Make Money Staining Decks

Photo by Kelleys-Creations.

Summer fun is here! People are going to want to start relaxing outside on their wooden decks. Before having company over, the deck must look beautiful and nicely stained. No one wants to have a chipping and messy looking deck. Plus, if company starts to go barefoot they may get a splinter from the peeling deck.

Here is where you come in. You can start to advertise that you will stain decks. Just think: You can work outside and enjoy your summer while making money staining decks.

First make flyers to hang up in your area and the surrounding area businesses. You may even want to take a day or two and walk and put your flyer in newspaper boxes of the people with decks. Make sure you put your advertisement in the newspaper in your area to make money staining decks.

When you get phone calls you will want to ask the person if you can come over and see their deck. You will be able to give an estimate on what it will cost the customer for you to stain their deck. Obviously if you have to sand the deck it will cost more. You can ask the customer if they want to sand the deck themselves to save money. Chances are people that are too busy to stain their deck will be too busy to sand their deck.

Go over what color of stain or painted stain the customer wants. You can offer to pick it up or have the customer purchase it and leave it at their house for you.

If you start to get too busy you may want to ask a friend or teacher who is off for the summer break if they want to go into business with you to make money staining decks. Both of you can get more deck staining done together and make a name for yourselves.

For more information, please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/

Survive the Economy Selling Framed Cross-stitched Pictures and Frame Photography and Paintings

Photo by Nik. Open a business cross-stiching pictures, framing paintings and photography for people.

Do you love cross-stitching? Maybe you make a lot of gifts for your friends and family as a person who loves to cross stitch. Now you can expand your business and sell your cross-stitched pictures.

You can sell your cross-stitched pictures online, craft fairs, ask to set in teacher lounges, take them to work (or photos of your creative work) and let your friends and family know you make cross-stitched pictures that are for sale. You will want to create a website (freewebs.com or another site) and post pictures of your work. Send e-mails of your website every two months or so when you update your website with another photo.

Cross-stitched pictures are an excellent personalized gift to give someone. You may want to take requests on pictures you can make. Be sure to investigate on what types of pictures are popular. As of now, wine pictures, modern pictures, personalized cat and dog pictures are popular.

Timeless cross-stitched pictures include a new baby, anniversaries, children’s rooms, etc. that will sell well.

Add framing to your business for people. You can frame and mat other people’s cross-stitched pictures, paintings and photography. This will help immensely to expand your business.

If you know of anyone that paints watercolors, oil paintings, or other you can let them know that you do offer this service. Busy painters may prefer to have someone else do the framing so they can continue to create more and more paintings.

People appreciate handmade gifts the most that are personalized. It shows that the gift giver really thought out what the person receiving the gift really likes.

To boost your business offer sales or discounts on framing or some of your cross-stitched pictures that are not selling. This will give you an excuse to send out another e-mail to friends and family on your business. At Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Christmas make sure you send out an e-mail and/or flyers on your business to get people interested in giving one of your items as a gift.

For more information on surviving the economy selling framed cross-stitched pictures and framed photography and paintings, please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/

Make Money as a Wedding Planner

Photo by Nik. "Flower Girl."

Enjoy knowing that you helped to create a personalized wedding just for the special couple.

The first thing you want to do with the soon to be married couple is to sit down with them. Ask the couple what type of wedding they want. If the couple wants a modern wedding, next you can find out what color(s) they want to use. Find out if the couple has a church picked out and wedding reception building.

You can start out by choosing the wedding invitations. With a modern wedding you could do some photography using the couples as images in geometric ways. Or just use the couple’s hands in the wedding invitation with PhotoShop techniques to give it a special effect.

For a modern wedding the flowers would have a modern feel with long stems. Once you know what flower the bride wants you can figure out how to make the flowers look chic to fit with the décor.

Modern art ice sculptures are an elegant touch to the special day. Perhaps dinner could be served with all white chairs and the tables accented with the couple’s color choice. Tall crystal vases with clear marbles in the center of the table will add sophistication.

The couple may choose to have a band or a disc jockey play at their wedding reception. Find out if they have any favorite bands or disc jockeys they are hoping to have play. If so, you can call and book the music.

The couple may or may not want to come with you to taste the wedding food they would like served for dinner. You can help to plan the menu with the happy couple. Seafood is an easy way to enhance the modern look on guest’s plates.

Find out each couple’s taste in the style of wedding they want from traditional, country, outdoor, etc., and make the wedding plans from there.

For more information on how to make money as a wedding planner, please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/.

Knit Felted Purses to Increase Your Funds

Photos by Kelleys-Creations.

If you know how to knit you can create gorgeous wool felted purses. Or if you have always wanted to learn how to knit, take a class or ask a friend how-to knit so you can create wool felted purses.

To knit the wool felted purses you will want to buy purse patterns. You can find them online and at places that sell items to sew such as JoAnne Fabrics, Super Wal-Mart, etc. Try to buy the patterns when they are on sale to help you save money.

You will also need to purchase the wool yarn. The yarn can also be purchased online, sewing stores, craft stores and discount stores. Try to shop around so you get the best price as the wool yarn adds up to quite a bit since you knit the purses larger than their actual size. Most skeins of yarn that you will use are around $18.00 each. The large purses take two to three skeins.

Once you find the purse patterns and yarn that you like, get knitting! To make knit felted purses you will knit large purses. You will see that most of the purses are huge, almost like an afghan instead of a purse size.

After you have completed the knitted part of the wool felted purse, you will put it in water in your washing machine on the lowest setting with as little amount of water as the washing machine takes. Turn on the washing machine and let it agitate the purse.

Let the purse dry. This process will take a few days as wool is quite thick. As soon as the purse is dry you can sew on buttons, an inside pocket for women’s change, and a second pocket for a cell phone. You can even make your purse fancier by adding on special designs like in the purses above. Use the wool yarn to create your designs, person’s name, etc. with a large needle and let your imagination take over.

People will enjoy their one-of-a-kind purse. My sister-in-law creates these purses and I have three and counting. This could be a very profitable relaxing job for you. For more information, please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/.

Make Money Sewing Sheets and Pajamas

Photo by Nik. A very loved teddy bear to snuggle with.

If you love to sew than designing your very own sheets is a perfect opportunity to make money. You can buy all different types of materials that are absolutely adorable at sewing outlets and/or even Wal-Mart. Find sheets with frogs, puppies, cats, etc. for kids. You may even find Guitar Hero and sheets that teens will think are cool for their room. Couples will like the variety of materials you offer versus some rather boring sheets for sale in the store. Your sheet patterns will be more unique as you have so much variety available to you.

You may choose to sew flannel sheets for those frigid nights. Think of the creative holiday sheets you can make from Halloween, Christmas, Valentines to special birthday sheets for the individual.

What will make your sheets even more special besides being unique with so many patterns to offer is that you will sew corner flaps on your sheets. The corner piece of material will go on the bottom of each corner of the fitted sheet. It will almost be like a belt strap to secure the sheet. People will love your sheets as they will never again have to fix their sheet from popping up off of their mattress.

You can make sheets for mats for Kindergartners, cribs, toddler beds, twin, full, queen size, king size and California king size beds.

While you are busy designing your own sheets, you can make money sewing cute pajamas. Find adorable patterns and you may even want to match the pajamas up with the bed sheet. For extra cozy pajamas make sure you add fleece material to your pajama line.

The unique sheets and pajamas will make great gifts for your friends, family and birthday parties your kids go to. This is a great way to advertise your sheets and pajamas. Be sure to sew a label with your company name on including your website address so people can keep ordering from you and pass the information onto their friends and family.

Enjoy making money sewing sheets and pajamas as they are needed in one’s home for comfortable sleep.

For more information on how to make money sewing sheets and pajamas please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/.

Save Your Job in This Economy with Voluntary Furlough

Photo by Nik. Keep Job Peace with Voluntary Furlough.

This stressful economy has banks going under, businesses closing, car dealers scrambling, people getting laid off from their job or worse with people getting terminated from their job.

Many companies are finding unique ways to save their business and employees. One recent way companies are saving jobs is with Voluntary Furlough. Voluntary Furlough is where employees volunteer to take five vacations days off per year. The vacation days can be used all at once or strewn here and there throughout the year. Maybe you want to have a few Mondays or Fridays off during the year? The only catch is all five vacation days are taken as unpaid.

To get started type a volunteer sign-up sheet and set it in an area where all employees can see it. A perfect place would be the mail room or by a time clock. Employees can sign-up for their five unpaid vacation days. The employees can choose their unpaid vacation dates at a later time.
Voluntary Furlough is just as it is stated--voluntary. Employees may choose not to sign-up for it as they cannot afford it. The employee should not be made to feel like he or she is selfish. Many people are overextended with a mortgage, vehicle payments, college bills and tuition, etc., and the employee may even live paycheck to paycheck.

Before making your sign-up sheet make sure Voluntary Furlough will not mess up your health insurance, 401K, pensions, etc.

If you are the boss of a company you may want to consider this unique option. Recently a school system tried Voluntary Furlough and it saved the school system $500,000 and the best part is everyone got to keep his or her job.

If you are an employee of a company, business or school system you may want to mention Voluntary Furlough to your boss. This could save your job and your co-worker’s job in the long run.

For more information, please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/.

Make Money with Woodworking

Photo by Nik.

If you enjoy creating with your hands and working with wood you can have a successful business. You can start woodworking by making different styles of shelves to hang on the wall, eye appealing wooden garbage cans, jewelry boxes and anything small. Once you feel confident you can expand to making tables, chairs, shelving units, hutches and any other wooden household items.

In the summertime you could go to outdoor flea markets and sell your handmade wood products to the public. Most cities have winter indoor flea markets you can book yourself at also. Make sure you have a business card with your phone number and website address on it.

You may want to upgrade your creativity to designing wooden kitchen cabinets. You could charge more by using your own custom design. Also, let customers know that you will upgrade their kitchen cabinets to traditional popular styles, too. You may want to offer complete cabinetry upgrade and/or just the face of the cabinet door.

You can advertise in the small newspapers in your area. You may want to make a visual ad instead of just words about your business. This will capture more potential customer’s eyes. When advertising, you need to make your business stand out ahead of all of the others.

To get started you may want to offer ten percent off of a customer’s bill if he or she refers a friend and the friend uses your service. This will help to keep your business thriving.

Before you get started in your woodworking business you may want to do some updates around your own home or condominium. You can go to free classes at Home Depot. Learn how to do all sorts of home repairs and installations. Take a before and after picture of your projects so you can share them with potential customers as a reference.

For more information please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/ .

Prosper Painting

Photo by Nik.

People are always looking for someone to paint the inside and outside of their home. Now with spring here you may get more and more jobs.

Most people are busy at work and with their children so they do not have the time to paint besides get all of their household chores completed.

Some people may want you to add a texture to their walls in a room. There are textures such as sponge painting, feather painting, and more. Nowadays you can even find paint rollers that create these effects for you. Talk about making your job simple. Discount stores such as Wal-Mart and hardware stores carry these paint rollers. I used a two tone paint roller and the results were fantastic. It was super easy to do and people complimented my walls. They thought I hired someone to do the effect.

Businesses may need to hire you to paint their walls in the evening and/or on the weekends. You may have to bid on a contract against other people who paint.

Advertising
It would be wise to create a website and/or blog online to promote your painting business. Use keywords on your website and/or blog to bring your page rankings higher on search engines. You need to be on page one of Google, Yahoo, etc., to get business through your website online, i.e., you will get more traffic to your website by being on page one.

It would be wise to type in the keyword of where you live so you will get business from people who live in your area.

Add your name to fund raisers in your neighborhood as your name will be posted on signs, brochures, t-shirts, etc.

Of course you can advertise in the newspapers in your area. Once you paint a few houses or businesses word of mouth will spread your name around, too.

For more information on prospering in the current economy, please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/.

Have Fun Making Money

Photo by Kelleys-Creations

You can have fun making money by drawing on small tiles. The tiles look hand painted.

First you will need to buy either tiles at a craft store such as Hobby Lobby or buy a Scrabble game. It is less expensive to purchase the Scrabble game as you get over eighty tiles for under $15.00. The wood tiles come in packages of five for a few dollars. You will need thin magic markers that your kids use for school. You will also need Mod Podge to seal your drawings. You can purchase paint for wood in small bottles at Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby. Don’t forget the small paint brushes, too. You will need one paint brush for the Mod Podge and one to paint with.

You can draw holiday scenes and characters, popular items such as skulls, wine, martini glasses, glue on sparkly gems, paint modern miniature designs, etc. Let your mind wander and have fun.

Once you draw or paint the picture on the tile, let it dry overnight. The following day you can seal the tile with Mod Podge. Do not seal it the same day you paint and/or draw it as the marker and/or paint will smear.

Next you can choose to make the tiles into a necklace, pin or magnet. You will need to pick up bails for the necklace tiles, small pins and magnets to be glued onto the small tiles. You may want to invest in craft glue for wood to make sure the backings stay secure. Easily glue your backing choice and let dry.

I would sell the necklaces for $6.00 each and the pins and magnets for $2.50 or $3.00. (The bails are a little pricier and look fancier than the pins or magnets.)

Sell your tiles online on Etsy.com and/or your own website, craft fairs or you can even have fun at your own jewelry party for family and friends to purchase.

Your kids can help you design the tiles. My eight year old helped me and his tiles look just as good as mine. Just about all of them look whimsical which a lot of people like. Enjoy being creative and have fun making money selling your own mini artwork drawings and paintings. For more information please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/.

Advertise Your Business in Tough Economic Times

Catch More Bees with Advertising
Photo by Nik

If you have your own business you may think during this economic time you should cut back your spending on advertising. This is not the case. You should continue to advertise now if not more. After all, your competitor is advertising to keep his or her business afloat.

Advertise through the newspaper, heavily online and let your employees know that your business is doing fine. Tell your employees that you plan to expand in the future and your reward will be more business for you. How? Your employees will tell their friends and family that your business is going strong. This will help make your employees feel they have a secure job. Also, your employees’ family and friends will spread the word about your business causing more advertising about your business. The hidden benefit is word of mouth advertising is free.

Be sure to keep in close contact with your customers. You especially want to keep in very close contact with your main customers so that other businesses that specialize in the same type of business as you do, do not steal your customers away. Ways you can keep in contact with your customers is to offer specials on products, send out thank you e-mails or letters to your best customers that you appreciate their business. In the thank you e-mails or letters you may want to include a discount off of their next order. Your dedicated customers will appreciate being rewarded for staying loyal to you. How many times have you seen companies offer "new customers only" rewards? For loyal customers this does not seem fair and it can make them actually turn bitter towards a company.

During tough economic times keep your company’s name a household word to help your business thrive. For more information please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/.

Make Money at Home--Medical Transcription

Photo by Nik

If you are looking to supplement your income or find a new career, then medical transcription could be the right move for you.

There are many benefits to becoming a medical transcriptionist. Some examples:
*You can work from home.
*Make your own hours.
*Save wear & tear on your vehicle.
*Save money on gasoline.
*Save money on buying office clothes.
*Save money by not having to pay for a babysitter if you have children at home.

It is quite easy to become a medical transcriptionist. You can go to school at a technical college for one year to get your medical transcription degree or you may opt to take the classes online to receive your degree.

Classes you will have to take to become a medical transcriptionist with a degree:
Medical Transcription I and II
Medical Terminology I & II
Human Anatomy
Body & Disease
Communications
Psychology
Law & Ethics
Pharmacology
A year long computer program.

The classes are quite interesting, especially Body & Disease. You will learn how to spell diseases, the causes of the diseases and the symptoms of the diseases. If you are interested in the anatomy of humans you will enjoy this program.

The Medical Transcription classes will teach you how to type the medical terms correctly. You will learn how to listen on head phones and type what the physician is dictating.

Medical Terminology is interesting as you will learn how to spell huge medical words and how a lot of words are a combining form. Such as “itis”. Itis means “inflammation.” You have heard of appendicitis. Appendicitis simply means inflammation of the appendix. Or another example is dermatitis. Derm means “skin” and “itis” means inflammation. So dermatitis means inflammation of the skin. You will have to learn how to spell the medical terms and define the medical terms to pass this course.

Human anatomy will teach you the names of the body parts, bones, muscles; you will learn how the heart functions, etc.

Some technical colleges will have you take communications and psychology as two courses you need to get your degree.

Law & ethics will stress the importance of confidentiality.

Pharmacology will teach you the medications, how to spell the medications and what the medications are used for. Many medications sound the same when you are typing them, so it will help you if you know the disease(s) the patient has so you can associate it correctly.

You will learn how to use macros and many tips on how to type and finish a document as quickly as possible. You can become a medical transcriptionist even if you are a poor speller. Study hard in school. Once you are at a job you will have a medical terminology spell check program or you can invest in the program if you work at home.

Medical transcription is truly a wonderful career choice or a fantastic way to supplement your income part-time. Do not let the courses scare you. Many people have found that the program is much harder than the actual job. This is great as you would rather go into a job highly knowledgeable and have the job be a breeze than vice versa.

There are many jobs available online. You will need to have a computer, headphones, and a Dictaphone to do the medical transcription job. Accuracy is highly important. After some time you will become very quick and make great money. Most companies pay-per-line.

For more information please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/

Invest in Home Buying

Photo by Nik

At this time you may think investing in a home is not a good choice. If you look at the past history, the economy will go through different phases. The current phase we are in is the majority of homes are selling at or below value. This is the "buyer’s market" of homes phase. Some of the other phases include gold bought at a low price and then selling at a high price, investing in risky stocks that later may pay out very well, and the money markets interest paying out well.

Now is the time you should jump in and purchase a home or multiple homes. Invest your money in a home(s) to sell at a later date when the market gets "hot" for sellers. (In the meantime, if the home you purchase is livable and not a fixer upper, you can rent out your new investment.) You will be very pleased with the profit you make once you sell the house. With that profit you can try to invest in money markets, stocks and/or bonds, etc., depending on which phase the economy is in.

Another option you have is to buy homes to "flip." Flipping is where you buy a property for very cheap and sell the property to make a profit. You may see some cosmetic problems in the house that need fixing. Maybe it is simply updating the house. You can easily update the house but instead of putting expensive tile in the kitchen and bathrooms, use linoleum flooring. If you are handy you can install the flooring yourself and save money from high labor costs. The key is to make the house attractive to potential buyers while spending as little money as possible so you make a nice profit.

Sometimes the profit may only be a few thousand dollars. If you keep investing in homes, the money will add up quickly for you.

Another option you have is to buy the home and get rid of the home before you fix it up if you know some information on flipping. This works especially well if you have a team of people who you can work with. You purchase the home and have a list of other people into flipping homes. You have to know what is a reasonable price to buy the house(s) at so you can raise the price and make a profit.

It is time to invest in a home or as many homes as you can afford to make a nice profit (in the near future) before the economy turns to another phase. For more information please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/

Save Money Due to Gas Prices

We all are looking for ways to save money on gas. With the rising cost of everything from groceries to bills, we need to find ways to conserve.

A great way to save some weekly cash is to carpool with co-workers. Ask around if anyone wants to carpool. If you work at a large firm or factory, post an ad on the bulletin board for all to see. You could drive one week and your co-worker could drive the following week and keep alternating. Not only will you save money due to gas prices, you will be helping our environment.
If your job entitles you to keep track of gas mileage be sure to do this to get your correct reimbursement.

Check local gas prices. You can look online for the cheapest gas. If you are going in that direction, purchase your gas from that gas station. Do not go way out of your way to get the cheapest gas as you will waste time and money driving.

If you live close enough to work, to save money on gas, start to ride your bicycle. It will take some time to get used to this idea, but it will be well worth it. Give yourself a little extra time to get to work and you will get into a routine and wonder what took you so long to do this! Driving short distances to and from your workplace really is bad for your vehicle. Riding your bike to and from work is great cardiovascular exercise. You just may start to ride your bike even more such as to the post office, local grocery store, library, etc.

There are many simple ways to start to save money on gas; you just have to be willing to make the changes in your life. For more information on how to save money on gas please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/

Laid Off or Terminated--Now What?

Volunteering is Key

You just got the news that you are laid off or terminated. Now what? First thing to do is take care of your mental health. Many people are losing jobs. As hard as it is to accept you lost your job, do not take it personally. There are a lot of people in your shoes. Some people have even lost a few jobs due to the economy lay offs and terminations. A lot depends on what type of work you are in.

Your county Workforce Development Center will be a huge help to you. They list job openings, help you with your resume if needed, offer computer software programs (to earn a certificate) used in the workplace such as Microsoft Word, Excel, etc., and depending on your situation you may qualify for money for a free two year college degree. If you decide to go the two year college degree route, you must choose a job that the state feels will be productive job wise and money wise.

Examples:
1) Registered Nurse is a great degree to go to school for. The R.N. health field job is constantly growing and needs good nurses as well as it pays very well.

2) The veterinarian technician does not qualify for free schooling. The state feels a vet tech does not make enough money to support the person and/or their family.

Once your resume is updated after you were laid off or terminated, get out and volunteer. You will be helping others and you will learn how much more you get back by doing so. You can volunteer in a nursing home doing a variety of activities. Just call a nursing home and ask for the activities director. He or she can let you know what fun activities you may help the staff with. Or you may just want to go in and visit with the elderly. Some people never get visitors and you would be making a phenomenal difference in someone’s life.

You could volunteer at an animal shelter. Many shelters need someone to come in and walk the dogs, pet and play with the animals and/or clean the cages. Have fun while helping make animals lives better.

If you choose to volunteer, you may add this extra amenity to your resume. Your qualifications equal with another person’s resume could mean you get the job if volunteering is adding to your resume.

If you have been laid off or terminated, please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/

Go Green--Save Money

Not only will you be helping our environment by going green, you will also save money. In these times saving money is especially important.

Ways to go Green and Save Money
You may invest in a solar hot water system instead of using an electrical hot water heater. The solar hot water system does not waste electricity. Solar energy is what heats the solar hot water heater.

If you are not able to invest in a solar hot water system, the next best thing you can do is to buy an electrical water heater that is energy efficient to save money. This is very important as the water heating bill is the second highest costing energy bill. The water heating bill falls into second place after the air condition and heat bill.

Look for Rebates to Save Money
When you need to purchase a hot water heater, furnace, refrigerator, etc., be sure to look for sales and rebates to save money. Rebates will come from the electric company as well as (possibly) the manufacturer. The electric company encourages consumers to buy energy efficient products.

Transportation and How-To Save Money
You can save money by walking, riding your bike, using a Moped or motorcycle if possible, or a vehicle such as a Hybrid. These methods are very wise to use when you only have to travel a short distance. The motorcycle and Hybrid are great for short or long distance travel. Both will save you an incredible amount of money when gas prices are so erratic.

City Water and Saving Money
To save money on your quarterly water bill, be conscientious of how you are using water. You do not have to flush the toilet every time you use the bathroom if it is not a bowel movement. Teach your children this as well.

Some people wash their dishes by letting the water run as they wash with no stopper in the sink. This wastes an unbelievable amount of water. Instead, fill-up your sink with soap and water. Rinse. You can even save some money by taking a dish pan and filling it with hot water. While washing dishes, rinse in the dish pan and let dry.

Invest in a washing machine that recycles the water. The machines may cost a little more when purchasing but will save you an astonishing amount of money in the long run. If you have a large family, this washing machine is for you.

To learn more please visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/

Save Money on Children's School Lunches

If your children are in school, you can save money by packing cold lunch versus the school hot lunch. Each week buy the (lunch) food at the grocery store that is on sale. To keep your child or children healthy, buy on sale fruit, vegetables, bread, meat, peanut butter and jelly, ingredients for homemade treats and juice boxes.

Your child or children can purchase the school milk or make sure he or she has a drinking container that can be filled with your milk at home. Give your child a treat once in awhile with juice boxes or use juice from home that is less expensive and pour into drinking container.

Buy bread that is on sale and store it in your freezer. For meat you can use left over turkey and chicken for sandwiches. If your child or children like lettuce and tomato, add them to the sandwich. Purchase the lettuce and tomato when they are on sale or not too expensive.

Fruit may be different each week due to sales. You can even buy canned fruit on sale and use coupons whenever possible for all items, so when fresh fruit becomes too expensive, you have a back up plan.

Great vegetables for your child or children’s lunch are carrots cut julienne style, baby carrots, cut up celery or celery with peanut butter and raisins for “ants on a log”, cut up red or green peppers, fresh broccoli and cauliflower. Add some Ranch salad dressing in a small container for extra fun dipping and flavor.

Bake homemade oatmeal and raisin or peanut butter cookies, muffins and other healthy treats to pack in the school lunch. Plus, you will have a snack already made for when your children return from school.

Be sure to add an ice packet to keep food cold as most schools do not have a refrigerator for children to put their lunches in.

Add a joke of the day or special note to let your child or children know you love them for something extra special in their lunch.

If your school lunches are $2.00 each and you have three children that is $30.00 per week and $120.00+ a month you are spending on hot lunch.

For more information please visit: visit: http://www.preparednessmentor.com/

De-Stress in Tough Economic Times

Most people are pinching pennies at this time. When pinching pennies the first thing to go is your entertainment spending. You and your family still need to get together and have some fun.

Think like the olden days. You and your family can have fun turning off the television and spending time together. Take turns reading a spooky story to each other. Or create a story together. One person can start; the next person continues the story and so on. Play board games together. Make thoughtful cards together for family, friends, soldiers and a nursing home. All of these fun things will bring you as a family closer together.

When meeting your friends why not do a round robin? One person has the drinks at their house, the next person has the hors d' oeuvres, the third person has the main meal, and the last person has the dessert.

If you and your friends live too far away to drive to each other’s homes, you could invite your friends over for dinner and a movie or games. If you plan on watching a movie together, you can try to plan your meal around the movie’s theme. Example: The movie Scarface with Al Pacino. Make a hearty Italian meal with salad, lasagna, garlic bread, wine and a surprise Italian dessert. You can cook the main part of the dinner and everyone else can bring the rest of the food. One person brings a snack, two or three people bring the side dishes and the last person brings dessert.

If you are not planning on watching a movie together, after dinner you can all play Wii games if you have the Wii system. What fun to go bowling, play tennis, lawn darts, go golfing, play trivia, etc. You all will have so much fun laughing and getting exercise at the same time. Also, the Wii even has a game called Scarface and if you have it, you can all try your hand at it.

It is important to still have fun with family and friends even if you have barely any money to spend. Life is not all about work and worrying about money to pay your bills. Everyone needs to laugh and have a good time to stay healthy.

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