Thinking Ahead - Financial Thoughts and Goals for November

Overall I am very happy with the way October went. The great thing was that it didn't feel too stressful. You know, the downside to this "brilliant" plan of mine to come up with $900 a month is that each month it is a whole new challenge. Frankly some of these months have been really hard... but this one wasn't too bad. So, now I am looking ahead at November:

Here are some of my upcoming plans:

1. I have some "second job" part time work lined up. I have some that is starting this week and some that will start closer to the end of the month. The mixed blessing of that second job is that it runs through November to December - and I don't get paid until the work is completed. That means I can't really count on that latter one to be part of this month's goal. It will be great for December though.

2. Mystery Shopping - I have lined up a small Mystery Shopping assignment already and hope I can pick up a couple more. I just started with a new company, so we will see how that works, I have high hopes though! This has been a very small income stream for me, but a whole lot of fun!

3. eBay - I continue to list things on eBay. It is a fair amount of work though, I won't kid you. It takes me a few hours to put together the listings properly with good photos and good descriptions. This gives me my biggest "bang for my buck" but it is hugely time intensive.

4. Amazon and Half.com - Remember those boxes and boxes of books I bought at a garage sale...

I have been working very diligently to get those online. I try to list 6 a work day, which means, of course, 30 a week. I currently have over 150 books for sale online. Those boxes of books had a whole lot of junk in them though - I am doing a fair amount of sorting wheat from chaff, although frequently I list the chaff too! Those books must have been sitting in someone's garage for awhile, they are pretty dirty. Most need some cleaning and dusting off. Then I have a huge box of ones that have hard to remove stickers on them - I ask you, who puts non-removable price stickers on the covers of books?? Grr.... Despite my complaints, this is actually my favorite way to make extra cash. I love being a bookseller. The good news is that my mom just cleaned out her cookbooks and gave me a big bag to sell! They will be fun to list!

5. I just joined Pinecone surveys, a survey site that many bloggers seem to love. I'm excited to see how that pans out. Unfortunately, it isn't the kind of thing I can write too much about though. (Top Secret!)

6. Savings - I have lots (and lots) of savings ideas for the home and budget. I am going to be continuing working on those, 'cause lets face it - that is one of the easiest money making opportunities out there!

7. Things to come - I have a few other irons in the fire that I am working on too. There are some folks that I've been chatting with for other sales opportunities and things like that. I've also got some folks that want some help with projects (yes, family members) and that could ultimately help the bottom line too. I'll write about those as they occur.

8. Finally, just trying really hard to keep a good attitude and work hard. I need to take care of myself and push hard, but not too hard. Making my goals is important, but not at the risk of my emotional or physical health.

So, what kinds of things are you working on this month?



Photo of the Charming Couple by: MoralesDirect