure. I find it a bit embarrassing now to admit that I ever liked the series (Q:How much multiple-partner-vampire-werewolf-other sex do you need to put in a book? A:Enough to cover the complete lack of any plot or character development) but I guess they are still popular.

So a double win for me - I get them off my bookshelf and a little cash in my pocket.