I haven't used this blog in a long time. But at a recent party, several friends and I started talking. We all live in Clovis, and most of us had "real" (meaning professional and full-time) jobs before moving out here. Once out here, though, our employment opportunities dwindled to zip. So we decided to have kids while we waited to move out of here.
But, we got bored. Don't get us wrong, we love our kids, but we miss doing something more challenging than playing Candy Land. We all also missed the income we used to make. Together, we make up a former teacher, a former civil engineer, a former real estate executive, and a former corporate sales executive. To us, there seems to be a huge industry catering "work from home jobs" to us. And we think we've seen it all living near a military base.
Last year, I counted fifty eight separate "work from home" businesses that my friends were starting, running, and trying to get me to buy from. They included:
Amway
appointment setting
article writing
Avon
hair styling
hanging Christmas lights
Herbalife
home childcare
house cleaning
house painting
interior decorating
making baby blankets
making baby slings
making beaded jewelry
making belts
making decorative flip-flops
making earrings
making hair bows
making jewelry from seashells
making purses
making tutus
making wooden ornaments
manicures and pedicures
Mary Kay
mowing lawns
office cleaning
painting murals
Pampered Chef
Partylite
personal shopping
personal stylist
personal training
petsitting
photography
planning birthday parties
reselling baby products at consignment shops
Scentsy
selling baby clothes on ebay
selling books on amazon
Shake it Up
Silpada
Stampin Up
Tastefully Simple
Thirty-one
Tupperware
tutoring
window cleaning
Those of you who are counting will realize that's only 47 separate business ideas the I wasv"invited" to "participate" in. Some of them I was asked to join twice, so I counted them twice. While talking with my friends, I realized we were all being hit up for about the same list of stuff. And, in an effort to be friendly, get along with our husbands' business associates' wives, make money, or even just alleviate boredom, we each had tried at least one of these schemes.
If you're reading this, we're guessing that you've been in the same boat. Which is why we're starting this blog. Every week, I'm going to write about our experiences with one of these businesses. Was it worth the time and effort? Did we make any money? Does anyone make any money with it? Have we found a new career, or have we just wasted a lot of time and embarassed ourselves?
Additionally, we want to help all the other women out there who are looking for a real way to make some money and have a life outside of raising children. So, if your frinds are pressuring you to try out their latest business idea, tell us about it. Odds are, we know someone who has done it and is willing to share their experiences. Leave us a comment, and we'll address it in a future post.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Monday, November 30, 2009
Boycott Best Buy
I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. It was pretty quiet around here; the three of us ate turkey. Then, I left the house at 12:45 to hit Black Friday sales with a few friends in Amarillo. We hit Target, Toys R' Us, and Kohl's, got everything we wanted (and then some) and finally got home around 10:00 AM MST.
Unfortunately, my brother Matt didn't get what he wanted. Best Buy advertised $180 laptops, so my brother went to get one for his wife at 9 PM Thursday night. The ad said that there were plenty in stock, and that the store would be handing out tickets for the items at 3AM. After waiting for a few hours in the cold, when store employees came out at 3AM they only tried to get people to sign up for credit cards. Matt asked about the laptops, he was told they had "plenty". At 4:30 the store finally handed out the tickets for the laptops, all 10 of them. Then they had the gall to try to sell everyone else $600 laptops. Matt was mad (he refused to even go in the store), but not bnearly as made as guy #11 who had pitched a tent in front of the store for 2 days. That meant store employees passed him on the way out Wednesday night, and no one had the common decency to tell him to go home and spend Thanksgiving with his family, since they knew full well there were no laptops.
Now, I understand that Best Buy can run its sale anyway it wants. I get that they only offer a few deeply discounted items to get people into the store. Making people wait in line for days for products they know they don't have in stock, however, is just wrong. Furthermore, not telling people that they were out of those items at 3AM, as their ad said they would, is illegal. Did they really think that the kind of people who skip Thanksgiving for a good deal were going to be upsold several hundred dollars in a moment of panic?
And before you say something, yes, my brother tried to buy one online at 3AM. He went to the website at 2:45, and the deals weren't posted yet. He kept refreshing the page until 3 AM, when the website was mysteriously "down for maintenace". At 3:02 it was up again, but all of their specials were listed as "out of stock".
Matthew has sworn to never shop at Best Buy again, and I told him I would support his boycott. Granted, the nearest Best Buy to me is 135 miles away, but I'll never shop there again. Neither is Dan. For video games, we'll go to EB Games. For appliances we'll go to Lowe's or Sears. For movies we have Netflix, and for music we have I-Tunes. Who's boycotting with me?
Unfortunately, my brother Matt didn't get what he wanted. Best Buy advertised $180 laptops, so my brother went to get one for his wife at 9 PM Thursday night. The ad said that there were plenty in stock, and that the store would be handing out tickets for the items at 3AM. After waiting for a few hours in the cold, when store employees came out at 3AM they only tried to get people to sign up for credit cards. Matt asked about the laptops, he was told they had "plenty". At 4:30 the store finally handed out the tickets for the laptops, all 10 of them. Then they had the gall to try to sell everyone else $600 laptops. Matt was mad (he refused to even go in the store), but not bnearly as made as guy #11 who had pitched a tent in front of the store for 2 days. That meant store employees passed him on the way out Wednesday night, and no one had the common decency to tell him to go home and spend Thanksgiving with his family, since they knew full well there were no laptops.
Now, I understand that Best Buy can run its sale anyway it wants. I get that they only offer a few deeply discounted items to get people into the store. Making people wait in line for days for products they know they don't have in stock, however, is just wrong. Furthermore, not telling people that they were out of those items at 3AM, as their ad said they would, is illegal. Did they really think that the kind of people who skip Thanksgiving for a good deal were going to be upsold several hundred dollars in a moment of panic?
And before you say something, yes, my brother tried to buy one online at 3AM. He went to the website at 2:45, and the deals weren't posted yet. He kept refreshing the page until 3 AM, when the website was mysteriously "down for maintenace". At 3:02 it was up again, but all of their specials were listed as "out of stock".
Matthew has sworn to never shop at Best Buy again, and I told him I would support his boycott. Granted, the nearest Best Buy to me is 135 miles away, but I'll never shop there again. Neither is Dan. For video games, we'll go to EB Games. For appliances we'll go to Lowe's or Sears. For movies we have Netflix, and for music we have I-Tunes. Who's boycotting with me?
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Back from Roswell
We went down to Roswell last week while Justin was visiting. I'm so jealous of Roswell. If those two farmers sixty years ago had just thought to go north to get to a phone instead of east to report that they saw an alien spaceship, Clovis could totally have a Target now. Oh well. At least I finally found a tablecloth for my dining room table. Unfortunately, I found it after I spent $35 on the fabric to just make one since I looked everywhere and couldn't find one, but I figure having two won't hurt.
Elanna liked the aliens a lot more this time than when we took her last time. She pointed at all the alien model sin the museum and said "click, click, click". I taught her that was what her stuffed alien said around the time I was teaching her animal sounds. I figure it's never too early to start learning another language.
My goal for Christmas is to avoid making the drive to Lubbock or Amarillo. When I looked at the calendar, I just didn't see where I could fit in another trip tot hose cities, and I know the malls are going to be ridiculously crowded. This is the only area of the country where no one has really been affected by the recession, but we're too small to have on-site retail buyers who can figure that out. When we dropped Justin off at the airport I noticed that the store shelves at the mall were already looking empty.
Elanna liked the aliens a lot more this time than when we took her last time. She pointed at all the alien model sin the museum and said "click, click, click". I taught her that was what her stuffed alien said around the time I was teaching her animal sounds. I figure it's never too early to start learning another language.
My goal for Christmas is to avoid making the drive to Lubbock or Amarillo. When I looked at the calendar, I just didn't see where I could fit in another trip tot hose cities, and I know the malls are going to be ridiculously crowded. This is the only area of the country where no one has really been affected by the recession, but we're too small to have on-site retail buyers who can figure that out. When we dropped Justin off at the airport I noticed that the store shelves at the mall were already looking empty.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Changed it Again
So Idecided to change the look again after I got a bunch of people asking me what "565" meant. I didn't even see it at the top of the page until I looked for it; I should probably pick out a new template on more than just color. Turns out "565" was the selection number for the template, so if anyone really liked it, they could get one to match. Since I couldn't get ridc of it, we're trying something else new.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
A Few Changes
You may have noticed I changed a few things since you've been here last. Basically, I'm just trying to clean up my list of articles. I've writeen a lot, and the list was just too long for anyone to really navigate. So I'm going to try to make a few different lists, one of just my most recent stuff, one of my most popular stuff, and maybe one more of seasonal stuff.
In other news, we all tried to go to Applebees today to get Dan's free meal for Veteran's Day. There's a problem with being the only restautrant in a 150 mile radius offering a free meal to anyone in the military. We decided to give up after we were told to expect a three hour wait. People filled the lobby and a line ran out into the parking lot. We were the only ones who left, though. Once again I am amazed at what people will do for a free cheeseburger.
Our friend Justin is coming to visit us tommorrow, so I won't be posting anything for a few days. I'm hoping to have a great time in Roswell!
In other news, we all tried to go to Applebees today to get Dan's free meal for Veteran's Day. There's a problem with being the only restautrant in a 150 mile radius offering a free meal to anyone in the military. We decided to give up after we were told to expect a three hour wait. People filled the lobby and a line ran out into the parking lot. We were the only ones who left, though. Once again I am amazed at what people will do for a free cheeseburger.
Our friend Justin is coming to visit us tommorrow, so I won't be posting anything for a few days. I'm hoping to have a great time in Roswell!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Dan's Back!
Dan made it back! He got in yesterday, so I've spent most of today doing laundry. While Elanna's taking a nap and he's on base filling out paperwork, I've managed to find a few minutes to get other things done.
Among those other things, I've copies a few of the pictures that my sister-in-law Tracie took while we were in Disney World. You can go to my facebook page to see them (eventually I'll figure out how to post more pictures on this blog). I also got a few articles published regarding Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving (see the sidebar), but I'm still working on ones about thanksgiving games, and of course, Thanksgiving food. I'm hoping to be done by next week so that I can start on Christmas articles.
By the way, if you're looking for my article on free stuff and discounts for the military on Veteran's Day, I posted the link up above (as well as over in the sidebar). I just started writing for examiner.com, so let me know what you think!
Among those other things, I've copies a few of the pictures that my sister-in-law Tracie took while we were in Disney World. You can go to my facebook page to see them (eventually I'll figure out how to post more pictures on this blog). I also got a few articles published regarding Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving (see the sidebar), but I'm still working on ones about thanksgiving games, and of course, Thanksgiving food. I'm hoping to be done by next week so that I can start on Christmas articles.
By the way, if you're looking for my article on free stuff and discounts for the military on Veteran's Day, I posted the link up above (as well as over in the sidebar). I just started writing for examiner.com, so let me know what you think!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
We're Recovering
No, I'm not planning on tuurning this into a once-a-month blog, but we have had a lot of drama over the past few weeks. The day after we got back from Disney World (which was a little crowded, but fun) I got a concussion while cleaning the house. For those of you who are thinking, "Wow, I knew Sarah was a bad housekeeper but . . .", let me assure you that it was Elanna's fault (just kidding). The kid dropped a can of play-doh on my head while I was picking up toys. Yes, I realize this is a ridiculous story.
Anyway, I recovered, but Elanna got sick three days later with H1N1. She spent the next three days throwing up and whining. After taking care of her, of course I got it, but I got so sick I had to go into the hospital for a few hours for dehydration. My last dose of Tamiflu will be taken tonight, but I think I'm through most of the bad part.
Elanna and I celebrated Halloween last night. Elanna was a dragon (I'll post pictures later), and I think we were visitied by every kid in all of Clovis. I appreciate that parents want a safe place for their kids to trick-or-treat, but I think it' time our town got together to put on a carnival or something. I went through over 120 full-size candy bars and 7 lbs of tootsie rolls. There were literally school buses full of kids pulling up to my house. I ran out of candy at 8:30, and after I turned off my lights there will still kids ringing my doorbell. I guess I'll have to buy more candy next year.
Anyway, I recovered, but Elanna got sick three days later with H1N1. She spent the next three days throwing up and whining. After taking care of her, of course I got it, but I got so sick I had to go into the hospital for a few hours for dehydration. My last dose of Tamiflu will be taken tonight, but I think I'm through most of the bad part.
Elanna and I celebrated Halloween last night. Elanna was a dragon (I'll post pictures later), and I think we were visitied by every kid in all of Clovis. I appreciate that parents want a safe place for their kids to trick-or-treat, but I think it' time our town got together to put on a carnival or something. I went through over 120 full-size candy bars and 7 lbs of tootsie rolls. There were literally school buses full of kids pulling up to my house. I ran out of candy at 8:30, and after I turned off my lights there will still kids ringing my doorbell. I guess I'll have to buy more candy next year.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
On the Road to Recovery
I met my goal for this month! Granted, I set myself pretty low; only 2% more than I made the month before, but I'm going to try to find someone new to write for this month. I try to add at least one website to write for a month, but I think I might have a large enough library built up (I made it past 100 online articles last week) to start trying real magazines. Here goes nothing.
In family news, Dan is doing well. He got a cold last week, but the base docs put him on a whole slew of antibiotics and antivirals that he's pretty sure aren't legal in the U.S. Elanna ran a slight fever on Sunday morning, but she doesn't seem any worse for it. The last threee days though she's developed this odd habit of grabbing her left ear and crying from time to time. She isn't running a fever, and it doesn't seem to bother her all the time, so I'm trying to avoid taking her to the pediatrician. I might call the base this week anyway, though.
In other news, I found a great kid to come mow my lawn, and at $20 every other week for all three areas he's a great bargain. If you live in Clovis and need his info, let me know.
In family news, Dan is doing well. He got a cold last week, but the base docs put him on a whole slew of antibiotics and antivirals that he's pretty sure aren't legal in the U.S. Elanna ran a slight fever on Sunday morning, but she doesn't seem any worse for it. The last threee days though she's developed this odd habit of grabbing her left ear and crying from time to time. She isn't running a fever, and it doesn't seem to bother her all the time, so I'm trying to avoid taking her to the pediatrician. I might call the base this week anyway, though.
In other news, I found a great kid to come mow my lawn, and at $20 every other week for all three areas he's a great bargain. If you live in Clovis and need his info, let me know.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Brownies Anyone?
Elanna got her last set of immunizations today. Well, technically she has to get another set when she's four, and who knows if we'll have to give her a swine flu shot, but for now she's all caught up. As usual, she got mad at the poor lab tech, grabbed her owl in a huff, and stormed out of the office. Poor lab tech; no one ever appreciates him or his job.
We went to the Commissary case lot sale afterward. If you've never been to one, it's like a Sam's that let's you use coupons. I now own 18 pouches of brownie mix (it cost me $8 after I used the stack of coupons they gave me). I guess Dan will be eating a lot of brownies soon.
We went to the Commissary case lot sale afterward. If you've never been to one, it's like a Sam's that let's you use coupons. I now own 18 pouches of brownie mix (it cost me $8 after I used the stack of coupons they gave me). I guess Dan will be eating a lot of brownies soon.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
New Haircut
Elanna just got back from nursery school. According to her teachers, she's adjusting really well. She just shows up and plays with toys and reads books. Today while she was in school, I got my hair cut and my nails done. I haven't had my nails done since before I got pregnant, so I'm getting used to having long nails again. I forgot how hard it is to type with them.
I found a new website that is publishing some of my work. Check out Sarah Heller on www.factoidz.com. So far I've only used them to publish some of my older srticles, but if I'm happy with them I might start putting some new stuff on there.
Tongiht Dan is supposed to be able to use Skype to talk to Elanna and I, so hopefully we'll be able to see him soon.
I found a new website that is publishing some of my work. Check out Sarah Heller on www.factoidz.com. So far I've only used them to publish some of my older srticles, but if I'm happy with them I might start putting some new stuff on there.
Tongiht Dan is supposed to be able to use Skype to talk to Elanna and I, so hopefully we'll be able to see him soon.
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