Make Money and Save Money

Instead of saving money tips, today I am going to give some feedback on a work from home venture I have tried out. Avon, now I know you just rolled your eyes but I am being serious. I actually gave it a go twice but I never count the first one because I never applied myself to it.

The second time around I went in full throttle and called or visited every family member that lived within driving distance. I printed out flyers and left catalogs everywhere I went. I purchased a make-up case and bought every bundle package they offered. For the first few weeks I had dedicated buyers and had made enough to cover what I put into the product.

Ultimately, this venture was doomed before it started for one reason; I am not driven by anything that has to do with make-up. I just could not create a passionate feeling about the product and in turn quit exerting the effort. It did not help to have clients order expensive orders and then decide a week after you recive the product that they do not want it.

If make-up excites you and the highlight of your week is talking your friends into a make-over you have all the potential to become an avon success story. Not that anybody can jump right in and do it; you have to be personable and cheery, assertive and consistent, organized, marketing savy, and goal oriented at all times. They have great opportunites and amazing rewards to top sellers. Their product is well know and has established a history of top quality for a smaller budget. I did’nt have anything driving me to want to succeed so I delivered the last oreders I had and put my make-up case away for good. I have to say that was four years ago and I still have unopened Avon product

When it comes to boxed or prepared foods you are looking for the most quanity for the price. Let’s use spagetti noodles in this example; you have several different brands of noodles all at varying prices. Look at their weight, usually measured in ounces, pick out the two that contain the highest weight per box.

Now compare the weights and prices for those two boxes(or bags). One box is $.98 and one is $1.19, the box that is priced under a dolar has twelve ounces and the box that is priced at a little over a dollar is sixteen ounces. For twenty-two more cents you get four more ounces of noodle, now we look at buying a few of this this product. If you buy two of the $.98 you get 24 ounces for $1.96 and two at $1.19 you get 32 ounces for $2.38, what you want to do is keep calculating until you get to a point where you the products match in ounces. Once you have found that interlapping point look at the overall cost to purchase. In this example that is 4 boxes at $.98 and 3 boxes at $1.19, each gives you fourty-eight ounces, the first total price is $3.92 and the seconds total price is $3.57. The second is your best price to quantity purchase.

If you will not consume the food within a reasonable amount of time after opening buy in smaller quanity. Like if you are cooking for one or two instead of ten like me, it makes more sense to purchase less. Buying in bulk is great as long as you do not end up throwing away more than you use.

The first thing I want to say is ALWAYS look for the best deal and the best deal is not always the cheapest price. What you look for is quality AND quantity when deciding to purchase an item. This is especially true in regards to prepackaged meats. Do not look for the lowest total price on the sticker, find the price per pound and compare it with other brands and types of product.

For instance, you pick up a pound of ground meat and see the total price is a little over 3 dollars. Sounds kinda pricey right? Look again to find out what quality of meat it is, what is the meat to fat ratio? This is usually displayed like this 70/30, what you are looking for is a higher meat ratio than fat. Why? The lower the fat ratio the less you loose during the cooking process, if it has a high fat ratio your one pound of meat becomes 3/4 of a pound by the time it is fully cooked.

I only purchase ground chuck or higher quality meats like ground angus because in the end you are left with more meat and less grease. I purchase boneless skinless chicken breasts for the same reasons, yes it may be more expensive per pound but why pay for bones when you are not going to consume them. The only exception to this rule is purchasing a whole chicken for use in stews and soups.

Another big no-no while shopping is buying fruits and vegetables out of season. When you buy them out of season they are being trucked or freighted to the store from out of state, and with gas prices the way they are today that spells higher produce prices. How do you get around this and get your five a day? Buy in bulk during the season and freeze them for later use. Remember that you need to pre-cook them before you freeze them, this does not mean they should be mushy just tender enough so that you can continue the cooking process later without overcooking them. I do not recommend canning them unless you are already a master with this method because you can end up losing alot of money if it is not done just right.

When it comes to chees buy bulk, especialy if you are like me and have ten people living in one home. Cheese is a wonderous thing, even if it becomes hard or gets a little moldy you can cut off the unusable part and continue eating the rest. How do you think those pungent chesses get their unique tastes and smells, thats right they purposely let them crust and mold to add those attributes. If your cheese hardens do not think that you must throw it away, set it to the side for grating on top of baked potatoes or spagetti. Melt it down to add to salsa dips or making homemade macaronni and cheese.

 These are just a few tips that I use on a daily basis and I hope that they will benefit you as well. I will be bringing you many more each day on this topic and every way I have learned to save money while raising six children. Goodbye for now and remember to kiss your babies.